Generosity: A Heartfelt Response to God's Grace

1) "Jesus didn't overcomplicate the Bible. We do that as people, okay? Jesus said to love God and to love people. It's not always easy. I mean, loving God can be easy. Loving people really depends on who you're trying to love, okay? We got good days. We got bad days. And sometimes you just want to punch some people in the face, all right? I get it. Real talk. No judgment whatsoever. And that's a huge part of what we do here at our church. We want you to, first and foremost, love God. Fall in love with Jesus and have a relationship with him. But allow that love to extend to people." [48:57] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "And as Pastor also said, we want our faith to grow. We want to grow in faith. We want to experience what faith in Jesus looks like. But then we want to have an overflow of faithfulness in our lives. Because it's one thing to have faith. It's one thing to believe in God and make sure that you're good. It's another thing to take that faith and allow it to overflow into faithfulness so that it impacts the people in our lives. Our friends. Our family. People that God puts in our lives every single day." [49:29] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "Their giving was a result of their thankfulness to God for all God had done for them. You see, they were reminding themselves, and yeah, that's exciting. We're going to have a lot of opportunities to respond today, but these people, their response and generosity was because of their thankfulness first to what God had already done in their life. You know what? Yes, they lived in the here and now. They lived, they lived with the everyday life and the struggles and the things that came their way, but they also lived with every opportunity that came their way because not only did they live in the present, but they constantly looked forward to the when and then and what was coming." [54:05] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "They realized their opportunity to be a blessing in any way they possibly could. Where they weren't blessed financially, where they weren't blessed socially, I'm telling you what, they saw themselves blessed spiritually because with God, and having a relationship with Jesus, they knew that that's all that they needed. They were saved, they were rescued, and they had a desire to invest. Somebody say invest. In other people's lives." [56:45] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "They not only gave what they could afford, but far more, Paul says. But here's the thing. Paul says, and they did it of their what? Not because they were guilted into, not because they had to, not because they were forced to, but because they realized that it was a privilege that they got to invest in other people. And so they did it with their own decision as a step. Verse four says, they begged us. Could you imagine? Could you imagine? They were in this season of poverty in their life and they were begging, Paul says, us again and again for the what? For the privilege of sharing in the gift, for the privilege of sharing in the gift, for the believers in Jerusalem." [58:23] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "And as followers of Jesus here today, as Christians, we are told in the Bible that giving, generosity is a part of our growth in our relationships. It's a part of our relationship with Jesus. It's a part of our worship and devotion to Jesus. Not because somebody asked you to, not because somebody's trying to pull in your heartstrings, but because it is a step of obedience in our worship to God who has given his all to us through his son, Jesus Christ. Amen?" [01:02:00] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "Because never forget again, as followers of Jesus, just like these people, in the church of Macedonia, giving is also our response to God's grace towards us. If we're here today, living and breathing here in this room, watching online means God's got a plan for your life. You're here for a reason. God's given you another blessed day to live out the plan and purpose that he has for your life. That's grace that we're extended every single day that you and I don't deserve. And so when we give our time, talent, and treasure, when we give out of a posture of generosity, we are responding to what God has already freely given to us. And that's grace." [01:04:14] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "When you really think about it, I get it, not everything's together. And I don't know everybody's story here in this room, but how blessed are we today? How blessed are we saved and rescued through Jesus? If you're excited about that, put your hands together. Come on now. Pastor says it all the time, but God really is doing, doing amazing things in our church. And he's doing his best things through you, through our church. There are a hundred of us, hundreds of us who've already locked arms with Granny United, even on this campus, watching online that give, as I said earlier, their time, their talents and their treasure." [01:06:21] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9) "Because in God's word, it says, bring all the tithes into the store. So that there will be enough food in my temple. If you do, if you bring those tithes, if you bring that giving, says the Lord of heaven's armies, I will open up the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great, you won't have enough room to take it in. Try it and put me to the test. Man, I encourage you to stretch yourself. Stretch yourself. And what's that step that you need to take and not because I said it, not because some pastor said it. God says, watch what I do in and through it. Amen." [01:16:12] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)