Introduction:
A. This is the last sermon in our series on the AFive
Practices of Fruitful Congregations.@
B. The
ultimate goal of all of these is to be a Fruitful Congregation; a Fruitful
Congregation is one that is making disciples for Jesus Christ. That is what all of this is about!
C. This
sermon or Practice of a Fruitful Congregation is “Extravagant Generosity.”
This, at least for this preacher, gets into a topic that is hard for me to talk
about; I suppose it is mostly because some might say, “Well, he is just in it
for the money.” The reality is, if you
ask google how many times Jesus talked about money, you will find:
1. Jesus
talked about money more than He did Heaven and Hell
combined.
2. Jesus talked about money more than anything
else except
The
Kingdom of God.
3. 11 of 39 parables talk about money.
4. 1 if every 7 verses in the Gospel of Luke
talk about
money.
D. The
reality is it is a very relevant subject for then as well
As for today! I shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it, as
hard
as it is for me.
Trans. The
fact is, “Extravagant Generosity,” is about more than
money. It is about who we are as Christians. Let’s look
and see.
Prayer
Luke
21:1-4 & Rom. 12:1&2
I. A look at the Scripture:
A. The
story of the widow putting in two small copper coins is about proportionate
giving. It is about Jesus looking at how
much we give in relation to how much we have!
B. It
isn=t
about a certain percentage. The 10%
tithe concept comes from the Old Testament and is a good guideline for
proportionate giving, but should only be used as a guideline. Problems with making it literal:
1. Makes
new Christians feel like they aren=t
pleasing God if
they can=t
yet give 10%.
2. Makes
people who could give much more feel like they have
done their part.
C. One
of the best New Testament teachings on giving, I think, comes from Romans
12:1&2. It is about 100%
commitment. It is about making Christ
Lord of all of our life! It is about
Extravagant Generosity!
II. Extravagant Generosity and giving is about us:
our personal
relationship with Jesus Christ.
A. It
isn=t
about the church needing our money!
B. It
isn=t
about some legalistic system where you have to give so much to appease God!
C. It
is about:
1. Not
being at the mercy of our debtors.
2. Being
in control of our spending and not being controlled by a society that says
there is never enough.
3. Being
able to support something bigger than ourselves.
4. Being
able to make a positive difference for people in our community besides
ourselves and for our children and our children=s
children.
5. Being
able to make disciples for Jesus Christ!
6. There
is satisfaction and blessings in our heart when we are able to do that!
7. It
is about growing in our commitment to Jesus Christ!
D. We
give extravagantly because Jesus gave extravagantly to us.
1. What
we give is between us and God.
2. What
we give is one thing we can control.
3. What
we give is ultimately what we are accountable for.
Story from the book: p. 113
Part-time custodian who gives
some money to a homeless person
while taking out the trash.
AWhat they
do with the money -
- - well, they have to answer
to God about that. I just have
to answer to God about what I
do with mine.@
4. This brings me back to what I said last week.
a. There are people who will take advantage and
I tried
to give some
guidelines to avoid that last week,
which sounds a
lot like the pastor and folks in this
story.
b. These are good guidelines when you can, but
even
though I try to
not just give money, there are times
I have, usually prefacing it with please
don’t tell anyone I have given you money.
c. I guess is kind of a heart thing. When it feels
like there is no
other way to help and in your heart
it feels right to
give money, it comes back to “I
just have to
answer to what I do with mine.”
III. Extravagant Generosity is about giving freely.
A. Giving
freely: God loves a cheerful giver!
B. Giving
freely: Once we give it is no longer ours but it belongs to whoever we gave it
to; we are no longer responsible for it.
In the case of the church, it is God=s.
1. If we believe that the church is Jesus’ idea, that Jesus is the
head of the church…
2. If we believe that the church is how God wants to reach out and
make a positive difference in the world….
3. Then we should support God’s church.
a. That
means giving to the church freely and not trying to control how it is spent.
b. We
may not always agree exactly with how it is used, but like the man said, Athey
have to answer to how it is spent. We have to answer to how we spend ours.@
c. We can attend the Board Meeting and be a part
of that discussion. But
when it doesn=t go our way be big enough to support
it anyway. Not always
agreeing exactly how it is spent does not mean we
are no longer accountable to God to give! As board members, when
we are on the loosing vote, we have to be big enough to support it anyway as
well!
d. If we believe the church is God’s idea, we
have to
believe that in the big picture God will
convict
people and lead people so that by and large
the
money is spent how it should be spent in
the church
most of the time. We have to realize that by
ourselves we do not have all the answers.
Thinking
that only we can decide how the money
should be
spent is really a pretty selfish attitude
which is
exactly the opposite of AExtravagant
Generosity.@
C. Being an Extravagant Generosity Christian means
prayerfully
deciding how much God would have us give to
support the
ministry of the church. It might be a tithe. It might be
more or it might be less.
1. It
means then giving it freely as a part of our
discipleship.
2. It
means giving it regularly.
a. Which
means still supporting your church that
you
have decided to serve through, even when
you
are away on vacation or have to miss for
some
other reason.
b. It
means coming back and catching up on your
giving.
c. It
means giving that amount to the church
regularly
and only supporting extra giving
when
you can do it above what you have
committed
between you and God to give to
support
the ministry of your church.
d. It
is only through this kind of giving that
we
can consistently do the ministry of the
church.
3. When
we give this way, the church doesn’t have to
worry
about having the money to do ministry.
God
will
truly provide.
4. As
God’s people practice “Extravagant Generosity,”
the
church grows and is fruitful. The church
makes
a
positive difference in our community and world.
D. Being
an Extravagantly Generous Christian means prayerfully
consulting God with who we will help
and who we spend 100% of
our money and talents!
Conclusion:
A. As we encounter Christ at the table, do you need to come to ask
God to help you move a step closer to a tithe or to move beyond a tithe in your
giving so that people can be touched with the gospel of Christ?
B. Do you need to come to ask God to help you give more freely
without strings attached to God=s work?
C. Do you need to come and ask God to help you really be an
extravagantly generous disciple of Christ?
D. We can do all of that as we encounter Christ at the table today!
Prayer
of Confession
Service
of Communion
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