A Lifestyle of Generosity | Covenant Family

You are listening to the Sozo Kyle Church podcast.

To learn more about Sozo Kyle Church, including our gathering times in the Kyle area, visit us online at sozokatx.com.

Today's talk comes from Pastor Chris Paul.

We've been talking about being a family with the intent that it doesn't end there talking about being a family, but that actually we would even a year from now look in review and say, wow, look at the strides we've made to really belong to each other and to feel like there's connection there.

I just don't want the statistics and the reality of the fact that so many people live so isolated to be the case where we might have influence otherwise.

And so I think that's I think that is like at the tip of the spear as the purpose of the church is to be a family for the region that you're in.

And then if that can happen, then you actually can build the kingdom and move forward.

But if but without a family, it's more of an organizational operative that really doesn't have any lasting grounding effect.

And so that's why we've taken some time to talk about being a family.

It's a big adjective.

What kind of family?

A covenant family, so not a contractual family, not just something that is done when it feels good, but that actually has uh length and depth to it.

And so kind of the final installment today of that is to talk about generosity.

And we're set up so well today because when we walked in at the back of the room back there is a display with balloons and a thank you, Sozo Kyle printout, and a bunch of boxes of cookies and that sign card that Natalie just showed.

And I feel like the room is ripe with generosity and gratitude.

Um chairs, you know, feel insignificant in one sense, and in the another sense, they have great spiritual significance because they re represent seats in the kingdom of heaven, um, essentially.

And so I think it's really um of utmost importance that we have fresh seats and we have gratitude that gave them and gratitude on the backside of receiving them.

And so just to capitalize on that and talk about what is what is kingdom generosity, and um, so we talked about honor because family has to learn how to see one another the way God sees us.

Talked about discipleship when Joel was here with us earlier, um, because family doesn't just find you where you are and then leave you there.

The idea is to take you with us, take you with you, um, take me with you as we all go towards the the things that God has for us.

It's discipleship in Jesus.

Uh, talked about conflict with Casey, um, that if you are family, you get into some tiff sometimes.

It's it's tough.

And so there's a right way to handle conflict, and and talked about the shepherd's family belonging to circles, connection, the importance of uh carrying each other's burdens and in celebrations.

And then um last week we talked about Zacchaeus and hospitality and how that's a kingdom tool and it's so needed, and there's great history there, and so we have an opportunity to partner with hospitality as well.

So today we find ourselves talking about generosity.

Simon Sinek wrote a book in 2009 uh called Start With Why.

And the point is, the point was, the point remains, that if you're gonna do anything and don't have a good answer to why, then you probably don't need to be doing it.

That the reason, understanding the belief behind why you do anything is of utmost importance.

And maybe you came from a family that when you asked, well, why?

Maybe the answer was, well, because I said so.

And that was like enough to get you to do whatever the thing was.

We were watching a movie uh last night.

Um, you know, sadly, one of that actress Hayden Penateri died, if that's even how you say her last name, and she was in a movie called Raising Helen.

And uh Natalie had been looking for that movie for years, but couldn't find it on Netflix, couldn't find it anywhere, and all of a sudden now it's it's findable because of her passing, I guess.

And there's a part we were watching it the other night, and last night I guess it was yesterday.

And there's a point where I won't give you the whole synopsis of the movie.

It is worth your watch, though.

It's it's quite profound.

Um, but the reasoning to the kids who are saying, But why?

Why do I have to give you my phone?

Why do I it's like because I said so?

Like the fist, the hammer, you know, down the yellow tonk bulldoze you over.

We don't want that to be the answer for why when we say, uh, why are kingdom people generous?

Well, because God said to be.

I mean, yes, there's a place for obedience, but there's there's reason, there's profound backing to being a generous people that I think we should answer today.

And so maybe we start with what the reason isn't first.

The reason to have a lifestyle of generosity isn't because God needs your money.

Um, it's possible that you hear something about generosity or about giving or think of money in the kingdom and think what?

Does God need it?

And you're like, well, of course he doesn't need it, he has everything, so why do we need to be a generous people?

Uh look at Psalm 50 with me, it's a good starting place.

Um it's a it's a spot in there that probably you've quoted even before that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

A true statement.

And um, if you notice that phrase, it comes out of this conversation where God is actually dialoguing with his people about offerings and gifts.

Verse 8 says, I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pen.

So they're they're bringing offering to God, and he's not necessarily pushing back on bringing an offering, but he's saying if the motive of your bringing an offering is because I think you think I need another one of your goats, then you've missed the whole point of giving and generosity.

I know every bird in the mountains.

Um yeah, for every animal of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird in the mountains and the insects in the fields are even mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that is in it.

So it's pretty clear God has it all.

He doesn't need our money, he doesn't even need our generosity.

Um and I'd say there are two, maybe maybe three main reasons that I want to think about together.

Uh the first being that the mandate of God on earth does require generosity.

While God doesn't need our money, he's invited us to the mission that is expensive, actually.

And not just expensive with money, expensive with resource.

If you're gonna be somebody who takes Jesus' command and invitation to make disciples of every nation, then that is gonna take a toll on you.

So we're talking generosity goes far beyond anything you've got to sew in financially, but it goes to your time, it goes to your prayer life, it goes to your resourcing, it goes to your peanut butter bowl drive giving, it goes to the whole thing.

And the mission of God is to make disciples of every nation.

He says, All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth.

So go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded, and behold, I will be with you to the end of the age.

And so the the last big command Jesus gives to planet earth is to go, and every single person on the planet is to know the story of Jesus.

That's the idea.

You say, Well, what's the will of God for my life?

Well, somehow, at the root of the will of God for your life, is to be a part of the great mission of God.

And so Paul helps us in Romans 10, verse 8, but what does it say?

Romans 10:8

The word is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart.

That is the message concerning faith that we proclaim.

If you declare with your mouth, you may have heard this before, that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

So how are you saved?

It's not by works, it's not by effort, it's not by a good report card, you're saved by faith in your heart, in the one who saves.

For it's with your heart that you believe and are justified.

It's a good refresher on the core gospel here.

It is with your mouth that you profess faith and are saved.

And as Scripture says, anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, the same Lord is Lord of all, and richly blesses all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

And so this is the mission.

Not saved from something bad when you die, but saved into something really good and profound that starts now.

That's salvation, that's what this whole mission is about.

And this is what Jesus commissioned us to do because every person, no matter where they're coming from or what they have or haven't done, is invited into the family of God, the greatest, most critical, essential mission on the planet.

But here is the how part of it.

This is probably as important as the what of what is salvation and what is the mission.

This is the part where the church comes in today, verse 14.

How then can they call on the one they have not believed in, and how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?

Might circle that in your mind, in your heart, sent.

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

And so what we're really rallying around today is the sending part of that equation.

The Great Commission doesn't get accomplished if nobody actually participates in the going and in the sending.

And it's gonna um it's the most essential thing going on on the planet, and it always has been, and it won't stop being.

Um but how can people be saved if someone isn't sent, and how can someone be sent if there isn't resource to send them?

I was on a mission trip in the sixth grade to inner city Dallas.

It's a long time ago, but I remember it viv vividly.

I remember the uh kind of the vacated room that we were staying in.

I remember the guy who came to cook snoring really loud and not sleeping because everybody was just dumped into the same room asking if anybody had any earplugs.

Um remember the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we made, and we handed them out to the homeless in inner city, Dallas.

And so a long line of people had shown up uh because when you're hungry, you come running for food.

And looking in our peanut butter and jelly sandwich bag and realizing the math doesn't work here, we don't have enough sandwiches for all these people who lined up.

And so we just pulled the old fishes and loaves prayer and said, God, you've got to you've got to make more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because we don't have time to run to the store and make more.

And so we handed out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, kept reaching in, and this is a side note on the whole reason I'm telling you this story.

There were more than enough peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when we got done.

And I mean, it was not even close mathematically when we looked in and saw the lopsided nature.

So a miracle that we experienced doing that.

There was a lady, though, that walked up and she was in line.

She got her free peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and she said, Why are you guys doing this?

We told her, Well, we're we're part of the church of Jesus, and um, this is a way to to love and to serve the community.

And and um, do you know Jesus?

And she said, No.

My boyfriend does, though.

Um, he would love to be here and meet you guys, but he's not, it's just me.

And so she hung around for about an hour and got to meet the people, meet us, you got connected with the local church that we were partnering with up there in 1994.

And I don't know what happened to her.

I don't know how her story wrapped up and finished out and if it's still going today or what the case is.

But I do know that if her story echoes on into eternity and salvation found her, that there's going to be a free peanut butter and jelly sandwich that's gonna be a crucial part of her story.

But here's the thing about the free peanut butter and jelly sandwich it wasn't free.

Somebody paid for the peanut butter and jelly sandwich so that it could appear as free.

We got to come back to our church when I was in the sixth grade and report not only did God multiply the free peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but there was a girl who got introduced to the love of God through your giving so that we could have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

And that's the profound part of all this, whether it's giving peanut butter that somebody gets to get for free, somebody actually bought it off the shelf.

This is the spirit of generosity that is throughout, it's a thread throughout the kingdom.

Um and so who knows how all the stories that we're involved in actually play out.

But we are seed planters, and if we let generosity lead the way with our seed planting, then there's gonna be stories to tell, testimonies on high of God's goodness through your life, through our generosity.

And sometimes the sending is literally sending a person to an outpost on the other side of the world in a faraway country.

Other times the sending is something so local and so something so simple.

And so I say this a lot, and I want to say it again today, that when you hear Jesus' words to go, the sent ones there that we're just reading about in Romans, how can they know if nobody's sent?

Don't hear, I have to stop my life and go and do something else to be a part of that.

No, no.

It's the as you go principle of as you're living your life, you're equipped and activated.

You're sent, you're an arrow flying through the air all the time, looking for the target that God's leading you to to stick into, to stick onto.

And if generosity is the tool you're using, you're gonna blow wide open the doors of the kingdom of God.

And I pray that we will see something explode across earth of resource pouring into this idea of Jesus being lifted up and all men being drawn to himself.

And I think we've seen some of that, and I think there's more of that to come.

And I think generosity leads the way.

I remember um a couple of years ago, and you do too, when President Trump was nearly assassinated, uh, shot at, and by the end of the weekend, there were record-giving amounts of money being poured into that campaign.

And not even just from the big hitters, from everybody, uh little players too.

I mean, everybody just pouring in to that side of things.

And then I was a what a few weeks later that the other ticket uh changed their um person on the ticket.

I think Biden stepped down and Harris steps in, and so all of a sudden now you see massive amounts, record-giving amounts of money being poured into that campaign, and not again by the big hitters, by everybody.

Why would why was America doing this so much of it?

Because they said, hey, there is major need here.

This is mission critical, and we are going to fund it.

We are going to be generous with our giving for this, even if it costs us something, even if there's some sacrifice in it.

Well, we lived through that.

What I would like to say is as important as that seems and feels, the mission of Jesus being known by this region that we're in and the nations of the earth is even more important.

It is the utmost critical mission that's going on, and it doesn't happen unless the people of God actually fund and pour in and resource and pray and get creative and put it on the priority list and go for it.

That's the mission here.

And we need warriors in the giving space who say what it is that we need to send people.

What is the story of Jesus?

What is it to create a space where people can come and learn and hear about?

We prayed this morning in our pre-service time, just envisioning even the young teenagers, the j the generation around here, that they would just find themselves around the salty people of God and get a taste and say that is changing everything about my priority list of what I even think about.

I mean, I was focused here, and maybe I still can be focused here, but I can't be focused here at the expense of not be focusing on this one that I have discovered who loves me.

Like I just using my imagination, imagine a fall semester where the young, hungry hearts find hope in a way they've never maybe they heard somebody talk about or something, but they never encountered it.

And praying that we would see an encounter with and not just the young people, with the whole of the region.

Um, but we need people to say what's needed and how can I go for it.

And you don't have to hear from somebody else's mouth, the Holy Spirit will tell you too, what is your option for assignment?

Like how do you fit with your sphere of influence in your world?

And some of the missions on Earth today that are going are really good.

I mean, you think about all the missions that need generosity, there's a lot of them.

They're trying to colonize Mars right now, they're trying to find cures for cancer.

I mean, there's there's some stuff that is good, but there's just nothing as critical as the mission of Jesus.

And we just can't get too far away, I think, from that in our thinking and say that feels distant or that just feels like like a Sunday project or that just feels like churchy or something.

No, it's it's at the core of my calling of my life.

So the mission, the mandate of God needs generosity.

Even if God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and he doesn't need it, he's put us in position to partner with his project that does need generosity.

Second big idea would be that your generosity writes you into the story of God.

I love how Psalm 50 ends.

Um, you know, we quote cattle on a thousand hills all the time, but if you dig into Psalm 50, kind of from beginning to end, you you learn to love the landing point of the whole thing.

Verse 23, those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.

It's a word about the pulling back of the curtain of God giving you an inside look on what he's up to, on what the salvation of the earth actually is, on what holistic deliverance and opportunity for people really looks like as you participate in giving sacrificially to honor the Lord offerings, you get an inside picture.

You get a place in the story of God that your generosity otherwise, um, or that not being generous might have not let you see into.

Um this is what leads you into the blessing of God and honors God.

And he he's saying it doesn't matter what you put into an envelope or what you send online, if your heart isn't in it, you should just keep it.

Um, if you put a million dollars in an offering but have bitterness in your heart towards your neighbor, probably save it.

Save the million dollars.

Why?

Because he doesn't need it.

He doesn't need the the actual monetary number.

He what he's after are sacrificial giving hearts that say, I get the mission.

My heart is in this thing.

I mean, that's the marker mover.

U.S., what's the currency in heaven?

It's not US dollar bills, it's a heart that's fully surrendered to the Lord.

That's why, that's why Chronicles says that the eyes of the Lord are sweeping the earth looking for a heart who's fully God's.

That's the value point, that's the value piece, that's the the root of generosity, is that my heart belongs to Jesus and what I have is his.

And he says, When you bring me that offering that honors me and puts you in position to be blessed by God, it's not earning salvation, but it's experiencing the fullness of his salvation.

Um, your generosity writes you into the story of God big time.

You know, we have had, uh I say this a bunch too, and I want us to know it.

Um, we've had a generous group with us.

Um, you guys have been generous.

This, by the way, is not like, hey, I know you've never thought of this.

Like you guys are leading the way on this, by the way.

So it's like strengthen your strong points, right?

And now they say, like in wartime, they say your best uh defense is actually to strengthen the parts that are already strong, not to strengthen the weak parts.

So this is right in line with that.

We're a generous bunch.

We've had two very extravagant gifts here at Sozo Kyle since we started in February.

And one of them came out of real means.

Um, a guy sold his business for multi-million dollars and was able to give a handsome gift to Sozokyle really so that we'd have a building fund from the beginning.

Like, I don't know how many places start a new church, and then like within a couple of weeks, you've got like this fat sum of money to be able to put into a building fund so that when the time comes to do something next with it, you got a head start.

It's been amazing.

And then we had another gift that was given also of extravagant value, like big time giving, and was given out of sacrifice, uh, I think a stock being sold, that the plan originally was to pay off debt with that stock and instead course correct because they heard the voice of the Lord say, No, actually give to Sozokile here in the early days.

Here's what it showed me is that it's really not about the amount that was given.

It's about the fact that God is after the hearts of givers.

And whether it's a gift from means and plenty or a gift that's coming out of sacrifice, both are of such value in the kingdom when the heart's in the right place.

It was why Jesus highlighted the whole thing about the the widow who gave the two uh coins, and it stopped heaven, and there was a huge applause.

And it's amazing to think that a couple bucks caused heaven to pause and applaud, showing us and highlighting us that the generosity is not about monetary value, it's about a position of the heart, which means that we're all players in the generosity game.

Because too many times me and possibly you have had the thought, man, if I just had more, or if this was a different time of the month when I had more or something, I would be able to really participate in this thing.

And I just know that God is saying, Hey, there every day is an opportunity for you to partner in generosity, and that that heart posture and that movement will actually cause heaven to applaud and build the kingdom of God.

A couple of um yeah, Bucks can can set off thunderous applause, and I love the idea of that.

Uh we have a wonderful.

Story here with Sozo Kyle.

A lot of you guys know this, but the way it came to be, and whatever God's doing with us in the future, kind of the origin point, at least for me, was that I feel like the invitation had been on the table for a while to be a part of something like this.

And I didn't want to make eye contact with Jesus.

It was like, if I if I don't look right in your eyes, then maybe I can get along with not saying yes right away.

So I'll kind of just give you the old side eye.

And enough people came along.

This is why the body of Christ works the way it does, that cheerleads you along and say, Hey, um, I think I see God on this.

And if you ever want to be a part of what I think I see God on for your life, I would love to help with that.

And and finally just seeing need and everything.

So it comes to pass, it comes to be.

And I remember always telling the Lord, I don't want to do anything like this unless we've got a stout team.

Well, clearly there's a stout team and more.

And so God's always a step or two or three ahead of you on your journey anyway, with provision on the other side of the curve that you can't see.

And that's become all the more real to me, and then trying to figure out where do you gather people and somebody having an idea that says, hey, talk to Travis and Noah over at the Meridian, and maybe you guys can kind of start there.

And so I do, and that's a win-win situation.

And then Deanna has the idea of maybe talk to the Onion Creek Senior Center, and so we do, and that's been a win-win situation, evidenced by the thank you card on the back of the wall there today.

Um, like the whole story of this coming together is everybody gets to play, and it's built on people's generosity.

Um, I I will remember these chairs as a staple in our church's story for a long time, that they were uh sitting in a garage and somebody, Sozo San Marcus, said, Why don't you make use of those?

Do, and then could hear the backflip in the text message that I'm having with Angela N saying, oh my gosh, yes, did you know that this fall, Deanna was telling me this, they're having their major fundraiser.

And one of their top line items to fundraise for was to try to get new chairs in this place.

So when we gave it to them, they were able to cross that off the list and instead that just spend the money on a box of cookies to say thank you to us.

This is the generosity of the kingdom, and that's been our story.

It'll continue to be our story, it'll continue to be your personal story and your family as the generosity of the Lord finds its way in and makes provision and makes enough.

And so I love that journey.

Um I love the picture of how generosity in the kingdom just busts wide open the doors ultimately to make disciples of Jesus.

It's what it's all coming down to.

Um, it's led us to here.

Whereas here, well, two Fridays ago, here was at the Hayes High School parking lot, and Brad was with me, and we're out there with some signs, and next thing we know, uh a young sophomore comes up to Brad and gets prayed for.

And then about 15 minutes later, he comes back with three of his friends and says they want to get prayed for too.

And so Brad prays for them.

And the whole thing is aimed at we're inviting people into the kingdom so that they can know Jesus and be a follower of Jesus and like legacy, generations can change.

Disciples can be made of the nations, not just the countries, but the nations that exist right here in our own area.

It all fits together like a beautiful puzzle.

And it reminds me of the Samaritan woman whose life was blown up all over the place.

And Jesus offers her living water that will never end.

She was so blown away that she goes back and tells everybody in the town, look what's happened to me.

Verse 39 of John 4, many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him, Jesus, because of this woman's testimony.

And the testimony was he told me everything I did, everything I ever did.

Now that may sound like a terrible testimony because her track record that led her to hear is like all is exposed.

You're like, oh, they found out about that, and now they all know about this.

And she said, Yes.

And here's the power of them all knowing my past is that there's still a God who's pulling me in and he knows all this stuff anyway.

That was the real power punch of the whole thing.

That he knew it all and he still wanted her, still pulled her in close.

And so that was the spirit that she goes back and tells everybody with.

So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them too.

Why?

Because they just heard this incredible testimony, and he stayed two days, it says, and because of his words, many more became believers.

And now, here is the conversation.

Look how it unfolds.

They now said to this Samaritan woman, the they being all the people she originally reported to, we no longer believe just because of what you said.

Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the savior of the world.

We have our own testimony.

There is power when it goes from secondhand knowledge to firsthand experience.

And that's what God's up to with people is giving them their own testimony, their own firsthand encounter with his grace and with his love.

And I believe that our story is the story of a cattle on a thousand hills.

I believe that this place, our story, your story, that there's always enough provision with the Lord and that there's always an open door for generosity to be partnered with God.

It's a it's a story of starting with nothing, but a vision to having everything we need because of the generosity of heaven and the people who have said yes to living generosity lives.

Like that's gonna define the culture of my personal life.

I'm gonna be a generous person.

So we get written in personally to the story of God when we participate with generosity.

And then here's the last final big idea is that the evidence of kingdom identity is generosity.

When you really get in touch with sonship and being a daughter in the kingdom, the evidence of that is generosity.

It comes oozing out of you at every turn, it can't be kept in, all from you really knowing and living out of the tree of life and not the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Living out of, I know I belong, I know I'm God's favorite, I have a place here, and therefore insecurity is blown way out of the way, and I can rest in the fact that I'm enough, I belong, and therefore here comes generosity.

It's a natural cause and effect of how God has made human beings.

If you know you belong to his family, generosity will be an outflow out of you.

And I believe that how you know you're really understanding all that is because of the royal stamp on your life that you belong to a family that has a cattle on a thousand hills.

So, first Kings 10, this is the story of Solomon.

Um, Solomon had wealth, and God increased his authority and influence, and you see this clear picture of an outpouring of generosity from his life when the queen of Sheba shows up in his kingdom.

So she comes and she has a lot of questions because she's heard a really big reputation of wealth and wisdom, and she's got to come and see for herself if everything she has heard is actually true.

So she's got Solomon there, almost cornered.

I like to see it in my mind.

Like, is all this that I've been hearing about true?

And she would ask him questions and he would come back with the answers.

And as she's listening, she's realizing, my word, it is true.

And it's not just the reputation I heard, it's more than what I heard.

The the the grace on your life, the wealth in this place, the wisdom coming out of you is absurd.

It's so much.

It's amazing.

And so verse 13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for.

Because remember, it was a series of questions she was asking him.

Who knows the detail of that?

Would love to have heard that conversation.

But it goes on, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty, then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

So she asked for some things.

He gave what she asked, and then said, But here, have even more out of the royal bounty.

What was the bounty?

The word bounty there is actually hand.

It was the king's hand.

It was Solomon's like personal stash.

It was all he had personally, which was a lot.

And he said, I'm not going to just give you what you asked for.

I'm going to take it from my own place, my hand, and give you even more.

It is the spirit of generosity to the core.

There's an amazing story about Alexander the Great.

Uh, you were talking about Alexander the Great at school, weren't you?

So Cohen kind of jumped on this whole Alexander the Great uh ride and wanted to kind of resource and or excuse me, research him and and learn about uh the Emperor Alexander.

Well, there's an interesting story I came across.

I hadn't told you this yet, but you'll get to hear it here in front of everybody, um, where he's uh he encounters a beggar on the roadside, and the the the beggar, as they would often do, was uh was begging for alms for for money.

And so Alexander the Great is right there and he reaches in to uh to his bounty out of his hand, and he gives this beggar two gold coins.

And that was the end of that.

They move on, the car carriage goes on, and the assistant to Alexander the Great said, Why did you give him gold when silver would have done?

Like two silver coins would have still changed that guy's life, and you wouldn't have had to spend two gold coins on it, and you could have still had the same impact.

And Alexander the Great responds, um, in royal fashion, copper coins would have suited, or silver, but gold coins suit a king's giving.

When you know that you're royal, then you don't even bother with the low stuff because it's doesn't suit you.

Our friend Muzz in Australia, who you will get to meet, I hope this year, uh this fall, he's gonna be here.

I don't know if we can get him here, but maybe we can get you to anyway.

Uh he always says this phrase, oh, it doesn't suit you, mate.

Forgive me if Australian near there, but I thought, yeah, how how profound is that?

Only live your life out of what suits you.

Don't bother yourself living a lot out of a life that really doesn't suit you.

Well, what is you?

You are a son in the king, a daughter in the kingdom who has the cattle on a thousand hills access.

What is mine is yours, Jesus says.

I have all authority in heaven and on earth.

I've made this so that you can have access to the kingdom.

So I just thought, I don't know Alexander's the Great's position with Jesus Christ, but I do know that he was onto some kingdom thinking when he said, This is how kings give.

Um, Catherine Kuhlman was a hero in the faith, uh earlier part of last century, and uh a faith healer and would help hold meetings.

Well, she tells an interesting story about her own father who was the mayor of a particular town they lived in.

And she has it in her book that one time her dad, who's the mayor of the town, is walking out of a store and the town drunk is in the store, and he barrels past the mayor, Catherine Kuhlman's dad, to get outside.

And the mayor's kind of sidekick assistant guy, also, I don't know what it is with these assistants with the with the royalty there, said, Are you gonna let him get away with that?

And his answer was, Yes, I am.

I can afford it.

I can afford to let him get away with that because I don't have to prove that I'm right.

Even when clearly I was wronged, I don't have to spend my time making sure I'm vindicated.

How often do we say, well, it's just not right.

I've got to make sure they know they were wrong and I'm right here, so I'm going to chase them down and spend my time and my mental energy and my resources to make sure that they know that they were wrong and I was right.

And what the mayor here was saying was, I can afford to not have to do that.

This caught me the other day.

Vulnerable share sessions here.

I was filling up with guests at Costco, and Costco has three fill-up spots per post, if you know.

And as so often happens, there's one available usually.

Usually all three aren't taken when you need to get there.

Well, I wasn't in my truck, I was in the minivan with my wife, who probably had the word of the Lord.

But when you're living out of your beggar identity, you don't often hear that.

And so uh station one and station three were occupied, station two in the middle was unoccupied.

And what was also occupied was a large truck waiting behind station three.

And so now I pull up, and it's still the least uh full spot at Costco, and so that's my target.

So I pull up behind the big Dodge truck that's quite long, and I know, and he knows he can't fit in pump number two.

But I can.

So very calmly, just pull right out.

I didn't even have to back in like parallel park or anything.

I just because I could fit so well, got in, started filling up with guests, and finally car number three position moves out, big long dodge truck moves in, he gets out, and I hear, patience is a virtue, my guy.

I said, cu come again, and he just calmly said it again, patience is a virtue, my guy.

It's like, well, I'm glad I'm your guy.

I don't know if that's where we start on this or not.

And I commenced to defending my position rather vehemently and said, Are you getting on to me because I fit in a spot that you clearly couldn't fit in?

What are we all supposed to just wait for the big cars to have their spot before we can get in?

I could fit there, you couldn't.

What is the harm?

He's like, The harm is you cut me.

And I was like, I don't feel like I cut you.

I feel like I had every right to that spot.

And he finally turns his back to me as he continues filling up with gas.

He's about eight times my size, by the way.

I probably had no business having this kind of conversation with him.

And I realized that maybe not right then, but I get back in the car that I might have misstepped a little bit, even though in my heart I felt I was right in that moment.

I get in the car and Natalie's like, I heard every word of that.

And she's like, and you did cut him.

And had I had it to do over again today, I would a perhaps wait my turn, even though some of you might be like, Well, dude, I mean, it it wasn't like it wasn't your turn.

There was an open space, he couldn't fit, whatever.

Yeah, all that justification could probably be puzzled in to make sense and fit.

But what I spent my heart rate on was making sure that my position was defended and that he knew that I was right.

Kings don't do that.

Kings actually say, I can afford to not be right in that moment.

Now I'm not saying that if there's real justice needed or something that you go passive and quiet and don't play the hand that you probably should play.

But in a situation like that, where there's actually probably more good that would come from me saying, Man, I I can see how it looks like I cut you, and I'm sorry that was wrong, and please forgive me, and I I should have I should have done differently.

I really am sorry about that.

Generosity of heart.

I didn't give him any money, but I did give him my sensitivity and my tenderness.

And it could have been like for him, who knows what God could have done in his own heart by being received with a heart of forgiveness.

Probably not what he's expecting.

When he drummed up in his mind, I gotta get off the story, by the way, move on.

When he drummed up in his mind, I'm gonna let this guy have it.

I'm gonna I'm gonna give him the old my guy statement there and come in to make sure he really knows that he overstepped.

He probably wasn't thinking, but maybe he'll say that he he forgives or that he's sorry and that I can forgive him.

I mean, he probably wasn't even thinking that.

So if that had been the response, kingdom thinking wise, it could have been transformational in his heart, or at least a seed planted that could have led to that.

These are the quandaries God takes me on on things like this.

And I just realized that, yeah, the evidence of kingdom identity is generosity, is kindness, is hey, you can have the spot.

You can you can have the first place.

You can, even if I could justify it otherwise, kingdom identity leads with generosity.

Um one day you'll be in heaven and can see, I believe, how effective your gifts of sewing into the to the kingdom has been, and that's a great investment because it's only growing.

That's why Jesus says store up treasure in heaven.

Um, you know, I never want to discount that or make light of that, but here's here's the thing.

Solomon didn't give to the queen of Sheba because she had need.

She was a queen.

She didn't need all that he gave her.

And if she did have some kind of a need of the questions that she brought into asking, that would have been enough.

The fact that he gave her more than she was asking for shows you that Solomon was actually on to something else.

He was tapping into a different principle.

And the principle he was tapping into is that we don't just show generosity when there's a need, that you actually show generosity more because of who you are.

My generosity to you is actually motivated more because that's just who I am.

That's what God does.

I'm an imitator of Christ.

I have his resources.

I'm generous because that's what I do.

I'm a generous person.

That's actually the lead place rather than, well, I'm generous when there's a need.

Well, I didn't give.

I didn't think to give because nobody said they needed anything.

No, you're just wired to be a kingdom thinker that this is what I do.

So this is what Solomon was after.

And not asking the question of, can I afford it or not?

I feel like, again, to be vulnerable, so much of my involvement with generosity has been limited by can I afford to be generous in this moment or not?

And that's just not the way the kingdom actually works with generosity.

The place of generosity is to realize I can always afford it because the flow of heaven actually is coming through me.

If the favor of God on your life ever ends with you, then it's a dead sea spot, and that's not the point of God giving favor.

She actually, the queen of Sheba, had a prophetic word for Solomon, and it was something to the tune of God's given you all this that you can be his provision to the land of Israel around you that he loves so much.

So the favor that came to Solomon was actually so that he could be the river of favor to flow through to the people.

Did you know that it says that in the streets during Solomon's reign, there was so much silver that it started to pile up in the streets and it was thought of as nothing?

People leave.

I mean, can you imagine if somebody like was passing out bags of cash on the road today, probably like, hang on, we can fill up with gas at Costco later.

There's bags of cash.

I'm gonna go pick up these bags of cash.

You can get as mad at me as you want.

They're leaving it alone because there was so much plenty in the land, because God had given Solomon so much favor and wealth, and the purpose of it was so that he could impact the area around him.

And a generous lifestyle affects how you see the world around you.

It's gonna affect money, yes.

But if generosity for you is the dollars in your pocket and the money in your bank account alone, then you've missed the point of generosity.

Does it have to do with money?

Yes, but that's not all.

That's that's a that's a piece of the picture when it comes to generosity.

And he's increasing, God is our capacity to serve those around us well.

Because favor is meant to flow through us, and so he wants to empower with generosity the people of God to actually bring transformation to the region.

It's back to the original assignment of Jesus, disciple the nations.

And God will bring all that's needed to do that.

He's looking for the partnership of the people of God, the church.

And people are always the vision.

People were always Jesus' vision.

Um if people ever stop being the vision, we need to rely on what we're looking at.

Like if the vision becomes, well, we want to, you know, measure our status, that we've arrived by this other thing over here, it's like, no, that's off vision.

People are always the vision.

And Solomon was given by God resource, and from that lifestyle was enabled by God to build a temple that was just the most amazing and ridiculous thing you ever saw.

And it says that the the nation of Israel flourished because of the generosity that Solomon partnered with.

And the truth is, as the leader of that nation, his government prospered so that the people could prosper.

And if a government ever prospers without its people prospering, then it's being done backwards.

So this is the very thing that our friend Freddie in Burundi, who I also hope we get to meet in person here soon, um, is struggling with in Burundi, where the the government is hoarding so much of the resource and the material, and the people are completely impoverished and it's it's completely backwards, and no transformation's happening.

Like the gospel's not really going forward in the way that it could be if the government would partner with the resources that that they've that they actually have access to.

Instead of exporting stuff, well, it's not a talk on Bernardy's economy right now, but there's there could be some tweaks that could be done that could really help some things.

God is looking for humans to partner his kingdom generosity with, and he wants to reveal his heart to humans everywhere.

And we have the privilege of carrying this great mandate.

Um and so I want to end today by praying um that we would just have a refreshment on the generosity that's already in us.

Because it doesn't have to um be something that you uh find and pick up somewhere.

I believe having been stamped with the DNA of God and being a new creation person, that you already have kingdom generosity inside of you, and just having like uh an unlocking, an activation of seeing how you can be generous in fresh ways that maybe you hadn't seen before.

Um, again, whether it's monetarily or if it's uh resourcefully in another way.

So once you bow your heads, I want to pray for you, and then I'm gonna ask you to pray for each other.

Yeah, Holy Spirit, we give thanks to you today for the gratitude in this room, and that you meet us, Lord, with an answer before we ever even see a problem.

And so we thank you for the generosity that's surrounding us today, the generosity of people saying yes, the generosity of sacrifices being made at a lot of different turns and levels.

And so we pray for our sense of true identity in Jesus as sons and daughters of God to be realized, and let it not be something that we just remember when we're in trouble, but let it become the realm that we live out of every single day, like new habits of normal.

I live out of my sonship, not my orphan, not an orphan spirit or something.

Um no matter the circumstances that we find ourselves in, Lord, I just pray that royal generosity change how we see time and resources.

So I bless this family with renewed vision to see their place in the kingdom as generous saints.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

As you clump up for the next few minutes here and pray for each other.

Groups of three work really well, by the way.

Um practice listening for God as you pray for somebody.

Um, I don't know where everybody here in the room is with your prophetic uh gift, but I believe that you have a prophetic gift inside of you, um, whether it's been practiced or not.

So practice.

Practice listening for what God is saying about somebody that you're praying for in your group, and then just bless them with what he reveals.

It'll be something encouraging and good, and you become a better prayer warrior when you practice praying what you hear and feel like God's showing you.

So just wanted to put that on your radar.

Uh, you're the best God's got for the situation and the places he's put you in.

So find a couple people and bless them with re renewed generosity.

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