Giving Because of God's Glory

Let us begin with prayer.

Our Father God, this morning as we open Your Word, I am reminded of the passage in John

15 where it says, apart from me you can do nothing.

And I would be sorely mistaken to think that preaching is an exercise merely of the intellect

because, Father, it is something that is profoundly dependent upon the work of the Spirit of God.

And to think that Your people, of their own will and volition, can glean from the words of a frail individual

things that are of eternal value merely by their own thoughts is foolish.

And so, Father, we join the psalmist in praying,

Open Thou mine eyes that I might behold wondrous truths out of Thy law.

And we understand this morning as we take up the subject of our stewardship, our giving,

that for some of us here, this is a joyful practice of many years of application.

For others, it's an ongoing battle and struggle.

And for still others, it is an area of irritation and resistance.

And so, Lord, this morning our prayer is that Your Word would have free course and that it would bear fruit.

And we ask this because of Jesus and with confidence in the power of the Spirit of God.

Amen.

I would ask that you turn in your Bibles this morning to 1 Corinthians chapter 16,

1 Corinthians 16 · chapter mention

and I will tell you in advance that we will not stay there very long.

Let me read the passage to you.

The apostle writes this in 1 Corinthians 16.

He says,

Now concerning the collection for the saints as I directed the churches in Galatia,

so also you are to do.

On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside

and store it up as he may prosper so that there will be no collecting when I come.

I bring this to your attention because it's a passage that reminds us that the matter of stewardship

was something that had traction and had a place in apostolic teaching,

and it was part of what the early church addressed at one point or another.

In fact, it was a fairly regular part.

If you actually were to take and work your way through the Scriptures,

you would be amazed at how often it appears.

Now having said that, I do want you to know that it does not appear in the New Testament

quite as often as it appears in contemporary televangelical, you know, televangelist speaking.

You've heard me on occasion talk about the perverse part of my heart

that every now and then we'll just kind of skip through

and listen to a number of different individuals.

And it's amazing, it's amazing, it's amazing.

I was listening to Jake's the other day.

Now I'll tell you, he's got fire.

I like it.

Very passionate, very enthusiastic.

And I was listening to T.D. Jake's talk about,

no matter where the sermon starts,

guess where it always ends up?

Somewhere close to seed faith.

And seed faith is one of those,

you can count on it being somewhere in the sermon,

no matter who you're listening to.

And if you are watching on TV,

somewhere along the line when seed faith kind of comes up,

there's an amazing,

I don't know how they do it technologically,

but right along with seed faith,

there comes up, you know,

dial 1-800, blah, blah, blah,

and here's the place to send things.

And it's all choreographed perfectly.

It's great.

I do want you to know

that the Bible does talk about the matter of giving

and is pretty consistent about it.

And so one of the challenges that I face as a pastor

is teaching on the subject

and teaching on it clearly

and then perhaps doing my very best

to not be repetitious.

Having said that,

at the very outset,

I'm going to tell you

that for some of you who are here this morning,

you're going to hear me say things

that you've heard me say before

or perhaps at some point

you were in a ministry

where the matter of giving was taught consistently.

I, for one, grew up in a wonderful Christian home.

I went to a Christian quasi-high school.

I went to a Christian college.

I taught in a Christian school.

And I went to a Christian seminary.

Can you top that?

And I never heard the matter of stewardship taught carefully

until Judith and I showed up

at Westridge Baptist Church with Pastor Randy Patton.

And lo and behold,

when January rolled around,

he did a four-week series on stewardship

and it was the first time Judith and I

had heard a careful, deliberate instruction

from the Scriptures about the matter of stewardship.

It was a life-changing,

in terms of certain economy issues in our lives,

it was a life-changing moment

because I remember Judith and I,

up to that time,

had been pretty inconsistent

in the matter of our giving.

I'm not saying that we were off the charts,

but it was not something that was woven in.

And I remember as those sermons were progressing,

Judith and I looking at each other and saying,

you know what?

I think this is something God wants us to work on

and we were convicted of that matter.

And I remember when Judith and I started giving

consistently, faithfully, week by week,

using what I was receiving as a benchmark

and then giving proportionally off of that.

And I remember at an earlier time in my life,

I'm going to move this stand, musicians,

so that I have room to move, okay?

But I remember at an earlier time in my life,

hearing, I heard a sermon.

Remember, I didn't have consistent teaching

on the matter of giving,

but I heard one sermon that really resonated with me.

It was this, if you give to God,

you can't out-give God,

so if you give Him a little,

He's going to give you what?

He's going to give you more.

And I really liked that idea,

but I really hadn't put it into practice,

I want to tell you up front.

But then when Judith and I started into the matter

of being faithful in our giving,

we actually went for about six months,

being consistent,

and you know what?

We never got a check in the mailbox.

I didn't get a raise.

No one rear-ended my car,

and I got a wonderful settlement.

There was nothing magical that happened,

except I remember we'd made this commitment,

and we began actually tapping into our limited reserves

at that point because we were,

do you know what we learned?

We learned that what we had to do

in order to be faithful in our giving

was adjust our spending style.

Now, that's an epiphany for some people.

It was for us.

There were things that we stopped doing

because instead of making God

kind of the leftovers of our giving,

how many of you understand what I'm talking about?

Hey, does the government get its first take on your check?

I'm just curious.

How many of you notice

that when you open your check,

there's already deductions

that someone's helped you with?

And did you get to vote on those?

Well, you may say that in an elective government,

yes, yes, yes,

but the truth of the matter is,

you know, you see all those deductions,

you think, huh, that one?

That one?

And, you know,

our government stands right out front first

and doesn't even put their hand out politely.

They reach into your wallet.

And I remember beginning to think,

well, I'm going to put God above the government,

and we began being responsible in our giving.

And it was a culture shock for Judith and me

to go through this process

of learning to be faithful in our giving

by, first of all,

being more faithful in our spending.

And so, this morning,

as I come to teach on the subject of giving,

and that's what we're going to do

this week and next week,

I want you to know

that I have no hesitation

for the repetition of the subject

because I think there is benefit

in reviewing very important Bible principles,

and what we're going to find this morning

is that the matter of giving

really rests upon a very foundational Bible truth.

The starting place for Christian giving

is something that I want us to think about

at the outset.

Let me begin by saying that giving

is really not something

that is woven into our nature.

It's not.

And when you stop and think about it,

that a lot of people are of the idea

that the human heart is just inherently good,

and we just have to have

a little more opportunity

to be nice people,

and it'll all work out wonderfully.

That's really not the truth.

And the truth of the matter is

is that we're not born givers.

If you have any question about this,

you can work in our nursery.

In fact, I think Pastor Saul said

that there's an opportunity

with the twos and threes

and three-year-olds,

and go ahead and just do a little quiz,

a little test,

and come back and report to me.

Let me know whether your children

that you're working with in the nursery

are just intuitively gracious and generous,

whether it is Cheerios or toys.

You know, it's amazing.

Every toy in the nursery,

there's only one of a kind, so to speak,

and whatever one the one has,

the other one wants.

Have you noticed that?

I'm just telling you that up front,

the matter of giving

is not something that we're hardwired for.

It's also interesting to recognize

that biblical giving

doesn't really begin with commands.

I think we do a disservice

when we teach believers

that faithfulness in giving

is really predominantly something

that flows out of command.

Thou shalt do this.

Now, I'm in favor of commands,

but the Scriptures always begin

by reminding us

of the incredible generosity of God

in relationship to us,

and all that we have received

ends up being the motive

for the way in which we respond to God.

And so, it's appropriate

as we think about this matter of giving

to recognize the Bible doesn't begin

by saying,

thou shalt, you know.

In relationship to this also,

I think it's important for us

to realize that biblical giving

is never manipulative

or based on a false idea

of return on investment.

I want you to hear that said carefully

because it is a very common theme

in many places.

You give in order to get.

And the idea that goes with

that seed faith type of idea

is that, well, hey, you know,

you give God $10,

and it's kind of a seed faith.

It shows you believe

that He is going to keep His Word,

and guess what He is going to do?

He is going to return a benefit to you,

and you can kind of count on that $10

somehow or another

spiritually growing into being

a whole lot more money.

And I can't tell you

how common that subject is.

Not only that,

but a common way

of churches raising money

is doing all kinds of raffles

and bingo

and, you know,

hey, what about cards?

I mean, hey,

wouldn't it be a good idea

if we just kind of took something

off the top of card games

and things like that?

What do you think?

Is there anything in the Bible

about relying on card games

or chance as a means

of raising funds?

What's the answer from

God's people?

No.

Meganoito.

That's the word in the Greek.

It's never let it be.

Absolutely not.

You may wonder why

when we send our young people

on a missions trip,

we raise money the way we do.

How many of you know

how we raise money

for a missions trip?

We don't have them doing

all kinds of little car washes

and little projects

and I don't want to throw

a lot of cold water on that

but here's what we do.

We tell the people

that are going to lead

the missions trip,

hey, you spend all your time

helping our young people

learn what it is

to serve Christ.

You help them learn

the things they're going to use

in Jamaica

or, and Pastor Saul,

you're equipping a team

to go to Jamaica this summer.

You do your work,

we'll do our work.

Our part's the support.

As you think about this matter

of giving for a return

on the investment,

I want you to stop

and think just for a moment

of a couple illustrations

in the Bible.

I'm just going to reference them

and I'm going to assume

that you can track with me

but one would be the widow.

Remember the widow

that Jesus was kind of observing

and at the temple

people were throwing money in

and along comes this widow

and she dropped in

two little mites.

It's not like lice,

it's two little coins,

little eensy-weensy things.

And Jesus made this statement,

hey, there is a woman

who's given more

than all the rest

of the guys have given.

Now, did she walk out of there

later jingling her pocket

with ten mites

or, you know,

whatever it was?

No, not at all.

And here's another illustration.

Remember Zacchaeus?

When he came down out of the tree,

what was the first thing he did?

Does anybody remember?

Raise your hand and wave at me

if you know what he did.

Just wave at me.

That's all I'm looking for

is just a wave.

Do you know what Zacchaeus did

when he came down from the tree?

He said,

hey, whoever I have cheated,

I'm going to repay fourfold

and half of what I have

I'm given to the poor.

Did he snicker under his breath

and say,

I'm getting it back.

Is that what he did?

No.

Not at all.

You see,

the illustrations we find

in the Bible

of charitable giving

have nothing to do

with that kind of manipulation.

So,

the call

to biblical giving

really begins

with the glory of God.

And the call

to biblical giving

in your life

as a believer

really rests

upon your view of God.

That's where it is.

We are to give

because we are persuaded

of His glory

and we love His glory

and we desire

to see Him glorified.

Let me have you look

at a passage here.

You're there in 1 Corinthians

or maybe you moved on

but,

or your iPad went blank.

Anyway,

one of the things here,

we're going to go to

2 Corinthians chapter 9.

2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

In 1 Corinthians,

Paul says,

hey,

first day of the week,

this is what you're supposed to do.

2 Corinthians,

he takes two full chapters.

Two full chapters.

That's not a drive-by shooting

on the subject of giving.

He really gets into it.

And towards the very end

of chapter 9,

listen to what he says

in verse 13.

By their approval

of this service,

they will glorify God

because your submission,

because of your submission

flowing from your confession

of the gospel of Christ

and the generosity

of your contribution

for them

and for all others.

What's he saying?

As other people

see the generosity

of your heart,

they're going to end up

giving glory to God.

Why would they glorify God?

Because they realize

that what you are doing

is something

that is atypical.

It's unusual.

It's unusual.

Hey, everybody understands

giving when you're going

to get something back.

Am I right?

Some of you

at Christmas time,

you get little gifts

from some of your suppliers.

Do you know why

you get those gifts?

It's really not

because your suppliers

just really like you.

It's because they're hoping

that in the next year

you're going to keep on

buying product from them.

And depending on where

you are in the food chain,

they kind of,

their gift is proportionate.

And do you think

they write that off

as a business expense?

What do you think?

Do you know what

that's telling you?

That's just part

of doing business.

Am I right?

Brian, is that right?

Can they write that?

Oh, I got that

as the CPA told me.

You can write it off.

It's all right.

That's not giving

for God's glory.

That's self-serving,

manipulative giving.

And we look here

and I want you to understand

what it's saying is that,

hey, people see

the generosity

of your hearts

and they turn around

and say, wow,

these people think

a lot about God.

Biblical giving,

ultimately,

like all other

Christian behaviors,

are to reflect

and declare

the glory of God.

That's what it's all about.

So let me take it

a little step further.

We understand that

giving is to really

flow out of our view

of God,

but I want you

to understand

that all creation

is designed by God

to actually have

a desire for His glory.

Given that I'm putting

so much emphasis

on the subject

of giving today,

let's take a moment

and study this issue

of glory,

which is an underpinning

for the matter

of giving.

And when we talk

about glory,

we're talking about

something that means

weight or value.

Remember,

our giving really

reflects our view,

our value,

or the weight

that we attach to God.

And so glory

is something

that may be conferred

on someone

or something.

Turn back in your Bible,

if you would,

to Psalm chapter 8

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

just for a moment,

and we see

in that passage

that man

has been given

glory by God

that was not really

His to begin with.

Psalm chapter 8,

Psalms 8:4

verse 4 and 5.

What is man

that you are mindful

of him

and the son of man

that you care for him?

And it's amazing

to stop and realize

that God thinks

about me personally.

Let me say that again

slowly so you don't miss it.

Everybody look here.

Look here.

It is really amazing

that God thinks

about me personally.

I mean,

how many people

are in this world?

Billions!

I'll bet you

there's some of you here

that get a brain cramp

just writing the number.

That'd be me.

But do you understand

that God thinks

about you personally?

He says,

what is man

that you're mindful

that you think about me?

Verse 5,

yet you have made him

a little lower

than the heavenly beings

and crowned him

with glory and honor.

God has given glory

to us

and glory may be

ascribed

or attributed

to something

or something

but when we

look at

something such as God

or something

that He has created,

we're not making it

glorious.

We're just recognizing

its glory.

Let me give you

an illustration of that.

I have to tell you

that I'm just so over snow.

It's like,

you know,

the last storm

did me in.

How many of you

remember the storm

that put about

six inches

on all of our properties

and driveways

and then crusted it over

with ice?

My snowblower

decided that it would

not cooperate fully.

Okay,

it was over the top.

That's when I said

enough.

And I remember

watching several

different people

post on Facebook,

oh,

the snow is so lovely.

And I thought to myself,

that had to be a wife.

I say that lovingly.

My wife is sitting back here.

That had to be a wife.

Someone's sitting in there

looking out the window

with a cup of coffee

in her hand saying,

you know,

look at that.

Her husband is out there

trying to avoid

a heart attack,

you know.

And she's eating it up.

Okay,

now,

it is true

that snow is beautiful.

So,

when we look

at that beautiful

snowy scene

and we say,

wow,

is that beautiful.

That's just glorious.

We're not,

by our statement,

making it so.

We're only recognizing

what it is.

And,

really,

the reason God

created us

in all of creation

is to show

His glory.

To show His glory.

It's not just heaven

or nature.

It's not just snow

or sunset

that exists

to glorify God.

We're all created

for that purpose.

In fact,

this is one of the

interesting thoughts

I want you to take away.

And I want you to think

about this

in a very,

very personal way.

Stop and think.

There's really only

one of you.

Everybody look up

so you don't miss us.

There's really only

one of you.

Only one.

There will never be

another person

like you.

even twins.

I was,

we had a wedding

yesterday

and weddings

are just wonderful

opportunities.

Someone said to me,

why do you choke up?

There are a lot of reasons

for that,

but I happen to like weddings.

And weddings remind me

of my wedding.

The first time I cried

publicly was at

my wedding.

And I've been doing it

ever since.

Okay?

But weddings are also

profound opportunities

for certain things

that you plan to go

one way

not going that way.

I'll never forget

a set of twins

in our fellowship.

Twins.

Now what's the deal

with twins?

You know,

they come out

just minutes apart.

These twins,

they were girls,

were just absolutely

opposite from each other.

One who got married

first had a wedding

that was carried off

with military precision.

I mean,

the wedding quarter

did not actually stand

with a stopwatch,

but it was pretty close.

I mean,

I remember her back there

and go,

go,

you know.

And the second

of the twins

got married

about eight months later

and her attitude,

they came from the same

mom and dad

and they also came

out of the same womb

and they're like,

whatever,

you know.

Here was the really

weird thing about it

and it kind of taught

me a great lesson.

They both had

equal set of hiccups

and so I decided

that,

you know,

take it easy,

relax,

it'll be all right.

The only thing

that counts

is the I do,

you know.

So here we are,

we're all about

showing God

His glory

and making Him

look good

and each of us

individually

designed by God

for His glory

and it's appropriate

for us to think about,

so how am I

glorifying God?

That's what I want you

to recognize.

It's important.

Let me give you

a couple texts

on the issue

of glorifying God.

Look at Romans chapter 11

Romans 11:36

verse 36.

For from Him

and through Him

and to Him

are all things,

now here's the statement,

to Him be glory

forever,

amen.

To Him be glory

forever,

amen.

Can I tell you

that that wouldn't be

a bad life verse?

Do you know what I mean

by a life verse?

It's an operating principle.

How is what I am doing

making God look good?

That's the question.

Here's another passage

in Colossians chapter 1

Colossians 1:16

verse 16.

Colossians chapter 1

Colossians 1:16

verse 16.

For by Him

all things were created

in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whatever,

whether thrones

or dominions

or rulers

or authorities,

all things were created

through Him

and for Him.

It's for God.

So it follows then

that if we exist

for His glory,

then all that we do,

including our giving,

let me say that carefully,

so that all that we do,

including our giving,

must flow from our purpose

and desire

to glorify Him.

Does that make sense?

If He is

the God of this universe

and He made us

for His glory,

it is just a

reasonable

connection

between the two

that all that we do,

including our giving,

be a reflection

of the glory of God.

And so we might expect

that every motive

that pervades

the life of a believer

is really about

the glory of Christ,

the glory of God.

And so that's a fair question

for you to ask yourself

this morning.

Does my life

really honestly reflect

that I am interested

in making Jesus

look good?

Right?

Let me have you think

with me across

the broad scope

of several different passages

in relationship to this.

Look at Ephesians 1,

Ephesians 1:12

verse 12.

We're looking to illustrate

this principle

of glorifying God

in Ephesians 1.

It says,

so that we who were

the first to hope

in Christ

might be to the praise

of His glory.

Why did Jesus save you

personally,

particularly?

So that He'd look good.

Can't believe you picked Him.

Do you remember

getting picked

in grade school

for athletic activities

in gym class?

How many of you remember that?

Here's the ugly truth.

I did not develop

physiologically

until later in life

and as a result

in the early days

when they would pick people

for dodgeball

or pick people

for whatever it was,

guess what I always knew

was going to happen?

I was the last person picked.

In fact,

you know,

it was like,

do we have to take Him?

Verse 13.

Verse 12,

it says,

so that we who were

the first to hope

in Christ

might be to the praise

of His glory.

Hey,

you know what?

If you pick LeBron James,

who gets the credit?

You for being the good coach

or LeBron for being

on your team?

You don't get credit

for being a good coach.

People think,

duh,

what do you think?

It's going to happen.

God,

in picking you,

got glory

because you're a surprise

to the unbelieving world.

It says,

why in the world

would God save him?

Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1:14

verse 14,

who is the guarantee

of our inheritance

until we acquire

possession of it

to the praise

of His glory.

It's about the praise

of Christ's glory,

our salvation.

Philippians chapter 1,

Philippians 1:10

verse 10 and 11,

so that you may approve

what is excellent

and so be pure

and blameless

for the day of Christ

filled with all

the fruit of righteousness

that comes through

Jesus Christ

to the glory

and praise of God.

What's that saying?

How does God get praised

in the life of a believer?

Hey,

it's when you,

through the power

of the Spirit,

act differently

than the pagan culture

we live in.

Am I right?

When you are in line

at one of the stores

and someone immediately

in front of you

is just fussing

and fuming

about one of the

particular issues

that there was a spill

on aisle nine

and nobody claimed

and cleaned it up.

You ought to see

the bathroom.

And you come right behind

and you act

exactly the same way.

Does Jesus look good?

No.

It's when you

allow the grace of God

to have a difference

in your life

and you then play that out

and people say,

whoa,

what meds are you on?

You know,

that's,

why are you that way?

Oh,

well,

Jesus handpicked me

out of the crowd

to be an exception

to the rule

so that he would look good.

Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Colossians chapter 3

Colossians 3:17

verse 17.

And whatever you do

in word or deed,

do everything

in the name

of the Lord Jesus

giving thanks

to God the Father

through him.

Over in 1 Corinthians

it says,

whether you eat

or drink.

By the way,

how important

is eating and drinking?

You know,

not important at all

right now,

but an hour from now,

guess what you're

going to be saying?

Hey,

he has gone way over.

It's time to stop.

It's time to eat

and drink,

okay?

Eating and drinking

are very important

and,

you know,

what we do

is for his glory.

That's the point

of 1 Corinthians 10 31.

So I want you

to understand

that God calls us

to love him

and his glory

and to live

and give for him alone.

Now,

sadly,

sin has led men

to desire

their own glory.

Isn't that true?

When sin

entered the garden,

Adam and Eve

fell to the temptation

of refusing

to glorify God

and rather they sought

to put themselves

in his place.

That's an interesting

idea,

isn't it?

God,

it's not about you,

it's about me.

Smile,

everybody.

Everybody smile at me.

Everybody smile.

When we say no

to faithful giving,

that's what we're

telling God.

Do you follow me?

God,

we're saying,

it's really not

about you,

it's about me

so that I can

upgrade my pizza

or that I can

have a smarter

phone

or so that,

you know,

there are all kinds

of reasons.

But I want you

to understand

that when we

decide we are

not going to make

God first,

it shows up

all different

kinds of places.

At the root

of every sin

is a desire

to not glorify God.

We find that

over in Romans

Romans 1:21

chapter 1

verse 21

and it says this

and I'll just

recite the passage

to you,

it says,

they did not

give him glory.

That's what

the unbelieving

world did.

They chose

not to glorify

God.

So,

as we think

about the realm

of giving,

we understand

that we can

bribe people

who have a

small view

of God

to give

with certain

perks.

Do you follow

that?

If what you

are doing

is you don't

have a high

view of God

and you want

to nurture

giving,

you've got

to figure out

how to manipulate

the situation.

You want to

be charitable

and really give

generously?

I'll tell you

what.

a pastor

will show up

at your door

and take you

out to coffee

in the limo

that the church

has.

Some of you

are scratching

your head

saying,

I didn't know

you had a limo.

I don't,

just using an

illustration,

bear with me,

okay?

Or,

you know what?

There are all

kinds of ways

to manipulate it,

right?

And whether

it's public

commendation

or a coffee

mug with,

you know,

faithful giver

on it,

you know,

something like

that,

something really,

you know,

you could set

that on your

desk at work,

right?

Faithful giver?

What is that

about?

Let's come back

to the truth.

Our giving

reflects our view

of His glory.

That's what it's

all about.

How a man

gives

and why a man

gives

says it all

about what he

really thinks

about God.

Let me say

that again

slowly.

How a man

gives

and why a man

gives

says it all

about what

he thinks

about God.

Now,

I didn't say

what he gives.

I didn't say

what he gives.

I think

it was back

in 2004,

2007,

Judith and I

went to

Newport

on the coast.

It's where

people like

J. Pierpont Morgan

and

Getty

and some

of the other

incredibly

wealthy

robber barons.

Now,

I know this is

history lesson

a little bit,

but the robber barons,

do you know how

they made their money?

Well,

one with creative

ideas,

but with incredibly

manipulative,

cruel treatment

of other people.

Now,

they just,

they gathered

wealth by just

giant sucking

sound.

And then

towards the

end of their

years,

they decided

that they

wanted to

kind of

redeem

their

reputations

and do you

know how

they did

that?

Well,

they gave

it away

and now

they didn't

have any

need for it.

Well,

why don't

we build

libraries?

Why don't

we build,

you know,

and so

they would

be involved

in charitable

donations.

What had

they done

to the

countless

people

that they

had

impoverished

in their

effort to

gather wealth?

Nothing.

They didn't

do anything

for them.

And it

was all

about their

control

and their

name.

Let me

come back

again.

It's not

how much

you give,

but it is

why you give

and how

you give.

And so

ultimately,

a generous

heart really

reflects the

heart of

God in

that our

heart ends

up being

generous because

He is

generous.

You know,

one of the

things that I

have said to

you as a

fellowship over

and over

again is

that our

fellowship is

characterized,

and I mean

that,

is characterized

by a level

of generosity

that is

exceptional.

And that

generosity

is not

something that

is fed

by manipulation.

It is

fed by

your

appreciation

for the

grace of

God and

the goodness

in His

treatment of

you and

the readiness

you have to

partner with

what He is

doing around

the world.

Over and

over again,

I've had

people ask

me over the

years,

what do

you do

that encourages

your people

to be so

generous?

Do you know

what the

answer is?

We talk

about God.

We look

at His

Word.

We value

the grace

of Christ

that saved

us from

the miserable

self-centered

lifestyle that

we used to

live, and

the outflow

of that is

that I

don't have

to stand

up here and

make all

kinds of

wild promises

about if

you put

ten dollars

in the

offer,

you're

going to

get back

double.

In fact,

you know

what?

If you

can hold

your breath

for the

next week,

this week

and next

week,

you'll

probably

not hear

me bring

up giving

for another

whole 12

months.

Do you

know why?

We're going

to spend all

the rest of

the time

talking about

Jesus and

what He's

doing in

our life,

and the

blessing we

have of

knowing His

love,

and the

certainty of

eternity,

and the

outflow of

that is

that you as

a people

have hearts

that are

prompted to

be generous

in your

lifestyle.

Let me put it

this way and

close.

Grace changes

us from

being a slave

to our own

dark hearts

to living and

giving for

Him.

Isn't that

true?

Grace changes

us from

being a slave

to our own

dark hearts

to living and

giving for

Him.

You know,

every one of

us in this

room started

out at one

point as a

miserable,

hell-bound

sinner who

had no hope

at all.

And whether

we responded

to the grace

of Christ as

a child growing

up in a home

where we heard

the Bible or

it was years

later when the

Spirit of God

convicted us and

drew us to the

cross, there

came that point

where the burden

of sin was so

heavy on our

life and the

shame and the

guilt and the

terror of the

prospect of the

judgment of God

that we cried

out and said,

I need help.

And you know

what?

Here's the truth.

Christ Jesus

came into the

world to save

sinners.

sinners.

And this

morning, most

of what we have

talked about is

not giving.

Most of what

we've talked

about is the

generosity of

God that would

willingly sacrifice

His own Son for

your sins on the

cross.

And the way in

which most of

you here give

this morning is

a reflection of

the simple fact

that you stand

amazed at the

gift of God in

your salvation and

the way you give

just says thank

you.

I do recognize

because I went

through that

experience as well

that there are

some of you here

this morning that

the subject of

giving is something

that honestly you've

really never dealt

with.

And I've got to

tell you this.

At the end of

the day, the

scriptures make

it clear that

people who have a

high view of God

are generous in

their giving.

And people who

have a low view

of God are

selfish in their

giving.

You let God sort

that out in your

heart.

Does that make

sense?

That's the

Spirit's work.

But go ahead and

say this as a

prayer, Lord, I'm

willing for you to

do whatever is

necessary to deal

with my heart in

relationship to the

matter of my view

of you.

Let's close in

prayer.

Our Father God, we

are thankful that

your scriptures are

clear that you are

worthy of all our

glory and all our

affection.

And this morning

as we attend to

your word and we

listen to the truth

of what it has for

us, we recognize

that you who

abide in heaven

pay particular

attention to the

heart that we

have and you want

us this morning to

rejoice in you and

to serve you.

We pray for the

ministry of the

Spirit of God in

the hearts of those

that need to be

convicted, whether it

be in the matter of

their salvation or

the matter of their

generosity or there's

an attitude and a

sin that needs to be

confessed and forsaken.

We ask that you

would do that, that you

might be glorified and

we ask this in your

precious name.

Amen.