Building Community Through Generosity and Commitment
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "We see the church as the hope of the world. And so Lord, would you grant us the faith to continue to fight to believe that. Would you give us a depth of trust in you that we might learn to trust one another. Might we see opportunities to declare your grace and your goodness to the broader community knowing that we're not doing it alone. Knowing that you are doing something in our midst that you intend to bring out into the rest of our city, province, our country and around the world." [32:10]
2. "Being a part of a church is a really important thing for our spiritual walk. Being a part of a church is an important thing to know that we are living in our missional reality. Being a part of a church is something that should be a delight and a joy. And oftentimes it isn't. Oftentimes it isn't. Do you know why? Because the church is full of people. Right? And what's the problem with people? Sin. Sin's the problem. Right? But that's why we preach the gospel. We preach believing that God can do something inside of each of us." [34:58]
3. "Generosity brings about equality within the church, and that's the security of the church. It is then that it is able to be sustained. Generosity makes equality within the church possible. It makes sustainability within the church possible. It ensures that the church will survive disasters and transitions. Money is a powerful thing to those who have it, money is amoral. It's how we treat it, gives it morality. And too often, people use their money to gain power within the church, and that simply can't happen." [41:32]
4. "Jesus loved his church and loves his church. Jesus died for his church and provides for his church in order that his church might make his name known. How we live, how we live, will give testament to that reality or not. Even when we get it wrong, if we can just own it and not be defensive and not live in self-deception, we can experience more of the restorative grace of Jesus and make his resurrection known. When we're living it right, Jesus is glorified." [01:00:16]
5. "God's not asking us to be awesome. He's not asking us to be the best church in town. He's not asking us to do anything but be faithful, be faithful to what he's given us. He's given us everything we need. Jesus is in our midst. He's speaking God's truth to us. Jesus is in our midst. He's bringing us into the presence of the Father. Jesus is in our midst as our senior pastor, leading and guiding and directing his church in his name and for his glory according to his purposes. According to his priorities." [01:01:16]
### Quotes for Members
1. "We live in a culture where individualism is a greater value, a greater value than community. And there's almost a virtue in being connected to numerous churches. I've noticed that here. I haven't lived here for a very long time, but there is a movement within churches in Victoria. I wouldn't call it a competitive marketplace. I just think there's a time where people just shift and they leave and they try to do that quietly. And there's reasons to leave a church. Abuse would be one. A heretical or unbiblical teaching or preaching would be another. Or just simply being abandoned in your walk are good reasons to maybe think that I should find a different church. At the same time, when we do that, we find ourselves kind of limiting the degree of the commitment." [36:31]
2. "Paul is deeply concerned about that. He's basically saying to them, we need you to give, and I hope you can trust. See, the Corinthians may be convinced, okay, I need to be generous. We need to be generous. Paul has sent a group of men to be collecting. Collecting the generosity of the Corinthian church, and so they're looking and say, okay, we'll give this money. Can these guys be trusted? That is another great question. Can the church that I'm joining be trusted with my generosity? An incredibly important question, not as an excuse, but as an act of faith. There are untold stories of churches getting it wrong, moral failings of leaders, failure to protect vulnerable people, financial improprieties. Maybe you've seen certain pastors and preachers in the celebrity realm living lifestyles that seem so counter to this. If a pastor has a private jet, I think we can say that's wrong, right? I think we can say that's wrong. You never want to hear a leader say, just trust me. You never want to hear that. And if you do, you should leave." [43:00]
3. "We believe that every word of scripture is inspired, that it has intention. This seems incredibly practical and words just for that group of that church in Corinth in the first century. At the same time, what do we see here? For Paul, he is so concerned that the people in Corinth would trust the administration, would trust the organization. He knows that managing of money, managing money creates trust, and he's not willing to do anything to risk the gospel impact. So he speaks about how this is going to work. And what we can therefore conclude is that administration is important. And dare I say, even so, we are not willing to do anything to risk the gospel impact." [44:16]
4. "The structure allows us to know that no one person has centralized power, that no one person gets to make one call. We pray for our leaders. We look to them for guidance and direction. We learn to love and trust them. I'm learning that, and I've just been so blessed to work with our staff and to work with our board and to know that we all share the same heart for Jesus. Hard questions are asked. Sometimes emotions well up a little bit. Sometimes that tension to be defensive or angry gets there, and I remember, no, Jesus is working in our midst. No question needs to be a threat. No direction needs to be a challenge. No one, no one here has ulterior motives, and it's just wonderful and beautiful." [01:01:16]
5. "Paul is not willing to risk anything for the strength of his church that would besmirch the glory of Jesus. That the money collected was not to line his own pockets, was not to make his name great, but it was for the glory of Christ. That's what makes this stuff really matter. It's what makes it important. Jesus loved his church and loves his church. Jesus died for his church and provides for his church in order that his church might make his name known. How we live, how we live, will give testament to that reality or not. Even when we get it wrong, if we can just own it and not be defensive and not live in self-deception, we can experience more of the restorative grace of Jesus and make his resurrection known. When we're living it right, Jesus is glorified." [01:00:16]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "We see the church as the hope of the world. And so Lord, would you grant us the faith to continue to fight to believe that. Would you give us a depth of trust in you that we might learn to trust one another. Might we see opportunities to declare your grace and your goodness to the broader community knowing that we're not doing it alone. Knowing that you are doing something in our midst that you intend to bring out into the rest of our city, province, our country and around the world." [32:10]
2. "Being a part of a church is a really important thing for our spiritual walk. Being a part of a church is an important thing to know that we are living in our missional reality. Being a part of a church is something that should be a delight and a joy. And oftentimes it isn't. Oftentimes it isn't. Do you know why? Because the church is full of people. Right? And what's the problem with people? Sin. Sin's the problem. Right? But that's why we preach the gospel. We preach believing that God can do something inside of each of us." [34:58]
3. "Generosity brings about equality within the church, and that's the security of the church. It is then that it is able to be sustained. Generosity makes equality within the church possible. It makes sustainability within the church possible. It ensures that the church will survive disasters and transitions. Money is a powerful thing to those who have it, money is amoral. It's how we treat it, gives it morality. And too often, people use their money to gain power within the church, and that simply can't happen." [41:32]
4. "Jesus loved his church and loves his church. Jesus died for his church and provides for his church in order that his church might make his name known. How we live, how we live, will give testament to that reality or not. Even when we get it wrong, if we can just own it and not be defensive and not live in self-deception, we can experience more of the restorative grace of Jesus and make his resurrection known. When we're living it right, Jesus is glorified." [01:00:16]
5. "God's not asking us to be awesome. He's not asking us to be the best church in town. He's not asking us to do anything but be faithful, be faithful to what he's given us. He's given us everything we need. Jesus is in our midst. He's speaking God's truth to us. Jesus is in our midst. He's bringing us into the presence of the Father. Jesus is in our midst as our senior pastor, leading and guiding and directing his church in his name and for his glory according to his purposes. According to his priorities." [01:01:16]
### Quotes for Members
1. "We live in a culture where individualism is a greater value, a greater value than community. And there's almost a virtue in being connected to numerous churches. I've noticed that here. I haven't lived here for a very long time, but there is a movement within churches in Victoria. I wouldn't call it a competitive marketplace. I just think there's a time where people just shift and they leave and they try to do that quietly. And there's reasons to leave a church. Abuse would be one. A heretical or unbiblical teaching or preaching would be another. Or just simply being abandoned in your walk are good reasons to maybe think that I should find a different church. At the same time, when we do that, we find ourselves kind of limiting the degree of the commitment." [36:31]
2. "Paul is deeply concerned about that. He's basically saying to them, we need you to give, and I hope you can trust. See, the Corinthians may be convinced, okay, I need to be generous. We need to be generous. Paul has sent a group of men to be collecting. Collecting the generosity of the Corinthian church, and so they're looking and say, okay, we'll give this money. Can these guys be trusted? That is another great question. Can the church that I'm joining be trusted with my generosity? An incredibly important question, not as an excuse, but as an act of faith. There are untold stories of churches getting it wrong, moral failings of leaders, failure to protect vulnerable people, financial improprieties. Maybe you've seen certain pastors and preachers in the celebrity realm living lifestyles that seem so counter to this. If a pastor has a private jet, I think we can say that's wrong, right? I think we can say that's wrong. You never want to hear a leader say, just trust me. You never want to hear that. And if you do, you should leave." [43:00]
3. "We believe that every word of scripture is inspired, that it has intention. This seems incredibly practical and words just for that group of that church in Corinth in the first century. At the same time, what do we see here? For Paul, he is so concerned that the people in Corinth would trust the administration, would trust the organization. He knows that managing of money, managing money creates trust, and he's not willing to do anything to risk the gospel impact. So he speaks about how this is going to work. And what we can therefore conclude is that administration is important. And dare I say, even so, we are not willing to do anything to risk the gospel impact." [44:16]
4. "The structure allows us to know that no one person has centralized power, that no one person gets to make one call. We pray for our leaders. We look to them for guidance and direction. We learn to love and trust them. I'm learning that, and I've just been so blessed to work with our staff and to work with our board and to know that we all share the same heart for Jesus. Hard questions are asked. Sometimes emotions well up a little bit. Sometimes that tension to be defensive or angry gets there, and I remember, no, Jesus is working in our midst. No question needs to be a threat. No direction needs to be a challenge. No one, no one here has ulterior motives, and it's just wonderful and beautiful." [01:01:16]
5. "Paul is not willing to risk anything for the strength of his church that would besmirch the glory of Jesus. That the money collected was not to line his own pockets, was not to make his name great, but it was for the glory of Christ. That's what makes this stuff really matter. It's what makes it important. Jesus loved his church and loves his church. Jesus died for his church and provides for his church in order that his church might make his name known. How we live, how we live, will give testament to that reality or not. Even when we get it wrong, if we can just own it and not be defensive and not live in self-deception, we can experience more of the restorative grace of Jesus and make his resurrection known. When we're living it right, Jesus is glorified." [01:00:16]
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