This Sermon and series based on sermon series by Nelson Searcy and the Journey Church.
The Challenge of Generosity
Slide
Good morning.
Welcome to Hickory Creek Community Church.
We are glad that you are here today. We hope that because of your being here, God would speak to you
through the message,
through the musical worship and
through His people who are part of this church.
We consider it an honor that you have come today to worship the risen Lord with us.
We would ask that you please be patient with the crowding in the parking lot and in the sanctuary.
We will be adding a second service on March 15th to help alleviate some of these crowding issues.
While we approach that time, Hickory Creek has embarked on the New Testament Challenge.
Those who have been here for the last couple of weeks, how is it going?
Have you been keeping up with your reading?
For those who may be joining us for the first time today, the New Testament Challenge is a Challenge to
1. Read through the New Testament over a 9 week period. We have a reading plan that gives us what to read each day. You can find that on our website or pick one up at the resource table.
a. Suggestion if you want to join us. Skip Matthew and Acts right now and catch up with Romans and start Mark tomorrow. Or Skip Matt, Acts and Romans (do them at the end) and start with Mark and 1 Corinthians.
2. Strive to attend each of the Sunday messages over the next 7 (more) weeks. We talk about some of the main teachings of the New Testament.
3. Allow God to speak to you through reading and teaching
4. Strive to take steps He wants you to take to grow you.
That is the Challenge. If you want to join with us, then you are welcome to come up after the service and sign a commitment card and have it put up on our wall to help you stay true to this commitment.
Transition
Today in the New Testament Challenge, we are going to talk about the Challenge of Generosity.
Slide
We have been reading in the book of Acts these past 2 weeks
This morning we are going to look at a passage in Acts 20 (p.788 in Bibles)
Slide
Here we encounter Paul and he is near the end of his second missionary journey. He is going to be heading back to Jerusalem so he calls the Ephesian elders to say farewell and to remind them of the example in life that he is leaving them.
I want to read this as we talk today about the challenge of generosity because generosity is truly a challenge. It is much more than giving money or writing a check. It really is a lifestyle, a lifestyle that Paul exemplifies.
Let’s read a bit about Paul and we will jump off from here to take a look at the whole of living a generous life.
Acts 20:17-35
17 From Miletus,(my lee tus) Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
25 "Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
32 "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ’It is more blessed to give than to receive.’"
Pray
Those words of Jesus that Paul quotes, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Do people today really believe that?
I think that we kind of believe it.
We know how great we do feel when we give and are able to help someone else, but we also like to receive and we would be hard pressed to say which is really better.
Well, Paul understood Jesus’ challenge to generosity and that it was truly better to give than receive in all areas of life.
That is what we want to take a look at this morning.
What specifically does Jesus, through the New Testament, challenge us to be generous with?
The first thing we see as Paul reminds the Ephesian elders of how he has lived and set and example for them, is that
We are challenged to be
Generous with our Time
Slide
Acts 20:18-19
"You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews.
Paul was generous with his time in serving the Lord and people.
Paul lived the whole time from the very first day he was there serving the Lord, investing his time in eternal things.
He understood a principal that each of us need to understand.
You cannot save time, but you can invest it.
You can invest your time so that it has eternal impact.
I think one of the biggest mistakes we make is not thinking about how we invest our time.
Because
if we do not make conscious decisions on how we invest our time,
if we don’t stop and say here are some areas that I want to invest time in,
it is just going to tick away with nothing to show for it other than some wrinkles and gray hair.
If you want to effectively and wisely invest your time, you need to consider 4 broad areas that we need to be investing our time in.
They are not easily dividable all the time and will sometimes overlap considerably.
They are God, Family, others and self.
If we are going to have eternal impact and find fulfillment in life, we need to invest time in each of these areas of life.
God
Your relationship with God is essential. It is this relationship that will guide you in every other area of your life. If you do not invest time here, time elsewhere will never be the best that it could.
Like any relationship, it doesn’t just happen.
It requires conscious decisions.
This is what the New Testament Challenge is all about.
It is a practical way to get us growing in our relationship with the Lord by spending time in His word.
When we are growing closer to the Lord, we will grow in wisdom, we will make better choices with the rest of our time, we will best be able to invest the rest of the time we have so that we are finding fulfillment in life and having an eternal impact rather than having nothing of eternal value to show at the end of our lives.
To be generous with your time, requires that we are first investing time with the Lord.
Family
We also need to invest time with Family
If you are married or have kids, your family is one of the primary responsibilities that you have been given.
You need to spend time with one another.
Now sometimes it is good to just be hanging out together, but you also want to be using that time to set an example for your family and to lead them so they can be generous as well.
One thing you can do that invests time with God and with your family is doing the New Testament Challenge together.
You are investing time together.
You are helping them invest their time wisely.
You are growing in your relationship with the Lord as well.
Investing time with your family glorifies the Lord and will have an impact on the eternities of your kids as you lead and guide them as the Lord leads and guides you.
Self
Self is something that we normally do not need much encouragement with, but to say that there are times that we need to rest and care for ourselves physically if we are going to be useful in the other areas we invest our time.
We need to invest time caring for ourselves so we can be effective in the other areas we are investing time.
Others
Finally, we need to generous with our time serving others.
This is probably the most challenging one for us.
So many other things are competing for our time that this is often the first to go.
When we are not serving others, we are less effective at having an eternal impact on our family, because we do not leave a great example for them to follow.
When being generous with our time serving others,
We set an example like Paul did
We help make our society a better place to live and raise a family
We impact the eternities of other people as we serve in the strength of the Lord
1 Corinthians 15:58
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
When we labor in the Lord, it is not in vain. It has eternal impact. You leave a legacy and that investment of time pays future dividends that last for eternity.
Galatians 6:9-10
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people,
Be generous with your time with the things that will have eternal significance.
Well, being generous with our time with others leads us to the next logical question of what we should actually be doing when we are being generous with our time with others.
We find that we are challenged to be
Generous with our Talents
Slide
Look at what Paul recognized his talents to be.
Acts 20:20-21, 24
20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
... 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
Paul has been gifted in preaching and teaching and he is generous in using them to the fullest. He uses his time being generous with his talents.
God has given us talents, abilities and gifts.
We can use these talents abilities and gifts in making a living.
Maybe you are a leader. You can use that in the work place.
Maybe you are talented musically. You may make a living using that talent.
But if we only use our talents and gifts for ourselves, we never find the fulfillment we are looking and longing for.
That is because God has given these to us to use for the benefit of others.
Paul tells us our Spiritual gifts are given for the benefit of all
1 Corinthians 12:7
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
In fact that very reason that God has left us here after he gives us eternal life is to use our talents and gifts to do good to others.
Ephesians 2:10
10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God has given us purpose for being here.
When we fail to use our talents and gifts to serve others, we fail to find purpose in life.
We need to be generous with our talents and gifts so our time is invested the best.
What has the Lord gifted you with?
Maybe you aren’t sure what your talents or gifts are.
Maybe you are kind of newer to the faith and haven’t really served others before.
Here is a good way to start finding out what you are good at.
Try something out.
Now as you do that, you will find the things you are not gifted at, but as you continue trying, you will find the things you are gifted at.
Give something a try.
In your bulletins today is a form listing different ministries.
If you are not serving anywhere try one out.
If you call Hickory Creek Church your home, you can serve in many places without being a member. (You do need to be a member for our teaching and leading roles and for regular upfront roles on our worship team, but there are many other areas to serve in that help others)
And realize that helping others does not necessarily mean you are always having one on one contact with someone else.
Those who serve with Mike LaMonto stacking and unstacking chairs every week, serve others. In fact they serve a lot of others!
They serve our Awana kids so they have space to meet.
They serve our TBD youth group so they can be ministered to.
They serve every person here who has found a spot to sit this morning, otherwise you would be standing or sitting on the floor.
Our parking lot attendants serve the people coming in by helping to best accommodate an overflowing parking lot so that people can come and hear a message from the word of God that can change their eternity.
Our Greeters help those new and not so new people feel welcomed and cared for as they share the love of Christ that has been poured out upon us.
Our Little Sparks nursery workers not only serve out infants and toddlers, but their parents by providing a caring place where parents can feel comfortable leaving their kids so they can best focus on the message from God’s word.
Our PowerZone teachers and helpers, are using their talents in helping lay the foundation for the next generation of the church, the body of Christ, but sharing the eternal truths of God’s word so they understand god’s love and sacrifice for them.
There are many other areas that we can be generous with our time in a way that serves other people and glorifies the Lord.
If you are not using your time and talents to serve the Lord, commit to taking a step to do that.
Pull out the card in your bulletin and check something off that you would like more information on and a ministry leader will contact you on how you can use your time and talents to serve God and others through the ministry of Hickory Creek.
Leave it in basket in the vestibule as you leave.
We want to be a help to you so you can use your time and talents purposefully so you can find that fulfillment we all long for and that Christ desires us to have.
He tells us in Mark 10:43-45 – “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Well, finally, we are challenged to be
Generous with our Treasure
Slide
Acts 20:33-35
33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ’It is more blessed to give than to receive.’"
Paul was generous with his treasure. He used what financial resources he had to provide for not only his own needs, but he provided for the needs of those who served alongside him.
He wanted to make sure the work of the Lord went on, and whatever it was going to require of him, he gave.
He understood that it really is “better to give than receive.”
He understood what Jesus meant when He talked about storing up “treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20).
He knew what Jesus meant when He said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
Many of you able to be here today because other people have been generous with their resources
Stewardship campaign
Three years ago we began a stewardship campaign that allowed us to build this worship center. People made commitments to be generous with their treasure. They committed specific amounts of money over and above what they normally gave.
Because of that generosity
more people are able to hear the message of the gospel and have their eternities changed from one where they will be separated from God forever to one where they will be with the Lord forever.
more people are able to be ministered to and helped in overcoming hurts in their lives.
many of you are able to be part of this church.
Those 3 years are going to be ending next month and those commitments are being fulfilled.
But now that we have more people, we have the need for more staff to help facilitate the ministry that occurs here, especially to our children, the next generation of the church that will carry the message of Jesus Christ forward.
Our ability to continue that mission is tied to each one of us being generous with our treasure.
So I want each of us to ask the question of ourselves, “Where is my treasure?”
Am I investing my treasure, my finances, in things that have eternal significance?
Understand that this doesn’t mean that you can’t use resources to do things you find enjoyable, like going to a show or taking a vacation or buying something for your home.
What it means is you don’t use all the resources that God gives you on those things without giving back to the Lord in recognition that He is the provider of everything you have anyway.
The Bible gives us some help in determining how to do this.
Tithing
It is called tithing.
What is a tithe?
A tithe is 10% of what you make.
And it is not just 10%, but it should be the first 10%.
In this way we are glorifying the Lord as we recognize that God has given us everything, 100% of what we have and what we make.
As we tithe we are saying, “I recognize You, Lord, as the giver of all things and I give this back to you, the first portion of what I make, trusting that you will provide for all that I need with the rest.”
Not only Old Testament
Some believe that this is only an Old Testament practice, but Jesus said that this should be basis for our giving when he was condemning the Pharisees as hypocrites.
Matthew 23:23
23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Now some of you may be sitting here thinking 10%?
That is not possible.
I know when I first heard about tithing when I became a Christian at 27 that it seemed impossible. How could I give 10% of what I make when it seemed I could barely live using everything I was earning?
But as I began reading more about how God wanted me to live,
Not for the things of the world, but for Him.
Not storing up treasure on earth that so easily disappears as we have seen with the stock market this past year, but storing up treasure in heaven,
I began taking steps toward tithing.
I want to tell you that as I have given, God has always provided for me and my family.
I have found the Scripture in Malachi to be true
Malachi 3:8, 10
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, ’How do we rob you?’
"In tithes and offerings…10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
While we will teach this as a church and while I personally believe in this, this is something you need to do in response to God, not in response to me.
2 Corinthians 9:7-8
7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Conclusion
Generosity - We desire to be generous, but it remains a challenge.
If we are not as generous as we would like, or better yet, as God would like us to be, then commit today to take just take a small step toward that.
Commit to using your time and talents to serve the Lord and others by filling out a card seeking more info to serve in a ministry.
Commit to being more generous with your treasure by tithing or taking a step toward tithing so you can be storing up treasure in heaven where it will have eternal significance
We are going to close in a song this morning. (Worship team come up)
We are going to sing Surrender.
Make this your prayer this morning asking God for the strength to surrender ourselves to the perfect will of God.
It is my hope that as we all do that, that we will be able to say along with Paul as he approached the end of his life, what he said to Timothy in
2 Timothy 4:7-8 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day.
