Which Group Are You In? | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

There's a very there's a very queer, clear like adjustment from the first service because um at this point in the first service, she introduced me by saying her amazing husband.

Um so I don't know what I've done in between services, that it's like, hey, my husband's coming.

Um so honey, whatever I've done, I'm sorry.

Um, and I promise you I'll make it up to you later.

So um we'll we'll we'll get to it.

But church, how you guys doing?

You guys doing good?

I love it.

I love the energy, man.

Can we help welcome our online family, those who are joining us online?

Listen to our podcast.

What's up, man?

We're so glad that you guys are with us today.

I'm excited for today's message.

I want to invite you now, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn with me uh to 2 Corinthians chapter 9.

2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

While you're turning there, I want to I want to frame up today um as well as give you some context of the passage that we're about uh to get into.

Um for those who are part of our church family, you've been with us for the past uh couple of weeks, you've heard us talk about um this particular Sunday and how special it is.

Um, because today is our all hands offering Sunday.

We we once a year we have a moment where we come together as a church, we share some vision, and then we all gather and we give collectively as a family towards what God is calling us to do next.

We're all hands church, we all contribute, and we believe that it can allow us to make a significant difference.

So this is our Sunday that we are gonna be doing that, which is why we're gonna take up offering um at the end.

If this is your first time here, welcome.

And I can understand how uncomfortable it is to talk about money and resources your first time here, and you're like, okay, like I'm gonna go to this new church.

They wanted me to come check it out.

I get up on platform, I heard the preacher was amazing, um, not as wonderful, but we're working towards that.

Um, he's gonna preach a great message on faith, and then you get here, and the first time you're hearing us is hearing us talk about money.

And I realize that there's baggage associated with that.

I realize that there's tension uh associated with that.

And I used to wrestle with this quite a bit um as a pastor, wanting to make sure that these things that we all have varying baggage and perspective on, that that we were mindful of them, which is why I very rarely uh preach on money.

But but God's kind of shifted my perspective on that.

And in fact, a couple of weeks ago, as I was just kind of in a moment of prayer and preparation for this Sunday, um, God began to kind of challenge me.

He said, Keith, you have no issue with with talking about these things of faith that are meant to bring people to freedom.

That's really like my theme when it comes to ministry, helping people to experience freedom.

And so God began to challenge me and say, There's so many people that are struggling in the area of their finances.

There's so many people that are struggling as it relates to stewarding what I've placed in their hands.

I need you to give that the same energy that you'll give to a marriage.

And so for us, I feel like it's a it's an opportunity for us to be obedient and responsible.

And I believe what God's going to speak to us today is going to encourage us, it's going to challenge us, um, but also help us to have a kingdom perspective when it comes to stewarding our resources.

So if you have your Bibles, we're in 2 Corinthians chapter number 9.

Now we've got there because if you look at chapter number eight, you see that Paul begins to talk to this Corinthian church about the importance of being generous and having a proper perspective of what God has placed in their hands.

To give you even more context, with this particular congregation, Paul planted this church.

And if you're familiar with the ministry of Paul, then maybe you're familiar with his plant, um, his tent-making ministry.

That was where he was doing it, is with the Corinth church.

So he's been, he spent almost three years amongst these believers.

So he has a very great relationship with them.

Here's why I'm telling you that.

When you read 2 Corinthians, even 1 Corinthians, Paul is a little bit more strong and sharp with his language there than in many of his other letters.

He's saying that because he has relationship with them.

He's saying that on the weight of, hey, I know you, you know me, I know what you're capable of doing.

So there are moments where Paul is very sharp with them, but that's built on the foundation of a historical relationship and it can handle the weight of his sharp criticism.

That's really important for us to grab a hold of it.

Basically, what's happening at this point is that the church in Jerusalem has been dealing with significant persecution.

They have not been able to really get traction because of all the persecution coming from the religious leaders.

And so now that all these other churches have been planted all throughout the region and they're beginning to do well, they've made a decision like, hey, we want to take up an offering so that we can help the church in Jerusalem.

So to put it simple, they set up a GoFundMe page to help the church in Jerusalem.

And all these other churches were beginning to give to her.

They were excited to participate with it.

But the church in Corinth, which was actually one of the more affluent churches, they were actually a little bit more slow with their response.

They had promised they were going to give, but they began to back away.

So you'll see in Paul's language in chapter eight, where he's beginning to challenge them.

And even in chapter nine, where we're going to spend some time, he begins to give them some kingdom perspective.

Starting here at verse number one, here's what Paul is communicating to this church family that he has planted.

I really don't need to write to you about this ministry of giving for believers in Jerusalem, for I know how eager you are to help.

And I have been boasting to the churches of Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago.

In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving.

But I am sending these brothers to be sure that you really are ready, as I have been telling them, and that the money is all collected.

I don't want to be wrong with my boasting about you, and we would be embarrassed, not to mention your own embarrassment.

This is Paul using a little bit of shade here.

He's like, Man, I've been talking so much about you guys.

I've been saying how generous you guys are, I've been saying how kind you are, and I don't want to be embarrassed, and God forbid you don't want to be embarrassed too.

Again, he's saying this with relationship, it's not manipulation.

He's challenging them.

He says, I don't want you to be embarrassed if some of the Macedonian believers came with me and found out that you really weren't ready as I have told them.

So I thought I should send some brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready, but it must be given willingly, not begrudgingly.

Remember this a farmer who plants only a few seeds gets a small crop, but one who plants generously will get a generous crop.

You must decide in your heart how much to give, and don't give reluctantly or out of response to pressure, for God loves a cheerful giver, and God will generously provide all that you need.

Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others, as scriptures say.

In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.

And when you take your gifts to those who are in need, they will thank God.

So two things will result from this ministry of giving the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God as a result of your ministry.

They will give glory to God for your generosity to them and to all the believers, will prove that you are obedient to the good news of Christ.

And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you.

Thank God for this gift, too wonderful.

For words, what powerful thoughts Paul is encouraging this congregation with giving them an eternal perspective and saying, Man, you guys have the opportunity to make such a big difference and you and you can do it.

Today I want to talk to us around the idea of biblical stewardship and generosity.

And I've entitled this message, Which Group Are You In?

Let's pray and and let's um and let's jump into it.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for every opportunity that we get to come together to gather in your name.

We we don't count it um as something that we take lightly.

So Lord, I just pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes to see you.

I pray for open ears to hear what it is that you're communicating.

And and Lord, we pray for open hearts to receive what it is you want to deposit in us today, God.

Holy Spirit, you're welcome.

I I pray that you inspire us, but you also challenge us to take a step of faith and respond to what it is you're calling us to do.

So, Lord, I ask that I decrease and that you increase and have your way in this service.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen and amen.

Okay, church, we're about to get into it.

Can y'all put your hands together real quick?

All right.

That was good.

That was good.

I just want to make sure y'all track it with me because we're about to talk about some money right now.

You know how y'all get a little quiet when people start talking about money.

So I'm testing y'all right now.

Let's try one more time.

Can we put our hands together for the goodness of God?

Okay.

So as they say in Ebonics, keep that same energy.

Let's get into it.

So I was reading a recent survey that talked a little bit about um the generosity of people that say that they are Christians.

In fact, this Barner research revealed that 77% of practicing Christians would say that they are generous as an overflow.

It's just who they are.

They're looking for opportunities to be generous.

The other 23% would say that they're generous depending on the circumstance.

That this circumstantial generosity is what I call it.

If the situation is good, if if I agree with the ministry, maybe if I like the pastor, maybe if I like the cause, I'm I'm I'm generous in that instance.

But beyond that, I'm not generous.

But 77% say, hey, I'm just generous because I'm it's who I am.

I was taught it by my parents, I was taught it at my church, and it's just the overflow of who I am.

And if I could be honest with you, I would love to think that I am in that 77%.

Of course, we all self-diagnose and put ourselves in the best bucket possible.

But when I look at my life, I'm like, yeah, I'm I'm part of that 77%.

But but if we can be real, real in church for a minute, I think all of us, there's nothing that reveals who we really are more than when there's a deficit, though.

That's that's when you really get a chance to learn who you really are.

Case in point, um, just a couple of weeks ago, in preparation for Hurricane Ian, for those who are joining us online, um, hurricanes are something that comes through Florida, but we really don't respond to it until it's too late.

Just want to give you guys context of what hurricanes are here for us in Florida.

But if you're here in Florida, we knew that the hurricane was coming, and so you begin to measure and see what our response should be.

And so you do what every Floridian does, which is go and get as much water as possible and you hunker down and see what's gonna happen.

So I was along with that group.

And so I went out and I went to the grocery store a couple of times that week in preparation um for the storm.

Now I was fortunate enough that each time I went to the grocery store, I was able to get a case of water.

So at this point, I had like two cases of water.

We had tons of other water that was like we're putting into all of our cups, so we were really, really good.

So then the the morning before the storm was expected to hit, I went to the grocery store one more time, you know, because you want to get like like the real big necessities like chocolate chip cookies, things like that that you need to hold you over.

Like we got the essentials, but if I don't have some desserts, then it's it's over.

I might go out into the store myself.

So I had to go out and get some of those things.

Well, when I got there, um a crate of water had just gotten delivered.

And so, like the people there, they know me.

I'm there at that particular store all the time.

We have a good relationship.

So they're like, hey, um, we just got this case of water.

Do you want it?

I'm like, yeah, absolutely.

I'm not I'm not gonna say no to it.

He gives me the water, I go through the rest of the grocery store.

But when that water palette got unpacked, it was pure anarchy.

Like it was like people were about to fist fight over it.

So I'm so good that glad that I had favor with one of the workers.

They gave it to me.

I didn't have to fight anybody, I had to test my pastor privileges in these streets.

Didn't have to lay hands in the aisles.

It was all good.

So, so so they gave me the water.

I'm I navigate through, I make my purchase, I'm outside, and now I'm loading everything back into the trunk of my car.

And now I'm walking my cart back to give it to the workers up front.

I want to emphasize that because I'm part of the 77%.

I'm not one of those irresponsible people that leaves a cart sitting in the middle of the aisles so that people have to get out their car in order for them to put somebody to feel convicted right now.

That's the Holy Spirit telling you, you need to do better.

Take it up to the front, it's only gonna take you one more minute.

So I'm taking it up there as I'm walking back.

Um, I see an elderly couple and they're in the process of getting out of their car.

And I overhear them saying, like, man, I hope they have, I hope they have a case of water left.

In my head, I'm like, man, you don't got a shot.

They're parked in a handicapped spot, and I I mean it's it's taking them a lot of effort to get out.

But also for me, y'all heard me preach the other week.

I want to just stay in my lane.

Just mind my business.

But then the Holy Spirit's like, man, you need to give them that water that you got.

And I'm like, well, Lord, if I had maybe five cases, don't you like don't tell me I'm not I'm not the only person that ever negotiated with God before.

Y'all can act like y'all so spiritual if you went the Lord spoke and I didn't.

No, I'm here negotiating with God.

I'm like, Lord, is that really you?

Um that's like how do I know that's not how do I know that's not me?

Maybe I'm just doing too much.

So literally, I'm negotiating with God.

And God began to really press on me, like, no, I I want you to go and give them that water.

And in my head, I'm like, man, but this is my water.

And God's like, it's not your water, it's mine.

I'm not sure if you ever been in a battle with God and He starts dropping scriptures that you know and you start feeling convicted on the inside?

Because he began to say to me, like, when do you mean it's your water?

Did you not remember what I said in Psalm 24 when I said that the earth is mine and everything in it belongs to me?

Did you did you lose sight of the fact of what I said in Deuteronomy chapter 8, where it is me who gives you the ability to get the resources that you have?

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

So nothing that you have belongs to you.

It all belongs to me, that you're an owner of nothing, but you're a steward of everything, and I entrust you and I expect you to respond with obedience.

Your response is better than mine was in that parking lot right then.

Because I began to recognize that somewhere along the lines, that my generosity became very circumstantial.

Because I was thinking that maybe if I had five crates of water, I could spare one.

But I but I only had two, and I'm and and and God has challenged me to give up the one that I had that I was lucky enough to get, and I could tell you sometimes it gets a little uncomfortable.

But but then God had to remind me that generosity is not giving away what is yours, it is faithfully stewarding what is his.

So I went up to the couple and I said, Hey, um, I know that they're out of water, I want to just go ahead and give you this.

And and they were so surprised at it.

Isn't it amazing that we're living in the world that generosity should just be a part of what we are, but when you try to be generous, people think there's strings attached to it.

What if we began to shift the paradigm that we could just be generous without any expectation on the back end?

I gave them the water and I drove off.

They may be telling this story right now, and they literally may think that an angel showed up out of nowhere.

Nope, just Keith, being obedient, reluctantly to what God was calling me to do.

But when I left, I felt so filled with joy knowing that I was doing something that can make the difference in somebody else's life.

See, ultimately, that is what God is calling us to do is to take the resources that He has given us, that He's entrusted us with, and to be faithful stewards of it.

See, what what stewardship is, when you're a steward, it basically means you're a manager.

For all of my people that are office fans, you're an assistant to the manager.

Somebody's catching that.

You're just stewarding resources that have been placed into your hands.

Let me let me give it to you in a sports analogy.

I'm a massive sports fan, as you guys know, the Philadelphia Eagles are 6-0 when they're going to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers today.

I'm looking at you, Sean.

He knows.

He knew better than to come in here wearing that Pittsburgh shirt.

I thought you were gonna come in here and disrespect the house of God, but I'm glad that you were in prayer this morning.

But but but watch this.

I I I am a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

And so I know that there are a bunch of different people that are on the team.

You have the coaches, you you have you have the quarterback, you have running backs, you have people that are all in varying positions.

But at the end of the day, they're facilitating a role that they've been entrusted to do, but there still is only one owner.

What if we began to recognize that I'm part of a kingdom franchise and that I am not the owner, but I am simply put in a role to steward what God has placed into my hands so that we could be successful in getting this championship in the name of Jesus.

This is what it means to truly be a steward of the resources that God has placed in our hands and that he has entrusted us with.

So as Paul is beginning to talk to this church in Corinth, he's trying to remind them that everything you have is the byproduct of what God has entrusted you with.

And now you're being invited not to give up everything you have, but to simply partner with God's vision for helping those who are in need.

What a beautiful thing.

And so, what I want to spend the rest of our time today doing is unpacking some ideas within generosity that I think can bring us some perspective and also bring us some healing.

Because I think if we're all honest with ourselves, we all want to be in that 77%.

That's the group I want to be a part of.

I want to be the type of person that's looking for opportunities to be generous instead of saying, well, if you can convince me well enough and then I'll be obedient.

What God is saying is, I want you to be a part of that 77% where you're looking for chances to make a difference.

So there's three questions that I feel that God wants me to answer for every single one of you.

Because I know at varying times in my own life I have had these questions that I believe can be something that all of us have asked at different times.

The first question that I believe many of us can ask is so why are we generous?

Why?

Just why why are we generous?

And even though I've given you some reference, I believe there's some deeper things that I can share with you on why we are generous from a theological perspective.

Here's the first thing generosity honors God.

That when we are people that live generous lives, it is how we honor God.

Let me share with you what Proverbs chapter 3, verse number 9 says.

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

It says, Honor the Lord your God with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.

That when we live lives of generosity, that is how we are able to extend honor to God.

That word honor means to give weight to, it means to give respect to, it means to prioritize.

That's what it means.

It means to demonstrate value.

Let me give you a quick example of this.

How many of you guys love a good old-fashioned like potluck?

Y'all love a potluck that you may do with family and friends.

Some people are like, not me, I don't know where these people are cooking, I don't know what they're keeping their house clean or not.

I got you.

I understand.

I understand.

I'm like that to a certain degree as well.

But but but but watch this point.

What I love about potluck is there's a there's an identifiable moment where we're all going to come together and we're all bringing something to the table that we all can benefit from.

That's what it means to live a life of generosity, is that I'm part of a community that we all bring something to the table.

Whenever Megan and I invite somebody over to our house, it's inevitable that they're gonna text us and say, Hey, what do you want me to bring?

And our inevitable response is always gonna be, nothing.

Just bring yourself.

Just show up.

We got everything taken care of.

But then you have some people who are a little bit old-fashioned, they're like, they'll show up and they'll have something with them.

And it's like it it can range from flowers to a plate.

I'm like, you just stopped at the local publics and just picked up the first thing you saw.

But I appreciate the effort.

But but watch this.

What they're saying is, hey, I'm from the South.

I was taught that you never show up in someone's house empty-handed.

If we know to do that with one another, how much more should we have that behavior when it comes to God?

Why why do why do we not show up at a potluck and don't bring anything?

Why when we show up at someone's house do we bring something?

It's because we want to extend honor and make sure that we're reflecting what it looks like to truly be generous.

When you're generous, it is how we're able to honor God.

Let's let's hit this next one really quick.

Generosity is how we break the scarcity mindset.

Generosity is how we break the scarcity mindset.

There's really two mindsets when it comes to resources: an abundance mindset and a scarcity mindset.

Abundance is there is more than enough, scarcity is there isn't enough.

Jesus talks about this at length in Matthew chapter number six, and he begins to challenge the people around him.

But I want you guys to recognize that Jesus is talking to a bunch of poor farmers and people who are in an agri agrarian culture.

So he's not talking to a bunch of aristocrats, he's talking to people that by definition could have a measure of poverty, but yet he's still declaring the resources of God are available to them.

That's challenging to hear when you recognize that I'm missing things on my own, but you're telling me that God is a God of abundance.

He's trying to break their mindset from believing that if I can, if I can just, if I could just get more money, then I can start to be generous.

If I if I could just reach this goal, then I'll be able to do what I believe God's calling me to do.

God's simply saying the right time to do the right thing is right now.

If if you can't steward what I've given you right now, why would I entrust you with more?

So what he says here in Matthew 6 24, he says, No one can serve two masters, for you will either hate one and love the other, or else you will be loyal to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

He uses the word mammon, and when you do deep study, it's literally saying the God of money.

He's saying that it's impossible for you to truly live a life of generosity and to be free from the systems of this world if you are serving the God of money.

That is that is some sharp language that's coming from Jesus.

That's sharp language that probably challenges all of us because we all have goals and aspirations and things that we want to accomplish.

But if we do not prioritize God the right way in it, it could be something that we are a slave to.

God never intended for us to be bound to these ideas, but we inherited it.

If we really think about it, we go back to the beginning with Genesis.

The Bible says that God created Eden.

And I'll spare you all the details, but Eden was lit.

Okay?

It was nice, and it was filled with abundance.

It was all types of trees, there was water all over the place, there was gold, there was a ton of things for Adam and Eve to participate in.

A God of abundance.

But then the enemy shows up and says, like, hey man, um can y'all can y'all have that?

That tree right there?

No, that's the one thing that God said that we can't have.

Some Lord and Savior, huh?

He's still holding out on you, huh?

And in that moment, the seeds of scarcity were planted.

That even though they're standing in a euphoric environment that is filled with perfection and has everything they need, they decided to go against God's will because something inside of them said, it's still not enough.

How often have we had these metrics in our minds?

We reached those goals and then somehow it's not enough.

I remember starting off in my career, I'm like, man, if I can just, if I can just get to, I'm older now, so y'all don't don't laugh at my don't laugh at my first full-time salary was$14,000.

That's how old I am.

So I remember when I was making$14,000 when I first finished high school, I'm like, man, if I could just get to$25,000, I'll be set for the rest of my life.

I was naive, I get it.

But once I got to 25, like if I can, if I could just get to 30, get to 30.

Man, if I could just get to 40, well, okay, Lord, if you could just get me to 50, then I'll but here's what I meant.

If you could just get me to 75, it's amazing how every goal that we set, if we can just get there, it'll keep our heart pure, there's another way that tells us, hey, but it's just it's just not enough.

And watch this there is absolutely nothing wrong with having money.

The problem is when money has us.

So so when we live a life of generosity, it ensures that absolutely get your goals.

Absolutely get your money, mate.

I want you to, but make sure that that money doesn't have your heart.

Make money, but don't let money make you.

Don't let it make you into a person who's heartless.

Don't let it make you into a person that overlooks the suffering of other people.

Don't let it make you into somebody that's disinterested in the suffering of others.

Don't, don't let these things and the scarcity mindset get you to a point where you've lost perspective of the abundance that God has made available for us.

Have you ever gone or watched TV and watched Sports Center where like you see like this little kid who's who's in the stands, somebody hits a home run, and you see that little kid, he's been waiting his entire nine years for this moment of when this baseball is about to come.

He's positioning himself to catch it.

And just as he's about to catch it, a 48-year-old grown man knocks the kid over, takes the ball, and doesn't even look back and doesn't have any consideration for it.

Like, that's what a scarcity mindset is.

Is I'm willing to knock anybody over and step on anybody so I can get this one thing that I believe that if I can just get this, then I'm gonna somehow feel fulfilled.

Megan and I just came from a magic game on Friday.

Great friends of ours from the church that took us to the game, and I'll tell you, they experienced their first win.

I'm not gonna say it's because we were there, but I'm not gonna not say it's because we were there.

I believe that us being there is the reason why they won.

I just said it.

But while we're there, while we're there, you know, they're shooting the t-shirts off into the stands.

And while they're shooting the t-shirts off into the stands, everybody's all excited.

There's this t-shirts that's coming directly towards Megan, and I see it coming in slow motion.

I'm like, oh, she's she's gonna get it.

There's a guy who jumped over two rows, knocked himself over, hit his head on the concrete to get the to get the t-shirt, knock, hit Megan's hand in everything.

Now here I am, I'm like, man, I'm a I'm a whole pastor about to fight somebody in the stands of the magic game.

So I had to make the decision to not lay hands, and I said, Megan, there's more than enough.

I'll buy you a t-shirt.

Hear this.

What scarcity is, is no matter what's available, I have to have it for myself.

And anything that I see, anyone that I see that's gonna take from me, I'm willing to step over, knock over it in order to get it.

But when you live a life of generosity, you have a perspective that recognizes there's more than enough.

There's more than enough.

And I don't have to hurt anyone, I don't have to, I don't have to step on anyone in order to get what I feel is important to me.

I can be generous, and so generosity, it helps us to break that scarcity mindset.

This is what Jesus was talking about with the rich young ruler.

The rich young ruler, like he was he was good, he was doing the things that God was telling him to do.

But then God said, Man, but there's still something that's off with you.

You're a little too obsessed with money.

So here's what I want you to do sell everything you have and follow me and let me teach you my ways.

And it said he walked away and wept bitterly because he was very wealthy.

He's an example of a person where I have money, but money also has me.

But when we can learn to live a life of generosity, it ensures that I can use the resources that I have to make a difference in others without having to give up everything that God has placed in my hands.

Generosity is not about giving away what's mine, but it's about graciously storing what is his.

Here's the third thing.

Generosity demonstrates the love of God.

Generosity is how we are able to generate, to demonstrate the love of God.

We are blessed to be a blessing.

We see this concept passed down from Abraham all the way to us, and we're called to live a life of overflow where God blesses us and it overflows so that we can be a blessing to others.

First John 3 17 says this if someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need, but shows no compassion, how can God's love be in that person?

Yikes.

I I love when the Bible just speaks for itself.

Some things need to be unpacked, some things are pretty clear.

It's saying, hey, if you have resources and you see that other people around you are struggling and you don't help, how can you honestly say that the love of God is on the inside of you?

Because love gives.

By its very nature, that's what it does.

This is why when we look at the story of the Good Samaritan, we see this story of how people went out of their way to avoid helping someone, the religious people.

But then you see on the other side, this guy who's part of the 77%, he went out of his way to help someone.

Which group are you in?

Are you in a group that's saying, hey man, I would I would do it if it was a different time?

I would do it if I had just a little bit more, or are you part of that group that's saying, I'll do everything I can do to make a difference now.

Generosity is not about giving away what's yours, it's about faithfully stewarding what is his.

Here's the first and final thought that I want to share with us around the idea of why are we generous.

When I am generous with what I have, I will be entrusted with more.

When I'm generous with what I have, I will be entrusted with so much more.

Proverbs 11, 25 says, A generous person will prosper, and whoever refreshes others will himself also be refreshed.

We see Paul talking to this church in Corinth, and he's saying, Hey, if you sow a little, then you'll reap a little, but if you sow much, then you're gonna reap much.

I I want to be very abundantly clear because I've sat in the seat that you're in right now and I've heard things said that were a tad bit manipulative in order to inspire giving.

Let me be very clear.

We do not give to get.

That is an unhealthy perspective to say, I'm giving with an expectation that I'm gonna get something and becomes a transactional on obedience.

But what I am saying is that a kingdom principle does say that if I am obedient and I give, I can expect that God is going to respond to it.

It may respond with money, it may respond with peace, it may respond in a multiplicity of ways.

We can expect God to respond to any step of faith.

So to be very clear, I don't give to get, I give out of obedience, but as I give, I am expecting that God will respond.

God responds to acts of faith.

Here's a second question I want to ask for us, and we're gonna move quickly through this.

How are we generous?

Now that I understand why I'm generous, looking at scripture, how are we generous?

Let me say it this way: your generosity is not limited to the church.

You can be generous with varying organizations and people that you have passion projects with.

You can absolutely do that, and that is an expression of generosity.

You could see someone on a street corner that's a need, that's an expression of generosity.

There are so many ways that you can be generous.

But I do want to be very, very clear.

You don't have to exclusively give at your church, but generosity needs to be prioritized at your church as well.

It does need to be prioritized at your church.

And the reason being is because Jesus says, On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against what?

The church.

So when we partner with the vision that God has given the church, it has the authority and the anointing to actually defeat the gates of hell.

There's a grace when we are able to participate in the vision and the giftings of what God is doing in the church.

So how do we express our generosity in the local church?

There's basically two things our tithes and our offerings.

Our tithes and our offering.

Let me let me briefly tell you what that is.

Tithe means tenth, the first tenth, or basically the best part when you look at it from the from the aggregate agregarian culture that they had back then.

It's it's giving God the best portion.

The principle of giving God the best or our first is something that has never expired.

We always give God our best.

I'll read the quintessential, most popular verse when it comes uh to tithing, Malachi 3.10.

Many of y'all can probably recite it if you've been at church for a while.

But but let me read it to us so we all collectively can get a glimpse of what God is saying.

It says this bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there will be food enough in my temple.

If you do so, says the Lord of heaven's armies, I will open up windows of heaven for you.

I will pour out blessings so great that you won't have room enough to receive it.

Try it, put me to the test.

I I want to give y'all a very quick theological lesson.

God is God, and he doesn't have to prove himself to any of us.

The one time he says, test me is when it comes to giving his tithe.

That's the only time in scripture he says, test me in this.

God, who doesn't have to prove himself to anyone, says this.

Man, if you test me in this area, watch and see how I'll respond to it.

What our tithe does is this it allows us to recognize I don't give a tithe, I return it.

I don't give a tithe, I return it.

See, tithing is not giving 10% of what's ours.

It's God allowing us to keep 90% of what's his.

So it's it's similar to if I gave Andy$100 at the start of this service.

I didn't because I don't got it.

Um but hypothetically, I gave Andy$100.

And then where I'm up on his platform, we're like, hey Andy, man, can I can I hold$10?

Like, seriously, can I hold 10?

Like, I'm just gonna say.

I asked Andy, I'm like, hey man, can I can I hold 10?

And he's like, oh man, I don't I don't got it.

What do you mean you don't got it?

I literally gave you$100.

I'm just asking you, I'm just asking you for$10.

When we're able to put God first in this area of our lives, it allows us to experience freedom.

It allows us to partner with God, but it helps us to have a healthy perspective of what it means to truly live a surrendered life before the Lord.

The second thing is offerings.

And and I love offerings because there's tons of different offerings that's discussed in scripture.

Uh, but but one of my one of my favorite concepts that we see is a free will offering, which we heard Paul talk about.

Give as you feel compelled, feel give as you feel led to do it.

God's not forcing us to do anything.

One of my favorite instances is is found in Exodus chapter 25, all the way through chapter 35.

Exodus 25 · chapter mention

To bring you up to speed, here's what's going on.

The children of Israel had just been set free from 400 years of bondage.

And when they're set free, what the Bible says is that God moved on the hearts of the Egyptians to literally pay the Israelites to leave.

Like they were dealing with so much chaos, they just wanted the Israelites to go.

So they're like, look, we'll pay you to get out of town.

So they are literally walking away, they are dripped.

They they got gold chains on, they got on diamonds, they may have on some Balenciaga, Gucci, I don't know.

All I know is they're they're walking away fully dripped.

They're slaves, and they've just been set free with all of these resources.

They get on the other side of the Red Sea, God gives them his Ten Commandments, and then God says in chapter 25, it's like, hey, I want you to build a tabernacle so that I can dwell amongst you.

It is the first time that God instructs his people to create an environment where he can be housed amongst them.

First time in scripture.

Well, God, what are we going to use to build the tabernacle?

The resources that I've moved on the Egyptians, I want you to use to build my house.

But he says, I want you to give it willingly.

Everybody doesn't have to give everything, but everybody can give something.

So what scripture says is that everybody responded in kind.

When we get to chapter 35, verse 29, it says, So the people of Israel, every man, every woman, was eager to help in the work of the Lord that had given to Moses, and they brought their gifts and they gave them to the Lord freely.

There there wasn't there wasn't any pressure, there wasn't any manipulation.

It was simply recognizing that God has already given me everything that I need in order to participate in what he wants me to do.

I want you to walk away with this and have this deep in your heart.

God will never require anything from you that he hasn't already provided to you.

Let me say that again.

He will never require anything from you that he has not already provided to you.

Look at the times when God tells us to do something, lifting up holy hands in the sanctuary.

The assumption is we have hands and they are holy that God has provided.

So God is telling us to lift the hands that He's given to us in order to honor Him.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

God's given us breath so that we can are able to praise Him with it.

It's the same way that it is with resources.

I give you everything that you need as it relates to life and godliness.

All I'm asking is for you to give a portion of it back so that you can partner with my vision and what I want to accomplish on earth.

The last thing I want to hit on is something very, very practical.

Very, very practical.

And that's answering the question of where does my generosity go?

Where does my generosity go?

I understand at a cognitive level and a spiritual level why I need to give theologically.

I understand how I give in my local church the tithes and offering.

But now that I'm a part of a church community, how do I know that the church is stewarding the resources responsibly?

I I've lost count over the past five years of the amount of conversations that I've had with people in our community and out of our community asking this very question.

Man, where what does the church do with the money?

What is that what what how do I know what's going on?

And those are very valid, very realistic questions that every single person has a right to ask.

So I can only speak for Celebration Orlando, and I want to provide you with some very clear instructions on what we do with the resources that you bring into this house.

The reason why we ask this question is because every single one of us, as Paul uses this farming idea, is that I want to make sure that where I'm at is good ground.

I want to make sure that if I'm investing, if I'm sowing, that I can expect to see the harvest come to pass.

Those are very valid questions.

And so I want to answer those as it relates to Celebration Orlando specifically.

We use 53% of everything that's brought into our church for ministry and personnel.

53% goes to ministry and personnel.

Let me give you some quick examples of what that is.

That's our benevolence fund.

So when we have people that are part of our church and they lost everything in a flood, unfortunately that has happened.

And they come to us and say, like, man, we just need help in buying beds, we have a fund that's set aside that allows us to make a difference and help people in that area.

For food, when people are going through food scarcity and other things that they may be lacking, they come to the church and we do our best to supply them with what they need.

For ministry supplies and resources.

If you're part of our See Kids family, when you see the resources, the pictures, everything that we do that allows us to facilitate ministry and subscriptions and things along our side, that's all connected.

But that also includes personnel.

We we have seven full-time staff members here at Celebration Orlando.

And if I could be completely transparent, every single one of them could probably make double in the marketplace.

But they've they laid their lives down and said, But I know that I'm called to do this, and that's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make.

Almost all of our staff members, with the exception of one, has not gotten a raise probably in almost five years because of inflation, because of membership adjustments, and us just not knowing what the next steps are going to be.

And neither of them have ever complained.

And what I tell you this for is for this.

Even in spite of all the adjustments we see in society, there's not a single person on our staff that does not put God first with their tithes and offering at this church.

We are just like you.

We are trying to figure it out just like you, but we still believe and invest in this church just like we believe that you should be.

I also want to be very clear that that no one pays my bills for me.

In the name of Jesus, I wish they did.

I have a I have a I have an income, I have a salary that I then need to steward accordingly.

I don't have a shoe budget.

But man, I wish I had a shoe.

I told Nate I was like, Nate, can we give me a shoe budget?

Because you know, the Bible does say, Blessed are the feet of those who preach the gospel.

He said, nah, bro.

So so so I don't I don't have a I don't have a separate food budget.

I don't have anyone paying for my home, I don't have any of that.

The resources we come in, it's allocated uh appropriately, and then we're able to do ministry as a result of that.

Six percent of all of our giving goes to local and global missions.

And and what that six percent goes towards is is planting churches and environments where we know that the name of Jesus needs to be declared.

It's for missionary support, for people that are feeling called to give their lives and to live in environments that you and I may never visit.

So we have a portion that we do to help those missionary for a celebration global location such as Celebration Zimbabwe, where they feed over 75,000 kids per day.

And they but the Zimbabwe has a 90% unemployment rate.

So there's no way they could function as a ministry if a bunch of churches in America that are tremendously blessed didn't give a portion so that they can be able to thrive and succeed.

I'm a firm believer that just because you don't have the resources doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't have a place there.

So as a church family, we make a decision to partner with organizations that stored their resources well so that we can see the name of Jesus in these environments.

Scripture engagement resources.

If we are familiar with the Bible project, if we're familiar with One Child and One Hope, these other things that allow scriptures to get into the hands of people, we partner with organizations such as that.

In addition to that, we have our local partnerships with next Sunday.

We're going to be spending um that entire Sunday telling you about the mission organizations we partner with here locally as well as globally.

It helps to pay for our serve days, getting out into the community.

So that's 6%.

My heart's desire is to get that percentage up to 10% at some point.

That's my heart's desire, once we can kind of get our resources to come in a little bit stronger.

41% of our of our income goes to operations.

It's how we function as a church.

Now, now, when I said this in the first service, a lot of people were surprised at some of the things I'm going to share.

Because you know what I've learned?

That just because we're a church, that doesn't keep the lights on.

I thought I could pray and say, hey, man, I'll pray for you.

They're like, yeah, cool, but can you send us that money?

So here's what our operations also include.

It includes our office space.

It pays for parking.

This this OMA rental that we're in right now, it pays for that.

It pays for security.

It pays for our systems and software that we have.

It pays for our banking and our merchant fees.

It pays for our central support, which is inclusive of our legal fees and things along those lines.

It helps to pay for our insurances.

So these are all the technical things that allows us to function and thrive as a church.

I wish we could pray those things away, but we can't.

So right now, 41% of our resources goes towards making sure that we can function and thrive as a church.

I want to close with this thought as we prepare to go into a moment of prayer.

Because some of us may be saying, Keith, what's next?

What's next for celebration, Orlando?

And I want to spend just a few minutes unpacking what that is.

Um in August, we shared that currently uh about 30% of our church currently gives on a regular basis.

Um, and our goal was to hopefully um lead and cultivate a culture where we could at least get that up to 60%, knowing that if we could just get 60% of people involved in giving on a consistent basis, the things that we would be able to do as a result of people partnering with the vision that God has given the church.

The way that we function as an organization is that we operate with what we call a projected budget.

That means that we look at our data, we look at our metrics, it helps us to see the trends of what giving has been, and then that allows us to project what we think the giving will be, and then we make decisions on that.

So going into 2022, we projected that we would bring in about$1.2 million.

That was our projected budget.

We were expecting to bring in$1.2 million by the end of this year.

And so when we look at that, we then begin to make plans for ministry each month according to what we're projecting.

And then as you guys are faithful in your giving, if it's a month that we have more, we set that aside for margin.

If it's a month that we have less, then we use the margin we had to compensate for the difference.

And if there's months that we're just completely in a negative, we may scale back on some things.

And so we're looking for our next paycheck, so to speak, the same way that some of you are.

And we steward our resources accordingly.

So we've seen so many people over the past year step out in faith and give for the first time, more than we've ever seen.

But to be quite transparent, we're still falling a little bit short of the projected amount that we expected.

If our giving stays exactly as it is right now, we'll end the year about$40,000 in the negative.

So we're not filled with fear.

We are completely at peace.

Your church is strong, it's good.

We have we have like emergency funds we can pull from, but I want to be very transparent.

So right now we're projected, if everything stays exactly as it is, to come in at about$40,000 in the negative.

In the first service, I said it was about$28,000, but that's current.

By the end of the year, it would be about$40,000 in the negative.

What that means for us with this all hands offering, we're all hands church, it's us recognizing that we all have been invited to this spiritual pot luck, and we're asking everyone to put their hands in and to do their part.

And what we believe is that through this initiative, that we're we're gonna cover that gap.

So what we want to say to every single one of you, what we plan to do with the resources specifically from this offering, is that we want to make sure that we cover that gap first.

Anything above and beyond that will all go into our building fund.

Our building fund currently has almost$15,000 that have been set aside for people that have been faithful and just designating money for that.

So whenever you give to a designated bucket, we use it for that.

By law, we can't use it for anything other than that.

But our goal is that we want to get resources that we can bridge the gap of whatever negative we may have, and then every single dollar beyond that goes into our building fund.

Reason why that's so important to me is because God made it abundantly clear that no, we do not need a building to do ministry, but we need a facility to facilitate.

And when I look at what God is doing in our community and I look at what God wants to do in our community, us having a permanent location makes all the difference in the world.

When I consider for a moment what we had experienced last week with baptisms, when I see the life change that takes place when we have those corporate moments that are powerful, I celebrate them.

But I also recognize that because of the rental cost of us getting the baptism pool, with us trying to get also a rental truck, we bring those things here, we fill it up with water, we empty it out with water, we take it back.

There's a lot of energy, there's a lot of money that goes into it.

And I love those moments and we'll always do them.

But I also understand that there could be a given Sunday where we may have an altar call and someone says, Hey, I want to get baptized today.

When you have a permanent location, you don't say, Hey, come back in two months when we're doing baptisms.

Or can we meet you at someone's house because we have people that have graciously offered to do that?

When you're part of a family that has a permanent location, we can have spontaneous moments where the Holy Spirit can break out and we can have baptism service where people can begin to experience breakthrough and revelation and revival.

We also recognize that we want to be an incredibly generous church.

I know that God has shown me a vision of people coming to our church with medical debt and us as a church saying, We're going to pay for that for you.

God has given me a vision of single mothers who didn't have a car and us being the type of church that has the resources that we're able to give them a car.

I've been able to see a vision where we have a youth facility where the students can come after school so they don't have to worry about being in environments that's not the best for them, where they can be mentored and pastored in love as a result of this church's generosity.

What I'm telling you is that eyes haven't seen and ears haven't heard, and neither has entered into the hearts of men of what God is going to do through a faithful community.

But we all, we all have a part to play.

This past week, our church staff, we prayed and we processed 2023.

And we're functioning with a no-growth budget.

So we're gonna function with a little bit less than what we projected this year because we don't want to find ourselves in the same deficit.

But if I could I wish I had the time to tell you the things that God has placed on our hearts to do.

And we're gonna do every single one of them.

But it's with your partnership, it's with your obedience, it's with you coming alongside and bringing your part to this place.

When you came in, you were given a giving envelope that also included a card with it.

And what I want to do for a moment is I just want to take a moment for us to go into a time of worship, of prayer and reflection.

And I just want to invite you to just pray about what it is that God has been leading you to do to partner with the kingdom work that we have here.

Every one of us here has a next step.

Every one of us does.

Maybe you're with us today and you didn't come prepared to give.

That is perfectly okay.

That's what that card is for.

If you'll notice there's no name slots on there, this is not about anyone having to write their names on it, but it's about making sure every one of us are able to participate in this powerful kingdom moment.

Maybe for some of us, your next step is to begin to tithe.

Maybe you didn't come prepared to tithe today, but maybe you know that that's what God's telling your next step is.

We have that card for you.

Maybe you know your next step is to bring an offering.

We have that card for you if you aren't prepared today.

But we also have the space on there where maybe at the bottom you're just like, hey, I don't feel compelled to give.

That's not something that I feel led to do.

When you're talking about the two groups, I'm in that 23%.

And if it's circumstantials are right, then I'll do it.

And you know what?

There is grace for you as well.

But what we want to do is make sure that no one misses out on this kingdom moment that I believe as a family can be so powerful.

I also want to say this very clearly.

There's several safe and convenient ways that you can give here at celebration.

And then as I mentioned earlier, that wherever you designate those dollars is where they're going to go.

So if you are going to tithe, I'm asking for you to designate the tithe box.

But if you're going to give anything beyond the tithe, please select the all hands offering section.

Because what that's going to allow us to do is cover our shortfall and put all the rest of that money into our building campaign.

We're going to be providing updates to you with our building campaign at the end of this year and then into next year.

It'll just be a part of what we constantly talk about.

But what I'm asking you to do, if you're tithing, put it in the tithing box.

But if you're giving an offering, anything beyond that, please put it in that all hands offering because it'll give us the ability to be able to designate those funds in areas where we have needs first, and we'll provide you with updates as those things go.

But what we're going to do now is we're going to go into a time of just reflective worship.

And maybe you're sitting there with a loved one, a significant other.

Um, if this is not your church home and you're just visiting, man, I'm glad that you're here.

Maybe God's putting it on your heart to participate.

Maybe he's not.

There's no pressure in that.

Maybe you're visiting and you're part of another church.

Then here's what I'm telling you do not tithe here.

I don't want to take resources from another church.

If you're part of another church community, that is the place that absolutely is the place that you're supposed to invest your tithe dollars from.

But if you feel compelled to give an offering, you're absolutely more than welcome to do that.

But as we go into this moment, I'm asking for you just to simply pray this prayer.

Lord, what is it that you want me to give?

And as I always say, pray and obey and watch what God does with it.

Let me pray for us and let's go into this moment of just silence and reflection.

Lord, we thank you.

We thank you so much for um these moments that we can come together, that we can have these kingdom conversations.

But Lord, you invite us to participate in this kingdom work.

So, Father, I just pray that as we enter into this space with you, that this is holy ground, that you speak to us, that we hear you, and that we respond to it.

In Jesus' name.

Thanks again for listening.

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