Our House - Week 2: Generosity

Generosity our second core value. Last week we talked about transparency,

that's the foundation that all of our core values are

built on, and this week it's generosity. Generosity is that

that internal virtue. Generosity is not something that happens out here.

Generosity happens in here. And then the expression of that

thing is service. The expression of generosity is giving, The

expression of generosity is honing my talents. That's but generosity

is actually something that happens on the inside of you.

And we must develop that gift of generosity, that value

of generosity on the inside of us, because a lot

of times, you know, we don't feel generous. Amen. Maybe

y'all do. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I don't feel like

giving one more thing. Amen, I don't feel like waking up.

This past Tuesday Men's breakfast, the alarm clock went off

and I almost beat my phone into pieces because I

was not ready to get up, just wasn't ready it

went off. I wasn't done sleeping. I didn't feel generous

in that moment. But here's the thing. If the core

value of generosity is birthed on the inside of you,

if it's truly one of your guiding principles. It steers

you even in those difficult times, and it keeps you

aware of the agenda of the thing that God has

put on the inside of you. And Second Corinthians, chapter nine,

starting in verse six, it says, but this I say,

he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he

who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each

one give as he purposes in his heart. Underline that phrase,

as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity.

For God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able

to make all grace abound towards you, that you, always,

having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance

every good work. Lord, Thank you for your word. It's

the only change agent we have on the face of

this planet. So let it take root deep at the

fabric of our being, that when we leave today we're

a little more like you than when we came. We

ask it in Jesus' name, Amen, He says, Listen, here

is the key. Here's the key to giving. Here's the

key to generosity, is that we purpose in our heart.

In other words, the expression of the gift is the

overflow of what's happening on the inside. That generosity happens

way before the gift is executed, way before I start

serving on a team, way before I start using my talents.

Generosity is present before those things begin to happen. But

just like any gift, it has to be developed so

that we have a clear picture of who Jesus is

and how he works in that value in our lives.

And he says, listen, God loves a cheerful giver. God

loves somebody that is excited about giving. God loves somebody

who is excited about serving. God's love is expressed towards

those who have giftedness, who have talents, and express and

use those talents for the Kingdom of God. See, generosity

is more than money. Generosity is about time, treasure, and talent.

It's about all of those things, and they're all an

expression of generosity. Today we're not even really specifically talking

about giving. We're not talking about just financial gifts, but

the entire expression of generosity that helps us live selfless lives.

A selfless life is a life that can be used

for kingdom success. A selfish life is one that is

going to hold those treasures and those talents and refuse

to release them. And when you die, you're going to

still be lacking in areas of your life. You know,

when we look in the Old Testament, there's an incredible

example of anointing, and generosity is what allows us to

release the anointing in our life. When uh, when when

Elijah and Elijah there that they're going through their their

process and and the transfer of anointing is about to happen,

there's a he follows him to places and just before

he's taken in the charot of fire, just before the

world wind takes him away, he passes down the mantle

of the anointing. And when you track, the latter does

twice as many miracles as the former because the anointing

was in a double portion and it was gifted and

it was given. But then, as we continue to read,

when the latter, when when he passes away, there is

no apprentice, there is nobody he pours his life into

and his body's buried out on the edge of the city.

And we read this story later where they're taking this

man's body who had passed away. They're taking him out

to bury him. And as they carry him out to

bury him. They see these marauders coming across the horizon,

and out of fear, they just take the man's body

and they throw it into the grave of the prophet.

And when his body hits the bones of the prophet,

it is stirred back to life. It's awakened, and the

man jumps up and he runs back and he beats

the people that were carrying him to bury him back

to the city. It's a pat We shout and we think,

oh my goodness, he raised somebody from the dead. What

a powerful thing. But it's really a sad moment because

the reality is is the reason that happened is because

the Prophet died without giving away the anointing that was

already on his life, because there was a moment of

selfishness and not generosity where he didn't live giving everything away.

I've said this many times. When I die, I don't

want it to be because I'm sick. I don't want

it to be because I'm tired. I want it to

be because I'm finished. I want to give everything that

I have and when I'm done, I just want to

wake up in heaven. Amen. I got it planned. I

don't know if Jesus is gonna do it or not,

but I got it planned. I'm gonna come. I'm gonna

preach an incredible sermon. It won't be today because I'm

not gonna get a nap today, so I know this

is not gonna be this week. Amen, I'm gonna preach

a great sermon. I'm gonna go home, I'm gonna lay

down to take a nap, and I'm gonna wake up

and I'm just gonna be laying outside the gates of heaven.

I'm gonna wake up and be like, yeah, I'm here.

And see. The reason I want it to be that

way is so that gives that gives Pastor Clay a

whole week to get a sermon. Ready, Amen, my wife

don't have to worry about anything. Just tell them to

come pick me up. She'll be up there Monday whenever

she gets up, you know, to get arrangements done. You

guys will be done morning over because I know it's

gonna be rough on you. I mean, you know you're

gonna weep and cry and you know, go into the

whole thing. But but by Sunday, y'all will be energized again.

So you'll be damn during praise and word. That's just

the way it needs to be. And I've talked to

God about that. So I want that last sermon to

be the one that I'm finished with. I want to

live my life in such a generous way that I

give everything away that God has given me. Now, that

doesn't mean reckless involvement and reckless financial decisions. What that

means is that I'm all in with the kingdom. Living

a life of generosity means that you're all in in

the kingdom, that you're all in with what God is doing.

That you're not chasing him from one place to another,

but you're an instrument of what he's doing. Where He's

planted you and where He's set you, and that you

are a full expression of God's love because of the

generosity that you have in your life. But many of

us we don't fully trust God to the place where

we can be generous. In Mark chapter twelve, verse starting

in verse forty one, Mark twelve forty one, this is

a popular passage of Scripture. It's the Uh, it's the

widow woman who gave everything. It's the lady who she had.

You know, we preach it she had two pennies and

she put them in an offering. Is the way we

preach this. But there is a there's a powerful principle here.

In Mark twelve, starting in verse twenty one, it says,

now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the

people put money into the treasury. Let's just pause right

there for a moment. Jesus was watching people when they

put money in the offering. Now we make a big deal, right,

your right hand shouldn't know what your left hand is doing.

We make a big deal about those things, about how

oh this got got But Jesus was watching. He was

sitting there so he could see what was going in

the pot. And he took note because it says that

many were rich and they gave a lot. So not

only was he watching who gave, he was counting how

much they gave. Did you know that Jesus watches our

lives and he watches the level of generosity that we have.

That Jesus watches what we given the offering. You know,

in the modern church, he watches planning center and he

sees how many times and for those of you that

serve on teams, you'll know what I'm talking about the

rest of you. You need to get on a team

so you can get all the sermon. Amen. So he

watches and he sees how many times you're yellow, or

how many times you're red, or how many times you're green,

and planning center, he watches those things that every time,

if there's a slight inconvenience, you don't come through because

it's a slight inconvenience to you. Do you realize that

serving in an inconvenient time is actually a greater investment

in the kingdom than serving in convenient times Because a

few weeks ago, you know, we talked about how everything

in life is either temptation or test. We talked about

how every single thing is going to form us and

shape us, and the enemy is pulling us in one

direction with temptation, and God is proving ourselves to us

in the other direction with his tests. And those moments

of inconvenience can be either and if we just choose

to remain neutral and not press through, then we actually

fail the test, no matter which one it is. And

generosity is that that compulsion on the inside of me

to press ahead with kingdom business and a kingdom agenda.

No matter what's going on in my life, no matter

what I'm facing. He goes on, and he says, the

one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which

make a quadrants. So he called his disciples to himself

and said to them, assuredly, assuredly, I say to you

that this poor widow has put in more than all

those who've given to the treasury. For they put in

out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty,

put in all she had, her whole livelihood. Jesus said, listen,

this lady gave more because the level of generosity inside

her was fully developed. Let me say that again, the

level of generosity inside of her was fully developed. She

was willing to trust him with everything. She was willing

to trust him making that final investment in the kingdom,

And no matter what happened, she was willing to trust him,

not out of faith, but out of generosity. See, we

don't have any indication here this. She had high faith,

and that's why she did it. Although we preach that

sermon that way most of the time, it wasn't because

she had the assurance that everything was going to be okay.

She had the assurance that God was calling her to

be all in on the Kingdom. And when we're all

in on the Kingdom, when we truly live generous lives,

it pulls other spiritual disciplines into our life to a company.

And I guarantee you if you begin to live a

truly generous life, if you're governed by the principle, by

the core value of generosity, you will learn faith. If

you govern your life by the principle of generosity, you'll

learn how to pray, You'll learn how to worship. Those

things are required when we live in a spirit and

a value of generosity. God is calling us above and

beyond the place that we're at now, not only in life,

not only with what we have, but with what we

do and what we commit to. The kingdom is not

where God wants any of us to be. Let me

say that again, It's not where God wants any of

us to be. Because the moment we reach there, the

moment we get to the place where generosity is fully developed,

where we're living a life that's all in for the Kingdom,

that's the moment we probably finish and go home to

be with the Lord. You know, I got to be

I got to spend some time earlier this week with

an incredible saying in our church, who doesn't get to

come anymore, she watches online, and I was able to

sit with her and talk with her and listen. Everything

she talked about was what she can still give and

what she can still do, and that she's still praying

for people, and that she's still giving to this and

she's still doing that, and she's still and she'll she

looks at me every time she says, I just wish

I could do more. I just wish I could do more.

And I always look back and say, you're my hero.

I want to live a life as selfless and generous

as you. And she's a model of generosity for many

of us because no selfishness exists anymore in her life,

because she's matured beyond that point where she thinks she

needs things and she realizes she just needs him. And

it's not because she's up in years, it's because she

has learned that that's the most fulfilling life we can

experience when we're all in with the Kingdom. And Jesus says,

this little old lady, she gave everything, and those people

that gave, they gave more. But it wasn't being developed

in them like it was her. And the reality is

is that he's not worried about your gift. Jesus isn't

worried about how much you give. He doesn't care what

team you serve on, he doesn't care how many groups

you go to. He just cares that you are completely

focused and given to the kingdom. That's what his desire is.

His desire is that my life is Kingdom focused. And

that's what generosity does. It is a focusing factor. But

when we start talking about finances in particular, people get

a little squeamish. Amen. As a matter of fact, we

have plans to disciple people in every single way other

than finances. When somebody's going through something and they live

a life and they're going through things, and they're bound

by sin and they have, you know, a high level

of dysfunction in their life, we go and we have

those conversations, Amen, and we call people and we talk

about repentance here all the time, that repentance should be

a daily process in our lives. And that's okay because

after all, and when I repent, it's good for me.

When I repent and I give everything and Jesus washes

my sins away and I made a new creation. That's

good for me. We look at all these different things

that we do. We talk about transparency, which is repentance.

We talk about joy and standing steadfast, and how many

messages do we preach about standing steadfast? How many times

do we come alongside one another and say, hey, I

know the enemies attack it, I know things are not

going good, but just stand. Is there anything I can do?

Is there anything I can help you with? And that's

the process of discipleship in the area of joy, that's

that internal fortitude and reaching sharing our faith. We teach

you how to do it. We talk about how to

do it, we talk about when to do it, we

give opportunities to do it. We do all of those things,

but when it comes to the tangible place of giving,

we shy away because for some reason, that's what everybody

wants to focus on. When the church talks about money.

When the church talks about money, it's all we want,

it's all we talk about. It's all this, it's all that. Listen.

I want to tell you something. If we depended now,

don't if you get your feelings hurt and you need

to express it. Okay, send an email to Kathy it

ceased on dot tv because this is about money. Okay,

so send it to Kathy. It ceased on dot TV,

pastor cloud just send you a mean response back, So

don't send it to him. But here's the reality. If

we depended on just what you gave in the offering

every single week and that was it, we would no

longer be able to run. We wouldn't be able to

do it. It's those extra gifts that come in that

allow us to meet needs. It's those extra unexpected visitations

of somebody with a truckload of of food. It's that

that unexpected gift where somebody that's watched online sends in

a gift. It's those things that allow us to keep going.

It's when God blesses you and you sell a piece

of property and it's an extra gift. It's it's those

things that keep us going and keep the wills moving.

Because God is also a generous God who models the

process and the principle and the value of generosity every

single day, and we must become a mirror of who

he is. We have an opportunity right here, right now

to see one of the greatest moves of God we've

ever seen. I believe we're standing on the precipice of

one of the greatest moves of God, not just our community,

but maybe the world has ever seen. We're about to

enter a moment where people's sight and focus will be

so fixed on their need and what they don't have,

that the Church will have an answer and be able

to step in and people will come into the Kingdom.

And I believe that is a prophetic word for the

season we're about to enter globally, not just in our community,

but globally, that there will be eyes turned to the

Church because we have the only solutions for the problems

that we're about to face. But we only have that

solution if we become people who live our lives in

a generous way that no longer are we so busy

going to and from that we don't have time to

notice the brokenness and the hurt in people's lives that

we want to just roll in at eleven and roll

out as soon as the message is over. But I'm

going to invest that, I'm going to get involved. I'm

going to serve on a team that I'm going to

realize that that fellowship is just as important as worship

for preaching. Come on, somebody, that you're living a life

that's isolated, and an isolated life is a dangerous life

because the enemy will circle, the enemy will attack, and

he will bring you down, just like that tiny little

gazelle that those I don't know why they show that

same gazelle on every animal channel planet, but it gets

killed a thousand times a week on Discovery Channel, that

little gazelle out there by itself. And that's what we

become when we isolate ourselves and we don't give of

ourselves and live a generous life. The only thing standing

between you and an attack of the enemy could be

you helping somebody else out of your hurt and out

of your brokenness. This woman gave out of her poverty.

She didn't give out of her everything together. She gave

out of her brokenness, and she was there and Jesus

recognized and blessed it. In Luke chapter twelve, verse thirty two,

it says, do not fear, little flock, for it's your

father's good pleasure to give you, to to give you

the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms. Provide

yourselves money bags, which do not grow old, a treasure

in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches,

nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is there, your

heart will be also. He says, here's how you attach

your heart to me. He plainly writes it, and he says,

when you become generous, your heart is tethered to me.

If you're looking to get closer to God, the answer

is not reading more, listening to more sermons. It is

moving into a place of generosity, because generosity compels us

to lean into and trust Him with everything that we have,

not just our money, but our time and our talents.

There are people in this room who are gifted. You're

gifted to do things, but it's fear, it's in security,

maybe pride, that keeps you from using those gifts for

the kingdom. I would be I would be crazy if

I looked into this room and didn't believe that there

were people here that had more giftedness in things than

I do. That there's probably not musicians in this room

right now that are more gifted than some of the

musicians on our stage. That there's more people that are

that are more gifted at hospitality than some of the

people that are already serving. That there's not people who

are more gifted to work with kids than the people

that are already working with kids, and more gifted to

keep babies than the people that are already keeping babies

and more people that are gifted in administration than we

have administrating. Because your gifts are there and present, but

for some reason, you're not quite comfortable being generous with

your giftedness. But Jesus gave you the giftedness. He's not

asking you to give him something that he didn't already

give you. He just wants you to use it for him.

So generosity compels us to live our lives loud and

wide open and bear before the Lord and say, here

I am God, Use me here, I am God. Send

me here, I am God. Do what you will. I'm

ready to go. I'm all in for the kingdom. Are

you all in for the Kingdom today? Are you all

in for whatever's next? Because I'm going to tell you something.

The most fulfilling work that I do is not the

work that y'all pay me to do. Amen, It's not

I preach because it's part of my job description. I

don't even really like to do this that much anymore.

Used to I used to love it because I was

on the stage and everybody was looking at me. I

love that. But now you know, I'd much rather have

conversations with people that are going through something and just

allow the Holy Spirit to get involved in work and

move in that particular area. And I used to get

so excited about people coming to the altar, laying hands

on them and them falling into floor. Antoinette, you know,

I used to wooh, carpet time. That's what I called it,

carpet time. How much carpet time did we have this week?

How many people fell? But here was the problem. People

were getting up the same way they fell, and they

got up with the same dysfunction they fell, but they

got up with the same problems and the same issues.

And I began to realize, hey, that it's more than that.

And listen, if you come and fall down, I'm still

happy for you, amen, that you had in experience with

the Lord. But what really gets me going is the

fact that you know, I've seen Sean Hughes grow into

someone chasing after God, to then a husband and now

an incredible father, and seeing his life grow and him

mature spiritually, and the same with Pastor Clay and all

of these people that have been with us for so long.

To see Mary Lana go from just that little teenager

that was Digg and now she's just had Guess anointing

and the Holy Ghost fills the room and I'm just

expected tongues of fire and a new visitation like you know,

and we see those things and that gets me going.

And here's what I've realized because the other was focused

on a moment, but everything else is talking about long

term investment and true generosity. Because Jesus is not a moment.

He's our whole life. He's not an event, he's our lifestyle.

There is no secular and there is no spiritual. It's

all kingdom living when we're believers, and the more generous

we are, the more kingdom we are. Pastor Clay, you

guys can come and get ready. Generosity a word this

misunderstood and probably over you used, because there's a lot

of things that we call generosity. It's not generosity. There's

a lot of things that we don't call generosity that is.

But the reality is, as we stand here with a

perfect example of what Jesus expects for us in this

core value. One of the most popular scriptures written in

our Bibles, in the Book of John, chapter three, verse sixteen,

Jesus paints the picture of generosity that he expects for

us to give everything. It reads like this, for God's

soul love the world, that he gave his only begotten son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish but have

everlasting life. For God did not send his son into

the world to condemn the world, but that the world

through him might be saved. You know, if somebody came

through those doors right now it started shooting, I've already

determined in my heart, and I know with full assurance

that I could take a bullet for anybody in this room.

But if that same person came through that door and

made me choose between my daughter and one of you,

all I can say is that for your sake, I

hope they miss, because I don't think I could sacrifice

her for you. I don't think I could do it.

But generosity says that when it's fully mature in our lives,

there is no thought. But just like He sacrificed his

most precious for you, we sacrifice our most precious for him.

You know, maybe you're here today and you know your

life has not quite been paved by expressions of generosity

towards you. That you live what a lot of people

would call a hard, difficult life. That you've been hurt, scarred, wounded,

broken and bruised, but you've had to overcome things that

a lot of other people haven't had to overcome. And

you've even asked your question, You've even asked yourself the question,

why is life so unfair? I want to tell you

that Jesus made the most generous, profound sacrifice for you

that anyone could make. That out of his love for you,

he envisioned you at your very worst. Everybody look at

me for a second. He saw you at your very worst,

not at your best, but at your worst. He saw

you when you were there then doing that, and he said,

that's what I'm laving my life. That's what I'm giving

everything for. Not the perfect put together, all hair in

the place, and all the money in the bank, and

the good car and the nice house. No, it was

that that moment where we were absolutely unlovable. Jesus gave

his life for that. He so loved you that he

gave his only begotten son, that you would not perish,

but you would have everlasting life. So if you're here

today and maybe you feel like you don't have worth,

you feel beaten, broken, abused, taking advantage of a victim.

I want you to know that's not who you are

to Jesus. You're the object of his affection, the heartbeat

of his life, That his focus this morning is on you,

That there is value in you that he will invest

in and he will pull the greatness out of you

and allow you to experience a life that's more abundant

than anything. You can imagine, every bed, every head by,

and every eye closed. If you're here today and you've

never asked Jesus to forgive you your sins, you never

ask him to be the lord of your life, but

today you feel the Holy Spirit drawing you and you

want to give him everything that you are because he

gave everything for you. That's your slipper ahead, I'm say

that's my pastor pray for me. I want to give

my life to Jesus today. I want to make things right,

just to put it up and put it right back down. Amen. Amen,

in a way, just another few seconds, Father, we thank

you that you're working and moving in the lives of

your people, that you're calling greatness out of us. If

you're calling us to live a life life generosity. Our

kingdom is the foremost thing on our hearts. Lord, I

love you, and I praise you. I thank you in

Jesus mighty mighty name. Amen, Amen, and amen. Everybody's staying

with me all over the building. Now, if you're here

and you say, hey, Pastor, I'm gonna make an altar call,

this is this is just accountability all this is, it's

gonna be a raised hand and then we're gonna worship together.

But if you're here and you say, hey, you know what,

I'm ready to be all in on the kingdom. Ready

to take my gifts, my talents, my passions, my desires,

my time, my treasure, and my talent and invest it

to make a difference in the kingdom. If that's you,

slip up your hand and say that's my pastor, I'm

ready ready to go all in on the kingdom. I'm

ready to see lives changed. I'm ready to see this

commute unity turned upside down by the anointing of Jesus. Amen. Amen,

Now hold now, keep your hands up. Everybody, look around,

look around, make eye contact. If somebody's got their hand

up now watch now everbody look back up here. Now.

I want you to turn back around when you look

that person again. And I want you this why I

want you to do. I want you to look at it.

I want you to say, I'm gonna be watching you.

Make eye contact and tell us I'm gonna be watching you,

gonna be watching you, gonna be watching you, gonna be

watching you, and I'm not watching to catch you do

something wrong. I'm gonna be watching you because when you

get here, things are about to break loose in your life.

The blessings that God are about to start flowing. And

I'm gonna be watching because there's a testimony. I'm gonna

be watching because God's gonna be doing something good. I'm

gonna be watching because you're about to start making a difference.

You're about to start stirring things up. You're gonna be

a boat rocker and a water walker, and I want

to be first row seat to see that what's happening

in your life. Amen, I'm gonna be watching you. Let's

worship together.