FINDING JOY IN GENEROSITY - 2 CORINTHIANS 9: 6-9

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 9)

6 The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. 9 As it is written: He distributed freely; he gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.

BIG IDEA: GENEROSITY BRINGS FORTH UNSPEAKABLE JOY.

WE ARE IN OUR THIRD WEEK OF OUR GENEROUS SERIES (LIVING TO GIVE).

WE’VE UNCOVERED HOW DOING GOOD (AS JESUS LIVED AND DID), IS A SPIRITUAL ACT TOWARDS OTHERS, INVOLVING BEING GENEROUS...

WE DISCOVERED HOW EASY IT IS TO FALL INTO STINGY LIVING: ALLOWING THE FEAR OF POVERTY TO QUENCH OUR GENEROSITY...

TODAY, I’D LIKE US TO SETTLE IN ON THOSE GIVING OR GENEROUS ISSUES THAT MAKE FOLK FALL OUT WITH THE CHURCH… YEAH, TODAY, I WANT US TO LOOK AT “HOW MUCH WE GIVE,” “HOW CONSISTENTLY WE GIVE,” “OUR ATTITUDES WHEN GIVING,” AND “HEALTHY EXPECTATIONS GIVERS SHOULD POSSESS...”

THERE IS A JOY - A LEVEL OF FULFILLMENT AND PURPOSE THAT AWAITS THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO LIVE GENEROUSLY - THOSE WHO EVEN CHOOSE TO BE FAITHFUL TO THEIR LOCAL CHURCH ASSEMBLY, BY GIVING AT A LEVEL THAT MODELS TRUST AND OBEDIENCE...

2 CORINTHIANS 9 IS A CHAPTER ON READINESS! SOMEBODY SAY READINESS! PAUL WANTS THE BELIEVERS AT CORINTH TO GET READY, SO THAT WHEN THE COLLECTION REACHES THEM, THEY WILL GIVE AT A LEVEL THAT MATCHES THEIR INTIMACY AND THEIR INCOME. CATCH THAT BELOVED: THEIR INTIMACY WITH GOD, AND THEIR INCOME FROM GOD. IT’S ABOUT READINESS...

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 9)

3 But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter would not prove empty, and so that you would be ready just as I said. 4 Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be put to shame in that situation. 5 Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion.

THEIR GIFT WAS DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED TO THEIR INTIMACY AND TO THEIR INCOME. AND PAUL WANTS THEM TO BE READY!!! READY FOR WHAT? READY TO GIVE!!! BECAUSE IF THEY AREN’T READY OR IF THEIR GIFT IS NOT AT THE LEVEL THAT THEY THEMSELVES KNOW IT SHOULD BE, THEN (AS PAUL) SAYS, “THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES...”

BELOVED, ARE YOU READY TO GIVE?

NOW AS THE TEXT PROGRESSES, PLEASE NOTE THAT PAUL’S LANGUAGE ISN’T LIMITED TO THIS ONE OFFERING - THIS ONE CAMPAIGN - NO…HE’S SPEAKING ABOUT HOW WE ARE TO LIVE TO GIVE...

6. THE POINT IS THIS: THE PERSON WHO SOWS SPARINGLY WILL ALSO REAP SPARINGLY, AND THE PERSON WHO SOWS GENEROUSLY WILL ALSO REAP GENEROUSLY.

HERE IS WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD: DON’T EXPECT A PLENTIFUL HARVEST WITH PITIFUL SEEDS!!!

I FELT THAT: SOME FOLKS CLUTCHED PEARLS, PURSES, AND WALLETS! IT’S ALL GOOD!

THE PRINCIPLE IN THIS PASSAGE IS SPIRITUAL AND UNIVERSAL: IF YOU RELEASE A LITTLE, YOU WILL RECEIVE LITTLE! IF YOU RELEASE A LOT, YOU WILL RECEIVE A LOT!

SO, AS LONG AS YOU KNOW, SO THAT YOUR EXPECTATIONS ARE ACCURATE!!

YOU SEE, GENEROSITY TAPS INTO OUR VERY FAITH! AS WE TRUST GOD TO “DO GOOD” FOR OTHERS AND FOR MINISTRIES THAT DO GOOD, WE POSITION OURSELVES TO BE PARTNERS IN THE WORK THAT GLORIFIES GOD! THAT MAKES OUR FINANCES GOOD SOIL! GOD WILL ENSURE THAT WE ARE CONTINUALLY BLESSED, SO THAT THIS CYCLE OF FAITHFUL GIVING IS CONTINUED....

A famous philanthropist was once asked, "How are you able to give so much and still have so much?" "Well," the generous man replied, "as I shovel out, He shovels in and the Lord has a bigger shovel than I have."

BUT, THE AVERAGE BELIEVER SOWS STINGILY! YUP. WEEKLY OR MONTHLY GIVING ISN’T EVEN A PERCENTAGE OF THEIR INCOME. AND AS A RESULT, THEY’RE ALWAYS HUSTLING. ALWAYS COUNTING. CHECKING THE ACCOUNT MULTIPLE TIMES PER DAY. ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THE NEXT COME UP!

NOT REALIZING THAT THERE IS A PEACE TO A LIFE LIVED (AS PAUL HAS JUST DECLARED), WHERE OUR GENEROSITY DOES ALL THE FIGHTING! OUR GENEROSITY DOES ALL THE HAGGLING! OUR GENEROSITY DOES ALL THE HUSTLING.

WE BORROW TROUBLE, SIMPLY BECAUSE WE CHOOSE STINGINESS OVER GENEROSITY!

Give according to your income, SO THAT GOD WON’T MAKE your income according to your giving. - Peter Marshall.

AWW GOD, THE TEXT IS MOVING: 7. EACH PERSON SHOULD DO AS HE HAS DECIDED IN HIS HEART - NOT RELUCTANTLY OR OUT OF COMPULSION, SINCE GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER.

I WANT TO BE CLEAR. I WANT TO GO ON SCRIPTURAL RECORD: YOU GET TO CHOOSE! YOU GET TO CHOOSE THE RECIPROCAL NATURE OF YOUR FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

IF WE WERE TO GLANCE BACK AT CHAPTER 8, PAUL IS CLEAR WHEN HE SPEAKS ABOUT GIVING: VS. 8 - I AM NOT SAYING THIS AS A COMMAND… VS. 10 AND IN THIS MATTER I AM GIVING ADVICE BECAUSE IT IS PROFITABLE FOR YOU....

YOU GET TO CHOOSE!!!

You determine the AMOUNT!

God determines if it’s ACCEPTABLE! —

EACH PERSON SHOULD DO AS HE/SHE HAS DECIDED (WHERE) IN YOUR HEART...

GOD AIN’T GONNA FALL OUT WITH YOU ABOUT YOUR GIVING...

AND NO LONGER WILL I, AS YOUR PASTOR!

MEMBERS GIVE AT CHILD-LEVEL GIVING, AND WATCH THIS, IF THAT’S WHAT YOU PURPOSE, THEN IT’S WITHIN YOUR RIGHTS AS A CHILD OF GOD!

A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church "Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself," she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. "Well," said the little girl, "I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I'd be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did."

THERE IS TO BE NO MANIPULATION IN REGARDS TO GIVING...

MEMBERS ARE NOT TO BE MADE TO FEEL LESS THAN.

SO LET’S REVIEW VS. 7:

GOD WANTS US TO BE GENEROUS! GENEROSITY

GOD WANTS US TO DECIDE TO BE GENEROUS! SPONTANEITY

GOD WANTS US TO BE GLAD WE ARE GENEROUS! CHEERFULLY

HERE’S OUR FIRST MOVEMENT: GUARD YOUR EXPECTATIONS (VS.6)

GIVE LIBERALLY, SPONTANEOUSLY & CHEERFULLY (VS. 7) - THAT’S OUR SECOND MOVEMENT.

Y’ALL I’M ALMOST FINISHED, VS. 8 - AND GOD IS ABLE TO MAKE EVERY GRACE OVERFLOW TO YOU, SO THAT IN EVERY WAY, ALWAYS HAVING EVERYTHING YOU NEED, YOU MAY EXCEL IN EVERY GOOD WORK....

HERE IT IS:

WATCH GOD WORK!

WHEN WE FULLY EMBRACE GENEROSITY, GIVING AT THE LEVEL WE KNOW WE’RE CAPABLE OF GIVING - CONSISTENTLY AND LIBERALLY POURING OUT OF WHAT GOD HAS POURED INTO US…ALL WE’VE GOT TO DO IS TO SIT BACK AND WATCH:

GOD WILL:

POUR OUT OVERFLOW 8 And God is able to make every grace overflow to you

PROVIDE WHAT YOU NEED (AND THEN SOME) so that in every way, always having everything you need,

PROMOTE YOUR WORK you may excel in every good work.

THE LORD WANTS TO MAKE YOU LOOK GOOD, AND WE ARE TO PARTNER WITH HIM IN THE PROCESS - GIVE HIM SOMETHING TO WORK WITH! SOW SEED THAT DEMONSTRATES YOUR FAITH IN HIS ABILITY TO REPRODUCE!!!

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 8)

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 2)

5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.And when he had come as a man,8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.

HE DIED…BUT HE DIDN’T STAY DEAD! WHAT HE GAVE UP WAS RESTORED AND RENEWED...