A Steward Says...
"I got something to GIVE...!" (2 Cor 8:1-3)
"I got something to GIVE, and I WANT to Give it...!" (2 Cor 8:4)
"I got something to GIVE, and I WANT to Give it, because Giving is WORSHIP...!" (2 Cor 8:5-7)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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Open up your Bibles to the book of 2 Corinthians.
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2 Corinthians, we're going to be in chapter 8 and 9 over these next four weeks.
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Today we're going to be in the first seven verses of 2 Corinthians, chapter 8.
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I've been in ministry now for about 18 years.
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I've been around the block a few times, and I know, even if people don't say it, as soon that we're going to be talking about money, immediately it stirs a reaction.
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People roll their eyes.
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Here we go.
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Pack your suitcase because we're going on a guilt trip.
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And obviously there's some financial concern the church has.
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And Ken was like, "Jeff, you've got to get up there and tell those people to give more or little Ronald and Donald aren't going to have food on the table." And I want to tell you that that is not the case, okay?
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Financially we're in good shape right now.
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We haven't always been able to say that, but right now the church is in good shape financially.
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So I don't want you to read into these next four weeks as, "This is some appeal to keep the doors open of the church." And it's not that at all.
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And I also want you to understand, I've told you this often, but we have some guests with us today and maybe some of you haven't heard me say this, but understand that I don't know what a single person in this church gives. Okay? We have, you know, Ken and he has people, he has a whole system set up with people and I don't touch the money and I don't know what anybody in this church gives. And I want it that way Because when we have to dispute matters or discuss matters between two families that are disputing, there's always the tendency for, you know, "Oh, you can't lose this family because they're big givers," and we don't want any of that, right? So it's just better for us to not know who gives what. This is between you and the Lord. So understand that up front. I don't know who gives what, and this sermon series is not some appeal. You know, the ship is going down, you better give more, we're having a Harvest Bible Chapel telethon.
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It's not that at all. Okay? So why are we talking about money if we're not in a crisis? I believe it was Howard Dayton who originally said this, often times repeated, but the Bible has about 500 verses in it on prayer. And I think that And the Bible has about 500 verses in it about faith.
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And the Bible has about 2 ,350 verses in it about money and possessions.
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Why?
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Because money is a spiritual barometer.
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And we're going to talk about that a little bit this morning, but just like you have gauges in your car that indicate the state of affairs in your car.
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Money is a spiritual barometer.
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And Jesus said you can tell a lot about a person spiritually by what they do with money.
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And if the Bible spends so much time talking about money, it would be remiss of us to not address it.
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500 verses on prayer, 500 on faith, 2,350 verses about money and possessions.
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Why does the Bible talk so much about it?
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Well, the truth is we've become attached to stuff.
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It's mine. I earned it. I need it.
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I should decide what to do with it.
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And really, over these next four weeks, there's really one big teaching that we're going to be exploring and that is this - God's people love to give.
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For God's people, giving is not an obligation.
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They're like, well, I'm giving to the church because I have to give.
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I'm expected to give.
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And I'm sure somebody's going to be calling me if I don't give.
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That's not it at all.
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The truth is God's people love to give.
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God's people believe Jesus He was quoted in Acts 20.35.
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This is the only quote from Jesus outside of the Gospels or the book of Revelation.
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Did you know that?
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Acts 20.35.
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The only direct quote from Jesus in the Epistles or the book of Acts is this quote when Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give to receive.
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Most people do not believe that.
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For most people, this verse is about getting a crummy Christmas present.
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Right?
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Like, I got her a leather jacket.
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And she got me a Pez dispenser.
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How do you feel about that?
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Well, you know, it's more blessed to give than to receive.
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And that verse has nothing to do with how much you liked your Christmas present.
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It is more blessed to give than to receive.
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But none of this that we talk about over these next four weeks is going to make sense to you if we don't start with one fundamental thing.
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That's what I want to spend some time on today.
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Please hear this, because if you miss this, The next four weeks are going to be here and gone, and by February, you're going to be like, "What was that all about?" But you have to start with this fundamental thing, and that is this statement, "Nothing is mine." Can you say that?
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I'm going to say it, and then I'm going to give you the opportunity to say that.
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Are you ready?
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"Nothing is mine." I want you to say it again with real conviction.
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Go ahead.
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Nothing is mine.
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If you don't get that, you're never going to understand finances biblically.
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Nothing is mine.
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The title of this message is "I Love to Give Why Because I'm a Steward." Do you know what a steward is?
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It's kind of a biblical term.
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Kind of a churchy term, but really it just means manager.
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Right?
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That's what you are.
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I want you to think about your house, wherever you live, your car, whatever you drive, the stuff in your closet - it's not yours.
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You are a steward.
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You are a manager of stuff for the few years that you have on the earth.
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I've told you stories before.
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When I went through college, I worked at Walmart.
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And understand at Walmart, a whole bunch of managers.
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Those managers don't own the stuff.
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Those managers aren't like, "These are my bicycles." "These are my blenders." They don't own anything in that store.
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Their job is to manage the stuff in the store.
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And you are like a Walmart manager, your Walmart is a lot smaller.
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You just have stuff that you've been put in charge of taking care of for the time that you're on the earth. You're a steward. What did you bring with you? What did you bring with you into the earth? I watched two boys be born. My two boys. The only two births that I've witnessed.
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But I'll tell you one thing, both of them came out of the womb with nothing in their hands.
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Okay?
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Naked and empty handed.
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And what are you going to take with you?
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The same, right?
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You've never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul, have you?
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You're leaving with exactly what you brought.
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So for the time that you have on the earth, there is a certain amount of stuff that passes through your hands that God says, "I'm putting you in charge of handling this stuff.
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You're going to manage this stuff." And yes, some of it, you're supposed to use and enjoy on yourself.
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And some of it, you are supposed to give to care for other people.
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And some you are to give to advance the kingdom.
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And some you are to save for your children.
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This stuff passing through your hands, it's not really yours.
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I'm a steward.
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Psalm 24 verse 1 says, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." It's God's.
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It's God's.
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Everything is God's.
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And a steward is someone who loves to give, because there is not attachment to the stuff.
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Do you understand what I am saying?
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There is not an attachment to the stuff.
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Now the steward says, "I'm free to redistribute this.
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I'm free to give it because I'm not attached to it.
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Because I know it's not mine." And if you're not sold on that, I'm going to prove it to you beyond a shadow of a doubt right now.
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Who has some cash on them?
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Anybody have some cash?
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your hand, who's got some cash? Get it out, get it out. Come on, this is important, I'm gonna prove it. Oh, that's Ken's cash? That's not the church's? Okay, it came out of your wallet. Ken's keeping his money in your wallet.
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Now the question is, how did that feel?
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Let me ask Ken, how did that feel? Not great.
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I want you to watch this. Ben Moll, here. Ben, you can give that to anybody you want except for the Fredericks. Right now, give it to anybody you want. Anybody at all that you want. Anybody.
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How did that feel? That felt good, didn't it? Didn't that feel good? Now wait a minute, let's back up here for a second.
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Why didn't this feel good?
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That was my money.
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Amanda was just holding it for me. Ben felt great. Why?
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He didn't have an attachment to it. He's like, "Check this out. It's fun to give when you realize it's not yours.
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And until you get that?
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Giving is going to seem like a chore. Until you get to that place where like Ben, "This is great! He just handed me stuff and told me to give it to someone else." Yeah, that's what God does. God says, "Here's some stuff. Now give it away. Use it for someone else. Open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 8. Are you 2 Corinthians 8, a steward says, "I love to give and quickly today three things.
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Number one, a steward says, "I got something to give." A steward says, "I got something to give." Look at verse 1.
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Paul says, "We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia." I'm going to stop there.
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What's he talking about?
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Understand this word grace comes up.
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It's in verse 6 and it's in verse 7.
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He keeps talking about grace.
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He's talking about giving.
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And you're going to see that is so clear from the context.
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grace, he's talking about an offering that was taken. Why doesn't he just call it an offering? Because we're going to see in this passage he's making a point.
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It's grace.
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It's freely and lovingly given. It's grace. And that's how he refers to this offering. I actually jot this reference on 1st 1 Corinthians 16, verses 1-4.
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The first letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he told them that he was taking a collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem.
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Many of them were being persecuted for their faith.
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And in those days, a Jewish man coming to faith in Christ would quickly lose his business.
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So you had all these Christians in Jerusalem who were dirt poor, and now you have all these churches in support. And when we get to this passage we're looking at over these next four weeks, Paul's revisiting the subject. And he's encouraging the Corinthians to give by highlighting the Macedonians example. That's the point of this passage. Like, here are the Macedonians. Really, it would have been like three churches. It was Berea, and the church at Philippi, and the church at Thessalonica.
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Okay, so those churches, you know, fall under the umbrella, they're the Macedonians.
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And in this passage we're looking at, Paul's like, "Hey, we're taking an offering "for these poor Christians in Jerusalem.
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"Check out how these guys gave.
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"Check out how these people gave." Look at verse two, like how did they give?
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"For in a severe test of affliction, "their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
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Notice he says, "These people were poor themselves." You see that?
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He says, "They're extreme poverty.
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They were poor themselves." But notice the Macedonians didn't use that as an excuse.
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That would be like going to the poorest church in the Pittsburgh area and saying, "Hey, we're raising money for missions.
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Can you give?" That's what the Macedonians were like.
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Then he uses the word generosity.
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This is a very interesting word.
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I was studying this this week.
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The word for generosity really ties into the idea of being single-minded.
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He says, "This has overflown into a wealth of generosity on their part." Their giving was single-minded.
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They're like, "Well, what does that have to do with giving?" Because most of us, by nature, when we give, have a temptation to be double-minded.
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Meaning this, "I would really like to give to that mission, but you know what?
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I kind of need that money.
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But the mission really needs that, but you know what, I kind of need it too.
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That's the double-mindedness.
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Like, I see that it's important what they're doing for this mission, but at the same time, I kind of need that myself.
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That's being double-minded.
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Or, there's a great need there, but there's also a need here.
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And should we really be taking care of them there if there's such a need here?
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The Macedonians certainly, in one sense, would have been justified to say that.
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Like, "They're poor.
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Hey, guess what?
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We're poor too.
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Why don't the people in Jerusalem, why don't they send us an offering?" That's double-minded.
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And here, Paul is saying, "No, no, no, no." Their generosity was single-minded.
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They weren't thinking, "We need it too." They weren't thinking, "We have our own set of problems." Their mindset was, "Oh, there's a need?
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Okay.
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Oh, we're gonna give to help these poor Christians?
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Okay, let's do it.
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But where do I sign up?" Generosity.
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In verse three, he says, "For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means of their own accord." They gave according to their means.
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They were stewards.
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So understand church, God is not asking you to give according to someone else's means.
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Paul's like, "They gave according to their means." Like that commercial, "What's in your wallet?" Right, did you see that commercial?
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"What's in your wallet?" What's that commercial for?
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Capital one, right?
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"What's in your wallet?" When it's time to give, You give according to your means.
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God's not asking you to give according to my means or Bill Gates's means.
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He says, you give according to your means.
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That's one of the things you hear a lot in the church.
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People say, you know, if I had more money, I'd give more.
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Actually, that's not true.
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That's not true.
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Let's say, for example, let's say you're sold on tithing.
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I'm gonna talk about tithing here in a second.
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But let's say you're like, you know what, I think tithing is a good principle.
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Tithing is a good principle.
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Let's say, you know what, I'm going to tithe.
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If you came to church with 10 dimes, could you give one of the dimes to the church?
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That's easy, right?
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What if you came to church with 10 $20 bills in your pocket?
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Can you give one of the $20 bills?
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Like, yeah, I think I could.
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What if you came to church and you had ten $100 bills in your pocket.
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Could you give one of your ten $100 bills, could you do that?
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Do you see how the more you have, all of a sudden now it feels harder?
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Giving a $100 bill out of 10 feels a lot harder than giving a dime out of 10, doesn't it?
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So this idea of if I had more, I'd give more, that's just not true.
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Jesus said, "If you're faithful with a little, you'll be faithful with," what?
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"A lot." You know, as a preacher, I hear people saying that, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, I just wish that I had more money, I'd give more money to the church." And first of all, I don't know what you give.
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And that's a very generous sentiment, but the truth is, if you had more money, you probably wouldn't.
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If you're not joyfully giving out of what you have now, what in the world makes you think you're going to joyfully give out of what you would have if you were rich?
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Like all of the sudden, my whole mindset towards generosity has changed.
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It's not how it works.
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So a steward says, you know what, I got something to give.
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The Macedonians were like, you know what, we don't got much, but we got something.
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and we're going to give according to what we do have.
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So church, can you joyfully give something?
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The next thing on your outline, I got something to give and I want to give it.
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I got something to give and I want to give it.
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Look at verse four.
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Paul says, these Macedonians, look at this.
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This verse is crazy.
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Begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.
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Look at the language used.
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Begging for the favor.
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Did I hear somebody say we were taking an offering?
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Oh, they were like, please, please, please, please, can we give, can we please give?
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And Paul's like, you know what, you guys are poor, you guys probably need it there.
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No, no, no, please, oh, come on, come on, come on, please.
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It would be like doing us a favor.
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We would consider it a favor if you would let us be a part of this offering.
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And I'm sure Paul did not try to talk them out of it, but you get the point, right?
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You get the point?
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They were begging.
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It wasn't as if Paul was like, "We're taking an offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem." Alright, get the checkbook.
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How much do you think we should give?
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Paul says when they found out that an offering was being taken, they were begging earnestly for the favor of taking part in it.
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It's at this point in the message, honestly, I just feel like we're preaching to the choir here, because you have proven yourselves so generous.
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We're raising $4 ,000 to help rebuild a pastor's home in Moldova, a pastor that you've never met.
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A pastor that you couldn't pick out of a lineup.
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And we said, "Hey, his house is crumbling down around him, and urgent need, and you raised almost $6,000 in four weeks, going above and beyond." We talked about the action packs, you know, sending these action packs over for these persecuted Christians.
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And you responded, I didn't hear anybody say, "Oh, you mean the church is trying to get another dime out of us to send overseas?" All I heard was, "Tell me about these action packs." "Oh, you know, the Thompson's small group, they're putting this stuff together." I said, "That's awesome!
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Like what do I do for that?" You're just like the Macedonians, like, "Please, please, please, can we be a part of that?
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Can we be a part of that?
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We've encountered some needs here in our church.
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Immediate urgent needs.
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The people were trampling each other to give.
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Like, "Hey, here's a family that has needs." We had people like, "Oh, I want to give.
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I want to give." I would have people email me and text me like, "Hey, Pastor Jeff, I really want to give to this family.
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Can I please help out?" That's crazy.
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it supernatural? That's Christian giving. He said, "Not only do I have something to give, but I want to give it." And you're like, "Oh, hold on pastor.
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Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop." I thought the Bible said you had to give.
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Right? Like the tithe. Doesn't the Bible say like you have to tithe? That's like a a commandment, and doesn't the Bible say that you have to give?
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So all this stuff you're talking about, it's not really like an option, because you have to do it.
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Actually that's not true.
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Like I said, I believe tithing is a great principle.
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But tithing is not commanded in the New Testament.
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Now stay with me here.
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We're going to be looking at this passage, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.
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If tithing were commanded in the New Testament, surely Paul would have brought it up here.
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But the only thing he ever addresses anywhere in this passage, and really anywhere else in the New Testament when it comes to giving, it's all free will.
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It's all choosing to give joyfully.
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But the command that you must give 10% to the church, that command is not in the New Testament.
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You're like, "Well, then what's the deal with tithing?" Well, actually, this came from Old Testament times.
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Old Testament Israel, you know that they had three tithes.
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Did you know that?
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It wasn't just, "I give 10 %." Israel actually gave 23 and a third percent.
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Where did that come from?
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Well, you can jot these references down.
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I encourage you to be a student of the Word.
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But in Old Testament Israel, there were three tithes.
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The first one was to support the Levites.
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The Levites were the tribe of Israel that God set aside.
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They were going to do His work.
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They were going to conduct His business and run the temple.
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The first tithe was to support them.
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That's in Leviticus 27.
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But there was a second tithe that was to pay for annual festivals.
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That's in Deuteronomy chapter 12.
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those feasts and festivals, they would collect a tithe to pay for those.
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The third tithe was every three years you paid another 10%.
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That's where the 23 and a third came from. See, every three years you paid another 10% and that went to the poor. That went to the orphans and the fatherless, the widows.
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Because that was to help the people in the camp who were poor.
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And in the Old Testament, tithing was not optional.
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When you study the Old Testament, God said this is required.
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It's not like, "I feel like tithing, I don't feel like tithing." Israel had to pay the tithe.
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Why?
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It's like us paying our taxes.
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The money that they gave wasn't just for religious reasons.
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It was for the good of the community.
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Okay, like us paying our income taxes.
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And those aren't optional, by the way.
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That's how it was in the Old Testament.
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God says, "Look, you've got to support the Levites.
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You have these national festivals.
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You've got to pay for that.
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And then we've got to look after these people that are poor.
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You're going to help support them too." Required giving.
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But the tithe was not free will giving.
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There are many, many, many examples of free will giving in the Old Testament.
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For example, when David was talking, was addressing Israel about building the temple, which he didn't do, Solomon did it, 1 Chronicles 29.
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He was talking about people free will giving.
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Exodus chapter 35, when Moses was making plans to build the tabernacle, it was about free will giving.
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That's New Testament type giving.
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There's a phrase used in the Old Testament that I think still applies today when it comes to our free will giving.
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And that's the phrase "first fruits." Write that down.
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Do you know what first fruits are?
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First fruits was the attitude that you were to have when you gave.
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See, the person that loves to give, gives of their first fruits.
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You're like, "What is first fruits?" Okay, well, keep in mind, many of the people in this day were farmers.
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And when they would harvest, they would not say, "Okay, well, let's harvest everything and assess how much we have and then see if we have anything left over to give to God." which by the way is how people typically give in America, honestly.
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It's well, let me pay my bills and let me see how much I have left and then maybe I'll give God a portion of what I have left.
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That's not biblical giving.
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First fruits was, I'm going to give God first and I'm going to give God the best.
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When they brought the harvest in, they would say, okay, the first and best portion of this harvest, we are giving to the Lord.
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Why?
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It's our way of saying thank you.
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It's our way of acknowledging that it came from Him.
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And it's our way of saying by faith God, we trust that You're going to keep bringing it.
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We're trusting You with it.
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That's first fruits.
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I give God first and I give God best.
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Not, I'll think about maybe giving God something if I have anything left over.
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If I have too much.
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If I have a batch of rotten apples, I'll see about donating them.
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I understand that even in the Old Testament, giving was about the heart.
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Giving was about acknowledging God's ownership on what passed through your hands.
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And giving was about faith, even in the Old Testament.
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And that's how it is in the New Testament.
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Church, giving is about the heart.
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It's not the amount.
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It's not the percentage.
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Ok?
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I guarantee you Ken's not sitting at home adding machine trying to figure out, "Well, this is how much he gave, but is that truly a tithe?
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That would mean that he makes X amount at his job." He is not doing that.
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Because it's not about that.
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It's about the heart.
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It's about making up your mind what you want to give joyfully.
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That's Christian giving.
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And Jesus boiled it all down in Matthew 6.21.
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Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." That's an objective test.
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Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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People want to reverse that and say, "Where your heart is, that's where your treasure is." "Oh, Pastor Jeff, my heart is with the church.
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That's where my treasure is.
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And Pastor Jeff, my heart is with those poor, abused animals.
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So that's where my treasure is.
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Jesus said, "That's not how you take that test.
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"You show me your checkbook, "I'll show you where your heart is.
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"Show me your checkbook.
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"If I can read through your checkbook, "Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, McDonald's, "okay, if that's where your treasure's going, "then that means your heart is to fast food, right?
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"Or if I look through your checkbook and it's everything purchases for your children.
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I would say, well, their hearts with their children because they're spending all their money on their children.
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If I look through your checkbook and I'm supporting this ministry and I'm supporting this missionary and I'm supporting this church, and if I'm going through your checkbook and read all those things, I would think, well, their heart must be with missions because so much of their giving goes towards advancing God's kingdom.
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It's an objective test.
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Jesus said where your treasure is, That's where your heart is.
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You want to know where your heart is?
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You want to know where your heart really is?
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Do a self-evaluation.
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How do I spend my money?
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How do I handle God's money?
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Jesus said, there you'll find your heart.
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And finally for today, I got something to give, And I want to give it.
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Because giving is worship.
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Giving is worship.
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Look at verses 5-7 as we close up.
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He says in this, "Not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
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Accordingly, we urge Titus, that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace." There's that word "grace" again.
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"But as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also." First of all, look at that list in verse 7.
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It says very quickly, he says to the church in Corinth, You guys are excelling in everything.
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In speech, that's logos.
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That's the Word.
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That's doctrine.
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In faith - I'm sorry, I skipped that one.
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In faith, that's just your trust in the Lord.
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You excel in trusting the Lord.
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You excel in speech, in logos, in doctrine.
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You excel in understanding the ways of the Lord.
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That's knowledge.
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He says in all earnestness.
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That's spiritual passion.
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He says you excel in that.
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Your walk with Christ is not some stale, religious, do my check mark because I read my Bible passage for the day.
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He says you have spiritual passion.
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You love Christ.
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And it's so obvious that you love Christ.
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You're passionate.
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And in love.
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God's economy is always at the top.
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Now when you look at that list I would ask you which of those are optional things in the Christian walk? Which of them are negotiable? The answer is obviously none of them, right? These things are all important to the Christians walk. They are. That's why Paul says, "See that you You excel in this act of grace also.
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In other words, you excel in your walk in every area.
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Make sure that you excel when it comes to giving.
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These things are part of who you are in Christ.
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So is giving.
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And I promised you I would not give you a guilt trip for this whole month.
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I'm really going to try hard, In February, I'm really going to lay some guilt on you.
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Because I promised specifically for this month.
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I'm just kidding, I'm probably not going to do that in February either.
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But you know, honestly church, there are lots of reasons that I could give you to give.
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You know, before we take our offering, I could get up and I could lay out these impassioned pleas.
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Oh church, there's so much need.
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We have need, and we can put it up on the screen of the need that we have in our church family community, and we just have this need, we could play a very sad song in the background while we're showing you pictures. That's not a real heart motivator though. Another reason I could give you to give is just through peer pressure. You know what church, we have, you know most people in our church are giving to this mission, and it's really important, so you should give too, and I could make it a peer pressure thing that you're sitting there like, well if If everybody else is giving, somebody's bound to notice that I haven't given anything yet, so I should probably give.
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That's not a heart motivator either.
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I could motivate you by feeling good.
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You know what?
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Nothing will make you feel better today than giving that money.
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Nothing's going to make you feel better than giving that money.
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I could make it like a sort of a self -motivating thing.
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I'll feel good if I give that.
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That's not a real heart motivator either.
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What's the heart motivator?
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What's in verse 5?
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Look at it again.
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They gave themselves first to the Lord.
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They gave themselves first to the Lord.
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Why were the Macedonians so generous?
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Why were they so joyful?
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Why were they so excited to give?
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Why were they so fired up about taking care of these poor Christians?
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What motivated them?
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Here it is, verse 5.
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They gave themselves to the Lord.
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It was part of their walk.
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In other words, giving is worship and love.
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Love always results in giving.
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Love always results in giving.
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Married people here, and some of you have been married a lot longer than some others.
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Just for a moment, I want you to think about the relationship between the husband and the wife.
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When the relationship was young and fresh, do you remember how excited it was to give?
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Sneaking off to the flower shop, going to surprise her with some roses.
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You guys remember that?
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You guys remember that?
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I got this stuffed animal, this teddy bear, and I sprinkled my cologne on it, and I slid Put it in her mail slot.
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Any guys ever do that?
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Many more of you did that, okay?
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Do you remember how excited you were to give?
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Even if it was, "I was walking down the street and I looked down and I saw this rock in the shape of a heart and I thought of you, so I put it in a box and I'm giving it to you." Guys, we do stuff like that.
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And we're excited to do it.
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Why?
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Why do we do that?
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Because we love her.
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Right?
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We love her.
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So giving is just like, "Oh, I love, I just love, I was just thinking about you today and I got this for you.
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It wasn't, you know, I bought you something else this week so that should buy me some more time in the relationship, right?
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I'm giving it because I love you.
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Sadly, men, I'm speaking to you especially sadly over time, that I give because I love turns into I give out of obligation.
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Our anniversary's coming up.
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I completely forgot.
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What do you want?
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What do you want for your anniversary?
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Are we exchanging gifts this year for our anniversary?
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What do you want?
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And it becomes this like chore that you forget about.
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Meanwhile, at the beginning of the relationship, you're celebrating like, it's our two hour anniversary, so I bought you this.
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Here's a gold necklace for our five day anniversary.
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And here this woman has put up with you for 15 years, and you forgot.
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But you understand the point, right?
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When you love, a natural outpouring of that love is loving to give to the person that you love.
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That's how it is with God.
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See we give because we love God.
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And if we don't love God, we're not going to feel inclined to give.
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If we're not constantly on fire in our walk with the Lord, we're going to have that tendency to drift like in the human relationships.
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We're going to have that tendency to drift from "I give to missions because I love God and I want to see His kingdom advance." We drift to "Oh, it's time for the offering.
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I guess I should probably give something." The love is cold.
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The giving is stale.
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And you miss what it means to be a steward.
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The ultimate example, obviously, of giving, because of love, is from God.
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Everybody in here knows John 3.16, right?
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Help me out.
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"For God so loved the world." So God loved the world.
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And because God loved this world, the people, obviously, right?
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Because God loved the people in this world so much, what did he do?
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For God so loved the world, he, he what?
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He gave.
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Giving was a natural expression of God's love.
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As Christians, giving is a natural expression of our love for God.
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That we've moved on from, I give because I should, to, "I love to give, and I give because I love." Let's pray.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-7
Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt 6:21)
Explain What that means in your own words.
How is the act of giving really an act of worship? (2 Cor 8:5-7)
Breakout Questions:
Do you struggle with joyful giving? Why or why not?