Transforming Hearts Through Generosity and Grace Giving

"The word of God says, Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. So again, Paul is highlighting this grace, this grace for giving that has been bestowed on the churches of Macedonia as he's speaking to the believers in Corinth. Verse two, that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their generosity no matter how difficult it became for them financially the word of god says that they abounded they exceeded they went beyond what seemed normal even though they themselves were struggling." [00:07:33] (56 seconds)


"Now, I want you to explore how you feel right now, knowing that he's standing right there with an offering bucket in his hand. All right? And so as you prepare yourself to give, you prepare your heart to put something in the basket that accurately represents how good he's been to you. Jesus himself now is moving and he doesn't put the basket in the aisle and let you pass it down. He actually is holding on to the basket with both hands and he's stepping directly in front of you." [00:11:51] (50 seconds)


"I know it's challenging in our economy. I know it's challenging. We have all kinds of reasons to pull out, withhold, but don't forget the two spaces that are available for us to live in. Remember, Remember, we can live in the space of scarcity, or we can live in the space of abundance. We can live in the space of holding on, or we can live in the space of letting go. What side will we be on? And remember, we don't have permission to stand on the line. We must choose." [00:20:08] (46 seconds)


"Paul is making a comparison between the Corinthian church and its believers and the Macedonian church and its believers. But get this, the comparison is not who gave the most money. That's not the comparison. That's what we do in the natural. That's what we do in our society. We're comparing one to another. Who's giving what and how much? But that is not the comparison that Paul is making. The comparison that Paul is making is a comparison of devotion. He's saying, look at those believers. Look at their earnestness. Look at their devotion." [00:22:52] (47 seconds)


"And as our heart for Jesus. Grows as our love for Jesus grows, as our compassion for those who Jesus cares about grows. Our resources align themselves. We direct our will to align our resources with our love relationship for Jesus. We direct our will to align our resources with God's kingdom work through the ecclesia. Through the local church. Through the local church and beyond. And that's what it's all about." [00:25:19] (41 seconds)


"He's taking something from us, and he's giving something to us. I'll take your brokenness of body and soul, and you take my healing of mind, soul, and body. You see, on the cross, it's what I call the great exchange. That is what happened. That's what he's talking about. Again, he's trying to get us into that mind. That mindset, that kingdom mindset that understands what this is all about and why he's even having a conversation about money and finances to begin with." [00:27:25] (53 seconds)


"And it is never based on what you have or you don't have. You remember the story of the widow's mite. I won't go back there. She gave her last red cent. She gave out of her poverty. And the Lord absolutely honored that. In verses 12 through 14, the scales now are balanced because everyone is carrying the load under the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit. Did you catch that? It's what was happening in the book of Acts. Because we were giving, the way in which the Lord had been good to us, the way in which he had prospered us, whether we had little or we had much, we were giving, not equal giving, equal sacrifice. We were giving." [00:36:24] (61 seconds)


"There's such a great joy, but it does require something. It does require some deep humility because pride can get in the way. That's for sure, especially when it's on the receiving side. If you've always been a giver and now you're a receiver, there's pride that gets in the way. But the Lord is so awesome. You know, he uses our resources. He uses our money to capture our heart, to change us from the inside out, to make us useful in his hands. So awesome. And that's why we talk about this idea. And you'll have to go back to last week's message where the Holy Spirit is involved in grace giving. He's involved. The power of the Holy Spirit is involved in doing what we have a difficult time doing ourselves." [00:39:49] (56 seconds)