Embracing God's Invitation: The Art of Giving

"Truth of the matter, it was a couple years ago that one of our members of our church who coaches one of the local high school teams, I went to go watch him and his team play in the Texas playoffs. As him and the team were playing that particular day, it was a back-and-forth game. As a matter of fact, at the end of the game, there was one play left. I watched him as he began to coach the team, as he began to give them instructions. He called them to the sideline, pulled out his whiteboard, and began to draw up a play for the team. And then he kept repeating this to his team. We are going to win this game. He said it again. We are going to win this game. Over and over again, he kept saying, we are going to win this game. And then he looked at one player in particular and said, listen, you're going to take the final shot, and you're going to make the shot. All of that happened. And I watched as they would blow the whistle. The team would execute the play. And just like the coach said, that very player would get the ball, they would execute, and they would win the game to go on to the next level of the playoffs." [00:42:34] (60 seconds) Edit Clip


"In a very, very, very, very real sense, that's exactly what's happening in today's text. Paul is writing to the Corinthian church, and he's trying to help them to understand how to win in serving and honoring God. He writes to them and draws up a play that's laid out in those first seven verses. He is now calling the Corinthian church to live out their faith in a real and meaningful way. He is calling this church to give in a way that honors God faithfully. He gives them a whole strategy, a whole plan on how they can honor God well in their lives. Just like that Corinthian church, our church, is in this unique season called Touching Tomorrow, where we are investing strategically in the future of our church, where we are deciding that we, in our 50th year, when some churches can sometimes say that their best years are beyond them, but yet God in his faithfulness to our church is allowing us to go into our 50th year and say, God, we are dreaming about another tomorrow even greater than today." [00:105:06] (72 seconds) Edit Clip


"Grace means that we are managers, that we don't own anything, we are managers. The Bible puts it this way in Deuteronomy 8 and 18. Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth. Leviticus 25, 23 says, the land is mine, you are but aliens and my tenants. We are managers and it all belongs to God. That car, that house, those clothes, that iPhone, the iPad, the TV, the furniture, the purse that you carried in, the shoes on your feet, it all belongs to God. Amen. It belongs to Him. We give gracefully." [00:269:34] (49 seconds) Edit Clip


"I remember a time when me and one of my daughters were headed to McDonald's. While they're at McDonald's, we went up to the counter, began, I put in my order. Then I said to her, order whatever you want. And of course, she ordered her Happy Meal with a cheeseburger. And then when the Happy Meal came, we sat down there at that McDonald's and began to enjoy our food. And as we began to enjoy our food, I finished mine and I reached over to get a french fry. And upon reaching over to get a french fry, a wall was put up that blocked me from getting the french fry. And I thought to myself, little girl, you must not understand that I bought the whole meal. I bought the clothes on your back, the shoes on your feet. I didn't go all the way hard, but in my mind, I didn't want to break a little heart. But in my mind, I said, little girl, don't you know better than to block your french fries for me? I gave you everything that you had. We have to be careful because sometimes we try to block God in our giving. When we don't understand, don't you dare block God from your french fries? Because God gave us everything that we had. He got you through school. He helped you get a good job. He blessed your career. He kept your mind. He kept your health. He blessed your family. He blessed your company. He blessed your business. He blessed you over even when we made mistakes. It was the grace of God that allowed us to recover and allowed us to learn some tough lessons. But thanks be to God, we give gracefully." [00:318:27] (97 seconds) Edit Clip


"That in the midst of their trials, they've also got this joy and joy is a joy. Joy is a deep seated confidence that no matter what happens in my life, God will either use it for my good or for his glory. In other words, they got some situations, but they still got their joy. They got some trials, but they still got their joy. They've had some pain, but they still got some joy. They've had some questions, but they still have their joy. In other words, this joy that they have, the world didn't give it to them and the world can't take it away. Somebody in the room can testify because that's your story. You, you've got a joy on the inside that no matter what happens in the White House, you know, God's going to take care of your house. You, you've got a joy joy on the inside that no matter what the diagnosis is, no matter what happens in the start." [00:577:26] (61 seconds) Edit Clip


"market, no matter what happens with your boss, no matter what happens in the dock, you've got a joy on the inside that you say everything is going to be all right. I'm holding on to God because God is holding on to me. The text says they got an overflowing joy. I like that because overflowing means it can't be contained. It means you've got so much joy that when you try to put a top on it, it just bubbles out the outside. It just comes over the edges. It just flows out of the container. You can't contain it because what God has done in your life don't make sense. You can't contain it because every time you start counting God's blessings in your life, even with your trial, your good days outweigh your bad days, and you made up in your mind, I won't complain because the joy of the the Lord is my strength. The Lord is my strength." [00:637:09]

"That God is not waiting on you to have the perfect situation and then say, okay, now I can be generous to God. Yes, but you learn how to honor God where you are, and when you honor God where you are, God can bless and guide us from there. If you wait and say, well, you know, if I win the lottery, I'm going to bless the Lord. And when I win that lottery, I promise you, I'm going to give something to God. That's not how we think. How we ought to think is, God, help me to honor you where I am. Help me to be generous where I am because I know, God, that you deserve all of it. I love this text. Look at what it says. They gave beyond their means. That's the word dynamis. It's the word power, ability. It means they gave beyond their own ability. They couldn't do it in their own. So if they couldn't do it under their own power, what power were they giving out of?" [00:893:90] (64 seconds) Edit Clip


"if their power was not enough, if they had to give beyond their own ability, beyond their whole power, I want to suggest to you that it was the Holy Spirit power that allowed them to give the way that they gave. Friends, the Holy Spirit just doesn't show up to make you talk a certain way, to make you act a certain way. No, the Holy Spirit empowers your whole Christian life. It gives you power to give beyond what you thought you could do because you know God is moving in every aspect of your life. Spirit -filled giving. Spirit -filled living." [00:958:28] (44 seconds) Edit Clip


"On their own is a growing evolution that the more mature and responsible one becomes, the more they can do stuff on their own. And when this text, this church in the text is a church that does it on their own, they are willing, they are so mature that they are not having to be asked, no, the text will actually say this, they begged to be a part of what God was doing. They were so aware of God's work in their lives that they did not want to be left out of this effort because they said, listen, we want to be a part of what God is doing. I love that word. They are eager. They begged to be a part of what God is. They said, listen, we're not sitting this out. We're not going to miss this out. We want to be a part of what God is going to do." [00:1171:29] (51 seconds) Edit Clip


"You've been locked up in sin, and you've been locked up in some bad habits and locked up in some bad ways and locked up in some bad relationships. And when Jesus has set you free, you can't help. You jump in two. You want to give, too, because you've seen how good God has been to you. You are eager to give because you've seen how God has worked in your own life, friends. Here is the reality. We don't have to. We get to. We get to. We get to invest in the kingdom of God. We get to invest in the next season of life of this church. We get to get to be a part of God as he changes life in the life of our church. We get to be a part of 800 people being baptized in the last 26 months. We get to be a part of our church impacting our city and community. We get to." [00:1271:45]

"Notice what he says to them. He says, I've looked at your life and I've seen how excellent you are. He says, I've looked at your life and I've seen how your faith is excellent and your speech, how you communicate is excellence. And your knowledge, you've got degrees and advanced degrees, you're excellent. And how earnest you are, your effort and your diligence in life. He said, I've seen how you love each other. He says, excellence is written all over you. He says, now I want to call you up to be excellent in your giving. He said, I know you can do it because I've seen how you've done it in other parts of your life. He says, I've seen you how you show up on your job. I've seen you how you try to put your kids in the best situations so they can grow in their faith. I've seen you as you've coached your kids on little league teams. I've seen you of how you tried to take care of everything God has put in your hands. But he says, now I'm trying to call you to excellence in giving. He said, I want you to go." [00:1637:62] (64 seconds) Edit Clip