The Danger of a Bigger Shovel: When Generosity Masks Deeper Error

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Good morning, Christ Community Church.
[00:05:07] I'm going to invite you guys to go ahead and stand up to your feet.
[00:05:10] Who's excited to be in the house of the Lord this morning?
[00:05:13] Yeah, it is such a joy to be with you all.
[00:05:15] It's such a gift to gather and worship the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords.
[00:05:20] Listen, we serve a God of miracles, and we love to worship His name.
[00:05:26] And so let's just do that this morning.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Let's get those hands together.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The glory of the Father
[00:06:23] The power of the undefeated name The king of every kingdom He is the champion of heaven Over king and over every broken heart Hope is rising through the dark
[00:07:05] The undefeated The undefeated Savior stands with me The fighter for the weary The Lamb The Lamb of God The Lionhearted King Over every broken heart I go Hope is rising through the dark
[00:07:57] Possible pre-miracle
[00:08:37] Rejoice!
[00:09:00] Right here your will be done Come awaken us, come awaken us Over every broken heart Hope is rising through the dark
[00:09:06] Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Amen.
[00:09:51] Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 through 17 say that he, referring to Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
[00:10:01] For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.
[00:10:08] Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together.
[00:10:19] This is our King Jesus that we get to worship this morning and may we just proclaim his name this morning as we just continue to sing about the healing, the beautiful, the powerful name of Jesus.
[00:10:34] Let's sing this out.

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
The King is in the room Come see the scars of love upon His hands The King is in the room We'll watch the darkness flee at His command
[00:11:18] And who is this King?
[00:11:21] And who is this King?
[00:11:25] His name is Jesus.
[00:11:29] His name is Jesus.
[00:11:32] Light of the world, there's freedom in His name.
[00:11:38] He's awesome in power He's reigning forever Light of the world There's freedom in His name The healer's in the room Let miracles break out across this place
[00:12:08] The Savior's in the room No soul beyond the boundaries of His grace There's resurrection power in His name His name is Jesus His name is Jesus Light of the world There's freedom in His name
[00:12:38] He's awesome in power He's reigning forever Light of the world There's freedom in His name There's freedom in the name of Jesus Who the Son sets free Is free indeed Let's praise Him together church There's never been a love so great
[00:13:06] Every voice, come on!
[00:13:33] There's never been a love so great He died so we could live Then He rose up from that grave And name another king like this Now all authority Forever belongs to Him He reigns in victory Name another king like this
[00:14:04] Name another king like this Who is this king?
[00:14:12] His name is Jesus And His name is Jesus Light of the world There's freedom in His name He's awesome in power He's reigning forever
[00:14:48] There's freedom in His name An awesome in power He's reigning forever He's the light of the world There's freedom in His name
[00:15:11] The Lord is with you.
[00:15:47] Jesus.

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Amen.
[00:15:55] Good morning, Christ community.
[00:15:57] You can go ahead and take a seat.
[00:15:59] That's right.
[00:16:00] We're here to praise the name of Jesus this morning, and we're glad you're here doing it with us.
[00:16:05] My name is Sydney, and I work part-time here at the church, welcoming new people, helping them get connected.
[00:16:12] So if that is you, I hope that you will fill out the Connect card.
[00:16:16] It's in the seat pocket in front of you.
[00:16:18] It's blue.
[00:16:19] And if you put your name and information on there and you can take it to the Connect booth, we do have a gift just to say thank you for trying this morning and being here.
[00:16:32] There should be more opportunities when you're new somewhere to get a gift, I think.
[00:16:37] If you're new to school, you should get a gift.
[00:16:40] You're meeting your boyfriend's family for the first time, you should get a gift.
[00:16:43] But here you get a gift.
[00:16:45] So if you're new, go ahead and fill out that card and take that to the Connect booth.
[00:16:51] And I have a couple of announcements that I would like to point out.
[00:16:55] They're on your news and notes.
[00:16:56] But I do want to call out all of our teenagers and our young adults are invited to be certified babysitters.
[00:17:03] And so you do need to attend that certification training next Sunday after second service.
[00:17:10] So this is something we do as a church where we can pour into our teenagers and young adults.
[00:17:15] They get babysitting experience.
[00:17:17] They get paid to do it.
[00:17:18] And then they take care of our children while the adults are doing something else like small groups or Bible studies or church events.
[00:17:25] So we utilize those certified sitters anytime that we need them.
[00:17:29] And we're so blessed that I know I've been blessed by the babysitter so that I can sit in Bible study and focus.
[00:17:37] Not that you can't focus with your kids, but y'all know what it's like.
[00:17:40] So if you have a teenager that's not yet certified, this is the last opportunity to do so until the fall.
[00:17:46] So if you want to be able to be hired by the church for those events for the spring and summer,
[00:17:53] Now is your opportunity.
[00:17:55] Go ahead and RSVP so we can expect you and you can do that on the website for that.
[00:18:00] And the second thing I'd like to highlight is this morning we have our pastors meet and greet, which will be happening in the lobby right after service.
[00:18:08] So if you've been coming for a week, a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months, and you haven't yet been able to introduce yourself and meet our pastors, Pastor David, Pastor Michael, and Pastor Garrett will be over in the library area.
[00:18:23] You'll see bookshelves over there.
[00:18:24] They'll be over there and they would just love to meet you and get to know you.
[00:18:28] Or maybe if you have any questions about the church, they're very knowledgeable and they'd love to answer those for you.
[00:18:34] So after the service, right after, go ahead and head on over and we would just love to meet you and your family and bring your kids.
[00:18:43] That's all I have for our announcements today.
[00:18:45] Would you stand with us as we continue in worship?
[00:18:50] We have an amazing opportunity to lift his name on high this morning together as a family.
[00:18:56] Would you bow your heads with me in prayer?
[00:19:01] Thank you, Jesus, for your love.
[00:19:04] Thank you so much that you provide a place for us to come together and as a family to feel encouraged by the people around us.
[00:19:16] Just knowing that we're not alone here, that you've provided a group of people to come alongside us as part of your family, Lord.
[00:19:23] And God, we want to worship you this morning and
[00:19:30] Not just with our voices, Lord, but with our attention.
[00:19:34] We want to worship you with our focus.
[00:19:38] And we just want to lay at your feet those burdens that we've brought with us this morning, Lord, because we know that you are the one, you are the source.
[00:19:47] of life and you are our source of joy and so God we we bring those things to you those things that distract us and we just we give them over to you Lord trusting that God you're the one that can give us peace you are peace so Lord we just lift your name on high because you are so great and as we continue in worship Lord we just pray that you would be glorified in Jesus name Amen

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Amen.
[00:20:19] Thanks Cindy.
[00:20:20] Before we go into this next song, I wanted to read Psalm chapter 23 over our hearts and minds this morning.
[00:20:26] So it says, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
[00:20:30] He makes me lie down in green pastures.
[00:20:33] He leads me beside still waters.
[00:20:36] He restores my soul.
[00:20:38] He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
[00:20:41] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
[00:20:47] Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
[00:20:51] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
[00:20:55] You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.
[00:20:58] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
[00:21:07] Aren't you thankful that the Lord is your shepherd?
[00:21:10] He loves you.
[00:21:11] He sees you wherever you're at this morning.
[00:21:14] And as we sing this song about the good plans that He has for our lives, sometimes we're in a season where that's really hard to sing.
[00:21:21] Life is hard and we get faced with these challenges and these circumstances but I'm reminded constantly that he is with me and he is for me and if he's for me then who can be against me and so we get to sing about that truth that he does have good plans for us so let's sing that out this morning

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
He said that He loves me He said that He's with me
[00:22:24] He has goodness, He has goodness for me So I will take heart in deserts and gardens He has goodness, He has goodness for me
[00:23:01] The Lord is my Savior, so why should I doubt my victory?
[00:23:24] Why would I question the rod and the staff that comforts me?
[00:23:27] He quiets the storm inside of me So what could be better Than walking with Him when I believe He has good plans He has good plans
[00:23:47] So I will take heart in deserts and gardens He has good plans He has good plans for me If I know my Father, I know my Father has He has good plans He has good plans for me
[00:24:16] So I will take heart in deserts and gardens He has good plans, He has good plans for me If I know my Father, I know my Father has good plans

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
We submit to you Jesus

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I'll be dwelling in the house of God truly His goodness and mercy will follow after me So fear will not find me I'll be dwelling
[00:25:33] Surely His goodness and mercy will follow after me So fear will not find me Cause I'll be dwelling in the house of God Surely His goodness and mercy will follow after me
[00:25:53] He has good plans He has good plans for me So I will take heart in deserts and gardens He has good plans He has good plans
[00:26:23] If I know my Father, I know my Father has good ways
[00:27:12] There's no other name like Jesus' name.
[00:27:33] You were the Word at the beginning One with God
[00:27:52] What a beautiful name it is.
[00:28:02] What a beautiful name it is.
[00:28:05] The name of Jesus Christ, my King.
[00:28:12] What a beautiful name it is.
[00:28:16] And nothing compares to this.
[00:28:35] Jesus, you brought heaven down My sin was graced and love was greater So what could separate us now?
[00:28:55] What a wonderful name it is What a wonderful name it is
[00:29:04] Jesus Christ my King what a wonderful name it is and nothing compares to this what a wonderful name
[00:29:30] Death could not hold you, the veil tore before you You silenced the boasts of sin and grace
[00:29:51] The heavens are roaring the praise of your glory For you are raised to life again You have no rival and you have no equal
[00:30:20] Your's is the kingdom Your's is the glory Your's is the name above all names What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus Christ my King
[00:30:51] and nothing can stand against what a powerful name it is

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
I'm just so thankful for His presence.
[00:31:28] Aren't you, church?
[00:31:29] Thankful that He never leaves us or forsakes us.
[00:31:33] And I'm just so grateful too that in His presence there is fullness of joy, not because our circumstances are good, but because He is good.
[00:31:41] And so we just get to continue to worship the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords as we sing this word.

[00:31:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Yeah?
[00:32:10] The Spirit of the Lord will always be with us.
[00:32:21] The Lord will always be with us.
[00:32:49] I've tasted and seen of the sweetest things
[00:33:21] Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere Your glory God is what our hearts long for To be overcome by Your presence Lord
[00:33:57] There's nothing worth more That could ever come close
[00:34:19] I've tasted and seen all the sweetest of loves When my heart becomes free and my shame is gone
[00:34:56] Make this your prayer.
[00:35:51] Let us become more aware of your presence.
[00:36:19] Let us experience the glory
[00:36:23] Let us become more aware of your presence Let us experience the glory of your goodness Let us become more aware of your presence Let us experience the glory of your goodness
[00:37:15] Come flood this place, fill the atmosphere Your glory God is what our hearts long for To be overcome by Your presence Lord
[00:37:45] In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

[00:38:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Would you just close your eyes with me?
[00:38:09] I just don't want to miss what the Holy Spirit is doing in this moment.
[00:38:14] There's some of you that have come into the house today and you are so weary.
[00:38:18] You're so overburdened.
[00:38:21] With the pains of this life.
[00:38:24] And I want to tell you, your interaction with the Holy Spirit in this moment doesn't take away the pain of this life, but it co-mingles a joy that's not explainable in the midst of your pain.
[00:38:36] He comes alongside of you, and He overwhelms you with His presence, where there can be joy in the midst of sorrow.
[00:38:44] There can be joy in the midst of heartbreak.
[00:38:48] There can be joy in the presence of
[00:38:51] Even places where you were afraid before, He brings His presence alongside of where you are and overcomes you with His presence.
[00:39:00] There's some in the house today that you've been sowing in tears and Jesus says that 2026 is going to be the year that you reap with joy.
[00:39:11] This morning if you need some prayer in this house we're just going to sing this chorus again quietly and we'll stay here as long as the Holy Spirit is moving and working but there's some of you that need specific prayer today just that the Holy Spirit would come alongside you in the place that you're struggling
[00:39:33] Maybe you're battling fear or depression or anxiety, whatever it is.
[00:39:39] Maybe it's really difficult circumstances that you're walking through, financial, spiritual, situational, in your marriage, whatever it might be.
[00:39:47] The Lord is here and He wants to bring His joy and His peace
[00:39:52] To commingle with everything that's going on in your life.
[00:39:56] So I'm going to ask our elders and elders' wives, our prayer team members, people who are on the furnace prayer team, would you just go to the four corners of the room right now?
[00:40:06] Just go ahead and step out, go to the four corners of the room.
[00:40:10] And then if you're a person who could use some prayer in this moment and just say, I want to be overcome.
[00:40:18] By the presence of the Holy Spirit, to know that He's with me in the midst of everything that I'm walking through, that He sees me, that He's with me, that He'll never leave me or forsake me, that He can turn even the things that others meant for evil against me and still redeem it and bring good out of it.
[00:40:42] He's that powerful.
[00:40:44] So if you need prayer right now would you just step out go to the four corners just tell the person beside you hey just let me let me scoot past you and just go to the four corners of the room for prayer in this moment we're just gonna we're just gonna sing this again and make it the prayer of your heart as people are being prayed for over this room

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere Your glory God is what our hearts long for To be overcome by Your presence Lord Holy Spirit You are welcome
[00:41:42] Come flood this place, fill the atmosphere Your glory guides what our hearts long for to be

[00:42:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
There's somebody in the house today that you've been overcome with anger and bitterness lately.
[00:42:17] And you don't even know what's going on and what's causing it.
[00:42:20] You've been so angry and so bitter.
[00:42:23] Maybe it's because somebody really wounded you or hurt you or whatever, but it's starting to seep out into other areas of your life.
[00:42:29] Just go to one of the four corners right now.
[00:42:32] Let them know, say, that's me.
[00:42:34] I've just been letting bitterness and anger overcome me, but I really want the Spirit of the Lord to overcome me with His joy and His forgiveness and His presence instead.
[00:42:45] There's still time for you.

[00:42:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Let us become more aware of Your presence.
[00:42:55] Let us experience the glory of Your goodness.
[00:43:02] Let us become more aware of your presence

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Let us experience the glory of your goodness Let us become more aware of your presence Let us experience the glory of your goodness Let us become more aware of your presence

[00:43:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Let us experience the glory of your goodness Holy Spirit you are welcome here Come flood this place fill the atmosphere

[00:44:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Your glory, God, is what my heart longs for To be overcome by Your presence, Lord Holy Spirit
[00:44:24] Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for To be overcome by Your presence

[00:44:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Father we're so grateful for the gift of your presence thank you so much that you sent your son Jesus for us so that we could have access to your presence that he would be with us always even to the end of the age and so Lord as we open your word right now we know that your word is alive and active and we trust that your Holy Spirit is going to be our teacher in this house today
[00:45:23] Lord, give us the heart of the Father.
[00:45:25] Give us the passion of Jesus.
[00:45:29] I pray that you would wash your word over our hearts and our minds so that we would reflect who you are, Jesus, to a world that desperately needs to see the real you.
[00:45:39] In Jesus' name, we all pray together.
[00:45:41] And God's people said, Amen.
[00:45:44] Amen.
[00:45:44] You can be seated.
[00:45:45] And as you are, tell the person next to you, I'm really glad you're here today.
[00:45:52] Well, I am really glad to be back with you today.
[00:45:55] I miss you guys the past two Sundays, so Happy New Year to you.
[00:46:00] It's a little late from me to you, but for those of you that weren't aware, my wife was sick last week.
[00:46:08] We were in the hospital, and I called Pastor Garrett on Friday at like noon.
[00:46:15] and I was like buddy we're in the hospital so I am not going to be able to preach Sunday you think you could be good to go in 36 hours and he was like absolutely pastor we got this don't worry about it I watched the message last week that was amazing I'm so glad the Holy Spirit spoke through Pastor Garrett thank you Pastor Garrett for filling in what we thought was a stomach virus yeah thank you Pastor Garrett
[00:46:39] So what we thought was a stomach virus was actually my wife had an upper GI bleed and so it got a little scary there for a few days and we were in the hospital and we have never been more grateful for blood donors in our lives and so it was literally life-saving for her and so on your news and note sheet we actually have a blood drive coming up so my wife can't give anymore because she just got blood but
[00:47:04] but she would love for you to be able to help somebody else that was in our situation so if you would like to sign up for the blood drive that would be amazing let's fill that thing up but we're so grateful to be back with you and uh and doing well and on the road to health and so if you got your bibles let's open them up to luke chapter six luke chapter six last week pastor garrett started our series called invitations from jesus
[00:47:28] and Jesus has a personal invitation for you and he has a corporate invitation for us as a church family to start out the new year with him and so there's invitations throughout scripture we're looking at what each of those invitations are that Jesus has for us and last week it started out with come and see there's some of you that are just exploring faith and Jesus says come check me out
[00:47:50] See who I am and that's great if you're if you're brand new in the faith journey we welcome you here we're so glad that you're here that there's no question that's off the table there's nothing that would not make sense Jesus says come and see who he is explore the claims that he made about himself and he promises that you will see God and so so that was the first invite come and see and then he said come and follow me it's a step greater in commitment right
[00:48:17] It's not just that you're seeing who he is and that you intellectually know about Jesus, but you've surrendered your life to follow him.
[00:48:24] He's your Savior and he's your Lord.
[00:48:27] He said, follow me.
[00:48:28] They left everything.
[00:48:29] They left their old way of life.
[00:48:30] They left everything behind to follow Jesus.
[00:48:33] And then the last one that he says is come and be.
[00:48:35] Come and become fishers of men.
[00:48:37] Be a part of the mission and the journey that I have.
[00:48:40] And so Pastor Garrett talked about that last week.
[00:48:42] It's sort of this invite into Jesus.
[00:48:44] The Kingdom in Relationship with Jesus.
[00:48:46] Well, today we're going to see Jesus' invitation for people who are already believers.
[00:48:52] His invitation for people who have said, I'm coming to see, and then I'm coming to follow you, and then I'm coming to become a fisher of men.
[00:49:00] People who already have received Jesus as Savior and Lord, He has another invite that He has for you.
[00:49:06] And I think it's a huge one for the year.
[00:49:09] This is so counter-cultural.
[00:49:11] For everything that the world teaches and most of what modern day Christianity says, Jesus' message from Luke chapter 6 as he preaches this Sermon on the Mount is so revolutionary.
[00:49:24] It's so radical.
[00:49:26] It shows you that what he's saying is he wants us to live in a way that is totally abnormal compared to the rest of the world.
[00:49:36] And you can't do it on your own.
[00:49:38] You have to have His supernatural power inside of you.
[00:49:42] And when you're surrendered to Him, this is the normal stuff that pops out of your life.
[00:49:47] And so when we're surrendered to Him, this is what everyday, ordinary Christians' lives
[00:49:54] It's this invitation that he's giving us.
[00:49:57] So if you've got your notes today, here's the invitation that he gives us in Luke chapter 6.
[00:50:02] It's come and experience, then extend God's generosity.
[00:50:08] First, he wants you to experience God's generosity.
[00:50:11] He says, I want you to experience the joy of forgiveness.
[00:50:16] Do you know the joy of what it is to have your slate wiped clean?
[00:50:20] Do you understand the joy of what it is to be given the gift of mercy where we don't get what we deserve?
[00:50:32] What we deserve is death and separation from God, but instead He gives us the gift of righteousness.
[00:50:38] He gives us grace.
[00:50:39] He says, have you experienced grace?
[00:50:42] Have you experienced mercy?
[00:50:44] Have you experienced forgiveness?
[00:50:46] Have you experienced God's provision?
[00:50:48] That's awesome.
[00:50:49] He says, I want you to experience it, but don't just keep it for you.
[00:50:53] Experience the generosity of God, then extend it to the people around you.
[00:50:59] This is the invitation of Jesus.
[00:51:01] I was lucky enough to grow up where generosity was something that was like normal in my home.
[00:51:06] I had an amazing set of grandparents.
[00:51:09] Papaduck and Mamaduck.
[00:51:11] They owned a fruit stand in downtown Charlotte on West Trade Street, which they still own the building because we would be millionaires from the Panthers parking.
[00:51:20] Oh well, that doesn't matter.
[00:51:22] Anyway.
[00:51:23] But he on this little fruit stand and my mom and their family lived above the storefront.
[00:51:29] And he was a very simple guy.
[00:51:32] Didn't make much of a living, but he was always being generous to help people.
[00:51:38] And at his funeral we had people show up and we're like, who is this?
[00:51:43] What's going on?
[00:51:44] Like, I've never met you.
[00:51:45] And they would come up to us at the end of the funeral and they would say, your granddad is the reason my family's still alive.
[00:51:53] and we would say what do you mean and they said well we would come into his store and we had no money and we didn't have any food at the time and he would just give us stuff and because he fed us sometimes that was the only food that we had and he never told anybody he was just a generous guy that was just part of his nature he loved to give to people he didn't trust banks anybody have great grandparents grandparents that didn't trust banks and so he thought the safest place where his money was in an envelope in the back of his Chevy Caprice
[00:52:22] And so he would keep money in his trunk in the Chevy Caprice, and I would be, Papa Duck, why do you have all your money in the back of the Chevy Caprice?
[00:52:31] What are you doing?
[00:52:31] And he said, David, you never know who God's going to let you meet today that they might need some help.
[00:52:39] I mean, this is a guy who didn't have hardly anything.
[00:52:42] By the world's standards, he was not a rich man.
[00:52:44] He was very middle class.
[00:52:46] But he was always ready to help.
[00:52:48] That sort of generosity extended to my mom.
[00:52:53] My wife and I got married.
[00:52:54] We were babies.
[00:52:55] I was 21, she was 20.
[00:52:57] and uh we had nothing we were young and poor living on love buying on time without somebody ain't nothing worth a dime what is how's the song anyway whatever it is that was us that song was us and so we were in school and working and like multiple jobs and all the stuff just barely scraping by and we would go and visit my mom and every time we would visit my mom she she grew up where if you buy one thing you buy 12 of them
[00:53:24] Right?
[00:53:25] And she would keep them in her garage.
[00:53:26] And before we would leave, she would say, now you're going to come to Nana's store before you leave here today.
[00:53:31] Right?
[00:53:32] And we'd go out in the garage and she would say, I've got 34 packs of paper towels.
[00:53:37] I don't need that many.
[00:53:38] It's just me living here.
[00:53:39] Why don't you take some paper towels?
[00:53:41] Do you need toilet paper?
[00:53:42] Do you need spaghetti sauce?
[00:53:44] They were...
[00:53:44] There was a deal on spaghetti so I got 15 pounds of ground beef in the freezer and it's gonna take me forever to eat that much ground beef.
[00:53:52] You're going home with some ground beef today.
[00:53:54] And every single time we would see my mom we would go to Nana's store and we would magically come home with groceries.
[00:54:01] That was just her and I want to tell you I'm 44 years old now and every time I still go to Nana's house and we're doing just fine.
[00:54:09] And we have four kids of our own who are grown, one who's about to get married.
[00:54:13] Every time she says, do you need some paper towels?
[00:54:16] And I'm like, heck yeah, dude, them things expensive, bro.
[00:54:20] Right?
[00:54:22] But there's something about generosity that's so contagious.
[00:54:25] Have you ever been around somebody who's generous and it's just contagious?
[00:54:30] And Jesus looks at us and he says, Christians should be the most generous people on the planet.
[00:54:37] Because you've experienced a generosity that nobody else has experienced.
[00:54:42] And if we've experienced it, it's not enough to keep it to ourselves, we have to extend it.
[00:54:47] Now, he's not just talking about finances.
[00:54:48] I want you to see this all-encompassing theme of generosity that Jesus gives us from Luke chapter 6.
[00:54:55] Look at what it says, verse 27.
[00:54:56] Luke chapter 6, verse 27.
[00:54:58] He says,
[00:55:02] who would accept this invitation this January in any person who believes in me who would hear listen to what I have to say how many of you are parents in the house you know there's a difference between listening and hearing right well he says hear it but then do it here's here's what he says look what he says love your who enemies and do good to those who what
[00:55:26] I'm going to be like this mirror that reflects back whatever you're giving me and if I really want to be extra holy if you're giving me cursing
[00:55:56] I'm gonna get out by saying, I didn't curse you back.
[00:56:01] Check mark for holiness, right?
[00:56:05] Like if you're taking advantage of me and I don't pound you, woo, check mark, right?
[00:56:12] But he looks at, and Jesus has a completely different standard, a supernatural standard.
[00:56:18] That he says, no, no, no, no, generosity, he says, if you've experienced the generosity of God, what did he do for you when you were an enemy of God's?
[00:56:30] While we were still his enemies, Christ came to die for us.
[00:56:35] What did He choose to do in showing us love even when we hated Him?
[00:56:41] He chose to love us with an everlasting love.
[00:56:45] What did Jesus do for the people that abused Him in the midst of that moment?
[00:56:50] What did He pray?
[00:56:52] Forgive them because they don't really understand what they're doing.
[00:56:56] He says, if you've experienced generosity, it's time to extend generosity.
[00:57:01] I have a picture on the screen.
[00:57:02] Many of you have heard of Jim and Elizabeth Elliot, right?
[00:57:06] This is a couple on the left.
[00:57:07] Jim Elliot, he was a missionary.
[00:57:09] They went to Amazonian tribe and
[00:57:11] and he flew his plane in and they were building relationships with the Amazonian tribe and then in the midst of all the stuff there were things that were not communicated well and that they attacked him now he had a gun to be able to defend himself but he chose not to and he chose to give up his life as a martyr and his wife Elizabeth Elliot had a decision to make she was going to decide what she was going to do she they had young kids and in the midst of that she felt like her decision was she was going to stay and minister to the people who killed her husband
[00:57:42] So she and Nate Saint's wife go back into the same village, build relationships with the same people who murdered her husband and they share the gospel of Jesus.
[00:57:52] They've experienced the generosity of being forgiven.
[00:57:55] They chose to love their enemies, to do good,
[00:57:58] For those who hated them.
[00:58:01] And in the midst of that, almost everyone in the tribe ends up coming to faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:58:06] You may know the story of Jim and Elizabeth Elliot, but you probably don't know the story of Gladys and Graham Staines.
[00:58:12] They were missionaries in India.
[00:58:14] And this is a more recent one in 1999.
[00:58:16] How many of you think back to 1999 and think, oh, that was like 10 years ago?
[00:58:21] No, it wasn't almost 30 years ago now.
[00:58:24] You're old if you think it was 10 years ago, right?
[00:58:27] Like if you were rocking out the Prince party like it's 1999.
[00:58:31] Like you need to make sure that you're getting glucosamine for your joints now.
[00:58:37] But Gladys and Graham, they were missionaries in India.
[00:58:42] and it was a particularly volatile region of India but they went with their whole family one day Graham was out with his two young sons in a car and a mob overtook the car and burned them alive in their car killed them both all three and Gladys went on television in India with a message of response and she said I have one message for the people of India I forgive the killers
[00:59:10] And immediately she ended up still continuing to serve the same people that killed her husband and her two little boys.
[00:59:19] And because she lived out this supernatural generosity of forgiveness, it led to other people coming to Christ.
[00:59:27] this is the generosity that Jesus is talking about it's a love that's based on a choice it's not based on performance he could have said have brotherly love but he didn't say that the word he uses here for love to love your enemies it's love based solely on choice it's agape love love that mirrors the love of God who chose to love you not based on your performance not based on whether you're good enough before the world was ever created he chose to love you
[00:59:53] And he says, if you've experienced it, it's time to extend it to other people.
[00:59:59] Jesus doesn't just say about loving your enemies.
[01:00:01] He keeps going.
[01:00:02] This sounds radical, but it gets even more.
[01:00:05] Look at what it says, verse 29.
[01:00:06] To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other one also.
[01:00:13] And from the one who takes away your cloak, give him your shirt too.
[01:00:19] I'm just saying I'm from the west side of the kingdom you know what I mean like you better watch I'm gonna throw hands but like this guy he gets hit he says if someone hits you on one cheek offer them the other one
[01:00:31] Now, this doesn't mean every time somebody jumps you, you're like, yes, brother, please, go ahead.
[01:00:37] Thank you, sir, may I have another?
[01:00:38] Like, he's talking about the attitude that we should have, this attitude of forgiveness, this attitude of grace in the face of intense persecution.
[01:00:50] Many of you may have heard this story of Richard Wurmbrand.
[01:00:54] He was a pastor in the 1940s in Romania.
[01:00:57] And it was a communist country.
[01:00:58] He wasn't allowed to share the gospel.
[01:01:00] And so for over 10 years, he was in prison for preaching the gospel.
[01:01:05] And he endured daily beatings.
[01:01:08] Daily beatings.
[01:01:10] And he decided that he was going to make it a choice to love his guards that were beating him.
[01:01:17] It was a choice.
[01:01:18] He had experienced the generous love of God that he didn't deserve.
[01:01:22] So he chose to extend it to the guards.
[01:01:24] This is crazy.
[01:01:25] When the guards were sick, he would ask if he could pray that they would get well.
[01:01:30] When the guards were having an off day and discouraged, I don't know if he was like, your punches just don't seem to have the same fervor as normal.
[01:01:37] I don't know how he knew, but when they were discouraged, he actually prayed for their encouragement.
[01:01:44] There was one day where he was beaten so badly and he felt the Holy Spirit give him the power that he had received and experienced the generosity of God.
[01:01:55] Now he was extending it to the other and he whispered into the guard's ear and he said, I forgive you with my whole heart.
[01:02:03] That guy could not process that in his brain.
[01:02:07] How can you forgive me?
[01:02:09] That's not possible.
[01:02:10] That's not humanly possible.
[01:02:11] You're right.
[01:02:12] It's not humanly possible.
[01:02:13] It's only possible because I've received supernatural generosity and I can extend it to you.
[01:02:20] So because of that, that man ended up coming to faith.
[01:02:23] Look at what Jesus says.
[01:02:24] It's not just in grace, and it's not just in mercy, and it's not just in forgiveness.
[01:02:30] How's your generosity level in forgiveness?
[01:02:32] Any grudges?
[01:02:33] How's your generosity level in bitterness?
[01:02:35] How's your generosity level in mercy and grace?
[01:02:38] Not just reacting in a negative way.
[01:02:41] It's not just, I didn't react negative, but actually going the other way and doing good for the people that are attacking you.
[01:02:49] This is radical generosity.
[01:02:51] Look what he says.
[01:02:52] He keeps going.
[01:02:53] It's not just with your attitude.
[01:02:54] It's also with your possessions.
[01:02:55] Verse 30, look what he says.
[01:02:57] Give to who?
[01:02:59] Give to who?
[01:03:01] Everyone who begs from you.
[01:03:05] and from one who takes away your goods, don't demand them back.
[01:03:10] So I have this verse, I have it written out.
[01:03:11] I'm not giving the lawnmower back to the person who let me borrow it.
[01:03:14] I'm just letting you know.
[01:03:15] No, I'm just kidding.
[01:03:16] That's not what he said.
[01:03:18] But listen, he looks at it and he says, if you really have experienced generosity, everything in your life you look at is not yours but God's.
[01:03:30] And you say, you put it in my hand, I'm gonna enjoy it.
[01:03:33] I'm going to enjoy this home.
[01:03:35] I'm going to enjoy this car.
[01:03:36] I'm going to enjoy this money.
[01:03:37] I'm going to enjoy these things, these toys, whatever it is.
[01:03:40] I'm going to enjoy it.
[01:03:42] But if you tell me to take something out of the hand that you put there, it's yours anyway.
[01:03:49] And so I'll give it expecting nothing back.
[01:03:53] Because you've generously given to me, so I'm going to extend it to other people.
[01:03:58] Look what he says, verse 31.
[01:04:00] As you wish that others would do for you, do so to them.
[01:04:05] It's the golden rule.
[01:04:06] Look what it says, verse 32.
[01:04:08] Because if you love the people who love you, what benefit is that to you?
[01:04:14] For even sinners love those who love them.
[01:04:20] There's nothing like Jesus stepping on your toes a little bit, right?
[01:04:23] You feel like you're doing pretty well, and you're like, oh, I love my family!
[01:04:27] And Jesus is like, yeah, so do us people.
[01:04:32] He says, and if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you?
[01:04:37] Like, what is that credit to your account?
[01:04:39] Like, you're just, it's not, look right here, it's not generosity, it's reciprocity.
[01:04:45] I give, and I'm getting back.
[01:04:47] So are you really being generous?
[01:04:49] No, it's just like you're just, it's a cycle of you scratch my back, I'll scratch your back.
[01:04:54] He says that's not true generosity, it's just reciprocity.
[01:04:58] Look what he says, for even sinners do the same.
[01:05:00] Verse 34, if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?
[01:05:05] Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount.
[01:05:10] Boy, I wish people would just get the same amount back.
[01:05:12] That sounds amazing, capital one, like they need to learn that lesson.
[01:05:16] But he says in this deal, he's like even sinners will lend to people when they know they're gonna get back everything that they lent.
[01:05:26] He says, this is not generosity.
[01:05:27] That's not what generosity looks like.
[01:05:31] Look what he says.
[01:05:32] He gives the definition of it.
[01:05:33] Verse 35.
[01:05:35] He says, but love your enemies and do what?
[01:05:39] Good.
[01:05:40] And lend, expecting nothing in return.
[01:05:42] Read this out loud.
[01:05:43] This is a promise from Scripture.
[01:05:45] Now, he's not just talking about money, but he is talking about money.
[01:05:50] He's talking about the context of the whole thing.
[01:05:53] What is it?
[01:05:53] When you give forgiveness.
[01:05:56] When you give mercy that's not deserved, when you give grace, whenever you do good to those who mistreat you, any sort of reflection of generosity in that way, including with your finances, look at the promise that is given here.
[01:06:12] What does it say?
[01:06:12] Read this out loud with me.
[01:06:14] And your what?
[01:06:15] Reward will be?
[01:06:17] Great!
[01:06:18] And you'll be sons of the Most High for He, God, is what?
[01:06:23] Kind to the ungrateful and to the evil.
[01:06:27] Be merciful even as your Father is merciful.
[01:06:30] Sometimes we like to measure our generosity compared to other people.
[01:06:35] I'm way more generous than my brother is, right?
[01:06:39] But that's not your standard, right?
[01:06:41] I'm way more generous than my spouse is.
[01:06:44] I mean, I just bend over backwards and do and do and do and do, like, right?
[01:06:47] And I'm not expecting anything in return unless I really expect something in return, right?
[01:06:53] No, but that's not what Jesus says.
[01:06:55] He says, your measure of comparison for generosity isn't to any other person, it's to your Heavenly Father.
[01:07:02] How generous has He been to you?
[01:07:05] Does your generosity reflect that you're his kid?
[01:07:10] He says, when you do that, the reward is great.
[01:07:18] Sometimes the reward is here on earth, but there's definitely a reward that's promised in heaven.
[01:07:25] He looks at us and he says, you've experienced the generosity of God.
[01:07:29] Now it's time to extend his generosity to other people.
[01:07:33] He says, what if God was only generous to you for what you were grateful for?
[01:07:37] What would you wake up with tomorrow?
[01:07:41] What if he only forgave you for the sins that you happen to mention to him?
[01:07:47] Like, we're not even aware of all the places that we blow it.
[01:07:51] He says, if God's grace has covered it all, if God's mercy has covered it all, if God's forgiveness has covered it all and thrown your sins as far as the east is from the west, if God has provided anything at all,
[01:08:05] If he's given you a mind or a body that works or he's given you a job that provides for the needs of your household, he says if he's done anything, how can you experience it and then not extend it?
[01:08:20] It's an invitation from Jesus.
[01:08:22] Experience the generosity of God and then extend it to the people around you.
[01:08:27] Be merciful just like your Father has been merciful to you.
[01:08:32] This is, on the screen, you'll see Immaculee.
[01:08:37] Immaculee survived the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
[01:08:41] Maybe you read about it in your history books at school.
[01:08:44] This Rwandan genocide was a terrible, terrible genocide.
[01:08:49] Thousands and thousands of people killed.
[01:08:51] And in this genocide, her parents, her brothers, thousands of other people were brutally killed.
[01:08:59] Immaculee spent 91 days, listen to me, 91 days hiding in a tiny bathroom with seven other women.
[01:09:10] Praying continuously for God's protection.
[01:09:13] Can you imagine being in anxiety for 91 days?
[01:09:19] Every time you hear a sound, you're wondering if that's somebody there to kill you.
[01:09:25] And this is what she dealt with for 91 days.
[01:09:29] Listen, I don't like being in a big house with somebody for a week.
[01:09:34] She was 91 days in a tiny bathroom with seven women.
[01:09:41] praying that her life would be sustained and when the genocide was over she faced a choice she could have hatred towards the people that killed her family she could try to seek revenge or she could show mercy because her heavenly father had given her mercy she didn't deserve she chose mercy Immaculee met the man who murdered her family
[01:10:10] And instead of condemning him, she said, I forgive you and I'm praying for Jesus to change your heart.
[01:10:18] that's unbelievable generosity and you say how in the world can these people do that because they've experienced the generosity of God none of them are superhuman these are everyday ordinary believers just like you and me who have accepted Jesus's invitation to experience and then extend God's generosity he gave them what they needed in that moment and guess what he'll do it for you too
[01:10:45] if you accept his invitation he'll do it for you in your marriage whenever you need to extend generosity with your kids when you need to extend generosity at your workplace when you need to extend generosity when you need to forgive when you need to give grace when you need to give mercy when you need to give and you don't have it to give but you want to support helping somebody who's in need when you are ready to give to to support the work of the Lord through your tithes and all the pieces of that he will give you what you need
[01:11:15] look at what he says verse 37 Jesus kind of wraps it up with this promise look at what he says verse 37 judge not and you will not be judged condemn not and you will not be forgive and you will be forgiven
[01:11:30] and then he says give now he's talking about money but he's also talking about all the other ways of generosity when you give mercy when you give compassion when you give forgiveness when you give possessions when you help people in need when you give to support the work of God through your tithes and offerings he's talking about every bit of that all encompassing generosity look at what he says here's this promise from scripture about the reward that you will get it's not always in this life
[01:11:57] but he promises there is an eternal reward for the people who live generous lives look at what he says he says give and it will be what given to you how is he going to give it back look at what he says good measure pressed down shaken together running over will be put back into your where lap for the measure that you use it will be measured back to you I love this story about R.G.
[01:12:26] Letourneau
[01:12:27] R.G.
[01:12:27] Letourneau, you heard of Letourneau University?
[01:12:30] R.G.
[01:12:31] Letourneau, he was like my granddad.
[01:12:33] He had the gift of giving, but the Lord kept blessing his business, right?
[01:12:37] And so he started to look at things.
[01:12:40] He grew up doing like tithes and offerings and all the stuff, but he felt like the Holy Spirit was challenging him to live radical generosity.
[01:12:49] And so he decided that he was going to reverse it.
[01:12:51] Instead of doing 10% of his income to support the work of God in the local church and all around the world through missions, he was going to do 90% and live on 10%.
[01:13:01] And he ended up making this decision.
[01:13:05] There were times where it looked like it wasn't going to work out, but he really believed that he had experienced generosity and he was going to extend it to the people around him.
[01:13:13] It wasn't just symbolic.
[01:13:15] He was going to do it.
[01:13:16] and he funded missionaries all around the world.
[01:13:20] He started Christian colleges including Laterno University.
[01:13:23] He funded the construction of churches, hospitals and relief efforts all over the world and he has this quote that I love.
[01:13:29] He says, I shovel money out and God shovels it back in but God always has a bigger shovel.
[01:13:37] That's so true.
[01:13:39] You can never be more generous than God.
[01:13:41] I don't care if you're talking about forgiveness.
[01:13:44] I don't care if you're talking about grace.
[01:13:46] I don't care if you're talking about mercy.
[01:13:47] I don't care if it's your time, your talent, your treasure, giving to support the work of the Lord.
[01:13:54] Whatever it is, Jesus says, I'm calling you in.
[01:13:58] I'm inviting you to experience the generosity of God.
[01:14:03] And if you've experienced it, you need to extend it so that the world will take notice
[01:14:10] Jesus is different.
[01:14:13] How can you forgive that person?
[01:14:15] Well, because Jesus forgave me.
[01:14:17] How can you give grace in that situation?
[01:14:20] I would be so angry.
[01:14:21] I am angry, but the Holy Spirit has empowered me to give grace because he gave me grace when I didn't deserve grace.
[01:14:29] He gave me the gift of Jesus's righteousness when I didn't do anything to earn it.
[01:14:34] He gave me heaven when I deserved hell.
[01:14:37] Are you kidding me?
[01:14:38] How can I do it?
[01:14:39] I've experienced it.
[01:14:41] So I have to extend it.
[01:14:42] How can you give mercy to that person?
[01:14:46] You know what they did.
[01:14:47] Well, because Jesus gave me mercy, everything that I deserved, He took on Himself.
[01:14:53] and He paid for it so I wouldn't have to pay for it.
[01:14:57] How can you continue to help that person?
[01:14:59] How can you support the work?
[01:15:01] Like you're at a place in need yourself.
[01:15:03] Well because God has been so generous to me and everything I have He put in my hand and He told me to.
[01:15:10] So what am I gonna say?
[01:15:12] No, I get to witness the generosity of God because there's a promise as I extend it He's going to replenish it.
[01:15:24] Jesus is calling us to experience and extend His generosity.
[01:15:30] Would you pray with me?
[01:15:31] Let me just say this one thing.
[01:15:33] You cannot extend what you haven't experienced.
[01:15:39] And so if you've never experienced the generosity of God, none of this will make sense to you.
[01:15:45] If you don't know what it is to have your slate wiped clean,
[01:15:49] and every one of your sins cast into the sea of God's forgetfulness and remember no more.
[01:15:56] Then of course this doesn't make sense to you.
[01:16:00] You have to experience it before you can extend it.
[01:16:05] So today maybe you're coming to see who this Jesus is and I want to tell you He loves you so much.
[01:16:12] He wants to know you and He wants you to know Him.
[01:16:16] He wants to be your Savior and your Lord where He leads your life.
[01:16:21] He's inviting you to follow Him and experience the generosity of God.
[01:16:27] If you've never experienced that, would you just tell Jesus, that's what I want?
[01:16:31] I want to know what it's like to be forgiven of every one of my sins.
[01:16:36] I want to know what it is to experience your mercy.
[01:16:40] Where I don't get what I do deserve.
[01:16:43] I want to know your grace.
[01:16:46] Where I see you've given me things I never deserved.
[01:16:50] You giving me the gift of your presence forever where you promised to never leave me or forsake me.
[01:16:56] It's not dependent on my performance.
[01:16:57] It's just based on your promise.
[01:16:59] You promised you're going to give me peace.
[01:17:01] I'd love to know that peace.
[01:17:03] I'd love to experience
[01:17:04] You as my provider I'd love to experience you as the one who walks with me through all of life's storms I want to experience you that way we just tell him that I want to experience you that way Jesus I've never experienced you like that before and today is the day so Jesus I give you my life and I ask that you send your Holy Spirit to wake me up to a brand new way of living
[01:17:28] If you prayed that, the Bible says that today is the day of your salvation.
[01:17:32] You are experiencing the generosity of God in this moment.
[01:17:35] You may not feel different, but stuff will start to change in your life.
[01:17:39] And so the first thing that you need to do is tell somebody.
[01:17:42] So take that little response card that Sydney talked about earlier, flip it on the back, put a check mark that says, I prayed to receive Jesus as my Savior.
[01:17:49] Take that to the Connect booth, and they have a book that they want to give you now that you started this journey with Jesus.
[01:17:55] I'm so excited for you.
[01:17:56] But for those of you that are believers in the house today, let me just ask you, where do you need to experience the generosity of God and then extend it to others?
[01:18:09] Do you have bitterness towards somebody?
[01:18:13] It's time to let go.
[01:18:14] It's time to forgive.
[01:18:18] It doesn't mean that you restart the relationship.
[01:18:20] It doesn't mean that you excuse what they did.
[01:18:22] It doesn't mean that they aren't locked up or that they don't face the penalty of what they've done.
[01:18:29] But it's that you're not gonna pay them back.
[01:18:31] You are trusting God will pay them back.
[01:18:35] It's time for you to let go and forgive.
[01:18:40] Jesus can empower you to do that.
[01:18:43] Do you feel like you're out of grace?
[01:18:47] For your family, Jesus can give you more grace.
[01:18:52] You can say, Jesus, help me remember what I've experienced, how your grace and mercy is new every day.
[01:18:59] It's filled to the top.
[01:19:01] It's inexhaustible.
[01:19:04] So God, if you do it for me and I've experienced it, God, I want to do that with my family.
[01:19:09] God, I want to do that with the people that are unlovely in my life.
[01:19:13] I want to do that with coworkers.
[01:19:16] There's some of you that take all the gifts that God put in your hand and you close it into a fist and say, this is mine.
[01:19:23] And you wonder why you never have enough.
[01:19:26] And it's because you look at it as yours, not God's.
[01:19:34] Maybe he's calling you to help the poor.
[01:19:37] Maybe he's telling you that for the first time you need to start supporting the work of God in the missions that are done all around the world and the work right here at home by giving back to him.
[01:19:48] Whatever it is, whether it's mercy or forgiveness or grace or finances or possessions, he's saying experience and then extend.
[01:20:01] Would you just ask him to be your helper this week?
[01:20:05] Would you take the invitation of Jesus seriously?
[01:20:09] The world needs to see real, authentic believers.
[01:20:13] Not superhumans, but people who have been touched by the supernatural God.
[01:20:21] Lord, would you help us live generously this week in the name of Jesus and all God's people said.
[01:20:27] Amen.
[01:20:28] I'm going to invite our elder of the week, Jim Besker, to come and pray over us a prayer of benediction.
[01:20:32] Would you stand?
[01:20:33] He's going to be out at the fireplace.
[01:20:35] If you need some specific prayer, you got anything going on in your world this week, anything going on with relationships or finances or struggles, he would love to just put his hand on you and pray for you, be there for you as one of the elders and shepherds of the church.
[01:20:49] and so I would just encourage you to go see him at the end of the service I'd love to meet you at the meet and greet Pastor Michael, Pastor Garrett Wood too right after as well Jim say a blessing over us thank you brother good morning church

[01:21:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
What a great sermon.
[01:21:08] Luke 6.
[01:21:10] Pastor David, as always, delivers just such a powerful theme.
[01:21:14] I'd encourage each one of you, when you leave here throughout the week, just kind of unpack that.
[01:21:19] I was thinking kind of like a one-a-day vitamin.
[01:21:23] You know, a lot of Holy Spirit nutritional value in that sermon.
[01:21:27] You know, just each one of us has a little deficiency in something.
[01:21:33] If you find out, you know, throughout the course of the week as you're reviewing that Luke 6, you know, just see which one or all of it or none of it is going to be beneficial for you as a one-a-day vitamin.
[01:21:45] So, just kind of my correlation.
[01:21:48] Nonetheless, let us pray.
[01:21:49] Father God, we just praise your holy name and we thank you for your word.
[01:21:53] We thank you for your truth.
[01:21:55] We thank you for the church.
[01:21:57] which we are and Father I just pray your Holy Spirit will walk with each one of us as we go about our week make it a great week we ask for your providential appointments to allow us to meet people that we don't know yet that Father God need to see you and know you and hear from you and Father we just ask blessings on each person here today in Jesus precious name Amen