I want you to get a copy of the Word of God today, and I want you to look with me into 2 Corinthians chapter 9.  The 9^th chapter of the book of 2 Corinthians, and what a great, great book it is.  Now in just a moment I’m going to read from this passage.  But before I read from the passage, I want you to dial in with me, and get a grasp on the background on what is going on in this passage.  Because it will only take me a couple of minutes to give it to you.  Are you ready?

Christ-followers in the city of Jerusalem were suffering.  They were in great need.  Paul knew about the need, and Paul wrote a letter to the Church at Corinth, the Christ-followers in Corinth.  And part of that letter was to tell them you need to be generous.  And you need to help meet the need, and I want you to take up an offering, and I want you to send it to the Christ-followers in Jerusalem to try to help meet that need.

In 2 Corinthians 8, and in 2 Corinthians 9, Paul tells us that whenever the church is generous, and Christians are generous, that we demonstrate the grace of God.  And we not only demonstrate the grace of God, but we bring glory to God.  I want you to get a copy of the Word, and I want you to look with me into the 9^th chapter of the book of 2 Corinthians.

The scripture says beginning in verse 6, it says, “Remember this the person who sows sparingly will reap sparingly.” That means the person who gives of anything we have: love, care, compassion, resources, whatever it is, if you give sparingly you will reap sparingly.  “And the person who sows generously will reap generously.  Each person should do as he has decided in his heart, not out of regret or out of necessity,” listen to this, “for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able.” Man I love that statement.

“To make every grace overflow to you so that in every way always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.  As it is written, he has scattered, he has given to the poor, his righteousness (meaning God) endures forever.  Now the One,” notice that word “One” is capitalized, “Now the One who provides seed,” that’s referring to God, “who provides seed for the sower,” you are the sower.  We are the sowers, not with clothing, not with cloth, not with fabric, all right?  But with all that God has given to us.  “And bread for the food will provide,” once again the promise of provision, and, listen to this, “and multiply your seed.  And increase the harvest of your righteousness.  As you are enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us, for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but it is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God through the proof of this service,” that is the service of generosity, “through the proof of this service they will glorify God for your obedience,” listen to this, “to the confession of the gospel of Christ.  And for your generosity in sharing with them, and with others.”

I want to speak this morning on the subject of generosity.  In fact over the next four weeks together I’m going to talk about generosity.  As I have looked at 8 and 9 of Corinthians, and I have looked at other passages of the scripture, I have come up with the following, what I believe is a biblical understanding of generosity.  And I want you to get it, and I want you to wear it.  I want you to memorize it.  I want you to really get it in your heart, and in your life.

Generosity is a lifestyle that gives freely and lives openhandedly.  It’s a lifestyle.  If I had a telestrator today, I would take that telestrator and I would circle that word lifestyle.  It’s a lifestyle.  Many times we think generosity is one act.  Well, generosity is, should be a series of acts, but it becomes because of a lifestyle, and that lifestyle gives freely.

Do you know what it means to give freely? Generosity is a lifestyle that gives freely, and lives openhandedly.  Not like this, but like this.  Again giving freely without any strings attached.  Living openhandedly.  It all belongs to God.  I own nothing.  It lives openhandedly.

Now I want to notify every one of you today that the next 4 weeks will not be about financials, even though I’m going to mention it some here today.  That’s not really the purpose of the series.  The purpose of the series is to get us to understand for the next 4 weeks that generosity is a matter of the heart.

You see it appears to me that when I think about this kind of thing, and I think about doing this kind of series for 4 weeks, I think about the family, or the couple, or the individual that walks into a church, especially today, and they say, “Well is that all they ever talk about?”  Oh no, no, it’s not all I ever talk about.  If you’ll come, this is a Bible church.  We preach Genesis all the way to Revelation.  Zig Zigler says we preach all the way from Genesis to maps. We’re committed to the Word.  But part of the Word is what we’re going to talk about here for just a moment here today.

If I were a part of a Pagan world, and I was a unbeliever, let me tell you what I would expect from the church.  I would expect to look at the church and I would expect to see the church as being the most generous people on the face of the earth.  That’s what I would expect.  It would transform the lost culture of America if the church in America would be absolutely overflowing testimonies of generosity.

Sadly, that’s not the testimony of the church.  Let me illustrate.  In 2009 a national study was released that said the average church member, the average church attender gives only 2.56% of their income away.  Not just, that could be church, United Way, hospitals, colleges, you name it, you put all the Christian people that go to church, the average person that goes to church in 2009 gave only 2.56% of all they had away.  I think that is absolutely a demonstration of extreme stinginess and selfishness, and not of generosity.

It makes you wonder, I wonder if our church is any different?  You know we’re a pretty large church.  We could be a might.  Could it be that we’re an exception?  Or could it be that we’re a microcosm of this travesty?  Well I did my own little fact-finding this week.  Our church has 11,000, between both of our campuses; our church has 11,416 family units of which only 3,046 of those family units, or 26.7% of those family units gave something to our ministry budget in 2009.  Hm.  Oh my goodness.  Can I, is that really right?  That’s an extreme tragedy.

In fact let’s look at it another way to show you how devastating that is.  This means that 73.3% of our family units gave zero to our ministry budget in 2009.  The average family in Northwest Arkansas per capita income is $43,713 in 2009.  And we know that Northwest Arkansas has been blessed, and probably better off than most places in Northwest Arkansas, and we know a church like ours that reaches the kind of people we reach, and we try to reach everybody, and we do reach everyone, but I guarantee you the average of both of our campuses in per capita income is way above what that just stated.

Let me continue with not so good of news.  While grateful for the 3,046 family units that gave something to our church, one-third of those gifts were below $500 in one year.  Almost three-fourths of those gifts were below $5000 in one year.  Now the good news, there is good news.  The good news is that we had more family units give to our church in 2009 than in 2008, in the worst year of economy since the Great Depression.  That’s good news.

The good news also is that while the average realized little to no increase in giving in 2009, our church realized a 6.7% increase over the year before.  Now I’m not talking about budget year.  Budget year we didn’t, we didn’t do that well.  We were half a million dollars below where we were a year ago, a year and a half ago by now.  You follow what I’m saying?  But calendar year, January 1 to December 31 we were better off.

Now the reason I mention that is, is that while we’re grateful to God for anyone who ever gives to this ministry, whatever amount they give to this ministry, this is an obvious picture that the two campus ministry of this church is no exception at all, we are a microcosm of the tragic spiritual condition of the American church.  God help us.

You see, we must understand this morning that it is obvious, it doesn’t matter what level we are in our giving; we all need to improve in our generosity.  Now let’s go back for a moment, as we talk about generosity, I want to tell you in this first message that we’re talking about what generosity looks like.  That’s what we’re going to talk about today.  What Generosity Looks Like.

Sometime if you see what it looks like it gives you something to shoot for.  You know what I’m saying?  We, we have a lot of pictures of our grandchildren.  Imagine that.  And Jeana and I are very young to have as many grandchildren as we have.  I mean they wear me out!  But there’s a picture of Peyton and Parker, Josh’s two boys, and they’ve got another boy on the way.  That happened sometime in the early summer.  Nick’s got a little boy, so we’ve got 4 boys; we’re going to have 4 boys, and 1 little girl.  Now, there’s a picture that I looked at this morning, in fact, I got something ready to consume before I came to worship early this morning.  And as I was blending that there’s this little picture, every time I see it, it makes me laugh.  It’s a perfect picture of those boys.  I wish I had it for you to see because it’s really a funny picture.

But you know what that is?  It’s a snapshot.  That’s what snapshots do.  Snapshots give you a capsule of personality.  What we’re going to do today, we’re going to look at the Word, and we’re going to give you a snapshot of generosity.  Do you follow?  Something that personifies and shows us that generosity, it’s a matter of the heart my folks.

So let’s talk about what the Bible says about it.  Paul talked about the:

1.            Principle of Generosity.  The principle of generosity.  It’s in the scripture.  It’s very illustrative.  It’s noted there in verse 6 and verse 7, but he talks about this principle, and the principle of generosity is what?  What you sow, you reap.  That’s the principle.  Now what happens is most Christians when they hear that, they think of all, that’s the word you told those people you’re trying to influence their life for Christ that don’t know Christ, well you’re going to reap what, or what you sow, you reap.  You tell your kids that.  What you sow, you reap!  Most of them don’t know what sowing means.

Well listen, that’s not only a principle regarding sin, that’s a principle regarding generosity.  What you sow, what you give, you reap.  You give love you reap love.  You give compassion you reap compassion.  You give concern you reap concern.  Anybody here today need love?  Give love away.  Anybody here need concern?  Be concerned about somebody else.  Anybody need people in your life, you need friends?  Become a friend.

It’s very important that we understand this principle of generosity. He tells us if we, if we give a little bit of it in other words if we give a little bit of it, then that little bit shows that we’re stingy, therefore, we’re going to get very little bit back.  But if we give it generously, generously, remember what generosity is?  Generosity is giving freely and living openhandedly.  So he says here, he says if we will give a lot, we will receive a lot.  If we give generously.

Now in all this text it’s an amazing thing because he talks here about how this, this, this freedom and this openhandedness comes.  You know what it comes from?  Look at verse 7.  From a cheerful heart.  A cheerful heart.  That word cheerful there is the word hilarion in the Greek language.  It’s where we get our word hilarious in the English language.  So God says you should have a hilarious heart about being generous.  Now, wouldn’t that be amazing if every wife here today was giving to her husband with a hilarious heart?  And every man was giving to his wife in a hilarious manner?  And all of us lived hilariously in giving?  Wouldn’t life be a lot more fun?  You know why I use that word?  Because people who are generous are happy people.  They’re fulfilled people, they’re peaceful people.

Generosity is thrilling.  Generosity is incredibly powerful, and engaging.  What he says here in the scripture is that when you give freely, and you give voluntarily, and you give generously, you’re being like God.  That’s what you are.  And so if your heart is right, your hands are open.  Oh wow.  That was a quick on.  Now look here.  Look at me.  Heart right – hands open.  Heart right – hands open.  Heart right – hands open.  Remember?  Giving freely, living openhandedly.

Oh listen, heart not right – hands live like this.  Heart not right – holding on.  Ah yeah, um-hm, good, um-hm, yeah.  But notice, heart right, hands are open!  Say that with me!  Heart right – hands open!  Nah, now come on.  Can ya’ll get with this program?  Heart right – hands open.  Little bit louder.  Heart right – hands open.  I’m in charge here.  You’re going to stay until 3 o’clock saying it until you learn how to say it. Heart right – hands open.  You see when your heart’s not right, then your hands are not going to be open.

But you know what?  Everything you have comes from God.  It doesn’t matter what it is.  Kids, you might want to give your kids away sometime, but they come from God.  Your husband, your wife, your friends, all that God gives you, everything God gives you, everything God gives you, it comes from God.  And when your heart’s right, you’re not holding on.

Oh by the way, I’ve got to say this, this came to me today.  Listen to me now.  This is worth writing down.  Anything in your life you’re not willing to give away, you don’t ever need to purchase.  Whatever you purchase, you need to be willing to give away.  House.  Car.  Dog.  Not kids, except at the right time.  Are you following me?  You’ve got to live so openhandedly, whatever you have purchased you’re willing to give it away.  You say oh that’s a radical thought.  Well fine.  I think it’s biblical.  It’s the principle of generosity.

But he also talks in the scripture about the:

2.            Power of Generosity.  The power of generosity.  Wow, what an incredible text.  He talks about it here and he says first of all God is the giver, and God is able.  Excuse me, God is able.  God is able.  Think about that.  God is able. I love that statement in the scripture.  Turn it around where I can read it.  He says and God is able.  Wow!  Man, what, what, what more do we need than right there?  We can go home right now.  Well why don’t you let us go.  Because we’re not finished.  God is able.  It doesn’t matter what you’re facing today, listen to me, God is able.  It doesn’t matter what you’re up against, God is able.

And he says as you practice this generosity, remember God is able.  And what is God able to do?  He is able to make grace overflowing.  That’s what he talks about here in the text.  Notice what he says in the Bible.  He says to make every grace overflow to you.  That’s what the Bible says.  Look at the Bible.  So grace overflowing.  SO when you are able in your heart to have a right heart, and you’re living life giving freely, living openhandedly, the result of that will be one thing.  It will be you being able to have grace overflowing in your life.

Also, he says the power of generosity is needs met.  Needs met.  Needs met.  God is able.  Grace overflowing.  Needs met.  Your needs being met.  Wow.  What a powerful word about those needs being met.  Notice what he says here folks.  Listen to this.  This is incredible.  It’s amazing how strong the Bible is.  So that in every way always having everything you need.  In other words, when you are generous, God will meet your needs.  Everybody got that?

Now I just want to make this declaration today, that’s better than any economist can make you in this region.  Needs met.  That is a lot more than Washington will ever be able to promise you, it doesn’t matter what the plan is, or the stimulus package.  God’s got His own stimulus package, and it’s called generosity.  You get generous; He’ll take care of your needs.  You have a generous heart, and you give freely, and live openhandedly, God will take care of you!  He’ll meet your needs.

But not only that, notice what he says, he says that you will excel in giving.  He talks about this, it talks about it here, and he says that you will excel in every work.  Well chapter 8 and chapter 9 is talking about one good work.  You know what that good work is?  Generosity.  So you will excel in giving.

See it doesn’t matter how much you perceive yourself as being generous, or a giver, there’s always a way to improve.  We need to excel in our generosity, Paul said.  We need to be living examples of the grace of God, and we need to be living examples of people who bring glory to God because of generosity taking place in life.  The power of generosity.

So I ask you today, are you generous?  Now the, um, the prosperity boys you see on TV sometime, they would tell you this is an investment clause.  Oh no it’s not an investment clause.  Get a grip.  It’s not about it being an investment clause.  If you do this, then you’re going to do this.  No. No. No. No. No. No.  God is saying when your heart’s right, and your hands are open, and you freely give, and you live openhandedly, to the level you do that will be the level He cares for your need.

Then he talks here in the scripture about the:

3.            Provisions for Generosity.  And man what a great truth this is.  I mean this right here ought to light your fire.  Look at verse 10, he says now the One who provides the seed for the sower, this is talking about God!  You know what that means?  Here it is.  God is the giver.  God is the giver!  God is the giver!  Everybody got that?  God is the giver!  All you have God gives you!

Now, you know, I’m not saying that women don’t struggle with this because women do struggle with this, there are stingy women just like there are stingy men, but I want to tell you something about men, men are so proud, and so arrogant, sometime they’ll think to themselves or they’ll smug to themselves I’ve got what I’ve got because I’ve worked hard for it.  And I tell you what buddy, don’t you dare tell me God gave it to me.  I worked for everything I’ve got.  Dadadadadada.  You know what?  God honored your work.  But in spite of your work, and who you are, He gave you what you have.  And you’re not near as good as you think you are because God is much more gracious than any of us ever, ever deserve.

So God is the giver.  Listen to this.  God is giver of all that you’ve been given.  Talent.  Resources.  Gifts.  Money.  Stock.  Bonds.  Land.  Kids.  Grandchildren.  Prestige.  Reputation.  God gives it all ladies and gentlemen!  He gives it all.  And He says that the provision for generosity occurs because God is the giver.

But not only is God the giver because you notice what he says here, he says, the One who provides seed, but God is the multiplier.  Oh wow, what a statement.  God is not only the giver, but God is the multiplier.  Notice what he says here in the text.  He says not only will He provide you seed for the sower, in other words He can give more because He’s been generous, and bread for food, but He will provide, and He will multiply your seed.  Not only your seed that you’ve given away, but better interpreted and translated, the seed He’s given you He’s going to multiply because you’ve been faithful to be generous with the seed that He’s already given you.

So you want more seed in your life to give, learn to be a giver.  Learn to be generous.  A generous heart God is attracted to.  God gives an incredible endowment to a man, a woman, to a family, to a teenager who has a generous heart.  How generous are you?  How generous are you?

He talks here as well about God is the One to thank.  God is the One to thank.  You say well how do you get that in there?  Well, notice what he says.  He says, for this ministry to service, in verse 12, which he’s talking about generosity, in verse 11 he talks about it produces thanksgiving to God through us.  And then he says it not only produces that thanksgiving heart, it also produces overflowing acts of thanksgiving to God.  In other words, listen to this, generosity produces a thankful heart!  Are you with me today?  Kind like, say something.  I mean, generosity produces a thankful heart!

The reason some of us are not thankful, we’re not generous people!  You see, the more generous you are in your life, the more God blesses you to the level of your generosity and beyond.  And the more God does that, the more you stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, because He does things that only the Supernatural God can explain.  Because many times none of it makes any sense at all.  And you sit there, and you look, and you wonder how does this take place.  I’ll tell you why, because God loves for His people to be generous!  And when they’re generous, it produces a thankful heart!  You show me a discontented, ungrateful teenager, young adult, child, old man, middle-aged woman, and I’ll tell you what they’re about.  They’re stingy.  They live life with their hands like this, and they are not generous people!  When you are filled with generosity, you have no option in your life other than to have a thankful heart!

Since ya’ll are so overwhelmed with this, this last part really ought to get you excited as well.  That is because the gospel of Christ is confessed.  Every time you’re generous, you’re confessing Jesus is Lord.  Ah-ha.  That’s what he says right here.  You say I don’t know if I know about that.  Well read the Bible.  Through the proof of this service, this service of generosity, you’re glorifying God because of what?  Your obedience, and you’re confessing the gospel of Christ!  And your generosity is sharing with them, and with others.

In other words, we are confessing Jesus as Lord every time we have a generous heart.  We want to see more people come to Christ in the region, then the church needs to be more generous.  If we want to see the world impacted for God, then the church must wake up and be more generous!  Listen to me today, the church has incredible opportunity to be a testimony in this destitute moment in our nation, and the testimony needs to be that we are overflowing with generosity to the needs of people.  I guarantee you that man or that woman, or that family, or that single adult, or that young boy out here, or that young girl out here, when the look at the church, and they think about what the church has, and what the church ought to be doing, they might be lost and perishing, but I’ll tell you what they’re looking for, we will grab their attention, and we’ll point them to Jesus at the cross when our hearts are full of generosity.

How can they turn down a Jesus that is so powerful we’re willing to give anything, and everything we have away for His glory to confess Jesus as Lord?  Wow.  You see, really it’s all based on this whole element a moment ago about God being the giver.  I mean God is the giver.  God is the giver.  What does all that mean?  It means that He’s the giver of forgiveness of sin, and eternal life.  Think about it, God pictured for us more generosity than anyone has ever pictured before.

I’ve got two sons.  I can’t imagine giving either one of my sons for the lostness of the world so that they might know Jesus, the world would know Jesus.  I can’t imagine doing that.  I can’t imagine taking my grandsons and slaying my grandsons so that the world would know Christ, and have eternal life and forgiveness of sins.  You see there is a level of generosity that as long as we are in this human flesh we will never be able to understand.

But there is no one who is ever exercised any greater generosity than God Himself when He literally permitted His Son, not one of three sons, four sons, five sons, no, one and only Son to die so that the world would have forgiveness of sin, and eternal life when they die.  Now friend, you can call that what you want, but let me tell you what it is, it’s generosity.  He gave freely!  And He lived openhandedly.

You know this morning many of you right here in this auditorium; you’ve never embraced what God has done for you through what Jesus did at the cross.  You’ve never opened your heart and said Christ come into my life.  Take away my sins.  Give me heaven when I did.  For some reason you’ve never, you’ve never talked to God about that at all.  Maybe some of you are watching by the web today, maybe today you’re watching by television, I want to challenge you today to understand, God is the most generous person to have ever existed, and still is today!  And He gives to you the opportunity and the promise of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ.  That’s generosity.

But God is also the giver of the church.  That’s right.  He bled and He died for the church.  He gave the church.  And there are many of you here today you need a church home; you need a church family, a fellowship of faith.  And I want to tell you today God gave the church for you.  And while we’re just part of the church, we would encourage you that if you’re not a part of a church, for you to come and unite with our church today.

In just a few moments when we sing there will be a pastor at the end of each aisle, all along this worship center today.  And if you’ve never received Jesus and His generous act at the cross in your life, I’m going to ask you to leave where you’re seated in a moment, it doesn’t matter if it’s up in the balcony, over to my life, over to my right, behind me, or all in front of me today, would you come and give your life to Christ?  You come to one of our pastors and say today I want to give my life to Jesus.  Maybe today I want to come, and I want to join the fellowship of this church.

But let me tell you what else God gives us, God gives us the Holy Spirit.  Do you know one of the great roles of the Holy Spirit is that He is the Comforter; He is the Helper, that’s what Jesus said He is.  And there are people all over this audience today who are suffering, in pain, in loss, struggling through life’s way, maybe some things aren’t going well financially, maybe some things aren’t going well in the family, maybe you’ve been diagnosed with a situation that you need the Lord!  Maybe you’re in the midst of transition in some area of your life, but you need the hand of God to lead you.  Well let me just share with you today, the Holy Spirit is the guide, the Bible says.  The Holy Spirit is the helper, the Bible says.

I want to ask you in a moment to leave where you’re seated, and to come to the front of this auditorium, just walk past those pastors, come and turn these steps into an alter today, and ask the Holy Spirit to bring comfort to your heart.  While a friend can put their arm around you to encourage you, it is only the Holy Spirit who’s the ultimate comforter in the midst of your disappointment, your pain, your loss, or your hurt.

I pray today that we will all understand that God is the giver.  Would you bow with me today as we pray?