Generosity: A Joyful Act of Faith and Trust
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "People are hungering for an engagement and experience with something spiritual. Coming out of COVID, there is a surprising, as one person has put it, rebirth of belief in God. Okay? In scholarship, those who once may identify, may be identified as what, were called new atheists. That was this kind of movement of atheism being reborn in the 2000s, really coming out of 9-11. Many of those who were the foremost thinkers are now rethinking whether or not that's a healthy way to live as an atheist and whether or not it's even true. And stories are being told of even conversions taking place." [33:59]
2. "We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like. Right? That's what greed is. We're set free from materialism. That is the security that comes from accumulation. If you had decided 20 years ago to invest in self-storage, you would be a wealthy person today. Right? Why? Because people can't give up their stuff. So we're building buildings and charging them rent to store their stuff. Okay? We should get rid of it. If you haven't touched it in three months, get rid of it." [57:28]
3. "Generosity is freedom. It's what liberates us from greed and materialism. Generosity is what produces in us a joy that our money cannot give us or that what our money can buy cannot give us. One pastor puts it like this. Joy in something else had severed the root of joy in money. That the Macedonians had been freed by joy to give to the poor. But where did this powerful, unearthly joy come from? The answer is that it came from the grace of God." [52:43]
4. "God doesn't need your money. He doesn't. I say that as a pastor, okay? God doesn't need your money, but what God can do with our generosity is incredible, is mind-blowing. And the work that he does, first of all, happens in me, in us. That as we choose to be generous, God shows us a depth of faith and joy that we may not have known before." [39:50]
5. "We are identifying like Christ when we are able to free ourselves from riches. Jesus, who was rich, became poor so that by our poverty, we might become rich. And that's how he sets us free. In him there is no lack. Problem is, is that we don't know Jesus is all we need until Jesus is all we have. So as Christians, we don't necessarily take a vow of poverty, but we find ourselves cherishing and resting in everything that Christ has given us in the gospel. An inheritance, a hope, a peace, a contentment now." [59:15]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Churches are healthiest and their culture is shaped by the gospel. And that's what we're kind of seeing. And this is what's making a difference in the world that we live in." [33:26]
2. "Generosity that honors Jesus results in faithfulness. It begins with an awareness of grace, not guilt. It continues in an expression of joy, not emotionalism. And it results in the contentment of faithfulness, not self-congratulation. The church is the only place where this can happen. Church is the only place where we come from diverse backgrounds with diverse ages, with diverse ethnicity, with diverse bank accounts and we say we are all equal in this place. That Jesus is the one to be glorified. That he is to be worshiped. That it's the only place where we can identify and reject comparison." [01:03:51]
3. "What Paul is saying is this, you can be generous because Jesus has already given you everything. When we have an eternal hope, when we know that heaven belongs to us, when Jesus says, I'm going to prepare a place for you, I'm going to give you a mansion, he means it. And so then I can step out and I don't need to have it all now. If you don't have Christ, you have to get it all now. But if you do have Christ, you don't. And you can give it away and experience a joy that is a freedom that only Jesus can give you. Did you notice this? Generosity makes us like Christ." [57:53]
4. "Christian generosity is a depth of love and zeal for others sourced in Christ. It's not about paying bills. It's about loving people. It's about worshiping Christ. Christian generosity happens when grace comes down, our joy rises up, and our generosity flows out. That's it. When we're so aware of what Christ has given us, and our response is happiness, generosity comes. And it's completed when we look for that in our lives." [01:01:43]
5. "Paul shows us that it's not the amount that we give, it's the faithfulness by which we give it. That the completion of generosity is simply faithfulness. God doesn't need your money. But what he does with our faithfulness is profound and it's beautiful. We hope that when we give that the church and our community will be blessed, yet we also know that the most significant change in giving happens inside of each one of us. That the greatest work of generosity is in me." [01:02:25]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "People are hungering for an engagement and experience with something spiritual. Coming out of COVID, there is a surprising, as one person has put it, rebirth of belief in God. Okay? In scholarship, those who once may identify, may be identified as what, were called new atheists. That was this kind of movement of atheism being reborn in the 2000s, really coming out of 9-11. Many of those who were the foremost thinkers are now rethinking whether or not that's a healthy way to live as an atheist and whether or not it's even true. And stories are being told of even conversions taking place." [33:59]
2. "We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like. Right? That's what greed is. We're set free from materialism. That is the security that comes from accumulation. If you had decided 20 years ago to invest in self-storage, you would be a wealthy person today. Right? Why? Because people can't give up their stuff. So we're building buildings and charging them rent to store their stuff. Okay? We should get rid of it. If you haven't touched it in three months, get rid of it." [57:28]
3. "Generosity is freedom. It's what liberates us from greed and materialism. Generosity is what produces in us a joy that our money cannot give us or that what our money can buy cannot give us. One pastor puts it like this. Joy in something else had severed the root of joy in money. That the Macedonians had been freed by joy to give to the poor. But where did this powerful, unearthly joy come from? The answer is that it came from the grace of God." [52:43]
4. "God doesn't need your money. He doesn't. I say that as a pastor, okay? God doesn't need your money, but what God can do with our generosity is incredible, is mind-blowing. And the work that he does, first of all, happens in me, in us. That as we choose to be generous, God shows us a depth of faith and joy that we may not have known before." [39:50]
5. "We are identifying like Christ when we are able to free ourselves from riches. Jesus, who was rich, became poor so that by our poverty, we might become rich. And that's how he sets us free. In him there is no lack. Problem is, is that we don't know Jesus is all we need until Jesus is all we have. So as Christians, we don't necessarily take a vow of poverty, but we find ourselves cherishing and resting in everything that Christ has given us in the gospel. An inheritance, a hope, a peace, a contentment now." [59:15]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Churches are healthiest and their culture is shaped by the gospel. And that's what we're kind of seeing. And this is what's making a difference in the world that we live in." [33:26]
2. "Generosity that honors Jesus results in faithfulness. It begins with an awareness of grace, not guilt. It continues in an expression of joy, not emotionalism. And it results in the contentment of faithfulness, not self-congratulation. The church is the only place where this can happen. Church is the only place where we come from diverse backgrounds with diverse ages, with diverse ethnicity, with diverse bank accounts and we say we are all equal in this place. That Jesus is the one to be glorified. That he is to be worshiped. That it's the only place where we can identify and reject comparison." [01:03:51]
3. "What Paul is saying is this, you can be generous because Jesus has already given you everything. When we have an eternal hope, when we know that heaven belongs to us, when Jesus says, I'm going to prepare a place for you, I'm going to give you a mansion, he means it. And so then I can step out and I don't need to have it all now. If you don't have Christ, you have to get it all now. But if you do have Christ, you don't. And you can give it away and experience a joy that is a freedom that only Jesus can give you. Did you notice this? Generosity makes us like Christ." [57:53]
4. "Christian generosity is a depth of love and zeal for others sourced in Christ. It's not about paying bills. It's about loving people. It's about worshiping Christ. Christian generosity happens when grace comes down, our joy rises up, and our generosity flows out. That's it. When we're so aware of what Christ has given us, and our response is happiness, generosity comes. And it's completed when we look for that in our lives." [01:01:43]
5. "Paul shows us that it's not the amount that we give, it's the faithfulness by which we give it. That the completion of generosity is simply faithfulness. God doesn't need your money. But what he does with our faithfulness is profound and it's beautiful. We hope that when we give that the church and our community will be blessed, yet we also know that the most significant change in giving happens inside of each one of us. That the greatest work of generosity is in me." [01:02:25]
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