12+1 Core Values: Generosity Branded | Joel Loi

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

We hope this message will light up your day.

Generosity branded, okay? But I titled today, next stop, generosity.

Some of you might get it tomorrow. But it's actually

the last stop. It's the last stop. Generosity.

All right.

How would you rate your level of generosity? How would

you rate your level of generosity? On a scale of

1 to 10, 1 being I'm the least generous person.

10 is super generous.

Okay.

How would you rate your level of generosity? 1 to 10.

Depending on what? Well, depending on what? Oh, so got anomalies.

All right. Okay.

Kelvin, how would you rate your level of generosity? 6, 7. Ah!

Why did I do that?

Ah! Terrible.

Eddie?

No. Really?

Six, seven or so?

Around there? Okay.

Sandy? Okay, alright. Sandy's... Sandy's answer is.

Spiritual.

Saimei, Saimei, how would you rate your level of generosity? Five, okay,

all right. So, five, got six, got seven. Anyone here

feel like they are eight and nine? Then you can

pray for me also and all of us. It can

be tricky. Generosity can be tricky because I think like

what Julie said also, it depends. There's some factors involved.

It can be a bit subjective also because generosity sometimes

depends on who's asking who. To the one being generous, right,

you know, he or she might feel they are being

very generous. I'm being very generous. But to the recipient

of that very generous, actually, like, it's not much. Okay only,

okay only. So if, you know, when we read the

news and then we see like a very rich tycoon,

you know, like Jeffrey Chia, tan sweet Jeffrey Chia, you know,

gave out, I think, over one billion ringgit in his foundation,

you know, like for education and stuff like that.

Wow, we will see that. Very generous. I mean, he

could have kept it for himself, right?

So generous, so generous. Then if we see someone serving tirelessly,

you know, in church, going for missions after missions after missions,

you know, we might think that, wow, she's really generous

with her time, you know, because people take leave to

go for holiday, but she take leave for missions. Wow,

so generously serving the Lord. Correct or not?

Everyone okay?

Then we see some church partners who open up their

house for homes. You know, we become hosts. you know,

for people to come and have homes and have different meetings.

And then we were like, wow, those people are so

generous in opening up their place. So it depends on

who's asking, who's giving, who's receiving.

Wow, so subjective, you know. So much factors to consider.

Yeah, so yesterday, right, we were in a tennis tournament.

NOAA's first ever tennis tournament.

Woo! Give it up, Leva!

And yeah, it was very interesting because, you know, at

the back of my head, I was also thinking about

the message this morning. And first time for, I think,

for all of us, our family, in a tennis tournament,

a junior tennis tournament, first time. So it's interesting to

see the different pattern, you know, of the players and

the families, you know, and maybe fans, you know. Interesting,

because I noticed that there.

Are generous people. Generous people.

But the generous, only to the player they support. So

every time, right? Like, let's say, you know, I support

player A. Every time player A makes a good shot, whoa, whoa!

Good shot, good shot! You know? Then, if the player

A's opponent makes a good shot, Quiet only. So, yeah,

we realised that, hey, it can be a bit subjective.

You know, like, what happened to, like, cheering for everyone,

you know? They'll be also, like, this hard, you know?

So should cheer also. Okay, good shot, good shot, good shot.

Give to you, give to you. So we noticed that.

We noticed that. And that's what made me say what

Selena quotes as my favourite tagline. Talk about my children.

You know, we hear them before we see them. Noah, Isla,

and Maya, if you ask them who's generous, right, they

will also give a very interesting answer. Because although mummy

and daddy give so much to them, but if you

ask them who's the most generous in the family, they

will say their kongkong. Their kongkong, who comes up maybe

once a month, and when he comes up once a month,

it's like one week, one week. But in that one week, guys,

the answer no doesn't exist. Hey, make sure this recording

doesn't reach my father-in-law. I love you, dad. Really appreciate

your sacrifices for coming up all the way to KL

to support my kids. Yeah, so Kong Kong, yeah, correct

or not? Very hard for Kong Kong to say no,

you know? Everything like, Kong Kong, I want snacks. Yeah, yeah, yeah, come, come.

What snack you want? What snack you want? Like, what

snack you want? Like, Kong Kong, I want to watch, okay,

YouTube or Netflix. YouTube! YouTube!

On Netflix? Hello? Wow.

So, depends on who you ask. Then you get a

different kind of answer. Because if I ask myself, hey, Joel,

am I generous? I also think, I'm pretty generous. I

will rate myself. But then if you ask my wife,

be like, Joel, generous? Excuse me. So, there's subjectivity. But

what I know is, is that if we want an

objective answer, we see what God's Word says.

Because God's Word is always objective.

God's Word is not dependent on mood, not dependent on season,

not dependent on, you know, today got haze lah, so

generosity a bit different. No! The objective stays the same.

He's the same yesterday, today and forever.

Forever. We're going to look at Scripture this morning. Everyone okay, ah?

We're going to look at Scripture this morning and we

want to try and see how we can make generosity

not just something for head knowledge, not just something that

we read, oh, this 12 plus 1 core value is.

The final one.

But we want to see how we can apply it

in our lives, how we can make it a culture,

how we can cultivate it so that it becomes a

norm in our everyday practice.

Is that okay?

Mark chapter 12. verse 41 to 44. For the convenience

Mark 12 · chapter mention

of everyone, I put it on the screen. Mark chapter 12,

Mark 12 · chapter mention

41 to 44. Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury. Everyone

knows this portion of Scripture. Very famous, you know. We

probably read it once in our Christian walk. We probably

read it many times, you know, and different preachers have

talked about it.

Jesus sat opposite the.

Treasury, saw how the people put money into the treasury.

And many who were rich put in much.

Then, everyone say then, one poor widow came and threw

in two mites which make a quadrant. So he called

his disciples to himself and said to them, Assuredly, I

say to you that this poor widow has put in

more than all those we are given to the treasury.

For they all put in out of their abundance, but she,

out of her poverty, put in all that she had,

her whole livelihood.

God bless the reading of His Word.

So for this morning, for us to be able to

understand how we can cultivate generosity in our lives, I've

also put in three points, all in Gs, because generosity

also starts with G, not J. Generosity.

So put it all in Gs, okay? Everyone okay?

Yeah. So first G stands for gratitude. Gratitude. Someone say gratitude.

It's the attitude of gratitude. Attitude of gratitude. We just

read a portion of Scripture where after Jesus saw what

He saw, He called His disciples to come together because

it's so good to witness gratitude. It was so good,

he had to share it. He was like, yo guys, disciples, come.

Did you see that?

Did you see what happened?

Did you notice that? Did you see how the widow gave?

We got to stop here for a moment when we

read Scripture. Sometimes we read Scripture, we just glance it through,

you know. But we got to stop and examine, right?

And think, When was the last time we did something

in our lives, in our spiritual walk, in our everyday living,

that Jesus gathers all His angels because he's not here

on earth anymore, he's in heaven, gathers all his angels

and say, guys, guys, Gabriel, Michael, light, come.

Did you see what.

Simon is doing or not? Saw that or not? Saw

the way she gave or not? She rated generosity level

5 only, you know? That was like level 8 stuff.

When was the last time we did something that Jesus

had to... Guys, did you see that? When was the

last time? We have to ask ourselves that. If the

way we are generous catches the attention of our Lord

and Saviour until He gathers His disciples, we must be

doing something fantastic. And in verse 43, it shows that

Jesus telling His disciples that this poor widow put in

more than all those that gave to the treasury, correct?

In verse 43, we read that. I can tell you

1000% confidently, right? Jesus was not talking about the two mites.

She put in two mites. The rich put in, you know,

a lot. But Jesus said she gave more. He was

not talking about the two mice. He saw something else.

He noticed something else. He saw a different attitude. He

saw her attitude in her generosity.

She's so poor.

So whatever she's giving, it could be her last remaining possession,

you know. Could be the last thing that she's holding

on to to survive. And we will know that when

we read Scripture. She's probably thinking that whatever that I'm

holding on, this is all I have. I've worked for this.

I've gone through tough time for this. And in fact, right,

if you think about it, right, I deserve to keep this.

I earn this, ma.

I deserve to enjoy this. It's painful for me. Painful.

My effort, my work, painful.

But in verse 44, Jesus tells us, That she gave

all that she had and that reveals her attitude to us.

She gave all that she had. Because she sees that

whatever she has received, right? You know the kind of attitude,

you're only able to give all that you have, right?

When you have the attitude and the realisation that whatever

you have could not have been produced by your own effort.

You guys understand that? That whatever I've gained, right, it's

not my own effort. It was given and blessed by

someone else. That's why it's easy to be able to

give the attitude of gratitude. I did not work for this.

I did not deserve this. This is blessed by the Lord.

If we want to cultivate generosity, I believe one of

the first foundation is We've got to have a shift.

And that's the next slide.

We've got to have a shift in the way we think,

in the way we see things, in the way we,

you know, put things into our spirit. Look at what

I've done versus look at what God has done for me.

Because if we don't have this shift, it's going to

be very hard to have the attitude of gratitude. It's

going to be very hard to be generous because we

all want to be generous, right? Amen? Alright?

Eight of you all want to be generous.

Okay.

Hopefully, at the end of the message, more.

Alright? Because we need to have that shift. Look at

what I've done versus look at what God has done

for me. Because before we ever gave anything to God,

in the next slide, we can see before we did

anything with our lives, before we achieved anything at all,

and this is not a full list. before we even,

I don't know, got a job, while we were being

formed in our mother's womb. These are all the things

that God has promised to us. And more.

And more.

Life, love, peace, forgiveness, salvation. What do we need?

Hope?

Do you need that? Provision? Mercy?

Grace? If we have the mind shift of look at

what God has done for me, then it's easy to

be generous. It's easy to be generous. Because we know

this is not my work, not my effort, not my anything.

It's all from God. It is all because of God.

Everyone okay?

Okay. the widow could give so freely because she understood

that before she has given anything at all, she has

received everything she needed. When we realise that we first

are recipients, when we realise that we are first recipients,

recipients of everything that we saw in the slide earlier on,

when we realise we are first recipients, then generosity becomes

a response rather than a loss. Because sometimes when we

want to be generous, we want to Give our time,

our talent, our treasure.

Sometimes we feel like it's a loss, you know. Ah, sacrificing. Wah,

the word. Sacrificing. Because sacrifice is a loss, ma. Correct

or not? Sacrificing means you're losing something.

But if we have a mind shift to think that

everything that we have today is because it's given by God,

then it is a response rather than a loss. You

guys catching it? Because it's no longer a... I'm losing time.

I'm losing my treasure, you know, money or whatever, possessions,

you know. I'm losing all these things. But no, it's

a response. Hey, can you make time? When God tells

you to make time, we say yes. It's a response already.

No longer a loss. 1 Chronicles 29 verse 14. 1

1 Chronicles 29:14 1 Chronicles 29:14

Chronicles 29 verse 14. But who am I? And who

are my people that we should be able to offer

so wingedly as this? This is King David saying, for

all things come from and of your own we have

given you. David is teaching us that God will merely

giving back to you whatever that you have first given

to us. Attitude of gratitude. Everyone okay? We will realise

that it's not hard being generous when all that we

have wasn't by our own effort, our own merit, but

given by God.

Generosity. Generosity. And I pray that we have the gratitude, right? Generosity, right?

May we all be like that widow. One day, when

we have the attitude shift, the attitude of gratitude, when

we have that shift, then may we, in our daily living, whatever,

that God has asked us to sow or be generous in,

we won't make it a loss but rather a response,

may we be able to catch God's attention like how

the widow did. Everyone okay? So the next time when

we have the opportunity to, may God be like, hey, hey, guys, guys,

look at Shweta. Look at the sacrifice. Hey, sacrifice. Look

at the response. Hey, hey, hey, look at Daniel, look

at Daniel. Look at the way he's giving. Look at

Chun Hong. Look at the way he's playing. Wow. May

we be able to respond in such a way with

our lives, so generously that it catches God's attention.

Amen? Everyone okay? Second G. Someone say second G.

Gaze.

Gaze.

It's hard. Actually, it's perspective. But I have to put

in G so that all of us can remember. G, gaze. Okay?

You can put in brackets, perspective.

Alright?

You probably experienced this in your life, you know.

One way or another, whether dating, in love, you know,

like someone, admire someone, you know, okay? Yeah, those who

experienced before, don't raise your hands. You know, that when you.

Fall in love, like someone, you know, that's a personality,

you know, that catches your attention, that you admire, that

you're really like, they really, you know, there's Cantonese, Cantonese

translated to English, it's very, I don't know, very, mesmerized,

very mesmerized. Wow, okay. You know, because when you first

meet that special someone, you'll be like, yo, that person,

so quiet, you know, so quiet. Doesn't say much. So cute,

you know, so cute. You know, my former one, always

talk so much, you know. But this one, so quiet,

so quiet. So mysterious, you know. So quiet, so quiet.

You know, it's a That kind of mesmerised, you know.

Then after, you know, get to know the person already,

after some time passed, and maybe get married even, you know,

after dated for, you know, some time and get married,

then Sayyid like, I don't know why.

The fella so quiet lah. All the time.

So quiet.

Can't communicate, you know. I'm waiting for a response.

And he's like, why so mysterious?

Give an answer lah. Yes or no? Haiyaa. You know?

Then, you know, before, you know, going steady, it's like, ooh.

This person is so outgoing, you know? So outgoing, so adventurous,

you know? Always like, dare to do everything. Then after

get together, I don't know why she's going out every day. Why?

Can't stand it. I love how she's so friendly with everyone,

you know? Such a friendly person. Aiyo, I... Love that character.

Love the attitude. Her heart loves everybody. So nice. After

getting married, I don't know why she hang out with everyone.

Never make time for me. What is this, man? Friend

with everyone. Friend me. Now, maybe all of you never

experienced that before. But did the person change?

No. The person didn't change.

Quiet.

Outgoing. Outgoing. What happened?

The change was the perspective. The perspective changed. The gaze changed.

Verse 41. Verse 41. You know, we're still in that

portion of Scripture where it's the widow. Verse 41 tells

us that Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how

the people gave.

Think about this for a moment. Jesus sat.

Across the temple treasury and saw how the people gave. Now,

for all of you, you know, Sunday school alumni, you know,

graduate from Sunday school one, how many years of ministry

Jesus had? Three. Three. He lived until 33. So he

only had three years of ministry. Because after that, he

had to go to the Sunday school alumni.

Gross. Alright.

So, if Jesus you are Jesus, which we are not,

if we are Jesus and we know we only got

three years before we go to the cross, would you

make time to sit at the temple treasury and see

how people give to the treasury? Would you? You have

so little time. Only three years of ministry, you know.

Only three years of ministry. Why?

Have you ever wondered?

Have you ever asked, why is this part of Jesus'

life so important, He had to pause and sit across

the temple treasury and see how people give? Have you

all thought about that? Because the only reason I can

think of is that it's got to be super important, right?

There's got to be some lesson that we can learn

from this.

Correct or not? Yeah?

So, the next question that I could think of was, then,

if that moment is so important that Jesus had to

take time off His three years of ministry before He

goes to the cross, then the next question is, is

it because Jesus wanted to know how much people were giving?

Because right, Jesus would know already. Correct or not?

He would already know. He's like God, you know.

In human form, he'll be like, 15 ringgit, 75, 597.

You know, like he already know. Correct or not? He know.

It's not like, oh, I wonder. Ah, so hard to read.

You know, it's not. He knows.

He knows.

Right? Right? He knows. So right, if he knows how

much the people are giving, if this was so important

he had to sit across the temple treasury, spend time

looking at how people are giving, then the question that

all of us have to ask is, why? What is

the lesson here? What is the lesson here? I need

a volunteer. Matthew, come. Come. Come. So come, let's sit here.

Let's sit here. Temple treasury, okay? So we're sitting at

the temple looking at people putting, all right? If Jesus know,

then what do you think he's teaching us? Okay? All right? Yeah.

So let's sit here. Can you imagine, all right? You

want to be Jesus or you want to be... You

be Jesus. But of course, right? So spiritual.

So, all right. So Jesus.

You're looking at the temple treasury, seeing how people give. Alright?

That guy, he only gave RM5. Is that what you're

seeing though? I'll be like, hey, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Do

you know how much anyone's giving? Yeah. Then why are

you sitting here? I'm looking at their hearts. Alright, we

can close in prayer. Thank you, man. Let's appreciate Matthew.

Looking at the hearts. See, that's why you go to ex-kids.

He's looking at people, looking at the hearts. He's looking

at people putting into the treasury. Different amounts, different people,

different background, different intentions, different things going on in their mind.

But all of them are doing the same thing. Same thing.

Not everyone is doing different thing. Everyone is doing the

same thing. Putting something into the temple treasury. He's gazing

at the people. He's looking at the people. But he's

not seeing the same thing that we are seeing. You

want to be generous this morning and for the rest

of your life?

Fix.

Your perspective. Fix your gaze. Because what Jesus was seeing

at the temple treasury, He was seeing not what people

were putting. He was seeing what people were not putting.

It's different. He's not seeing what people were putting in.

He was seeing what people were holding back. What people

were not putting in to the temple treasury. generosity doesn't

look the same. Look to your neighbour and say, generosity

doesn't always look the same. Because before you continue listening

to this message and thinking that all Joel is talking

about is money. No, it's not. Generosity is not just

about money. Time, talent, treasure.

What can you give?

Encouragement?

If the only thing that you can give today is encouragement,

then be encouraging.

What can you do? I can't do anything. I feel

I got no skill. But I have a house. Open

up your house. Actually, the only thing I can do

is I can do very good crafts. Then do your crafts.

You never know who you can bless. Actually, I don't

know what I can do. I feel that my only

real talent is cook food. I'm like, hey, cook food.

Bless people with food. Bless me with food, you know.

Yeah.

I'm too blessed. Ah. But yeah, you all catch what

I'm saying? I'm not talking just about money. Jesus is

not looking at just the money. He's looking at what

people were holding back from putting into the treasury. Jesus

was looking at what they were holding back. Generosity is

not about what you have. It's about what you are

willing to release. Generosity is not about what you have,

but about what you are willing to release. Jesus at

the temple treasury, Three years more to the cross, he

was looking at what people were releasing. When he looked

at the widow, putting two mites. You know what was

he seeing? You know what his perspective was? You know

what his gaze caught? He saw trust.

It's not two mites.

He saw trust. When he saw the rich people put

in money, bags of it, maybe even.

You know what he saw? Convenience.

Ease the conscience. So the question that we gotta ask

ourselves this morning is that when Jesus sees the way

we are being generous with our lives, what are we releasing?

What are we releasing? What are we holding back? Is

it just that or is it trust? Is it, God,

I need you. God, I still believe in you. God,

I'm blessing someone because you have blessed me so much.

That's why I'm only giving back this small portion. Are

we doing okay? Luke chapter 10, 25 to 37. We

Luke 10 · chapter mention

read about this portion of Scripture, about the Good Samaritan. Yeah?

Everyone has read this before. So, it's going to be

up there on the screen.

So, then.

A certain man went from Jerusalem to Jericho, got robbed,

left him half dead. A priest walks by, a Levite...

Sounds like a joke, ah? Someone and someone walk into

a bar. No. A priest walks by, a Levite walks by.

Both did nothing. In fact, both passed by and then

went across the other side. Wah, terrible, ah, these people.

You know, and then left him just there until a

Samaritan came, saw.

Him, had compassion.

Now... Gaze, perspective, we're still talking on the second G.

Saw him, had compassion, treated him, brought him to an

inn to be taken care. Did the man that got

robbed change? Did the road change? What was different? Perspective.

Two men saw the same guy on the road, the

Levite and the priest. But the perspective was different from

the Samaritan. The perspective, two men probably saw, oh, so inconvenient.

I'm rushing for something, you know. I got more important

things to do. How many of us are like that

sometimes in our lives? Called to serve, called to give something,

called to do something. I got no time, Lord.

How?

I got more important things to do. Can't make it

for prayer service, you know. Tuesday night is my only

free night. Only free night to pray to the Lord.

I pray you make it free to pray to the Lord.

Wherever you are. Wherever you are. If it's not at

prayer service, I hope it's somewhere.

Yeah?

Deeper, deeper go about that. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Two men

saw the problem. One man saw a need. Two men

saw a problem. The Samaritan saw a need. How do

we cultivate the culture of generosity, friends? You see it

from God's perspective. You see it from the perspective of

the need. Because sometimes, you know, to ease our conscience,

to make ourselves like, oh, I've done it in my

checklist today. Do good, check, you know. Sometimes we think

that everyone just needs money, you know.

No.

Sometimes people just need time. Sometimes people just need a friend.

Sometimes people just need, I don't know, food. Sometimes that's

all people need, you know. Not everyone needs your charity

in the sense of money. Please, look at situations around us.

The perspective of God and the perspective.

Of the need.

Bill Wilson. Ministry called Metro World Child. Some of us

here know about this ministry. Recognised as the largest Sunday

school system in Christian history. Until today, today ah, still

active ah, reaches over 1.7 million children weekly. 1.7 million

children weekly across the globe. Bill Wilson and his ministry

teaches us that ministry and purpose must be driven by

the need.

You know why?

Because when he was a young boy, he was abandoned

by his mother. Left for three days, I believe. people,

so many people walked past him, you know. Like the

parable that we just read, so many people walked past him.

But one man saw the need. Saw the need. Picked

him up and then met his need. And from that

point onwards, it became a turning point for Bill Wilson.

He told himself, I don't want anyone to experience what

I experienced as a child. And he started Metro World

Ministries Metro World Child.

Amen? Emotions change.

Situations change. The need, the need remains. That's what Bill

Wilson teaches us. What are we willing to release generously today?

What are we willing to release? No money, it's okay.

You have time, you have skill, you can cook, you

have encouragement. You have an ear to listen. You have

a testimony to share. Someone has testimony, you know, God

bless you, you know, new job. Don't want to share lah.

God bless you, you know.

Share lah.

You never know someone might be encouraged by it. You know,

you never know. You got two hands. Some people don't

even have two hands. You know, you got legs that

can walk. Some of us can't. What you have, switch

your perspective. Switch your perspective. And see what you can release.

Because once you can understand the perspective from God, He

can help you become generous. Amen?

Do you want to be generous? Alright.

Oh, more voices. Okay. When you get the attitude right,

you get the perspective right, what comes next? What do

you think comes next? The intention. There must be intention.

Correct or not? Can't be generous if you don't do

anything about it, you know?

Can't have the attitude. I have generous attitude, but then

you don't do anything about it. Correct or not?

Huh?

I have generous perspective, but I don't do anything about it. Hello!

Generosity must have an intention one. Must have action.

Everyone okay? Third G. Give. Give.

Intention. The widow had intention to give. Everyone still doing okay?

The widow had intention to give. She didn't accidentally end

up at the temple. You all know or not? The

widow didn't.

Like, ah, ah, ah. You know, like, I actually go

market one. Ah, ah, ah. You know, bicycle knock her. Ah, ah.

What am I doing at the temple? You know? And

then suddenly, like, eh. You know, like one kid hit

her purse. Ping.

You know, and then two mice flew out of the purse.

Enter into the treasury. Like, oh, I guess I give

to the Lord. It's not accident, you know. Generosity is

not accident, you know. It has to be intentional. Someone

say intentional. You got to give intentionally. The widow woke up.

She got dressed. She probably walked many kilometers.

Back then, no. Hello, I think I call grab lah.

You know. Hello, where's my horse? You know, don't have,

you know. Last time, walk lah.

Really, she's poor. You can't expect her to have mode

of transportation, you know. So she probably walked very far.

And then when she reached the temple treasury, can you

imagine while walking the whole way? I trust the Lord.

All I have.

Still going to trust Him. Still going to trust Him.

Probably other voices in her head, you know, sure or not,

sure or not. After you give this, you cannot buy

chicken rice already, you know. No money for your kids.

Everyone going to think about chicken rice now. Speaker mistake,

you know. And then after that, you know how sometimes

pastors preach and then they talk about KFC and then

all we're thinking about is KFC. Yeah.

Oh, now you're all thinking about KFC. Ah. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

Reverse. So then after that, she's walking. Probably voices in

her head. Are you sure you want to give? This

is all you have. This is all you have. How

are you going to survive?

Intention.

No, no, no. I trust God. No, no, no. I

need to give.

I need to give.

Attitude. Attitude.

Of gratitude.

It's because He.

Gave me first.

He blessed me with everything I have. I have to

give back to Him. This is, this is my intention

to show the Lord that I still need Him. I still,

I'm who I am today because of His blessing.

Intention.

And then she gave. That's why Jesus sat there, saw,

you think what Jesus just saw, that few steps to

the temple treasury. He saw her heart from home already.

He saw her heart from the moment she woke up.

He knew already. He knew her attitude was right. He

knew her perspective was right. How many of us here

woke up this morning with that kind of attitude? With

that kind of perspective? When it comes to being generous.

Have intention. Give. Not accident. You don't accidentally serve God.

You don't accidentally go for missions.

It's not an.

Occasional moment emotionally that causes someone to be generous as well.

We got to change our thinking as well that the

decision to give is.

Every single day.

So in a sense that what we're saying is that

don't just, God, please give me an opportunity. Like, no, no, no, no.

Opportunity is there. God, tell me who, tell me where,

tell me how. I will give generously. Time, talent, treasure.

I'll be generous. I want to be intentional as well.

Pastor Kenneth, you know, has mentioned this many times, you know,

in his sermon, in his teaching. When nobody gives, nobody gets.

When everyone gives, everyone gets. And when we look at Scripture,

when we look at God's Word, who's the best example

on generosity? John chapter 3. Verse 16. And all of

John 3 · chapter mention

us know this scripture. Some of us can even say it,

you know, by heart, memorize it already, you know, all

the Sunday school alumni. For God so loved the world

that He... God so loved the world, He gave His only.

His only means His all. His all.

After that, nothing really. All mah.

His only son. And if that doesn't mean generous giving,

I don't know what else lah. Giving our all. When

was the last time we gave our all? I know

that some of us give our all to our work.

You know, project, boss, colleagues, clients.

Sure, sure, sure.

No problem, no problem, no problem. Do we show, show, show,

no problem, no problem to God also? Some of us

do that with our families. Our families, our all. YouTube

or Netflix. You know, we'll give our all to our families.

We love it. You know, we love them. We'll sacrifice

anything for them. But how about God? How about His kingdom? Yes,

you treat your children that way. How about other children?

How about other families? How about other communities that need

that encouragement, that need that helping hand? Are we generous

to everyone around us? Are we generous with our all?

Because we don't want to give spare, okay? If generosity

is about giving, then giving is about what's right and

not what's left. We want to give what's right. We

don't just want to give what's left, what's spare, what's changed,

what's balanced. After we give everything, we give our best

to our colleagues, we give our best to our work,

we give our best to our family, we give our

best to our friends. I got 15% energy left. I

think I can give that to God. Yeah?

Everyone doing okay?

Yeah? Yeah? It's a lesson for me as well, okay?

Like I said, you know, I read my generosity here,

my wife reads differently, you know, so we'll all work

in progress, amen? We'll all work in progress, but we

can get there. We can get there. That's the good news.

We can get there. If we get our attitude right,

if we get our perspective right, we can get there.

Amen?

Amen. Alright. It's about giving what's right and not what's left.

In 1949, A man named Bob Pierce, a Baptist minister

and a relief worker. Baptist minister and a relief worker

was in a series of evangelical rallies in China. This

was during the China Civil Wars, all right? In 1949,

he went there, helped evangelical rallies. Wow, crazy, right? And

in one particular trip, he was introduced, one of the

locals brought him, introduced him to this girl's school, all right,

this somewhere in China, brought him to this school. And

in that school, while he's meeting different people, all the

children doing his ministry, one girl was brought to him.

She was a little girl. She was battered. and she's

been abandoned. He looked at her situation, and he wanted

to help. But Bob had a problem. He didn't have much.

In fact, in his pocket, he only had $ 5. He

only had $ 5. So, what did Bob do? What do

you think Bob did? Bob gave. Bob gave because he

had gratitude. Attitude of gratitude. Bob knew what he had,

whether it's the ministry, whether it's the money, everything comes

from God. What he had, he knew it wasn't his.

And Bob also had the perspective, right? Because it's not

about the $ 5, but it's about what I'm releasing. to

this girl. It's about what God is going to release

to this girl through me as well. So Bob got

it right.

And then last, Bob had the intention.

Bob gave. It's not accident, the $ 5 I dropped from

his pocket. No, he gave to the girl. So, Bob

was generous. He gave it to the girl. And not

only that, he agreed to send the same amount each month.

to the girl, to help the community take care of

the child. Five dollars doesn't sound like much to you

and I. But that particular moment changed Bob Pierce forever.

He couldn't stop thinking about the needs of vulnerable children.

A year later, while he was sent to cover the

Korean War, you know, all the casualties, he saw thousands

of children, orphans, By the conflict, he was deeply moved

by the wartime poverty and human suffering that he witnessed.

A journalist interviewed Bob Pierce and wrote that Bob Pierce

is a man that functions from a broken heart. Because

his heart kept getting broken by what he sees. What

began with one man, one child and five dollars, eventually

became a global movement today that has impacted hundreds of

millions of vulnerable children. Today, we know it as World Vision.

Bob Pierce, 1949. Five dollars. One little Chinese girl. Friends,

the opportunities are there for us to catch a generous spirit.

how are we responding? How are we responding? Because Bob,

when he was approached by this situation, he gave what's right.

He didn't give what's left. Because what's left, if he

keeps thinking about it, zero, nothing. But if we think

about it, our friends, if we think about it, we

all came from nothing, you know. And if it's not

for God, right, we will head towards nothing as well.

It's so important for us to catch this thought because

who are we if it's not for God? Where will

we be? What will we do? How much will we

be able to achieve if it's not for God? Give

what's right. not what's left. Can I invite all of

us to stand? We're going to close. We've got one

last portion of Scripture. And I think that even when

I was preparing this message, I kept thinking, you know, God,

you know, generosity is such a familiar topic to so

many of us. There are even NGOs that talk about it.

There are even NGOs that are more, I don't know,

better at doing it than us Christians sometimes. What can

you tell us, God? I know we read, you know,

about the widow with two mites. I know there's the

three Gs, you know, and stuff like that. And then

God just led me to this portion of Scriptures Psalm

Psalms 34:8

34 verse 8. Psalm 34 verse 8. So if we

Psalms 34:8

are standing here this morning in church, maybe generosity is

not a familiar thing to you. Maybe we are really

challenged by this topic Maybe we have so many questions,

so many perspectives, so many thoughts. Maybe our upbringing about

generosity is different. Let's put all those aside. Let's see

what God has to say. Let's see what Scripture has

to say. Upbringing is different from kingdom living. What the

world says and what God says is two totally different things.

Let's see what God says. If you're still challenged, by

this topic, generosity, how, how, how, how do I cultivate it?

How do I make it part of my system? How?

Psalm 34 verse 8, O taste and see that the

Psalms 34:8

Lord is blessed is the man who trusts in Him.

Fear the Lord, you His saints. There is no want

to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and

suffer hunger. But those who seek the Lord shall not

shall not lack any good thing.

Generosity. Generosity.

You know, there's a famous saying that goes that you

can't love until you've been loved. You can't give someone

encouragement until you yourself has received encouragement. if we liken

our lives like a bank, right, we can only give

what has been deposited. So as we stand here this

morning looking at this scripture, can I ask all of us,

I'm asking myself as well, when have we truly tasted

and seen that the Lord is good? If you've never

tasted and seen God's generosity in your life, friends, then

it's going to be so hard for all of us

to be generous. Because you've got to taste it, you've

got to see it, then you're able to do that

to someone today, tomorrow, for the rest of your life.

We need to experience God's generosity this morning. We can't

talk about peace until we've felt peace. Can't talk about

love until we feel love. We can't be generous until

we've tasted and seen. Because Here in Scripture, once we've

tasted and seen, what does it say?

We are blessed. We will not have want.

We will have all we need. And it ends with

those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Wow.

You want good thing or not? I want good things.

We won't lack it if we tasted and seen that

the Lord is good.

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

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

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is going to be a good week ahead for you.

God bless.