Consecration Sunday: Embracing Generosity and God’s Abundance

Now, giving is a spiritual thing. It's a spiritual act. It's not a financial transaction. I've said that a lot this year. Not just during the stewardship campaign, but as we prepared for offering. Because sometimes we can think about it like, well, we come to church and we pay our dues. And we get something in return. And we do get something in return, but we should not be viewing it as this sort of transactional kind of faith. We give because God has called us to give. [00:52:06] (31 seconds)  #GivingAsSpiritualAct

We give because God has called us to give. Paul says, Each of you must give as you've made up your mind. This isn't about arm twisting or guilt. It's about discernment and trust. You know your situations. You know your life and faith and what you can do. This isn't about arm twisting. This is about growing in faith. [00:52:33] (23 seconds)  #GenerosityChangesLives

Think about it more like this. And those of you who don't know, which are very few of you, I'm a new grandparent this year. But those of you, think about giving gifts to your children or your grandchildren or your loved ones. You know, and you may put a lot of effort and thought into something. And when you, When you do that, you're not doing it, expecting something in return, are you? You're giving that gift because you love them. And it brings you joy. It brings you joy and happiness to be able to give those gifts. [00:53:19] (37 seconds)  #JoyfulGiftOfLove

Now, another thing we've talked about is that God's economy is built on abundance, not scarcity. And that's really hard for us as human beings. And that's really hard for us as human beings to get away from. But we need to begin to understand that we worship a God of abundance. We live in this world that often tells us there's not enough. There's only so many resources that we have. We've only got so much time. We've only got, you know, so much money and it never seems to be enough. [00:53:57] (31 seconds)  #GodsEconomyOfAbundance

But the key thing I want you to see that is Jesus gives the abundance but he gives it to us to distribute if we trust in God. If we trust in God, God will bring the harvest in abundance and then what happens in what happens when we develop and and begin to tend to our generosity and develop these generous hearts that our generosity is going to change lives hours and others are giving enables God's good work in the world. [00:55:57] (40 seconds)  #GenerosityTransformsHearts

It's that abundance when we see scarcity. God's got great plans for us here at Hickory flat. I know that and so we are going to continue to impact our church in our community and all the this little piece of real estate that God has placed us in. So we're going to continue to do the things that our church has done to do ministry. God, I know is blessing and is going to continue to blessing. But here's what else happens. It changes us. Generosity also forms our hearts. It makes us more like Christ. Christ. the one who gave everything for us through our generosity. [00:57:17] (47 seconds)  #ConsecrationForGenerosity

But I really think a better term for this day is Consecration Sunday. Consecration Sunday. You know, what consecration is? It's when we, as a church, call something or some event and consecrate it for God's holiness. What we're doing as we come to the altar this morning, we're asking God's holiness, God's spirit to be upon these gifts that we are pledging, that we're estimating, that we're promising here for the next day. That God will teach us, to be more generous givers, and that God will take out of, you know, our stewardship, our offerings, to cause an abundance that will impact our community, our lives, and beyond. [00:58:47] (57 seconds)  #FaithfulGivingWithTrust

What we're doing as we come to the altar this morning, we're asking God's holiness, God's spirit to be upon these gifts that we are pledging, that we're estimating, that we're promising here for the next day. That God will teach us, to be more generous givers, and that God will take out of, you know, our stewardship, our offerings, to cause an abundance that will impact our community, our lives, and beyond. [00:59:09] (36 seconds)  #BlessedAssuranceInGiving

It's a wonderful church, and we have a great future together. And so, and take as long as you need. Take as long as you need. We can sing extra verses, right, Melanie? We're going to sing a blessing. Blessed assurance as we come for that. And so, just come, as you will, to the altar. [01:02:15] (19 seconds)  #PeacefulSending