[0:00] So, just to let you know that, I know we just kind of talked about a mission theme and I'm now going to talk about giving. The giving part was actually planned out before we headed down there, alright?
[0:14] So, there's no other ulterior motives or anything like that. But one of the questions that has been asked of me for the last seven years is, how am I supposed to think about money?
[0:24] How am I supposed to think about giving? So, I had some notes and I put it into a sermon that essentially says what the Bible has to say about giving.
[0:36] First, let me begin by making this statement. That giving is a response to God's grace and it is an act of worship.
[0:49] Let me repeat that. Giving is a response to God's grace and it is an act of worship. That is why we feature the giving component where we give is here at the front, is a part of our worship service.
[1:09] Now, I know that some people struggle with this topic. Some people feel guilty to give.
[1:20] They feel that this is a part of their duty to give. So much so that even being a part of membership, they feel that they are pressured to give. And others, they really kind of don't know what the Bible says.
[1:34] So, my hope and prayer for this sermon, and I'm not going to cover everything because that would be like a John MacArthur three-hour sermon. I don't have that in me. But we're going to keep it short to a B.K. Smith two-hour sermon.
[1:48] All right? So, just as an introduction, let me say you cannot be spiritually healthy and be a healthy or a biblical Christ follower and not have God in his work as a part of your finances.
[2:07] So, what that means is, is to be a Christ-loving Jesus follower, finances have to be on your thoughts and how to use those finances. A few points.
[2:19] You cannot be right with God and not have him first in your finances. And the fact of the matter is, faith and finances are inseparably linked.
[2:32] And just so you know, Jesus Christ himself draws a connection between our hearts and our spiritual health and how we handle our finances.
[2:45] One author writes, as surely as the compass needle points to north, your heart will follow your treasure. The fact is, your heart always goes where you put your money.
[2:56] And you know this, right? You buy Tesla stock, what do you do? You keep checking. How is that stock doing? You give to, say, Compassion International, which is where you adopt children.
[3:09] You keep up with your child from compassion. The fact is, Jesus Christ said that our hearts will follow our treasure. In case you did not know, out of everything that Jesus Christ taught, over 15% of what Jesus taught relates to the topic of money and treasure.
[3:30] Why? Why? Because there's a fundamental connection between our spiritual lives and how we think about money. To try to divorce ourselves from the teaching is impossible.
[3:46] In fact, one of the fruits of repentance has to do with our finances. Let me give you a few verses.
[3:57] In Luke 19, 8. And Zacchaeus stood and said to Jesus, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.
[4:08] And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. Acts 2, 45 says, And they were selling their possessions and belonging and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.
[4:26] Acts 19, 19 says, And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to 50,000 pieces of silver.
[4:42] I forgot my notes what that was in modern day, but we're talking millions of dollars. There was a cost to obeying and following Jesus again. Jesus Christ.
[4:52] In Matthew 19, 21, Matthew said, If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.
[5:04] When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And also we know, if you know the story of Philemon, it's the story of a runaway slave who stole from his master.
[5:17] He hears the apostle Paul. He gets saved. He returns back. And Paul actually covered the man's debt. So there would be nothing between those two.
[5:29] So there's this idea that there is this strong sign that your repentance may not be as wonderful as you think it is if you are not willing to make restitution.
[5:44] Do you get that? If you have hurt someone, hey, I banged your car up. Sorry. See you later. True repentance is I'm going to pay for that.
[5:57] It's kind of interesting. I was just brought into a discussion. Sadly, on a ministry team, they found out that one of the members of the ministry team had stolen some of the monies from the general fund to cover their giving.
[6:10] And one of the things they were working through and we were talking about is that they're not willing to fire him. Of course, they wanted to show grace, but they want to see how this person will respond. And right now, he's kind of not responding the way they should.
[6:24] They're willing to pay. And they were going to say, you know what, you're going to keep working here, but we're going to deduct X amount off your monthly check to cover that debt till it's done. And I said, I'd actually wait till he makes that decision.
[6:39] If he's unwilling to come forth and think biblically through that, he might be the wrong member for your team. So money's at the forefront in so many different aspects of our lives.
[6:53] So my goal today is that you would know what the Bible says on this subject. And I hope that after this morning, you will, one, understand why Christian giving must be Christ-centered.
[7:06] Why Christian giving must be Christ-centered. That's the first point that you're going to get today. The first question I'm going to answer. Number two, the second question is why Christian giving must be motivated by God's grace.
[7:20] Six, why Christian giving must be motivated by God's grace. And three, why Christian giving is vital to the church.
[7:30] Why it is vital with the church. My hope is when we grasp the biblical vision, we can give with joy and confidence, knowing our generosity honors God and blesses others.
[7:46] You with me on that? Those are the three questions I'm going to attempt. And as you all know, sometimes I get my numbers. You might have four or five questions answered. But these are the first three that I want to do. So the first question that I want to answer is, essentially is what is to be the foundation of giving?
[8:02] And the answer is God's grace. The answer is God's grace. The foundation of giving in the New Testament is God's grace. All Christian giving starts with recognizing God's immense generosity to us.
[8:17] And if you don't know what that is, it said, For God so loved the world, he gave us what? His only son. His most cherished only son he gave to us.
[8:34] That is where the motivation for us to give generously. The Father's gift of Jesus for our salvation is the ultimate model of generosity. Jesus Christ said, Though he was rich and yet for your sake he became poor.
[8:54] So that you by his poverty might become rich. You with me on that? Jesus Christ gave up everything so that we would be rich.
[9:07] In other words, the Son of God gave up the riches of heaven to meet our spiritual poverty. Now you understand that our riches are not material, but the eternal life and grace we see through him, right?
[9:22] Not talking about quick get rich scheme. If I can give, I'm going to get wealthy. That's not what it's about. The fact of the matter is our spiritual freedom came at a cost.
[9:34] And it came at a cost that you and I cannot pay. It is the cost that Jesus Christ gave for us. And because God has given us everything in Christ Jesus, our giving is simply a thankful response.
[9:49] Romans 8.32 says, He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things?
[10:05] The assurance from Scripture means we can trust God to supply our needs. We do not give to earn God's favor. We do not give to be in deeper graces.
[10:16] We give because we have everything that God has given us. Amen? One of the points that one of the speakers said, you know, there's the optimist and the pessimist, right?
[10:28] The pessimist is my glass is half empty. The optimist is my glass is half full. The Christian is my cup runneth over. And I shall not want.
[10:42] You see, every gift we offer is an echo of the grace that God gave us. We love and give because Christ first loved us.
[10:54] So to answer the question, the foundation of our giving is always to be found in the grace of God. It is to be found in the grace of God.
[11:06] And what that means is it needs to be Christ-centered. So a second question that I'm going to answer that I did not include in my introduction is, what does the Bible say?
[11:19] What does the Bible say? Quite simply, the Bible always calls us to be generous. Now, I want you to be careful to the word that I'm using. Notice I said giving and not tithing.
[11:31] Did some of you grow up with that word tithing in your church? Got a couple of you. Sabian, who's at our church. Apparently, we're tithers. Okay, I'm just going to give you a quick background because a lot of people get really confused on this.
[11:47] And basically, tithes are commands that were based in the Old Testament. So it was an Old Testament command which meant one-tenth. And I'll just go over these verses briefly with you.
[12:01] If you don't trust me, I'll give you the full verse later. But I want to, just for the sake of time, so Leviticus 27, 30 to 34, it writes, So it was a command as a farmer, whether it be animals or fruit or vegetables, a tenth always went to God.
[12:32] Now, we do have something like that here. It's called taxes. They essentially, tithing, I'm not joking, is a tax. It goes through.
[12:43] The other aspect that they had was in Numbers 18 to 21, to the Levites, those who were the priests, I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance in return for the service that they do.
[12:56] So you gave 10% to the Lord. Then you had this other 10% that would specifically go to the temple and to the priests. And the priests existed all over in various cities.
[13:10] You know, if you found out you were unclean, you didn't have to go to Jerusalem, there would be a temple or an area. It wouldn't be a temple, but it'd be a place where the priest could meet you and he could make that declaration of worship.
[13:20] Then there was another tax, which was a festival tax that they had on. All total, Deuteronomy, then there was another 10% welfare tax.
[13:32] Deuteronomy 14.28 outlines how they were to provide for the sojourner, that is the stranger that comes and lives in our land, the fatherless and the widow within their town.
[13:42] So all told, we're up to over 23.3% that there is a requirement of Israel to do. We're not talking about that.
[13:55] In case you know, we do not set what the giving should be. But Israel was also called to give what was called a free will offering.
[14:08] What this meant was giving above and beyond what was required. Both the Old and New Testament teach God's people to be generous. This is a question I get all the time, just even recently.
[14:21] How much do we pay our pastor? How do I help? You know, what do I do? And I said, what would you rather land on? We're really frugal or we're really generous? I don't know of a single verse in Scripture says that God blesses frugality.
[14:37] I don't. Can't find it. But I do know many verses that speak of God's people being generous. So under the Old Covenant, Israel was commanded to give this tithe, this tent to support the temple, the festivals, and the poor.
[14:55] And God even promised, open the windows of heaven and blessing if they obeyed. In fact, God actually challenged Israel and said, test me in this, says the Lord.
[15:07] How much more should we who live under grace trust God with our finances? In the New Testament, the specific tithing requirements are already fulfilled in Christ, but the principle of generous, faithful giving still remains.
[15:24] So in case you're asking, why did Jesus Christ fulfill that? I'm going to go over this really, in case you're a real detailed person, you want to know the facts. I'm going to show you why and how Jesus Christ fulfilled that.
[15:36] One, Jesus fulfilled the law in Matthew 5, 7. That's why Jesus came and said, I came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. So this includes the tithe, which was part of the Mosaic law.
[15:49] Two, the change of the priesthood, and this is according to Hebrews 17, 12, under the Old Covenant, tithing was connected to the Levitical system. We do not live under that Levitical system.
[16:00] There's no use for it. Three, tithing was part of the Old Covenant. Paul teaches in Colossians that Christ canceled the record of debt that stood against us by nailing it to this cross.
[16:12] This includes ceremonial and legal requirements like the tithe. Four, we're to follow a New Testament pattern of generosity, and that's the text we just read or Dave read for us.
[16:27] Instead of commanding a set percentage like the Old Testament tithe, the New Testament emphasizing giving that is cheerful, that is generous, and that is voluntary.
[16:40] This shifts the focus from a legalistic requirement to a heart-driven response to the gospel.
[16:51] It's because Jesus gave it all for me, let me freely give what I can to him. And then four, Jesus commanded the heart, not the law.
[17:05] And this is in Matthew 23, 23, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for legalistic tithing while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness. And if you remember this story where the old widow was given all that she had at the temple the day before Jesus Christ was crucified, Jesus Christ was actually condemning a religious system that would take the last pennies of an old lady.
[17:36] So, the fact is, we are called to give regularly and generously as an act of devotion. 1 Corinthians 16, 2 says, On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside as he or she may prosper.
[17:55] Paul, writing to his disciple Timothy in 1 Timothy 6 says, Command, and he's talking about the rich, to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share so that they will lay up treasure for the coming age.
[18:14] Not talking about physical riches, but spiritual riches. You see, here's the thing. Generosity is not optional.
[18:26] It is to be a normal part of our Christian lives. If you have a problem being generous with God has richly given to you, that could be a bigger indication of serious problems in your spiritual life.
[18:52] One, it could be an indicator that you are indeed not saved. Two, could mean that you're just blind to the teaching of Scripture. Or three, you're just understanding it really wrong and disobeying God and what He has called you to do.
[19:13] But over and over, the Bible stresses that giving is a heart-driven generosity. I gave you 2 Corinthians 9, 7, which we read, Each one must give as he has decided in his heart.
[19:28] That means not me, not an elder. Nobody can command you, but you have to decide in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
[19:40] It's a joy. I went through this. I remember when I was working in the government and I made money. I was a stingy, horrible person. All right, maybe not horrible.
[19:52] But I was stingy with my giving. If someone needed something, hey, I'll pray for you, brother. We'll pray that someone covers that. When I had the ability to do that, and it took the Lord taking all that away from me, and when I first started to have nothing as a student and still recognize that I still have a responsibility to give.
[20:14] This means there's not to be any manipulation, no guilt trips. It says that God delights in giving that springs from love and gratitude. The early church exemplified this voluntary generosity.
[20:28] It said those believers were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.
[20:39] No one was forced. No one was put to the outside if they did not give. They just give according to what they did. The Bible teaches over and over is that when grace grips our hearts, open hands will follow.
[20:54] When grace grips our hearts, open hands will follow. So the foundation of our giving is God's grace. And God's word teaches us that when grace grips our hearts, open hands will follow.
[21:10] Third question I'm going to ask here is what does giving accomplish? What does it accomplish? Well, far from a mere financial transaction, giving is a sacred act of worship.
[21:26] Do you know that? When we think about worship, we might think of our devotions, our prayer time, coming here and singing. But in the New Testament, giving is considered to be just as much an action of worship.
[21:43] In fact, in many cases, it's even more because there is a cost involved to us. In the New Testament, we no longer sacrifice animals, but we do offer financial gifts and goods works as sacrifices to God.
[22:03] Hebrews 13, 16 urges, do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Who here would like to please God?
[22:16] We all do, right? He's telling us right here how to do it. When you give to support the church or help someone in need, God receives it as a fragrant offering as worship.
[22:31] Philippians 4, 18, Paul says, I have received full payment and more. I am supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
[22:47] See, those who give don't always think of it as an offering, as a part of worship unto the Lord. But we often do not equate it, like I said, with singing or praying, but it is.
[23:03] Proverbs 3, 9 tells us that we honor the Lord with our wealth, that our giving is part of how we honor God, acknowledging that God is alone, the giver of all things.
[23:19] Giving is also an expression of love and fellowship. When we, we partner in the gospel, show practical love to one another. The apostle John challenged believers, if we have material resources and see a brother or sister in need, but we refuse to help, that's the verse that pushed me over, how does God's love abide in us?
[23:44] Instead of just talking about love, we are to do love in deed and in truth. Casey did not know in Colossians 3, 12, and for those of you who've been around, you know that's one of my favorite verses, because if you want to be like Jesus, that kind of outlines how it is.
[23:59] It talks about compassionate hearts. It doesn't mean, oh boo hoo hoo, they're having a really hard time, I need to pray for them. The compassionate heart is actually a driven action to involve myself in that person's life to help them carry the burden they have.
[24:16] You get that? Compassion is a part of an action. It's not feeling sorry, it's willing to do something. Sharing with those in need demonstrates the reality of Christ's love among us.
[24:34] One of the greatest illustrations we had for this, we had a, at the first church that I planted, there was a, both husband and wife were disabled and some of their medical bills were piling up and they could no longer pay for their rent.
[24:49] And there was some pretty wealthy people at the church, so all of a sudden the wealth, the rent got paid. And, you know, I don't ask who did that. And, and it ended up that it probably would have been the second poorest person in the church was the person that had paid their rent.
[25:10] and, and it kind of came up and I, and I had asked them how they could handle that and there was a sermon that I preached in the Old Testament that there was a sacrifice in the Old Testament that if you could not afford it, you could take the dove to give of and, but there was no sacrifice for sins that you did on purpose.
[25:32] And this whole woman was motivated by the fact that she always treated her little sister wrong. And, um, that was the breaking point for her heart to come before the Lord.
[25:45] You kind of thought she might have been, you know, let's be honest, if anybody's had siblings you've had that battle but this woman's life changed because she's, I purposely did that and I recognized that I have no sacrifice.
[25:55] We were in the Old Testament and I have no sacrifice to right myself with God but now that I have a free Jesus Christ that offers it to me and then she paid all this stuff. It was just an incredible story.
[26:06] That is the result of God changing and someone wanting to give according to the glory of God because they know and understand the riches God has given to them. And obviously a question that I want to answer is, contributing financially allows the local church to fulfill our ministry.
[26:27] The fact of the matter is ministry requires resources from maintaining this building to supporting pastors and staff to funding our outreach and our missionaries. 1 Timothy 5 affirms that those who preach and teach have a right to be supported by the church.
[26:43] It says, For the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel and let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
[26:54] By giving to our church we enable the word of God to continue to be proclaimed in Squamish, B.C. It's amazing even when we're given to works in India and the Philippines it's still giving here.
[27:11] Every dollar given to the local congregation helps facilitate our worship services, our discipleship programs, our children's ministry, the evangelism and support for those that have needs.
[27:23] And in this way when we give to our church our offerings become a direct investment in God's kingdom work through the local body of Christ. So here's the thing God giving is not only worship but it drives fellowship.
[27:37] Amen? It's what connects us. So I'm thankful that the church was able to give some money to help pay for some of these men to come on this trip.
[27:50] One question that I want to ask is does God care about how we give? Yes, God cares about how we give and I'm not talking whether it be electronically or through an envelope.
[28:05] Each one must give as he has decided in his heart not reluctantly or under compulsion but God loves a cheerful giver. Here's the thing our attitude matters even more than our amount.
[28:20] You know that? Our attitude matters more than the amount that we give. we as elders know that there's some people in this church we have to protect.
[28:36] There was another lady in a former church of mine she had a very wealthy trust fund and you guys know compassion you give $30 a month and she every time we'd put something out she'd put more money.
[28:50] she sponsored I think 30 to 40 compassion kids so that's $4,000 a month for an 80 year old woman on a fixed budget.
[29:01] We as elders had to come in and cut those you know and she was so hurt feeling that God would condemn her and we were like no no no we're just protecting you because you're going to be out of your apartment soon and we were able to pass those on to other people and back to compassion.
[29:19] So it's the attitude that matters. That's why Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 8-9 though they were poor and afflicted their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity.
[29:36] Get that? They didn't complain it's really bad here we're really miserable it came through we're going to give to that church that at one time hated us because they were Jews and we're Gentiles and now we're bonded by the love of Jesus Christ and now we're going to give to them a wealth of generosity.
[29:56] 2 Corinthians 8-2 Paul says how? Paul says they gave themselves first to the Lord in verse 5 to surrender their surrender to Christ led to open-handed generosity and they begged for the privilege of giving to help others.
[30:14] You see the Macedonians understood that giving is grace not drudgery. See we're called to approach the offering plate or online giving portal with joy knowing that God can use even our small gifts to do great things.
[30:32] In fact my warning to you is if you cannot give joyfully it's better to pause and seek God for a heart change rather than to give under resentment.
[30:43] if you're struggling with it my advice is ask God to remind you of the grace you have been shown.
[30:54] Meditate on the cross and the empty tomb. Pray that the gospel fuels your heart you will find a desire to give as worship than a reluctance.
[31:08] Prayerfully speak with your spouse decide an amount or percentage to set aside for the Lord in line with your income in faith that intentionally helps our giving be an act of worship than an after thought.
[31:25] Paul commanded the Corinthians to set aside a gift each week in 1 Corinthians 6 2 indicating that planned consistent giving is healthy for both the giver and the church.
[31:37] Whether one chooses a tithe of 10% as a guideline or some other proportion the key is to give freely generously and regularly as God provides for you.
[31:52] And finally let me just add what are the blessings and impact of generosity? Do I really need to go over this? First when we give and face amazing things happen.
[32:06] Paul promises in 2 Corinthians 9 like we said whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
[32:17] There is not a prosperity promise of getting rich quick. This is a spiritual principle. God rewards generosity with provision and with spiritual abundance.
[32:30] In his timing and ways God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work.
[32:42] What that means is as you give God keeps supplying you with what you need so that you can keep being generous. I have a friend God blessed them with financial so not even by the time he's 30 he's a multimillionaire!
[33:00] He's a multimillionaire! He's driving the Mercedes and his wife wisely said this is doing something to us! There's too much money! It was affecting their views on their life!
[33:12] They had four children! So they chose to give I think it was at least half of what he made away and went back to driving the Honda a quarter or whatever is the tender thing and they just saw a dramatic change even in their kids because there's something about a kid being dropped off at a high school in Mercedes than a kid in the Honda quarter whatever there was just a difference and I know you the fact of the matter is you cannot give God he provides seed to the sower giving you resources to continue sharing and enlarges the harvest of your righteousness often that harvest is increased ministry impact growth in your character and the joy of seeing needs met and here's the funny thing about giving you know I've been in church leadership for about 20 years now and funny things
[34:13] I've seen people we had a building project and some guy showed up and he wanted to give us millions of dollars to help with this building project and it turned out there was problems with the zoning and another church offered to sell us their building so we were going to get that building which we ended up doing but he wanted his money back so that man wasn't giving unto the some of these things I was just talking to a recent church pastor that a man bought the church this huge piece of land they said it was so big so they gave part of the land didn't sell it but to a Christian school and this man kind this church and they are seeing him really grow in his theology so who benefits one the giver you are blessed by giving
[35:28] Jesus himself said is more blessed to give than to receive to the recipient those who receive our gifts have their needs met they experience the love of Christ I can tell you what else it does it helps build trust if you've ever had a need and know that God somehow comes in I'll tell you the quick story I remember the story I don't know if you remember I was at seminary in my last year I'm all out of money the Canadian exchange took everything I'm working a seven dollar an hour job and I've got this this Nissan Maxima that's held out for 390,000 kilometers and we've only got two months of school left and all of a sudden smoke is pouring out and I'm like oh man I'm never going to make this and so I just show up at church and the guy goes hey do you want to go for lunch yeah we'll go for lunch and he goes hey do you want a bimmer I'm like what do you want a bimmer and he doesn't say beamer correctly and he's offering me this
[36:33] BMW and I'm like what and he goes yeah my wife's parents gave us a car so we have this 525 so on the way to pick up the car I get a call from a friend's father and he says hey I got this crowned Vic I got six kids none of the kids want to drive this crowned Vic but you always said you really liked it it it was kind of a cool look like a cop car and he says do you want it okay so on the way to pick up the BMW I get another car so that night it's game nights with one of my friends and one of my buddies called says hey we can't make it our car broke down so I said you want a beamer and he says to me nah I'm holding out for a Lexus and I'm like I'm for real I'm not kidding so I get home and literally and this is part of the same weekend and one of my friends is like why are you so calm about this and I had to say the Lord has gotten me this far why isn't he going to see me to the end so
[37:35] I get in and I open up my computer to do my work I got no computer so I'm like oh Lord what's going to do! the next day one of my professors called and says hey BK I bought this computer to travel with me but it turns out it's still not small enough do you want to buy it from me it would be a really good deal like this is the same 48 hour period right I said that's a great deal but I don't even have money to do that!
[38:13] that computer and so for the rest and I kept that for several years was a reminder of God's goodness taking care of me when I didn't have which were things that you needed I needed a car and a computer to do so the recipients are blessed even in Paul talking about how the Jewish believers who had supported the Greek churches!
[38:32] are now being supported by the Greek churches who had no money what incredible story who else benefits when we give God God's the third because God himself is glorified 2 Corinthians 9 13 says they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your profession of the gospel and the generosity of your contribution God is glorified our giving showcases the gospel's power to change our hearts and the final one is the church the fact of the matter is the whole church is built up and unified through loving generosity in the book of Acts when Barnabas sold a field and gave the money to the apostles it inspired others and contributed to the unity of the young church giving strengthens the ministry of the local church enabling it to reach more!
[39:31] it also knit people believers together in partnership that's what I experienced I wish you guys could all come to the TMAI office and just say hey I'm from Squamish just different people thanks really appreciate they're all connected they all know the stories to Paul noted that the Jerusalem Christians who benefited from Gentile believers donations would long for them and pray for them because of the surpassing grace of God at work in them and ultimately in our church we benefit that generosity creates thanksgiving and prayer deepening our relationships within this body as generous churches thrive together it reflects Jesus love internally and to the surrounding community and finally God promises to take care of those who give this doesn't mean we won't face financial hardship but it does mean we can trust him fully my
[40:35] God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus I have a friend that I met when we were down in LA he was an investment and he had a partner and the partner was doing something illegal and the SEC came after them and he did not know what his partner was doing but he was equal partner and he lost literally everything and he's in debt millions of dollars and I just asked him what it is like how do you survive that like you were successful I remember what he's done and he just simply said that God has always met my needs in the past so why would I expect him not to meet our needs today he did say it's helpful that all the kids have graduated from university but Jesus taught that if the father feeds the sparrows he will certainly provide for his children who seek his kingdom so my friends when you honor God with your finances you can rest unexpected check a new job or some means of support at just the right time often after they took that step of faith of giving
[41:50] God provides forgivers so that we in turn can keep on giving let me pray dear holy heavenly father I know this is an intense topic and I'm not speaking the slowest nor in the most eloquent of ways but my prayer is your heart would come out in an understanding of giving there's one truth to take from this is that our giving is a response to the great act that you did to save us father if there's someone here who does not know you or just knows you by name but not as a savior I pray that they would have the courage to talk to the person that is standing beside them or sitting beside them their neighbor is singing the songs that we sing may they have the courage to ask what is the hope that you have what is this glory you think about why are you so thankful in the same way
[43:01] I pray! that they would use this opportunity to talk to me or one of thanks for what you have given to us and I pray that we would not be an inward seeking people but an outward seeking people in your name we pray amen