The Choice - Be Generous

Good morning.

And what a great worship time.

I think that's going to keep flowing all the way through what uh we're going to talk about this morning.

Well, welcome if it's your first time here.

Hope you can tell that you can just relax and and be yourself.

We're glad you're here.

If you have any questions about anything, you can probably ask anyone, but uh for sure at the infodesk where uh the main place we come in, uh they will know.

Well, the fall's uh quickly approaching, and so is our fall session of groups and classes.

Um the Wednesday night at his hands begins the first Wednesday in September and it runs every Wednesday night through the last Wednesday in October.

Um we got a lot of great, really something for everyone and child care and and everything on Wednesday nights.

And next Sunday, I'll go in a little more detail about each of those uh groups.

But we also have groups and classes that meet at other times in other places.

Uh some of those have been going on through the summer, and uh, but most of them start up again in the fall.

And we have a new one that Justin mentioned a uh a couple of weeks ago, but it's a young adults group, and it's for anyone college age up to about uh 25.

And Justin and Megan McTear are leading this group, and they are fired up.

In fact, we've been talking about it since uh January, and it's just gonna be a great time for uh young people to worship God and to be friends and to do things together.

And that's gonna be the first uh and third Tuesday of uh of every month at 7 p.m.

here in the coffee shop.

We've got a great motorcycle group.

We've got a lot of uh folks that uh ride, and to me, fall is the absolute best time to uh ride a motorcycle.

And it's a great group of people.

They meet the first um Sunday of every month, and so uh join them.

We've got a singles 30 plus uh group, which is a great group and a great way to meet friends.

We've got a mom's rock group.

If you don't have young kids, you might not have ever gone back into the kids area, but God's blessed us with just a phenomenal area um for kids, including a tree of life uh playhouse, and and uh and that's where the mom's rock group meets, and there's uh child care for the little ones, and the kids play and and uh and the moms get together.

That's a great group.

It meets the first and third Fridays at uh at 10 a.m.

And again, that'll start in September.

We've got a jail and prison ministry that Bruce Nelson uh leads.

Uh it is uh it's amazing how many times God gets a hold of someone in jail, you know?

And um have parents come and they'll be you know just distraught because perhaps their child is going to jail for a time.

But it's it's easy for me to be encouraging because I just see over and over that that is just a place that God reaches to people and changes their whole lives.

And so our group gets to be a part of that, and if that's something you'd be interested in, uh please talk to Bruce.

We have an un-home group, and uh they meet out at restaurants and they do other special things and and uh a Bible study, but they're they're the un-home group because they they meet at restaurants and different restaurants.

Um I think it's uh every other Tuesday at 7 p.m.

And if you get one of these that are probably out at the I'm sure are out at the infodesk, they've got uh email addresses and how to how to contact contact each of the groups.

Um Betty Hayden leads uh a Daddy's Girl Bible study in her home in Marietta.

There's a great outdoors group which uh has events every month all through the year.

Um that's a great way to to meet friends.

This Saturday, they've got a float trip uh which will be a lot of fun.

And you can sign up for that at the infodesk there and uh cook lunch, I think, uh afterwards.

It starts at 11 this Saturday.

And if you've got an inner tube and a life jacket, it's free.

Um otherwise, there's a small cost to rent that stuff.

Um, and you just need to sign up so uh John or whomever knows knows uh how many to set up for.

It's a great outdoors group.

And then just kind of affiliated groups.

Uh we've got uh Boy Scouts uh Troop 6410 that's uh gonna begin to meet here and and um Cub Scouts Pack 6410.

Great groups of uh of young people.

And they meet here at on Tuesday nights at uh 7.

And so um, man, think if you're not in one of those groups, you know.

I talk to people all the time, they're like, boy, I just need better friends.

And we talked about friends when we're talking about choices.

And this is such an easy, fun way to uh to make great friends that'll last your whole life.

So take advantage of that.

Um let's pray.

So, Father, we just praise you.

Thank you for being such a good God and being our daddy father, our Abba Father.

And uh it's so great just to praise you uh this morning.

And Holy Spirit, we just thank you for being our teacher and our counselor, and please teach each of us that we would leave, every one of us, that we would leave with something in our hearts that we felt that we knew came from you and was especially uh for us.

And uh Jesus, we just praise you.

Thank you for being a friend of sinners like us.

We just praise you for that.

And it's in your name we pray.

Amen.

So over the summer, we've been looking at a small book of God's wisdom that we call the book of Proverbs.

I've been saying it's uh only 25 pages long in my Bible.

You know, I just got a new Bible.

For some reason, about every three years now, I just have this great desire to buy a Bible with larger print.

And so in my new Bible, it's actually 34 pages long, um, which shows how big a step I had to make.

But uh, but either way, it's a pretty small book, but it's just packed with practical, everyday truth about how to live a good life.

And um, you know, personally, I'm pretty sensitive to hype in general, and especially hype in the Christian world.

And to say things like the principles in Proverbs can help us have a long life, riches, honor, and happiness.

That's pretty aggressive.

But it's not hype.

It is word for word what Proverbs says.

In Proverbs 3, it says, Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding.

For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold.

Wisdom is more precious than rubies.

Nothing you desire can compare with her.

She offers you long life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left.

She will guide you down delightful paths, all her ways are satisfying.

Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her.

Happy are those who hold her tightly.

And what we've been talking about most weeks is the stark difference, you know, the contrast between prevailing wisdom and God's wisdom.

You know, that's why we have to study it.

That's why we have to trust God that he's right.

That's why we have to ask God to supernaturally give us more of his wisdom.

And then we have to ask him to help us walk it out.

You know, even if we choose it, we have to have him help us to walk it out every day in our lives.

But we do have to choose it.

We have to decide that we're gonna do things God's way.

And so we've made some great choices.

We've chosen to seek God's wisdom, we've uh chosen to work hard, we've chosen our words carefully, we've decided to choose our friends, choose self-control, choose to do good, to choose a great marriage.

And last week we chose to control our anger.

And today's choice is definitely counterculture.

Maybe the one that's most dramatically in contrast to prevailing wisdom.

It's a different way of thinking, it's a different way of living, but it is God's way and it is God's wisdom.

In Proverbs 11, 24 and 25 it says, Give freely and become more wealthy.

Be stingy and lose everything.

The generous will prosper.

Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

Honor the Lord, Proverbs 3 says, Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.

Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.

Proverbs 22, 9 says, Blessed are those who are generous.

Or really, blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.

Proverbs 19 says, If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord, and he will repay you.

Proverbs 21, 26 says, Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give.

So today the choice will be to be generous.

I really struggled this week uh working on what I wanted to share this morning.

And I was surprised by that because I love this topic, and uh it's meant a lot to me over the years, and so I was expecting it to be easy, but it hasn't been.

You know, it's it's a big topic as uh as we will see.

But living a generous life brings so much joy, it helps so many people, it expands our hearts, it expands our lives, it expands our experiences, it affects our relationships, it affects our physical health, it affects our emotional health, and it's what it looks like to be created in the image of God.

Generosity greatly enhances our ability to hear God, our ability to feel God and experience Him.

Because it puts us in harmony with God, you know, in harmony with His heart and with His purposes.

And so my frustration is that I just can't explain it right.

It is too great of a topic.

Uh it's truly a life-changing part of God's wisdom.

If we can trust God enough to go for it.

Thankfully, the Holy Spirit uh will help us.

He will uh He will have to.

Now, part of the problem when we talk about this about generosity and giving and that type of stuff is that Christians have just screwed it up, um, mostly publicly.

I mean, privately followers of Jesus quietly help more people in this world than all governments in the world combined.

But publicly, greedy preachers and greedy Christians have twisted the relationship between our lives and between God and between giving and and and generosity.

And that doesn't surprise God.

He's not caught off guard by that.

It was only a couple thousand years ago that Jesus was kicking the money changers out of God's temple.

And it wasn't long after that that greed had infiltrated Christianity.

In 2 Corinthians 2, this is Paul talking, he says, unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.

On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity as those sent from God.

Now, personally, if I never see another preacher on TV begging for money, or even someone on Sunday morning every Sunday twisting arms for money, I'll be happy.

And I know God will be even happier.

And so I say that because hopefully we can set that aside.

Whatever we've experienced, whatever we've uh observed, and listen for God's truth, because God's truth on the topic is really exciting.

And to understand generosity, we first just have to understand God.

You know, it's what Susan was talking about uh this morning.

It's so cool how God does that, or the Holy Spirit specifically.

Last night she told me what she was going to share before the Lord's Supper, and it just happened to be uh exactly what we're talking about together.

Um, God's goodness, his generosity.

Um so God is love and God is generosity.

In Romans 8 it says, Since he did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else?

Jesus is generosity.

In 2 Corinthians 8, it says, You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

Now, Paul is not talking about dollar amounts rich, he's talking about an abundant rich life rich, just like Jesus talked about in John 10, where he says, The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.

My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

The Bible also says that we, each of us, are created in God's image.

And so we're only going to be truly happy at peace, in sync in our lives when generosity is a big part of our lives.

Generosity isn't just money, you know, it's uh time, it's the gifts and abilities that God gave us.

It's being generous with our praise of others, it's helping each other, and it's sharing financially when we can with each other.

God is generous.

I mean, that's such a big truth.

God is generous.

So he's not trying to take from us.

And he is not even asking us to prove our loyalty to him.

He's wanting us to be in sync with him.

He's wanting us to have the life that he purposes for us, the life he created us to live.

And when generosity is talked about in church, it's usually talked about in the context of tithing.

Um, sometimes that teaching can be uh manipulative, um, sometimes it's worse.

And so I just wanted to quickly talk about that and then we'll we'll move on.

Um, to do that, I want to read what the Old Testament uh law says about tithing.

What we're gonna read together, it's a little long, it's not too bad, is the actual law, the law of Moses.

You know, when when people say, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse and all those things that we hear.

This is the actual law.

It's in Deuteronomy 14.

And when I'm reading this, I just want us to ask ourselves the question is what is the heart of our Father?

What is his heart in tithing in the Old Testament, in giving with Jesus?

But in Deuteronomy 14 it says, You must set aside a tithe of your crops, one tenth of all the crops you harvest each year.

Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship, the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored, and eat it there in his presence.

This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds.

Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord your God.

And so when it says fear, it's not talking about being scared of God.

It's talking about, you know, a reverence, having God in his right position and right place.

So now when the Lord your God blesses you with a good harvest, the place of worship he chooses for his name to be honored might be too far for you to bring the tithe.

And if so, you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds, put the money in a pouch, and go to the place the Lord your God has chosen.

When you arrive, you may use that money to buy any kind of food you want: cattle, sheep, goats, wine, or other alcoholic drink.

Then feast there in the presence of the Lord your God, and celebrate with your household.

And do not neglect the Levites in your town, that was the priests in that day, for they will receive no allotment of land among you.

At the end of every third year, bring the entire tithe of that's your harvest and store it in the nearest town.

Give it to the Levites who will receive no allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, to the orphans and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied.

Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you work, in all your work.

And so what did they do with the tithe?

A third of it, one out of three years, they use it to support the temple and the workers there and to and the needy and impoverished around them.

Two-thirds of the time, two out of three years, they use the entire amount to go to a place and have a feast and a celebration with God and with their friends and with their families.

And how beautiful is that.

We come together and we celebrate together with our Father, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit, and we party on Sunday with each other, with our friends, with our families.

And we also help a lot of people in need, and we reach out to those around us with Jesus.

And it's our individual giving that makes that possible.

But it's not really tithing in the Old Testament way.

Because in the New Testament, it's not about the rule, it's about love and compassion and trust and hearing from God.

I believe that we can each ask God what we should give, and he will tell us.

That's what he did with Susan and I years ago.

Now he might tell us in part through principles in the Word like tithing.

See, that's it's hard for me to explain this because we're not under the old law.

And we should never say, hey, this is God's law.

Because we're under the perfect law of liberty.

The old law came in the Garden of Eden when God said, You can eat of any tree, and especially this tree of life.

I just want to be in relationship with you.

And we, represented by Adam and Eve, said, You know what?

I think we can be godly just if you tell us what's good and evil.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Just give us the rules, we'll do that.

And the entire Old Testament is to show us that that doesn't work.

Even when we know the rules, we can't do it because we need transformed hearts.

We need to stay in relationship with God.

So it's not about a rule, it's about a relationship with God and God speaking to us and working through us.

And so he can tell each of us individually, you know, and he will tell us through his word, and he will tell us through longtime principles, and he will tell us individually, and he will give us a sense about boy, I really need to do this, or how to help this person, or how to give to this cause, or how to whatever.

That's how God works.

And so it's not for me, or really anyone, to tell you how much to give.

I can share that God has continually stretched Susanai's faith in regard to giving.

Continually.

I mean, the first time we gave, it was a giant leap of faith.

And it's just been ongoing.

And it has been one of the greatest things he has ever done for us.

He's opened up to us a whole new way of thinking, a whole new way of living, not worrying, and also just experiencing tremendous satisfaction and tremendous joy.

Now, the thing is that most of what God says about generosity in the Bible is not about tithing or even uh in the Old Testament or even giving to the church in the in the New Testament.

It's talking about just how we live, how we live our everyday lives, you know, in our communities, with our families, with our friends, with our neighbors, with our employees and co-workers.

And it comes from just a heart of thankfulness and trust.

It's blessing people when we can.

It's throwing away the tip calculator at the restaurant and just rounding up at least.

It might be inviting friends for a meal.

It might be asking God to show us how we can help someone today.

It's an attitude of God's been good to me.

I want to be good to others.

It is changing the question in our lives from what is fair to what is generous.

Thank God he has never been fair with me.

But he's always been generous with me.

There's a fascinating story in the book of Luke.

Jesus is in a huge crowd, and I forget how often Jesus is surrounded by huge crowds.

I think of him walking with his His small group of disciples, but a lot of the time he has these huge crowds, you know, and they're pressing on him and they're trying to touch him and they're shouting at him all the time.

And usually someone would shout above the crowd and get Jesus' attention.

And we know some of those interactions.

It might be, Jesus, my daughter's dying.

Master, heal me.

Lord, I want to see.

And we see the compassion and the love that Jesus has as he stops everything and helps.

There's a crowd in Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other.

And then in verse 13, we'll see the interaction.

Now imagine if you are the one.

You're the one to get Jesus' attention.

You know, and thankfully, we have long stretches of time every day if we want to interact with Jesus.

But imagine if you're the one in this crowd and you've got one interaction, one question, what would you ask?

In the 13th verse, we see.

Then someone called from the crowd, Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me.

This person had a moment with Jesus.

And they wanted Jesus to make his or her brother give them some money.

Now Jesus has to answer back loudly because he's still talking to this whole crowd, which is thousands.

He's talking to this person, but to the whole crowd.

Jesus replied, Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?

Then he said, Beware, guard against every kind of greed.

Life is not measured by how much you own.

And then he told him a story.

I don't have room for all my crops.

Then he said, I know, I'll tear down my barns and big and build bigger ones.

Then I'll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods.

And I'll sit back and I'll say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come.

Now take it easy.

Eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said to him, You fool, you will die this very night.

Then who will get everything you worked for?

Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth, but not have a rich relationship with God.

In this parable, the man has been blessed by God, but all he could think about was early retirement.

That's all he could think about.

See, God wanted to bless him.

God had blessed him.

I mean, he didn't have a barn, he already had barns that were full.

And this is where he got off track because while he's thinking about building bigger barns, so he would never have to worry about what he was going to eat again, he didn't notice the people around him who didn't have anything to eat that day.

He didn't need bigger barns.

He needed a bigger heart.

Because then he could have given that extra away.

And he could have trusted God to provide for him so he would always have enough to eat, and God would have done that.

In Proverbs, we're talking about God's wisdom versus man's wisdom, or we could say man's foolishness.

And Jesus says, yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.

A rich relationship with God is acknowledging where our blessings come from.

And it's Jesus saying, you know, when you help the least of these, you're helping me.

Every time we're generous with our money or with our time or with our abilities, whether it's here, whether it's helping anyone anywhere, it's part worship.

You know, thankfulness to God, praising God.

Thank you for how you've blessed me.

It's a statement of trust.

God, I don't have enough to last me my entire life.

I doubt any of us do.

And say, you know what?

If we live to be 100, we've got enough right now, it's going to last us our entire life.

And so to give at all takes trust.

I know you are going to provide for me.

I trust you.

I trust you with that.

And it's also a statement of love to other people.

Okay, so back to our story.

Jesus is still in the middle of this big crowd.

We just left him there.

Thousands of people.

And he does something kind of cool.

He's been speaking loudly so the whole group, this big throng, can hear him.

But he doesn't shout now.

He turns to his disciples, this small group of close friends, because he really wants to share something with them.

He says then turning to his disciples, Jesus said, That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life.

Whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear?

For life is more than food and your body more than clothing.

Look at the ravens.

They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them.

And you are far more valuable to him than any birds.

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

And if worry can't accomplish a little thing like that, what's the use of worrying over big things?

Look at the lilies and how they grow.

They don't work or make their clothing.

Yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.

And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.

Why do you have so little faith?

And don't be concerned about what to eat and what to drink.

Don't worry about such things.

These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world.

But your father already knows your needs.

Seek the kingdom above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

So don't be afraid, little flock.

For it gives your father great happiness to give you the kingdom.

Sell your possessions and give to those in need.

This will store up treasures for you in heaven.

And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes.

Your treasures will be safe.

No thief can steal it, no moth can destroy it.

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

And so you see the sharp contrast between man's foolishness and God's wisdom.

The man in the story is like, you know, I'm going to store up, and so I never have to work again.

Jesus says, you know, the opposite's true.

You could actually sell some of your possessions and give that away.

And you still are never going to have to worry about eating again.

God will take care of you.

Look, He takes care of flowers, He takes care of the birds.

He loves you.

He will take care of you.

Jesus also said in Luke 6, Give and you will receive.

Your gift will return to you in full, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over and poured into your lap.

The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.

So that's a promise from Jesus.

And it's also the type of statements that create what is called a prosperity theology, where God wants everyone to be rich.

And if you just give, if we just give, God will make us rich.

And I'm not when I say it, I'm not talking about anybody in particular, but uh you know, a lot of people that get labeled things don't even teach whatever label gets uh put upon them.

But I'm just talking about that idea, that theology.

But that's not the truth.

But this is the truth.

God is a blessing, giving, generous father, but he is not wanting to make us rich.

He is asking us to take a step of faith and launch an unending cycle of generosity in our lives.

An unending cycle of generosity in our lives.

This is step by step how Paul says it works.

This is 2 Corinthians 9.

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

You must each decide in your heart how much to give.

And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure.

For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.

And God will generously provide all you need.

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

As the scriptures say, they share freely and give generously to the poor.

Their good deeds will be remembered forever.

For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat.

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

You see, it's an unending cycle.

We take a step of faith, a leap of faith, and we just give generously.

And it's addicting, it's joyful.

It's amazing.

And so then, as God keeps blessing us, we reap a harvest of what?

Jet skis.

In other words, we want to give more and more and more.

It's an unending cycle of generosity that gets released in our lives.

It says, yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.

And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

So two good things will result from the 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 believers will prove that you are obedient to the good news of Christ.

And they'll 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.

So when I read that verse last night, I actually felt a little better about struggling with what I wanted to share this morning.

Because Paul says that being generous is a gift that is too wonderful for words.

It's a gift to us.

It's too wonderful for words.

It cannot be explained.

It can only be experienced.

Remember that verse in Proverbs 3, we've read at the start of each week.

It's talking about God's wisdom, and it says that she offers you long life in her right hand.

Dr.

Stephen Post is a department head at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

It's one of the top medical and biomedical schools in the country.

And for the past 10 years, Dr.

Post has been funding projects that test how altruism, compassion, and giving affects people's lives and their well-being and health.

He sponsored more than 50 studies at 54 major universities.

And Dr.

Post says: giving is the most potent force on the planet.

It will protect you your whole life.

Doug Ullman, who's a professor at the University of California Berkeley's School of Public Health, says, for a long time, medicine has been boxed into a biomedical model.

There's a need for a broader view.

There's an ongoing process of trying to conceptualize influences on health that take into account classical virtues and spirituality.

Compassion and giving are key topics for expanding that understanding.

And so Dr.

Poston and a science journalist, Jill Neymark, wrote a book to share their research.

It's titled Why Good Things Happen to Good People.

And their findings include this is fifty studies at 54, 54 studies at 50, no, whatever.

50 studies by scientists at 50 major universities.

Their findings include generous behavior reduces depression and risk of suicide in adolescence.

Actively helping others during the teenage years promotes physical and mental health all the way through late adulthood.

Voluntarism on the part of older adults significantly reduces mortality.

Giving to others is a key element in well-being.

Praying for others reduces health difficulties among older adults.

God's wisdom holds long life in her right hand.

Three weeks ago, I had a meeting with our sales team at work.

We just had our best month ever, and I wanted to talk to them about giving.

And it was 10 or 12 people in a room.

And I believe this so deeply.

I mean, some of the team already lives this, which is why, in part, I think we had our best month ever.

But I wanted them to know that when God blesses us and we give, we put ourselves in a position for God to keep blessing us.

But more importantly, we ignite a perpetual cycle of generosity in our lives.

I also wanted them to know that the joy of giving is so much greater than the joy that we could ever experience from a possession or from a bank account.

Generosity allows us to experience God and to experience life in a rich and satisfying way.

Solomon put it this way: The generous will prosper, but those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

So today we choose to be generous.

With our time, our abilities, our money, we choose to experience the joy that only comes from giving.

We'll experience God in a deep and a satisfying way, and we'll ignite a perpetual cycle of generosity in our lives.

We'll bless more people than we would ever imagine.

In fact, only in heaven will we really know when God shows us all the good that has come from our generosity.

Today we choose to be generous.

And so if the worship team will come up, that's where we'll stop.

In fact, let's stand and we'll get ready for one more song together.

We read that verse about Jesus.

You know how Jesus is generosity himself.

There's another verse that says Jesus is the wisdom of God himself.

But Jesus is the one that gave up everything so we can have everything, so we can get back the way God always intended it, into a real relationship with God, where we experience him, where we enjoy him, where we hear from him, where we can trust him.

And it's so simple.

You know, religion makes everything so complicated.

It is so simple.

It's in our own words, in our own way.

Just connect him with Jesus, however we would say it, wherever we're at.

You know, Jesus, help me.

Jesus, save me.

Jesus, I'm sorry.

Jesus, I want to follow you.

See, following Jesus is easy because it's literally following Jesus.

He always goes first.

And then we get to do what he did with our lives, to be generous like him.

And created in the image of God, we've got a spirit, that spirit comes alive, it connects with God's spirit, and then he starts transforming us from the inside out, and he helps us with things like this.

If you've never done that, you could do that right now.

It'd be the most life-changing, greatest thing that you've ever done.

So next week, we've got one more choice, and it is the choice that I think encompasses all the other choices that we've made already.

Love you all.

I hope you all have a great week with God.

Let's pray.

Father, we just praise you and we thank you for being such a great God, for being generous.

And we do want to be like you.

Please just stir up in our hearts just generosity that your love would overflow through us into other people.

And we thank you, and we thank you for promising that you will always take care of us.

And help us to trust you with that.

God, please help each of us, whatever we're going through right now, whatever we need.

Please give each of us exactly what we need.

We praise you and we thank you in Jesus' great name.

Amen.