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What Generosity Can Do
This is the third and final part in the series about generosity. In this message, Pastor Floyd speaks about what generosity can do in the world and in the church.
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In the 1600’s there was a man who lived by the name of John Bunyan. Bunyan was a preacher, but Bunyan also was the author of the classic The Pilgrim’s Progress. Bunyan made a statement in his life that still is transferred generations past. Bunyan said, “You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” I want you to think about those words, and I, I want you to write those words down, especially on your heart. Bunyan said you have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.
Question: When is the last time have you done something for someone who can never repay you? Do you realize today the power that is in generosity? Do you have any idea what generosity has the power to do for other people? That’s what I want to talk about this morning. What Generosity Can Do.
As we finalize this series on the subject of generosity, I want us to reflect for a moment and remind ourselves how we defined generosity in this series. Generosity is a lifestyle. It’s not simply an act of kindness, even though an act of kindness is good, but it’s a lifestyle. It’s much deeper than that. Listen carefully, generosity is not something you do, generosity is something that you are. Generosity is a matter of the heart, while some may have gifts of generosity in giving, all of us should learn the power of generosity. And generosity is a lifestyle that does a couple of things. It learns to give freely, without expecting anything in return. It has no strings attached to the gift whatsoever at all. And it lives openhandedly. In other words it’s not about me living my life in grip of everything, but it’s me living my life openhandedly because I realize I’m nothing more than a conduit for God.
You see when you understand God owns everything, and every blessing you have comes from God, everything good about you comes from God, everything good you have comes from God, and you understand that, it is revolutionary in your life. And you understand it’s not about living with your fists clenched, but it’s about living openhandedly. God wants you to be a conduit of the blessings of God. He did not give you what He has given you for you alone. He’s given it to you to share with others, with the priority of sharing it for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You see many of us we struggle because we have stopped up conduit. We need that to be cleansed and opened up, and it won’t be until your heart is right. There’s a little phrase right heart, open hands. Can you say that? Right heart. Open hands. We don’t to have our hands open, and we want to hold on for dear life, what that indicates is one thing: our heart’s not right. We can negotiate all we want, or try to negotiate with God. We can try to rationalize various matters of scripture. I just want to say to you today He has spoken. It is done. He has called us to be generous people, and He’s told us how to be that generous people.
So what can generosity do? Generosity can:
1. Send others. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 we learn the power of how generosity can send other people. That’s what generosity can do. I want you to look with me please to the scripture and as you’re looking to make sure that you have it turned to chapter 8 and chapter 9, please know that our church is not simply about how many people we can gather weekly. We need to know that, and we need to do our best to gather as many as possible, but the church is as much about sending people, as it is about gathering people.
If we talked more about sending them than gathering, we’d probably be a lot better off as a church. There are some marks of what it means to be a people that sent. It’s found in the scripture. I want you to look at it with me. First of all they have a
(1) Volunteer to serve. In 2 Corinthians 8:16 and 17, notice what the Bible says, “Thanks be to God who put the same diligence for you into the heart of Titus. For he, that is Titus, accepted our urging and being very diligent,” and then I want you to note this in your Bible, “he went out to you by his own choice.”
Titus was used for God. You know why Titus was used for God? Because he volunteered to serve. If you want to be used for God, you’ve got to volunteer your heart to the Lord, and volunteer your heart to the kingdom of God, and the church of Jesus Christ, and say hey I want to be, I want to be used. We can volunteer for the things of this world all we want, and maybe we should do that more, and we need to be better in helping our community, but let me tell you something, you better be volunteering for the gospel. You better be volunteering for something that, that over the long haul of life will make a difference in the lives of people. But notice the spirit, they volunteered to serve.
Have you volunteered to serve? Is the spirit of volunteerism hit your life spiritually? I want to be used. I want to serve. Titus was used for one reason; he had a heart to be used by his own choice he said I want to be used. I volunteer.
It’s the heart of Isaiah over in chapter 6, “Here am I; send me.” You do whatever you want to do with me Lord, I am yours. And then I want you to notice another mark, and that is they would:
(2) Demonstrate an evidence of God’s character and calling.
Demonstrate an evidence of God’s character and calling. What does that mean? Well you need to look at the scripture. Look at verse 18 through verse number 24. “With him we have sent the brother who is praised throughout the churches,” meaning Titus, “for his gospel ministry. And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to accompany us with the gift that is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our eagerness to help. We have taken this precaution so no one can find fault with us concerning this large sum administered by us, for we are making provision for what is honorable, not only before the Lord, but also before men. We’ve also sent with him our brother whom we have often tested in many circumstances and found diligent, and even now, more diligent because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner, and co-worker serving you. As for our brothers, they are the messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. Therefore before the churches show them the proof of your love, and of boasting about you.”
There’s something about Titus here, and the others that they were sending. They
had a character that demonstrated God’s character. And they had a calling on their lives to do it. You know the Holy Spirit’s calling every one of us to do something. He always does. And when we are willing to volunteer, we begin to hear that call even more clearly, and more profoundly in life. I want us to understand that we must develop the character of God, and to the level of us having God’s character will be to the level God so chooses to use us. To the level we have God’s character will be to the level of our calling that we have in life.
But he also said there’s another mark, and they were:
(3) Appointed by the churches. Appointed by the church. We see in verse 18, he said they were appointed by the churches. And then we see in the last verse about how they were messengers of the church. Appointed and messengers of the church. Oh dear friend it’s so important that we understand that God has called the church to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. And when the church has people in it that are willing volunteers, just Lord use me however you want to use me, that whatever we do in our church we are sent. We are appointed by the church to go and do what God has called us to do in life, even if our calling is something out there in the world of business, in the world of society, whatever it may be, we are appointed to make a difference for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I want to take this down a notch today. And I want to go deeper because I want you to see the value of this element of being sent. We send others to do, and we send others to be something, and I want to talk about that for a moment today. We send others to be workers in the church, and workers through the church. Do you realize today that that happens on a weekly basis? It happens on a weekly basis here when we send people to do the work in the church, and the work through the church. And there are people that have served the Lord. They are willing. I’ll help. I’ll do something. I, I, I’ll volunteer. And they are growing in their faith. God’s character is being grown, and the church says yes I see that, and here we want you to do this.
You see that can come on a weekly basis. It can come through a mission trip, just like all the people that just got back, and some that are still trying to get back from Africa. I mean it come through a project in our church like a blessing basket project that we do around Thanksgiving, or it can come through matters of the upcoming July 4th day that we have here in our church, or whatever the project may be in our missions all throughout the summer in our community. Whatever it may be we need to understand that, that we send others to work in the church, and we work through the church.
But also this sending element takes place in what we call ministers in our church, and other churches. Do you realize that God gives us the power to send our ministers in our church, there’s a ministry team that’s called on this campus here at Pinnacle Hills to serve alongside of your pastor to help us with the ministry of the gospel, and they are called. You need to honor them. You need to respect them. You need to try to come alongside of them, and help them when possible. They are not perfect people. They’re never going to be perfect people. It’s not about that. It’s about you honoring the office of which God has called them to serve, and that’s the office of pastor, teacher in the church.
Therefore, the whole issue is we send them. They are ministers in our church and ministers through our church. But I also think of so many ministers that God has called through our church. I think of my friend Dr. Alex Himaya over in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of our former student pastors. I mean God’s using him mightily. It’s unbelievable what God’s done. He took over a church that was trying to start again. They were going. They’re last pastor had gotten involved in some things he didn’t need to, and the church just went way down, and all of a sudden brought this new, energetic guy over. Decided to reach that city for Jesus Christ with the right theology, and I mean God has blown that thing up! It’s unbelievable what God’s done. And I mean blown it up in a great way. They’re reaching a lot of people.
I think about my friend Brad Jurkovich who just a few years ago, about 5 years ago helped plant a brand-new church in Lubbock, Texas. Today that church touches over a thousand people a week. I mean the boy is being used unbelievable for the Lord at Texas Tech University. It’s just amazing the doors God is opening for him.
I think about a young man like Brad Graves who our church has commissioned two or three years ago to go to San Diego to help plant that church in that Pagan community. I mean do you realize the lostness index of California? It’s unbelievable. Brad’s out there trying to be faithful, plugging away in the name of Jesus, for the gospel of Jesus Christ, hanging in the battle, cause it’s a battle! But thank God how God’s using him, the lives already transformed, the families that have been changed by God’s man just simply going.
I think about John Cope. What an incredible story. A young man who was our student pastor years ago at our Springdale campus. He felt led of God to go to Philadelphia, greater Philadelphia and plant a church. Our church came alongside of him. First Baptist Church of Orlando, Florida came alongside of him. The North America Mission Board came alongside of him, and I tell you what it, it right now could be, many believe, some say it is the greatest church plant ever to happen in the northeastern part of the United States by our denomination in our history. And that church today in the greater Philadelphia region is touching over 1000 people a week. An amazing story! Started the same year that Pinnacle Hills started. What a story. We’re not talking about Bible belt, we’re not talking about the buckle of the Bible belt; we’re talking about lost Philadelphia. Wow! What a great glory to God!
I think two men, two of the best ever to serve with me, and I love them dearly. I wish they were still here. My friend Jeff Young, whom God had here only a few years but the Lord now has raised him up. He’s, he’s leading the entire Prestonwood Church in Dallas, one of the largest churches in the world in their ministry of spiritual development.
And our former colleague here, Drew Tucker, who is now at one of the largest churches in the world at Belleview Church over in Memphis, Tennessee, Cordova area of Tennessee. I mean amazing story. Folks those men came through this ministry. They have the print of God upon this, upon their hearts from this ministry, our church sent them. Some of them we didn’t want to send, we didn’t want to lose them. It’s tough, but God uses them for His glory.
I think about our ministers that are right now preparing in seminary. Man you talk about a story. Chris Johnson, the boy has an unbelievable intellect. I mean you could put 3 or 4 of our staff members together and they wouldn’t have scored what he scored on the ACT. I mean he’s an incredible intellect. God’s hand is on his life. He’s been serving as the intern, the associate of Dr. Page Patterson, the president of the seminary. All that time about to walk through and get his PhD. No telling what God’s going to do with Chris.
I think about Michael Guyer, saved out of our church. Family didn’t know Christ, got saved in the student ministry, Josh, down at Springdale. Michael, I mean he didn’t know any better. His heart got so on fire for Jesus Christ he wanted to win the world for Jesus. You know what Michael Guyer wants to do when he graduates from seminary? I’ll tell you what he wants to do. He wants to go to a Muslim community and start a Muslim movement to win others Muslims to Jesus Christ. That’s his heart. He’s already done it for a summer; he wants to do it his whole life. Well that boy right there, God raised him up and put him over at Southeastern Seminary. He’s the intern to Dr. Danny Akin, who’s the President. Another one, straight to the President. I mean this is amazing.
I think about 2 young men, Matt Stewart, who was saved out of our church. I think about Drew Griffin, saved out of our church. Both called out of our church, right now serving as interns to Dr. Al Moler, who is the most profound theologian in the evangelical world today! I mean he’s unbelievably gifted. These guys are right there with him everyday. All of them, right here through this ministry, and through this church. It’s amazing.
I think of Brad Mayes, another young man, came out of our church right now serving in the same capacity for a major leading professor and leader on the entire Liberty Seminary, and Liberty Theological Seminary in Liberty University Bible Staff. I mean again, another brilliant young man through our church for the glory of God.
I think about our missionaries to the world. We send them to the world. We’ve encouraged you. We’ve been encouraging you give something over and above to the North American Missions Offering. We all need to do that. Jeana and I’ve done it. You need to do it. Please do it for the gospel.
We think about all the missionaries that our church gives a certain amount of money every year through our denomination that sends out over 5000 missionaries all across the world, in 180 countries around the world. It’s an amazing story.
And I think about laypeople that God has called into the world from our church. I mean do you realize the greatest possibility for calling takes place in this business community of Northwest Arkansas every week, and you are sent out of this church to serve in this community for the gospel every week! It doesn’t matter whether you’re doing this, working for this person, working for that person, you’re called, you’re sent, get after it, make a difference for Jesus!
And I think about the laypeople that God calls through this church, along this church. They get transferred from our church. I think about this couple today. I think about Tom and Laurie Harris. Tom and Laurie, they have four kids. They were one of the original 350 that came from Springdale to help us start at Pinnacle Hills. Laurie didn’t come up here to be preschool coordinator, but she got appointed and ordained to that part time. And she helped us start that thing when there was nothing here, when there was nothing here! And you can see what God has grown it into today. Both of these people involved as leaders on both of our campuses, and they just recently have gone back to Springdale because of their children, and all the proximity there, but now the Lord’s called them to Atlanta. Again. He’s taken a new job. God’s elevated him, given him a new opportunity. What’s the deal? Investment here. Investment there. Do you understand the power of sending?
Generosity sends. If you haven’t invested in some of those people may have not gone. If you haven’t invested their lives may have not changed. If you haven’t invested maybe they would never have been discipled to the level they were discipled. We just don’t know. But I want to tell you today; I want to tell you today generosity can send others.
But generosity can also:
2. Finish the task. The Bible talks about it over in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 11. It talks about finishing the task. He says, “But now finish the task as well that just as there was eagerness to desire it so there may also be completion from what you have in your life.” You see what happened here is you remember correctly there was a great need in Jerusalem? The church in Jerusalem was in desperate condition. They needed the Church in Corinth to come alongside of them, to give them offering for them. Paul encouraged the church in Corinth to do so. They were going to do so, and all of a sudden people started attacking Paul’s credibility. And so they got sidetracked for a period of time, and they had to chase that, chase that rabbit if you may, and Paul said, hey we chased that, ya’ll don’t know I’m credible, Jesus has said I’m credible. Ya’ll know I’m nothing more than what Jesus has put in me. You know that. You know I’ve proven myself. Now guys it’s time to get back in the battle and finish the task. You told Jerusalem you were going to send something you still haven’t sent. Now get out here and give it so we can send it!
That’s what he was telling them. We need to finish the task. You see the Corinthians got sidetracked just like we get sidetracked, and I want to make it very clear, the devil will always make sure you sidetracked from finishing various things that you start. And by the way, for whatever it’s worth, finish the task at hand, whatever it is. You know many of us we do real well out of the blocks. We do real well out of that first few minutes of racing. We have this dream, this idea, and we say boy I’m going to do this, and boy we start well, but we don’t finish well. We get discouraged, or we get sidetracked, or you know, somebody criticizes what we’re doing, or some little old diddly out here that we get all hung up on. Oh listen we need to learn to finish the task.
Teenagers listen to me if you want to set your part, if you want to set yourself apart in the business world, I’ll tell you right now how to do it. Finish what you start and you’ll go along, and you’ll go high, and you’ll go great in this world, because the vast majority of people do not finish what they start. I believe it is the distinguishing characteristic of great leaders.
Also, finish the great commission. When I saw those words finish the task I think about how we need to finish the great commission. We have a world that is in desperate need for Jesus. That’s why we have a missional vision that says reaching Northwest Arkansas, America and the World for Jesus Christ. Do you realize today every one here in this region needs to hear about Christ? You may think they know. They don’t know. Lord help us. Wake up. Open your eyes. Talk to people. This isn’t Northwest Arkansas 50 years ago. It was never that way. The devil just told you it was that way. You understand? He is really good at giving us a lullaby song that everybody’s going to be okay, and Jesus didn’t really mean business when He died on the cross. Let me tell you he did mean business, and we’ve been given the mission of the church, and that is to go to the ends of the earth beginning right here in Northwest Arkansas. We need to go where the gospel has never been before! And we need to do it in America, and we need to do it in the world. We need to finish the task.
Also we understand this about generosity; generosity can:
- 3. Motivate others. It can motivate others. In 2 Corinthians chapter 9,
would you please look at it with me, please? He talks about here, he says, “Now concerning the ministry to the saints it’s unnecessary for me to write to you, for I know your eagerness, and I brag about you to the Macedonians. Achaia which has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them, but I sent the brothers so our boasting about you in the matter would not prove empty, and so that you would be prepared just as I said. For if any Macedonian should come with me and find you unprepared, we not to mention you would be embarrassed in that situation. Therefore I consider it necessary to urge the mothers to go ahead of you, and to arrange in advance the generous gift you promised so that it will be ready as a gift, and not as an extortion.”
Do you remember while ago when I said how the Corinthians got sidetracked? You see what we not understood perhaps yet cause we haven’t taught it is this; the Corinthian Christians are the ones who motivated the Macedonian Christians to give their gift. But they Corinthians, they got sidetracked. Therefore, what happened is the Macedonians, they got a hold of it man, they said we’re going to do it, and remember Paul commended them because they gave out of their poverty. We talked about that 2 or 3 weeks ago here. And then all of a sudden he says hey now guys, they’re fired up, they’ve done something sacrificially. They’ve come alongside of Jerusalem. Now you guys have got to not only finish the task, but you’ve got to do it. You motivated them initially; now they’re hear to motivate you, so get after it. That’s what generosity can do. It can motivate other people.
He commended them in verse 2 for their enthusiasm. He said it was your zeal that started all of this. In verse 5 he challenged them give a generous blessing verses the other, which is greediness, or extortion. In chapter 9 he not only challenges the attitude of the giver, but in chapter 9 he challenges even the quality of the gift. You see, what we must understand is our gifts to the Lord need to be in response to the grace of God. And what Jesus has done for us, it should not come out of a sinful heart. If we don’t want to give to God, or give to the gospel, or give of ourselves to be used of the Lord, just to volunteer to be available to do whatever needs to. If we don’t have that heart, it’s because we’re sinful, we’re not generous people. We’ve got to get a hold of this generosity deal because it motivates others.
You see it’s contagious. I mean I don’t know about you but when somebody gives me something, it makes me want to give something. I mean when I, when I have something that blesses me, it reminds me of the joy of blessing others. I don’t know if that motivates you. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe you just old selfish Joe out here. I don’t know who you are, but you know, I don’t know.
But I’ve got a challenge for you for the week. I want you to wear what I preached on, and I would really appreciate the response to get a little better because I’m really kind of need a little help here. And so I’ve got a challenge for you this week. I mean if you want to wear this. If you don’t want to wear it, I want you to wear it cause I really think it can make a difference for God. Here’s the challenge for the week: Stir up others to be generous. That’s what generosity does. It stirs up other people to be generous! It has the power to do that. That’s what Macedonian did, and the Macedonian believers stirred up the Corinthian believers after the Corinthian believers stirred up them up initially, but didn’t finish the task! And now they’re both used as examples to stir us up to be generous people!
But generosity has the power to stir us up. Now how do we do that? How can we do that? Well let me give you an example today. Why don’t you this week somewhere just do something simple like pay for someone else’s meal? Do you realize the vast majority of you in this world eat out? You eat out quite regularly. Many of you eat out, go through take-out and you go straight home. You know Jeana and I, she’s not here today. She’s speaking in Dallas and should be home tonight. You know when Jeana says it’s time for dinner; I know now just go on and get in the car. Ya’ll don’t tell her that now. But you know what? We all go through drive-thrus. Why don’t you this week, when you go through a drive-thru why don’t you just tell the attendant hey that, that, that car back there, how much is their meal? I’m paying for it. And don’t look back there and say oh my gosh they’ve got 5 kids. No way in the world. You missed the deal! You missed the blessing! That’s greediness!
Can you imagine what would happen if even on this Spring Break Sunday when we’re still waiting for our people to come back, even the thousands of people that are here in these services, what would happen in this region if this week if we just did that one kind gesture? Just one. Just one. If we could do it more how blessed that would be. And how people would be encouraged. You say well what, what, the attendant’s going to say you’re going to do what? Ah listen, we just want to bless somebody. What am I going to tell them? Just tell them hey God just decided to bless them today. Wouldn’t that be incredible? Well I better make sure I go to, I better go to the Happy Hour at Sonic then if we’re going to do that. Well, Lord, help us. Man it doesn’t matter if you go to Chick-fil-a, wherever you go, or some wonderful sit-down dinner restaurant where you are going to go in, and you’re going to take your time, and you’re going to be there an hour and a half. That kind of stuff wears me out most of the time, but in all that then do it for the glory of God! Do it.
Give love to somebody. A lot of people need love. Some of you’d do real well to hang out with your spouse one night this week cause they haven’t seen you in forever. Give a gift to someone. Just give a gift. Hey I was thinking about you, I just wanted to give you this. People love surprise. There’s a kid in all of us. We love to receive something when we least expect it. You say well it ain’t their birthday! God help you man! Come on. I’m always amazed when some man walks and says well I didn’t give my wife anything for her birthday. I think of one word, idiot. Well she don’t care. You believe that after all these years big guy? You are like out of touch, man. She might say that, but she don’t mean it. Well she says not to remind her how she’s getting. Hey, you don’t have to remind her of anything. She feels it.
Serve someone in an unexpected way. Just serve somebody. Do something for someone else! Why should we do this? So the gospel can be confessed. That’s what Corinthians tells us. It tells us when we have generosity in our heart, that we have a confession of the gospel of Jesus Christ as a witness. It’s all about the gospel ladies and gentlemen.
I was told a story by a seminary student recently. He talked about a man that he was able to help in Raleigh Durham, North Carolina. He got concerned about a man he had been witnessing to. The man had to have surgery, and needed some initial money in order for the surgery to be done. He found out the man needed 2500 dollars to even be the beginning of the thing that was desperately needed for his life. Seminary student, who was broke, let me tell you all seminary students are broke, most of them are. I promise you. You say well I don’t even know what that means. Well that means you don’t have a lot. They’re there. They’re going to school full time, some of them pastor a little country church that might pay them $150 a week, and they’ve got 5 kids, or 3 kids, or whatever. You know mom’s working outside, or doing something. It’s, it’s, it’s a tough life. In fact if you know, if you know a seminary student, even if you don’t know them, I listed you 4 or 5, send them something! Send them $100. Send them $50. Well I can’t do that. Well I’ll just send them an old can of hominy. What? Some of you don’t even know what hominy is! I, I, I, you know the only reason I never left this church after 23 ½ years? I thought I’d have to have another church pounding, and people would pass on their cans of hominy to me! I can’t take it anymore! I’ve still got some sitting from when I got here!
The seminary took it on himself you know, he started raising money with all the rest of those seminary students that were broke. They raised that $2500. He gave that $2500 to that man. That man went and had his surgery. Long story short, that man became so impressed by the gospel of Jesus Christ that this young man not only told him about, but lived. And the man today came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He wrote to me. He said it was radical generosity that opened the door for the gospel to be shared to this man who needed Christ.
You know what radical generosity can do? I’m telling you it can motivate others. It can motivate them to come to Christ, to make a difference in their life, and do you remember, will you remember Bunyan said you have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you! Wow. What a word. A word for generations even today. Do that for someone this week, something special for someone.
I’m reminded of the radical generosity that was demonstrated on the cross of Jesus Christ. If you want to know the gospel motivation for you to become generous, if you want to know the theology of generosity, there’s one verse, that’s only one verse you’ve got to put your arms around. Do you know what it is? 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 9. It says these words, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although He was rich for your sake, He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.” He had everything, He became nothing so that what? So that you who are nothing and have nothing could become everything. That’s generosity. That’s the gospel. That’s what Christ has done for you, and Christ has done for me. And that radical generosity is what changed my life as 15-year-old boy in a radical way. May God praised for the radical generosity of the cross of Jesus Christ.
Father I pray in Jesus name today…
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