12+1 Core Values: Generosity Branded | Pr Dr Daniel Kong

You're listening to a message to go from X Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

So it's called Generously Branded for a reason. And hopefully

by the end of today, you'll understand what Generously Branded

actually means. Of course, all of us know what generosity is,

at least in the English language, right? What do you

think of when you think of generosity? Okay. Giving. Okay,

most times, most times you would think monetary related. This

guy is going to come here and talk about, you know, giving,

you know, your all, your best, etc. But hey, before

you go there, of course, that's one expression. It's not

just about that. So hopefully by the end of today,

you understand why we are using the word branded than

just generosity. Now, let me begin with one picture just

to paint the picture, okay? I know, right? I didn't

have one coffee today, that's why. Anyway, next photograph. Can

you show the photograph, Zach? Okay, so very familiar kind

of photograph, right? You know, it's like what we call

in Malaysian an open house, a gathering, a kanduri, you know,

where you have a lot of people coming through. Now,

what comes to mind when you see something like that?

makan bro! Food everywhere, drinks, desserts, sweets, right? Then, and usually,

at least in the Malaysian context, it usually be an

abundant spread. There is always more than sufficient, more than

enough for everybody, so much so that they will always say,

don't worry, don't worry, don't worry, there's a lot of food. Yeah,

even though the tables are, you know, clear, there will

always be more. But why is that the case, if

you think about it? Why do you think there's always food?

It's because who's responsible for the food being there? The host, okay?

So the host has a role to ensure that this

keeps going. So, you know, they always say, don't worry,

you know, take an additional piece, have more. There is

enough and more than abundant for everybody. Just relax, have

your food, enjoy. Why? Because there is usually a generous host.

So the host is here. Him or her is very

generous and it creates a different atmosphere. How many of

you have been to one of these kind of open

house but then a little bit underwhelming? My wife is

definitely not the kind. If you know the Kong's household,

you will always be more than enough. In fact, you

can also tapau, right? And then you walk home or

you roll home or however you want to see it,

you will struggle to go home, right? And why? Because,

I mean, jokes aside, after three hours, you will really struggle.

But it's because of a generosity. And most Malaysians will

understand this thing. It's a beautiful thing called open house,

and also, of course, generosity that is involved in there

as well. You always hear people, eh, dah makan ke?

Even if you say, dah makan, don't worry, come makan

some more. They will, shh, I will use the word shove, no, no,

they will encourage you to eat more, take more, please.

And after hours, you're wondering, what am I doing here?

I need to do something about it. But that's generosity there. Okay,

and that's how I want to paint it, because if

you understand this perspective, Our Lord is a bit like that.

He's a generous host, okay? There's more than enough, right? Come, eat, enjoy.

That's the famous words that's always there. And this is

also an expression of how the Bible paints the picture

of our Lord as well. Because He is a generous God.

Let me explain. Next slide. So, our God is like

a generous host. Why? Because you look at how He created.

Creation itself is an expression. of generosity. If you think

about it, the world we created or the world he

created is not meant to be like a battlefield where

there's scarcity, there is not enough resources, there is not

enough this or that. It's meant to be an abundant

and the world is like that. It's just that I

think along the way, we humans sort of messed up

a little bit There's a little bit of disproportionate in

the way we utilize what gifts were given or what

God has created. And therefore, we see that, oh, disgusting.

But if you look at the next slide, this is

how it's meant to look like. It's like an open house,

open in abundance. Everybody's meant to enjoy it. And so

I'd like to just start off by saying this. This

is an expression of God's generosity. And this is how

God creates, God gives, God provides, and God, it's part

of His plan to bless. Just like how we understand

the physical host, we want all that for the enjoyment

of the people that come, the guests that come. And

God shares His life just like that with humanity. Come together.

enjoy what I've made, what I've created. And that's generosity.

And again, I want to steer you away from just

generous in terms of the monetary giving, but this is

exactly what our God is. What we're trying to say

here is that there's more than enough. And what's happened?

Humanity believe a lie. What is that lie? It's not enough. Right?

And what do you do when it's not enough? Let's

say you go to an open house or your... There is,

let's say if you enjoy, I don't know, what do

you enjoy? Dal, is it dal? Yeah. Rendang, rendang, okay. Rendang,

last piece there. You know, it's running out. What do

you do? Let's take a bit more, take a bit more.

Maybe the guy doesn't see it, push it, you know,

push it into the, you know, you think people do

that when there is not enough.

Why?

Because that's actually a lie. Right? But then again, We

believe it's a lie that there's not enough, but again,

that's not God's design. If we believe that lie, you

may think, maybe God is holding back on me, right?

Maybe God isn't really good. Just now we said that

God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Nothing has changed,

but a lie crept in, right? Maybe I need to

look after myself because God... may not necessarily be as

generous as I thought he is, right? Maybe I need

to get mine first, set aside, survival mode. And this

is the problem because obviously, next slide, we tend to

do something like that, right? We hoard up, we save up,

we set things aside. Why? Because of a perspective. Again,

if you look everywhere else, there's still a lot But

we behave or we protect, we are possessive, we are anxious,

we are maybe even competing, right? Because we are worried.

Next slide. This is the problem here. When we think

or believe the lie, we think things are scarce, there's

not enough, then we go into this perspective of self-preservation.

And we can relate to that. They're just using, again, buffet.

Even buffet. Sometimes you think the ice cream is running out.

You tend to quickly rush that even though you're still in,

I don't know, session one or session two of your course.

But you just want to choke or save some aside

because it's all self-preservation. You're concerned about what, about me,

what is mine. And then, of course, you have this

close-hand posture. You close things, you hold things very deep.

And of course, this is the opposite end of what

we said earlier. A generous host. And suddenly, the open

house becomes a battlefield, a battleground to get more stuff

for myself, for my family, for my children, for anything

related to me. And it's not about blessing others. Okay?

So that's how I want to start. Point number one

is we believe in a lie that there isn't enough.

And I stress that it is a lie because two,

it's not his design, right? And again, I want to

stay away from, you know, generosity that is a money problem. No,

it's not a money problem. I believe that it's more

of a trust problem when we are less generous. Can

you understand what I'm saying? Because regardless of the amount,

if our posture is that There is not enough, we

will hold back money, resources, ability, time, etc. It all

falls into this category. And the bigger question is, can

I actually trust God to take care of me? And

that's where we go into this whole mode, I don't

trust God, so therefore I need to trust myself more.

I need to take care of myself. I need to

protect what I have. I need to protect this and therefore,

I'm not willing to give. And that's the problem here.

And at the end of the day, what happens? You

have an anxious heart and you have this, what I

call the close hand posture where you want to give

but you hold on tight. You don't, yeah, you take lah.

You take but you're not actually willing to give. Right?

And that's language. But is it really not enough? Probably not.

Just perspective. Right? You know, don't get me wrong. The

Bible also doesn't pretend there are things like poverty doesn't exist,

for example. It does exist. Suffering, even scarcity and all

that does exist. in some contexts, but it's all also,

I would say, human-created to some extent, right? Even Jesus himself,

he lived in a world of poverty. He didn't come

into a world where it's all lavish stuff, or he

didn't come into a world of, you know, like the

kingdom that we understand, at least in the royalty sense.

He came into a world that is very poor. He himself,

you know, born in a, you know, in a setting

where he doesn't have enough place to be birthed to

some extent. He's sharing a place with animals to be born.

So I think he certainly knew what people's struggles are.

So I'm not downplaying all that. But what I'm trying

to say here is that these are not really problems

in the entirety. What God is trying to teach us

as well, yes, there are circumstances, there are these challenges,

but the more important story is that we do not

let the circumstances determine how we see God. Because God Himself,

like I said, if you see the pre-spitches before, He's

got all the spread there. But we're just maybe fixated

about maybe one particular bowl that we see or we

perceptionally see that it's not going to be refilled. And therefore,

we go into this mode, okay? Now look at Matthew.

Matthew here, the title up the very top, 66, do

not worry, right? And this, I think this verse we've

used quite a fair bit. Whenever we have any anxiety,

we always bring up Matthew 25, okay? Let me just

read a little bit. What does it say? Therefore, I

tell you, do not worry about life, about your life specifically.

Then he points to the birds, you know, the flowers, etc., Why?

He's trying to teach us that the Father knows your need.

He knows everything. He's got your back, guys. So the

question again is back to the trust issue, right? Because

you see, Heavenly Father feeds them, clothes them. Your Heavenly

Father knows your needs. And of course, He goes on

and talks about the focus, the emphasis, the kingdom, etc. So, again,

I think generosity, whenever we have that lack, it can

also boil down to sometimes a spiritual issue or perspective. Okay?

Because when I believe my God is generous, what will

happen naturally? I will be generous. Right? If I have,

things are spilling out, literally, I would be also very,

you know, our gift, right? But when I believe my

God is not enough, that's when you then tend to

then grab things, hold back things. When I trust, I

know my God will provide, I know my God will give, yeah,

you will have a different perspective. Not how much can

I keep, because sometimes we do that, right? Whenever, oh,

you know, here we go again, missions giving and, you know,

talk about, you know, the needs, etc. You always think,

how much can I store away? How much can I keep?

How much time can I store away? But if you

understand the abundance of God has in store for you,

you will think or you will re-ask the question, how

much can I bless? How much can I give others, right?

Not what's mine, right? Because again, we all know this, right?

We're just stewards of everything. Time, talent, treasures, right? But

more importantly, what has God placed in my hands that

I'm meant to then use that to bless it. And

that is what generosity is. Okay? A lot of the

notes that you see here, the principles come up here.

I know that there are some key points which I'll cover.

I'll jump from point to point. Apologize because I think sometimes,

you know, things get revealed to me a bit differently.

I'm wired a bit differently as well. But the main

points will be there, okay? But yeah, we talk about

a year of revival. Let's also talk about how we

can generally be revived. When you are revived, right, Pastor

Kenneth did say in some of his recordings, he did

say that when you are revived, generosity becomes a... I

don't like this word by-product because by-product is usually a negative...

It's not. It's a good thing. Because generosity is a

good thing. But because he said it, I have to

just quote it as is. So he did say that

generosity is always a product or by-product when you are

genuinely revived. So that's why it's powerful. So now, I

think the question here is, what happens in your hands

or what you're prepared to give in your hands sometimes

also reveal what is in your heart. there is a correlation, right?

Because if your heart is right, if your heart understands,

not just mind, your heart understands, you are always very

prepared to give. And if you don't, again, it's not

the hand that is doing all the decision making, it's

actually here, right? So that's very powerful. But as we

sung earlier today, even when we did communion, right? He

gave first. What did He give? A small prize?

No.

He gave everything. He gave life. He treated life, right?

And if you think about it, just taking a step back,

if we preach about the gospel, or rather we preach

about Christianity without this portion, generously even, without Jesus, it's

just a church with nice people. Um... Maybe we can

give more, share more, but that's it. There is no

power in that. That's not Christianity. So that's why even

him giving up his best and giving first, actually that

is the representation of true generosity. So God actually showed

us how to do it. Not just talk about it,

not just teach about it, but actually showed us how

it is done. Right? And that's beautiful. It's not become

generous so that God can love you, but we give

because we have first been loved. Again, we don't give

to become loved, but we give because we have firstly

and already been loved by God. And John 3.16 reminds

us of that. Where God so loved the world that

He gave. Gave what? Gave you some money? No. He

gave His all. And this is even before we gave anything, guys,

to the Lord. So when you do give your time

to missions and all that, yes, thank you for that.

You know, you serve. Thank you for that as well.

But God gave His life for us. He did it first.

Before you open up your hands to give generously, He

opened His hands to give His life. Before you sacrifice anything,

He sacrificed everything. See the difference there? Right? And this

is why the cross, it's the greatest picture of generosity.

And sometimes for us, when we talk about generosity, we

always forget that. We always just think about all the

dollars and cents and ringgits, etc. No, it's not. It's not.

Let's look at 2 Corinthians 8 here. It says, Though

he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.

So it's a choice, guys. He was rich.

Right?

He chose poverty. Why? So that you can become rich.

He gives himself. He doesn't have to give, by the way, guys.

Before you think that, hey, this guy, bodo, punya, you know, like,

why is he doing this? We don't deserve it, but

he still chooses to. And more importantly, he doesn't give

because you earned it. You certainly did not earn it, guys. Right?

He gives because he's just generous. And as I mentioned earlier,

Jesus didn't teach about generosity. He embodied it. He is generosity.

He gave his time. He gave his attention. He gave

his compassion. You know, he forgave. He did healing. You know,

he gave himself. And sometimes we overlook that, right? And

of course, ultimately, eventually, it led to his own life.

He gave all. So if we are followers of Jesus,

which I am sure all of us are Christians, generosity

isn't something that is foreign, that we have to be

convinced to buy into. Because when we follow Jesus, We

are saying that I'm your child and therefore the DNA

is supposed to be the same, guys. So generosity is

something that is inherent in us. It's not for me

to convince you. It's in there. You need to understand this.

So stop trying to add a Christian module or a

Christian app or a Christian site loading or whatever you

call it or that they call generosity. It's not. We

need to become like the one. We need to become

like the one who first gave us His life and

this is who He is and therefore this is what

we are supposed to be. Because that's what Christians are, right?

Christians are little Christ. It is our DNA, guys. It's

our DNA. And as I mentioned earlier, if we actually

understand or realise that we have received, if we slow

down and understand this, You know generosity actually changes this?

How many of you have been blessed by something that

you don't deserve? Not just Christ, but just in general.

Let's say someone gave you a holiday or a free

holiday or a free meal. Hey, you'll be like dancing.

It changes you, right? What more does? Right? Something happens

in the inside of your heart as well when you

understand this gift. You become less obsessed with yourself. Or

in other words, you become less self-centered. You don't think

of yourself so much. And that's something that sometimes we

struggle with because it's very natural, right? Survival mode, right?

And more importantly, when you become focused less on yourself,

you are also more aware of the people around you.

We talked about loving people. How can you love people

when you don't look beyond yourself? Right?

How?

Your priorities become clearer. And I would like to use

this word, your heart becomes softer. Although soft sometimes is like,

what do you mean by soft? Yeah, you're just more aware.

Outside your four walls. Then you remember everything that I

have also came from God in the first place to

begin with anyway. Right? And that's very powerful. So Pastor Kenneth, uh,

mentioned a few things. He said that generosity heals. It

builds you. That's the first point, by the way. It

builds you. It brings people together as well. Because the

world may not understand the gospel, may not understand Bible, etc.

But the world understands generosity. It's the language of the world, guys.

So if we are generous as believers, people get it.

No translation required. No concordance required. You know, they understand

straight away. Maybe sometimes you have an opportunity, wherever you are,

to spend some time with somebody. And sometimes spending time

itself is being generous. Oh, I'm so busy. I'm doing this.

I've got 101 things. I've got my household at home.

I've got no time for you. We often say that,

right guys?

Right?

And again, it's not just about money, right? Even opening

your home If somebody prayed for you, how many of

you have received prayer before? Can I pray for you? Hey,

that is generous. That is generosity. Or somebody bought you lunch.

Or buy you lunch. Or when they travel, they bring

back a souvenir for you. They thought about you. That

is generous. It's just somebody's expression of saying, hey guys,

I got you too. I remember you. Right? And as

I mentioned, it's not all just about money. It's about attention, right?

You probably heard this before many times. You know, I

can be in the same room with my son. I

think we're having this chat right now. He was talking

about his baby girl recently. And then sometimes he's a

little bit distracted on his phone. You can be there.

But you'll be like... I mean, same as well. I

can be in the physical space, but it's the attention there.

So he did say that, yeah, I want to try

to set it aside because I want to give it

proper attention. I mean, not give it, sorry, give her

proper attention. Because someone's presence and attention is two different

things altogether. It needs to go hand in hand. Yeah,

put it in the phone. I'm listening to you. My

wife talks to me, I know if I, she's not

here today, so anyway, I want to make time I

want to be generous. I want to celebrate the successes

with you. I wish I was there. And sometimes you

know this, right? If your kid goes for a rehearsal

or I don't know, what's the word? They go for

a play. There was one time I missed a play.

I feel so bad because like I said, it's not

so much that you will die if I don't go there,

but it's just nice to be there to support them.

And that's being generous as well. That's generosity. So if

you didn't catch all that, you didn't catch all that,

what's number one? Our God is generous. He first gave first, right?

It's a trust issue sometimes. Do we trust Him? And

more importantly, if we do trust Him, we understand all this, right?

It changes us. And sometimes we ask God, how can

I afford to be generous and not God? You ever

ask that question? I mean, of course, you can replace

the generosity with time, money, talent, whatever you want to put.

Can I afford this? Can I... What if I don't

have enough to give? What if I'm not good enough

to give? Have you thought about that? I have, multiple times. Right?

But underneath all that, right, the question is, really, the

real question is, can I trust God to take care

of this with me or for me so that I

can then be generous? I put a meme up because

these days you guys like memes, right? If you're like that,

sometimes I'm afraid to give because I don't have enough.

Then God's like, bro, I literally gave you everything you need, bro. Right?

Maybe that's a bit too casual. I think it's too casual.

But in actual fact, there is some truth to that, right?

You forget. Because we look at the cross differently. We

look at the cross as something that we do celebrate

once a year or twice a year. But no. We

sometimes even see God as a stingy God. You know

what I'm trying to say. Because we think that He

is not. We forget. And that's why we do communion

once a month and as many times as we can.

Even as a family, we try to do that. Because why?

We want to remember what has transpired at the cross.

It's not stingy. He gave first. And if we see

God gave His best, we would indeed be convinced, I

would say, to be generous. And more importantly, if we

trust Him and therefore, we can then open up our hands.

Next point in your notes. Generosity is a spiritual indicator.

What does it mean? If you go to page 26,

you know, this is what it's saying, right? You know,

of course, we said earlier, generosity is powerful. We talked

about how powerful it is. But what does it mean

that it's a spiritual indicator? Now, in some of Pastor's writings,

he said this, when someone, I put it on the screen,

when someone is spiritually dry, or he also used the

words unrevived, stinginess becomes natural. And we sort of covered

that a little bit as well, right? We hold back.

Remember the open house scenario? We hold back, right? But

every time someone is spiritually revived, that's why I don't

like this word, by-product, but it's okay. He used it,

so I had to quote it. It's a by-product, right?

It is a natural by-product. In other words, when we're

not generous, maybe there's no revival here. Guys, it's very

easy to be stingy. It's very easy to be selfish.

Maybe self-centered are the words being used. But the reverse

is also true, right guys? If we are the total opposite,

we express it with a lot of generosity. Why? I

believe it's not just being revived. What is revival? You

have had an encounter. That's what revival is. When you

encounter God, more specifically a generous God, right? you will

then produce very naturally generosity. Next slide. Revival produces generosity.

Why?

Because that encounter will create an overflow and that overflow

is what we're talking about, guys. I have another slide that,

you know, this is a real struggle, by the way. Sometimes,

like I said, when we give, we still hold on

tight to something. I don't have money these days to

carry cash. But it's like holding a $ 100 note, right? Joe,

I know you need the $ 100. Take it, you know,

then you... Whatever that is, it can be anything else.

That's why we say that this is a simple test,

a diagnosis, a health check. What is the word they use?

A spiritual indicator, right, on what's happening here that translates

to the behaviour on the hand itself. Is your hands

always closed? Or is it always like open, here you go?

Or do you, here you go? Okay? And again, just

before we go to the whole pitfall of it's all

about money, no, no, I'm not talking about money, right?

It's talking about, maybe look at your calendar, right? How

much time have you allocated to people that, your friends even, right?

How much attention have you given to your family? And

I'm not talking about when you're dating, then you give

more time. No, no. I'm talking about your family that

is in need of a bit more attention and love.

How are you doing your relationships? What opportunities do you

have to talk to somebody or spend time with somebody?

Even when you have an opportunity to forgive and love,

are you jumping at it? Are you generous in that perspective?

And if you look at what God has placed in

your hands, if you understand that that belongs to God,

would you release it? Would you let go? Or do

you take ownership of, okay, this is actually mine. I

find it harder to let go, right? And again, just

like I said, since most people think about finances, I'm

just going to go there for a while. because we

did talk about it being a spiritual indicator, right? It

doesn't mean that when someone is struggling financially, that you

are spiritually dry as well, okay? Just want to be clear, right?

Because Jesus himself did say this, generosity isn't measured by

the gift or the size of the gift, it's the

posture of the heart, right? Remember Jesus praised the widow?

How much did the widow give? Two million dollars? No,

just two small coins. The amount isn't impressive, guys. Sometimes,

you know, last time in the traditional sense, when the offering,

they used to have like buckets that go past, for

those of you who are in that era. And then

they introduced a little, like a spongy kind of material.

So that when people drop coins in there, you don't

hear it. But I was in the era, there's metal,

you drop coins in there, you let everybody, hey, this guy,

two coins. But again, it's not about the amount, guys.

Jesus praised the widow for the trust that was there.

I trust you. This is all I have. I trust you.

Sometimes we compare, right? Yeah, I gave more last year

than you. No, it's not. It's between you and God, guys.

And again, this is just finances, but there's other areas

as well. Okay? So generosity doesn't, if you want to

write some notes, generosity doesn't ask for what I can afford.

Let me talk about this a little bit as well.

Because sometimes, even when there is a need, for example,

sometimes we also just do a checkbox kind of exercise

where we contribute a little bit. Let's say if the

need is an amount, let's say 10,000, we give three ringgit.

The question is, you give three ringgit. I'm using money

because it's easier to quantify, not saying that it's only money.

Your conscience is clear. I've done something. Did you give? Yes.

Was it necessarily generous? I don't know. If you want

to quantify in terms of amount, maybe not. I'm not sure.

And again, this is just an illustration. It could be time.

It could be anything else. So generosity isn't merely about

even getting something out of your hands. Because sometimes we think,

as long as I get it out of my hands, done.

I've given, you know. We come together as a home.

I've given a portion. They don't know what I gave,

but I gave something.

Yes.

Hooray. No, it's not. And the third point is this

one here. Give meaningfully. Don't just give a token, guys.

Make a difference. Again, it's not about amount, competing. It's

just an example. But try to understand what the need

is and try to make it meaningful. I'll give you

an illustration. This friend of mine, I used to be

based in Melbourne. I moved house once, and I issued

a call for somebody to help me move. And if

you know relocation, you literally move things from one place,

you empty it out, and you move to another place, right?

So I said, hey, I won't mention his name, but bro,

I need some help moving this Saturday morning. A few

came by. I had one bro that came at 5.30pm.

And then he has the nerve to ask me, anything else, bro?

Do you have friends like that, right? I mean, maybe

it's just me. I've got terrible friends. And then, of course, dude,

you look at the whole house empty. What else can

you do? Then it's like, okay, let's take a photograph. So,

I mean, praise God he came and helped or attempted

to help. But is that generosity? I mean, I'm using

other examples that are not just monetary because sometimes we

think there's only amount, right? No, no. It's also, as

I mentioned, giving meaningfully. If you're going to come and give,

whether it's time or support or whatever, do it to

the point that it actually does help. What is the

actual need, guys? What can you actually help? And this

is the next point I wanted to mention. Because sometimes,

meaningful generosity does cost you something. And again, not just money, okay?

By the way, I'm trying to move away, but sometimes

it's always, even the word cost is like, oh, money, money. No, no, no,

it's not. Time, convenience, meeting somebody. Right? Myself and Jess,

we try to meet different ones from time to time.

We recycle. It does cost us something, bro. We sacrifice

our kids a little bit. But no. I mean, aside

from money. But yeah, it's attention. It's costing us attention. Emotion.

And again, this is what it sometimes means that it

does cost something. But it becomes meaningful generosity. Not just

generosity like the token one that I mentioned by my friend.

Hey bro, high five. Well done guys, 5.30pm. No, no,

it's not. Because generosity, even genuineness in generosity is supposed

to make a difference in somebody's life. But if you're

just going to do it as a token, coming back

to my lesson of just giving a little bit just

as a token, you're not going to do anything guys.

So the third point, giving meaningful generosity is exactly that.

Make sure you understand what you want to. And if

you really want to, you know, do all you can

within your capacity. Don't just check a box. Don't just

do a token help. Do it generously. Because Jesus did that.

Not easy, you know, bro. Not easy. I'm running out

because I'm running out of time. Okay, now. Generosity also

keeps your heart soft. Alright? Now, I think this is

one of the strongest points that Pastor Kenneth made in

his sharing here. He says this, a generous person is

never a hard person. Quoting Wholesale. And that's what is important.

The next point here, why generosity matters is because generosity

keeps our heart soft it keeps us sensitive to people

around us. Let me explain a little bit more. Generous

will can also be strong, by the way. Not talking

about that we are soft. We can be firm. We

can state boundaries. But I'm talking about the heart here.

Are we open to hear? Let's say, for example, even like,

you know, like parents, you know, when you discipline a kid,

you're still generous. But you, your heart is still soft, right?

Those new parents, you will understand. Net, they're like puddle, right?

Whenever you're, You're like, you know, you drink your milk now,

you know.

Okay.

Okay. No, but you get what I'm trying to say.

Your heart needs to be kept soft. And that's incredibly important. Now,

anybody have heard of this effect called the bystander effect? No? Okay.

So psychologists have named this effect called the bystander effect.

When you I myself included, when you sometimes, let's say

you're on the road, you drive, you see somebody struggling. Oh, Nat,

you also changed tyre this morning, right? Let's say you

see somebody struggling to change a tyre in the highway.

Would you stop? Most of the time, maybe you carry on.

Not because you can't help, but you have this bystander

thinking that, oh, probably somebody, help is on the way.

Somebody is... Of course, sometimes they say, oh, there's a

fear of this and that, you know, like scam or whatever.

But let's just say that sometimes, most times we like

to make ourselves feel okay. There is help is on

the way. Therefore, I just carry on. Myself included as well.

But have you thought about it? What if help was

not on the way?

Right?

So Fred Rogers, this American television personality, he does children's

education series. He's also a minister and an author. And

I love what Fred said here. He says this. He

remembered what his mother said to him. Whenever you see

someone in need, look for helpers. It means helpers that

are potentially coming. But As Christians, should we really be

looking for helpers, whether the help is there or the

need is coming? Or should we be the ones that

actually be that need or be that helper? Right? We

assume so that we feel our consciousness is okay, then

we just carry on. And of course, not just the road,

anything like, let's say you see somebody struggling or crying

in the pantry, you just think she's probably got it covered.

I'll just, moving along now, I've got other things to do.

I think it's to worry about. But that's the bystander effect, guys.

We tend to think that somebody else will step in.

But as Christians, if we are really generous, we should

be the one noticing. We should stop. We should say,

what can I do? Even though we don't know how

to change the tide, it's fine. Maybe they just need

to borrow a phone. Who knows? And that's what keeping

your heart soft actually means. To give, sometimes you use

the word benefit of doubt, you know, that help is required.

We can't just ignore it. But if your heart is hardened,

like Pharaoh's heart kind of thing, carry on, I'm busy,

I'm running, I'm late for a meeting, etc. Because we

are so accustomed to seeing a need, but we stop

seeing the people themselves. You just see it as a problem.

And the problem is going to be solved. But you

don't see the person. But if he's your friend, it's different, right?

If there's a relationship, it's different. So we see others.

That's why bystanders. Because you don't know them, you assume

that they'll be fine. But if it's Gabriel driving past,

you probably stop because you know him. But we shouldn't

be like that. We shouldn't. Why? Because we're meant to

be generous. We become so busy protecting our own needs

that we forget to stop for others. We become so

focused on our own lives that everybody else's struggle or

pain becomes noise. And that is the problem of not

having a generous, soft, generous heart. I see you. You matter.

That's different, right? If I see you, you matter, you

will stop. You will do something. And this is how

I want to land on Pastor Kenneth's point. Generous heart

equals soft heart. Soft heart is not a weak heart,

by the way, guys. We shouldn't become numb. Everybody matters.

Of course, we cannot save all the people in the world.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not asking you to be Superman.

But when you can, do. Help. Be generous. Sometimes you

become heart, our hearts harden because we've been disappointed before.

We've been hurt in the past. I mentioned busyness, right?

Or you're thinking, you know, it's not my problem. I

don't have the expertise to. I don't know how to

change the time. Why should I care? And slowly, your

heart becomes less and less sensitive. And before you know it, Hey,

they won't care. They won't see. And that's what is important.

Generosity actually keeps interrupting that particular perspective. It's a disruptor.

You will always, if you have a soft heart, you

will say, what can I do? How can I help?

How can I encourage? When somebody needs help, yeah. When

somebody needs a meal, can I? Cannot? Can I find? Right?

When someone needs a listening ear, I will listen. If not,

I will channel my wife to listen. No, I'm just joking.

But when someone needs an opportunity, you may even open

a door if you are at the capacity of opening

a door for that person. And that's what generosity is. Again,

not just money, guys. Generous heart. Generosity, keeps us or

awakens us to the needs around us. And that's what

that softness is about. Every time you give, you remind yourself, hey,

it isn't about me. It is about the person. The

person is a person, not just the need. So I'm

going to wind down here, landing already. I put up

this question here. What are we known for? If you

ask that question, what are we Christians known for? Of course,

we'll move on to generously branded in a bit. Or

what comes to mind when you look at this question?

Hey guys, the question isn't about are we generous or not.

Sometimes we simplify it, are we generous or not. I

look back, oh, how much have I given in terms

of time treasures and talent last year or the year before,

the last 10 years. It's not just that, guys.

Right?

Because generously branded, next slide, actually means are we known

for being generous? Now, let me just explain a little bit.

We can be generous occasionally. Sometimes we are moved, we

hear a story, we do generosity. Okay? And this can

also be outside church. Last time I used to be

walking to, I took a train and then I used

to walk to work and then there will be a WWF,

not the wrestling one, the Worldwide Fund Then there's this

Irish lady, who has a funny accent. We have to look...

Their accent is very strong. So it's unlucky bears, by

the way. So there are bears struggling. So I feel

moved to give to that particular cause. Now, I can

be generous for that moment. That's doing generosity. But being

generous is different. It's an innate trait. It's a, dare

I say, character. And just to remind us, that is

God's character. So as Christians, we are supposed to be

generous as a character and not just do generosity. And

that's what branding is about. Generosity branding, right? Right? So

when people see people of the church, whether it's X

church or any churches in the world, are we just

known to be spirit-filled? We covered that, right? Spirit-filled. Are

we kingdom-centered? What else? I can't remember now. Are we Christ-centered, kingdom-minded?

Are we word-faithful, prayer-powered, faith-evident? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

But are we? Generously. I say, are we being generous

all the time? Because when you encounter people outside the church,

they'll say, these guys are just generous people. And that's it. Right?

What would your neighbours, see you as, are you being

generous all the time? What would your colleagues, your, if you,

some of you are involved with some student ministry campus,

what would your students think of you? Are you generous?

What would your family think of you? Extended family. What

if somebody you meet on the street who just got

to know you in the last 30 minutes of conversation,

will they see you Being generous or just doing generous.

And as I mentioned earlier, generosity is a language that's universal, guys.

Don't have to teach it. Don't have to bring up

Bible verses and all that. People understand. It's not a

Christian vocabulary. But it should be. Because that's God's character.

They may not understand the songs we sing here on Sunday.

But they understand the expression, if you are generous all

the time. They may not understand the theology, why we're

doing this. But they will understand the expression of it

if we do behave like generous people all the time.

And what do they understand? Somebody cared for me. That's it.

Somebody loved me. That's it. Not rocket science. Not, again, money, time,

all this amount. No, no, nothing like that. Look at

Acts 2, right? Coming back to Acts 2, and I'm

landing here already, guys. Landing here. What happened in Acts 2?

The Holy Spirit came. This is up a little bit.

The Holy Spirit came. People were saved. People heard the word.

People were devoted to fellowship. They were praying. They were worshipping.

And then came Acts 2, 44 and 45. Now, all

who believe were together. I always joke about the one accord.

This is the accord, the car. It had all things

in common. What did they do? Sell their possessions and goods.

They divided them. That means everything they had, they divided

it all. Divided all. Among all and anyone that has need.

So sometimes church, you must understand, right? I mean, it

sounds a bit like communism, but it's not. Thanks to

Elder Peng Ho. I was on a boat with him

a few days, so we talked about how the church,

let's not get there. But yeah, it's meant to be

for everyone when the need is there. Notice something, it's

not a fundraising campaign, by the way. We didn't put

posters up, you know, the need is here. It's like saying,

or saying that, oh, this is an X2 giving project,

you know, nothing like that. Nothing like that at all.

It's not a program. It's not a branding strategy, guys.

It's not even a campaign. But it's just being generous.

We want to. Why? Because we understand there's abundance. There's

more stuffed food at the back in the kitchen. Just give.

Next slide. All believers were together in one accord. They

shared everything. That is the main principle. They shared everything. Why?

Because it was an overflow of what God has done

inside of them. So again, if you're not generous, maybe

perhaps there is something that needs to be addressed here.

Have you encountered God? Have you experienced God like how

you're supposed to experience God? Have you actually experienced revival

like how you're supposed to experience revival? Have you received

from the Lord? I believe yes, but do you actually

then live with an open-handed or open-palm concept to be

generous or you're still holding on. And that's what generously

branded actually means. Because this is who we are, guys.

Not just sometimes when we give, then we are generously branded.

Or not when there's a campaign, we need to raise

funds for whatever, when we give, then we are generously branded. No, no, no, no.

Or not even when we have extra. Sometimes it's very

easy to, oh, I've got an investment that, you know,

has some extra gains or, oh, God surprised me with

that and therefore I give. No, no, no. It's not

about that. It's a lifestyle. We give whenever because that

is the mark of generosity of God in our life.

Not just when there's extra. Just to sum up, okay? Okay?

The four points, I have it all in one slide.

Next slide. So generosity, number one, is powerful. You can heal,

you can build, you can fill a void, you can

fulfil dreams, you can reach places that words cannot do.

It's an expression, right? Sometimes we can preach for, like,

I don't know, share a word for 30, 40 minutes

to someone. They won't understand anything until they experience generosity.

by me just, or by us just sitting with them

and have a meal with them. And that is more

powerful than anything that we could do up here in

the pulpit. Right? That's how powerful generous is. Because when

you buy them dinner, you can say, hey, let me

tell you a bit more about my God and how

my God has been so faithful to me. Right? Here,

let me help you. I see you're struggling. Let me

help you. And that act of generosity, they experience God

and experience the love that is overflowed into, from us

to them. Right? That's how powerful it is. We talk

about generosity being a spiritual indicator. So the question is,

how open, how frequently open your hands are? Again, not

financially only. I try to be very careful here. Not

just financial. With your time, your attention, Your home. Are

you open for people to use your home for whatever reason, right?

Your forgiveness, your influence, if you have influence. Schools, your workplaces, etc.

Because that is a gauge of spiritual healthiness or how

healthy you are spiritually. And that would be a good

gauge about how generous I am Because when you move

away from just protecting, focus on being self-centered, etc., but

looking at what I can do for others, then you

become more compassionate. You grow, right? We always say you grow.

Serving is by-product, right? Sharing, helping is an expression. Number three,

give meaningfully. Again, just to remind everybody, it's not merely

a tick box, guys. Don't just give to say that

I gave. That's why we say when you do it

grudgingly or under compulsion, don't give. It's okay. Again, it

can be anything else outside of finances as well. Because, guys,

they need your time. They need your expertise. They need

your connection. They need your encouragement. But if you really

want to help, do it meaningfully. Meaningful generosity requires us

to really understand what the need is before we render

the need, or rather we offer the help to provide

for that need. And lastly, I mentioned this, generosity keeps

our hearts soft. Right? So, Every time I give, I'll

remember that God gave me first. That's why it's easier

and easier to give. First time is very unnatural, right?

But when you remember, give. Every time I serve, I

also remember that life isn't just about me. I'm serving.

Not just in church, by the way. Outside as well.

Every time I share, right? Sharing time, attention, help, I

also understand ultimately everything came from Him. And therefore, it's

okay for me to use what was given to me

for others. And that's how sharing is. It's a God-given trait.

Every time I bless somebody, because I'm firstly a recipient,

and therefore, giving is no issue. Those are the main

four points, by the way, guys. But as we sung earlier,

He gave first the cross. Right? And this whole thing,

if you didn't catch anything right, it all points back

to Jesus. I hope you're convinced that He gave us first. Yes,

there are moments that life is difficult. That giving or

being generous can sometimes feel costly. But if you remember,

He first gave you first. Gave you what? His all.

What you give is just tiny. And more importantly, as

I mentioned earlier, ultimately it's about trust. I trust my host.

In that banquet, in that open house, there will still

be enough. as I give. I trust that my father

knows my needs. As we've read earlier, he takes care

of everything. What more you? You have access to even communicate. Right?

I trust my life in his hands. And as I

mentioned over and over again, more importantly, he already gave me.

Go back to that meme. You've got it, bro. You've

got it. Right? The cross is more than sufficient. God

has never been stingy. The cross proves that. So don't

live with a clenched fist as you offer or as

you attempt to be generous. Do it like that. So

I want us all to stand I'm going to close already.

I want you to do something. Loosen up your hands

a little bit. Okay? Open up your hands. Right? Now

the question is, you look at your hands, right? What

do you see in your hands? Wrinkles? I have wrinkles.

But more importantly, the question I'm going to flash up

on the screen right now is that, what has God

placed in your hands? Oh, come on, you know God

has provided, right? You probably received love before. You received

opportunities that someone didn't have. Someone may have forgiven you

as well, right? That grace that God has given you,

you received it, it's actually in your hands. So perhaps

God is reminding you, not in your hands but in

your mind, maybe that someone who is needing to receive

whatever that God has placed in your hands, would you

be obedient to do so? Will you be, dare I say, generous?

Open up your hands. And allow God to use what

He's firstly placed in your hands. The resources, the grace,

the love, the provision. Maybe that somebody is in need

of just your time, your encouragement, your help. Would you

be obedient to use what God has placed in your

hands again to just Encourage that brother or that sister.

Maybe somebody needs generosity in the physical sense. Maybe they

need money. It's okay. Pray about it. Sometimes the Lord

leads you to give in that perspective. Whatever it is,

I want to flash up this thing on the screen.

Don't ask yourself whether do I have enough? the question

should be, God, what would you want me to do?

Whatever you place in my hands, what would you want

me to do with it? I think that's the more

important question. Because church, you know what? We are not

called to merely receive from a generous God which has

already given and blessed us. We are called to reflect Him.

And what does it mean by reflecting him? Taking on

his heart, what he wants to do. He's a generous God,

so we ought to be generous as well. And that

is how I want to end here and end here.

We want to be known as a church that is

generously branded. When people come in here, or even when

we go out, when... when people experience God's goodness through

us because we're generous, and that is the ultimate, I

guess the ultimate expression of us being a generous branded church.

So won't you just, you know, wherever you are, just

get extreme to also minister to us, but let's not

be dependent on what we have, just looking at the

physical needs that we have. But remember that God has

given us first. Let's remain soft. Let's remember God. Let's

be focused on others and keep remembering that He gave

first and therefore I'm able to give others.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit xchurch.org. We are also

active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this week

is going to be a good week ahead for you.

God bless.