1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,360 Welcome to the Islands Christian Church podcast. 2 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:05,040 Subscribe to hear a new episode every week. 3 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:08,200 Thanks for joining us. We've been in the series called 4 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:10,200 The Almighty Dollar. I just want to thank you for 5 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:12,720 continuing to come to church as your preacher's talking about 6 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:13,880 money. You know what I mean? 7 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,160 I know that's stressful for all of us, but I think what we've, 8 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,520 what we've been doing through this talk, through these talks 9 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:21,600 is really inviting us into something. 10 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,680 God's been using it to invite us into something a different way 11 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:26,840 of living. And today we're talking about 12 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,120 generosity. It's if you get my weekly 13 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,560 e-mail, you saw that and you came to church anyway, so you 14 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:34,160 guys are the real deal. I love you. 15 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,120 Thank you for being here. You know, to give away something 16 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,480 that you could use for yourself, like to take some resources that 17 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:43,840 you could use for yourself and to give them away is a mark of a 18 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:45,720 heart that is surrendered to Christ. 19 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:47,880 Like it's the real deal. In other words, to have some 20 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,480 resources and to say I'm not going to use these resources for 21 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:53,960 my safety, for my security, but instead I'm going to I'm going 22 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:59,280 to unleash them to something else that is indication that you 23 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,880 actually trust God deeply. You guys ever when you're 24 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,160 thinking about being generous or giving away significant amount 25 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,600 of your resources. Do you ever think man generosity 26 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,560 feels risky? It it is risky to be generous. 27 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:14,880 Not too long ago, a friend of mine and I were talking about 28 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,280 this very thing and he was talking about investment and and 29 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,680 making investments and how making investments are risky 30 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:21,880 because you never know what's going to happen. 31 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,120 And I said, well man, generosity is the same way. 32 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,000 There's no way to be generous without enduring some risk. 33 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:28,920 If you're going to be generous, you're going to endure some 34 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:30,400 risk. Why is there risk with 35 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,800 generosity? Because you are letting go of 36 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,280 some resources that you could use for your own safety and your 37 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,520 own security. You're releasing control in an 38 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,480 area of your life. So This is why generosity often 39 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,880 feels risky. Now, during the series, we've 40 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,040 been learning some things. The first thing we learned was 41 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,560 that God owns it all and that we simply manage it. 42 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,520 And then the second week, we learned that debt often feels 43 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,720 like it's solving a problem in the present, but it creates 44 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,400 future pressure. And then last week we talked 45 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,200 about how having margin in our finances creates space for us to 46 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,320 follow God's wisdom and obey his ways. 47 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:11,920 And so today I want you to see this. 48 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:13,720 Here's the main idea I want you to walk away with. 49 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:15,360 So if you take notes, you can write this down. 50 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,920 You ready? Generosity is the fruit of 51 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:22,440 trust. Generosity is the fruit of 52 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,400 trust. When we trust God, our hearts 53 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:29,840 direct our resources in generous ray ways. 54 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,680 If there is trust in God, generosity will be one of the 55 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,080 outcomes of a heart that trusts God. 56 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:37,440 That's what I want you to get today. 57 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,080 Today we're talking about being generous as believers, but this 58 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,320 is not a fundraising talk. This is not a hard sell on on 59 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,040 giving to islands. I think islands is a great place 60 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,600 to invest your resources. People like Jason who just got 61 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:52,760 up here and talked about what's going on the student ministry. 62 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:56,840 From July to the end of the year, student ministry grew 50% 63 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:58,800 on Wednesdays. It was unbelievable what God's 64 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,360 doing in that ministry. There's 12 volunteers we've 65 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,080 take. We're taking 38 students and 13 66 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,120 adults to Temple, GA later in February on a retreat. 67 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,240 Like God is doing some amazing things. 68 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,920 So obviously I think investing resources at islands is a good 69 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:16,680 thing to do, but this is not a hard sell on giving money to 70 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,880 your church. No, like this whole series 71 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,920 today, like every other week is an invitation. 72 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:26,440 It's, it's just an invitation to you, an invitation for you to be 73 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,120 able to, to do things the way God says to do things to, to 74 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,400 obey God and live like God calls us to live to do things his 75 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,560 ways. And, and it's an invitation to 76 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:41,160 be a part of the work God is doing in the restoration of the 77 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:42,640 world. It's an invitation. 78 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,640 Here's another invitation. Today's an invitation to 79 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:50,440 actually live with confident trust that your future is 80 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:55,240 secure, to live with confident trust that your future is secure 81 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,200 with the only person who can secure it, your Heavenly Father. 82 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,000 Now, if you have your Bibles, we're going to look at the story 83 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,560 of the Old Testament, Second Chronicles, chapter 24. 84 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:09,520 Second Chronicles chapter 24, we read a historical record here of 85 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,320 a young Israelite king and a priest named Jehoiada. 86 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:15,600 Jehoiada. I actually had to write the 87 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,320 phonetical spelling of that here on my notes because then 88 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,160 practice it. I will mess it up somewhere 89 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:22,440 during the talk. Make fun of me all you like. 90 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,520 It's OK Jehoiada is the priest that we're going to read about 91 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:27,440 in this king. So this is Second Chronicles 92 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,040 chapter 24, and let's pick this up right here. 93 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,720 You ready, Joash? That's the King's name. 94 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,920 It's the southern Kingdom, Judah, Jerusalem. 95 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,720 Joash was seven years old when he became king. 96 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,000 That's young, right? Seven years old. 97 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,120 He became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 40 years. 98 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,640 His mother's name was Zibiya. She was from Beersheba. 99 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,040 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years 100 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,760 of Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada chose to watch for him, 101 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,680 and he had sons and daughters. Sometime later, Joash decided to 102 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,880 restore the temple of the Lord. He called together the priests 103 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,600 and the Levites and said to them, Go to the towns of Judah 104 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,320 and collect the money due annually from all Israel to 105 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,200 repair the temple of your God. Do it now. 106 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:18,960 But the Levites did not act at once. 107 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,360 Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada, the chief priest, and 108 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,640 said to him, Why haven't you required the Levites to bring in 109 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,560 from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of 110 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,000 the Lord, and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the 111 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,600 covenant law? Now the sons of that wicked, of 112 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,520 that wicked woman, Athalia, had broken into the temple of God 113 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,880 and had used even its sacred objects of the Bales for the 114 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:46,280 bales. All right, here we go. 115 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:48,560 First thing if you're a note taker, first thing I want you to 116 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,680 get from this text is this. Generosity begins with a heart 117 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,520 for God's work. Generosity begins with a heart 118 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,440 for God's work. You look at Joe Ashir, he's a 119 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,240 young man, he's seven years old and he's king. 120 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,240 That's kind of a big deal, but you think so He grows up as 121 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,560 king. He has Jehoita there that's 122 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,560 mentoring him and shaping him and leading him. 123 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,720 But he's still the king. He gets 1314. 124 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,160 I have a 15 year old son. I can't imagine him being king 125 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,280 of anything, right? Because they don't have a lot of 126 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:20,280 impulse control. They don't always make good 127 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:22,960 decisions and they they tend to want what they want when they 128 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:24,920 want it, right? That's what they tend to want. 129 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,000 Is it? And so here is Jehoita's 130 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,480 obviously investing in Joassin, leading Joassin. 131 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:31,880 Joash could have anything, could have anything he wants. 132 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:33,440 He could demand anything he wants. 133 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,400 And what does the Scripture say? It says sometime later, Joash 134 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,160 decides that he is interested in God's work. 135 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,920 He has a heart for God's work. Now, it's hard for us to wrap 136 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,520 our heads around this because when we think of the the temple 137 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,000 in the Old Testament, we're not quite sure what that means. 138 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,000 And we tend to think of it like a religious symbol or we think 139 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:54,960 of it like something practical, like a church building. 140 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,000 So we have church buildings that are practical. 141 00:06:57,560 --> 00:06:58,760 You know, we need a place to meet. 142 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,280 We can all meet in your house. You know, biblically, that's a, 143 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:03,640 that's an option for all of us. We can all meet at people's 144 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:05,520 houses. But we decided, hey, we're going 145 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,520 to gather into a church building and God gives us the freedom to 146 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:10,040 do that. But the church building is just 147 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:12,640 kind of a practical thing. You know, God doesn't live here. 148 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,240 This isn't a sacred space. This isn't a holy place. 149 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:17,760 People sometimes will cuss in our lobby and say, oh, I'm 150 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:19,080 sorry, I'm sorry, this is God's house. 151 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,360 And I'll be like, well, that's not really God's house. 152 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,360 God doesn't live here. And you know, if you cuss here, 153 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,400 if you cuss there, wherever you are, God is there. 154 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:28,360 It's OK. Like he knows your Custer eats 155 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:29,680 why he said Jesus to die for you. 156 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,880 But this isn't like this isn't a sacred space. 157 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,800 This isn't where God lives. And, and and we tend to think of 158 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:40,960 the temple maybe as a religious symbol, kind of like the cross, 159 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:42,720 like it's kind of symbolized something. 160 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,200 But the but the temple was deeper than that. 161 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,560 The temple in the Old Testament was the place, the actual 162 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,920 physical location where God's spirit met with God's people 163 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,040 like it was where they could engage with their God. 164 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:57,960 And so this was more, this was a sacred space. 165 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,480 This was where God's spirit resided for the nation's behalf. 166 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,960 And so for him, the when Joash decides to restore the temple, 167 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:12,120 this is something he's moved by because Athalia and her sons, 168 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:14,960 which is this wicked woman who had controlled the nation before 169 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,520 Joe Hash, they had gone in and destroyed the temple and created 170 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,960 damage and vandalized it. And so he, as he grows into 171 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,880 adolescence, he's like, we need to do something about this. 172 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:29,840 And what's interesting is that heart for the temple that then 173 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,559 generated a request for money. But notice that he didn't start 174 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,480 with a request for money. He didn't say, hey, we need to 175 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:37,720 gather some money and then I'll figure out what we're going to 176 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,200 do with it. No, it started with a heart for 177 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,919 God's work. Generosity always starts with a 178 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:45,760 heart for God's work. And that's what we see with 179 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:47,800 Joash. He began with a heart for God's 180 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:49,520 work. Now here's the thing too about 181 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,960 this story that I think we need to wrap our heads around as 182 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:56,920 Christians and believe God is all powerful and supernatural. 183 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:02,000 He can do whatever he wants, OK? He can restore the temple 184 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:03,800 supernaturally. He could have restored the 185 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,680 temple and brought all the sacred artifacts back into the 186 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:08,760 temple without using human beings. 187 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,320 He could have done this with with no problem at all. 188 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:13,840 But you see, here's the thing about our God. 189 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,160 Our God is not only interested in getting things done. 190 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,880 That's a human problem. Like we're just interested in 191 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,200 getting things done, checking boxes being done. 192 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:24,880 But our God is not only interested in getting things 193 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,200 done. He is also interested in the 194 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,640 hearts of his people. He's interested in what our 195 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,880 hearts are being formed into. He wants our hearts to be hearts 196 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,520 that trust Him. So for God, getting things done 197 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,240 is important, certainly, but just as important for God is 198 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,080 your faith and your trust in Him. 199 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:51,240 So God invites the people through Joash to be part of this 200 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:56,680 restoration work at the temple, and God invites you through your 201 00:09:56,680 --> 00:10:00,480 trust in him. Through your belief in Him, He 202 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,400 invites you into being a part of the restoration work he's doing 203 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,760 in the world. But not just in sentiment, but 204 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:12,040 also in sacrifice, because we all kind of want restoration to 205 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,920 happen in people's lives. We want things to be better in 206 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:16,920 society. We want things to be better in 207 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:19,880 our city, in our neighborhood, but we kind of want it in the 208 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,640 terms of sentiment. And what God is inviting us into 209 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,560 is not sentiment. He's inviting us into sacrifice. 210 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,480 And that sacrifice always begin with, begins with a heart for 211 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,200 God's work. Now let's look at the next part 212 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:35,360 of this passage, verses 8 through 10. 213 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,120 This is what it says. At the King's command, a chest 214 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,080 was made and placed outside at the gate of the temple of the 215 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,720 Lord. A proclamation was then issued 216 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,560 in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the Lord the tax 217 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:53,120 that Moses, the servant of God had required in Israel in the 218 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:55,760 wilderness. And all the officials and all 219 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:58,720 the people brought their contributions gladly dropping 220 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:00,840 them into the chest until it was full. 221 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,760 Now I, I want to pause here and just go off script just a 222 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,360 second. So what is this tax? 223 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:08,240 I did some digging on that. Like, what is this tax? 224 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,320 What are they talking about when Exodus chapter 30? 225 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,840 This tax is talked about when they're in their wilderness and 226 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:17,800 it's a tax that was collected by everybody that was in the 227 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:19,320 wilderness to build the Tabernacle. 228 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:22,880 And most scholars think that that tax in Exodus 30 was a one 229 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,240 time tax. It was one time God said, hey, 230 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,960 you need to collect 50 shekels. They called it an atonement tax, 231 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:30,640 right? And so they need to collect 50 232 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:32,000 shekels from everyone and bring them. 233 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,600 And so we can do the Tabernacle. And so most likely what's 234 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:41,840 happening here in Chronicles is Joash is telling the people to 235 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:46,080 follow a tax when they are not obligated to follow a tax. 236 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,440 That tax is that tax was a one time thing that God instituted 237 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,560 for one time. But yet he's drawing it up and 238 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,280 he's going, hey, I want you all to do this as if you're 239 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,440 obligated to it. They're not obligated to it, 240 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,280 which is why I think he puts a chest out in front of the temple 241 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,560 instead of sending his army into the countryside to collect the 242 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:07,400 tax because they're technically not obligated to do it. 243 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,960 They're technically they have the freedom to either do this or 244 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:12,400 not do this. And so he sticks AI think This 245 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:13,880 is why he sticks a chest out in front. 246 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,720 He just puts a chest out in front of the building of the in 247 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:20,440 front, in front of the temple. And he says, well, if the people 248 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,760 were going to give this tax, if they're going to do this, it's 249 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,280 going to be done in a free will way. 250 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,680 It's going to be something they decide to do. 251 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:30,720 And this is the next thing we learned from this text. 252 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:32,120 You ready if you want to write this down. 253 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:39,920 A heart that trusts God gives with glad, with a glad heart. 254 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,040 A heart that trust God gives with a glad heart, or gives 255 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:48,200 gladly. So we have Joash not collecting 256 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,000 by force. He simply sits his chest out in 257 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,240 the temple. And the people come and they 258 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,080 fill up the chest. But notice the writer tells us 259 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:57,520 about the disposition of the people. 260 00:12:57,800 --> 00:12:59,760 How does it say they came to fill up the chest? 261 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:04,800 It tells us, it says they came gladly, They came gladly. 262 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,880 They were giving with gladness. No compulsion, no force, no 263 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:10,920 urgency. Just an empty chest there in 264 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,600 front of the temple and then people coming happily to fill 265 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:15,840 it. And that's what generosity looks 266 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:19,920 like when trust in God has taken root. 267 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,520 When we trust God, the generosity looks like this. 268 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,280 We are happily and gladly willing to invest in the work 269 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,160 he's doing. Because you see, generosity is 270 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:31,520 the root. I'm sorry. 271 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,000 Generosity is the fruit of trust. 272 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,800 It is not the fruit of obligation is not the fruit of 273 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,440 pressure is not the fruit of a hard sell, it's the fruit of 274 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,000 trust. When we trust God deeply, this 275 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,440 is what comes out of us. This is reminiscent to me of 276 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,760 Paul's words, the second Corinthians Chapter 9 in the in 277 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,400 the second, in the letter to the Corinthians, the second one, 278 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:57,400 Paul's dealing with this issue where in Jerusalem the people 279 00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,720 are hungry and there's a famine and they're poor. 280 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,640 And Christians in Macedonia who are also poor have committed to 281 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,720 giving money to help the Christians in Jerusalem. 282 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:08,800 And so Paul has sent some people over to Macedonia to collect 283 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:10,320 that money. But guess what? 284 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,200 The Corinthian believers in Corinth, they were wealthy. 285 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:14,720 The Macedonian believers were poor. 286 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:16,440 The Jerusalem believers are poor. 287 00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:18,240 Corinthian believers are wealthy. 288 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,360 I always say the Corinthian church is the most like the 289 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,000 American church where the richest church on the planet, 290 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:25,800 right, of all the Christians on the planet were the richest. 291 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,400 And the Corinthian church is the saying they're wealthy, they're 292 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:29,920 well to do. They have plenty of resources. 293 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,520 They, they, they, if you read those two letters, the believers 294 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:35,400 of those churches know they're wealthy and they know they're 295 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,600 well connected. But they had committed, 296 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,680 obviously in some other kind of communication to Paul, they had 297 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:46,200 committed to help the Jerusalem Christians out with a financial 298 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,480 gift. And here's what's crazy, Paul's 299 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,760 writing a letter to them to remind them of that commitment 300 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:53,400 because they're not following through. 301 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:56,600 You have the Macedonian Christians over here who are 302 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:58,960 poor and following through, and you got the Corinthian 303 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,080 Christians who are not following through with their commitment. 304 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,840 And listen to what Paul says to them in Second Corinthians 305 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:06,400 chapter. Second Corinthians Chapter 9, 306 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:11,200 verse six, he says, remember this, whoever sows sparingly 307 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,560 will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will 308 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,800 also reap generously. Each of you should give what you 309 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,360 have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under 310 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:25,520 compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able 311 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,840 to bless you abundantly so that in all things, at all times, 312 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:32,400 having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 313 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:34,520 I mean, this passage is so loaded, right? 314 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,520 It's so loaded. What in the essence of what Paul 315 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:42,520 is saying is simply this, Hey, you said you would do this, but 316 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:44,160 you have the freedom to not do it. 317 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,160 And this is the thing I want to say to you as believers in Jesus 318 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,320 Christ, like our salvation is dependent upon Jesus Christ and 319 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:53,840 his blood shed for us on the cross. 320 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,120 If you are never generous, that has not changed the fact that 321 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:00,000 you are safe and your sins are removed. 322 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,760 It doesn't. Generosity is not a a means test 323 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:08,120 to know that you're saved. Faith is, it's faith alone. 324 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:15,120 But what Paul is saying is that people who know Jesus and people 325 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,760 who follow Jesus and people who love Jesus, they get that 326 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,160 they're part of something bigger than just their own lives. 327 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,840 That they're a part of a bigger story, and that they invest in 328 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,320 that bigger story that they support and they're a part of 329 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,200 and they give to what God is doing in the world. 330 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,560 And so Paul's encouraging these Christians to complete their 331 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,160 commitment, but he's not demanding they do so. 332 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:40,040 He's not saying, hey, you have to do this. 333 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,000 You said you would. He'd say, hey, this is your 334 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:45,440 choice. You get to decide. 335 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,080 You get to decide in your own hearts what it is you're going 336 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:49,440 to give. And the same is true for 337 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,920 everyone here sitting here and everyone listening and watching 338 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:53,760 online. You, it's in your hearts that 339 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,760 you decides between you and the Lord how generous you will be. 340 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,680 That's a process and a journey that you're on with God, with 341 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,120 your own money. I have no authority in your life 342 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:09,720 and no one does. But Haas says as you work 343 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,520 through this decision, to either follow your commitment or not to 344 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:15,680 give what you've decided in your own heart to give. 345 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,680 This is what he says to them. Be sure that wherever you land 346 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:23,640 on your decision, you give so cheerfully. 347 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,960 You give with gladness. Now that matters. 348 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,000 We, we tend to think in the world like, it doesn't matter. 349 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:34,440 Aren't you just glad I gave you this money? 350 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,960 Don't you just need this money? Whether I'm glad or not? 351 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,440 What does it matter to you? God doesn't need our money. 352 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:47,480 He doesn't need your money. The invitation to give is an 353 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,520 invitation to trust, is an invitation to know him. 354 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:53,000 It's an invitation to rely on Him. 355 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:57,760 He doesn't need your resources. So why does giving cheerfully 356 00:17:57,760 --> 00:17:59,960 matter? Well, because when I look at my 357 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:03,480 resources and I say I'm going to share from these resources, I'm 358 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,920 going to give up some of those resources instead of using them 359 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:07,840 all for my safety and my security. 360 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:12,480 What I'm saying is I trust that there's a God who I can depend 361 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,280 on and trust in more than I can these resources. 362 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:19,160 And then that brings happiness and cheerfulness to me. 363 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:22,000 Because the reality is if you look at your resources and say 364 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:23,920 whatever you have in the bank, you think of the number right 365 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:25,400 now, you know what the number is. 366 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:27,960 Think what you have right now and you say, well, that's how I 367 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,200 know I'm safe because that number is this in the bank. 368 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:36,080 What you also know is money leaves quickly, evaporates 369 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:40,360 quickly, and God is faithful to the end. 370 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,600 And so this, this whole text is an invitation to be cheerful, 371 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,240 not because you're like, oh man, I'm just happy to help and 372 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:49,840 support and give to what God is doing. 373 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:53,400 No, it's because I trust that God is faithful and good and 374 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:55,720 dependable and I don't have to worry about my future. 375 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,240 So I can give cheerfully because I have nothing to worry about. 376 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:07,880 Does this make sense? Paul is encouraging all of us 377 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:15,760 not to give, but to trust the fruit of trust. 378 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:22,120 It's generosity. And here's the thing, man, it's, 379 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:27,520 it's hard to be a pastor because God does not instruct me to as a 380 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:29,720 pastor, as a leader of this church, God does not instruct me 381 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:31,320 to put the full court press on youth. 382 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:33,680 It does. I mean, I, I've read the Bible 383 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,320 and it doesn't nowhere doesn't say like pastors really lay into 384 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,600 your church and tell them how terrible they are if they don't 385 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:40,280 give. I mean, trust me, if it was here 386 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:46,280 I'd use it brother once a week. I don't y'all remember this 387 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,240 part. It's not here, right? 388 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,760 The Bible doesn't give me permission to. 389 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:55,520 Why doesn't the Bible say, well Steve, why don't you just tell 390 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:56,920 them that? Why doesn't the Bible say 391 00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,920 something like pastors tell your people they better give it their 392 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:02,880 money or God's not happy with them because it's not true. 393 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,280 God is way more concerned with your heart than he is with your 394 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:11,920 money. If your money is not the issue. 395 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,080 The money, the money's not my, you know, my issue is it's not 396 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:16,440 my money. My issue is my heart. 397 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:20,840 And so my job isn't to put the full core press on people or, 398 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:24,800 you know, to use pressure to motivate them to give money. 399 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,320 No, pressure is never the motivation for a believer in 400 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,040 Christ. The, the motivation for you and 401 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,840 I is that we have a God who gave us grace and mercy on the cross. 402 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,480 And that that grace and mercy on the cross has proved that God is 403 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,920 faithful to the very end. And my generosity is just simply 404 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:47,280 a response to that God, you have been so good to me so that I now 405 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,880 happily want to give to what you're doing in the world. 406 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:52,400 I want to be a part of your work. 407 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:59,240 Generosity is trusting a God who has already given us grace and 408 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,760 mercy. Trusting a God who's already 409 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,640 proven he's trustworthy. That's all generosity is. 410 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,680 I already know my God is faithful. 411 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:08,840 I already believe that he's paid for my sins. 412 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:10,840 I already believe that my future is secure. 413 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,400 And out of a response to that trust my generosity close. 414 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,600 So when you trust God with your future, generosity will no 415 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:23,600 longer feel like a cost or a risk, but will feel more like 416 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,680 participation, participation in what God is doing in the world. 417 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:30,440 So let's read this next section of Scripture. 418 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,920 This is verses 11 through 14. This is what it says. 419 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,920 Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the King's 420 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,520 officials and they saw that there was a large amount of 421 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,680 money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest 422 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,640 would come and into the chest and carry it back to its place. 423 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:48,040 So they were like, this is multiple times, like, oh man, 424 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,240 it's full again, right. So the people were coming and 425 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,160 giving this offering. They did this regularly and 426 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,080 collected a great amount of money. 427 00:21:55,640 --> 00:22:00,120 The King and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the work 428 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:01,760 required for the temple of the Lord. 429 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:05,760 They hired Masons, carpenters to restore the Lord's temple, and 430 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:09,280 also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple. 431 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,320 Quick caveat here, a lot of times people will be like, you 432 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,960 know, they're like, why does the church have to pay people to do 433 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:17,360 stuff? Why can't people just give their 434 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:18,880 labor away for free to the church? 435 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:21,960 Well, here we have the Old Testament like this is God's 436 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,720 temple where God's presence is. And did it say that they 437 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:26,760 gathered off all the brick Masons and the carpenters and 438 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:28,520 made them work for free? Do they did they steal their 439 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,520 labor? Did God's people steal their 440 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,040 labor? No. 441 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:33,520 What did what does it say they did? 442 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:36,800 They hired them. Well, how did they hire them? 443 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,040 They hired them because people were generous and they were able 444 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,040 then to hire these people to come do the work on the temple, 445 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:44,720 right. Anyway, that's a that's another 446 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:45,560 side. I'm sorry. 447 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,280 The men in charge of the work were diligent and repairs 448 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,800 progressed under them. They built the temple of a of 449 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,280 God according to its original design and reinforced it. 450 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:57,680 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the muddy to 451 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,960 the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the 452 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,840 Lord's temple, article for the service, and from the burnt 453 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,040 offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and 454 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,120 silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt 455 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:10,520 offerings were present continually in the temple of the 456 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,200 Lord. So here's the last thing I want 457 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,520 you to see in this text. God uses our generosity to 458 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,320 change things, things. God uses your generosity to 459 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,880 change things. When we release resources to 460 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,680 God, he is faithful to use those resources for his work in the 461 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,840 world. Notice in the story, the text I 462 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,200 just read, What did they do with the money that they gathered 463 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,960 from all the people? Exactly what they said they 464 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,360 would do. And that's important. 465 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,000 They did exactly what they said they would do. 466 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,160 They said, hey, we're, we've gathered this money to restore 467 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,800 the temple and then they did it and the temple does indeed get 468 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:48,680 restored. Notice the last sentence that I 469 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,680 read to you, verse 14. I think it says as long as 470 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,800 Jehoiah, Jehoiah lived, burnt offerings were present, 471 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,000 presented continually in the temple of the Lord. 472 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:01,440 It was not just the physical building that was restored, but 473 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,840 acts of worship were restored because of the giving of the 474 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,640 people of the nation. All of these people were part of 475 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,160 this restoration because of God invited them to be part of the 476 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,600 work He was doing in the world. This is what God invites you 477 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,920 into. In the same way, when you and I 478 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:22,920 and all of God's people give generously, real restoration 479 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:24,800 happens in the lives of other people. 480 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,800 God uses your generosity to createspace for people to find 481 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,520 healing, for people to hear the gospel, and to come down to know 482 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,040 their true identity and their worth. 483 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:37,480 Your generosity meets the needs of people and supplies them with 484 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,480 hope. Jason was up here talking about 485 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,040 student ministry. He's not kidding. 45 to 50 486 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,320 students here on Wednesday. It's chaos. 487 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,080 It's crazy. But those students are hearing 488 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:49,920 the gospel. Those students, some of those 489 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,840 students are just getting love from adults and they don't get a 490 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:55,680 lot of that. They're just getting love from 491 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:57,000 adults. They're just getting care that 492 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,640 somebody's listening to them. I'm here a lot on Wednesday and 493 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:01,160 I just, I know these kids by name. 494 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,960 You just ask them about their lives and they're just excited 495 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,000 to talk. Your generosity is helping 496 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:14,280 create that kind of space. When our hearts trust God, 497 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:18,680 generosity flows. And when we give to what God is 498 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:23,520 doing, restoration takes place. People are restored back to God. 499 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,560 Your generosity has a practical impact. 500 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:32,760 It does something practical. Now as your pastor, I don't want 501 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,000 to have a season of intense generosity or just a generous 502 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:37,920 moment. Like I've really worked hard as 503 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:42,960 a pastor all of my career to never be manipulative or, you 504 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:44,520 know, kind of like those moments. 505 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,800 I remember years ago when I was pastoring the first church I was 506 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,800 at as a young man, we had a teenage boy who was part of our 507 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,840 church who was actually a preteen who had cancer. 508 00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:54,360 And we brought him up front. There's a little small church in 509 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:55,720 the country. We brought him up front, we 510 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,720 prayed for him and people crying. 511 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:00,360 It was just very emotional thing. 512 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:03,680 And, and the boy has gone on to survive and he's living a very 513 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,000 good life. And but at that moment, we 514 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,360 didn't know, like we were unsure, uncertain whether he 515 00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:09,760 would survive. And we're praying for him. 516 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:11,760 And this family was not well off. 517 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:14,600 They're pretty poor. And I remember after we got 518 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,400 done, after the service, one of my elders came up to me and he 519 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,760 said, you had a real mark of maturity today. 520 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:25,000 And I'm really proud of you. And I said, OK, I'm, I'm 23 at 521 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:26,280 the time. I mean, I'm a kid. 522 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:28,880 And I said, OK. And he I said, how? 523 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:33,440 He said, well, this ring that was about half the size amount 524 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:34,840 of people in there. He said this room was in the 525 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:37,800 palm of your hand. Everybody was crying and 526 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,600 bawling. You could have easily said, hey, 527 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:42,480 we're going to pass the plate for this family. 528 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,520 And you probably could have collected tons of money from 529 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,360 every person in here because they were emotionally in the 530 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:51,200 palm of your hands. It would have been easy to do. 531 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:55,960 And you refused in that moment to manipulate the people God has 532 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,120 called you to pastor. And that was a defining moment 533 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:02,000 for me to have that elder say that over me. 534 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:06,920 Because that's not to say that I've never ever used 535 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,840 manipulation or that it doesn't shame doesn't sneak in because I 536 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,320 mean, at the end of the day, I'm human and I have fear like 537 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:16,280 everybody else. But it was so encouraging to me 538 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,880 and I've used it my entire ministry career because I don't 539 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,280 want to have a people that I pastor and shepherd that have 540 00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:26,800 intense moments of, you know, generosity or a single moment of 541 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,120 generosity. Actually, I what I care about is 542 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:31,920 all of us, our hearts being formed to be like Jesus Christ. 543 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,320 And we're all in different places on that continuum. 544 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:37,760 Some of us are man. Our hearts are formed by Jesus 545 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:39,480 and you're giving money like crazy. 546 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:40,640 Amen. Thank you. 547 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,400 We love you. And some of you are over here, 548 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,640 man. And that that hasn't happened 549 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,880 yet, but you're leaning into Jesus and you're coming to 550 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:50,320 worship and you're reading your Bible. 551 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,080 And you know what? I'm faithful for everybody on 552 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:56,080 both ends of the spectrum because God is drawing the 553 00:27:56,080 --> 00:28:01,240 hearts to him. He's doing the work. 554 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,560 I'm just shepherding and pastoring people that God is 555 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:07,040 working in. Does that make sense? 556 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:16,760 So I want to just encourage you today, wherever you are on that 557 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,920 spectrum, like I give tons of money away. 558 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,880 I mean, I haven't really ever given any money away, my money 559 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,600 away in the name of Jesus. Wherever you are on that 560 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:30,640 spectrum, what I want for you is just to trust God with your 561 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:34,680 future. Where do you have $10 million in 562 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,920 the bank or $0.70 in the bank? I just want you to trust God 563 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:44,440 with your future. That's all I want because I 564 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:49,200 believe that when you trust God with your future, you live with 565 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:56,000 more peace, you live with more confidence, and as a result, you 566 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:00,760 give some money away and God uses that to do work in the 567 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:05,160 world. So if generosity flows from a 568 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:09,000 heart that trusts God, then Stephen, the question is very 569 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,680 quickly, how does that trust grow? 570 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,680 And this is going to sound backwards, but you have to trust 571 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,400 me. If you want your trust in God to 572 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:22,960 grow in your heart, simply you have to practice the generosity. 573 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,080 You just have to start. It's like going to the gym. 574 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:34,960 You just got to start. Like if you want to have a heart 575 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,640 to trust God, you just have to practice generosity. 576 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:43,080 When we choose to give, even when we're not fully sure we're 577 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:48,520 ready to give, that experience challenges us. 578 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,280 And what God often does is meets us in that fear and shows us 579 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:58,080 that He's faithful. If we just step out, we just 580 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,560 start now. What does that mean practically 581 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:05,560 for you? I would encourage you to pray to 582 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:06,160 do it. Paul said. 583 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,360 To decide in your heart, Lord, how am I going to invest in the 584 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:13,480 work you're doing? Pray, spend some time with God. 585 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:15,560 God, I want to be a generous person. 586 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,640 You've been generous to me. How can I be generous? 587 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:25,240 And then as you pray, Paul says, decide in your heart, make a 588 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,760 decision, decide. You know what? 589 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,040 We're going to do this, whatever that is for you. 590 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:44,480 Decide in your heart beforehand and then follow through on that 591 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:50,200 commitment. It's very simple. 592 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:57,680 In that process will actually train your heart to trust God. 593 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:03,480 It'll work and that trust will grow, and then eventually 594 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,360 generosity will no longer feel like it's something you're 595 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,320 trying to do and you're putting forth effort to do. 596 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:12,760 As your trust grows in God, generosity will become something 597 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:17,720 that flows out of you naturally. It's a part of your spirit. 598 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,400 So generosity is the fruit of trust. 599 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:26,200 Generosity is not the fruit of good preaching or hard words 600 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,080 from your pastor or anything like that. 601 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,360 Generosity is the fruit of trust, and the only way to begin 602 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:36,480 that path to trust is to start being generous with something. 603 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:41,320 A little pray. And if you make that step and 604 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:45,160 you decide to be generous, God will bring restoration to 605 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:48,080 people's lives. He promises to do what He said 606 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:52,360 He would do. He promises to use your gifts to 607 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:54,760 change people's lives. Can He do it without you? 608 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,440 Certainly. But He's more interested in your 609 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:03,640 heart, trusting Him that he is and just getting tasks done. 610 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:07,160 So you stay with me. I'm going to say I've been an 611 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:19,240 addiction over us. I hope today that I have invited 612 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,480 you into something because that's been my hope. 613 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:28,840 If you've noticed I've not said anything like give to your 614 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:32,040 church or here's how you give to your church. 615 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,120 I just want you to trust God and be generous, whatever that looks 616 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:39,720 like. I'm inviting you into something. 617 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:48,960 Let me say this prayer over us, Father, form in US hearts that 618 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:53,240 trust you fully. Remove the fear that keeps our 619 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:58,240 hands clinched close. Lead us to join the work of 620 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:01,640 restoration you are doing through lives shaped by 621 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:06,720 generosity. Thank you for inviting us into 622 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:11,360 your work. As we go today, remind us every 623 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:16,440 day that in your open hands we are safe. 624 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:19,720 Amen. Hey guys, we love you. 625 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,720 If you want to join us for the Connect event, we'd love to meet 626 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:23,400 you. See you back here next Sunday.