BENEFITS OF GENEROSITY

BENEFITS OF GENEROSITY 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; Ram Cnaan, The Invisible Caring Hand; Eric Reed, "Where the Money Goes", Leadership Magazine, Summer 2000; Chuck Swindoll, Excellence in Ministry: A Study of 1 Timothy, "Contentment. . .and How to Miss It". Feb 2, 2003 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory He was stingy and grasping, mean and self-serving. The one character you loved to hate. The writers and the award-winning director, Frank Capra, were at pains to make us, the viewers, detest this man. The film - "It's a Wonderful Life"; the character - Old Man Potter, the rich banker with the greedy hands and the icy heart. Played by Lionel Barrymore, Mr. Potter was a repulsive man. Everybody wanted to be like George Bailey, the debonair and lovable character played by Jimmy Stewart, but nobody identified with Old Man Potter. Silvia and John Ronsvalle, who are researchers, have spent years studying church finances, and they suggest we American Christians have become the rich and stingy banker. They say we earn four times what our grandparents made in the 1920's, after adjusting for inflation and taxes. We wear better clothes. We own bigger houses (with more closets to put things in). We eat out at restaurants. But, how generous are we with our new riches? The good news is, by comparison with other nations, Americans are very generous. Total giving to charitable organizations, as real dollars and as proportion of income, is higher in the US than in any other advanced industrial society, with the possible exception of Israel. The less flattering news is that, by biblical standards, our grade is an F+. Gallup polls agree with the findings of Giving USA, an authoritative report published by American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel that American giving to charitable causes runs somewhere between 1.5% and 2% of personal income. A full 31% of American households admit they give nothing at all People who do give generously to charity are not usually those who can most easily afford it. In fact, the most generous givers are those whose income is less than $20,000. The weakest givers, in terms of percentage of income, is the group who make between $75,000 and $100,000/year - Time magazine reported they averaged 1.6% of income given charitably. They showed also that those who earned less than $10,000/year gave over 5.5% of their earnings away to church and other charities. Conservative, evangelical Christians came out on top as the most generous of all giving households demographically. People who attend religious services weekly, while they are a minority of Americans (38 percent), give two-thirds of all charitable contributions in the entire nation, according to the Independent Sector Gallup Poll. Weekly attenders contribute 3.4 percent of their household income. Unquestionably, an active faith is the most important characteristic of those who give (as it is for those who volunteer). Well over half of all charitable giving in America goes to religious institutions, including churches. Some might suggest that Christians and other religious people naturally support their own faith but contribute little to the wider community. But research has shown this to be untrue. Religious people give to churches (which pass on a great deal to the community), and then give to other, non-religious organizations as well. Two-thirds of contributions for non-religious charitable enterprises, researcher Virginia Hodgkinson discovered, come from church members. I would like to talk about generosity this morning. I believe we find in scripture that it is a very prominent theme. So much so, that I think we can safely conclude that it is quite important to God that people, especially His redeemed people, be generous. There are four beneficiaries in every act of generosity, according to the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:10-11. 1. The First One to Benefit From Generosity - The Giver Himself Two specific benefits befall the generous giver, and they are right there in verse 10. But to get a feel for the context of this verse, go back with me to 9:6-8. "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly, will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." Then, after quoting from Psalm 112, he says, "Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food…" Do you know who the "he" is in this verse? Of course, it's God--the One who owns it all--God. Everything anyone ever had came from God. Now watch, here come the two benefits for generous givers: "…[He] will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness." Look also at verse 11 - "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion." 1. Seed - that's what you plant, and it represents what a Christian gives into the work of the kingdom. First you plant seed, and then God gives you-what? More seed. If you give generously (sow into the kingdom), you will be given more to give (sow). When you decide to stretch yourself in your giving for God, and you step into more generosity, that act of faith in the God who provides "primes the pump". It gets a divine reciprocation started. God honors that faith step-and we're not talking about giving God a tip here. This is generous giving that costs me something, and amount that hurts to give--a faith stretch into uncharted territory. God's response to that kind of stretch is always to bless you with more seed. And remember seed is not what you eat-it's what you plant. God is looking for people who will trust Him to provide and will faithfully plant ever-increasing amounts of seed for Him. Too many people eat their seed. But, these seed-planters are those who become channels of financial blessing in His kingdom-those He can trust to give increasing amounts of seed to. 2. Enlarged harvest -- The second benefit to the generous giver is that God will "enlarge the harvest of your righteousness." What is the harvest of your righteousness? It is the good results of your ministry through your generosity.. What are those good results? Your growth. Generosity transforms people. Mort Meyerson, who ran Perot Systems from 1992 to 1997, created a stir when he canceled the company's annual Christmas party. He saw that the event (for 13,000 employees) was costing $360,000 and decided the money could be put to better use. He said, "We'll take the $360,000 and buy food and clothes and toys, and we will get our employees to take those things personally and deliver them to the inner city, to people who don't have anything." The first reaction to his decision was outrage, followed by depression, then recognition that they were doing something different, and finally elation on the part of the people who made the deliveries. What did the event do for their employees? Meyerson stated: "It made them more human. It made them more effective as employees. It made them better family members." One employee told Meyerson, "This has changed my life." Have you ever noticed that MISERY and MISERLY come from the same root? The most fulfilled people in all the world are those who have learned to be generous with the resources God has given them. Jeff Skoll, vice-president of strategic planning and analysis for eBay Inc., says, "Out here in Silicon Valley you see an awful lot of young folks that all of a sudden have a fair bit of money, and some of them have a real desire to give back to the world-and it is different from your traditional philanthropy." New-school philanthropy, he explains, is less about signing fat checks, public preening, and charity balls. Ken Blanchard, co-author of the book How to Make Serious Money for Both You and Your Company believes in tithing with a twist. We tithe 10 percent of our profit, which last year was $320,000. We divide it among all our employees to give away. The lowest-paid employee gets to give $1,000 away, and the highest gets to give $3,500. We gave to 160 charities last year. A guy in shipping came up to me with tears in his eyes. He got the chance to give $1,000 to his parish to buy robes for the choir. He's become a local hero. Skoll explains that young, "newly-minted" givers anticipate seeing the effects of their gifts within their lifetimes and want a more hands-on role. Source: Lorenzo Della Foresta, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; source; Leslie Lucas, "Contrasts: To Give and To Get," National Post Business (October 2000); "The Costco Connection" (November/December 2000); "More Than One Minute," by Bob Rosner The Kingdom effect of your generosity in lives of others. I want to delve into this subject more in a moment, but suffice it to say here that there is an ever expanding ripple effect when you are generous-blessing comes to those to get helped by your gift, blessing comes from those who learn about your gift, blessing comes to everyone who hears of the benefits to them (see 9:13-14) My point is that being generous is part of the "good works God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). When you are generous as a Christian, you are investing in your eternal reward (see Matthew 6:19-21; 1 Timothy 6:17-19) 2. The Second to Benefit from Generosity - Those Who Receive the Gift When the generosity of one joins the need of another there is joy and thanksgiving. The recipient is thankful to the giver and to God who moved and enabled the giver to be generous in his direction. That is obvious-the recipient benefits from the generosity of the giver. But there is another aspect of recipient blessing that is not so obvious. Notice, in the case of the church (or even other charitable agencies), the recipient is not just the one who is ultimately helped, but the church is also blessed. Generosity meets the needs of the need-meeting agency. Consider the celebration when the Salvation Army reaches it's "Tree of Lights" goal each year. Those hard working believers are thrilled and grateful-why? Because they got something for themselves? No, because they were enabled to help others. They are brought closer to fulfilling their vision. In a sense they got something for themselves-the joy of knowing that their efforts to bless others will be fully financed. It is a great encouragement to the church family when the budget is met. It is even more of an encouragement when the budget is exceeded, because the future ministry can be expanded. The offering Paul was receiving from the churches was for the church in Jerusalem. Why? So that church could exult in their riches? No! They had some serious needs to meet all around them, but their resources were low. They were about to be blessed when this offering would be delivered to Jerusalem by the apostle Paul. Look at verse 12 - "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God." The benefit of generous giving comes to the church, and through the church to others. OF COURSE, GIVERS MUST BE CONFIDENT THAT THEIR CHURCH IS USING THE MONEY OF ITS GENEROUS DONORS WITH INTEGRITY AND WISDOM. PERIODICALLY, I THINK IT IS WISE TO LET YOU KNOW HOW MECF USES THE MONEY WE ARE HONORED TO STEWARD. THAT'S WHY YOU RECEIVE QUARTERLY REPORTS FROM OUR FINANCE MINISTRY TEAM, AND THAT'S WHY YOU ARE REGULARLY REMINDED THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE FINANCES OF YOUR CHURCH, YOU MAY ASK AND EXPECT A CLEAR AND COMPLETE ANSWER AT ANY TIME. A COUPLE OF THE DEDICATED SERVANTS ON OUR FINANCE MINISTRY TEAM HAVE NOT ONLY AGREED TO, THEY VOLUNTEERED TO TAKE A FEW MOMENTS TO ADVISE YOU ON WHERE YOUR GENEROUS GIFTS ARE USED. Ron and Bruce make presentation of where MECF's Tithe and Offerings are being distributed. Where does your money go? There are three different accounts used at MECF. They are the General Fund (or Tithes & Offerings) the Projects Account and the Savings Account. Tithes & Offerings Tithes & Offerings are the moneys designated for the daily operations of MECF. This money goes into what the FMT calls the general fund. Giving into Tithes & Offerings, your money is distributed to the following teams by the percentages listed below according to our budget: Administration 4% Kingdom Expansion 11% Capital Facilities 1% Mortgage 31% Cell Ministries 1% Salaries 39% Christian Education 2% Worship 1% Facilities 8% Youth 1% Hospitality 1%     We need $3475.81 per week to meet our projected budget and to completely fund all of the above teams. Please understand, if our budget amount is not met these teams do not get all their budgeted funds. Projects Account MECF supports different projects from time to time throughout the year. If you designate your offering to one of these specific projects, your money is placed in the Projects Account and the money given into these accounts are not figured into the MECF budget. Here is a listing of the different category's in the Projects Account: Benevolence Open Gates International Building Fund Resources Christian Education Special Events Kid City Youth Missions & Mission Trips Note: The Projects Account is an account separate from the General Fund. Special Events change from time to time, like the sign project, AC repair, etc. All your offerings given to any of these accounts stays in the account and is only spent on that particular project, even if we fail to meet budget. Savings Accounts We have two savings accounts. These accounts were setup to gain interest, because they are not as active as our other accounts. These two accounts are: Building Fund Missions OK, so what is the difference between the Projects Account Building Fund and the Savings Account Building Fund. Really nothing. What we do is move your money designated for the Building Fund (formally know as Harvest III) into the Projects Account. Then at the end of the month we transfer the Projects Account Building Fund money into the Savings Account Building Fund. The same goes for Missions & Missions Trips, except it goes into the Savings Account Missions. There are additional money that goes into the Savings Account Missions and that is the budgeted 11% for Kingdom Expansion that is not used for supporting ministries. We currently support seven ministries. For further information on which ministries we support [click here] and visit the Kingdom Expansion News page of February's "The Witness." Check MEMO We ask you to utilize the "memo" part of your check to write your designations on where you want your offerings to go. If you write your designation on an envelope, we will take that information and write it on your check anyway. We use your check to read while we post your offerings into the computer. So please use the memo to help us post your offerings correctly. Final Word Our books are always open, and the Leadership Team and the Finance Ministry's Team are available to answer any question you may have. We above all, want to honor and give glory to God for the resources He places under our control. 3. The Third to benefit from generosity - the community around the church - people Ram Cnaan has written a fascinating book entitled The Invisible Caring Hand: American Congregations and the Provision of Welfare. Cnaan is an Israeli-born, secularist Jew, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He did extensive research into the effect of churches in the communities of America. He concludes that the conservative Christian churches are "a major power for our society." He says the neighborhood church is the greatest resource American communities have. The presence of churches, where the biblical faith is believed and practiced, brings to the surrounding community not only the social services of care, benevolence and counseling, but also the intangibles of security, spiritual influence, help during crises and loving community for anyone who will accept it. Cnaan says the congregation is "the neighborhood's last, best hope." This is what Jesus meant when He said we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Christian you are a positive influence in a negative and dark world. Stay salty and bright! He goes on to say "the economic value of the congregational contribution to the quality of life in America is staggering. As a key part of the nation's social safety net . . . congregations allot a significant percentage of their budgets to helping others and are the major source for volunteer recruitment in urban America. In fact, one could say that our society is subsidized by congregations to a far greater extent than these same congregations are subsidized by the tax exempt status granted by our society." Interestingly, this author says that the net value of the average congregational community (and the average size of American churches is 60) and the services it usually extends to the community averages $15,307 per month. No wonder our nation's attention is being drawn to unsung heroes of American health and community through "faith-based initiatives". Churches do it best. Writes Cnaan: "Clergy and congregants should learn to be proud of what they are providing for others. No one else does it so happily and so on their own." Another study, by Christian Smith at Duke University corroborates Cnaan's work. That researcher insists that no one does as good a job at helping people as the local congregation of Christian people in a community, and nobody does it cheaper. The community around us benefits through your generosity in the church. 4. The Kingdom of God benefits through generosity Bottom line, there is nothing more important than the publishing of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me put it succinctly - the giving to and through this church family advances the kingdom. And the generous giving to and through this church family advances the kingdom farther, faster and better. I want to encourage all of us toward more generosity, so we may provide maximum benefit to: YOU, THE CHURCH, THE COMMUNITY AND THE KINGDOM AROUND THE WORLD. But what is generous giving? How much is generous? If you're asking that question you're doing a lot better than those who ask, "What am I required to give?" Pastor Bob Russell of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY, shares a helpful illustration: "When my first son was born, we were blessed to have an excellent baby sitter who lived next door. Patty not only baby-sat, she washed dishes, folded clothes, and looked for ways to help around the house. She was dependable, and my son loved her. "When she first started babysitting, I asked Patty how much she charged, and she said, 'Fifty cents an hour.' (Obviously this was a long time ago!) I gladly paid that amount. "A few years later our second son arrived, and I said, 'Patty, your responsibilities have increased significantly now. What do you charge for taking care of two children?' "By this time we had a good relationship, and she said, 'Oh, Mr. Russell, just give me what you want to give.' "Do you think I gave more or less than 50 cents an hour?" In the Old Testament, God commanded his people to tithe-10 percent of their crops and flocks were returned to God. In our era he has given us Jesus Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit, the fellowship of the church, the privilege of living in the most affluent nation in the world, plus so many personal blessings. Yet when we ask how much we should give, he just says, 'Give as you have been prospered.' You decide whether that should be more or less than a tithe." As Bob Russell says, "Christians want to be generous. Listen, when you are a wise steward it honors God, relieves tension, gives you self-confidence, eliminates guilt, enhances your witness, and enables you to give more generously, It benefits you, your church, your neighbors and the Kingdom of your God. I'm not talking about fundraising, but about a better stewardship of life." Are you generous? Are you as generous as you want to be? Are you as generous as you believe God wants you to be? Proverbs 3:9-10: "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then you barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." At the close of the teaching on giving from Paul in 2 Corinthians 8-9 we find these words: "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" [webmasters note: 2 Corinthians 9:15] That, of course, refers to the gift of His Son. God the Father has modeled for us what generosity is all about. The death and resurrection of His only-begotten Son has literally paid the death sentence for billions of people. Will you accept His offer?     [Back to Top]