Living a Life of Generosity
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Introduction
Introduction
I want to welcome you again this morning.
First, to those joining us online, we are so thankful for our online technology that allows you to be a part of our church family today.
I also want to welcome those who may be joining us for the first time today. I hope your time with us today is encouraging and helpful, and I look forward to meeting you.
I would also say if you are new to our church today, it would be helpful for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”. What that means, is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our goal, to better understand not only what God’s Word says, but what it means in our lives today.
Over the past couple of years we’ve been doing that through the NT book of Acts. A book written by a First Century disciple named Luke who wrote it for a couple of reasons:
First, to give us a history of how the church started, who was there, and the circumstances that surrounded it.
Second, in a way, to give us a template on how to accomplish the mission that Jesus gave us to take the gospel to the entire world. With that said, if you haven’t been with us I would encourage you to go online to http://www.mcf.life or to our Facebook page where you can watch previous messages.
Today however we are picking back up in Acts 20 as the Apostle Paul finishes out his time in Miletus and continues on towards Jerusalem.
You may recall Paul stopped in port city of Miletus in order to meet with a group of elders from the city of Ephesus before he sailed on towards Jerusalem.
And what we’ve learned, is that Paul wanted to meet with them in order to give them a final goodbye and some parting words.
A final goodbye speech that consisted of four sections.
The first section was a review or recounting of Paul’s history with the church at Ephesus as Paul reminds the church of how he approached and led them to faith in Christ.
The second section referenced Paul’s Spirit led journey and the difficulties he believed lied ahead.
The third section involved Paul’s words of warning for the church in Ephesus and the dangers they may face in the days to come, which is what we looked at last week.
And finally it will end with some final thoughts and a blessing as Paul prays for them and encourages them, which we will look at today.
But as we’ve discussed, not only is this a goodbye speech, it’s also meant to serve as a lifestyle model. A model of Paul’s faith journey. A model he hopes the church at Ephesus will be inspired to pattern their faith journey after.
That being said, if you haven’t been with us the last few weeks, I would encourage you to go online to www.mcf.life or our Facebook page where you can watch or listen to messages leading up to today.
Today, however we are going to finish out Paul’s goodbye speech as Paul gives the church at Ephesus some parting advice and some words of encouragement.
And so to get us started, I want to introduce this final section of Paul’s speech by asking you a few questions that I think will help set the stage for what he’s about to say.
That being said, here’s the first question:
Question #1 - How many of you would say that you enjoy hearing stories of generosity?
And what I mean be that is that you like watching something or hearing about how somebody extended help to someone in their time of need.
For example, I’ve shared this before, but one of my favorite television shows is the show “Under Cover Boss”. You know, the show where the owner or CEO of a company goes undercover in their own organization in order to gain greater insight and understanding into what’s happening in their organization.
And what I love about the show, is that in almost every episode, while undercover, they encounter circumstances they weren’t expecting, especially when it comes to the lives of some of their employees.
For instance, I recall a recent episode where a single mom was working full time in a particular chain company, trying to put herself through school, while at the same time making ends meet.
And the undercover CEO was so moved by her story, that at the end of the episode the CEO promoted her to a management position, provided funds for her to finish her degree debt free, while at the same time giving her $50,000.
Pretty amazing, right? And I don’t know about you, but when I watch stuff like that, it tugs at my heart strings and I get tears in my eyes as I experience the joy and happiness of that generous moment.
Anybody else with me on that?
Question #2 - How many of you would say you wish you could be more generous, but you just can’t.
And what I mean by that is that you wish there was nothing that inhibited you from being more generous.
Now, some might ask, “What would inhibit someone from being generous?”
To be honest, there could be a number of reasons a person can’t or isn’t generous:
For example, maybe you’d like to be more generous, but you struggle with letting go of what’s yours or what you've worked for.
In other words, you have a “accumulation” mentality. Meaning, what you have is yours and yours alone. You worked for it, you earned it, so it’s yours to keep. Some might even call it a stingy mentality. Meaning, you just don’t like to share what you have with others.
Or maybe you’d like to be more generous, but you have the “I can’t afford it” mentality. In other words, your budget is pretty tight and it just doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room.
Which begs to question why your budget is so tight.
Well, it could be that you just don’t have a lot of resources at your disposal. That’s possible. But maybe it’s more about how you hand or have handled your resources. In other words, maybe through unwise spending and purchases you’e accumulated debt that limits or keeps you from being generous.
Or maybe you’d like to be more generous, but you have the “scarcity” mentality. In other words, you’re afraid if your generous, there won’t be enough left to meet your needs.
Or maybe you’d like to be more generous, but you have the “I’m limited” mentality. In other words, your the person that would say, “If I had the resources I would be generous, but I just don’t have the resources to be generous.”
You see, there are a number of reasons we often fail to be generous. But what I find most interesting about our lack of generosity, is that while we often find or have reasons to not be generous, we love it when others are. Which is why we love shows like Undercover Boss.
Which lead us to one more question I’d like to ask you before we get to our passage today.
Question #3 - If you had unlimited resources and the ability to be generous, would you be?
I think most of us would probably answer yes to that question. Because if our resources were unlimited, there would be nothing to stop us from being generous, right? Why? Because we’d always have enough. We’d know that no matter how much we gave away, we’d never run out. With unlimited resources we’d always be able to afford to give.
Now, some might say, “Yeah, that sounds great pastor. But that’s just not the case. Because nobody has unlimited resources. So why are you even asking a question like that?”
I ask that question, because as we come back to Acts 20 today, Paul is going to focus in on a topic that not very many Christians like to talk about.
In fact, when pastors do talk about this subject, people tend to get upset.
For instance, I recently had somebody tell me they quit coming to MCF because last time they were here I talked about this subject matter. My response to them was, “Well, don’t come this week then, because I’m talking about it again.”
So, what’s the subject matter that tends to put people off? It’s the subject matter of “generosity”, and specifically how we spend and what we do with our money. A subject matter that forces us to consider how we manage our resources and challenges us to trust God in ways we typically don’t or haven’t.
That being the case, as we come back to Acts 20, I have four questions that I want to answer today when it comes to the subject matter of “generosity”.
Question #1 - Why it important to live a life of generosity?
In other words, why should we even strive to be generous?
Question #2 - What allows a Christian to live a life of generosity?
In other words, what gives us the freedom to live generously with no worries?
Question #3 - What did living a life of generosity look like for Paul?
In other words, based on what Paul is about to say, how did he live out a life of generosity?
Question #4 - What should living a life of generosity look like for us?
In other words, based on what we learn this morning, how should we live out a life of generosity?
So, with those questions as our basis, let’s jump back into Acts 20 and find out what Paul has to say about living a life of generosity. Picking up in verse 32 look at what he says:
32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
What I want you to notice first, is that as Paul wraps up his speech to the Ephesian elders, he now brings attention to the importance of living a life of generosity as he references several aspects of giving, which brings us to our first question today:
Question #1 - Why is important to live a life of generosity?
Based on what Paul says in his opening comments, I would answer that question like this:
Answer #1 - It’s important to live a life of generosity, because God has been exceedingly generous to us.
Look again at what Paul says in verse 32:
32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Paul begins his focus on generosity by pointing the Ephesian elders to the eternal inheritance they now have because of their faith in Jesus.
That’s what Paul is referring to when he says, “I commend you to God and to the word of his grace...”
The word of grace Paul is talking about here is the gospel. It’s the salvation that God provides through our faith in Jesus. Which he goes on to say, “…is able to build you up to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”
In other words, because of our faith in Jesus, we now have the promise of an eternal inheritance. An inheritance that we will receive when we are one day with the Lord either through our death or His return.
Paul puts it like this in Romans 8
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Paul says we are fellow heirs with Christ. Heirs of what? Heirs of His kingdom. A kingdom that has no end. A kingdom with no limit. A kingdom that one day we will rule and reign with Him.
So, why is it important we are generous? It’s important because we serve a generous God who through the gift of His Son has given us eternal life and an eternal inheritance.
Which leads us to the second question:
Question #2 - What allows a Christian to live a life of generosity?
Based on the inheritance we now have in Jesus, I would answer that question like this:
Answer #2 - We can live a life of generosity because God‘s resources are unlimited.
You see what we have to remember is while we have limited resources, God's resources are not limited. How do we know?
Well, just from an earthly perspective, listen to how God describes the resources that are at His disposal. Psalm 50:
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
In this verse God basically says, “I own every animal on the planet.” Which means God owns everything that breathes.
But it doesn’t stop at animals. Because he goes on to sayin Haggai 2:
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.
In this passage God goes on to say that along with everything that breathes, He owns all the gold and all the silver. In other words, He owns all the precious resources our wealth is based upon. It’s all His.
And just to makes sure we understand how far that goes, the Psalmist writes:
1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
God says everything on the planet from the animals, to the minerals, to those that dwell upon it, that’s you and me, are mine.
Do you know what that means? It means God is the Owner/CEO of all things in existence.
Which means, God has unlimited resources at His disposal. He’s the Undercover Boss.
Why is it so important we understand this? It’s important because if God has unlimited resources, and if we are heirs with Jesus, then we have access to those resources.
In other words, we serve of God who has the ability to give us anything we need. Which allows us then to be generous, knowing that God has the ability to resupply us.
We see an example of this in Philippians 4 as Paul writes to thank the Philippian church for the generosity they had extended to him. In verse 15 he writes:
15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
In this passage Paul acknowledges that the church at Philippi had been the only church that had financially supported him. And as a result he now has everything he needs.
He then goes on to thank them and in doing so reminds them that as a result of their generosity, God will supply every need that they have through the riches of Christ Jesus.
In other words, God is going to reward their generosity and resupply them with everything they need.
Which is why Christians should never be afraid to be generous. Because when we’re generous, when we extend generosity to others as God has extended it to us, God dips into his limitless resources and He resupplies our needs.
This now leads us to our third question:
Question #3 - What did living a life of generosity look like for Paul?
This is an important question for us to answer, because in my opinion, next to Jesus, Paul models the greatest example of what a life of generosity looks like. So, how did he live it?
Answer #3 - Paul lived a life of generosity that was 100% dependent on the limitless resources of God versus the limited resources of men.
Picking back up in Acts 20, look at what Paul goes on to say:
33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.
After reminding the elders of where generosity stems from, Paul now reminds the Ephesian elders of how he lived out the life of generosity.
Notice first what he says. He says that he coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.
In saying this Paul is doing a couple of things:
First, he’s referencing the material goods that so many people tend to put their hope in, which is why he mentions the gold and silver, which just like today, represents people’s wealth.
But he also mentions apparel, which in the 1st century was of high value. Especially clothing that had color or was made of valuable material like silk. You may recall back in Acts 16 we met a very wealthy woman named Lydia who was a dealer in purple cloth. A color that was reserved mostly for the wealthy.
All that to say, Paul mentions gold, silver, and apparel because these are the most valued possessions of the day.
Which leads us to the second reason Paul mentions this. Because in mentioning these items Paul makes the point of saying, “I coveted none of these items”.
In other words, Paul didn’t live his life for the purpose of earthly accumulation. Another way to say it would be, “Paul wasn’t materialistic”.
Which means, Paul didn’t spend his day browsing Amazon or the Facebook market place looking for useless stuff to buy. Not saying you’re a bad person if you do that either. It’s just that Paul didn’t have any desire to do that. Why?
Simply put, because Paul wasn’t living for the wealth of this life. For him, it had no long lasting value. Instead, he was always looking forward to the eternal rewards of the next life. In 2 Timothy 4 Paul puts it like this:
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Paul says he lived his life for the value of the life to come, knowing that his earthly labor would result in an eternal reward.
Now, does that mean that Paul didn’t see a purpose in material possessions? Of course not. But for him the purpose of material possessions was twofold.
First, to provide the necessary provision he would need to do the work of ministry.
Second, to be a blessing to others.
Look at how he puts it:
“You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities...”
In this passage Paul makes reference to how he obtained any income or possessions that he had. And for the most part, outside of the church at Philippi meeting some of his needs, Paul worked for what he had. That’s why he says, “These hands ministered to my necessities...”
But Paul didn’t just work for himself, because he goes on to say:
34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.
Paul says not only did he work to provide for his own necessities, but of the needs of others. What others? Well, in this case it was for those that traveled with him. People who were dedicated to ministering with him. People like Luke and Timothy.
But it didn’t stop there, because for Paul, if he had anything extra to give, he gave it those who had need. Paul puts it like this in Romans 15:
1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Paul says for those of us who have, we have an obligation to help those who are weak. In other words, Paul viewed excess resource as an opportunity to help others. Which means, Paul was extremely generous, even to his own detriment.
Because for Paul, leading people to Jesus was more important than collecting earthly goods or provision. In fact, listen to how he puts it to the church in Corinth:
11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?
Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
In this passage Paul reminds the Corinthians that while he had a right to receive pay for being a minister of the gospel, he had given up that right? Why? Because Paul didn’t want pay to be a condition for sharing the gospel with them. In other words, he wanted the Corinthians to know he was there for them and not their money.
All that to say, Paul’s view of material resources isn’t based on what man can give him, but on what God will provide as he faithfully shares the gospel and works to meet the needs of others.
In fact, we know that’s his viewpoint because as he closes out his thoughts on giving, Paul says this:
35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Paul says is should be apparent to all that his life has been about serving others. It’s been about following a giving principle that Jesus Himself gave us, that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
For Paul, this is what living a life of generosity looks like. And he was 100% sold out to it.
Which leads us to the final question:
Question #4 - What should living a life of generosity look like for us?
Now, at this point you might be thinking, “Boy pastor, I sure hope you’re not about to tell me my life of generosity needs to look like Paul’s life of generosity, because that’s pretty extreme.”
You’re right, it is extreme, and while it was Paul’s conviction to live at that level of generosity, that doesn’t mean we all need to live at that same level. However, the principles of generosity that Paul lived by do apply to all of us.
So, in order to answer the question of what a life of generosity should look like for us, I want to present you with three giving principles that the Bible would call us to live by:
Giving Principle #1 - The more I trust God with my resources, the more generous I will be.
This giving principle comes from the idea that in order to be generous, we must first learn to trust God with our finances. Because until we learn to trust God as our ultimate provider, it’s going to be difficult for us to be generous.
The question then is, “How do you do that? How do we learn to trust God with our money?”
I’m glad you asked that question, because the answer is simple and is based on one word. It’s called “The Tithe”.
If you’re not familiar with that term, the tithe means “a tenth” and is a Biblical concept that goes clear back to the book of Genesis.
We first see it in Genesis 14 as Abraham meets a priest named Melchizedek, that the Bible says was a priest of the Most High God.
Now, you might say, “Ok, so why is that important?” It’s important because when Abraham meets Melchizedek it comes right after a great victory and financial blessing that God had bestowed upon Abraham. And so as Melchizedek comes out to meet Abraham look at what happens:
17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Notice what the writer says. As Melchizedek comes out to meet Abraham and bless him, Abraham recognizes that God is the one who had given him victory, and so in response to that understanding, Abraham gives Melchizedek, the priest of the God Most High, a tenth of all the spoils.
Fast forward to Genesis 28 and we see another example of the tithe, but this time with Jacob, the grandson of Abraham as Jacob recognizes God is his provider, he makes a vow to God. Look at what he says:
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”
In this passage, like his grandfather Abraham, Jacob commits to giving God a tenth of everything he has.
And if we had the time today to go through the entire OT, we would see the tithe is mentioned over and over again as God challenges his people to give 10% of what they have back to Him.
Now, some might say, “Ok pastor I get it. But isn’t that an OT principle and not something that is required of NT Christians?” Sorry, but that would be a no. Because if we go to the NT, we see the tithe still active and alive in the NT.
In fact, Jesus Himself refers to it as he chastises the religious leaders of his day. Look at what Jesus says in Luke 11:
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
In this passage Jesus actually commends the religous leaders for their commitment to tithe, but condemns them for their lack of love towards others. My point being, in this passage Jesus upholds the tithe.
We also see Paul referencing it in 2 Corinthians 8 as he commends the church at Macedonia for their faithfulness to give. Look at what he says:
5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
In this passage Paul says they gave tot he Lord first, which is the tithe, and then they gave more, which in this case was money above and beyond the tithe. Which means the church at Macedonia was exceedingly generous. Paul puts it like this:
3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord,
Paul says, they are a generous church. They trust God with the tithe, and they even give beyond that.
All that to say, the tithe is a Biblical concept that is intended to do one thing. To teach us to trust God with our finances.
So, you might be thinking, “Ok Pastor, let me get this straight. Are you saying God wants me to give 10% of my paycheck to the church, and in doing so I’ll learn to trust God with my finances?”
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. That’s how God wants you to start learning to trust Him with your finances. To start operating on the principle that when you give 10% to His work, He can do more with 90% of your income than you can do with 100%.
And I can tell you right now, if you commit to tithe, it will bring nothing but blessing into your life. How do I know? I know based on what God says and from my own experience with tithing. Because here’s what God says about those who tithe versus those who don’t.
First, for those who tithe, God says this:
10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
God says when you tithe, He will bless you beyond measure.
However, He also says if you aren’t willing too tithe, willing to trust Him, it has the opposite affect. God puts it like this:
8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
What’s interesting about this passage, is that God says when we don’t trust Him financially, we are basically robbing Him. A theft that doesn’t bring blessing, but a curse.
And to be honest, I think that’s why a lot of Christians often struggle financially. Not because they don’t make enough money. But because they fail to trust God financially. They fail too tithe.
I know from my own experience that tithing has brought great blessing into Denise and I’s life. And as a result, the first thing I do when I get paid, before I pay any bill, is to give my tithe. In fact, I enjoy doing it because I know God is going to honor my trust in Him. And I can tell you this, Denise and I have never gone without.
Now, at this point, some of you might be thinking, “Pastor, there you go. Trying to get me to give more money to the church. I knew that’s what this church was all about.”
Listen, I’m not trying to get your money. All I’m trying to do is show you what the Bible says and what God asks of us. So, if anything, I’m challenging you to be be obedient. And what I really want for you is to experience the blessing of God that comes from that obedience.
Because the fact is, whether you give or not, God is going to take care of His church. The real question is, “Do you want to be a part of what He’s doing, and do you want to benefit from the blessings that come with it?”
This now leads us to our second giving principle:
Giving Principle #2 - The more generous I am, the more blessed I will be.
This principle comes directly from Paul’s quote of Jesus. And it’s the idea that if we want to live a blessed life, a life that God blesses, then I need to be committed to living generously. In other words, I need to be more committed to what I give versus what I receive.
And to be honest, I think this is a hard principle for American Christians to grasp, largely because we haven’t been conditioned to think this way. Instead most of us have been conditioned with a materialistic or consumer mindest. The idea that we are more blessed when we receive rather than when we give.
As as a result, when we are challenged to give more than we receive, we automatically go into a scarcity mindset, thinking if we give more than we receive, then we will be without.
So, why do we do that? We do it because forget who our actual provider is. We forget that we serve a God with unlimited resources
So, how do you overcome the scarcity mindset? You overcome it by adopting a new mindset. A mindset I call the “Harvest” mindset.
Another name for this would be “The Law of the Harvest”. And the law of the harvest operates off of three truths:
Truth #1 - I will reap what I sow.
In other words, whatever you plant, that’s what you end up producing.
For example, when you plant corn, you get corn. Or when you plant wheat, you get wheat. That’s true, right?
And what’s amazing is this farming truth applies across all of life.
For example, if you plant discord, you always reap discord in your life. If you plant immorality, you reap immorality in your life. If you plant joy, you get more joy. And the list goes on.
What that means then is, when you plant generosity, you reap generosity back into your life.
This leads then to a second truth:
Truth #2 - I will sow in one season and reap in another.
The idea here is that when we sow something, we typically don’t reap what we’ve sown until a later date.
For example, when you plant corn, you plan it in the Spring, but you don’t reap the harvest until the Fall. For wheat, you plant it in the Fall, but you don’t reap the harvest until the next summer.
The same is true when it comes to generosity. When we sow generosity into someone’s life, we don’t always see the benefit at first in our own life. But I can promise you, eventually it will come. The writer of Proverbs puts it like this:
25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.
This leads then to the third truth for the law of the harvest:
Truth #3 - I will always reap more than I sow.
Going back to our farming example, when you plant a corn seed, you end up with an ear of corn. Or when you plant a wheat seed, you end up with a stalk full of seed.
And the same is true of most everything in life. So, when it comes to generosity, when you sow generosity into somebody’s life, you can be sure that you will exponentially reap more generosity back into your own life.
Paul puts it like this in 2 Corinthians 9
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Paul says, the more we sow, the more blessing we reap.
And when I say blessing, I’m not just talking about financial blessing. Because through our generosity, God blesses us in a number of ways.
Which is why Jesus says, “It is more blessed to give than receive.”
This now leads us to a third and final giving principle for living a life of generosity:
Giving Principle #3 - The more blessed I am, the more I can be a blessing to others.
The fact is, the more we trust God financially, and the more He blesses us, the more we can bless others.
And this is exactly how Paul viewed generosity. Because for Paul, he saw himself as a vessel through which the blessings of God flowed. Which means, the more he was blessed, the more he could be a blessing.
Which quite honestly should be the motivation for our generosity. Not so much that we would be blessed, but that we would be able to bless others. So that when we see somebody in need, we would be able to respond to their need. We would be able to help that single mom. We would be able to give to that missionary. We would be able to meet that need. Paul puts it like this in Corinthians 9:
11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
Paul’s point here is that through God’s generosity in our lives, we can now be generous to others. But not only that, when we are able to be a blessing to others, it brings glory to God.
In other words, as God blesses us, and then we bless others, God gets the glory.
I recently experienced this in a personal way. Denise and I had been praying for something specifically. Something that was beyond our financial ability. And then out of nowhere, God brought somebody to us that provided the need. And not only provided it, but went above and beyond what we prayed for. The next morning I found myself on the floor here in the sanctuary weeping as I thanked the Lord for His provision.
You see, when we are blessed and we bless others, God gets the glory.
All that to say, while the blessings God gives us is for us, it’s for others as well, as God uses our blessing to advance the Kingdom and pay it forward.
So, those are our three giving principles:
Giving Principle #1 - The more I trust God with my resources, the more generous I will be.
Giving Principle #2 - The more generous I am, the more blessed I will be.
Giving Principle #3 - The more blessed I am, the more I can be a blessing to others.
The question now is, are you operating your life by these giving principles?
As we close this morning, I’d like to challenge you with that question.
Now, you might be thinking, “Here we go, Pastor Brad is going to challenge everybody to give more money to the church.”
To be honest, at this point, if you think that, then you’ve missed the entire point of this message. Because the point of this message isn’t to get you to give more money MCF or to anybody else for that matter. The point of this message is to show you what living a generous life for God looks like.
A life of generosity that begins as we learn to trust God with our resources, by tithing.
A life of generosity that then allows the blessings of God to flow into your life.
A life of generosity that then opens the door for you to be a blessing to others.
A life of generosity that now shines the light on the faithfulness and goodness of God.
That’s what I want for you this morning.
That being the case, I have two closing challenges for you to consider this morning.
Challenge #1 - Tithe Challenge
In your sermon notes you have a little card that ways “Tithe Challenge”. And on that card it says, “Take the 90 Day Tithe Challenge”.
Which implies exactly what it says. That for the next 90 days, if you’re not tithing or have never tithed, my challenge to you is to commit to giving 10% of your income for the next 90 days to the Lord.
So, what I’m really asking you to do is take a step of faith. A step of faith that might require you to change some spending habits. A step of faith that might require you to change some of your spending priorities. A step of faith that challenges you to put God first in your finances and trust that He can do more with 90% than you can do with 100% of your paycheck.
Because I believe if you’re willing to trust God like that. That God will respond. In fact, God actually challenges us to trust in like that. Look at how God Himself puts it:
10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
God says, “Test me. See if I’ll be true to my Word. See if I’ll bless you when you trust me.”
And listen, I know for some of you this is a big step. But it’s the next step you need to take in your journey of faith. Because it’s an area of your life that you’re not trusting God in. And it’s a big area. Because what it really challenges you to do is ask yourself this question, “Do I have more trust in what I can do or in what God promises He will do?”
So, if you’re up for the tithe challenge, I’m going to ask you to start today as you fill out that card, drop it in the bucket, and being to trust God in away you never have.
Challenge #2 - The Blessing Challenge
Maybe you’re here this morning, and you are somebody who tithes, and as a result you’ve experienced the blessings of God. My challenge to you today is to begin to extend that blessing to others.
To look for ways to bless others. To pray for opportunities for God to work through your blessings.
What does that look like? I don’t know. Maybe it’s as simple as buying somebodies groceries. Or maybe God directs you to give somebody $20. I don’t know what that will exactly look like for you. All I know, is if you ask God to allow you to be a blessing, God will provide the opportunity.
We have a couple in our church that operates like that. While I’d like to tell you who they are, I wouldn’t want to embarrass them. But they are constantly looking for ways to be a blessing.
In fact, not long ago, they heard of a need in our church. Somebody was without a vehicle. And so they went out, purchased a vehicle, and gave it to that person.
How could they do that? They could do it because over the years they’ve trusted God with the tithe, God has blessed them, and now the can be a blessing to others.
So, if God has blessed you, I’m challenging you today to be a blessing to others.
So, with our challenges out there, I’m going to ask the worship team and the ushers to come. And as we give to the Lord this morning, we are going to end our service by giving Him praise. By recognizing that
Let’s Pray