Grace & Generosity (2 Corinthians 8:1-15)

Starting in verse 1 of chapter 8, it says, We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia during a severe trial brought about by affliction.

Their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

I can testify that according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord, they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints.

And not just as we had hoped.

Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord, and then to us by God's will.

So we urge Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace.

Now, as you excel in everything, in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us, excel also in this act of grace.

I'm not saying this as a command, rather by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

And in this matter I'm giving advice because it is profitable for you, who began last year not only to do something, but also to want uh not only to do something, but also to want to do it.

Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion according to what you have.

For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

It is not that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality.

At the present time, your surplus is available for their need, so that their abundance may in turn meet your need, in order that there may be equality.

As it is written, the person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little.

Let's pray.

Lord, I pray for each one of us here this morning.

Lord, whatever is running through our mind, wherever our cares are this morning, that we would be able to lay those things down at your feet.

Recognizing that you are huge.

You are bigger than anything that's on our mind right now.

You are stronger and more powerful than anything that we face in this world.

So I pray that we would we would cast all of those cares and all of those burdens down at your feet.

Jesus, you say your yoke is easy and your burden is light.

And so, Lord, we desire to experience that.

And to anything we're holding right now that we shouldn't be, Lord, I pray that we would just set it down.

We would sit at your feet and we would listen for what you have through your word for each one of us here this morning.

That you would do a deep work inside of each one of us, and that we would be changed here today to become more and more like your son Jesus Christ.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So the background to this passage is that Paul has been on a mission to collect this offering for this church in Jerusalem.

They were going through some tough times, this church in Jerusalem.

They were experiencing a famine, they're experiencing some really intense persecution, and for whatever reason we learn in Acts that they had a lot of widows to care for in Jerusalem.

So they were struggling and they needed some support from the outside, from the outside church.

The church in Jerusalem needed that support.

We have a map, we're just going to leave it up because we have uh a lot of different times that we're going to be jumping to it and referring to it, but we'll throw that up behind me so you can kind of follow along and I'll point out a few things along the way.

But Paul's ministering all around the Aegean Sea.

He's also collecting and preparing this collection that will be a gift to the church in Jerusalem.

And if you were with us when we were going through 1 Corinthians, because we go through whole books of the Bible at a time, but if you were with us when we're going through, you'll remember at the beginning of chapter 16, starting in verse 1, he refers to this offering that he's collecting.

I'll just read it to you.

It says, Now about the collection for the saints, do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches.

On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collection will need to be made when I come.

When I arrive, I will send with letters those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

If it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me.

So that's what we saw at the beginning of chapter 16 in 1 Corinthians.

And this is kind of where he's picking up, talking about this collection again here in 2 Corinthians.

So this is all about Paul telling this church to have the collection ready when he arrives so that he doesn't have to worry about collecting it when he gets there.

So now in 2 Corinthians, Paul's writing this from Macedonia up at the top of the map there.

And this first part of chapter 8 in 2 Corinthians is some further instruction that we're going to see on this collection.

And it seems like Paul was extra careful with this church in Corinth regarding finances.

He never wanted finances to interfere with his ministry.

You know, when he was originally planting this church, as we see in Acts, he didn't ask for support from this church.

He worked as a temp maker instead.

And now when he shows up later, he doesn't want to spend his time as a fundraiser trying to collect funds and extract or extort funds from this church.

You know, and I've wondered why.

Why, particularly with this church, is Paul so conserved and so sensitive about collecting funds from them.

You know, I think part of it is he wants them to see that his ministry is not about money.

And I think he wanted his ministry to really stand out from all the false teachers and the false prophets that were coming through Corinth and trying to deceive these people and trying to gain wealth off of these people under the guise of being ministers to God.

So I think he really wanted his ministry to stand out in that way and make sure that they knew that this is not about money, this is about the gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul was so concerned with.

But Paul makes it clear that he doesn't want to fundraise and that the money is not going to him, it's going specifically to this church in Jerusalem.

So, with all that said, let's jump back into verse 1.

And we'll go verse by verse.

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia.

Grace is a theme that we're going to see all the way throughout this chapter, and it's going to pick up again in chapter 9 as well.

And Paul's going to use the word grace six times in verses 1 through 16.

And he'll use it, it's real interesting, he uses it in a lot of different ways in a lot of different contexts.

So I want to throw up the Greek definition of grace, as we often see it translated.

And it's the Greek word caris.

So the definition, grace, that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, grace of speech, goodwill, loving kindness, favor, of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ.

And it keeps going and going and going, but we're just going to stop there.

I think you get the idea.

But Paul uses this word caris in verse 1, and then he also is going to use it in verse 4, but it's translated this time as privilege, but it's that same Greek word.

And it's regarding giving for the sake of God's kingdom.

He uses that word.

And then in 8.6, he uses the word grace for caris, calling this gift and its collection grace itself.

And then in 8.7 we see the word grace again, and this time as a spiritual gift.

And then in 8.9, grace again, speaking of God's unearned favor, which is usually kind of the line of thinking we jump to when we think of grace scripturally.

But then in 8.16, that word thanks that you see there is another, it's caris once again.

So, and it's a word that he's using for gratitude.

So he uses the word in a lot of different ways, just in this one little chunk of scripture.

But in verse 1, when he talks about grace, it's regarding God given ability to be generous.

And he uses that word caris.

So let's read with that in mind.

Let's read verses 1 and 2 in their entirety.

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia.

During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

You know, it was through the grace of God that even in this severe trial, while experiencing severe affliction, that they were not only extremely generous, but they were also joyful about it.

Even though they were in extreme poverty, it says here.

And just as a reminder, you know, when we do come across passages like this that are talking about money, we're going to teach it just like any other passage.

If you're new here, we don't talk about money every week.

We have a box in the back for giving, and that's between you and the Lord.

But when it does come up, I want you to know that we're never begging for money.

God's blessed us as a church, and money has never been a hindrance to the ministry that God wants to do through this church.

But we want to encourage everyone to give.

Not for the benefit of some savings account somewhere, but for your benefit.

God wants us to give for multiple reasons that we're going to get into, but the way he wants us to give is generously and joyfully and cheerfully.

If you give, but you give reluctantly, or because you feel like you have to, please hear me.

Don't bother.

Really?

Don't bother.

God sees your heart, and that's all he cares about.

And get this.

Ready?

God doesn't need our money.

But the practice of giving is so healthy for us as we follow Christ.

It's not only a way for us to participate in what God's doing locally or internationally, but it's a way for us to tangibly give God our first fruits.

To tangibly trust Him.

And to place ourselves in a place where we have to trust Him to provide with what's left after we give.

So it's a way to show our faith in God's provision for each one of us.

And please hear me in this.

It doesn't matter how much we're making or how much we have, it's all about trusting God for everything and trusting God with everything and seeing Him as our provider.

Look at verse 3 with me.

I can testify that according to their ability and even beyond their ability of their own accord, they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints.

And not just as we had hoped.

Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord.

That's so important.

They gave themselves first to the Lord, and then to us by God's will.

So there's a lot going on just in this little group of verses here.

But first it says they gave beyond their ability.

But notice it doesn't say that they gave beyond God's ability.

But they gave beyond what it would appear was their own ability.

Second, he says that it was of their own accord.

They were not coerced, they were not extorted in any way.

It was of their own accord that they were giving.

And then third, it says that they begged, that's Paul's word, begged for the privilege of sharing in the ministry of the saints.

They understood that they could be a part of what God was doing in a place that they personally couldn't go and personally couldn't go and minister to.

And then the fourth thing we see is they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to Paul and those ministering with him by God's will.

This is key to this whole section that we're going through here this morning.

God doesn't just desire us to give financially, he first desires us completely.

For us to give ourselves completely to him.

And giving financially just becomes a small part of that complete surrender that we have to the Lord because He wants us to consider everything we have, everything that we are to be His in the first place.

Look at verse 6.

So we urge Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace.

So this act of grace is referring to this collection for Jerusalem.

And I love just how Paul uses that word in so many different ways here, but he he calls it an act of grace, this giving.

And remember, they just met up with Titus in Macedonia, right up there at the Yeah, we still have the map up there.

Um after Titus had been ministering in Corinth.

So there's the city of Corinth.

He'd been up in Macedonia, you know, he had made that whole trip up around the Aegean Sea.

He's up in Macedonia, Titus comes from Corinth, meets him up in Macedonia, and then Paul's sending 2 Corinthians back to Corinth.

And so he just meets up with Titus.

He's been ministering, who has been ministering in Corinth, and we'll see in the second half of chapter 8 that Paul sends Titus back to Corinth before him.

Probably with this letter.

We don't know for sure, but Titus is probably carrying this letter and probably has the instructions to finish gathering this collection from the Corinthian church.

Look at verse 7 with me.

Now, as you excel in everything, in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us, excel also in this act of grace.

You know, as we talked a lot about last week, Corinth had turned a corner sometime after Paul's painful visit that we learned about.

And it was after that visit and before 2 Corinthians was written.

And Titus relates to Paul that they had a change of heart.

The church in Corinth finally had repentance.

They had a change in heart.

But look at how Paul commends them here.

He says that they excel in everything, and then he lists faith, speech, knowledge, diligence, and then love.

Some of the commentators think that Paul's being sarcastic here.

You know, you think you excel in everything?

Well then let's prove it, you know, through this gift.

We don't know if they're sarcasm or not, but regardless of sarcasm, the message is clear.

Excel in your giving.

In this collection for Jerusalem, in this act of grace, excel in your giving.

And notice that Paul lines up the importance of giving generously with things like faith and knowledge and love.

They're right there all together.

These are all fruits, these are all works that we should be producing as believers.

You know, James 2.26 says, faith without works is dead.

And giving is part of the works that prove our faith.

And I'm not talking about to others, I'm talking about prove our faith to ourselves.

It makes us confront the question of do I really trust God enough to give him my first fruit, my first fruits?

And trust that he'll provide for me, even when it might not even make sense on paper.

That's an exercise of faith, and giving kind of forces us into that exercise to really ask that question of where we're placing our faith in God as our provider.

Look at verse 8 with me.

I'm not saying this as a command, rather, by means of the diligence of others.

I'm testing the genuineness of your love.

Do you realize what the Holy Spirit is saying here through the hand of Paul?

He's basically saying, I'm not forcing you to give this collection, but I'm testing how genuine your love is by comparing how you give and what you give to what the other churches have given.

That makes me really uncomfortable.

I don't know about you guys.

I mean, how would you guys feel if I said, we're taking up a collection, you know, for talking Bibles in India, and I'm not forcing you to give, but Calvary Slow gave to this, and they gave so genuine.

And Grace Slow, like they gave, and they gave even more than Calvary Slow.

You know, and all of these other churches, they already gave a lot, and they give with enthusiasm.

And I'm gonna be comparing your genuineness to by how much you give compared to those other churches.

That's really what the Holy Spirit is saying through the hand of Paul right here.

Because faith without works is dead.

The Holy Spirit is telling the church in Corinth, you want to show me your faith, then show me your works.

Now, in verse 9, he's going to relate giving generously to the generosity that we see in Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 9 with me.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Jesus stepped down from his glory in heaven to humbly walk on this earth, to willfully die at the hands of his own creation for our sins.

And as far as physical possessions go, you know, once he started his ministry, he probably only owned his clothes, his sandals, maybe a bedroll.

You know, he said the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.

He didn't even have a home to live in.

Yet, and here's Paul's point, he gave more generously than anyone in history so that we might become rich.

You see, when Paul's talking about giving, we can see this right here, he's not just talking about finances.

He's talking about giving everything for the kingdom of God, which is exactly what Jesus did.

He gave everything for God's kingdom.

So that poses the question of okay, well, if we're supposed to give everything, what can we give to God?

You know, I like the three T's, they're easy to remember.

Our time, our treasure, and our talent.

Time, you know, that's a precious resource, isn't it?

We live in a culture that's full of busy people that feel guilty if they're not stressed by their own schedule.

But what better way to invest that precious resource that we have in time than in the kingdom of God?

That next T is treasure, and that's all that we're talking about here this morning so far, financially and our possessions.

What are we doing with those things?

But that third T is talent.

It's what God has given us.

You know, think gifts of the Spirit, even.

God has gifted us not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of our brothers and sisters that are sitting around us.

He gave us our talents to enrich his kingdom.

And God wants all of it.

He wants our time, our treasure, and our talent.

You know, somebody told me a long time ago, and I think it's so true, a great indicator of how we're investing in God's kingdom.

We can figure out how we're doing through a careful examination of our bank statement and our calendar.

If we look at those two things, it kind of tells us where we're investing our time, our treasure, and our talent.

Look at verse 10 with me.

And in this matter, I'm giving advice because it is profitable for you, who began last year not only to do something, but also to want to do it.

You know, they've been setting something aside on the first day of the week for about a year now, as Paul instructed them to do in 1 Corinthians 16.

Paul says, You started doing this and you wanted to, you were not coerced, and now it's time to finish it.

And he'll tell them that in verse 11.

Look at it with me.

Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion according to what you have.

Paul saw this eager desire that they had a year ago.

And he's just simply saying, finish with that same eagerness, with that same attitude, which is verse 12 is about.

He says, For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

God understands, Paul understands as he's writing this, that everybody's in a different boat financially.

Everyone's going to be able to give differently.

Some a lot, some a little.

Some with their time, some with their treasure, some with their talent.

But what matters is the eagerness, really the heart behind that giving.

But what well, first in Mark 12, there's a short story that I want to share with you that kind of reinforces this.

And it's about Jesus when he's in the temple and he's watching.

It's Mark 12, verses 41 through 44, and I want to read it to you.

Mark 12:41–44

So sitting across from the temple treasury, he, meaning Jesus, watched how.

He watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury.

Many rich people were putting in large sums.

Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little.

Summoning his disciples, he said to them, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.

For they all gave out of their surplus, but she gave out of her poverty.

And has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.

That's the heart that God wants.

When it comes to giving for the kingdom of God.

So that our actual giving to God is more like returning something that he lent to us back to him.

To kind of drive in this point, I want you to picture this.

God shows up to you and he gives you 40 in and out gift cards.

Each one of them has$100 on it.

So$4,000 to in and out.

He says, Can you hold on to these gift cards for me?

Can you take care of them?

Keep an eye on them for me.

And by the way, use as many as you need while you're holding on to them.

Just enjoy them as you please.

Now, if he comes back in two weeks and says, Hey, you know those gift cards that I asked you to hold on to for me?

Your neighbor fell onto some hard times.

Would you be willing to give them four of those cards that you're holding on to for me?

What would our response be?

Of course.

Like, they're your gift cards.

You can do whatever you want with those gift cards.

So, of course, I'll give four of those gift cards to my neighbor.

But the problem is so often we start to put our trust in those gift cards, in those things that God gives us, instead of putting our trust in the one who gave us those gift cards in the first place.

You know, we start to calculate out, you know, these gift cards are going to feed me dinner till the end of the year if I do this right.

You know, but then what happens if I run out of these gift cards?

And then when God asks us to give our neighbor four of those gift cards, you know, we start to calculate, well, that only gets me through like December 15th, you know?

And, you know, December's already an expensive month in my budget anyway.

I can't spare those four gift cards.

You know, what happens if I run out of them?

There's no guarantee that I'm gonna get more of them.

I can't give my neighbor four of my gift cards.

Isn't that usually how it ends up going?

And God's just sitting there the whole time thinking, I have storehouses full of gift cards.

And I can give you as many as you need at any time.

And you can't give your neighbor four.

You know, we really need to have that first attitude of, you know, it's God's in the first place.

My neighbor needs four.

When I have 40, why not give my neighbor eight?

You know, I'm just gonna ask them maybe they need 12.

You know, these aren't mine, these are God's.

I want to I want to share the things that God has lent to me.

You know, in Malachi, God challenges Israel to outgive him.

He actually says, test me in this.

Try to outgive me.

And then he says, See if I don't open up the floodgates of heaven on you.

And this is the only place in Scripture where God says to test him.

Everywhere else it says, don't test the Lord.

But here, God says, Yeah, test me in this.

We serve the most generous God.

He already owns everything.

He's so rich he uses gold for asphalt in heaven.

And Psalm 84 tells us that he doesn't withhold any good thing from those that live with integrity.

Taking care of our needs, please hear me, is not hard for God.

Yet so often we treat him like he either doesn't care about our needs or that he's not big enough to provide for our needs.

Look at verse 13 with me.

It is not that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality.

Paul's not calling Corinth to become poor so that some other church might become rich.

But he's saying if you have something you can give to someone who has less or has nothing, you should be supporting your brothers and sisters in Christ in this way.

Because what you have is God's in the first place.

Now there's a good chance that the Christians as a whole in Corinth had a lot more money than the churches in Macedonia or the church in Jerusalem.

Corinth was one of those rich cities in the Roman Empire because of all the commerce that came through to them.

Yet we know from 1 Corinthians as we're going through that that they also had poor among them as well.

So Paul says, give to the church in Jerusalem what you can.

So their quality of life can be more equal to your quality of life.

Really, just not wanting church members in Jerusalem going hungry and ending up on the street while Corinth was enjoying an abundance of their own riches.

And remember, Paul says outright in verse 13, relief for others shouldn't bring hardship to you.

That's not the idea behind what he's saying.

But those with more should help lift up those that are going through hardship.

That's really the heart of what Paul's saying here.

This is exactly why as a church we have what we call a benevolence fund.

And why it's set aside specifically for church members.

It's not just for anyone that stops by asking for it, it's specifically for church members.

And the idea really comes from Acts 4 where the church members were selling things and they were laying the proceeds down at the feet of the apostles.

It says, to distribute those things as the apostles saw fit.

And that's how we handle our benevolence fund here at the church.

Our elders decide how to use those funds as needs arise within the body.

And when Paul mentions equality here, that's a modern-day buzzword, isn't it?

He's not saying everyone should have the same income in the same economic position.

He's saying that some shouldn't have filled up storehouses while the person next to you doesn't know where their next meal is going to come from.

You know, he addressed this in 1 Corinthians.

You know, some were feasting and getting drunk at their community meals, and others were still leaving hungry.

And he addressed that and said, hey, this isn't okay.

There's room, there isn't room for that in the church.

Those with an abundance, he's calling to just share with those that are in need.

Look at verse 14 with me.

At the present time, your surplus is available for their need, so that their abundance may in turn meet your need, in order that there may be equality.

Right now, Jerusalem is in need.

They're not doing so well.

They need some help.

In a few years, they may be doing well, and the Corinthian church might be in need, and the collection might swap, you know, in that place.

Multiple times, you know, when we've helped people with this benevolence fund in the church, a handful of you, as we've done that, have told the elders that they feel weird taking from the church.

In which we would respond, much like verse 14 here.

You've been contributing to this fund for years, and now you're the one in need.

And then probably next year, when you're back on your feet, you'll be contributing to the fund when somebody else gets knocked off their feet and they need it.

Because that's what true community looks like.

Where we help lift up the one that is struggling in the moment.

And I'm not just talking about finances.

It could be when somebody is grieving in death, somebody's going through a surgery, a really tough time at work, or they got laid off for some reason, a tough family situation.

Those that are stronger at that moment should be helping those that are weaker in that moment.

And oftentimes, those roles are going to switch pretty quickly.

We've seen that very often, where it's like, oh, this is the person that needed help, but now they're the one that's providing help for that person that helped last time.

And that's really the heart of what Paul's saying.

We need to help each other out.

The stronger need to help pick up the weaker in these times.

Look at verse 15.

As it is written, the person who had much did not have too much.

And the person who had little did not have too little.

Now this is referring to manna.

It's quoting back from Exodus chapter 16.

Exodus 16 · chapter mention

You know, the whole concept of manna is so interesting.

It was God training the Israelites to trust him for today.

When Jesus prayed, you know, his prayer, what did he say?

Give us this day our daily bread.

He also taught, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself.

So God used manna to teach the Israelites this concept of relying on him for their daily bread.

And I want to read you just a short excerpt from Exodus 16, 16.

This is what the Lord has commanded.

Gather as much, speaking of manna, of it as each person needs to eat.

You may take two quarts per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.

So the Israelites did this.

Some gathered a lot, some a little.

When they measured it by quarts, the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage.

Each gathered as much as he needed to eat.

Moses said to them, No one is to let any of it remain until morning.

But they didn't listen.

Some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank.

God didn't allow the Israelites to hoard their manna.

If they did, it would rot.

So it wasn't even an option to fill up their storehouses with manna.

He gave them enough for the day, and he forced Israel to trust him for provision for the next day.

You know, I alluded to this already, but I want to read to you what Jesus has to say about this.

We have a slide from Matthew 6, verses 31 through 34.

Matthew 6:31–34

Jesus says, Don't worry saying, What will we eat?

Or what will we drink?

Or what will we wear?

For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Hear that?

He knows that you need them.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

From Exodus to the words of Jesus to where we are here in 2 Corinthians, it's so clear that God doesn't want us to worry about these things.

He doesn't want us to worry about our daily bread and about our possessions.

He wants our focus to be so intent on the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And if we are, says God will provide all of those things for us.

So I want to end with this question.

For all of us to ask ourselves, what kind of giver are we?

And how much faith is involved in our giving?

You know, are we the one that sees everything we have as God's already?

So we allow him to do whatever he wants with whatever we have, as if everything is on loan from him in the first place?

Or are we the one that sees 10% of what we have as God's, but don't touch my 90%?

You know, that's that's mine to do with as I please.

Are we the third option of what we talked about with those in and out gift cards, where we're calculating it all out and we're trying to hoard what we have because we're afraid that when we run out, God's not going to provide for what's next.

God wants us to see our whole life as his.

The attitude of, God, do what you want because your will is much better for me than what I want for myself.

You know, it's when we have this attitude of full surrender to God that we start to see our finances as not ours in the first place, but as God's, to do whatever he wants with.

You know, and something happens when we see God in that way, when we see our possessions and who we are in that way, that those things are not our own.

What it does is I think it brings a very sobering responsibility to be very responsible with everything that we have.

You know, and things like spending lavishly on non-eternal things starts to seem like maybe not the greatest idea.

Going into debt for things that we don't need starts to look like a lack of faith that we believe God will provide for all of our needs according to his riches and glory.

So today we each need to answer the question of what things are we not trusting the Lord with?

Is it our finances?

Is it our time?

Is it our giftings that he's given us?

Do we have faith that God is big enough to provide for all of those things according to his riches and glory?

And if we aren't willing to surrender all of those things to him, then we need to ask ourselves the question: where is our faith lacking?

Where do we not trust him?

Where do we think that we actually know better to do with those things than God knows to do?

You see, if our view is correct of God's magnitude, surrendering everything to him becomes a no-brainer.

You know, in the end, all of this that we've been talking about comes down to faith in him, trusting in him, that he's big enough and cares enough about us to provide for all of those things.

You please pray with me.

Lord, we want to surrender everything to you.

Anything that we're holding on to that we don't trust you with.

Lord, I pray that you would show us what those things are right now in our hearts, that you would bring those things to the surface so that we can then lay those things down at your feet and say, I surrender.

Lord, you want for us something so much greater than we could ever desire for ourselves.

Your will is so much better for us than what we think we want or we think we need.

So, Lord, I pray that we would surrender everything into your trusting hands, knowing that you are bigger, you are greater, you are stronger, and that you care for us deeper than anyone or anything.

So, would you give us that faith to surrender all, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.