Generosity: A Reflection of Faith and Love
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
[00:38:52]
- to missionaries overseas, when you are giving maybe to Samaritan's Purse or the International Mission Board, you are investing into eternity. You're investing in the gospel going out and into people's lives and changing people's lives for eternity. And that is an investment into eternity. Number four, we need to be proficient in generosity. Being generous is not a gift for just some people. There is a gift of generosity, a gift of giving, but the Lord expects all of us to partake in generosity and giving. And Paul encourages this church in Corinth to be proficient in generosity. Number five, we see as your love levels up, so does your generosity.
[00:40:09]
- And so if we want to produce and generate generous giving in our lives, we need to make sure that we are loving God the way we love God. And so if we want to produce and generate generous giving in our lives, we need to make sure that we are loving God the way that we should, and we are loving others the way that he wants us to love them as well. So as you love more, you will be able to, and you will want to give more. Number six, last week we saw that generous living glorifies God. One of the ways that you can bring honor and glory to God the Father and Jesus Christ is through your giving.
[00:44:36] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
- Paul opens up in this section of chapter 8 and 9 talking about this gift. Paul has bragged on the Corinthian church. He has told the churches there in Macedonia, he's told them, listen, this church in Corinth, it is going to give such a huge gift that there was some deep pockets there in Corinth. And Paul has told them, listen, I know that you can give. And in chapter 9, he gets into telling them, listen, you need to be ready and prepared to give us this offering. Now again, and you see this, Paul says, listen, I'm not telling you this so that way I can extort this money out of you and kind of hold the knife up to your throat and say, give me the money or else. That is not what Paul is doing. Paul is just reminding them that they have an opportunity. To be extremely generous with their possessions, with their offering, with their time, with their talent, with their treasure.
[00:45:57]
- Whatever it was that was... going on in jerusalem and we don't know for sure exactly what it was but we can guess that it probably was the the persecution of the church there in jerusalem that led to the church being spread out through the roman empire from jerusalem but paul is saying to this church and to other churches as an example listen through your generosity through your giving through you giving of your material possessions and your time and your talent you have an opportunity for the gospel's sake to make a tremendous impact in the lives of some believers in jerusalem who will then in turn have a tremendous impact in the community around them for the sake of the gospel paul was not telling this church in corinth hey i want you to give all this money so that way you can enrich these believers in jerusalem so that way they can live a comfortable lifestyle paul was telling this church hey you need to give to impact this church so this church can have an impact with the gospel that is why we give that is why god wants us to have a generous heart is because you're not giving to to enrich this church you're not giving to
[00:53:13]
- And that's what Paul's telling the church here in Corinth. He says, Remember, this opportunity's coming. This offering's coming. I want you to be aware. I don't want you to be taken by surprise. Plan for this. Make it a priority. Make sure that you purposefully set aside some cash or some money or some of your possessions, so that way you can give. Because, again, it is not about enriching the church. It's not about enriching the staff, enriching the pastor, enriching the people that you're giving this money to. Remember, it is about taking those finances and using them in a way that sends the gospel out.
[00:54:37]
- to be generous. Look with me, and I'm just going to read verse six down through verse nine. Paul says, The point is this. The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able... He is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work as it is written. He distributed freely. He gave to the poor. His righteousness endures forever.
[01:00:08]
- When you give out of love and you realize that this is going to further the gospel, this is going to tell people about Jesus, this is going to missionaries overseas who are using their own vehicle to travel 800 -plus miles a week to hand out medicine and clothing and food to soldiers and people in need so that way He can have conversations about the gospel with them.
[01:03:37]
- tells them, the main reason that you should be generous, the main reason that you should give again, and I've already said this, is because the gospel goes forth through our giving.
[01:04:45] (18 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
- Paul says, now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for the food will also provide and multiply your seed and your bread for the food. And he says, now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for the food will also provide and multiply your seed and your bread for the food. And increase the harvest of your righteousness. Paul says, you take and you watch God use what you give and multiply it in ways that you could never imagine. He will take what you give and multiply it and spread it out and make it go far beyond what you originally gave.
[01:06:01]
- Verse 12, for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. So Paul says, not only is your money going to help the saints here in Jerusalem, but God's taking that money, he's spraying it out, and it's going beyond just their lives, and it's ministering into the lives of so many other people than just that church that you're giving to.
Ask a question about this sermon
- to missionaries overseas, when you are giving maybe to Samaritan's Purse or the International Mission Board, you are investing into eternity. You're investing in the gospel going out and into people's lives and changing people's lives for eternity. And that is an investment into eternity. Number four, we need to be proficient in generosity. Being generous is not a gift for just some people. There is a gift of generosity, a gift of giving, but the Lord expects all of us to partake in generosity and giving. And Paul encourages this church in Corinth to be proficient in generosity. Number five, we see as your love levels up, so does your generosity.
[00:40:09]
- And so if we want to produce and generate generous giving in our lives, we need to make sure that we are loving God the way we love God. And so if we want to produce and generate generous giving in our lives, we need to make sure that we are loving God the way that we should, and we are loving others the way that he wants us to love them as well. So as you love more, you will be able to, and you will want to give more. Number six, last week we saw that generous living glorifies God. One of the ways that you can bring honor and glory to God the Father and Jesus Christ is through your giving.
[00:44:36] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
- Paul opens up in this section of chapter 8 and 9 talking about this gift. Paul has bragged on the Corinthian church. He has told the churches there in Macedonia, he's told them, listen, this church in Corinth, it is going to give such a huge gift that there was some deep pockets there in Corinth. And Paul has told them, listen, I know that you can give. And in chapter 9, he gets into telling them, listen, you need to be ready and prepared to give us this offering. Now again, and you see this, Paul says, listen, I'm not telling you this so that way I can extort this money out of you and kind of hold the knife up to your throat and say, give me the money or else. That is not what Paul is doing. Paul is just reminding them that they have an opportunity. To be extremely generous with their possessions, with their offering, with their time, with their talent, with their treasure.
[00:45:57]
- Whatever it was that was... going on in jerusalem and we don't know for sure exactly what it was but we can guess that it probably was the the persecution of the church there in jerusalem that led to the church being spread out through the roman empire from jerusalem but paul is saying to this church and to other churches as an example listen through your generosity through your giving through you giving of your material possessions and your time and your talent you have an opportunity for the gospel's sake to make a tremendous impact in the lives of some believers in jerusalem who will then in turn have a tremendous impact in the community around them for the sake of the gospel paul was not telling this church in corinth hey i want you to give all this money so that way you can enrich these believers in jerusalem so that way they can live a comfortable lifestyle paul was telling this church hey you need to give to impact this church so this church can have an impact with the gospel that is why we give that is why god wants us to have a generous heart is because you're not giving to to enrich this church you're not giving to
[00:53:13]
- And that's what Paul's telling the church here in Corinth. He says, Remember, this opportunity's coming. This offering's coming. I want you to be aware. I don't want you to be taken by surprise. Plan for this. Make it a priority. Make sure that you purposefully set aside some cash or some money or some of your possessions, so that way you can give. Because, again, it is not about enriching the church. It's not about enriching the staff, enriching the pastor, enriching the people that you're giving this money to. Remember, it is about taking those finances and using them in a way that sends the gospel out.
[00:54:37]
- to be generous. Look with me, and I'm just going to read verse six down through verse nine. Paul says, The point is this. The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able... He is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work as it is written. He distributed freely. He gave to the poor. His righteousness endures forever.
[01:00:08]
- When you give out of love and you realize that this is going to further the gospel, this is going to tell people about Jesus, this is going to missionaries overseas who are using their own vehicle to travel 800 -plus miles a week to hand out medicine and clothing and food to soldiers and people in need so that way He can have conversations about the gospel with them.
[01:03:37]
- tells them, the main reason that you should be generous, the main reason that you should give again, and I've already said this, is because the gospel goes forth through our giving.
[01:04:45] (18 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
- Paul says, now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for the food will also provide and multiply your seed and your bread for the food. And he says, now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for the food will also provide and multiply your seed and your bread for the food. And increase the harvest of your righteousness. Paul says, you take and you watch God use what you give and multiply it in ways that you could never imagine. He will take what you give and multiply it and spread it out and make it go far beyond what you originally gave.
[01:06:01]
- Verse 12, for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. So Paul says, not only is your money going to help the saints here in Jerusalem, but God's taking that money, he's spraying it out, and it's going beyond just their lives, and it's ministering into the lives of so many other people than just that church that you're giving to.
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Oct 28, 2024. Do you have any questions about it?