The Jesus Church: Finding the Church of Jesus in the Book of Acts | Donovan Rillion | The Generous Church

I don't know if y 'all can see this. I've got

an olive plant here that if I cultivate it, if

I water it well, could become a really big olive

tree. And I don't know about you, but olives

are good on pizzas. So I'm really hoping that

this will produce some olives. And I just want

to leave that there for you to look at and admire

its beauty because I'm really proud of my olive

plant. You haven't admired it. I'm looking like

for some, like, yeah, like some oohs and ahs,

right? Like, yeah. I'm just kidding. This is,

if you can't tell from there, maybe you can tell

from here, this is not a real olive plant. It

is fake. It was $15 at Walmart. And the best

thing about it is this nice little vase that

maybe if I'm smart, I can reuse as like a gift

for my wife. But this. plant right here is not

alive. It's not dead either. It's just not real.

It never had any life in it. It never had anything

true to it. There was no power. There's no nutrients.

There's nothing good about this other than it's

mildly aesthetically pleasing. And now if I could

get Pat and Aaron to help me out, they're going

to bring out something that I think you'll like,

something that is real. Is real, that's good.

So. Pat is bringing forward my apple tree, one

of my apple trees. Thank you, Elijah, for picking

these up for me. I was just going to buy one

apple tree, and I had the plan to actually plant

this in my yard and grow apples because who doesn't

like apples? And Elijah was like, don't you need

two? Isn't that a thing? Like they can't grow

and produce fruit on their own. So good looking

out. And I thought that's like a sermon illustration

in itself. We can't bear fruit on our own, right?

Okay, so right. that one down. That's just free.

But yeah, so I've got this apple tree here and

it's young. It's little. I mean, there's, you

can't see any apples. I don't think it's bearing

any fruit yet. This is a real apple tree though.

And one day, if I do take care of it, if I water

it, I give it all that it needs. I put it in

good soil. I make sure to take care of it. It

will produce apples and we'll all get to have

apples and it'll be great. and maybe I'll make

some apple juice out of it, and it will produce

good fruit. Now, this right here, if you can't

see it, last fall, when we moved into the house

right there up the hill, we had a big mosquito

problem. I'm from South Mississippi, down near

Louisiana. I know mosquitoes. I hate mosquitoes.

That's why I don't live in South Mississippi

anymore. And so when I got up there and there's

mosquitoes all in the backyard, I'm like, I need

to do something. And someone told me long ago

that there's a calm before the storm. I'm just

kidding. No CCR fans in the room. Okay, so someone

told me long ago that rosemary actually... gets

rid of, it deters bugs. So I bought this rosemary

plant, but as you can see, a green thumb is not

something that I possess. And so my rosemary

plant is dead. Maybe I'll plant it in soil and

try to revive it. If anybody in here knows how

to do plants, please help a brother out. But

my rosemary plant is dead. And because I didn't

give it the proper maintenance. I didn't water

it right. I didn't give it the supplements and

nutrients that it needed. I didn't put it in

good soil, although Home Depot should have put

it in good soil when they put it in the pot.

That's just whatever. I'm blaming somebody else

for my inadequacies. Thank you. So I've got three

types of plants here. I've got a fake plant that

never had any life in it. I've got a dead plant

that... Well, maybe there's still some, I see

some green in there somewhere. There's still

some life, but it's not bearing any fruit and

it's definitely not keeping mosquitoes away like

it was intended to. And then I've got my apple

tree that it has life running through it and

you can see it's green and it looks good, but

it's just still very small and it hasn't started

bearing fruit yet. But one day, my apple tree

will bear fruit because someone with a green

thumb in this church is going to help me get

this apple tree to bear fruit. Otherwise, it

will look like my rosemary plant. But I've got

these three plants. These three options of things

that they look good. Well, not the rosemary plant.

They at one point looked good. They at one point...

did something good. Like the rosemary plant did

good for a little while and the fake plant will

do good if I put it on my desk or put it on a

shelf in my office and in the apple tree, it

looks good. They all look good at one point in

their life. But only one of these has the potential

as it sits to bear good fruit anytime soon. A

church can be any one of these plants. A church

can be the fake plant that looks good and people

see it and they say, man, that's a good looking

plant. That's a good looking church and it's

doing something nice. I mean, it's making this

office look good. It's making this room look

good and it is doing something good, but it doesn't

have any life in it and it doesn't bear any fruit

and it doesn't really give any substance to anything

or anyone. And then I've got my dead plant that

at one point looked good, but now it's just kind

of hanging on by a thread. And there's a little

bit of life left in it, but there's not enough

life in it to do any good. And it definitely

isn't bearing any fruit. And how many churches

do we see that are dead? I was telling a buddy,

the same one that asked me, you know, what is

the worship service meant for on Sunday mornings?

And he said, you know. We're not growing as a

church. We've just kind of been staying the same.

And he's like, so we're not dying, but we're

not growing. And I said, brother, the truth is,

is when it comes to a church, it is either growing

or it is dead. It's either alive or it's dead.

There's no in between unless it's a fake church,

but I will classify fake as dead. And so we've

got these different plants, and then there's

the living one, and it's like it's got the potential

to bear really good fruit, but it's not there

yet. It still needs some love, and it still needs

some nourishment. A church can be any one of

those. And the scary thing is, is from a distance,

you could look at my fake plant and you could

say, man, that looks really good. And maybe if

you're sitting towards the back, you didn't know

that it was fake. And you could look at my apple

tree and if you're sitting towards the back and

maybe even up front, you wouldn't know if that

was real or fake or not. But they look the same

sometimes. We can ooh and we can ah, sometimes

forced, sometimes just naturally looking at the

beauty. But one day you will always be able to

tell the difference because one will bear fruit

that gives life and one will not. And so before

we even begin this morning, I'm asking the question,

what kind of church will we be? Will we be the

fake plant? bears no fruit. It doesn't give any

life. It doesn't do any good for anybody or anything

other than looking nice. And we know those churches,

right, that they make people feel good and they

look nice. And to the community, man, they are

doing so much good. And they look like they are

alive and they look like they are good, fruit

-bearing churches, but there's no spirit. Like

the capital S, Holy Spirit, is not empowering

them. This is just their good work, and this

is just their talents and just their ability,

and it's not that God is bringing fruit. It's

just that they look pretty, and we know the churches

that are dead, that they're small and they're

shriveled up, and it's like, man, if somebody

would have just watered them, if somebody would

have just given them some good fertilizer and

some good soil, that church could have been something

great. Like when I bought this rosemary plant,

I had plans. I was going to plant it in my yard

so that it would grow. I had a member at my home

church that he would host our men's Bible study,

and he had a big rosemary bush right by his front

door. And every time I walked into the men's

Bible study, it smelled so good. And I loved

it. And there were no mosquitoes by his house.

So it was even better. And so my plan was I'm

going to plant this, and it's going to grow into

this big bush, and then look at it. Because some

lousy preacher didn't take care of it. We're

laughing, but I'm serious. And I look at my little

apple tree and I dream about what it could become.

And when my four -year -old saw it, he got so

excited because he was like, dad, we're going

to have so many apples. And I'm like, not if

it's up to your mom and I. But I dream about

what this apple tree could become. And I think

about what kind of church we could be. But you

know the point that I'm getting to. It takes

some work. And it takes some care, and it takes

some nourishment, and it takes some intentionality.

And so what we're going to look at today, because

we've got to get to Scripture at some point,

otherwise it's in a biblical sermon, right? And

so we get to the early church in the book of

Acts, and we see that they're fresh off of Pentecost.

And, you know, last week we looked at this idea

that they prayed for boldness and the ground

shook, and they went out into the community and

they were boldly proclaiming the good news. And

that is what we see, and it's this church that's

changing lives and living in this divine. community.

And now here on the back end of Acts chapter

four, we're going to see a little bit more of

what that looked like. And so I want you to look

with me at Acts chapter four, verses 32 through

35. And if you don't have a Bible with you, or

you just want to look on the screen, it will

be up there. So let's read this together. If

it's underlined and you feel comfortable doing

it, please read it out loud. Now, the full number

of those who believed were of one heart and soul,

and no one said that any of the things that belonged

to him was his own, but they had everything in

common. And with great power, the apostles were

giving their testimony to the resurrection of

the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them

all. There was not a needy person among them.

For as many as were owners of lands or houses

sold them and brought the proceeds of what was

sold and laid it at the apostles' feet. And it

was distributed to each as any had need. So the

first thing we see, it's similar to what Luke

said earlier in the book of Acts about the closeness

of the church, how they had shared their possessions

and they had been together and living life together.

They had unity. And from their unity came generosity.

And that's what we're talking about this morning.

It's this idea of being a generous church, because

if we are generous, then we will be able to grow

our tree. We will grow what God has given us

to cultivate. And so generosity is a symptom

of unity. And I want you to notice that this

wasn't a felt obligation. Nobody was twisting

the arms of these people. Luke doesn't write

that they were begging the people to give their

possessions and give what they had so that the

church could do. They didn't have to beg. This

was because of their unity, because they were

united in heart, united in mind. Nobody had to

guilt them into giving. They just wanted to take

care of each other. Because I can't live in the

same house as somebody that's starving. I can't

live in the same house as somebody that's hungry

and sick. I can't be in the same room with somebody

that I say I care about and they're struggling

to put clothes on their back. I can't be in the

same family with somebody and just let them live

on the street. And so because of their closeness,

because of their unity, they took care of each

other. And that is how they exemplified Christ.

I mean, just look at what Luke says in verse

32. No one said that any of the things that belonged

to him was his own. So Luke identifies it belonged

to them. They had it in their possession, but

it wasn't just theirs. You see, we live in such

an individualistic society. We live in the society

that says, it's mine, it's mine, it's mine. I've

got to get for myself. I've got to do for myself.

I've got to make more for myself. Or even we

like want to take care of our families because

that's ours. And I've got to take care of my

family. And so we do what we have to and what

we can for our family. But what we see in the

early church is radical community. It's no longer

mine. It's now ours. And it's no longer mine,

but it's God's. And because of this communal

generosity, we read that there were no needy

persons among them. There weren't people among

them that were going hungry. There weren't people

among them that were going out and having to

sleep in the cold. There weren't people among

them that were struggling to have their needs

met because the church became the answer to the

community's needs. If there was someone in the

church that needed something, the church handled

it. The church became the place where a disciple

of Christ could come. They would know that they

would be taken care of, and they knew that they

could help take care of others. They knew that

this was a family that made sure that nobody

got left behind. And I want to be clear. That

this wasn't a part of some giving initiative.

It wasn't a campaign or a program. This was merely

a symptom of the Spirit moving in God's people.

It was the Spirit filling their lives in a way

that filled them so that they would overflow

into the lives of the people around them. It's

what happens when the body of Christ is filled

with the Spirit and is living with their heart

and mind on mission. And that is what a living

church is. It puts forth fruit that can provide

for the needs, which in turn creates more life.

As opposed to the dead church that has nothing

flowing through it and produces no life. It bears

no fruit. It gives no substance. It changes nothing

about the lives that it enters. The only thing

it does is it gives good looks. Maybe you've

dated before. If you're married, you've dated

before. And maybe you didn't, you know, get lucky.

And on the first person you dated, that's the

only person you ever needed to be with. And that's

the only person that you've ever been with. Maybe

if you're like the normal person, you dated a

couple of people. And maybe the first person

you dated, it was because, man, they look good.

And you know what I'm talking about. Guys, that

girl in high school that just looked really good.

And you dated her and you found out she was a

dud in the brain. Or maybe like she looked really

good and you dated her and you realized she is

an awful person. And ladies, I think maybe this,

no, we're not going to do that one because you

might be married to the person that's, they look

good, but they're an awful person. So, but you

know what I mean? Like we've got these fake plants

and they look good, but they don't do anything

of substance, of value. And then you got like

the plant that like this thing doesn't look good,

but I'm sure if you ate it, it would give you

some substance. It would give you some life.

And there's the churches that like they don't

look great, but if you would go to that church

and you'd plug into that church, it would give

you some life and it would give you some substance,

but it probably wouldn't taste good. Doesn't

look good. Probably doesn't smell good. I don't

even want to smell that thing. And so like you've

got... these two, but then you've got the apple

tree, the living tree, the one that has life

in it. And when it starts putting apples on the

limbs, it is going to taste good. It is going

to look good. It is going to smell good, and

it is going to give substance. So I go back to

asking, what kind of church will we be? When

we get to Acts 4, verses 36 and 37, Luke shows

Acts 4:36

us a specific example of someone exemplifying

this generosity. So he kind of gives us the overview

of this is what the church was doing, and then

he gives us a very specific example. And I want

to preface this with, this is not what I'm asking

you to do. I'm just reading Scripture. Thus Joseph,

who the apostles called Barnabas, which means

son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus,

sold a field that belonged to him and brought

the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Again, the Spirit -empowered and influenced church

was on mission. That the Spirit -empowered and

influenced church was, they were doing what they

needed to do to make sure the gospel could be

boldly proclaimed to all people and all nations,

no matter the cost. It's like when you go into

the store, and I would only do this if I was

taking my kids to Dollar Tree, but if you went

to the store and you said, get whatever you want,

no matter the cost. Because you know what I mean?

Like if you go to Walmart and you say that your

kid's coming back with like a $400 bike and you're

like, that's not what I meant. I meant like a

Hot Wheel. something that's $5. When I was little,

my grandma had a boyfriend that would take me.

This was the coolest thing. He'd take me a couple

of towns over. We'd go to Dollar Tree. He'd give

me five bucks. And back then, I haven't been

to a Dollar Tree in a while, although we're getting

one. So that's cool. Maybe. Don't get food there.

That's scary. But he would take me to Dollar

Tree. He'd give me five bucks and he'd say, get

whatever you want. And I would go in and I'd

get all kinds of stuff. And so we look at This

guy, and he's like, I don't care what it costs.

I want the church. to do what the church has

to do. I want the church to do what the church

needs to do because this is the mission. And

as we know, it's not an easy, it's not a cheap,

it's not a free thing to do. And so right here,

we have this incredible example of generosity

in Barnabas. And I think it's great that his

nickname is son of encouragement. Could anybody

give me a nickname that cool? I won't tell you

the nickname that I get from my four -year -old,

but it's not son of encouragement. We call it

in our house a potty word. And so this guy has

a good nickname. And so I want us to look at

this encouragement because what he is doing is

he's not just saying, I think what we're doing

here is cool. He's not just saying, I think what

we're doing here is awesome and it's great for

the community. What he's saying is, I believe

in what God is doing here. I have faith in what

we are doing as a part of God's mission. I believe,

I have faith in what God is doing in this community,

in this nation through his church. And by Barnabas

selling his property, taking all of the proceeds,

giving it to the church, he is saying, I have

faith. faith and what God has called this church

to do. And I mean, I want you to think about

how much faith that is because people invest

in things all the time. Like you buy stocks,

you buy land, you buy whatever it is, cars or

things. Cars are depreciating assets. Don't do

that as an investment. But you buy things to

invest in them because you hope that they will

one day reap a reward. We talk about return on

investment. And so what Barnabas is saying here

is, I'm investing in this because I believe the

return on investment is worth it. We do this

because we believe that what we are doing has

the potential to change our lives. But when it

comes to generosity towards the church, towards

the mission of God, towards the kingdom of God,

what we're doing is we're saying, I am investing

in this because I believe it has the potential

to change someone else's life. Last week in our

sermon on boldness, I said fear is a symptom

of believing my physical life is more important,

is of more value than someone else's spiritual.

Someone else's soul. And I would flip that today

and say, faith, investing in the mission of the

church, is admitting that I believe someone else's

soul is worth more than my physical life. That's

what it means to invest in the kingdom. Like

our plant, we water it, we feed it, we get it

sunlight. And I want you to notice that those

are all different things. Some people are good

at bringing the water pot and watering it. Some

people, they've got some muscles so they can

move it to get it into the sunlight. And I want

to make this point clear that while we're talking

about generosity, I'm not just talking about

money. If I'm being honest, I wish we could do

this without... money. I wish we could do what

the church needs to do to bring the gospel to

all nations and all people. I wish we could do

that without money. If it were so, I would not

ever preach about money. In fact, I was very

nervous about this sermon because I've never

preached on generosity or giving. And so please

don't throw stones at me. Be generous with your

grace. All right. Thank you. But I'm serious.

Like I wish we could do this without talking

about money. I wish I could just say, if you've

got the ability to preach, go preach. If you've

got the ability to take care of people, go take

care of people. people. If you've got a house

that you could put somebody up and do that. And

let me rephrase this. I am saying that. I'm also

including the fact that we do have to be generous

with our financial blessings because the plant

does need water. It does need sunlight. It does

need food. It does need these things. It's like

we've said the last couple of weeks, we can't

make the fire. But we absolutely can stack the

wood. We can put the wood in position for God

to rain down fire on it. And we stack the wood

by investing in the mission of the church. And

I want to say this, even though we're a small

church, I believe we have a big calling. because

we have the same calling that the church in Acts

had. We have the same calling that the people

in the New Testament, the people all throughout

history that have claimed to be the church of

Christ, we have the same calling they did, and

that is to bring the good news, the gospel message,

the message of a living, a risen, saving, grace

-giving, life -filling God. We have that message

to proclaim to all nations, and so that is our

calling, and I believe our calling. is to proclaim

that message to all nations, all people, in all

generations, which includes, and I would say

most importantly, no offense to the older people,

but we've had our chance. We've heard the message.

Like if you're in this room, you've heard the

gospel. But I want you to consider that there

is a generation of young people out there that

have not heard the gospel. They have not had

this message communicated to them in a way that

really touches their life. And so I want us to

think about the next generation. We don't have

to be a big church to make a difference in their

lives. We don't have to be a big church to make

a difference in anybody's lives. We don't have

to be wealthy. We don't have to be influential.

We don't have to have any type of status or power

to make a difference. I want you to think about

my little fruit tree. I keep going back because

look how pretty. it is. That tree, it's small

and it doesn't have much yet, but it's alive.

And because it's alive, we know what its potential

is, the potential to give life through its good

fruit. And so let me ask you, thinking about

Barnabas and the field that he sold so that he

could give the proceeds to the church. I don't

know that you have a lot of financial blessings.

And I would go as far as to say most of us don't.

Most of us don't have a field just laying around

that we can just sell it, give the proceeds.

Like, we don't have that. But you do have a field.

You have a gift. You have extra time. Like, I

think about Miss Linda and the ladies, and I'm

not going to call it what they call it, but in

the ladies' Bible class that sew and put together

these boxes for Panama. That's their field. And

they are selling that field every time they get

together to do that work. I think about Brittany

and the work she does with the blessing box and

the food pantry. That's her field. And she is

using that to bless the mission of the church.

Again, I think about Pam and the work she does

to make sure this place is clean so that when

we come in here, it doesn't smell bad and look

bad. That is her field, and she's using that

to bless the church. Chad and Phil, these are

people that are using their abilities, their

gifts, And I could go on, and I'm not leaving

anybody out on purpose. We don't have time because

there are people in this room that are using

what they have to bless the mission of the church.

But there's also people in this room, like I'm

just going to be honest, that we got the field.

We're just sitting on it. And notice I said we.

I won't put myself in that boat. We are just

sitting on these things that we could use to

bless the church. And I'm not talking about this

building. I don't care about this building. If

it were up to me, we'd meet in a park somewhere.

It's to bless the mission of bringing the good

news to all nations and generations. So what

field do you have? What talent, what skill, what

availability do you have that you could use,

that you could be generous with to make this

tree? grow and bear good fruit that will bless

people. When I was in college, I want to give

you a visual of this. When I was in college,

I got my first youth ministry job in LaGrange,

Georgia. And we, I don't think anybody in here.

are connected to my LaGrange. Yeah, we've got

my LaGrange connection. So I got my first job

at a church in LaGrange, Georgia, and that church

couldn't afford to pay somebody to be their youth

minister and live there full -time, but they

could afford to pay a college student enough

to make the drive over on Wednesdays and weekends,

which is what I did, and stay over the weekend

and stay over the holidays. And so Christmases

and summers, I spent in LaGrange, Georgia. While

I was there, I needed a place to stay. On the

weekends, I would just sleep in my office. I

had a futon. It was terrible, but it was great.

During the summers and the winters, though, there

was a family in the church that had a farm. And

on their farm, they have this, like, I say little

cabin. It's a really nice cabin, but it was relatively

unused. And so they would let me stay on their

farm in this cabin. And so for two years on weekends,

sometimes winter breaks and summer, I lived in

the majors, their family's cabin. They used what

they had for kingdom work, for the mission. And

that's what we're talking about here. I'm not

asking you to go hungry for the sake of the mission.

I'm not asking you to give what you don't have.

I saw a video the other day that was talking

about there was a research done and it said a

reason that most people don't give is because

they can't afford to. And so I look at that and

I say, that's fine. Like if you can't afford

to, I'm not telling you to do that. But what

do you have that you can give? What do you have

that could bless the kingdom, that could be used

to help the body of Christ cover more ground

and produce more fruit? We need greeters. We

need song leaders. We need Bible class teachers.

We need people to help with the food pantry.

We need people to help with meals. We need people

to help with sowing. Ms. Linda and I talked about

it. If you sow and you want to be a part of a

good kingdom work, talk to Ms. Linda. Because

I've been to Panama and I have seen the benefit,

the fruit of that labor, and it's good work.

It's good fruit. Those people down there are

on fire for the Lord. So if you sow, I got you.

If you can help with building stuff, like I'm

not a super handy person, but I know some guys

that are. Titus could use some extra hands sometimes.

I hope I'm okay to say that. Like if you want

to help with the yard work, I know Josh would

love to get some volunteers to cut grass and

weed. Like we've got areas where people can serve.

What do you have? What field do you have? I'll

throw another one out there because I have personally

seen how good it is. Catherine Nelson needs some

mentors in the schools. And I've seen, and it's

been so cool, especially we had that banquet

the other day, and to hear the story of that

young man about how his mentor has changed his

life. Like, we need people in the community,

not just in this building and not just working

on the grounds here. We need people in the community

doing things that bless others so that the gospel

is proclaimed again to all nations and all generations.

So what field do you have that you could give

up for the kingdom work? Now that's the good

and easy part of this message. But now I want

to get to the weighty issue here. So right after

Luke tells us about the good deed of Barnabas,

this encouraging deed of Barnabas, he tells us

another story. It's similar but a little bit

different. There's this married couple named

Ananias and Sapphira. If you've been in church

for a while, you know this story. But if you

haven't been, let me just tell you, it does not

end well for them. Ananias and Sapphira, they

too, they sold a piece of property. They said,

I've got a field. Like, I've got a field that

I could sell. So they sell their field. And they

bring it to the apostles. Well, they bring the

proceeds, some of, to the apostles. This is the

difference. They kept some of the proceeds for

themselves, but tried to pass it off as if they

had given everything, as if they had given the

full amount to the church. And I want to clarify

by saying the problem here isn't that they kept

a little bit for themselves. It's what they were

trying to do when keeping a little bit for themselves.

And I've read it said that they were trying to

pretend like they were just as good as Barnabas.

They wanted people to think, like, oh, Barnabas,

he gets the cool nickname, son of encouragement.

Maybe if we go and we give what we've... gotten

from the sale, maybe people will give us a cool

nickname and maybe people will applaud us and

maybe we'll get written about in the Bible by

name. And well, they got their wish. They were

written about in the Bible by name, but not in

a good way. I want you to look how Peter responds

to this attempt at deception in Acts chapter

four, verses three and four. But Peter said,

Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie

to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself

part of the proceeds of the land? That's pretty

harsh stuff right there. I mean, that's... Pretty

tough, but it's reality. Like, I want to be clear

again, Peter isn't upset because Ananias is keeping

some for himself and for his family. I think

any of us would agree like that. That's okay.

You go to work like nobody is telling you go

work 40 hours a week, work your tail off and

then take that whole check and bring it. Nobody's

asking for that. And again, nobody is asking

you for you to go hungry. Nobody's asking you

for you to go without. What Peter is upset with,

and he says as much, he says, was it not at your

disposal? Essentially saying, was it not yours

to do as you pleased? The issue is the deception

that they are trying to pretend like they are

just like Barnabas in doing this radical thing

without the reality of it. They wanted to look

like a living tree that was growing and producing

good fruit, that was giving everything it had

to give life to someone else. But really, they

weren't. They were just fake trees. And so I

look at my fake tree again. So little and so

cute. Can we get another ooh and an ah? Ooh and

ah. Yeah. They wanted somebody to look at this

and say, man, look how good of a gift. Ananias

and Sapphira gave. And it would be kind of like

if I bought on Mother's Day, if I bought my wife

fake flowers. She would be happy to just get

a gift. But could you imagine if I bought her

fake flowers? They look real. And I said, honey,

I'm so grateful for you. So I bought you these

real amazing roses and I give them to her. And

she's like, do you think I'm stupid? These aren't

real, and I know you're lying. She wouldn't be

upset because I lied. She wouldn't be upset because

I gave her fake flowers. Again, she would be

happy to just get the gift, but she would be

upset because I tried to pass it off as something

it was not. And that's what happened to Ananias

and Sapphira. They tried to pass it off. And

maybe I can make this a little bit more practical.

You know, we've seen when the bad things happen,

like the floods in North Carolina and the hurricanes

down south, and every time that happens, an artist,

like a singer, will say, we're going to do a

benefit concert, and we're going to, 100 % of

the proceeds of this concert are going to go

to the community that has been devastated by

this tragedy. But do any of you, like, look at

that and say, man, I wonder if they're really

giving 100%. Did any of y 'all do that? Okay,

so I'm the only one who's skeptical. All right,

that's fine. But like, imagine they do that,

but they only give 50%, but they claim that they

were given 100%. It's still a good gift and it

still helps people, but it's not honest. And

if people found out, it would lead to a lot of

people questioning the motives of why they gave

that gift, why they did it in the first place.

We'd look at it and say, oh, that's just a publicity

stunt. What my hope is for us, individually and

communally, is that we never just look generous,

that we never try to make people think that we're

doing good work. Like, I don't want to get on

Facebook and say, man, I'm so glad to be a part

of the Blairsville Church of Christ because we

do so much good in the community, when in reality,

we're just doing it so that I can make that Facebook

post. I don't want to be a part of the church

that just... does good things so that people

will say we do good things so that they will

come. That's not what we're here for. We're here

to do good things so that it truly blesses people's

lives so that they hear the good news that changes

people's lives. We're not here to be performative.

We are here to be transformative. And the only

transformation that comes from performative generosity

is death. And that's what happens to Ananias

and Sapphira. Look at the scripture. When Ananias

heard these words, he fell down and breathed

his last, and great fear came upon all who heard

of it. So what does it look like for us, for

this family of believers? What does it look like

for us right here in Union County, Georgia? What

does it look like for us to not give a fake gift?

What does it look like for us to not just not

give gifts like I did to my rosemary plant? What

does it look like for us to not drop dead but

to be a living tree? What does it look like for

us to give until the needs are met rather than

just enough to look good? I think it starts with

being honest about what the needs really are.

And as the minister here, I feel like I'm allowed

to be straightforward with you. I think you would

prefer I be straightforward with you. Otherwise,

I might be like Ananias and Sapphira and I might

die. I want to be straightforward with you. And

I want to tell you what I believe God is calling

this church family to invest in right now. like

where we can be generous, where we can pour into.

And we've talked about it a little bit before,

but I think we've got two things, two current

needs. And the first one is we have talked about,

the elders have talked about, we've prayed about,

what would it look like for us to be more benevolent?

What would it look like to take care of the community

around us more? Like how could we pour into the

food pantry more? How could we pour into these

different ministry programs that we are a part

of in this community? What would it look like

for us to be able to do more for missions? What

would it look like for us to be able to do more

for the local outreach? How could we be more

benevolent? And then how can we better serve

the next generation? We've talked about this

a little bit, but seriously, like what would

it look like? How could we pour into our young

people? We talk about, we pray about, and it's

awesome the amount of children we've got in this

church building right now. That is something

that should be applauded. That is something that

we really should be oohing and aahing about because

it is a good thing. It shows that we are not

dead, that there is something here that has life.

But we've got them here and we've got them out

there. Like I was very impressed before we moved

here to find out that we've got a pretty decent

like size school system. Because before we moved

here, I thought there was like five people in

this town. I'm going to be honest. I found out

that there's a lot more people here than I thought.

And that's an awesome thing because there's a

bunch of kids out there that do not go to church,

that don't have a relationship with Christ, that

need somebody to tell them about Jesus. There's

an old acapella song. Who's going to tell the

child about Jesus? Who is? I hope it would be

us, but how are we going to do that? There's

some real logistical needs that are there. And

I'm not putting those up there as announcements

or challenges. I'm not putting those up there

as line items on the budget. What I want us to

see is that these are places that I believe and

I think our leadership believes God is looking

at us and saying, this will help the living tree

here bear more fruit. Do y 'all want to feed

like spiritually? Do y 'all want to spiritually

feed this community? It doesn't sound like many

of us do. Do we want to spiritually feed this

community? Well, I know how we can do that. I

know two practical ways we can do that. These

are parts of our tree that need tending. These

are parts of our tree that need to be poured

into. I'm not going to get into the stats about

why good youth ministry is such an essential

piece to the kingdom's mission. And I don't think

I have to make the case for feeding the hungry

and taking care of the orphans and widows. I

don't think I need to preach about that right

now. I think maybe we've got that one. I'll simply

say that I believe these are practical ways we

can bless the mission. here. And so again, I

ask you, what kind of church do we want to be?

What kind of tree do we plant? Do we want to

be? I'll ask you another question because I said

generosity is a symptom of faith. It's a symptom

of saying, I believe in what God is doing here.

So I'm asking, do we believe in what God is doing

here through this family of believers? If so,

Let's just remember, generosity is a symptom

of faith. And there's more to it than just finances.

Like I said, we need more people physically using

their gifts to serve the kingdom. How many of

you could go and coach a little league t -ball

team? Because let me tell you, Easton thinks

his t -ball coach is the coolest person in the

world. Sorry, Chad, you've been demoted. He thinks

his t -ball coach is the coolest person in the

world. Peyton thinks his t -ball coach is the

coolest person in the world. Sorry, Greg, you've

also been demoted. They love... their t -ball

coach how many of us could could go and be a

mentor in the school again like going to that

mentor banquet and seeing the way that that young

man talked about his mentor was awesome because

that little guy like well he's not little he's

in high school like he thinks of his mentor as

a hero and I think about my youth minister who

did youth ministry voluntarily he didn't like

I look at him as a hero And because of those

people's good work, lives are being changed.

Now for the t -ball coach, for the mentor, imagine

if we take those lives and we add the gospel

to it. So, what could we do? What could we do

for the community to bless these people? The

schools, the food pantry, visiting the shut -ins,

the homeless shelters, like all of these things,

these are ways that we could bless people. right

here, right now. And I need to say this because

we're coming to a close. For the visitor with

us today, I hope what you take from this is the

heart of this church family. Because this is

kind of like insider, right? Like, you know,

used to be churches would do men's business meetings

and this is what would get talked at about at

those. But I want to talk to everybody. And for

the visitor, I hope that you're not like, oh,

here we go, another preacher that's just preaching

about money. And that's not what this is about.

This is about the heart of this church family

and what we're trying to do for the kingdom of

God and for the people in this community around

us. And on a much lighter and frankly more important

note, I want you to look at my little fruit tree

again. Because again, I'm so proud of this thing.

I can't wait to plant it. Seriously though, if

anybody knows about plants, help me out. I want

you to look at my little fruit tree. This little

guy, he's going to cost me something. I'm going

to have to make sure I'm intentional about watering

it. I'm going to have to make sure that I give

it a good space in my yard so that it doesn't

get destroyed by my heathen children. I got to

make sure that that I take care of it and it's

going to cost something. But I want this tree

when it does start to bear fruit. I want it to

be a community tree. Like, I want you all to

just go in my yard. Well, first of all, it's

not my yard. It's your yard. But I want you to

go in the yard up there and just take an apple

off the tree. Wash it before you eat it. My grandma

always said to wash your fruit before eating

it. Wash it before you eat it. But I want you

to just get a fruit or an apple off the tree

and eat it or make an apple pie. If you do, bring

me a slice. I want this to be a community tree.

I'm going to put some work into it. And whoever

decides to help me out, like we're going to put

some work into it. But the fruit of it is going

to be available to everybody freely. And that's

exactly what Jesus did. It's exactly what Jesus

still does. Jesus gave his time. Jesus gave up

his home. He gave up his comfort and he gave

up ultimately his life. Jesus displayed the greatest

act of generosity. Like we look at Barnabas and

we're like, man, he sold a whole field. Like,

do y 'all know how much land is worth? He sold

it and just gave it all. And that was a great

act of generosity. And some of you have displayed

great acts of generosity in this church and at

other places. And those are awesome. But what

Jesus did, that, that is the ultimate act of

generosity. And he did it so that others could

eat of his fruit. Because his life, by his sacrifice,

we receive life. Not just eternal life, but abundant

life. And I want you to think about this. When

you eat of the fruit of this tree, you'll receive

nutrients, and you'll get some flavor, and it's

going to give you a little bit of life. Provide

substance. But when you eat of the generous gift

of Jesus' tree, you will receive far more abundance,

far more life than any apple could ever give

you. And that's the gospel. That's the good news.

Because generosity is the source and it's a symptom

of Jesus' work. And so for us, We have a symptom,

and it's to be generous in our time, in our service,

in our effort, generous with our gifts, our abilities,

all because of Jesus' gift. Okay, now, one last

look at my plants. Okay, you can't see my little

tree because there's a little plant. He's right

here, so I'm going to put him back up here. Look

at him, ooh and ah. That's dirty. I'm not putting

it up there, but you can hopefully see that.

Look at my plants. A year from now, One of these

is going to look exactly the same. Unless my

children destroy it. I might put it in my office

because it's safe there. He's going to look the

same. He'll still be pretty. You can still ooh

and ah at him. No fruit though. No life. He didn't

die. He's still there. Still looks good. The

other one, well, hopefully he's got some life

because I'm going to do my best to revive him.

And again, my plant people. You're going to help

me revive him if he's savable. If not, we're

going to toss him. But this one right here, a

year from now, because of the generous help that

a plant person in this room is going to give

me, this guy hopefully will have some apples.

I don't know. Do apple trees sprout apples that

fast? We'll find out. He's going to be bigger.

Two years. Okay. I don't know how old that is.

He's going to be bigger, if nothing else. He's

going to have a few more leaves on him. He's

going to be closer to bearing that good fruit,

if not bearing fruit yet. And I want you to think

about two years from now, and three years from

now, and four years from now. If I will intentionally,

generously take care of this tree, he's going

to produce a lot of good fruit. Which one of

these is the Blairsville Church of Christ? Which

one of these is, if you're visiting from another

church out of town, or which one of these is

your church family going to be? And then individually,

which one of these trees is Donovan Rillian or

Chad Laracy or Courtney Waller or Shayla Peel?

Which one of these trees are you going to be?

Am I going to be? The challenge for us this morning

is to be a real living tree that does bear good

fruit. and covers so much ground. I want the

church, my vision, my dream, like I have a vision

and a dream for this tree. My vision and dream

for this tree right here is that we cover so

much ground that people start thinking we are

an invasive species. Like kudzu level invasive.

That's what I want. That's my dream. That's my

vision. And that was Christ's vision when he

said, you're going to proclaim the gospel to

all nations, to all generations. And I want us

to bear so much good fruit in this community

and abroad that we fill every food bank from

here to Thailand. When we're done with our work

on this earth, people will look back and say,

that was a good tree. We've got a tree in my

hometown called the Friendship Oak. And it has

been there for hundreds of years. And a few years

ago, some people, some, I'm not going to say

it, they wanted to cut that tree down. When I

was a little kid, I played in that tree. Because

it's a big, I mean, it's big, like it covers,

down in South Mississippi, we've got these live

oaks that just like go. And that tree covers

so much ground. It's got like its own little

area roped off. And when I think about that tree,

I think about my memories in that tree, playing

under the shade of that tree. And when people

50 years older than me that are from South Mississippi

think about that tree, they think about the same

thing. When people that are 100 years old think

about that tree, they think about the same thing.

When people think about this church, what will

they think? What will they remember? When we

get to heaven and God is looking back on... the

history of the churches in the world, will He

look at us and say, man, they don't have any

life in them? Will He look at us and will He

say, that preacher really let them down and they

just kind of withered away? Or will He look at

us and say, man, they bore good fruit? That's

the challenge. And it is all possible. It is

all a part of our mission because of the good

news of Jesus. So when I'm done, we're going

to sing a song of invitation. And I want to challenge

you. Maybe you've never received the most generous

gift, that ultimate gift of generosity that is

the grace of Jesus. Maybe you've never accepted

His generosity. The invitation is open. We ask

you to come. Maybe you're already in Christ,

but you know you've been holding back, like you've

just been following. You aren't quite a disciple.

The invitation is open. And maybe you just need

the body of Christ to pray over you, to help

you. Or you need the generosity of the church.

Wherever you stand today, whatever it is that

you need, the invitation is the same for everyone

in this room. As we stand and sing, if you need

anything, please come.