How many of y'all been watching a lot of football lately?
How many of you saw the Eagles play last week against the Rams?
! Did anybody see that game?
If you did, you probably didn't forget it.
If you didn't, you missed out on something.
How many of you are Eagles fans and dare to raise your hand as an Eagles fan down here?
Listen, I am by no means an Eagles fan and they were going to lose.
The Rams were going to beat them and I was happy about it.
Unfortunately, the game goes until there are zeros on the clock.
And let me tell you, you know what I left.
This little group down here is laughing.
Thank you, Larry.
Because I always leave this thing down there.
Let me tell you, the game goes until the very final play.
And you know what happened on the final play?
The Rams were kicking a field goal to win the game.
It wasn't even that long of a field goal.
They were going to win the game.
If you don't know what a field goal is, just tune this part out for a minute.
We'll get to the good stuff in just a second.
But this is Texas and probably most of you know what a field goal is.
Listen, it's an easy kick, all right?
Especially from where they were lined up.
Not all field goals are easy.
But this one was going to work.
The Rams were going to win.
And the Eagles blocked it.
This team like did a deal with the devil or something.
I don't know how they keep winning.
Makes me mad.
Anyway, more likely the Cowboys probably did a deal with the devil and now they're paying for it.
I don't know.
Look, the truth is sometimes, and coaches will tell you, the last play of the game matters even more than the first play.
You got to keep playing all the way through the whistle.
Anybody know what that means?
Play through the whistle?
You got to keep going until it's over.
Sometimes what happens at the very end is just as or more important than anything that happened before.
So, we've been talking about generosity.
And several weeks back, we started working on this together.
Let's kick off our Sunday sermon again with this call and response.
Ready?
I say the black.
You say the red.
God gives.
We give back.
How do we give back?
When it's open, I've still.
That's right.
And these are principles that we draw from Jesus' teaching on generosity.
Today, we're going to look at an example called the widow's coins.
The widow's coins.
Would you take your Bible and turn to Mark chapter 12, verse 41?
As you're turning there, we're thinking about the last play, the end, what happens right before it's all over.
So, let's look at what Jesus did as his final play, so to speak, before he started his passion week, in which he was crucified,
willingly laid down his life for all of you and for me.
What was the last thing he did in his public ministry, as abbreviated, as short as that was on this earth?
About 33 and a half years, it seems.
What was the last thing he did?
We're going to look at it.
Mark chapter 12.
You'd think that this would be some big headliner miracle, that they'd all be writing about it in the papers the next day.
Jesus fed 5,000.
This time, he's feeding 10,000.
Jesus raised five guys from the dead.
He could do anything.
What did he choose to do as his final moment of public ministry on this earth?
For his last play of the game, so to speak, he points us to a poor widow dropping in two tiny coins.
And he teaches us that that's what greatness looks like.
Let's look at Mark chapter 12, verse 41.
Mark 12, 41.
I'm reading out of the Christian Standard Bible.
It should be very similar to what you're reading.
Sitting across from the temple, the temple treasury,
Jesus watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury.
Many rich people were putting in large sums.
Then a poor widow comes along and drops in two tiny coins worth very little.
Summoning his disciples, Jesus said to them,
Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
For they all gave out of their surplus.
But she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had.
All she had to live on.
And that's it.
That's the end of Jesus' public ministry on this earth.
These others contributed out of their abundance.
Their surplus.
But this woman, highlighted by Jesus, probably not noticed by anybody else,
gave out of her nothing.
Her very little.
Her poverty.
And she gave in all she had to live on.
What's happening here?
Well, they're probably in the court of women.
So if you think of Jerusalem, you think of the big temple,
and everybody's coming in to contribute,
to support the work that they thought God was doing through the temple.
Women were only allowed into the court of women.
That's why it was called the court of women.
Just wanted to clear that up.
Where men and women could come to give offerings.
There were many other courts around the temple.
The women were not allowed into them.
This was often common in that time of the world.
Women were very oppressed.
Very different than it is today.
The fact of a woman being allowed to work a job like women can work today,
or vote like women can work today,
is very, very rare, very uncommon back then.
And so in this time of female oppression,
Jesus highlights a woman and her sacrificial gift.
What were the offerings?
Offering boxes that she's putting things into.
It was something that looked a little bit like this.
There were these 13 trumpet-shaped offering boxes lining this court of women.
And people would come and drop their offering into it.
Oftentimes they would make a big show out of it.
They would pray some rich flowery prayer,
highlighting this great gift that they were giving,
and that was normally the rich, influential, powerful people doing that.
And so this woman doesn't do anything like that.
She has down to her last two coins,
and she said in her mind seemingly,
God can use these far greater than I can.
So I'm going to go and offer this up to God.
And I've got a sneaking suspicion that as Jesus witnesses this,
and he highlights it,
and he uses her as a teaching opportunity for his followers,
he probably took care of her after.
God probably intervened and blessed her for her sacrifice.
Here in Mark, he even highlights the value.
He says these were worth very little.
Mark is writing probably to a Roman audience.
When we look at this gospel of Mark,
one of Jesus' followers,
he's probably writing seemingly to the church in Rome
to hear about what Jesus did,
and what he taught, and what he said.
And so he's explaining to them,
these coins were tiny in size,
almost worthless in value,
but they were massive in meaning.
And Jesus teaches us this is the kind of generosity
that heaven notices.
If you want God to take notice
of how much you're giving back to him,
then give this way.
That's why we've been highlighting
from the very beginning of this series on generosity,
man, I imagine when I got up on the first Sunday and said,
we're going to be starting a series on generosity,
everybody's thinking, great,
he's just going to be begging for money
for the next however many weeks.
Because oftentimes that's what churches do, right?
And that is not right.
It's not what Jesus did.
What we're doing is trying to form
or conform our lives to who Jesus was,
how he lived,
and he was as generous as he could possibly be.
You and I should mimic the same kind of generosity.
He held nothing back from us.
And that was the attitude that this widow had.
She held nothing back.
So number one,
if you're keeping notes in your outline in the bulletin,
if not, don't worry about it.
Just listen up here.
Number one,
true generosity is measured by sacrifice,
not surplus.
True generosity is measured by sacrifice,
not surplus.
Surplus.
If you understand what surplus is,
you have all you need,
and then you have a little more.
And usually,
wealth is determined by how much surplus you have.
How wealthy or rich you are in the eyes of others
depends on how much you have
beyond what you actually need,
what you actually have to have.
We look at net worth and all these different things.
Nobody puts my net worth on the internet
because nobody would care.
Or yours,
more than likely.
And often,
we're not looking at a surplus,
we're looking at a deficit.
Right?
That's the opposite.
It means you don't quite have enough
of what you need.
And sometimes we find ourselves there.
But true generosity is not measured,
is measured by sacrifice,
not by surplus.
God's not looking at how much you have extra.
He's looking at how much are you willing to give to Him
and let Him take over.
What does that exactly mean?
Well, we're going to look at this.
We're going to try to understand what He's teaching us
from Mark chapter 12.
The teachers of the law,
in this story in Mark 12 that really happened,
were taking advantage of people,
especially widows,
especially widows with surplus,
wealthier widows,
who'd had rich husbands,
and they died,
and they left this money to their wives,
and so they have these widows coming,
and the teachers of the law
were taking advantage of these people.
Now, that's totally unbelievable, right?
You would never think
that a Bible teacher
would take advantage of anybody.
If you think that,
you haven't been paying attention to the news.
Because unfortunately,
people who lift themselves up
as experts on the Word of God,
and oftentimes it seems like
the more well-known they get,
the more successful they get,
maybe the more vulnerable
or prone they get to
abusing this power
that they collect around themselves.
So this is not a new thing,
and it's not hard for us to understand
that these religious leaders
were taking advantage of vulnerable people
because they still do it today.
And that's why those of us
who God has called to a leadership position
and allowed to be in a leadership position
in His church,
we have to be extra careful,
extra intentional
to walk with Him daily
and keep running back to Jesus
because when we start to stray,
we can abuse our power
and affect people
in ways that others can't.
So it's a serious thing.
And Jesus is stepping into this moment
when teachers of His law,
His Old Testament law,
were taking advantage of people.
2 Corinthians chapter 8.
We're going to be there
for just a little bit,
so if you want to flip over
to 2 Corinthians chapter 8,
we're going to be there
right here on this point,
and then we're going to go there
on the next point as well.
Go back to it.
2 Corinthians 8.
You can keep a finger in Mark 12
if you'd like to.
Paul is teaching us something
that's very relevant
to what we're talking about here.
That true generosity
is measured by sacrifice,
not surplus.
Jesus wasn't after
the wealthy widow's surplus.
That was the teachers of the law.
That was the Pharisees,
the rabbis,
many of whom were corrupt,
and most of whom
were trying to get more money.
See, these guys weren't paid a salary.
And so that system
that was set up
by this new Jewish way
lended itself
or provided
for these guys
to go out
and abuse the system
and go guilt trip people
into giving them
their money.
And whoever was
the most effective at that
was the wealthiest widows.
They had these things
called patrons.
And without spending
a lot of time
on that kind of culture,
these were wealthy people
who would get followings
of people
who were dependent
on them for money
and often their livelihood.
So the more money
you got,
the more groupies
or posse you had
because people would be
hanging on to you
for the gravy train
so they could get
your money.
You were their patron.
So these rabbis
needed to go out
and find wealthy patrons
and man,
it would be hard
to get some savvy,
rich, wealthy man
but some of these widows
who had never been
in the marketplace
and never learned
these ways
of doing business
and what was fair
and what was not,
maybe they were easier marks,
easier prey.
So this is what was happening.
And Jesus ignores
all of that
and he focuses in
on the woman
who was worth nothing.
She couldn't be
a patron to anybody.
nobody could depend
on her wealth.
2 Corinthians chapter 8,
Paul teaches us,
I want you to know,
dear brothers and sisters,
what God in his kindness
has done
through the churches
in Macedonia.
We talked about this
a few weeks ago
but I want to come back to it
because it's very relevant
to what we're talking about today.
These churches in Macedonia,
now remember,
he's not writing
to these churches
in Macedonia,
he's writing
to the churches
in Corinth.
Be like if somebody
came here to Henrietta
and said,
listen,
I want to talk to you
about the churches
in Burke Burnett
for a minute,
okay?
Let me tell you about them.
So we're getting it
in context
and he says,
these guys in Macedonia
are being tested
by many troubles.
Let me lead out
of the gate with that.
They don't have it easy.
They're having a hard time.
Now,
they are very poor.
Now,
he emphasizes that
because the people
in Corinth
that he's writing to
were not poor.
Maybe there were some
but most of them
had some money.
Probably upper middle class
is about what they were.
So he said,
these people in Macedonia
are poor
but they are also filled
with abundant joy
which has overflowed
in rich generosity.
Do you see
the difference there?
He said,
they're poor
but they're rich.
They're poor
in earthly means
but they're rich
in generosity.
And that's what God
wants to do for you.
He wants to make you rich,
make you wealthy.
Wade,
don't just take
a little video of that
and then splice it right there
and say,
God wants to make you rich.
I heard Sam say it.
I know Wade's
going to do that to me tomorrow.
I'm kidding with you.
God wants to make you rich
in what matters.
Say,
yeah,
that sounds about right.
Money never matters,
does it?
Of course it does.
But God wants
to make you wealthy
in the things
that matter most.
These Macedonians
figured that out.
And they were rich
in being generous.
You know what?
God supplied their need.
How do I know
God supplied their need?
Well,
we could read about them
but also because
he promised to.
My God will supply
all your needs
according to his riches
in mercy
by Christ Jesus.
That's a promise.
from God.
He doesn't say
he'll supply
all your surplus.
He doesn't say
he'll supply
all the extra
that you want.
He does say,
he does teach
that when God
gives to you
in what truly matters,
he will give abundantly.
He'll give
pressed down,
shaken together,
running over
will be God's mercy,
his love,
his grace,
his protection,
and even
his provision.
He will provide
for your need.
And so the Macedonians
figured this out.
They figured out
this generosity code.
They cracked the code.
They said,
it doesn't matter
so much how much
we have,
it matters
who we are.
Remember we've been
saying this for several
months now,
God's not as interested
in what you do
as how and why
you do it.
because the how
and why
will determine
the what.
So if you're going out
and living like the devil,
you're not doing that
for God.
You're not doing that
for others.
You're doing that
because you think
it'll bring you
pleasure.
Because it'll bring you
what you want.
But that's the opposite.
Jesus says,
if you want to be like me,
if you want to follow me,
if you want to call yourself
a Christian and be my disciple,
be my follower,
then you've got to
understand generosity.
We talked about that
in week one.
He literally teaches
if you're not generous,
you can't follow me.
That's a hard truth.
See, I'm just not
a generous person.
Let God make you one.
By nature,
I'm not generous either.
My wife is.
Some of you are gifted
with this gift of hospitality
and wanting to serve
and wanting to go out
and be a blessing to people.
It's just how you tick.
Some of us are not.
We really just care
about number one.
And as long as we're okay,
then everything else is okay.
So God has to teach us
to not be like that.
He's got to teach us
to change and be generous
if we're going to follow him.
So there's a principle here.
He said they are poor,
but they're overflowing
in rich generosity.
And this fills them
with abundant joy.
For I can testify,
Paul tells this church in Corinth,
that these people in Macedonia,
they gave not only
what they could afford,
but far more.
And they did it
of their own free will.
Do you think it's a good idea
if we open up the word of God?
You can come down here
and look at this big one.
That's in there too.
Same thing I just read.
If we open up
the big word of God
and we see a positive example given,
Paul,
whose job was to teach churches
how to behave,
do you think we should
follow that example?
Y'all talk back to me.
Do you think it's important
to follow a good,
positive, biblical example
that was given to us?
Yeah.
Okay.
So here's the biblical example given.
They gave not only
what they could afford,
but far more.
And they did it
of their own free will.
That's generosity.
That's sacrifice.
So the principle
we can take away from this
is joyful sacrifice
equals true generosity.
Not reluctant sacrifice.
Not somebody just
getting it out of you
or giving a good pitch
and you fall under their spell
and it's like,
okay, I guess I should do this.
Joyfully sacrificing.
Saying,
God sacrificed so much for me,
it's all I can do
to just offer it back up to him.
How do we give back?
Hands open.
Eyes up.
God,
I'm offering it back to you.
You want my bank account?
It's yours.
You want my life?
It's yours.
You want my kids?
They're yours.
You want my health?
It's yours.
Why?
That's crazy.
What are you doing
offering up those things
that matter most to God?
Because God can handle them
way better than we can.
God,
I'm offering it back to you.
What does that look like?
I'm going to prioritize
what you prioritize.
I'm going to do my best
to follow your teaching
and you're going to train me
on how to live this way.
If I offer my kids up to you
and I train them
and teach them
how to follow Jesus,
I trust
that their life
is going to go way better
than if I try to crack
this parenting code on my own.
Because I don't know about y'all,
maybe you've got it easier than I do,
but parenting's not easy.
It's hard.
And I got good kids.
I really do.
They're not even listening.
They are.
Megan gave them those things
to draw on.
They're all taking sermon notes.
That's what they're doing.
Parenting's hard.
Whether your kids are rascals or not,
and they're probably all rascals
at some point
because we all were
at some point.
But God can crack
this parenting code for you.
So offer up your children to him
and say,
God, teach me
how to raise my kids.
Teach me how to keep them safe.
Teach me what to prioritize
in their lives
and in how I parent them.
That's one example.
But this idea of hands open,
offering it all back to God,
that is joyful sacrifice.
God, it's a reward for me
to get to give this back to you.
You're worthy of so much more.
You're worthy of so much better
than I can offer you,
but you just say
that you want what I have,
so I'm going to give it back to you.
I'm going to offer it back to you.
That is generosity.
The Macedonian churches
are a mirror of this widow
that Jesus saw
in the court of women
dropping in her two coins.
they gave everything they had,
not from abundance,
not from surplus,
not from all the extra,
not what they could afford.
They gave it from their little.
All they had.
And they offered it back to God.
That's generosity.
So when we give,
it's not about what's left over,
it's about what's laid down.
Did you catch that?
When we give,
it's not about what's left over to give.
It's about what we lay down.
Jesus said,
I lay down my life.
You lay down yours.
I just want to jump back to this
for just a moment
before we move on.
We've been talking about it
every Sunday in this series,
and it fits right in here today.
This bounded set versus centered set.
If this is your first Sunday here,
then you haven't seen this before,
and I'll explain it to you real quick.
There's two types of ways
of doing religion.
There's two types of ways
of following Jesus.
On the left side here,
this bounded set,
that circle represents
the boundaries that you have.
That circle represents
the boundaries
that a church might have.
This is what we believe.
This is how we live.
This is what we do.
This is how,
this is what's important to us.
And if you look like us,
think like us,
act like us,
then you can be inside our circle.
If you don't,
then you're on the outs.
And unfortunately,
that is how churches
and religion has operated
for most of its history.
But it's not how Jesus operated.
And it's not how he taught us,
his followers,
to operate.
Instead,
he is supposed to be the center.
And we don't judge each other
based on whether we look like
we fit inside the lines or not.
Instead,
we judge each other
whether it seems like
we're moving toward Jesus
or away from Jesus.
There might be somebody
who looks totally different than you,
believes totally different than you,
but you can see that this person
is starting to move toward Jesus.
You let them in.
You go invite them in.
By contrast,
there might be somebody
who fits right inside those lines.
And they dress right.
And they mostly talk right.
And they seemingly act right.
But if you've been around them
for any length of time,
it's pretty clear
they're not moving toward Jesus.
They're moving away from him
in their heart.
That's the kind of person
we need to say,
hey,
this isn't what we do.
You've got to turn around.
You've got to move back
toward Jesus.
It's a different way
of thinking about church,
about religion,
about what it means
to be a follower of God.
So let's apply this to giving.
Most of us give
what fits our budget,
not how God's Spirit
is leading us to give.
Most of us don't even go to God
and say,
God, what should I give this month?
It's just easier to say,
this is what I'm going to do.
This is what I can afford.
This is what makes sense for me.
Good night, man.
How much more does the church want?
I give regularly.
That's not what it's about.
That's not joyful sacrifice.
Instead,
should we,
and I'm asking questions,
I'm not yelling at you,
but should we
go to God and say,
God, what do you want
for me this month?
Specifically,
with my money,
with my time,
with my emotions,
with my energy,
what do you want from me this month,
this week,
today,
this weekend,
Sunday's coming,
I'm going to go worship
with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I'm going to sing your name.
I'm going to hear it preached.
Maybe see somebody get baptized.
We're going to see exciting things happen
with your people.
How do you want me to support that
this month,
this week,
this paycheck?
That's centered set,
not bounded set.
That's listening to what God is teaching you
right now,
right here,
not saying,
well,
I've given 10% my whole life,
so that's what I'm going to stick with.
Because that fits inside the circle.
It's not about the circle.
It's about Jesus.
All right,
let's move on.
here's the question.
Are we giving comfortably
or courageously?
Are we giving comfortably
or courageously?
Y'all,
I promise you,
I have to ask myself that question.
Because it's way easier
for me to just say,
here's 10% of my paycheck,
going back to the church.
What if God wants me to give more that month?
What if there's somebody
out there
with a need
and I have the opportunity
to meet it?
But instead,
I pat myself on the back
and say,
you don't have to do that.
You've already given to the church,
man,
you're good.
That's not courageous giving.
That's not joyful sacrifice.
How do we live generously?
Joyful sacrifice is true generosity.
That's courageous giving.
So Jesus,
in his final moment
of public service,
highlights this widow
laying down all that she had,
giving it away.
Do you know what that was pointing to?
Do you know what her joyful sacrifice
was pointing to?
Jesus on the cross.
When Jesus laid down his own life.
So Jesus,
in his last moments here,
before he starts his Passion Week
and we see all the events
that led up to his death
and ultimately his resurrection
unfold,
before we jump into all that,
we see Jesus highlight this moment
of true sacrifice
that he was then going to show
to all of us
and carry out for all of us.
So our offerings point
to Jesus' cross.
This is why it's so important to give
because we're being like Jesus
when we give.
Jesus held nothing back.
He sacrificed.
He laid down everything.
We have the chance to do the same.
Yeah, whatever, preacher.
You just want money.
No, I want you to be like Jesus
and I want to be like Jesus.
And if we do this together,
then God can take our sacrifice
such as it is.
It might be two coins.
It might be two dollars.
It might be the equivalent of that
in today's money.
But God can take that sacrifice
and do something so much more
than it could ever buy you in a store.
So our offerings
actually reflect and point to
the cross of Jesus Christ.
I told you we'd go back
to 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9.
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
that though he was rich,
yet for your sake he became poor
so that you by his,
what does that say?
Poverty might become rich.
Rich.
This is what Jesus is offering to you.
Richness through his grace,
through his forgiveness,
but not just a one-time forgiveness of sins.
The fullness of God.
We now have access
to have our lives filled up with God.
That's rich.
That's wealthy.
That's not poor.
You get access to all of God in your life?
Y'all,
that's better than anybody
with seven or eight figure bank accounts.
Though he was rich,
he laid it down
as a sacrifice.
He became poor
like that widow,
like that church in Macedonia,
so that there was an end goal to it
so that you and I
could become rich.
There's a truth here.
The widow's offering
pointed forward
to his offering
and our offerings
point backward
to his offering.
Do you understand that?
She was giving.
She gave all that she had.
She didn't even know it then,
but her sacrificial gift
was pointing forward
to what Jesus
was just about to do.
2,000 years later,
you and I,
when we drop something
on the offering plate,
or if you want to be like me
and you go on the little church app
and you hit giving
and then you give
through the app.
Super convenient
and it works just as well.
When you and I
choose to give
to what God is doing
on this earth,
we are then pointing back
to his gift
to us.
His offering.
That's where we get
the inspiration
to give our offerings
today.
So,
what's the application
of this?
the widow gave
her last two coins.
Jesus gave
his final breath.
What can we give?
What can you and I give?
In the same manner,
in the same way,
with the same level
of sacrifice,
what can you and I
offer up
to our Jesus
who we say we love
and we say we want
to follow?
Here's the application.
Generosity
is not meant
to be a movement,
a moment.
Sorry about that.
It is meant
to be a movement.
Generosity
is not meant
to be a moment.
It's meant
to be a movement
away from myself
and toward
my Savior.
Away from myself
and toward
my Savior.
Hands open.
Eyes up.
Generosity
is a life change.
It's a lifestyle.
It's an attitude.
It's a way
of thinking.
It's not a moment
when I decided
to be generous.
It is God
changing me
into a generous
person.
Moving me away
from myself
and toward
salvation.
Saying yes
to Jesus.
Seeing the gift
that he offered
up for me
and then saying
God you take
over my life.
Such as I have
I give it to you.
Forgive me
for my sin.
I receive this gift
and then I offer
myself back to you
as the gift
that you want
even though it
pales in comparison
to the gift
you offered
to us.
And that's what
we do at salvation.
We turn it all
back over to God.
But then somewhere
along the way
we start taking it
back.
And that's where
sanctification comes in.
That's a big word.
What does it mean?
It means to be made
holy.
To be set apart.
To be separated.
God wants to make
you different.
not just how
you do your hair
or the language
that you refuse
to say
or maybe you
don't go to bars
on Friday nights.
I don't know.
Whatever you think
holy looks like
that's not even
what I'm talking
about.
I'm talking about
what's happening
on the inside.
God wants to
change you
on the inside.
So generosity
is moving away
from myself
and towards
salvation.
Towards sanctification
and then toward
sacrifice.
just like the
church in Macedonia.
Just like the
widow dropping
in her last
two coins.
Just like Jesus
laying down
his life on the
cross.
And we have
many more
examples in
the scriptures
and in our
real world
of what
sacrifice
looks like.
That's
generosity
moving away
from myself
and toward
sacrifice.
And you know
what the great
thing is?
Ultimately
generosity
is moving
away from
myself
and toward
satisfaction.
Because I
can promise
you
walking in
the path
that you
want to
walk in
will not
bring
satisfaction.
There is
a way that
seems right
to a man
Proverbs
teaches us.
But the
end of that
way
is death.
I was up
at Straight
Street last
night in
Wichita Falls.
Anybody know
about Straight
Street?
It's a
wonderful
ministry.
Danita Long
from our
church
invited me
there and
she works
there every
weekend just
about and
got to
preach to
I don't
know 100
plus kids
who have
it rough
man.
A lot
of those
kids if
they weren't
there at
this spot
where they
do State
Street and
they have
football field
and basketball
court and
a place for
these kids to
get off the
street get
out of trouble
and just
spend their
Friday and
Saturday
nights there.
So I got to
go up there
and preach to
them last
night and I
preached that
exact verse
to them.
I said listen
there is a
way that you
want to walk
there is a
way that others
want you to
walk but the
only end to
that path is
death but the
way that Jesus
lays out for
you that is
the one that
will end in
life.
Two teenagers
a boy and a
girl brother and
sister came back
talked to me and
gave their lives to
Jesus last night at
State Street.
Yeah that is
something to get
excited about.
That is
satisfaction.
Trust me I was
so satisfied after
that.
Man I felt
amazing after
that like this
was the coolest
night I've had a
long time.
Those kids
experience the
satisfaction of
Jesus.
When you move
away from
yourself and
towards salvation
towards sanctification
towards sacrifice
toward the
Savior you find
satisfaction.
Generosity gives
us satisfaction.
I'm going to
close with this
song.
Matthew West is a
Christian singer who's
well known in that
genre.
He has this song
called Broken
Things and I put
it up on the
screen for you.
If it's true that
you God use
broken things then
here I am Lord.
I'm a broken
thing.
I'm all yours.
That's the
widow.
That's the
Macedonian
church.
That's offering
ourselves up.
Say here I am
God.
I'm all yours.
I might be
cracked.
I might be
broken.
Karen Schaffner
was telling us on
Wednesday night at
our Bible study
group our life
group on Wednesday
night that meets in
the fellowship hall.
We're talking about
broken things and
offering it up to
God and she said
you know light
shines through the
cracks.
That's how God's
light shines through
the cracks in us.
I thought that was a
really cool example.
So if we just give
what we have it might
be those two coins.
It might be a
cracked vessel offering
it up to God.
He'll take it and
he'll do something
great with it.
Jesus seemed like he
lost when he
offered up himself
to those who
didn't know what
was going to
happen.
Seemed like his
loss.
His team lost.
Should have picked
a different final
play.
Should have done
something that would
have turned the
crowd with him
instead of against
him.
He didn't handle the
end of the game
well.
And then they killed
him and they buried
him and it was over.
But it wasn't over
was it?
He didn't lose.
Seemed like he lost.
But he turned the
ultimate sacrifice
into victory.
He turned it into
satisfaction for you
and me.
He turned it into
something special that
we could never
replicate.
So how do we give?
Generously.
Join Jesus in the
generosity movement.
commitment.
God wants to
change you.
If it's true God
that you use broken
things, here I am.
I'm all yours.
Where's God calling
you to be generous?
Where's God calling
you to trust him more
deeply by giving
yourself away?
Is it your finances?
Is it your time?
Is it service?
Talked about picking
up your towel last
week.
What kind of sacrifice
is God asking you to
make today?
Let's say it one more
time.
God gives.
How do we give back?
Hands open.
God, that's how we
want to give to you.
Today, right now, we
want to open our
hands.
We want to turn our
eyes toward heaven.
Say, God, use me to
make Henrietta look
more like heaven.
Use me to make Clay
County look more like
you.
God, how do we do
this?
How do we take on
this level of
sacrifice?
It's hard.
It's not easy.
But when we discover
this secret, it will
become easy.
It will become the
only thing that seems
reasonable and will
give joyfully like that
church in Macedonia
gave.
Not out of our
abundance, not out of
our surplus, but laying
down everything
sacrificially like you
did.
Teach us how to do
this.
It's in Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.
Church, would you
keep your seats just
for a moment?
Linda, would you come
and play something for
us?
It's June.
Sorry.
I always pick the
wrong person, man.
June's going to play
some music.
Let's keep our seats
just for a moment.
And for the next two,
three minutes, let's go
to God in prayer.
Let's ask him how he
wants us to respond.
So try to keep this a
quiet time.
Maybe not put everything
in the purse just yet
and slip out just yet.
If you can, just keep
your seats and do a
little business with
God right now.
As you're praying, I'll
ask just a couple
questions.
First off, is there
anybody who says, I
need to take that
first step away from
self and towards
salvation?
Today's the day I
need to give my life to
Jesus for the first
time.
I need him to forgive
my sin to make me his
child.
I put all my faith in
Jesus.
And I want to talk
about that before I
leave here today.
If that's you, would
you slip your hand up
right now?
I'd love to have that
conversation with you.
Thank you.
What about this?
Somebody who says,
God's working on me
about something.
Could be sacrifice.
Could be something else,
but God's working on my
heart about something
right now and I need
some prayer.
Would you slip your hand
up and I'll be happy to
pray for you as well.
Thank you.
God, you see the hands
and there's probably some
I missed, but listen,
right now, would you just
shut out all the
distractions?
The devil doesn't like
us to be open to your
voice and your leading.
He's going to try to get
any number of other
thoughts in here to just
take our minds off of
that and put them on
something else.
Let us hear your voice
right now.
Make it clear.
Show us what we need to
lay down.
Show us where we need to
open our hands, not hold
on so tightly.
Show us the sacrifice we
can make like you
sacrificed for us.
It's in Jesus' name we
pray.
Amen.