3/10/2019 "God's Generous Heart"

Are scripture reading this morning comes from Romans chapter 10 verses 8B through 13.

The word is near you on your lips. And in your heart that is the word of faith that we Proclaim because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved for One Believes with the heart and so is Justified and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved the scripture says no one who believes in him will be put to shame for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved the word of God for the people of God.

Thank you, sir.

Let's pray.

Lord May the meditations of our hearts and the words of my lips be pleasing in your sight.

our Rock and Our Redeemer amen

When I was in my early twenties living in Iowa, there was a gentleman who took a van full of clothes and medical supplies necessity every about every quarter down to McAllen, Texas and would drive it across the border into Mexico and had a place that was set up to receive these items. And he invited me to go with him. And so we went the vehicle was completely full except for the three seats for the three Riders. We get all the way down to the Border. I'm excited. I'm green. I'm in the passenger seat. We're going across the border when he looks at me and says we have nothing to claim. I said, okay you like no, you don't understand like we have nothing to claim that we're taking into Mexico.

All of these things are for our friends and family and I was like, I think you're telling me to lie. And we like this is all I'm like, maybe you're so old that you don't care about going to a Mexican jail, but would rather not be fine. I don't know if it was the grace of God or the $20 bill that help us get over the Border. But either way the supplies got to where they were going and end the where they were going. What is a small town? It was really almost like a village and we stayed in the calendar. We would just go back and forth every day and he has some rules for this trip one rule was if we're in someone's home. We can eat the food. But if we're out outside where someone's cooking and kind of like a colder in accept it act like you're eating it. But don't eat it. We're helping a gentleman build a house. He called it a house. It was maybe 10 ft by 15 ft cinder block building that he had built over a year. You could tell house supplies it come in different times and and he was really happy to have the help in one day. He made this soup and I'm sure he made the soup with what few resources he had left out of the generosity of his heart. out of his abundance of love And this soup smelled good? And here I was with this gentleman and he hands us two styrofoam cups of soup. and says, enjoy And this gentleman gives me the side-eye like do not eat this soup. Cuz we were the next day going to get in for a 12 hour car ride. And so he's a little nervous. And so I said, okay and I just kind of took it in. And I just put it to my lips, but just enough. Foretaste but not enough to really consumed. What does it mean to really consume the word of God? What does it mean to just put it to our lips were just enough where we can quote scripture enough that it really seems like we go to church just enough. And what does it mean to consume? the word of God That's what we're going to talk about this morning. We're going to talk about what it means to understand God's Generous Heart or rather to understand that God has A Generous Heart. The kind of heart that that leads a man who barely has anything to offer much of what he has to those who quite frankly don't need it. Quite frankly don't need it. You know that the word from Deuteronomy for this morning talks about the land of milk and honey the Promised Land.

There is no question. That we live in a land of milk and honey. And this is how we can know this.

when our Vision of heaven looks like a continuation of life on Earth.

We're in the land of milk and honey.

When our vision of Heaven is just life with people that have left us and that we miss.

We have a vision of Heaven that is based in overabundance.

But this is what God offers us in overabundance.

graciousness and generosity We can take that which we have been given and we can share what the hell that inspires us to reach out to others. Those folks in Mexico that we took things too.

Some of it they needed.

And some of it People Like Us needed the opportunity to give away.

like like

we have to

I have a relationship with our brothers and sisters that's not about The stuff that's given. But the connections that are made that relationships that are made. You know. weed we understand at how many of you have has heard them all are welcome at church, right? Like everybody like all are welcome. And then some people are convinced. We just lie on the sign maybe some people are welcome. Right which kind of speaks a little bit deeper to how we interact with each other. But with this idea that all are welcome. You know in this verse here, they're trying to figure out.

Are just the Jews the children of God. or the Gentiles to like like the Greeks were clearly polytheistic, right? Like they had all kinds of gods. Okay, and the Jews were clearly monotheistic. and until they were trying to figure out these people who would be good come to the church who are may be raised in a Greek House who saw Jesus in heard of Jesus from people that were martyred for the faith or people that that had to had a small churches throughout and they were curious and they wanted access

and this out of God's Generous Heart. Is the access to all people all over the world? Like we all are children of God and therefore all are open to the graciousness and the love of Jesus Christ. Right? Like we can't limit it for other people. But if we really want to have a deep understanding of what it means to have the word of God on our lips. Has to begin to change the way that we live out that understanding of faith. It has to begin to do things. That we've already begun to do. How many of you know that the the food pantry this week let that people from the other two respond to the food pantry in like picked up, right? I had no idea. Nobody told me I was like all that looks pretty cool. I mean I was out of town but whatever so in the future you could invite me. So I The whole idea though is that that you don't need me to do that? Right? Like we're healthy church. We do all kinds of things for the community and for others in the name of Jesus that we don't need necessarily a whole other committee for people have been doing it for a long time. And what we live out when we do those things is God generous love for everyone else that's lived out in so that they might feel some of what we feel. And they might be moved.

I grew up going to church camp or it was so hot and on Thursday this kind of talk to the church camp that I went to and I won't take her because it's things like this but Church camp like a crucifixion pageant have y'all familiar with these? Rite-hite dok there a little over-the-top. Okay, so they're like complete with fake blood and stuff. Okay, like it's not I'm glad that this bothers you it means we're good together. So it's Hershey syrup and red food coloring and oil by the way. So so we had this thing so you would go through when you witness this pageant and then at the end like you would feel like you had been so moved by God's love that you would like give yourself on the altar to to Christ. Right? Like you would have this conversion experience, right? Which sometimes was really impactful right? Like sometimes that would really change the thing about bringing high schoolers to it was though every year it was like a new opportunity to give yourself again. So you see how that kind of creates a cycle. And so that kind of cycle that that kind of sometimes I can get in our mind and we can begin to question our salvation. We can begin to question. Do we really believe enough or do we really believe the right way or do we really have the right in theology? And I want to offer you this morning to your surance. What God gives us as a surance? eternal life

do you believe in your heart? Until you confess with your lips. That's it. That's it. Do you believe in your heart? It doesn't mean that you believe and you never doubt. It doesn't mean that you believe and you don't get angry at things going on in the world or things going on in your life or prayers that haven't been answered. It doesn't mean that that you don't struggle. maybe even with what it means to be a person of faith. And if you confess. with your mouth

You know.

That's all. That that is asked of us. to have the assurance but that's like

missing out completely on what it means. to taste the soup

she the reason I didn't want to taste the soup of faith in Mexico. Wright was because I was worried it was going to create changes that I could not turn around.

And in some of you are worried. If you start to live out your face, it'll create changes that you cannot turn around and good ways. Maybe it will ask too much of you. Maybe it will take you into a land. That's uncertain. A land that they say is of milk and honey.

You know this morning it is about how we live this love so that others might grow not just us. But in order for God to use us, we also have to continue to grow we have to continue to get into scripture and apply it to life. an inn in my job my job isn't isn't to take the scriptures. And two to make them applicable to your life. their applicable or applicable I maybe some of you have heard of David Wright and heard how David had a heart after God. Leaving out of heart after a lot of things. And maybe maybe you remember Abraham.

And you think that he was a perfect person of faith. or Noah Moses You know when we dive into the scriptures at it's not about being able to quote scripture and verse. It's about seeing how the stories connect to our story. Because that's that's where we begin to to live out. This faith is when it creates changes. When God speaks to us through what we read here and it creates changes in US.

My prayer in my hope, is that that you continue.

To dive into the word of God that you just don't put it on your lips with the hope that you would one day. Maybe taste a little bit. But that you would chew on it and it would know on you.

The entirety scriptures would when we view when we view scripture. We can like go line-by-line. Right? And if you go line-by-line, you just kind of go verse by verse you can cherry-pick things out right and you can say oh, oh this about scripture you can say, oh that about scripture right? But but we take scripture in in the entirety of scripture. We don't pick out things unless those things represent all of the other things right like God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son okay with that because it also encompasses the rest of scripture. Right? Does that make sense? So

So this week some of you may have had an opportunity to read the news article on Effingham daily news that they interview to Pastor in the area. That was me after the United Methodist General Conference and what I did was

I asked my mentors in Ministry and they said don't do it. And I said I will be okay and then and then I did it and what I did was I sent them things in writing cuz I thought this is smart. Right? Like I'll send it in writing and so I sent them the newsletter article that you guys got last week. That was it. I sent them the newsletter and so like on Friday night. I knew it was going to hit like this weekend like on Friday night. I saw it and I was like it was like 11 Thursday night. I was like, oh I can't read it to all people. And I was like is that really news? But like if it's news that means it's good news, if people didn't feel like they were well, and they are going to be welcome to the next good news. But I'm pretty sure our church as a sign or on some of the stuff. It says all are welcome. We're not lying. We're not lying all are welcome. And we're in this process of Doing church together and I'm excited about that. I'm excited about the ministries of our church. I'm excited about that the mission trip this summer for the youth group. I'm excited about the fall program is going to start off and kick off for kids on Wednesday nights. And so all of these things are great things. That means that's how we live out God's Generous Heart so that others might see So I think that that as you go this week my hope and my prayer is that you will struggle.

If whether you are living a generous enough life. To represent God's generosity.

and graciousness for others

Let us pray.

bored

Thank you. for loving us Thank you. For welcoming us.

guide us

Guide us in our living out of faith. in our struggle with scripture

and our loving of you amen

immediately