I Love My Church - Part 4 (Sharing)

Introduction:

I dug out my old footlocker from when I was in the military today. It is a place to store valuables. One day, I hope to pass it on to my daughter and grandchildren.

When I was in the furniture business we used to sell a lot of Hope Chests.

Does anyone have a hope chest? Are you keeping valuables in there to pass on to your children or grandchildren?

Hope chests are a really neat idea because maybe one day a future generation can see something in there and take it to Antiques Road Show or something and find that they are in possession of something very valuable. Or maybe they can just cherish the memories.

The things we stow away in that box represent hope, promise, memories and value for the future. Putting something in the chest involves sacrifice because we won’t get to use or enjoy that item. You put it aside so someone else can enjoy it sometime.

This is the example that the early church set for us. Let’s look our passage today and see how it played out:

Acts 4:32–35 NLT

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

Video Clip

When it comes to possessions, the first church knew how to help one another and to love one another.

Do you ever wonder how long it took before someone decided to hang on to their stuff? Someone might have said, “Uh, no way Jose, this is mine!”

I wonder if we can sometimes hold on too tightly. What does it sound like to God when we start talking about OUR MONEY and OUR STUFF?

If we are going to love our church the way God intends us to, we are going to have live generously.

Look what the early church did:

They Released Their Grip

Acts 4:32 “All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.”

The first church had a loose grip. They gave everything they had.

You may say it was easy for them because they didn’t really have that much.

That is not true

Some were land owners - Barnabas Acts 4:36–37 “For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.”

Ananias and Sapphira also owned land but they lied about the grip they had. Acts 5:1-11.

More money has never made someone more generous!

If you don’t give when you have little, you won’t give if you have more.

Jesus took note of a woman who gave 2 mites. (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4)

It wasn’t much, but it was all she had.

It is not the size of the gift but the loosening of the grip.

God made sure to point it out!

It is too easy to be like the seagulls proclaiming, “MINE, MINE, MINE.”

But once you get ahold of the truth that none of it is really yours, its all God’s, you will live generously.

RELEASE YOUR GRIP

This is not one of those give to the church messages. I know I shared with you the finances of the church and this is not a plea for you to give to the building fund or any other fund for that matter.

Many people get frustrated with the church because they think money is all we talk about. We sing one song and then someone starts asking for money. That is why I try to remind you that giving is a form of worship. If you are not at the place where you worship God, then don’t give. The church is more than a corporate entity. The church is a living, breathing organism. It is the people of God.

Really when you look at this idea, it is the people of God giving to the people of God.

When the early church gave they gave to each other. No one went without!

Not only did the early church release their grip:

They Tightened Their Belts

Acts 4:34–35 “There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.”

The early church gave up stuff in order to help others.

Wow! What an amazing example of generosity.

We should make room in our budgets to help people. Some people like to carry around “giving cash.”

Point to the footlocker.

The early church weren’t keeping hope chests. They were not storing up for a rainy day. They were not buying land, they were selling land. They were making room to help others.

I want to make sure I am not misunderstood here. There is nothing wrong with having a savings account or investing money. But if our lifestyle keeps us from being generous, we must stop and examine.

You can buy $7 coffees or whatever it is that you spend money on. Those things are fine unless they cause us to not be generous.

There is no shortage of people we can help!

This isn’t necessarily about helping the homeless. We need to help them, of courser, but it is also about helping those in the community of faith. Our generosity towards each other communicates our love for the church. (Some of you are really in tune with that!)

That generosity extends way beyond money but it certainly includes money.

We have to make sure we don’t neglect peoples needs. In order to do that, we have to know what those needs are.

That takes intentionally knowing each other. It takes getting from behind our own fences, breaking down other’s fences with love and getting to know people. (I need to do better)

When you discover that someone has a need, it is time to act. Tighten up your belts and do something about it.

The early church loosened their grips, and tightened their belts, and:

They Gave It All Away

Acts 4:33–34 “The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them”

The early church gave it all away. They did not have a “mine, mine, mine” attitude.

No one ever had a need. Needs were met!

Tell about Casa Hogar - praying for food and found God prompting people to bring food

Tell about the jug of milk brought during COVID (Communion)

Look at what happened as a result of their generosity!

“The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.”

People heard about Jesus. People believed in Jesus. People followed Jesus. Why?

Because the church gave generously to each other and there were no needs that were not met.

This wasn’t a community service project or a homeless shelter or a missions program. It wasn’t a project, It was who they were!

Here is the bottom line: God’s people are known by their generosity.

Invite Josh to come play

Action

I know that many of you give. You are givers! God has been so good to us and I don’t want to hang on to it all. I want the world to see the generosity of our Lord and of His people.

I am very appreciative of the contributions this church makes to the local ministries as well as world missions.

I want us to be radical in our generosity. I have expressed some needs for this church facility but I think God wants us to ditch the “mine, mine, mine” approach and instead “give, give, give.”

this is what I am going to ask you to do today.

I am going to open this box today and give what I have on me. If you feel led to give, give. Before you give let me explain: This money could go many places but I know there are people right here in this group who have needs. If you are here today, and you are in need, you are welcome to take what you need. What we ask is that you fill out a card and just testify how God has met your need through this church.

Prayer over this most unusual offering