Unordinary Generosity: Transforming Lives Through Compassion
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "Good morning, church family. How we doing this morning? Good. Man, it's so good to be with you. I love that song. I love the singing about all that God has done. And if you are wondering, like, why we come every Sunday morning as Jesus followers, why we gather together in community, that song for me sums it all up because God is still moving us from places of death into places of life. Amen? And maybe you're here today and, like, that feels so true and so needed in your life. Maybe you're living in the midst of what you would describe as situations or circumstances where death is, like, all around you. And you need today for God to break in and say, I am here to give you life, to give you life to the full, life to abundance." [31:16]
2. "Generosity is hard. Anybody else? I feel like I'm, this first service too, I feel like I'm the only one. Either that or nobody wants to, speak up because it makes you uncomfortable. But the truth is, I think underneath it all, generosity is hard. Because generosity says, what's mine is yours, right? But I think at the deep levels of even our posture towards giving and our posture towards giving ourselves and time and talents, resources, all that kind of stuff, giving our lives, the reality is we don't like living under what's mine is yours. Because the truth is, most of us believe this, what's mine isn't yours, in fact." [36:44]
3. "I think it speaks to something that's deep in our hearts. In terms of our relationship with generosity and this transformative work that God is wanting to do in our lives. And within that perspective of how the world works, I believe there's a lie that the enemy of your soul and mine has seeded into our hearts that drives that emotion and it drives the activity of our lives in response to that emotion. Because here's the lie. I think we believe, we believe the lie that we will never have enough. I wonder if this describes how you feel about life at certain times of life. Maybe how you feel right now. When you go to write your bills, and you look at your bank account, and this lie is reinforced, isn't it? You will never have enough. Enough is never enough." [40:29]
4. "Generosity is not about how much you write in a checkbook, you know? We can have a church full of people who give all kinds of money and yet still are ruled by the culture of scarcity in their lives. Because you're in control. Because you don't trust God. It's easy to say I'll give. I'll give this much, right? While I'm holding on to everything else. I'm protecting myself from all of the potential threats to what I have because I believe at the end of the day that what I have isn't enough. But what if God could set you free? What if God could open your eyes to a new way of living? I believe he wants to change our perspective." [56:02]
5. "And really all of it reveals this heart issue in a response to the scarcity in our lives. And it keeps us from living a life of life and instead leads us on a pathway towards death. So scarcity puts us in direct competition with others. It also puts us in a contentious relationship with God. And we noticed what happened with Ananias. Paul said to him, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit? It says, in the passage here, and having kept some for yourself, the money you received from the land, it didn't belong to you before it was sold. Didn't you own it? He goes on to say, what made you think of doing such a thing? You've not just lied to humans, but you've lied to God." [47:11]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Generosity creates a culture of compassion. That moves me from seeing you and your need as competition or threat to what I have. And instead it opens my eyes and awareness to your need as an opportunity to be who God's called me to be. Check it out in the passage of scripture. Joseph shows us this reality, a Levite from Cyprus whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. He sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet. He was living in this transformative reality." [49:57]
2. "Generosity, I believe, is the evidence of the transformational work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And friends, here's where the rubber meets the road. Because your faith journey is not about your decision to change and do something different. Your faith journey, the way God intends it that will lead you to life, flows out of a transformational work of the Holy Spirit in your life. And there is no substitute. God was working in this group of people and something happened because of his presence there. Check it out in Acts chapter 4 verse 33. It says this, Listen. It says what? So powerfully at work in them. They had this encounter with the Holy Spirit, with Jesus, the risen Christ that changed everything." [53:02]
3. "Scarcity is rooted in the lie that God is unable to do what he promises. If we are living under the oppression of the lie that enough will never be enough, that it's running out. If you think about it, underneath that is a belief that if it runs out, God won't be there. If it runs out, I didn't have enough in the first place. And I'm not just talking about your resources. I'm talking about even our perspective and our faith in God to, to make good on his promises. When I'm, when I'm standing at the precipice from this life into the next, you see what I'm talking about? This, what we're talking about today is not your checkbooks. This is a life and death issue for us because at the end of the day, if scarcity rules your life, it tells you you, you not only do you not have enough money, it's going to run out, but you don't have enough time and, and God isn't going to be there to help you." [48:42]
4. "And all of a sudden, when I become a conduit and enter into the realities of the kingdom of God, where the things that are received are given, things that are voluntarily emptied are always filled. And all of a sudden, God begins to pour into my life and begins to say, John, you didn't know abundance until now. You didn't know what it meant to receive all that I could give you. You didn't know what it meant to be completely available to my grace. And God will begin to pour into you." [58:44]
5. "And we continue in this wonderful story where God's people experienced this movement of God going in and entering into their very lives, where God and humanity became one. And all of a sudden, in that unification, in that restoration, God's people started living a different way. And really what it was so cool is this physical manifestation of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God in the world where life vanquished and was victorious over death. And the people of God experienced not just a spiritual transformation, but they were experiencing a physical transformation." [33:10]
6. "So we enter back into the story. This people were encountering the Holy Spirit. They were experiencing a transformation and it played out in really cool ways in their lives. Here's one example. Joseph was one of the community of faith there in that day. He was a Levite from Cyprus whom the apostle called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. And he, like many others, saw a need and he sold a field he owned and he brought the money and put it at the apostle's feet. And now another man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property just like Joseph. But something happened in their relationship with generosity. With his wife's full knowledge, Ananias, he kept back part of the money for himself. But brought the rest and put it at the apostle's feet as if to play the part in the community." [41:07]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "Good morning, church family. How we doing this morning? Good. Man, it's so good to be with you. I love that song. I love the singing about all that God has done. And if you are wondering, like, why we come every Sunday morning as Jesus followers, why we gather together in community, that song for me sums it all up because God is still moving us from places of death into places of life. Amen? And maybe you're here today and, like, that feels so true and so needed in your life. Maybe you're living in the midst of what you would describe as situations or circumstances where death is, like, all around you. And you need today for God to break in and say, I am here to give you life, to give you life to the full, life to abundance." [31:16]
2. "Generosity is hard. Anybody else? I feel like I'm, this first service too, I feel like I'm the only one. Either that or nobody wants to, speak up because it makes you uncomfortable. But the truth is, I think underneath it all, generosity is hard. Because generosity says, what's mine is yours, right? But I think at the deep levels of even our posture towards giving and our posture towards giving ourselves and time and talents, resources, all that kind of stuff, giving our lives, the reality is we don't like living under what's mine is yours. Because the truth is, most of us believe this, what's mine isn't yours, in fact." [36:44]
3. "I think it speaks to something that's deep in our hearts. In terms of our relationship with generosity and this transformative work that God is wanting to do in our lives. And within that perspective of how the world works, I believe there's a lie that the enemy of your soul and mine has seeded into our hearts that drives that emotion and it drives the activity of our lives in response to that emotion. Because here's the lie. I think we believe, we believe the lie that we will never have enough. I wonder if this describes how you feel about life at certain times of life. Maybe how you feel right now. When you go to write your bills, and you look at your bank account, and this lie is reinforced, isn't it? You will never have enough. Enough is never enough." [40:29]
4. "Generosity is not about how much you write in a checkbook, you know? We can have a church full of people who give all kinds of money and yet still are ruled by the culture of scarcity in their lives. Because you're in control. Because you don't trust God. It's easy to say I'll give. I'll give this much, right? While I'm holding on to everything else. I'm protecting myself from all of the potential threats to what I have because I believe at the end of the day that what I have isn't enough. But what if God could set you free? What if God could open your eyes to a new way of living? I believe he wants to change our perspective." [56:02]
5. "And really all of it reveals this heart issue in a response to the scarcity in our lives. And it keeps us from living a life of life and instead leads us on a pathway towards death. So scarcity puts us in direct competition with others. It also puts us in a contentious relationship with God. And we noticed what happened with Ananias. Paul said to him, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit? It says, in the passage here, and having kept some for yourself, the money you received from the land, it didn't belong to you before it was sold. Didn't you own it? He goes on to say, what made you think of doing such a thing? You've not just lied to humans, but you've lied to God." [47:11]
### Quotes for Members
1. "Generosity creates a culture of compassion. That moves me from seeing you and your need as competition or threat to what I have. And instead it opens my eyes and awareness to your need as an opportunity to be who God's called me to be. Check it out in the passage of scripture. Joseph shows us this reality, a Levite from Cyprus whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. He sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet. He was living in this transformative reality." [49:57]
2. "Generosity, I believe, is the evidence of the transformational work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And friends, here's where the rubber meets the road. Because your faith journey is not about your decision to change and do something different. Your faith journey, the way God intends it that will lead you to life, flows out of a transformational work of the Holy Spirit in your life. And there is no substitute. God was working in this group of people and something happened because of his presence there. Check it out in Acts chapter 4 verse 33. It says this, Listen. It says what? So powerfully at work in them. They had this encounter with the Holy Spirit, with Jesus, the risen Christ that changed everything." [53:02]
3. "Scarcity is rooted in the lie that God is unable to do what he promises. If we are living under the oppression of the lie that enough will never be enough, that it's running out. If you think about it, underneath that is a belief that if it runs out, God won't be there. If it runs out, I didn't have enough in the first place. And I'm not just talking about your resources. I'm talking about even our perspective and our faith in God to, to make good on his promises. When I'm, when I'm standing at the precipice from this life into the next, you see what I'm talking about? This, what we're talking about today is not your checkbooks. This is a life and death issue for us because at the end of the day, if scarcity rules your life, it tells you you, you not only do you not have enough money, it's going to run out, but you don't have enough time and, and God isn't going to be there to help you." [48:42]
4. "And all of a sudden, when I become a conduit and enter into the realities of the kingdom of God, where the things that are received are given, things that are voluntarily emptied are always filled. And all of a sudden, God begins to pour into my life and begins to say, John, you didn't know abundance until now. You didn't know what it meant to receive all that I could give you. You didn't know what it meant to be completely available to my grace. And God will begin to pour into you." [58:44]
5. "And we continue in this wonderful story where God's people experienced this movement of God going in and entering into their very lives, where God and humanity became one. And all of a sudden, in that unification, in that restoration, God's people started living a different way. And really what it was so cool is this physical manifestation of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God in the world where life vanquished and was victorious over death. And the people of God experienced not just a spiritual transformation, but they were experiencing a physical transformation." [33:10]
6. "So we enter back into the story. This people were encountering the Holy Spirit. They were experiencing a transformation and it played out in really cool ways in their lives. Here's one example. Joseph was one of the community of faith there in that day. He was a Levite from Cyprus whom the apostle called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. And he, like many others, saw a need and he sold a field he owned and he brought the money and put it at the apostle's feet. And now another man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property just like Joseph. But something happened in their relationship with generosity. With his wife's full knowledge, Ananias, he kept back part of the money for himself. But brought the rest and put it at the apostle's feet as if to play the part in the community." [41:07]
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