Thankful Giving

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 9 NLT

I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem. For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving. But I am sending these brothers to be sure you really are ready, as I have been telling them, and that your money is all collected. I don’t want to be wrong in my boasting about you. We would be embarrassed—not to mention your own embarrassment—if some Macedonian believers came with me and found that you weren’t ready after all I had told them! So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready. But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly. Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!

Thesis: God loves a thankful giver!

The Prophecy about Us

Let me share with you just a couple verses of Scripture as we begin today.

Matthew 28:19–20 NLT

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

For the First Generation of the Church, this passage - sometimes called The Great Commission, was their Mission Statement - What They Were Doing,

but Acts 1:8 was their Vision Statement - Where They Were Going and Who They Were Becoming

Listen to this passage.

Acts 1:8 NLT

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

We use these terms: Mission and Vision often and they help us to collaborate together and be the Church. They have been borrowed and exchanged over the years from business language, government language, military language… all in the effort of helping everyone get on the same page. God gives us a lot of freedom in figuring out what to call things as we work to faithfully make disciples as He commanded us.

However, in this one instance, I think it might be worth paying attention to how these statements have been reclassified over the years.

This Vision in Acts 1:8 may not have been called a Vision Statement back in the Early Church. No, I think they may have had another word for it.

Prophecy

Prophecy

Now that’s a word we can get hung up on.

We typically reserve that word for someting that God is going to do, not something we are going to do. However, we are heading into a new season in just a few weeks where we will be celebrating the fulfillment of many of the greatest prophecies in all of scripture - and none of it would have come about without the faithful work of some pretty unusually normal people.

Giving Back with Gratitude

2 Corinthians 9:1–5 NLT

I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem. For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving. But I am sending these brothers to be sure you really are ready, as I have been telling them, and that your money is all collected. I don’t want to be wrong in my boasting about you. We would be embarrassed—not to mention your own embarrassment—if some Macedonian believers came with me and found that you weren’t ready after all I had told them! So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready. But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly.

Our Jerusalem: Our Spiritual Forefathers and Foremothers

Gratitude is the only response to grace.

The past two weeks we focused on being grateful to God for saving us from eternal punishment for our sin, and healing us from many of the consequences of life in a broken world. We cannot repay God for any of that. Our only response to a God that does the impossible in our lives, literally, the only thing we can do in response is to be grateful.

God doesn't work alone though. Almost every time he intervenes and rescues people, He works through other people.

The Apostle Paul wrote to several of the churches about the gospel message coming to them through preachers, teachers, healers, leaders, and many others all working together to show the big picture of what Jesus looks like in the world today.

God works through people, which means our gratitude should reach those people as well. The Church was born in Jerusalem and even if the Corinthians were not former Jews or had never been there, the message of Christ had come to them because of the faithfulness of people who were connected to the Church in Jerusalem.

Paul was asking them to support their parents and grandparents in the faith, in their time of need. Thankful giving begins with showing generosity to those who helped pave the way for us to meet Jesus. By that, I don't just mean pastors, I mean the people that served and invited, taught and led, prayed for you, and gave so that the gospel message would reach you when you needed it most.

Ardelle Giesenhagen obituary.

Not always generosity just in giving money.

That's what it means to give to your Jerusalem.

Generous Giving

2 Corinthians 9:6–10 NLT

Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

Our Judea and Samaria: Give Where You Are Growing

The Generous Farmer

The Big Question when it comes to giving is "How much?"

Paul teaches that here in two ways:

First he compares giving to a farmer planting seeds.

When we talk about planting seeds at church, we often think about evangelism or sharing Jesus with people outside the church. Paul was using this example a little differently though.

For real farmers, seed is a limited resource. If you use it all and something happens to the crop, you are left with nothing. If you don't plant enough, you won't make enough to feed your family and have enough seed left over to replant. Farmers are investors.

We have been blessed to be a blessing. God has invested in each one of us and we have the choice to give back generously and reap a bountiful harvest, or to hold back out of fear, selfishness, or laziness, and feel like we keep running out of blessing.

Paul reinforces that by quoting from Psalm 112, which is all about the way Godliness and Generosity go together.

Not just any generosity.

Joyful Generosity

Cheerful Generosity

Thankful Giving

God loves and wants us to become Thankful Givers!

Giving Forward with Gratitude

2 Corinthians 9:11–15 NLT

Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!

The Ends of the Earth: Giving Forward

Sometimes we are blessed and need to "Pay it forward"

Paying for the next customer at the drive through

Not hand-me-downs

What does it mean to invest generously in the lives of those who have not earned that relationship with you?

Making a disciple - passing on everything you know about Jesus to another person, through your words and actions, is one of the most generous things you can do, if Jesus really is the most valuable relationship in your life.

What does it look like to start where you are and let God lead you to make disciples beyond the horizon, preparing yourself for those you have not met yet?

How would you give to prepare yourself to help make disciples at the ends of the earth?

CTA

Thankful giving is a river of blessing that starts as a spring of living water and flows out to become an ocean through us all.

When we give as if we were connected into that flow, God will use us to give of our money, our time, our energy, our prayer, and everything else we have in a way that will far outdo the 10% tithe we use as a starting point.

Being a thankful giver changes the way we see ourselves and the blessings we have in our lives.

We have quite a few ways to help you connect into that flow of Thankful Giving:

If you are not a regular giver to our church, consider setting aside money each week or each month to give as an act of gratitude to God for working in your life.

If you are a regular giver, we want to say Thank You from our church, because we would not be able to continue the ministries we have without you. We are continually in need of volunteers to offer their services in a variety of ways and we would love to find a place for you to serve alongside us.

Remember that the church is not just the programs we offer, we are a family. Will you be generous with your prayers and willingness to build those relationships inside and outside your normal group of people you associate with regularly?