In today's gathering, we celebrated the spirit of community and the joy of giving, as we prepare for our upcoming Candypalooza event. This event is not just about fun and costumes but serves as an invitation for families and neighbors to experience the warmth and joy of our church community. It's a reminder that church can be a place of joy and fellowship, a foundational belief of our congregation. As we prepare for this event, we are reminded of the importance of generosity, both in spirit and in action, as we collect candy donations to ensure a memorable experience for all children attending.

Reflecting on our recent achievements, we celebrated the addition of 47 new members and five baptisms over the past two and a half years. These milestones are a testament to the vibrant life and growth of our church community. They remind us of the power of God's blessings and the importance of sharing these blessings with others. Our new series, "Overflow," explores the concept of being truly blessed, not just in material terms but in spiritual richness and connection with God.

The essence of being blessed is about receiving God's grace and favor, which is a two-way relationship. We are called to bless God through our praise and worship, and in return, we receive spiritual growth and connection. This relationship extends to others as we are encouraged to share God's love and grace, embodying generosity in our daily lives. The teachings from 2 Corinthians emphasize the importance of giving cheerfully and generously, as it enriches our spiritual lives and strengthens our community.

Generosity is not just about financial giving but about sharing the love and grace we have received from God. It is about being open to God's guidance in how we use our resources to bless others. As we reflect on our own giving, we are encouraged to consider how we can grow in our spiritual walk by aligning our financial decisions with God's will. This journey of generosity transforms us and deepens our relationship with God and each other.

**Key Takeaways:**

- **Candypalooza and Community Joy:** Candypalooza is more than a fun event; it's an opportunity to invite others into the joy and fellowship of our church community. It reminds us that church should be a place of joy and connection, where we can share God's love with others. [23:48]

- **Celebrating Growth and Baptisms:** The addition of new members and baptisms is a testament to the vibrant life of our church. These milestones remind us of the power of God's blessings and the importance of nurturing our spiritual community. [26:48]

- **Understanding True Blessings:** Being blessed is about receiving God's grace and favor, which involves a two-way relationship with God. We are called to bless God through praise and worship, and in return, we receive spiritual growth and connection. [31:34]

- **Generosity as a Spiritual Practice:** Generosity is not just about financial giving but about sharing God's love and grace with others. It enriches our spiritual lives and strengthens our community, reflecting God's generosity towards us. [37:52]

- **Aligning Finances with Faith:** Reflecting on our financial decisions in light of our faith can transform our spiritual journey. By aligning our giving with God's will, we deepen our relationship with God and experience spiritual blessings. [50:42]

**Youtube Chapters:**

- [0:00] - Welcome
- [23:09] - Candypalooza Announcement
- [23:48] - Inviting Community to Church
- [24:21] - Candy Donations Needed
- [25:38] - Prayers for Health and Schools
- [26:06] - Celebrating New Members
- [27:28] - Baptisms and Confirmations
- [28:03] - Offering and Prayer
- [29:18] - Introduction to Overflow Series
- [30:13] - Understanding Blessings
- [31:34] - Two-Way Relationship with God
- [32:15] - Blessing God and Praising
- [33:35] - Spiritual Connection and Growth
- [36:19] - Sharing Blessings with Others
- [37:52] - Generosity and Spiritual Life
- [40:03] - Paul's Message to Corinth
- [41:30] - Irrational Generosity
- [50:42] - Aligning Finances with Faith
- [54:06] - Ministry and Church Work
- [56:12] - Communion and Confession
- [58:22] - The Lord's Table
- [01:11:27] - Pumpkin Patch Volunteering
- [01:12:30] - Closing Blessing

**Bible Study Discussion Guide**

**Bible Reading:**
1. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
2. Psalm 66:8
3. Numbers 23:20

---

**Observation Questions:**

1. What is the significance of the Candypalooza event in the context of the church's mission and community outreach? [23:48]

2. How does the sermon describe the relationship between blessing God and receiving blessings from God? [31:34]

3. What examples of generosity were shared in the sermon, and how do they illustrate the concept of "irrational generosity"? [41:30]

4. According to the sermon, what role does generosity play in strengthening the spiritual life of the church community? [37:52]

---

**Interpretation Questions:**

1. How does the concept of being "blessed" in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 differ from common cultural understandings of blessings? [30:13]

2. In what ways does the sermon suggest that generosity is a reflection of God's character, and how does this relate to the teachings in Psalm 66:8? [33:35]

3. How does the sermon connect the idea of aligning financial decisions with faith to spiritual growth and community strength? [50:42]

4. What does the sermon imply about the relationship between personal spiritual growth and the act of sharing blessings with others? [36:19]

---

**Application Questions:**

1. Reflect on a time when you experienced joy and fellowship in a church setting. How can you invite others to experience this joy, similar to the Candypalooza event? [23:48]

2. Consider your current understanding of being "blessed." How does this align with the sermon’s message about spiritual richness and connection with God? [31:34]

3. Identify a specific area in your life where you can practice "irrational generosity." What steps can you take to act on this in the coming week? [41:30]

4. How can you incorporate the practice of blessing God through praise and worship into your daily routine? What impact might this have on your spiritual life? [32:15]

5. Reflect on your financial decisions. Are there ways you can better align them with your faith and spiritual goals? What changes might you consider making? [50:42]

6. Think of a person or group in your community who could benefit from your generosity. How can you share God's love and grace with them this week? [36:19]

7. How can you encourage others in your church community to participate in acts of generosity and service? What role can you play in fostering a culture of giving? [37:52]

Day 1: Joyful Invitation to Community
Candypalooza is more than just a festive event; it is a heartfelt invitation to experience the joy and fellowship of a church community. This gathering serves as a reminder that church is not only a place for worship but also a space for joy, connection, and sharing God's love with others. As families and neighbors come together, the event becomes a living testament to the warmth and inclusivity that the church embodies. The act of giving, through candy donations, reflects the spirit of generosity that enriches the experience for all, especially the children who attend. [23:48]

"Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your community can you invite to experience the joy and fellowship of your church this week?


Day 2: Celebrating Spiritual Growth
The addition of 47 new members and five baptisms over the past two and a half years is a powerful testament to the vibrant life and growth of the church community. These milestones are not just numbers; they represent lives transformed by the power of God's blessings. Each new member and baptism is a reminder of the importance of nurturing a spiritual community that thrives on love, support, and shared faith. This growth is a reflection of the church's commitment to spreading God's word and creating a welcoming environment for all. [26:48]

"And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47, ESV)

Reflection: How can you contribute to the spiritual growth of your church community today?


Day 3: The Essence of True Blessings
Being truly blessed goes beyond material wealth; it is about receiving God's grace and favor, which involves a two-way relationship with Him. This relationship calls for us to bless God through our praise and worship, and in return, we receive spiritual growth and a deeper connection with Him. Understanding true blessings means recognizing the spiritual richness that comes from a life aligned with God's will. It is about embracing the grace that God offers and allowing it to transform our lives and relationships. [31:34]

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 1:3, ESV)

Reflection: In what ways can you actively bless God through your actions and words today?


Day 4: Generosity as a Spiritual Practice
Generosity is not limited to financial giving; it encompasses sharing God's love and grace with others. This practice enriches our spiritual lives and strengthens our community, reflecting God's boundless generosity towards us. By being open to God's guidance in how we use our resources, we can bless others and experience spiritual growth. Generosity is a transformative journey that deepens our relationship with God and each other, encouraging us to live out our faith in tangible ways. [37:52]

"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7, ESV)

Reflection: How can you practice generosity in a non-financial way today to reflect God's love to someone in need?


Day 5: Aligning Finances with Faith
Reflecting on our financial decisions in light of our faith can transform our spiritual journey. By aligning our giving with God's will, we deepen our relationship with Him and experience spiritual blessings. This alignment calls for intentionality in how we manage our resources, ensuring that our financial choices reflect our commitment to God's purposes. It is an invitation to trust in God's provision and to use our resources to further His kingdom on earth. [50:42]

"Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." (Proverbs 3:9-10, ESV)

Reflection: What is one financial decision you can make today that aligns with your faith and honors God?

1) "I want to celebrate with you that we had 14 people up here to join the church last week. Is that not amazing? If you read my article this week, that 14 new members, since I've been here for two and a half years, that brought our new membership up to 47 new people joining the church. Isn't that great? But I want to celebrate something that to me is even better. I want to celebrate these new members. And that is that last week we had our fifth baptism in two and a half years. Friends, that is absolutely incredible. Do you know how many United Methodist churches go years and years and years without a single baptism? And we've had five in two and a half years. On top of that, we had our first confirmand since 2017. 17. Y'all let that sink in for a second. Last confirmand was in 2017. And we had one last Sunday. Does that not deserve a praise to God?" [26:06] (67 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "So I want to talk for a second about what this phrase means and what it actually means to be blessed. Because we think about it, it's used in our church all the time, but what really does it mean? I think it's one of these words like faith that we throw around so much in discipleship. That we forget what the Bible means by the word blessed. So just to throw a simple definition, that word blessed means to be favored or fortunate, but it's meaning spiritually. Okay, so to have a religious or spiritual favor from God. Now it's a two-way street. So when we are in relationship with God, God is in relationship with us. We've been talking about that. Over the past weeks, haven't we? About the Wesleyan way and discipleship and how we grow closer to God and how we understand our discipleship journey. So that when we live into our life with God, God gives us grace. That's what it means to be blessed, to receive God's grace." [30:53] (67 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "But see, we're missing the point that blessings are about our spiritual life. God blesses with spiritual health, with spiritual connection, with spiritual growth. Scripture talks about blessings as spirituality. Every place we see it, it's about the spiritual life, the spiritual relationship, the spiritual connection with God. That's why it starts with us first. Blessing God, because we are giving ourselves to God so that he in turn gives back growth and connection and strength to us. Let's go back to the Psalms again. Psalm 24, verse 5. They will receive the Lord's blessings and have a right relationship with God, their Savior. See, once again, the Psalmist is saying that the blessing is about our relationship with God. But there's a third part. So once we've given them to God and God gives them to us, we are supposed to also give them to others." [35:00] (75 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "We don't hold on to the gift of God's love and grace and keep it secret. That's not the joy of Christianity, is it not? We don't have this incredible gift of God's love and grace and then hold it alone and not share it with the world. We are supposed to share with other people. The good news of who God is. We're supposed to share with other people the amazing love that God has given us and what it feels like to know him and what it feels like to experience him and what it feels like to grow in our walk with him. We're created in God's image, friends. And what God does is also part of our nature because we want to do in our inner self the same thing as God. So when we return the same acts of blessings, we receive the same things. We are acting to the innermost part of who we are." [36:19] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "The way the Bible talks about generosity can only be described as irrational generosity, and I'll say this is something that we as an American church do not like to talk about. It makes us uncomfortable. As a person who, in our family, we have always practiced irrational generosity, I say this to you because it has transformed who we are as people. In the beginning of our life, the only way we paid our bills was the support of other people. Working minimum wage at 10 hours a week, that's the only job you can get when you're a student in seminary, and if it wasn't for grants and the support of people who cared about us, we wouldn't have been able to pay for daycare and for gas and for food, and I'll never forget one day when things just seemed to have gotten unplanned in that week that I looked at my checking list and I said, I didn't have enough money to put gas in my car, and I had to call my mom and say, hey, mom, I need some money to get to payday because I can't get to class this week because there's not enough money for gas, and AJ can't get to work, and my mom, who's so loving, responded, money's on the way." [42:34] (116 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "I actually had to back her away a little. She wanted to give a lot, of her car fund to it, and I just had to say, honey, I love you. You don't understand the value of money yet. Let's use a responsible amount of that money, and let's give X amount and make sure we're honoring your goals and also honoring your heart. She's 11. Dollars still have a hard time demeaning something to her, but sometimes irrational generosity catches in ways we can't imagine. And friends, this is why in this same letter to the Corinthians, just a little bit before what I just read to you, Paul says this, for I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. They did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem." [45:34] (67 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "The research tells us that the people who have the least amount are the ones who are most willing to give to church. And the more people get, the less likely they are to give. That breaks my heart, because it brings me back to the passage of Jesus teaching the rich young ruler. I don't say this to make anyone feel bad. What I say this to say is that we, as Christians, need to reflect on the fact that we're struggling. We need to reflect on the where are we in our life right now? Because I want to tell you a wonderful statistic, and that is this year alone, we had 12 new households become givers in our church. Can we celebrate that? We had 19 households this year. In addition to those 12, we had 19 households that increased their giving over last year. Can we celebrate that? And friends, we have 59 separate households currently giving within our church. That's amazing." [48:33] (73 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "If we're not growing in our spiritual walk, we need to reflect on where is our money going. And this is not about how many dollars. I want you to hear me clearly when I say this. This is not about quantity. This is about relationship with God. And I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. Because my goal as your pastor is to help you grow and to put God front and center in your life. And I can only speak from my own personal experience. And I can tell you for a fact that the years that I've struggled the most in my life have been the years that me and God did not have enough conversations when it came to money. I've not been a perfect person with money. Nobody has. But when we have more conversations in our house, with God about money, we have had a better relationship with God and within our house." [50:42] (69 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

To get candy? No. Okay, sounds good to me. We'll see you on Sunday.

So we recorded that for our first Candypalooza, which was two years ago. Who has been to one of our Candypaloozas before? If you're excited about Candypalooza, can we get some response to Candypalooza?

Next Sunday, on the 27th, we will celebrate our third Candypalooza. If you've never done this with us before, let me give you a heads up. We do church as we always do. We will have worship, we will have a message, we will have communion, and we will have kids club.

The difference is we do so digging deep into the child at heart, meaning all children are encouraged to wear their costumes. Adults, if you would like to wear your costume, you go right ahead. I will be in costume. All right? So you have permission to come dressed as you wish, whether it be in regular Sunday clothes or dressed. It's your choice. Every child is welcome to come dressed as you wish. We will let you decide when to give it to them. Okay?

It's a fun Sunday. It's also a wonderful Sunday for you to invite a neighbor who has kids to come to church or who doesn't have kids, who just maybe is a little leery to come because it's one of the fun Sundays here, and it's a great way for people to kind of dip their toe into church.

Do we believe church is supposed to be fun? Yes. That's one of our foundations of Fleming Island United Methodist, right?

Right. Just a word, though. You know, we're sending bags of candy with kids, which means we need candy. It's kind of like a big piece, right? So we've been collecting candy. The storms have kind of messed Miss Katie and I up. We kind of lost the month of October. Does anyone feel that way? Okay, great. Not just us.

So we will be collecting candy through Wednesday at noon. And then anything that hasn't been here by noon, we will go to the store and have to buy extra candy if we haven't gotten any donations. So if you wanted to donate candy, you can do so until Wednesday at noon. And then Wednesday night during Bible study, Miss Katie and the kids for kids Bible study, they can all help fill the bags as part of a service project for Sunday while the adults have Bible study.

Okay. Sound like a plan? Kids, are you excited? The three of you can be much more excited than that. You ready? Are you excited?

All right. All right. Y'all can go ahead and head to kids club. Go on. Y'all be in prayer for all those in the schools and our kids. There are a lot of things going around the school system right now. A lot of people are sick and they're not here. Let's be thankful that they are not here and keeping their germs. So let's pray for our kids. A lot of our adults have been sick this morning and our kids ministry, they're running on low volunteers. So let's be prayer for everybody connected to the schools.

All right. But thank you to everyone who is at home watching, who may be feeling under the weather. We pray for you. We also thank you for staying with your unwellness at home and watching from live stream. We have been told that the schools have some viruses going around.

So, all right. Friends, I want to just take a moment and I want to thank you. For those who got to be here with us last Sunday, I'll be honest, I didn't know how many people were going to be standing on this platform until they all got up here because it kept kind of changing.

So I want to celebrate with you that we had 14 people up here to join the church last week. Is that not amazing? If you read my article this week, that 14 new members, since I've been here for two and a half years, that brought our new membership up to 47 new people joining the church. Isn't that great?

But I want to celebrate something that to me is even better. I want to celebrate these new members. And that is that last week we had our fifth baptism in two and a half years. Friends, that is absolutely incredible. Do you know how many United Methodist churches go years and years and years without a single baptism? And we've had five in two and a half years.

On top of that, we had our first confirmand since 2017. Y'all let that sink in for a second. Last confirmand was in 2017. And we had one last Sunday. Does that not deserve a praise to God?

Your continued giving in our church allows us to support the ministries of our children, our youth, and our adult discipleship and our outreach programs that create good fruit like these. So thank you for doing these wonderful works.

If you'd like to continue to support our church, I'd love for you to join in these missions. You'll see on the screen now ways that you can give. We do receive our offering at a time of communion. And these baskets up here or online. And if you have questions about any of that, please let me know.

If you have a way we can pray for you, you can send that to the office. You can write it on a piece of paper and drop it in. If you're online, you can drop a comment and we would love to be praying for you.

But I'd like to take a moment now to pray for our church.

Almighty God, as we take some time to come to your scripture, I just ask that you help us to see this morning all the things that you have done to bless us.

As a congregation, we are blessed by 47 new congregation members over these years. Five new members of the family of God. But Lord, you have done things in each and every one of our lives. And I'm so thankful for the stories we each have to tell.

So as we open the scriptures and we learn about our blessings, please speak to us, guide us, challenge us, and do the same for our children. We pray this morning in your holy and powerful name. Amen.

All right, we're starting a new series this morning called Overflow. If you'd like to follow along with the scriptures and take notes, you can do that in any form you wish to take notes. If you'd like to see the scriptures, you may find those in the church app or through the link on the e-mag.

So I just want to start by saying that this week's message is called Being More Blessed. And that word blessed is thrown around a lot in Christian culture, isn't it? Yeah, we hear it a lot, don't we? Sometimes we hear it in ways that it's hard to kind of think about really what it means.

How many of you have heard the phrase, "too blessed to be stressed"? Have you? Yeah, you see it floating around on memes, on bumper stickers. I always sit there and I think, are the people who say that, do they really act like they're not stressed? Has anyone met someone who acts unstressed?

Anybody? I don't see any hands. If you find someone who can make it through life and pretend there's no stress, would you send them my way?

So I want to talk for a second about what this phrase means and what it actually means to be blessed. Because we think about it, it's used in our church all the time, but what really does it mean? I think it's one of these words like faith that we throw around so much in discipleship that we forget what the Bible means by the word blessed.

So just to throw a simple definition, that word blessed means to be favored or fortunate, but it's meaning spiritually. Okay, so to have a religious or spiritual favor from God.

Now it's a two-way street. So when we are in relationship with God, God is in relationship with us. We've been talking about that over the past weeks, haven't we? About the Wesleyan way and discipleship and how we grow closer to God and how we understand our discipleship journey.

So that when we live into our life with God, God gives us grace. That's what it means to be blessed, to receive God's grace. But there's kind of a two-way street in this. We don't just receive blessings from God.

Now y'all just stick with me for a second. I know this is about to sound weird, but friends, we are supposed to bless God. I know that's a strange thing. I don't know how long, I mean, every time I've been in the church, when you say we bless God, people go, how are we supposed to bless God?

First and foremost, when we talk about blessings, it's our responsibility to offer blessings to God. I don't know if you heard it in the prayer I said just a second ago, but I said, "God, allow us to bless you as you bless us." And often that feels a little uncomfortable when we say it, but it is our responsibility.

But maybe this other word will sound more comfortable to you. We're to praise God. But if you flip that and say, "God praises us," that doesn't feel well, does it? So we tend to say we praise God and God blesses us.

But see, all of creation, everything from the scripture says the rocks to us are called creation. Created to praise and worship and bless God.

Now I want to read a scripture for you to point this out, out of the book of Psalms, chapter 66, verse 8. "Let the whole world bless our God and loudly sing his praises." You see how bless and praise go together.

Remember the Psalms are the praise book of the Old Testament. This is where many of our modern worship songs come from today. The Psalmist is saying that we are to bless God, the whole world, and loudly sing about him.

So if it's a two-way street, if we're to bless and praise God, meaning give him good relationship, give him honor, give him praise, give him our time, give him relationship, give him value, then in return, God blesses us.

Now this is the one probably we spend a lot of time and energy on, right? We hear a lot of things talking about the blessing. God has blessed me with many gifts. God has blessed me with many talents. He's blessed me with many things that I'm fortunate for. We hear that a lot.

We're not careful though. It makes it sound like God chooses some people to bless and chooses other people not to bless. He gives some people good health and other people not good health. He gives some people wealth and other people not wealth. He gives some people happiness and other people misery. Why does God do that?

But see, we're missing the point that blessings are about our spiritual life. God blesses with spiritual health, with spiritual connection, with spiritual growth. Scripture talks about blessings as spirituality.

Every place we see it, it's about the spiritual life, the spiritual relationship, the spiritual connection with God. That's why it starts with us first. Blessing God, because we are giving ourselves to God so that he in turn gives back growth and connection and strength to us.

Let's go back to the Psalms again. Psalm 24, verse 5. "They will receive the Lord's blessings and have a right relationship with God, their Savior." See, once again, the Psalmist is saying that the blessing is about our relationship with God.

But there's a third part. So once we've given them to God and God gives them to us, we are supposed to also give them to others. We see all throughout Scripture the importance of sharing what God has given us to other people.

We don't hold on to the gift of God's love and grace and keep it secret. That's not the joy of Christianity, is it not? We don't have this incredible gift of God's love and grace and then hold it alone and not share it with the world.

We are supposed to share with other people the good news of who God is. We're supposed to share with other people the amazing love that God has given us and what it feels like to know him and what it feels like to experience him and what it feels like to grow in our walk with him.

We're created in God's image, friends. And what God does is also part of our nature because we want to do in our inner self the same thing as God.

So when we return the same acts of blessings, we receive the same things. We are acting to the innermost part of who we are.

One more passage, just to talk about this from the Old Testament, the book of Numbers, chapter 23. "Listen, I received a command to bless. God has blessed and I cannot reverse it."

See, a blessing is a powerful thing, a powerful thing. And when we share blessings with others, we are acting to the innermost part of who we are. And when we share blessings with other people, we have another name for that. We call it generosity.

All these things I just described, when God blesses us with love and with grace and with growth, God is being generous to us. He doesn't have to give any of those things to us. So when we share the same things with others, we are being generous to other people.

We pass on the goodness that God has given. And that's the concept for us to think about today is the connection with blessings and generosity.

Our focus for the teaching passage comes out of the New Testament, out of Paul's second letter to the people of Corinth, 2 Corinthians. And if you remember, we've talked about Corinth this year before, but I want to remind everybody that this is a hard city. They were in a surrounding environment that was as unbearable as it was before.

And so, I want to remind everybody that this is a new church. This is a new church. It's not one Christian of any other church in this time period. It was more anti-Christian than any other of Paul's communities, struggling to hold to their values when everything around them was trying to pull them away.

Paul was trying to remind them constantly about what it meant to continue to follow the teachings of Jesus. And so here, to this new church, trying to hold on to the teachings of Jesus, we're going to need to their identity, Paul writes this:

"So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready, but I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly. Remember this: a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop, but the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give, and don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure, for God loves a person who gives cheerfully, and God will give generously, and God will generously provide all you need.

Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with your friends and family. Thank you. As the scriptures say, they share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.

For God is the one who provides seeds for the farmer and the bread to eat, and in the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous, and when we take your gifts, we will always be generous to those who need them. They will thank God. They will thank God."

Friends, Paul's going to his church in Corinth to collect resources to take elsewhere, and he's saying, don't forget that what you're doing is to go spread the gospel of Jesus, to multiply for God's glory.

The way the Bible talks about generosity can only be described as irrational generosity, and I'll say this is something that we as an American church do not like to talk about. It makes us uncomfortable.

As a person who, in our family, we have always practiced irrational generosity, I say this to you because it has transformed who we are as people. In the beginning of our life, the only way we can be generous is to go spread the gospel of Jesus.

The only way we paid our bills was the support of other people. Working minimum wage at 10 hours a week, that's the only job you can get when you're a student in seminary, and if it wasn't for grants and the support of people who cared about us, we wouldn't have been able to pay for daycare and for gas and for food.

And I'll never forget one day when things just seemed to have gotten unplanned in that week that I looked at my checking list and I said, I'm going to go spread the gospel of Jesus. I didn't have enough money to put gas in my car, and I had to call my mom and say, "Hey, mom, I need some money to get to payday because I can't get to class this week because there's not enough money for gas, and AJ can't get to work."

And my mom, who's so loving, responded, "Money's on the way." Now, that wasn't a weekly endeavor. She didn't constantly have me calling and saying that I wasn't managing my money. She knew that this was not a weekly endeavor. This was something that I only did because I absolutely had to do.

But in that same season of life, it was not uncommon for us to leave church after we had still given our tithe to see someone who had it harder than us at the grocery store and help pay their bills because to see someone who we knew did not have a home church that was helping them struggle to put food on their family's table, God would put it on our hearts to help pay their groceries at the grocery store.

See, friends, that's irrational generosity, and scripture here in Corinthians is saying that sometimes if we want to plant seeds that multiply, we have to say, does this make sense, or is this what God wants?

What I can tell you is our family has been transformed in a way that I can't quantify, and my daughter, who we're trying to raise in the same way, who has been transformed in a way that I can't quantify, and my daughter started a car fund. I'm very proud of her.

When she got money for her birthday for her car fund, we said, "Hey, you need to take some of that money and give it back to God." And her first response was, "I heard in church that there were people that needed support from the storms at UMCOR. Can I give my money to that?"

And I'm sitting there going, what a wonderful thing. I actually had to back her away a little. She wanted to give a lot of her car fund to it, and I just had to say, "Honey, I love you. You don't understand the value of money yet. Let's use a responsible amount of that money, and let's give X amount and make sure we're honoring your goals and also honoring your heart."

She's 11. Dollars still have a hard time meaning something to her, but sometimes irrational generosity catches in ways we can't imagine.

And friends, this is why in this same letter to the Corinthians, just a little bit before what I just read to you, Paul says this: "For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. They did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem."

I'm not one to stand here and beg anyone. Paul didn't. But what I am going to say is that as a church, I am going to encourage you to consider what God wants of you, because I'm a firm believer that when we follow God's path for generosity in our lives, he transforms us in ways than we can imagine.

And this is, I want to share two facts with you for you to consider and pray about. The first is that in America, the United Methodist Church has to struggle in ways more... go back, uh, yeah, stay here for a second. We struggle more in the United States and the United Methodist Church than churches in Africa do.

Now, I want you to think about that for a second, because the American income is way, way higher than the African churches or the churches in South America. When we go to... I watched General Conference this year, and I watched the conferences from other countries look at America and say, "I don't understand why the American churches keep saying that they're struggling post-COVID. Why are they struggling so much?"

And I want to tell you why we're struggling. Go ahead and put the next chart up for me. The reason we're struggling, friends, is because there is an inverse reaction. You see, as the American dream, as we grow in our income and grab onto the American dream, we grab onto the American dream, which means we hold our money tight, and we stop giving it.

The research tells us that the people who have the least amount are the ones who are most willing to give to church. And the more people get, the less likely they are to give. That breaks my heart, because it brings me back to the passage of Jesus teaching the rich young ruler.

I don't say this to make anyone feel bad. What I say this to say is that we, as Christians, need to reflect on the fact that we're struggling. We need to reflect on where we are in our life right now.

Because I want to tell you a wonderful statistic, and that is this year alone, we had 12 new households become givers in our church. Can we celebrate that?

We had 19 households this year. In addition to those 12, we had 19 households that increased their giving over last year. Can we celebrate that?

And friends, we have 59 separate households currently giving within our church. That's amazing. If you look around the room right now, I don't have 59 households sitting in this room right now, but 59 households are giving within our church this year.

And that's 59 households giving to our general fund. That's what funds our budget. Friends, that's amazing. That's amazing. But I wonder if we are being the givers God wants us to be. Maybe we need to take a little step deeper.

I don't want you to necessarily make a decision on this today. I want you to pray about it, because I'll tell you, I don't want you to make a decision on this today. I want you to pray about it.

I'm a firm believer, firm believer, that giving and discipleship go hand in hand. If we want to grow in our spiritual walk, we need to talk to God about where our money goes. If we're not growing in our spiritual walk, we need to reflect on where our money is going.

And this is not about how many dollars. I want you to hear me clearly when I say this. This is not about quantity. This is about relationship with God.

And I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that. I teach you how to do that.

Because my goal as your pastor is to help you grow and to put God front and center in your life. And I can only speak from my own personal experience. And I can tell you for a fact that the years that I've struggled the most in my life have been the years that me and God did not have enough conversations when it came to money.

I've not been a perfect person with money. Nobody has. But when we have more conversations in our house with God about money, we have had a better relationship with God and within our house.

I'm not saying that you're going to multiply your income. I'm not saying any of that. I'm saying your spiritual life, your spiritual blessings will change.

I did want to, because there are people that ask these questions, our finances are public information. If anyone wants to see our budget, you want to see any of you, we actually have a finance meeting today. If you want to see any of that, but I just want to give you a general idea about these 59 households and the average giver in our church gives about $200 a month.

So I just challenge you to think in the next year, where am I in that? Could God have me give more? What would that look like for me? And in the next couple weeks, I challenge you to pray about it, to ask God to show you.

Doing the same thing for myself, ask God to show you. Asking God to show me what he wants me to do in the next year.

And if you would pray with me on these things, for those who are part of our current households, I just can't say thank you enough. We have children in our congregation that give every week. I can't thank you enough for teaching your children, for putting their dollar in, for teaching them the importance of giving back to God.

But if you have questions, I want you to feel comfortable to come and ask, how is our budget formed? How are we spending our money? Who makes the decisions? Our, like I said, our finance committee will meet and you can see everybody that makes those decisions to support that.

This is not, though, about where we're going in a budget, friends. This is about the ministry and the work of the church. I hope, I hope you're here because you care about the ministry and the work of the church.

Eddie talked about the beginning, the work we're doing at the kitchen. You saw some of those fruits last week. You've, hopefully you read our email, and you see the amazing work we're doing in the community.

If you feel that our church is doing the things that you appreciate, I hope you'll join us in these ministries. Would you pray with me?

Almighty God, I'm reminded today, convicted myself, I guess, of the importance of reflecting on every dollar that I spend. I know so many times I don't always spend those things as you would ask me to.

Lord, I thank you for that. I thank you for that. I thank you for that. I thank you for that.

Lord, as I pray, I ask, Lord, that you show me in the next year what you want of me. I pray that you bring all of us to a place to be able to know how you want us to spend our funds.

But as a church, Lord, our mission is to be able to spread the good news, but we want to not only do that, we want to share the blessings that we have from you with others to prepare us for that, for the year to come, and all that you do for us.

God, as we come to your table, open our hearts and our minds so that we may confess all we need to confess to you, and come to this space with open arms. I pray this in your holy name. Amen.

Friends, now is your time to respond to anything you need to respond to God. If you feel that God has already told you what you need to do in response to the message today, you can find a link in your church app for that, or you can come see me after this.

I'll be happy to show you where you can respond in that way, but this is your space to meet God. I encourage you to come pray, seek God's guidance, and know this table is open to all.

If you're watching online, communion is a time for you as well. We encourage you to take something from your kitchen so that you can join us as we prepare to confess our sins together.

Friends, if you would join me now as we share in this confession.

Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We justly deserve your judgment.

For our sake and the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways that lead to glory. Amen.

Let's take a moment and confess anything to God you need to confess in your heart.

Almighty God, thank you for hearing the confessions of our heart and the repentance that we've just given of our sins and forgiving them and receiving us exactly as we are in this moment.

We now come to this table as your redeemed children. Friends, and as the redeemed children of God, hear this word of forgiveness.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen.

On the night Christ sat with his disciples, he broke the bread and he said, "This is my body which has been given to you. Eat this in remembrance of me."

He also took the cup and he said, "This is the blood of the new covenant. Drink just as often as you eat in remembrance of me."

Almighty God, pour out your Holy Spirit on this bread and juice and upon us here that we may be the body of Christ redeemed by his blood. Amen.

My name is the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ. I love you. Amen.

Helpers will invite everyone forward. Friends, the Lord's table is open and we invite all to come. You come up from the back, up the center, and out the outside.

Has anyone seen the pumpkin patch out front? Y'all seen it? Who's volunteered there already? Lots of hands. If you have not sat at the pumpkin patch, it's fun, y'all. I think it's fun.

I enjoy it because when you got nobody there, you can just like take a book and I just get a little time to myself with the person next to me. And if you get the right person, you can just like person who likes to sit and just do nothing, then you can both sit and do nothing together when there's nobody.

You choose your person well. If you're a really talkative person, then choose someone who likes to talk so y'all can chat when there's nobody there. Okay. You got to choose the right person.

So we still have this upcoming weekend, we have like Saturday, nobody signed up yet. And that's a really big day for us to work the patch Saturday. So if you haven't been, pick a friend and go.

There are only two-hour shifts on Saturday and you can work and you'll even have Wi-Fi. So if you need to watch the football game, whatever game, not choosing a game, just saying. If you're up here and there is a game playing, you could like, you know, set up your phone with Wi-Fi and keep up with what's going on.

Okay. So CJ is in the back. We go through Halloween. So we're towards the end of it. All right. All right. I enjoy it. I think it's fun. Of course, that probably doesn't surprise y'all.

All right. I sat there by myself the other day and I had fun, but I also like time to myself.

So hear this blessing as you go, friends. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace.

And remember what I said, what the Lord gives and blesses, he does not take away. Amen. Go in peace.