Adventurous: Generosity | Ps Miles Paludan

is my great honor to share God's word

with you today. At Elevation, we have a

mission, a vision, and values. Our

mission helps us be directed where we're

going, and it's to multiply healthy

local churches to transform our city.

Our mission helps us know how to get

there. And it's creating environments

that inspire intimacy with Christ,

relationship with others, and influence

in our world. And finally, our values.

They set the culture. That's how we

behave. And our values are authentic,

fun, spiritled, and adventurous. Let's

talk about adventurous today.

Adventurous means to be bold and brave.

We don't play it safe. Seeking adventure

to turn the ordinary into the

extraordinary.

Today I want to teach on adventurous

generosity because God wants to do

something extraordinary through you. So,

my goal is to stir adventurous

generosity in your heart, to teach you

from scripture, to share my personal

story, and to let you know how you can

be involved in our church to allow

adventurous generosity to literally

change lives for eternity. You could say

that adventurous faith, adventurous

generosity was how I got to be here

today. Yeah. Take a look at this.

Okay. So, it was on this very spot 14

years ago. I was praying and everything

changed. I was praying and looking out

towards surface paradise up the Gold

Coast. And I got this sense. It was so

strong that God would use me to lead

churches on the east coast of Australia.

Now, it wasn't an audible voice. There

wasn't a physical sign. It wasn't a

lightning bolt. Yet, it was so strong

and so clear. I took a selfie photo with

my flipflone and I sent it to Bonnie. It

was so strong in me. Now, what made this

moment so significant was I wasn't even

living in Australia. Bonnie and I were

pastoring a large church in America.

We've been living 15 years with five

kids. Life was great. We'd built a

wonderful life in Edmund, Oklahoma.

Friends, houses, family, holidays. We

had it all except our passion was to see

souls saved in Australia. And we saw a

great need for the gospel to be

preached, for local churches to be

built. I found that adventures in faith

don't make sense. God's ways are higher

than ours. But when our lives are

submitted to him, he'll ask us to do

things that are beyond our ability. And

it wasn't long after that that I was

offered a job at Elevation as a pastor

at Gold Coast. Now, Elevation was one

location at the time and just planted a

second location into Tweed. So we were

moving from this massive church, the

fastest growing church in America with

thousands of people to a small church in

Australia with no guarantees. Talk about

faith. So what do you do when it doesn't

make sense in the natural? Why would you

give up so much for so little? But

adventurous generosity isn't about us.

It's always about God and always about

his kingdom and his obedience. So 30-day

period, Bonnie and I sold everything we

had, packed it into a container, and

moved to the Gold Coast with our five

kids to be obedient to the Lord. Now,

there have been hard days. Absolutely.

There have been days when we've

questioned, did I really hear from the

Lord? But we look back now and we see

six locations,

hundreds and hundreds of people. We saw

721

salvations last year, 188 baptisms. And

we're reminded why we made the move, to

see souls saved, to multiply healthy

local churches, to transform cities. I

pray today that God challenges you to be

adventurous in your generosity. Not that

you'd have to leave Australia to go to

another country and plant a church, but

that you will see that you're here to

build elevation. And you're here to give

to elevation to make that possible. One

act of obedience can change generations.

One decision to be obedient to the Lord

can change everything. today. Would you

give financially? Would you have

adventurous generosity? Would you see

the opportunities at elevation to give

to see lives changed for eternity? I

praise God for every one of you. We're

on this journey together. It's all about

adventurous faith and it starts when we

have adventurous generosity. God bless.

If you have your Bibles, let's go to 2

Kings 4. We're going to learn about a

woman in the Bible who lived out this

generous life. She was adventurous and

she made room for God to move in her

life. Now, a word of warning. You ready?

The word of God is powerful. Don't take

it lightly. All scripture is inspired by

God is useful to teach us what is true

and to make us realize what is wrong in

our lives. It corrects us when we are

wrong and teaches us to do what is

right. God uses it to prepare and equip

his people to do every good work. 2

2 Timothy 3:16

Timothy 3:16 and 17. Who's ready to let

the word of God, the scriptures correct

us when we're wrong and teach us when

we're right? Let's jump into 2 Kings

2 Kings 4:8

4:8.

One day, Elisha went to the town of

Shunam. A wealthy woman lived there and

she urged him to come home for a what?

For a meal. Our first thought today is

adventurous generosity

sees the needs. So this story starts

with hospitality. A wealthy woman

offering a meal. A simple act of

generosity that changed her life

forever. And millions, if not billions,

have learned about this woman and her

story because of her one act of

adventurous generosity. This woman was

wealthy. Did you know that we are

wealthy now? Hang on, Miles. Mate, I

ain't wealthy. You're talking to the

wrong guy. I'm broke. I need a new car.

I can't pay my mortgage payments. I need

a holiday. I don't even have a house.

Can't even pay for that new Big Mac

meal. What are they like 20 bucks a meal

for nowadays? Um, yet the reality is if

you earn more than 50k a year, you're in

the top 1% of the wealthiest people on

the planet. Think about that. You're

actually rich compared to the rest of

the world. Whether you like it or not,

being rich brings responsibility.

After that, the Bible says whenever he

passed that way, that's the the man of

God, he would stop there for something

to eat. She said to her husband, "I'm

sure this man who stops in from time to

time is a holy man of God." So, this

simple act of a meal made room for God

to move. And the impact of buying

someone a meal or a coffee or being

generous made room for this relationship

to be built with this man of God. This

represents that she was living on

mission. She was generous. She was

seeing the needs. And she did this out

of kindness and generosity. She didn't

do it to get at anything back. She

didn't do it out of a selfish gain. She

didn't even know he was a man of God.

Her kindness and generosity rewards her.

We're going to find out, beyond her

wildest dream. And look, it always

amazes me what God can do in our lives

through one moment when we make room for

him. One moment of a a prayer or a text

or a prompting, one moment of a meal,

one moment of generosity, one vision,

one dream can change literally your life

for generations to come. And there are

so many stories in scripture where men

and women of God saw a need. They saw a

need and they responded to that need as

they were prompted and obedient to the

Lord. We see the good Samaritan saw a

need and he gave money to the wounded

man. The Israelites gave money to build

the tabernacle to the point where Moses

said, "Stop giving. We got enough. No

more." The widow gave two small coins to

the church. And Jesus said, "She

actually gave more than anyone else."

Johanna and Susanna were women in the

New Testament who gave money out of

their personal means to support the

ministry of Jesus. He had a financial

backup. Uh Boaz gave food to Ruth, an

immigrant widow had no family or money

and they later married and Jesus was

born through their lineage. There was

the boy who gave five loaves and two

fishes, gave his lunch, saw the need,

and fed 5,000 men. The widow of

Zerapath, she gave her last meal to a

man of God. And then God multiplied what

she had. The Macedonian church, they

actually gave out of their extreme

poverty, the Bible says, to support the

struggling church in Jerusalem. uh

Joseph and Arythea, they gave his own

burial tomb to Jesus so he could be

buried, but more importantly that the

tomb could be emptied, the stone was

rolled away, that Jesus was resurrected

to fulfill the prophecy. The list goes

on and on. How sensitive

are you to the needs around you? I get

it. There's needs everywhere. But how

sensitive are you to the prompting of

the Lord to give, to allow his presence

to flow through you, his funds to flow

through you to help others to preach the

gospel. At the end of this service,

we're going to give you an opportunity

to hear the needs uh that are in our

communities, the needs that are in our

church, our city, our nation, our world.

So we can be prompted that we can be led

by the Holy Spirit to have adventurous

generosity to see God's kingdom built

and established. Number one, adventurous

generosity sees the need. I I pray that

you'll see the need today. Number two,

adventurous generosity responds to the

need. Let's build a small room for him

on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a

table, a chair, and a lamp. then he'll

have a place to stay whenever he comes

by. One day Elisha returned to Shunam

and he went up to this upper room to

rest. This wealthy woman, she built a

room for the man of God. It's not easy

to build a room. You got to get council

approval. You got to find a builder. You

got to stay on budget. It's messy. It's

disruptive. You got to fit it out. But

adventurous generosity doesn't play it

safe. Adventurous generosity acts and

responds to the need. It doesn't take

the easy way out. It doesn't play the

safe role. It actually steps out and

responds. Adventurous generosity will

cost you, but you got no idea where it

may lead you. I I love the story in the

19th century that George Mueller he saw

the need and responded to the need of

thousands of children. Uh they were

orphaned due to disease and poverty in

England and he started off by just

having a couple of kids in his house

responding to the need. But that soon

grew and he built over his lifetime five

massive orphanages in Bristol. Over

10,000

children were cared for, loved on,

housed, given a future, given a hope,

shared the gospel. The cost in today's

money is hundreds of millions of

dollars. It all started when he saw the

need and responded to the need and did

what he could at the time. What about

you? Would you respond to the great need

of the harvest that we have in our world

today? Are you living on mission, God's

mission, living for a higher purpose to

extend his kingdom? Again, we're going

to show some areas where you can respond

today that we've identified. And we want

everyone to have a chance today to

respond to do an act of adventurous

generosity

that will change lives for eternity.

Number one, adventurous generosity sees

the need. Number two, adventurous

generosity responds to the need. And our

third thought today, adventurous

generosity is rewarded. So one day

Elisha returned to Shunam and he went up

to this upper room to rest. That's the

room that the woman had made in her

house for him. And he said to his

servant Gahazi, "Tell the woman from

Shunam I want to speak to her." her. And

when she appeared, Elisha said to Gahaz,

I tell her, "We appreciate the kind

concern that you've shown us."

What can we do for you? Can we put in a

good word uh for you to the king or to

the commander of the army? No, she

replied. My family takes good care of

me. And then later Elisha asked Gazahi

again, "Uh, what can we do for her?"

Gazahi replied, "She doesn't have a

son." And her husband is an old man.

"Call her back again," Elisha told him.

And when the woman returned, Elisha said

to her as she stood in the doorway,

"Think about this. Next year at this

time you will be holding a son in your

arms. No, my lord, she cried. Oh man of

God, don't deceive me. Don't get my

hopes up like that. Can you remember our

words for the year is to make room and

it comes from Isaiah 54:2. It's a

Isaiah 54:2

prophecy about a barren woman to enlarge

her tent to make room for children. she

didn't have at the time. But for her to

act by faith to respond to the blessing

of the prophecy from the Lord, this

promise to this woman seems too good to

be true. She'd probably tried for years

to have a child. I'm sure she was

embarrassed,

full of shame, worried that her wealth

would not be handed on to any heirs,

worried her wealth would be lost because

there's no children to give it to. I'm

sure there was disappointment. And you

know what? We can do the same.

We don't want to get our hopes up

because it might not come through.

We don't want to look foolish, stupid in

front of others. We don't want to see

our family suffer or go without. We

don't want to lose what we have. As a

pastor of elevation, I hear the most

amazing prophecies that come through for

our church at elevation. Prophecies of

more people coming to church. Prophecies

of God's favor and blessing. Uh

prophecies double and a half growth. uh

prophecies of more location. Yet I

wrestle

with the Lord when these things don't

happen.

I I wrestle when disappointment comes,

when people leave the church. I wrestle

when resources aren't available. I

wrestle when we can't say yes to the

opportunities in front of us due to

finances. Hope deferred makes the heart

sick. And there's often this wrestle in

me in this adventurous generosity to be

wise yet still take a risk. But I found

this over my years of following the

Lord. My God is faithful. He's faithful

when I'm not. He's good when I'm not.

God's promises are yes and amen. They go

beyond us. they're not relying on us.

And that when we are obedient, when we

are prompted, when we follow the Lord's

leading, he's well aable to do the

promises, he's well able to deliver his

will in our lives. Verse 17, are you

ready to celebrate with me today? Sure

enough, the woman became pregnant and

the following year she had a son just as

Elijah had said. Adventurous generosity

is rewarded. Proverbs 19:17 says,

Proverbs 19:17

"Whoever is kind to the poor lends to

the Lord, and he will what? He will

reward them for what they have done."

The scholar Ross says this promise of

reward does not necessarily signify that

he will get his money back. The reward

in Proverbs involves life and prosperity

in general. We don't believe in the

prosperity doctrine that we give and we

get back. God's not a coke machine. You

put money in, you get something out. But

there is the promise of God's word that

we are rewarded when we're obedient.

That there are promises that he has for

us and for his church. Matthew 6:19

Matthew 6:19

says, "Don't store up treasures here on

earth, where moths eat them and rust

destroys them, where thieves break in

and steal them. Rather, verse 20, store

your treasures in heaven where moths and

rust cannot destroy and thieves do not

break in and steal. Giving our money to

God's work, it's like investing in

heaven because it helps more people hear

and respond to the good news. We should

seek to please God both in our giving

and in our fulfilling God's purpose in

everything we do. Now, here's the

exciting part of the message today. uh

we are going to give an opportunity for

you to see and for you to respond and

ultimately be rewarded as God prompts

you and lead you as we share how we as a

church can be adventurous

generosity through our church. If you're

new today, I want to help understand how

the finances work in our church.

Firstly, there's our tithes and

offerings. And this is what keeps the

church running.

kind of covers the operational costs and

these are broke and up into ministries,

occupancies and employment costs. About

33% of our tithes and offerings goes to

those areas. Secondly, we have legacy.

Now, legacy is where we give over and

above our regular giving. Legacy helps

preach the gospel in our church, our

city, our nation, and our world. Uh

we're going to celebrate today the

impact of your adventurous generosity.

We're also going to share today some of

the goals that we're still believing for

because legacy runs from June to July.

So we still have about four months left

in our legacy this year. Let's start

with our church staff training and

development which includes our NC

conference. We believe in equipping our

staff. We believe in training,

supporting them and pouring in to help

them. We have hit our goal. Well done.

Congratulations.

Next, audio visual equipment. These are

projectors and soundboards to enhance

worship. to help new people engage with

the message and and the singing.

Excellence honors God. It inspires

people. Congratulations. We hit the

goal. Well done. Next is our city. This

is where we have benevolence and crisis

where we take care of those in need.

Food, shelter, clothing in our church,

but also outside in our city. With four

months to go, we have another goal of

$5,000

to cover that cost. Next, Christmas

hampers, where we gave 50 hampers away

at Christmas to those who are less

fortunate than us. Mission accomplished.

Hit the goal. Next is our nation. And

with Red Frogs, we sent 10 missionaries

to schoolies. And our goal is to raise

another $15,000

to fund our youth pastor to be in Castle

Hill High School as a chaplain. Yep.

We've been given the green light to get

into Castle Hill High so that we can

minister to those students, lead them to

a thriving youth ministry planted in the

local church. Lisa Hannum Foundation

that's supporting those who are

experiencing domestic violence. Did it.

We done it. Well done. We mission

accomplished. We hit the goal. Careavan.

That's in Black Town where it takes care

of about 100 to 150 homeless people a

week with 15 volunteers going every

week. Mission accomplished. Hit the

goal. Well done. Pat on your back.

Church planting. We're believing for

another $30,000

in this area so that we can strengthen

Penri so that we can launch more

locations in the future. We don't know

where or when, but we want to start

saving now because we believe God has

called us to multiply healthy local

churches. And Hills is going to be a

church sending place to plant more

locations. And finally, our world

southland worship. Over 4 million

streams last year across the four

corners of the earth. Well done. We hit

the goal. Accomplished. Next version. We

paid for 500,000

Bibles to be downloaded. Tick the box.

We did it. Well done. Mission

accomplished. open doors where we gave

for the persecuted church across the

world to be strengthened and built up,

the gospel to be preached. Well done.

Achieved the goal. We're good to go. And

finally, Solomon Islands. $15,000 we

gave to that massive crusade of

thousands of people that were in Hanara.

We still have a goal for another $10,000

to build three classrooms for the

primary school because the current

school has got white ants. It's falling

apart. We were there recently and these

students need somewhere safe and clean

to be educated. So, we're believing we

can raise these funds over the next four

months. I pray that God would challenge

you, that understands that your giving

is making a difference. Just like that

wealthy woman who helped this prophet,

that God moved through her, God is

moving through you. But we also have

some great opportunities to do more. I

pray God would challenge you, would

prompt you to lead you. I pray by the

spirit of God that we would be a vessel

that God would work in and through us.

You know what happens when we have

adventurous generosity? We change. We

become more like Christ. We become less

selfish. We become others focused.

We we become obedient to God. That he

stretches us. He he grows us. That we

represent him. And ultimately, we're

rewarded because all of us one day will

face our God and he'll say these words

we're believing for. Well done, my good

and faithful servant. Jesus Christ

modeled

generosity.

He modeled adventurous generosity when

he died on the cross. That's who our God

is. He sent his one and only son to die

to be raised again so we could be saved.

You see, generosity comes from the heart

of our God. Generosity was outworked

through Jesus. And generosity allows us

to be saved. Allows us to be rescued

because Jesus paid our debt. Not not a

physical mortgage or a payment of money,

but he paid our sin debt. But the truth

is, we're all born with sin. And no

matter what we do, we are not good

enough. We cannot get rid of this sin.

But Jesus died on our behalf. He paid

our debt. He canceled the debt. He

covered us so we can be forgiven. And

today, maybe you need to receive that

forgiveness today. That's why you're

here to be saved today. You're you're

here to receive God's generosity. Come

on, church. But also allow God's

generosity to flow through you. You had

no idea that God has a plan and a

purpose for you, a destiny to do great

things for his kingdom that will be

recorded forever in eternity. Today,

with eyes closed and heads bowed, I'm

going to ask on the count of three.

That's you today. You want Jesus Christ

to be your Lord and your Savior. I want

you to boldly say yes to him. Raise your

hand. We're going to pray for you. We're

going to see the generosity of our God

in heaven through his son Jesus Christ

permeate your heart and change you

forever. Count of three. One, two,

three. Come on, raise it up. Raise your

hands up. Raise them up from the back to

the front, from the left to the right.

This is a moment where we can receive

the generosity of the Lord that we can

be changed. Not just saved, but then we

can be saved into generosity for others.

Let's all pray a prayer together. Jesus,

you can say it after me. Jesus, I'm a

sinner. I need a savior. Thank you for

the generosity

of the King of Kings and the Lord of

Lords that I can be saved. I can be born

again. Take my life. I surrender it to

you. Be my Lord. I pray in Jesus' name.

And everybody said, "Come on, let's

celebrate how great our God is today.