Gospel Generiosity

Amen. Chapel family, how we doing today? Good, man, you're all so rested and on time, so we're glad that you're here with us today. Welcome to our Cheektowaga, our Lockport, our Niagara Falls campuses, watching online, our Crosspoint campus here in the room. Grateful to be with you today and to open up God's Word. And so let's do that in 2 Corinthians chapter eight. We'll get there in just a second, but as you're making your way to 2 Corinthians eight, my leading question for you this morning is, have you ever have like really good intentions but you lacked some follow through? Maybe you set out on one of these crisp fall Saturdays to clean out the garage, like you're really gonna do it. Or maybe the basement needs some tending to, and you say, I'm gonna get up, I'm gonna get my work clothes on, I'm gonna get my my gear, I'm gonna dive in, I'm gonna get that all straightened out. I'm gonna feel so productive at the end of this Saturday. And so you start, whether that's in the garage or in the basement and three hours later your spouse comes and finds you and you're reading eighth grade report cards. And this may be inspired by true events, and I have to be careful 'cause I also have some of my eighth grade teachers here in our church. So that's what I'm dealing with, right? And I thought you were gonna clean out the garage. I thought you were gonna clean out the basement. Really good intentions, just lacking in follow through. Or maybe you said, oh, I gotta call that friend. I haven't talked to them in months, it's been six months since I've talked to them and oh, this weekend I'm gonna give them a call. And then you realize six months later it was another six months and you still haven't called them. Or maybe even in the realm of spiritual disciplines, I'm gonna, oh, this is the year I'm gonna read my Bible more. And so on January 1st, you start out with really good intentions and you're crushing Genesis, you're cruising through Exodus, and then you get to Leviticus, that's the grinding halt Bible reading plan book, right? And so you had some really good intentions, but you lacked follow through. And honestly, I understand, right? Like there's a lot going on in Leviticus. There's a lot of animal sacrifices, red heifers and grain offerings that we're just like, okay, help me, let's get to the Gospels, right? Like, we wanna, we have good intentions, but maybe we lack follow through. Well, the reason I ask you that question is because it will help us get into the minds of the Corinthians as we look at what Paul will write to them about today in 2 Corinthians eight, because he's writing to them about a problem that they were having. It seems that Paul has to write to them about a lot of problems that they were having. And the problem that they were having here in this instance that we're gonna see is one pertaining to the realm of generosity. Lemme give you some background. So the Apostle Paul had decided to take up a collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. I mean literally the impoverished Christians in Jerusalem. And so he says, actually in Romans 15, he says this in verses 25 and 26, now however, I'm on my way to Jerusalem, in the service of the Lord's people there, for Macedonia and Achaia we're pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord's people in Jerusalem. So Paul had invited the churches that he helped to plant or that he was relationally connected to. He says, let's help out our brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. As you can imagine, the epicenter of Judaism, Jerusalem, was also the epicenter of persecution for the Christians in Jerusalem. It's not to say there wasn't persecution elsewhere in other cities, there was, we'll even see that. But Paul says this is especially true and intense in Jerusalem. And so the churches that he was connected to, they all came together with him and said, let's make a blessing to the Christians in Jerusalem who are in need because their persecution had led to a change in their economic status in Jerusalem. And you could probably understand why, for most people, they practiced their father's trade. And so if someone came to faith in Christ, that would actually be not just like an awkward thing at Thanksgiving dinner, right? Like this was actually an unemployment thing because if the father remained devout to Judaism and the child, the son became a follower of Christ, that would be, you're dead to me. And so that would be like getting fired. So there was a change in their economic status and many were persecuted. So they experienced that persecution, but that persecution also led to a change in their economic status. And so Paul says, let's help out. So the churches of Macedonia and the churches of Achaia, the churches of Macedonia included cities like Philippi or Berea and Thessalonica, and the the churches of Achaia, that region would include Corinth, Athens, and Sparta among others. So these churches all came together and they take up this collection. Well, it seems that Corinth had started out real hot and they were really interested in what was going on. They wanted to be a part of it, but then they had fizzled out at some point. So they had said, yeah, we're all in. You can count on us, Paul. And then at a point, their contributions dwindled. And so now Paul's writing to them. But what's so beautiful is he doesn't beat them up. He doesn't give them a guilt trip. He doesn't bludgeon them, he doesn't flex Apostolic authority, instead, as we'll see, like a loving father, he guides them to a better place with generosity than they were currently living in. Or I would say he elevates their view of generosity. And what I hope for us this morning is that this scripture will also elevate our view of generosity as well. And here's kind of where we're going. This is my trajectory for us today. The Gospel shapes our generosity, the Gospel shapes our generosity. And I wanna show you five ways that that's true from our text. The Gospel shapes our generosity, and really we'll see what Gospel generosity looks like, hopefully by the time that we're done in 2 Corinthians chapter eight. So we're gonna look at the first 15 verses of that chapter. But beginning, I want you to look with me at verses one through five of 2 Corinthians eight. It says this, and now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity for I testify that they gave as much as they were able, look at this, and even beyond their ability, entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people. He's talking about that collection that we read about from Romans 15. And they exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves, first of all to the Lord and then by the will of God, also to us. So the Gospel shapes our generosity. And the first element of that truth is this, that generosity has nothing to do with your wealth and everything to do with your joy. Generosity has nothing to do with your wealth and everything to do with your joy. How do I know that? Well, Paul says here, that while in a severe trial, did you catch this, their overflowing joy, they had overflowing joy while they themselves were being persecuted for their faith in their region of Macedonia. Again, the churches of Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica and others, while they were in a severe trial, their overflowing joy. And he says their extreme poverty. So look at this Gospel equation, overflowing joy plus extreme poverty equals rich generosity. We don't have a category for this. Like we don't have a compartment to put this in. When we look at that Gospel equation, that overflowing joy and extreme poverty somehow results in rich generosity. We don't have a category for that. It's like when my daughter, who's 11 asks me for help with her math homework, she says, dad, can you help me with this? And I say, I don't know what this is. I didn't learn common core math. Like why aren't you doing it the way that we learned in the 1990s, right? Like, or as she calls it, the 1900s, right? So I say, why aren't you doing, I don't know, I don't have a category. What are you grouping? I don't understand this. This seems like, no, we're gonna do it this way and then your teacher will have to deal with it. So we don't have a category in Gospel equations for overflowing joy and extreme poverty results in rich generosity. Help me understand that, Paul, because you know, if we think about how we think about money, maybe like a picture will help. So speaking of math class, remember these, did that just trigger something for you? So what if this was like the money side of the axis, there's a word, and what if so what if this is, you know, this part of the graph represents money and this part of the graph represents joy. So over here is a sad face, and over here is a happy face. You all with me? How do we, and I'm not talking about we, The Chapel, how do we American people or Western thinkers, how do we typically think about money? If the money level goes up, the joy level goes up, right? Do you watch commercials like right, like this is what is pedaled to us every day, thousands of times, every day. If you had more, you would be happier. Every commercial, whether it's for a wristwatch or a soda pop or a trip to you know, to Bora Bora, like all of it is if the money level went up, the joy level would go up. That's the American way of thinking. But what if we asked the Gospel way of thinking, fix my graph. If I just look at what Paul said about the Macedonian believers, what did he say? In a severe trial, while in a trial, their extreme poverty, their money level was going down, but their joy was increasing, their joy went deeper even while their money went lower. This is such a contradiction to how we typically think that money works. So I say, and I believe Paul says in 2 Corinthians eight that generosity has nothing to do with wealth and everything to do with joy. Because the Macedonians proved that even when you have nothing, you can have joy in God. In fact, maybe it's such that by finding joy only in God and not in money, their joy was able to remain even when their money didn't remain. Because when He was all they had, they realized He was all they needed. But he says that they exceeded our expectations. They gave beyond what was even what they could fathom. And before they gave their money though, did you catch this in verse five, it said they gave themselves, first of all to the Lord, before they gave money, they gave themselves. That's why I say generosity has nothing to do with wealth and everything to do with joy. They gave themselves to the Lord, they found joy in Him that couldn't be changed by circumstances. You know, I wonder if it's possible that maybe some who are struggling to really follow through on generous giving, it's not actually a math problem, it's a priority problem. Maybe it's a surrender problem. Oh, I can't give right now, I just don't have it. Is it possible that maybe you haven't given what was most important first? Because the Macedonian churches they gave of themselves before they ever made a financial contribution. He says they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us. What if that was your hangup, that you haven't yet given your whole self to Him? And so money feels like an area that's off limits to God because you haven't yet surrendered all of yourself to God. What if we gave ourselves to the Lord first? But there's a second truth that we'll get to in a second. I want to first show you verses six through eight in our text. It says this in 2 Corinthians eight. So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier, made a beginning to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything in faith and speech and knowledge and in complete earnestness and in the love we of kindle in you, see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I'm not commanding you, but I wanna test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. So the second truth that we see from 2 Corinthians eight is that generosity is an act of grace, not guilt, that reveals your true love. Generosity is an act of grace, not guilt, it can't be guilt motivated. All right, number one. See number one, it comes from joy. So it can't come from guilt. Therefore it's an act of grace that reveals your true love. It's interesting to me that Paul says it's a grace. In fact, throughout this passage, Paul never talks about dollars and cents, money, currency, coins. Like he doesn't talk about any of that. Instead, what he does talk about, when he talks about generosity, he calls it a grace. He calls it a gift. He calls it a service. He calls it a partnership. He calls it a work, something to do. He never calls it something in terms of currency. That's because this is something way bigger than money. It's an act of grace that reveals your true love. Now, Corinth was a gifted church, that's known. He says you excel in all of these things and we know they were a gifted place. Troubled, yes, immature, for sure, but also very gifted. And Paul says, I want others to see how gifted you are, not just in the ways that you typically are associated with giftedness, but I want them to see your giftedness here. I wanna prove that you really love what you say you love. He says, I want this to be a test of the sincerity of your love. And if that trips you up, if maybe your thinking is that really fair for Paul to want to do, maybe the words of the Apostle John that are parallel to these ideas will help us. Look with me at 1 John 3:16, he said, this is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. This is how we know what love is, Jesus Christ, He laid down His life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, here's the question. How can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love only with words or speech, but with actions and in truth. He says, this is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ didn't stay in heaven and say, hey, I love you guys. Good luck with that whole sin thing. He didn't. He came to this earth, He gave of himself, He gave all, and He did that as an act of grace that revealed His true love. So Paul says the same thing here, how can you say you love God if you're still not willing to open up your hands to the needs that He puts in your path? Let's not just love with words. Hey, love you, sending good vibes. Let's love with action. Let's love with words and action. This is what he's saying here. It's a test of sincerity. In other words, can you say you really love God if you're not surrendered to His leadership when He puts a need in your path? Do you really love God or is it just lip service? That's basically what he's saying. But this has to be an act of grace, not an act of guilt. It can't be motivated by guilt. The shelf life for that is too short. But generosity looks like where we direct our resources reveals what we really love or who, where we direct our resources reveals that. If you were to take a look at my bank account and my expenditures, what would you conclude about what my true love really is? What would you come away with if I could show you that? If I did, what would you conclude? Would there be anything kingdom related that would give you even a hint that this is where I'm invested and now we have to ask about you? If I could look at your bank account, what conclusions might I draw about your true love? Is it things that are going to be in a junkyard in a hundred years or is it gonna be things that will last for eternity? This is what we need to ask ourselves, friends. 'Cause if we say that we love God, that will evidence itself in our acts of grace. But then Paul says this most powerful statement in the whole chapter, verse nine, for you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. The third truth here for us today is that generosity uncovers what you believe about the Gospel. Generosity uncovers what you believe about the Gospel. This verse, verse nine, is not a tag on, it's not an afterthought, it's not a, oh yeah, I should probably mention something about Jesus here. This is not an intermission. This is the anchor for everything Paul's saying, Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you and I through his poverty might become rich. But I need you to understand something because this verse could be so twisted and misused that we need to level the playing field here. This is not an economic statement. I know Paul's using economical terms and he's doing that intentionally. But this is not an economical statement. Though you could say, sure, Jesus Christ, though he was rich, he owns everything. That was week one in our series. God owns it all, though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor. Look it. He was born in a manger. He had nothing to his name. He had to borrow everything in his whole life. He had to borrow a boat to preach from. He had to borrow a house to sleep in. He even had to borrow a grave when he died. Okay, so he was poor. But why would his socioeconomic status on earth have anything to do with what we're talking about here? Even if we spiritualized this, well, he's gonna make us spiritually rich. Yes, okay. Because this is for sure not telling you that God is here to make you wealthy. That's not what this is saying. And it frustrates me when I hear people twist the scripture to say that something he's not saying, this is not an economic statement. What's he saying? What is Paul saying? Well, I think the best possible commentary on Paul's words here are other places that Paul has written. Look first with me in this same book in 2 Corinthians 5:21, a similar structure to what we just read. God made him who had no sin. That's Jesus, to be sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God. That in other words, God took the sinless one, transferred our debt of sin to his account and by absorbing the just penalty for that sin debt, Jesus Christ forgave our sin and then transferred into our account his righteousness. We had all sin and no righteousness. He had all righteousness and no sin. And he took our sin out of our account, absorbed it and absolved it in his own and then deposited his righteousness into our account. He was rich in righteousness, yet he became poor. He associated himself with the lowly. But more than that, he took on all of our sin debt. You wanna talk about poor, all of our sin debt on his shoulders so that you and I, through his poverty on the cross and his subsequent resurrection might become rich in his righteousness. That's what he's saying. Or you could look at Philippians two, another parallel that Paul wrote, who being in very nature of God, did not consider equality with God. He was rich. Something to be used to his own advantage. Rather he made himself nothing. He became poor by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death through his poverty, even death on a cross so that you through his death, might receive the gift of eternal life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. What we believe about it is revealed in our generosity. Why? Because if we believe we have everything we need in him, it changes our perspective on everything we have. If we really believe that we've got it all in him and we do because we've got him, that will change how we live with our stuff, our money, it just will. But if we think that Jesus Christ came to make our lives a little bit better, like he's a wonderful add-on to an already pretty good life, then our gratitude level will shrink because we'll think he's just there to be like a boost. Just that little lift I needed at the end of the day or at the end of the week instead of the one who became poor on our behalf, who took our sin debt on his shoulders. If we see that, if we see that for what it really is, it changes everything about how we view generosity. So generosity uncovers what you and I believe about the Gospel. And you realize that money is such a small thing in light of what God has done for us. But our text continues in verse 10, look with me here. He says, and here's my judgment about what's best for you in this matter. Last year, he says to Corinth, you were the first, not only to give, but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has not according to what one doesn't have. This is huge, generosity, fourth, turns good intentions into faithful action. Remember how we began having good intentions but lacking follow through, generosity enables us to take those good intentions and turn them into faithful action. What's Paul saying here? He really is saying, well, how Paul views generosity is, guys, this is good for you. That's why I told you like a loving father. He says, this is actually good for you. It's gonna help you follow through on what you said you were gonna do. You guys were the first ones to have the desire to give and to show up. He says, you were the first ones to respond to the email. You guys showed up, you said you were there. Now finish the work, guys, this will be good for you. He loves the Corinthians so much. He wants what's best for him. He says, this is, I think this is best for you, but I need you to know when I say that this is good for you. I don't mean like the way we would talk about like, hey, eating Brussels sprouts are good for you. Now in our house, my wife and I, we have two children. I'm not gonna name names. One of them despises Brussels sprouts, the other loves them. And the one who loves them upon being served Brussels sprouts, which happens in our home from time to time, the child who loves the Brussels sprouts will say, mm, these are so good. And then turn to the sibling who does not like the Brussels sprouts and say, aren't these so good? And you know what they're doing? The second child who does not like the Brussels sprouts will say, do I really have to eat these? And the answer is yes, because this is not Chili's where you just get to order off the menu and if you don't like it, you can send it back to the kitchen. Like that's not how we parent. So you're not gonna live on chicken fingers and french fries, sorry, you're gonna eat 'em, right? You may think, you may think less of me for that, but that's how we roll over at our house. So the child who does not like the Brussels sprouts will then proceed to plug their nose, bring the Brussels sprout, and with all of the animation that they can muster up, just how painful this experience is for them. And then an over-exaggerated, you know, like, oh, like how are you doing this to me? I thought you said you loved me like that kind of a thing. And we do. That's why we make them eat the Brussels sprouts. When I say that generosity is good for you, like Paul does, that's not what we mean. Like yeah, some of his kids say isn't generosity great and the others are saying, do I have to? That's not what we mean because see point one, it has everything to do with your joy. So if it's devoid of joy, it's not generosity, it's fundraising and donations. But when I say that generosity turns good intentions into faithful action, Paul says, this is going to be good for you. Why? Because the faith that you expressed Corinth by saying we're in, that was a faith building exercise. You had to trust God to even say, we'll contribute. Now I want you to experience the faith building exercise of following through on your word of doing what you said you were gonna do. You said you were in. Now complete the work. This will be good for you. Why? Because it's gonna build your faith muscles so that you can continue to trust God more and more. Because just saying you're gonna give or just throwing a 20 at it once in a while doesn't require that much trust. But to have those good intentions turn into faithful actions means I'm gonna say yes before the question is asked. And I'm going to give even when it's not convenient because I know this is not only what God wants. This will be good for my faith. But first things first, this is what God wants, but it's also best for you 'cause it's gonna be good for your faith. You know, I wonder how we might apply that to our lives that instead of thinking about generosity in terms of let's see how much is left. Well, we've got a trip coming up and the washing machine needs a tune up and you know, I really could use a new pair of shoes and Christmas is coming. I should set aside some for that and let's see what's left. What if we started to see our good intentions in giving lead, not follow. Instead of saying what's left and we'll give that. What if we started with God, this is yours and everything else is too. So I don't know what November 2025 looks like, you do, but here's what we're going to give or here's what I'm going to give before I even know what the month is gonna look like and I'm gonna trust you in the midst of that. See, that takes our good intentions and turns them into faithful action. But then Paul concludes this passage by saying, our desire is not that others might be relieved while you're hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time, your plenty will supply what they need so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, he says it again as it is written. And he quotes from Exodus, the one who gathered much, did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. He's talking about the story of manna. Everyone had enough. So the fifth truth that I want for us is that want us to see is that generosity joins us together in Gospel partnership. I say this intentionally, that generosity joins us together in Gospel partnership. Because earlier on in our text actually in verse four, if you were to look at that, the Macedonians begged Paul for the privilege of sharing in this collection, in this effort, that word for sharing in the Greek is actually the word koinonia. Now you might have heard that word as fellowship. That's true. Sometimes it means that. But it can also mean participation, but also partnership, togetherness, generosity. When we together give, this joins us together in Gospel partnership, twice, he says, equality, the goal is equality. I'm after equality. He's not thinking socialist equality where we just level that playing field for everybody. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, I want to see that each person's equally invested. And I don't mean with dollars, which keeps us, by the way, from the comparison trap, it keeps us from thinking either what does it matter? My gift's not that much, or keeps us from thinking they really can't do without me because of what I'm giving. This truth guards us from the comparison trap because the gift of $5 and the gift of $500 and the gift of $5,000 all could be steps of obedience or disobedience depending on what God has entrusted to you. But it also tells us that the gift of five and the gift of 500 and the gift of 5,000, that there would be an equality that all of us are coming to the table, yoking ourselves together to say, we're all after this together. And you've heard before, not equal gift size, equal sacrifice, that we're all in this, all of us joining together. So are you in? It starts with that question. Lord, what would you have me to give? What would you have us to give with the portfolio that you've entrusted to our care? In order for us to be good stewards, faithful to what you've asked us to take care of until you come again? What would be obedience for me? Husbands and wives, what would be obedience for us? That's something we seek the Lord on. That's why there's no percentage prescribed in 2 Corinthians eight, because 10% might actually be obedience, but it actually might be disobedience depending on what God has entrusted into your care. That's why he doesn't prescribe a percentage. He says, I want equality. I want everybody's hearts in the middle of the table, say we're in. Whether we've got five or 500 or 5,000, we're in. That's what he wants. That's what Paul wants for these churches. And that's what I believe God wants for our church, for this fellowship that we'd be all in. You know, if I take everything that we've said so far and distill it down into a single statement, it would be this. When you are gripped by the Gospel, God loosens your grip on money. When the Gospel has shaped you, shaped your generosity. When you're gripped by the Gospel, God loosens your grip on money. Or if you want to, you could say God loosens money's grip on you. You know, I was thinking about an example like from my life, where have I seen this? And for me personally, the quickest illustration that comes to my mind is my parents. My mom and dad modeled this truth for me. And in our house growing up, it was common for me to hear my parents talking about how God had provided. And I have to be honest, when I was really small, there were some pretty lean years in our household. There were some buttered noodles dinners, if I could just say it that way. And yet, time and time again, I can picture my parents modeling this truth for me. Even when they didn't have, this was all over. And you know what's great is just as an aside, independently, while I was learning this lesson from my parents, my wife was also learning this from her mom. And so in our marriage, this is not even a fight. And that's a blessing from our parents that if the number one fight is about money in marriage, we've been spared that one because of how this was modeled for us and taught to us. So even just as an aside to parents, how you handle money is actually preparing your child for what kind of spouse they're gonna be. And if you wanna be a blessing to your child's future spouse, consider how the way you handle money may impact that. You want what's best for them, right? So for me, I learned this. And then a more pertinent or a specific example was for my dad specifically. And you know, though, he went to be with the Lord about six months ago. My life was like the source of all of his sermon illustrations. So I figured it's about time I returned the favor. But this is a great memory. You know, my dad was a pastor here for many years, and in 2021, some significant health problems got in the way of him continuing that full-time pastoring. It just did. And he's in his 60s when that happened. And at a time when most people in his age bracket are thinking nest egg, stockpiling, you know, right? Like that's a normal American value. And I watched my dad grow even more deeply in his trust that God would provide. So he wouldn't take an honorarium when asked to perform a funeral or a wedding, which is perfectly appropriate for that to be done. He decided between him and the Lord that he wouldn't take it. And again, at his age and no longer having that 9:00 to 5:00, no longer having that full-time and benefits and being in a different season and struggling with his health for him to make that decision. And I asked, you know, we talked about that a bunch actually more than one time. But I remember talking with him about that, dad, why? His response was, Jonathan, do you realize how good God has been to your mom and me? Do you realize how good God's been to us? We've never gone hungry. We have all we need. And he'd always come back to God's goodness, my friends, that's freedom. Imagine having that kind of freedom where you can live open handedly. But why? Because when the Gospel has gripped you, it loosens your grip. God loosens your grip and you can live open handedly and not worry about tomorrow. That's freedom. You see, money is a terrible, terrible enslaving master that does not deliver on any of what it promises. And if you want freedom, the only way to get out from under that enslaving master is to serve a better one. And when you get gripped by what Jesus Christ has done for you, God will loosen your grip on money. I've seen it, I've seen it in others. I've seen it in myself. You've seen it too. So Christian, what if you gave like God gives? What if you and I gave like God gives? What if you pursued joy, overflowing joy in God the same way that you used to pursue wealth? What might happen? What if you gave yourself first to the Lord? And let that determine every other subsequent priority? What if? What if the Gospel shaped our generosity? But if you're here and you're watching at any one of our campuses and you don't know God personally through Jesus, I wanna circle back to verse nine of our text one more time, because this is the most important thing you need to hear. For now you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich. This is what Jesus has done for you. No one has ever gone to the lengths that Jesus went to to show you just how much they love you, only him. And so the only appropriate response in light of his love, believe it, receive it, and be changed. Let's bow together for a word of prayer. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed, I'm gonna ask right now that our prayer team is gonna come up to the front of this room. Some men and women on our prayer team are gonna be available when I dismiss in a second to pray and talk with you. If you need prayer for anything or any reason, or most importantly, if you need to know Jesus and start a journey of faith with him, this is what they're there for. It's their joy to serve in that way. And if God has been stirring in your heart, drawing you to himself, you realize this message isn't really even about money. It's about how well we understand God's grace in our own lives. Everything else flows from that. So I would encourage you when we dismiss in just a moment to come up and take one of the men and women that are down front by the hand, say, I need prayer. I need Jesus, anything like that, they'll take it from there. God, I ask as I have prayed this morning, I pray now that everything that we walk outta here remembering would be your word, your truth, not my words. I pray that we walk out, changed, transformed, shaped, and formed by the Gospel that you, Jesus, left heaven's throne, came to this earth, you descended and you kept on descending all the way to the cross. You reached down to the pit because that's where we were. And in your ascending, you brought us with you purchasing our salvation with your blood. You paid it all. How could we not give you our whole lives in response? And I pray that that would be our action this day, that we would give you our whole lives and with it, our finances, our generosity 'cause you have our heart. You paid for it. And where our treasure is, we know that that's where our heart is too. So I pray that our treasure would follow along as we serve and live for you. Lord, we love you. We thank you for loving us first. It's in Christ's name that we pray all of this. Amen.