The Generous God: Stewardship Beyond Ownership

• Ownership and Stewardship 00:27:15 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor establishes that the earth and all within it belong to God, challenging the illusion of human control and redefining identity as belonging to God rather than to possessions.
• Divine Generosity 00:30:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines God's nature as generous, citing the Old Testament, God's mercy, and the gift of Jesus as the ultimate demonstration of this generosity.
• Imago Dei and Reflection 00:32:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that humans are created in God's image to reflect His generosity, using analogies of genetics and environment to explain how believers can cultivate this reflection despite sin.
• Dominion vs. Stewardship 00:36:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor corrects the misreading of 'dominion' (radah) as violent subjugation, redefining it as loving care and stewardship over creation and neighbors.
• Practical Application of Generosity 00:37:50 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor outlines specific ways to grow in generosity, including financial giving, shifting identity from ownership to discipleship, and giving time, energy, and hospitality.
• Communion Invitation 00:53:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor invites the congregation to receive the body and blood of Christ, emphasizing God's generosity and grace.
• Ecclesial Identity 00:53:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor clarifies that the gathering is not defined by specific denominational affiliations (Williamson's Chapel or United Methodist) but is the universal table of the Lord.
• Prayer and Preparation 00:53:49 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor leads the congregation in the Lord's Prayer as a preparation for receiving communion.
• Logistics of Communion 00:54:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor provides instructions for servers, gluten-free options, and post-communion prayer.

• Sermon Illustration 00:33:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his children discussing genetics, noting how they inherited traits like height from his side and empathy/grumpiness from his wife, to illustrate how humans reflect their origins and how believers can cultivate God's image.

• Pastoral Charge 00:39:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor urges the congregation to identify specific areas for growth in generosity, such as financial giving, shifting identity from ownership to discipleship, or giving time and energy.
• Pastoral Charge 00:54:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor invites the congregation to come forward to receive communion, offering logistical instructions for gluten-free options and post-reception prayer.
• Pastoral Charge 00:54:18 ▶️ 📄
  > Invite servers to come forward to facilitate communion.
• Pastoral Charge 00:54:24 ▶️ 📄
  > Direct congregants needing gluten-free elements to the center of the table.
• Pastoral Charge 00:54:40 ▶️ 📄
  > Invite congregants to remain at the altar for prayer after receiving communion.
• Pastoral Charge 00:54:42 ▶️ 📄
  > Command the congregation to come forward and receive communion.

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:27:15] Verse one, the earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it, or you might know the version, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The earth is the Lord's, all that is in it, the world and those who live in it. So really grasping this, like really thinking about this and really grasping and living as if this is true can
[00:27:45] transform our relationships to money, to possessions, and to people in powerful ways. And knowing that it all belongs to God. Because sometimes we walk around with this illusion of control, that we have control over things. And sometimes
[00:28:12] that becomes a certain kind of grasping or desperation this this kind of anxious urge to control thing and understanding that it all belongs to God and other people are gods as well belong to God we belong to God really grasp grasping this idea can help us loosen our grip
[00:28:39] on stuff, loosen our grip on that illusion of control, thinking we have control.
[00:28:49] And it helps us to build our identity, not on what we earn or what we buy, but it helps us to build our identity on God and who God says we are, his beloved children.
[00:29:05] Here's another good quote from that John Wesley sermon I mentioned earlier.
[00:29:13] Wesley says, consider when the possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being and placed you in this world, he placed you here not as a proprietor or an owner, but as a steward.
[00:29:31] As such, he entrusted you for a season with goods of various kinds.
[00:29:36] But the sole property of these still rests in him, as you yourself are not your own, but his.
[00:29:45] Such is, likewise, all that you enjoy.
[00:29:49] It all belongs to God.
[00:29:55] So everything belongs to God.
[00:29:58] And God is worthy of our praise and devotion because, friends, our God is generous.
[00:30:07] That's the second claim.
[00:30:08] God is generous.
[00:30:12] The big overarching story of the Bible is, in one sense, a story of God's abundant, life-giving generosity poured out on people again and again and again.
[00:30:27] If you read in Scripture, especially go back to the Old Testament, those people didn't deserve it.
[00:30:32] In fact, there are people throughout who tried their best to throw it away.
[00:30:38] but before we point fingers of judgment is the same isn't the same true about us again and again in my life when i didn't not only when i didn't expect it but when i didn't
[00:30:55] deserve it in fact when i was at times in my life actively working against god's grace god was generous to me we call that grace god's generosity poured out on us God is generous and in scripture as we see through through creation through God's liberating power
[00:31:21] and covenant faithfulness through God's abundant mercy and forgiveness and especially in and through the death and resurrection of Jesus for us and for our salvation we see God's generosity on display again and again and again. As Paul says in Romans 8, 31 to 32,
[00:31:43] what then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything
[00:32:01] else. Jesus is the ultimate gift, the ultimate demonstration of God's abundant generosity.
[00:32:15] So claim number one, everything belongs to God. Claim number two, God is generous. And that's the final claim. Claim number three, God entrusts us with resources and calls us to be faithful stewards. God entrusts us with resources and calls us to be faithful stewards. In Genesis
[00:32:41] 1.26 that Nancy read just a few minutes ago, we're told that humans were created in the image of God, meaning that we can reflect the generosity of God in our own lives, meaning that what's true
[00:32:58] about God. We're creating the image of God. What's true about God could potentially be reflected in us. It could be true of us.
[00:33:06] One of my favorite things my kids love to talk about it's been this way for years. Mary, Anna and Daniel love to talk about in terms of genetics. What they got from mom and what they got
[00:33:20] from dad or what they got from grandparents.
[00:33:23] And there have been a number of times when I had to say whoa whoa guys you are your own people you can't blame everything on mom and dad and uh so for example i mentioned a
[00:33:40] few weeks ago that uh my uh my grandfather and my dad are both tall i took after my mom's side of the family kind of physically i inherited that from my mom's side i reflect that um then with
[00:33:57] Mariana and Daniel. Daniel has a huge heart. It's very empathetic and compassionate. Can you guess which one of us Daniel got that from? You guessed Tony Ruth. You're right. Mariana can be really grumpy in the morning. Take a guess who she got that from. Said me. Yes. We reflect at a genetic
[00:34:25] level, where we came from and who we belong to, so to speak. But it's not just genetics, it's also environmental. We reflect, we are products of our environment, that nature versus nurture distinction that some of you may have heard of. We reflect what is within us and then
[00:34:51] how we've been shaped and formed in the same way we inherit from God certain things, certain attributes. And there are those attributes that we have to develop, that we have to cultivate, that we can help cultivate in others, that we can kind of nurture and nourish and grow in our own
[00:35:11] lives in order to more clearly reflect the image of God. Because sin distorts and deforms God's image in us. And part of what it means to grow as a disciple is to do the work or allow
[00:35:29] of the Spirit to do the work in us of making us more reflective of God's image in us that we've been created in so that when people see us, they see, really in effect, see through us and see God.
[00:35:48] So how in our generosity are we reflecting the truth that we have been created in God's image?
[00:35:55] Now, we're also told in that reading from Genesis that God gave humans dominion, dominion.
[00:36:04] And you don't have to look very, very far to see some really terrible theology that points back to we have dominion.
[00:36:14] We can abuse and subjugate and violently extract from the created order what we want.
[00:36:22] That's a misreading of what God is saying there.
[00:36:28] The Hebrew word for dominion is radah, to have dominion, radah, dominion over creation.
[00:36:37] Now radah, that word does not refer to harsh domination or violent subjugation, but radah, dominion, it's dominion that reflects God's life-giving, gracious nature.
[00:36:55] In other words, basically, Radah suggests loving care, like a parent with a child, for example, loving care.
[00:37:10] That's what God calls us to as caretakers, stewards of what we've been entrusted with.
[00:37:18] We are called by God to be wise and faithful stewards of what has been entrusted to us.
[00:37:23] We are called to care for what belongs to God.
[00:37:30] Creation, the created order, his church.
[00:37:34] We're called to care for one another, for our neighbor, and for the most vulnerable in our world.
[00:37:40] To exercise loving care for these things because what belongs to God?
[00:37:48] Everything.
[00:37:50] As disciples of Jesus, growing in generosity means much more than, it includes, but it means more than money.
[00:38:02] growing in generosity means that we take seriously how we live out our faith in ways that reflect God's own abundant generosity by as Paul tells us in Romans 12 contributing to the needs of the
[00:38:21] saints and extending hospitality to strangers. Church we already have all that we need to be faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us. What is needed is our willingness to gratefully respond to God's call for us to grow in our own generosity by being faithful stewards of what
[00:38:50] already belongs to God in the first place. So part of our work as we think about growing on this discipleship pathway as it relates to generosity, part of your work individually is to be in prayer about where God is calling you to grow in your generosity.
[00:39:09] And it may be increasing your giving to the church.
[00:39:12] It may be financial.
[00:39:14] It may be God leading you to shift your identity to be less defined by what you own or what you make and more defined by the love of Jesus, by your identity as a disciple.
[00:39:29] It may be for you being more generous with your time, with your energy or your attention or your gifts.
[00:39:37] So this discipleship pathway is an invitation for you to reflect deeply on where God is calling you to grow.
[00:39:48] In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

[00:39:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:39:52] And seek to live in peace with one another.
[00:40:18] Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.
[00:40:24] Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.

[00:40:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:40:30] We have failed to be an obedient church.
[00:40:33] We have not done your will.

[00:40:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:40:35] We have broken your law.
[00:40:38] We have rebelled against your love.

[00:40:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:40:41] We have not loved our neighbors.
[00:40:43] And we have not heard the cry of the needy.
[00:40:47] Forgive us, we pray.
[00:40:49] Free us, we're joyful in being this.
[00:40:51] through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:40:55] I invite you to say your own prayers of confession in silence now.
[00:41:11] Will you stand for the good news?
[00:41:14] Hear the good news.
[00:41:16] Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.
[00:41:19] That proves God's love toward us.
[00:41:22] In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

[00:41:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:41:25] In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

[00:41:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:41:29] Glory to God. Amen.
[00:41:32] Now we're going to take a minute to offer signs of peace to one another in the very traditional way of our liturgy.
[00:41:45] So I would say, peace be with you, and then the responding person says, and also with you.
[00:41:53] Peace be with you, and also with you.
[00:41:56] Do it with two people. Go.

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:41:58] let us come back together as forgiven and reconciled people you may be seated we seek

[00:42:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:42:22] to overflow god's generosity to us back into the hands of god for the sake of sharing his love so that it sets us free with the whole world the ways we live into our baptism including how we
[00:42:36] follow god's generosity with our own our steps on the pathway of faithful discipleship as you give today either online or in the mail with a qr code on the screen or in the plate as it passes you by
[00:42:53] may you breathe deep and remember the generous gift of god and jesus our lord and worship him in every faithful offering of yourself to His glory.
[00:43:04] Come, as you are friends, and know that limitless grace of a generous God.

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:43:14] Blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ,

[00:49:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:49:48] in whom you have revealed yourself, our light, and our salvation.
[00:49:53] In His baptism and table fellowship, He took His place with sinners. Your Spirit anointed Him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind,
[00:50:04] to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people.
[00:50:11] By the baptism of His suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
[00:50:21] By the baptism of His suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
[00:50:32] At His ascension, you exalted Him to sit and reign with you at your right hand.
[00:50:37] On the night in which He gave Himself up for us, He took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you.
[00:50:52] Do this in remembrance of me.
[00:50:56] When the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to His disciples, and said, Drink from this, all of you.
[00:51:14] This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
[00:51:22] Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

[00:51:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:51:26] And so we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving, as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

[00:51:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:51:45] Christ has died.
[00:51:48] Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.

[00:52:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:52:08] Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
[00:52:15] By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
[00:52:26] Through your Son, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, all honor and glory is Yours, Almighty God, now and forever.
[00:52:35] You may be seated.
[00:53:03] Friends, this is the body of Christ broken for us and the blood of Christ shed for us.
[00:53:16] What a gift of God's extravagant generosity and grace.
[00:53:22] We come this morning to receive with hearts full of gratitude for all that God has done for us.
[00:53:30] This is not the Williamson's Chapel table.
[00:53:32] This is not the United Methodist table.
[00:53:34] This is the table of the Lord.
[00:53:37] And all who would come are welcome.
[00:53:41] And so now as we prepare to come to the table as God's beloved children, let us pray together as the Lord has taught us.
[00:53:49] Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

[00:53:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:53:54] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:53:59] Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever

[00:54:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:54:18] Would the servers please come forward As you come this morning If you need gluten-free elements Just come to the center here at the table We'll have someone here to serve gluten-free if you need that.
[00:54:31] We also have packets of communion if you prefer that.
[00:54:35] And we invite you to stay after receiving at the altar to pray if you would like.
[00:54:40] Friends, come and receive.
[00:54:42] The table is ready.