← ArchiveSunday, April 8, 2018DateApril 8, 2018Speaker—Text2 Corinthians 9Passages in this sermonLuke 63:55Luke 94:10Luke 114:18Luke 124:26Luke 214:332 Corinthians 97:37John 3:1616:412 Corinthians 9:717:02John 337:24TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00The New York Times - The New York Times0:30- The New York Times1:00My name is Josh. I haven't introduced myself yet. Formerly lead pastor here at Bethel. Good morning, and nice to meet you. Today's message is entitled simply this:1:29Gracious God, Gracious Father, make me generous. Gracious Father, make me generous. Let's start with a mental exercise. This is going to be a happy exercise for you. Imagine, if you will, for a moment that I give you $5 million. Now, this is imagination, big dreams, that I give you $5 million. Here's the catch. Everything has a catch. I'm a pastor, right? You have to spend it within three weeks.1:58And everything you spend it on in that three weeks will go away after three weeks. What would you do with that? I'm living it up. Fast cars may have the biggest steak I can eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner because I want to get as much out of this three weeks. I want to spend this money as much as I can within this allotted time frame. Now, what if I told you, though, if you go to one particular store and spend this money, everything you spend at that store will last longer than three weeks.2:27So your perishable goods will outlast the three weeks. So your perishable goods will outlast the three-week time span. Would you go to that store? I would. Yeah, absolutely. Some of you are awake. Some of you are not being honest. I would. Even if that was a flea mall, I would begrudgingly go there.2:52But what if I told you that the reason those goods last longer than three weeks is because not of the shop, but because of the shop owner. See, this is Kingdom Economics 101. That God can take what is, as Brad has already eloquently shared, he can take what is temporary and make it eternal. I would be a fool not to take that exchange, would I not?3:17See, today we're going to talk about what Jesus talks about. Your treasure, my time, and my giving. You see, Jesus, every eight times he speaks, or 15% of the time, Jesus is talking about money. He's talking about wealth. He's talking about our needs. Actually, Jesus speaks about money more than he speaks on hell and heaven combined. Let that sink in.3:45Jesus speaks about money and wealth more than heaven and hell combined. Jesus says things like this in his word. Luke 6, "Give and it will be given to you." He gives us a parable, "Some seed fell among the thorns and it was choked out by the cares of riches and the pleasures of life." He says in Luke 9, "What does it profit them if they gain the whole world and then lose their soul or forfeit their soul?"4:10Jesus says in Luke 11, "For what is life? Is it not more than food and the body more than clothing?" Jesus says in Luke 12, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Jesus says in Luke 21, "To the widow who gave two small copper coins." He looks at this poor lady and says, "Truly, I tell you, this woman has given more than the richest man has given."4:39See, Jesus is deeply concerned about your wealth. He says, "Okay, Pastor, you're about to get messy." You know why Jesus is deeply concerned about your stuff? It's because God knows where our idols are hid. He knows where the deepest recesses of our life where we are hoarding and stingy towards God.5:01And Jesus is going to break those in our life if we follow him. See, this is true of Americans. Studies show that every American believes in hard work and decency more than they believe in distinctly Christian values. Think about that. We believe in hard work and decency more than we believe in Christian values.5:26Church, that should terrify us. That's our culture. That's your culture. Studies demonstrate that many, most Christians, give, but not generously and not sacrificially. That's what studies show of us. Studies also show as we get wealthier, what do you think happens? As God gives you more, what happens to your generosity?5:54It stays the same. It does not increase. And so who am I to bargain and say, "God, if you give me more, then I will give you." That's not generally what happens. And above all, this is what studies show. I love this because we're about to break down these walls this morning. Above all, good Americans do not talk about money. Their money is their own to do with it what they like. It is a private matter. And more importantly, get ready, they do not want it talked about too much in church.6:23Good morning. Here we go. Right? Let's strap on our big boy pants. Today, we discuss what is important to Jesus Christ. Your heart and my heart. And where I give, my heart will follow. So God is deeply concerned. This is a message of the glory and the graciousness of God.6:50Because if I understand God's grace, then my generosity follows. If I understand that my Father is a generous, giving Father, then I, if I am modeling my God to this world, I can't help but be generous. And so with that, let's read God's word together and then we'll pray. Because we're going to look at something that you don't want to talk about. And I don't want to talk about. My money. Right? It's my money and I want it now.7:19And God says, but Josh, that's small-minded thinking. It's not kingdom thinking. You're thinking about the three weeks. I want you to think about eternity. So, 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. If you're here on Wednesday night, you've already had your Bible marked there. We've looked at some of this together. To our young people, our youngest of the young people, I know I'm not old.7:44Let me just share this with you. If you understand generosity now, God will do great things in your life. If you understand generosity now, when you say, well, I don't have any money. I get everything from my parents. But if you begin to sow seeds of generosity in your life, there is no cap on what God will do in your life.8:04So that's my heart for you this morning. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 beginning in verse 6. Paul says this. The point is this. The person who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. And the one who sows bountifully will reap generously.8:33Every person should do as he has decided in his heart. So some of you are already here. You're thinking, oh, great. Patrick's talking about money. He ain't getting nothing from me. Well, God's already met your opposition. Look at verse 7. Each person should give as he decided in his heart. Look, it's not up to me to decide what you give. That's between you and the Lord. Not reluctantly or out of compulsion, but or since God loves a cheerful giver.9:00Verse 8. God loves a cheerful giver. Verse 8. God is able to make every grace overflow to you so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. As it is written, he distributed freely. He gave to the poor.9:29His righteousness endures forever. Let's pray. Lord, open our heart to your grace that we may see that you are a generous giver. You are a generous father. And Lord, when you open our heart, my prayer today in my life is that by opening up my heart, you will open up my hands to give. Lord, remind me again that my treasure is not mine.9:55Everything I have is given by you. I'm just managing what you have. So Lord, let me model generosity. Let us model generosity to the world. Not that we are only caring for the saints, but that the generosity would overflow from this place to a world so desperately in need of a generous, gracious God who cares about them. Lord, give us perspective to serve you.10:23I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. I want to give you three kingdom perspectives or gospel motivators on why God wants to open up our hearts. And you say, well, Pastor, you're talking about giving. Why are you talking about my heart? Because it's a heart condition. Right? The way I give is the way I understand the grace of Jesus Christ. So let's look at verse six and then we'll work through this text together. Verse six.10:52Verse six. The point is this. The person who sows little, sparingly, will reap, will get little. And the person who sows bountifully or generously will, in turn, will reap generously. Now, here's what we're thinking because we're Westerners. So the Lord just said, if I give a little to him, he'll give a little to me. If I give even more to him, then I will get. That's still small-minded, selfish thinking.11:20Right? God is not giving to me so I can keep. God gives to me so I can give. And so our first gospel motivator is this. Are you sowing much for the kingdom? Are you sowing much for the kingdom? A generous, gracious God always manifests himself in generous, gracious followers. Think about that. A generous God always leads to generous followers.11:47What does the world need to see in your life? If you're a Christ follower, Jocelyn and Catherine and Anna. And we already have people that are going to get baptized in June because God has changed them. If God has changed you, the world needs to see that you're generous. Why? What do they need to see about your God? That he's generous. If they see stinginess modeled in my life, if they see selfishness modeled in my life,12:12what do they think about my heavenly Father? That he's selfish? You say, well, of course they're not going to think about God by what I model. Absolutely. If I call myself a Christian, what am I saying? That I am a Christ follower. So are you sowing much for the kingdom? And we have struggles thinking about this as Westerners because you don't think in terms of sowing and reaping. You and I think in terms of debit and credit and bills and automatic withdrawals.12:41Now you think in terms of Apple Pay. I paid for some pants last week. I was like, let me see if this works. And I just held my phone up to the cash register and I paid. I remember thinking this is really dangerous if my kids get a hold of my phone. Because we're going to have every Nickelodeon and Disney cartoon imaginable. But we don't think of sowing and reaping. We think of digital currency. Some of you are thinking of Bitcoin or what you can do with that.13:10But God wants you to think in simplistic terms of your money. Sowing and reaping. Are you sowing much for the kingdom? See, God desires his people to be generous. The word used here for little is simply the word that means tight-fisted. Right? So those who sow tight-fistedly will reap tight-fistedly. Do we have any farmers in the audience? Anyone want to admit? Anyone like a wannabe farmer?13:40Want to admit that you have, look, I've planted. Anyone say they've ever planted a seed before? Okay. Anyone seen a plant? Let's go that far. Okay, got you. Look, can you imagine us wanting to plant a garden? And God gives us seeds. And he says, look, you go plant this beautiful garden. For me, cucumbers and tomatoes and vegetables. And you walk out in the garden and you sow seeds with clenched fist. If you are a farmer and you see me sowing that way,14:09what are you going to expect about the harvest? Not much because I refuse to sow any seeds. And God is saying the same way about our life. Church, don't walk around with clenched fists. Live with open hands because God has opened your heart. So are you sowing much for the kingdom? God wants us to live open-handed because we see that he has opened our hearts to the wonders of his grace.14:34When God opens my heart, he opens my hands. And it's as simple as that. And may our generosity not limit the generosity of God to me. I believe there are times in my life where God has not used me because I've been selfish. I've been self-seeking. And God says, I'm not going to use you right now because you're not sowing like you should. And then I say, God, why are you doing so little in my life?15:03And God is saying, well, Josh, why are you sowing so little? Why do you have a small three-week mindset? I want to give you a kingdom, eternal mindset. So very simply, gospel motivator number one, verse six, the person who sows tight-fistedly will reap tight-fistedly. And the person who sows for the kingdom with open hands will do what? Will reap much. It will abound to you.15:33Live generously. Live generously. I know why we're all quiet because we don't like us to talk about money. It's okay. Get over it. Get over it. God wants us to have a changed heart because what the world does not understand is people who live generously and sacrificially. You want to look strange to people? Give. You want to look strange to people? Tell people, look, nothing I have is mine.16:00It is all God's. And they're going to say, you are a nut. And we're going to say, but God has changed me. I can't help it. Gospel motivator number two, look at verse seven. Not only should we fundamentally live generously with our treasure and our money. But secondly, God loves a cheerful giver. So gospel motivator number two, God loves it when you give cheerfully.16:24Now here's what's interesting in the Christian standard Bible. That's what I'm reading from right now. Now, only twice in all of scripture does God love something back to back. So John 3:16, for so God loves the world. But only twice in scripture does the CSB put the word God and love back to back. God loves something. One is found in Deuteronomy. It says that God loves you.16:52God loves you. The second time this happens is where? You can cheat. You've read ahead. 2 Corinthians 9:7, what does God love? God loves a cheerful giver. And this is where I want our hearts to be. This is where I want your life to be. I want to love the things that God loves. Right? So if God says, I love that, that's where my heart wants to be. Right? When God says, I love this, that's what I want to love.17:21And God is very clear. He loves what? God loves a cheerful giver. I've already mentioned you don't like talking about money. That's okay. Get over it. We can interact with God's word. I'm with you. God loves a cheerful giver. This is not someone who gives out of compulsion. It means you don't give because, well, the pastor talked about it. Okay, I guess I'm going to have to give.17:49Ugh! I hate giving, but I will, God. If that's what you want, I'm going to give, not out of happiness, but out of compulsion. God, here you go. What does God say about that? No, that's half-hearted at best. God doesn't love that. Now, some of you are thinking, well, Pastor just said, I don't have to give because my heart's not right, so I'm not giving anything to the Lord. No, what I've found in my life when I give, God changes my heart.18:15That's the joy of giving. God loves it when we give cheerfully. He is in himself a giver, and he desires to see this characteristic restored in our lives. I believe when we fail, when we sinned, one of the things that was broken, God's image in us was generosity. How do I know that? Because God is a generous God. You know how I know he's generous? I'm still here.18:44I've sinned. I don't deserve to be here. I don't deserve the breath that God gave me this morning to wake up. I don't, and you don't. And God is generous because he gave us. Think about how generous our God is. God has created beautiful plants and animals that we had not discovered yet. Why would God create beauty in a place that no eye has seen that beauty? Because he's a generous, a bountiful God. That's the power of the creation.19:12That's the power of the creator. And God is reminding us that he himself is a giver. And just say in more simplistic terms, the more I give to God, the more cheerful I become. Some of you are grumpy right now because you don't give like you should. Simple as that. You're like, and I know who you are. I'm not grumpy. Really? Because the more I give to God, the more joy he puts in my heart.19:43I remember in 1994, my dad going to Brazil. It was an eventful trip. When he first arrived in Brazil on his mission trip, he lost his passport. If you've ever been overseas, I don't recommend that. Thankfully, my dad was with a man called John Grisham on the trip. And he was able to get in touch with this publicist in Brazil. And God worked everything out for good. But I remember my dad coming back in 1994.20:11And he said this. I didn't understand it at the time. I was young. I was about, I'm 12 now. So I was three then. I just remember it captivating me. But I remember my dad saying, I've never, and he was in the poorest section of Brazil. And my dad said, I've never met people who are more generous and cheerful. And I remember that stayed with me since then. It's as if those who have little and give much are cheerful to their core.20:41And I've been in South America myself. I've been in North America, obviously. I've mission worked in South Africa and Eastern Europe. And everywhere I've been, the poorest people in the world seem like they're the most generous. And everywhere I've been, it seems like there's joy when there's a lack of luxury. It's as if God is saying that he loves a cheerful giver and that joy and cheerfulness is almost tied to a lack of abundance in our life.21:07Are you a cheerful giver? Some of you have just come back from the Dominican and they're going to share next week. And there are people in poverty in Dominican. And you know what you see on their face? You see the joy of God radiating. Why? Because they are giving out of what God has given them.21:34They are modeling in verse 7, God loves a cheerful giver. Are you a giver? First, you can't be a cheerful giver unless you're a giver. And if you are a giver, are you a cheerful giver? I pray that we would model that in our lives. Gospel motivator one, are you sowing much for the kingdom? Look back at your week this last week. Have you done much for the kingdom too?22:03Are you giving cheerfully and abundantly? My goal in life is to one day I can bounce my last check for the glory of God. My kids are going to hate that because they're not going to get a cent from me when I die, if I have my way. But I pray that I will one day give everything to Jesus. That way when I get to heaven, God's going to say, look what you have stored up. You gave bountifully. And Josh, I loved it when you gave with a cheerful heart.22:32God loves cheerful givers. Thirdly, and I hope this radiates in your life today. Verse 8. Not only should we sow much, not only should we give cheerfully, but look at verse 8. We will not give on us to understand this truth in our life. God is able to make every grace overflow to you. Now let us stop here.23:01We did this Wednesday night. Look at the words that are used here. Verse 8. God is able to do what? To make what grace? All grace. Every grace. Do what? Overflow, abound to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.23:21Do you hear what the Lord is saying? He is so bountifully able to do everything in your life. Trust him. Trust him. And you say, well, I'm not in a place financially where I can trust him. I would say trust him. Why? Because God is able.23:50God is able to do everything that you need. And his grace abounds more and more every day. You are not designed to be self-sufficient, but to be God-sufficient. Right? You are not designed to be self-sufficient. And you say, well, we're in America. Of course we are. No. God has created you to be God-sufficient. Verse 8 does not say that Josh is able to make every grace abound.24:16No. God is able. God is able to do everything that you need in your life. I think of a verse that you've probably heard before. The Lord is my shepherd. Ever heard that? I shall not. That strikes at the core of American values, doesn't it? I mean, you can't turn on the TV with someone telling you, want this.24:44Hungry? Grab a Snickers. Even if you're not hungry right now, we're going to make you think that you are hungry so that you can eat this. Or you want that. Everything is bombarding you and saying you need to want more. The Lord, he is your shepherd, you shall not want. Why? Because God is able.25:12The word able here, I love in Greek, it means this. Super abundance. Super abundance. Extremely rich. Left over that God is generously pouring over you if you will trust him. If you will trust him. Paul is saying basically this. Give generously now and you will find that the more you give, the more he gives. And the more you give, because he's given you, the more you can keep giving.25:42That's how it works. God has not given to you to hoard. God is not going to one day when I die and look at him face to face and say, Josh, look what you stored up for me. You know, I was really in need of that. Thank you. God is not going to say that. God is going to say, Josh, I kept giving to you so that you would give away. And God has worked just powerfully in our lives in this aspect that we have learned as a family26:11that God is able. I want to give you two quick examples as we close this morning. This is my testimony. I have seen the sufficiency of God work. I pastored in Louisiana for seven years prior to coming back to the Bible Belt. I grew up in Mississippi. And I remember as a small church, the only Southern Baptist Church in this parish. And we were to the point where we just financially, the church could not survive.26:40And so I got with Casey. I said, look, here's what's going to have to happen for the health of the church and the good of this community. I need to take a pay reduction. And that was just what had to happen. And as we were praying through this, we decided as a family that although our income would lower, that our giving to God would stay the same. And let me tell you, we understood in powerful ways that God is able.27:07We did not lack for one thing. And to this day, I can't tell you where it came from. If you told me here, you write a list, where did all your income sources come from? I could not give you a list. But God abundantly overflowed in our life and we did not lack anything.27:34Not only did we not lack, that God kept giving to us that we could give more. That's the power of the gospel in our lives. Fast forward to last year. God again reminded me and our family of his ableness. Last year, because of where we are as a church last year, myself and several others on staff here took pay reductions.27:57And we decided as a family, Casey and I again, my wife, if you don't know Casey, awesome. She's the better half of this duo.28:22You know what? Amen. I'll second that. We just decided, you know, God, we are not so that our income is going to decrease again. We've seen this happen. Same song, second verse. Our giving is going to stay the same. But we said this, we prayed and we said, Lord, we don't want our giving to stay the same. We want our giving to increase. So we made a commitment as a family to give to God like we've never given before. And we said, God, we don't know how that's going to happen. We're making a commitment to you. God, it's up to you to supply that so we can give.28:52And guess what happened last year? And I'm not saying this to say, look at me. I'm saying this to say, look at our God. Look at his ableness in our life. Last year, as a family, we gave more to the kingdom than we have ever given. We've given a lot more than we've ever given. And that's with us taking a decrease in salary. We said, God, we are going to give. And we said, God, we're going to rest on the promise that you are able.29:20That you can make every grace overflow. That in every way, always having everything that we need, that you may excel in us. In every good work. Look at my life. My life is a testament to the ableness of God. And I want you to know that ableness. I want you to know the power of God working in your life. The generosity of our Father.29:49That we can say, God, give us more. And if you go back and read 2 Corinthians, Paul said that you have given not only for the cares and the needs of the saints, but it is abounding to others. That I want this place to be a place where the generosity of God is flowing out. That the community sees. But look at what generous people worship here regularly. They don't only care about themselves and their lives, but they're sacrificially giving so that people will have.30:14That's my heart for you. Have a kingdom, God-sized vision for your life. Stingy hearts lead to closed wallets. Lead to a lack of faith. And I pray that you would see God working. So how does this look like in our lives just very visually and practically? Several thoughts here as we conclude.30:43So I get it, Pastor. How should I give? Then why should I give? Now how should I give? So first and foremost, God has called you to give not from your leftovers, but from your abundance. From your first. Over and over in Scripture we see that we are to give a tithe from our first. What does giving to God first mean? It's me saying, God, I'm going to give to you first. I don't know how everything else works out, but I trust you. God, I'm going to give to you and I'm going to trust that you will provide.31:11That's what giving first. And I'm speaking as a young man with two kids, right? We haven't retired and the kids aren't out of the house and I don't have a pension and I'm not a trust fund baby. So if you're thinking at me, well, you have it made, you're talking to the wrong guy. But I've understood that if I give God first and not from the leftovers, then he will honor that. And this is what we need to understand. You have to make God a priority.31:39Young millennial people, my brothers and sisters, how dare I live in a big house, drive new cars, spend hundreds of dollars on my kids to play sports, drink my $10 lattes and say, God, I don't have anything to give you. Prioritize the kingdom and watch, watch what God will do in your life. Give to God from the first.32:08If I don't have a plan, I'm planning not to give. Secondly, how do we give consistently and abundantly? We say, well, I don't know if I can do that. Do you expect or do you want God to give to you consistently and abundantly? I do. Do you want God to give you sporadically and when he wants to? No, I want God to abundantly bless my life. And so are you giving regularly? In the Old Testament community, they gave a 10% tithe on everything.32:37We're no longer under the law. We're under grace. So that's not a place for us to stop. That's a place for us to start. Who am I? This is my conviction. And as a family, as a leader in my house, who am I to tell God? God, I want to give you as least as I can. My prayer is that God, every year we can give more and more and more and more. And God, when you give to me, I'm just going to extend it on. We're going to pass the baton.33:06Give consistently and generously in your life. Third, because of Jesus Christ, we give to reach the nations. You're not giving to make this place a more comfortable place. I've joked often, and one day it's going to happen. I'm going to be in a lot of trouble with you, and I'm probably going to get fired, but God's going to be pleased, so I'm okay. One day I'm hoping a speculator or a real estate investment comes and says, you know what, church?33:31I'm going to give you $100 million for this building, and I'm going to say, we'll take it. We're going to give it to the nations. We're going to plant churches, and we're going to meet in a tent in my backyard, and this place is going to be no longer here, and many will hear about Jesus. That's my heart. And so we give not to concentrate this place. We give to spread the gospel, and I want you to know, last year, because you gave, listen to this.33:59Because you gave, 349 new people visited this place and heard the gospel. Because you gave, at Fall Fest, 1,200 people came, and we had over 400 gospel conversations because you gave. Because you gave, last year, 780 hungry families in St. Clair received 54,000 pounds of food, and they heard the gospel.34:19Because you gave, last year, orphans in Zambia, villages in the Dominican Republic, flooded families in Louisiana, unborn babies in their family, kids in the foster system, churches in New England, needy families in St. Clair heard that Jesus loves them. Because you gave. Because you gave.34:48When you give, it does not stay here. It is flowing out to the nations because you gave. We help support over 3,500 international missionaries with the IMB, and they saw over 93,000 people baptized. Church, well done. Well done. Well done. But our work is not through. We can do so much more.35:16And I'm saying that, Lord, look at me. God, hold me responsible. God, I can do so much more. You can do so much more. And my personal prayer is that God would give you a kingdom vision for your treasure. That one day, all of us would give everything away. And we say, God, we will give everything away because you're worth it. And that God would bountifully bless us that we could give more and more and more.35:39So will you join me? Will you stand up and say, God, I want to give more to you this year than I ever have. That's our heart. That's my heart. That's my heart. God, let this church give more this year than we ever have. And we're not going to keep it here. We're going to give it out. We're going to plant churches. And we want to help more families. And we want more people following Christ.36:07And Lord, we want to give and give and give. And as we give, you promise us that you will give back. And as you give back, we will give out. Will you join me? Will you commit? I know some of you are here and you don't give right now. I don't know that for a fact. I don't look at the giving records. I don't want to know. So some of you can wipe the sweat off your brow. I don't know. But you know in your heart. I just encourage you. Take a 30 day challenge. Say, Lord, for the next 30 days, I want to give sacrificially.36:36I want to give because you're a generous God. I want to sow much seed for the kingdom. Lord, let me give because you're a generous God. Would you not try that for the next 30 days? And if you do, you will learn that he is able. And you know what happens when you give? You're going to turn around in 30 days and you're going to say, I don't know where this came from, but it's here. I don't know, God, where all this came from, but God, I see that you are able.37:01Would you say, Lord, we will give and give and give to you. But the greatest gift that we have is not what you can give. It's the gift that was given for you and for your behalf. The Bible says in John 3 that God so loved you that he gave his only son.37:24And whoever believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Church, you do not deserve that gift. We are all sinners. We have all fallen in our sin. Sin means that I have lived selfishly. I have ignored God and have ignored his design in my life. And God said, Joshua, you are in your sin. I gave my son to die for you. And his gift to you this morning is that if you would turn from your sin and turn to Jesus Christ, he would save you.37:52That's his promise, that if you would turn from your sin and turn to him, he would save you. And my prayer today is that you would understand the generosity of God, that he would open your heart and that you would receive and follow him. And you can do that right where you sit. You can say, Lord, I'm a sinner. I don't deserve to say this prayer, but I don't deserve your son, but you sent him.38:19God, help me. And he will say, come to me. My son has paid the price. And I will give you forgiveness for your sins. Church, be generous. Because we worship a generous God. Let's pray.More sermons on 2 Corinthians →
