Generous on Every Occasion

We are still tarrying in our series called Mature Audiences Only. And I'm going to be honest, this has been a wild series because this series is challenging us to grow up. Now, I know we have all aspects and all walks of life in here, so everybody is basically. You're in a different place and your journey when it comes to Jesus Christ. So for some of us.

Cause I just want us to see, because sometimes we don't really know what's in the house. How many of y' all have been in church for more than 20 years? Hallelujah. Shondo, we got some Senior Saints up in here. Welcome to the senior club.

I'll get you your AARP Church Edition card, okay? Okay. So I thank God because by now. By now, I would hope. And it's not always necessarily the case, but I would hope that after being in church for such a long time, that you have learned something along the way that has caused you to grow up and you are no longer on spiritual similac.

So I. I thank God for the 20 some years in now if you. You 10 years or less, where you at? 10 years or less. 10. Praise God.

Praise God. All right, so that's good. Now I want to walk on faith right here. How many of y' all are two years or less? Praise God, because you have to start somewhere.

And I pray that as we go over the word that you will get what you need. Because my intention is never for a babe in Christ to choke on steak because they don't have teeth yet. And I think what has happened so long is that either we get steak too soon or we stay on milk our entire lives. So the purpose of these messages that we've preached over the past eight weeks is. Has been to help us grow up into who God has called for us to be.

So while I was studying this and I'm gonna. We're gonna be talking about generosity today. So let me just go ahead and throw that out there. We're talking about generosity. And first thing, when I say generosity, everybody starts thinking you talking about money.

And guess what? I am not talking about money, because I ain't got time for that. That's why I wanted to go ahead and get the offering out of the way, because we have gotten such a bad rep in church where you see so many churches, they collect thousands of dollars, and you see pastors going around and cars they know they can't afford, and people on the same block that their church is in are going hungry.

I'm not trying to go there today. But I probably will. But I'm tired of seeing crap like this. Oh, Lord, filter my mouth. Oh, God.

Because God has called for us to grow up and really start addressing the issues that are happening in the church. But as I was studying, I ran into a story, and I wanted to share it with you. In 1995, the world was introduced to a woman by the name of Osala McCarty. I think they have a picture. Have y' all ever heard of this woman before?

Anybody? Anybody? Oh, that's. That. That's awesome.

That's awesome. I'm so glad. This woman, she was from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and now Ms. McCarty didn't have much by the world's standards. She dropped out of school in the sixth grade to take care of her family. And she spent, Hear me out, Saints.

More than 70 years of her life, washing and ironing clothes for other people. She never owned a car. She walked almost everywhere she went. And she lived a very simple life. But when she retired, the world was shocked to discover that she had quietly saved $280,000 over her lifetime.

And then she did. Help me out, y'. All. She did something even more shocking, because I'm still baffled by looking at this. She gave $150,000 out of the 280,000 that she saved, which is more than half of everything she had, to the University of Southern Mississippi to provide scholarships for African American students in need.

Think about that for a moment. She never had fame. She never had a fortune. But her generosity created a legacy that is still changing lives today. She proved to the world that generosity isn't about the size of your paycheck, but it's about the size of your heart and church.

That's exactly what this series of Spiritual Maturity is about. For the past few weeks, we've been talking about spiritual maturity growing into the image God saw in us from the very beginning. Because the truth is, there is an epidemic of spiritual maturity in the body of Christ. And the call is now for all of us, including myself, to grow up.

Discipleship and spiritual maturity are synonymous. Everyone. It is not enough simply to be a believer, only in thought.

Because now everybody wants you to believe, but nobody is talking about the life that you live.

Cause. Can I. Can I. Can I share something with you that's gonna. That might blow your mind?

This is how I know believing is not enough.

Because even demons tremble at the name of Jesus.

They believe in Jesus. So does that consider them a Christian?

In this journey of growing up? It's not enough just to be a Believer in thought, because that is just the foundation. Following Jesus means becoming like him. Here it is. Y' all don't like this one.

Walking in long obedience.

Not obedience, just for the moment. It's easy for you to come in here in church on Sunday mornings and be obedient. As long as everybody's shouting, the music pumping. Tamika over here talking about, come on, trust in God. I love my sister.

I had to use an example. And we are in the presence of God. So it is easy to obey when a worship leader says, come on and lift your hands. Come on, give God glory. But can you give him glory when you're going through hell in your life?

Following him means walking in long obedience. Watch this in the same direction. So as we continue in this series, some of the final points that we want to unpack on today and even next week, what we're going to look at is this one who practices biblical stewardship. And how do we practice biblical stewardship by one tithing. And I ain't just talking about your money.

Developing a generous spirit. That's what we're going to talk about today. Responsibly. One who responsibly stewards the resources. And you don't bury your talent because a lot of you in here, you have talents that you will use to make money, but you won't use it for the kingdom.

And the last one, we're going to talk about giving credit and glory to the master. But the main focus on today, because I'm trying to look at that clock. I want to be done in 30 minutes or less. Come on, dominoes.

We want to learn how to become spiritually mature through generosity. Somebody say generosity? All right, so here's the scripture today. Second Corinthians, because I don't believe in just giving you my opinion. Let's look at the word of God.

Second Corinthians, chapter eight is where we're coming from today. Second Corinthians, chapter eight, verses one through seven. It's going to be on the screen behind me hopefully. So here it is. It says, and now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace God, God gave the churches in Macedonia.

They have been tested by great troubles and they are very poor.

I could stop right there. But they gave much because of their great joy. I can tell you that they gave as much as they were able and even more than they could afford. And no one told them to do it. You beg and preacher you, but they, they not the preacher.

They begged and pleaded with us to let them share in this service for God's people. And they gave in a way we did not expect. They first gave themselves to the Lord and to us. This is what God wants.

So we asked Titus to help you finish this special work of grace, since he is the one who started it. You are rich in everything, in faith and speaking and knowledge and truly wanting to help and in the love you learned from us. My obligation is to teach you how to love in the same way. Be strong also in the grace of giving. Somebody say grace of giving now in this text.

In this text. Because I had to make sure we look at the text. Somebody say the text. In this text, Paul highlights how the Macedonian churches, though poor and tested, still chose to give beyond their ability because their hearts belonged full fully to the Lord. And I know this might be hard to grasp in our society and culture today, but our culture has taught us a theology that goes against the word of God.

What is that theology? That theology is what can I get out of the church instead of what can God get out of me?

And that's the mark, spiritual maturity. When you stop living for your own advantage and start living for God's purpose.

I know this is a tough word. I know, I know it's a tough word. But please hear my heart. I'm not jumping on you. I just want to show you how to really be blessed.

This is where the real difference shows up. Check this out. Believers remember the difference between believers and those who have been changed. Believers often disadvantage others to benefit themselves.

Because remember, even demons believe, But disciples, oh, that's a pretty slide. Will disadvantage themselves to benefit others. Now, I'm not saying do anything that's crazy, but let's really check the heart behind our generosity. Because many times I have given so much to organizations, but here it is. It didn't hurt me.

I gave them out of abundance and it wasn't heartfelt.

Don't look at me like that, because I know I'm not the only one. Your lights need to be paid. And then you going down Wendover and somebody asking you for $5. And you make sure you keep looking straight.

And the fact of the matter is, if it wasn't for the grace of God, it could have been one of us right there.

So we're talking about the heart behind generosity, not necessarily what you give. Because if your heart is not right, keep your $2.17.

Now when you think about it, think about it, think about it, think about it. For my 20 year old saints in here, that's exactly what the Word of God emphasizes again and again. Why? Because if you want to know what matters most to God, all you have to do is look at what he repeats in Scripture.

And if you don't repeat read the Scripture, you don't know what he repeats. So you get offended when somebody talks about something that God talks about all the time.

That's why you must study to show yourself approved. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed. What rightly dividing the word of truth. God is a repetitive God. When he.

When you open the Word, if you keep reading it, you will start seeing the same message over and over and over again. You will start to see the same words over and over and over again. You will start to see the same story over and over and over again, just with a different face. That's why there is no new thing under the sun. Everything that is has already been.

Why am I saying that? Because the frequency of a word weighs its importance. And when you break it down, here's what you see in the word of God. Here are some major words in the Bible that we always talk about in church. Y' all right.

Want to hear it? Here it go. Believe is in the Bible 272 times. The word pray is in the Bible 371 times. The word love.

Cause you know, we got to be a loving church is in the Bible 714 times. And that's amazing. But the word give is in the Bible 2,152 times.

So when we see the word give and that it shows up more than any other major word in the Bible, it tells us something. What does it say? God's heart beats for generosity.

What are you giving?

What are you giving from your heart?

What are you giving? Simply because it's obligation.

I'm going to say it again because I don't want you to think I'm only talking about money. Now, money is real.

But there is way more to your generosity than your wallet. Because I know when I'm going through some of the hardest parts of my life, I don't need you to write me a check. I need for you to be there for me.

Can I go ahead and be real? Can I go ahead and be real? Because I want to talk to some of the husbands up in here. Because this was a lesson that I learned, and it's for me to learn. Because I'm a giver.

I love to give my wife things. I like to buy her nice things. I mean, she sees it, she says she like it. I want to make sure I do Everything to get it. And for a long time, I was getting her everything except what she needed.

And I thought because I did, that I was being generous to her. But that's not what she really wanted.

She wanted me to sit there with her and watch shows that don't make no sense to me.

I'm going to be honest. And a lot of times I missed out. Here it is. I missed out on the blessings of life because I was trying to prove my love instead of being the love that she needed.

And the same thing happens with our generosity. We think because we give out of a certain way that that should prove ourselves to God, that we are saved and that we love him. And therefore, over the course of years, many people have just pushed making sure you tithe and making sure you just give your 10%, because that's how you show God that you really love him. But 10% is nothing for you when you already making six figures figures, you know how to make a budget, so it's not even a struggle for you anymore. I'm talking about some of y' all that really finally got to a certain place.

And if you haven't, I pray that this will be the year that you will get to that place. But until you get there. A lot of times we have been taught things that are not biblical, but they are beneficial to other people.

So in our text today, in Second Corinthians, chapter 8, Paul shows us exactly how generosity plays out in real life through the Macedonian churches. He does not just commend their giving, but he reveals the secret behind their giving. So let me show you three things real Baptist, y', all, three things that Paul highlights about generosity. Number one that he shows us is the grace behind their giving. Somebody say the grace behind their giving.

I have Bible to back me up. Verse number one says it like this. And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace God gave the churches in Macedonia. So let me say it like this. Generosity begins with God's grace, not material wealth.

That's what generosity begins with God's grace. The Macedonians weren't generous because they were rich, but because God had done something in their hearts.

True giving is a spiritual act, not just a financial one.

It's spiritual, y'. All.

But because we can't see in the spirit with our physical eyes, the only thing we can see is cha Ching, Give me grace to say this. With that being said, I also believe that the use of our money, money, money, money is a window into our hearts.

Because what I have found out in life. I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about myself right now. Is that oftentimes people will start acting funny when money is involved.

Because money is a gateway, or should I say the window to our hearts.

Some of you have lost out on kingdom assignments because of money. And can I be honest and transparent? Like I said, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to myself. Because this is why it's so hard for me.

That's why when I finally started tithing, I realized it wasn't a money issue. It was a heart issue.

When I refused to tithe, I revealed a heart that had not been completely surrendered unto the Lord.

I'm not talking about you because some of you, you might not have gotten to that place yet. So I'm not beating you upside the head. But I will say this. God can do more with 90% than you can do with a hundred.

I'm just telling you. I'm just telling you. And I'm not talking about necessarily giving, just straight to the church. I want our hearts to be in a position where when God says, I want you to give this amount to wherever that you just do it because you know God is going to provide the rest.

I'm going to be honest. I would love if you would tithe to the refuge so we could continue to do the work that God has called for us to do. But if God has placed on your heart to give something, you better follow the Lord because he can do more with your obedience than your logic.

And that's what leads me to number two, that we see here the paradox of their giving. Verse number two says, they have been tested by great troubles and they are very poor. Here it is. This is a trick of the enemy. He will make you think that because you give and you don't have much that you're going to end up in a worse condition.

I'm just being real.

Can we have grown folk church for a second?

Because a lot of times when the bills need to be paid and you don't have enough, you start to wonder if God can really stretch your dollar. I mean, some. I ain't going to say that because I almost showed my age. But I want to say it for this side right here because y' all know where I'm coming from. God knows how to make a dollar out of 15 cents.

I've seen him do it.

But look at this verse. Stay in the word of God. But they gave much because of their great joy. My question is, if you don't have joy in giving. I need you to check where your joy is really coming from.

Because my word tells me that the joy of the Lord is my strength, not the joy of my wallet.

Because the kingdom of God is countercultural, meaning it's upside down. This is God's math. Let me give you God's math. The equation looks like this. Poverty plus trials plus joy equals generosity.

It's hard. I'm not coming to you acting like, hey, this is the easiest thing to do, because it's not. But in order to grow up and be what God has called for you to be, you need to encounter some tough things. Things where it causes you to trust more in him than in your own ability. Because if you trust in anything more than him, you'll think it's something that you have done.

That's why a lot of times we get these jobs and we end up struggling more than ever. Because you worked so hard to get the job. You went and got the degree. You went and did that. God never told you to go, but you needed to prove yourself to somebody.

So you done did all this, and you got what you thought you wanted, and then it ends up being the worst thing that you've ever done. Some of you had more peace making $20,000 than you did 80.

Can I be real now? I know some of y'. All. Yobo was like, well, lord, let me find out for myself.

But God's ways are not our ways. I wish. And every now and again, God is nice and he's kind of. And he allows us to do certain things. But in his way and his way of thinking, how he operates, it oftentimes goes against what we think is the right way.

Spiritually mature people do not let circumstances limit their generosity.

Because, can I be honest? This was hard for me.

I was so used to giving money, when I didn't have money to give, I wouldn't give anything at all.

So I felt as if I was no good because I didn't have. So I learned how to give people my time.

I learned how to answer my phone even when I saw a name on the ID I didn't want to look at.

And that leads me to number three. Oh, we almost done. Praise God. Which is the heart of true generosity. Y' all getting something out of this?

Praise God. I hope so. The heart of true generosity, Verses number three and four. I can tell you that you gave as much as they I can tell you that they gave as much as they were able and even more than they could afford. No one told them to do it.

No one told them to do it, but they begged and pleaded with us to let them share in this service for God's people.

So there are three characteristics that mark their giving. One, they gave voluntarily, Two, they gave sacrificially, and three, they gave joyfully.

Do you fall in any of these categories?

I want you to think about that.

Notice abundance is not an option.

They gave voluntarily, sacrificially, and joyfully. Second Corinthians 9, 7 says this and don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. Where is this scripture at? When they have all these lines?

Y' all quiet. I'm trying to help y' all out for God. They they're quick to say, for God loves a cheerful giver, or for God loves a person who gives cheerfully. But that first part says they don't give in response to press.

And I'm going to say it because I think you need to hear this from leadership, especially here from the refuge. And I'm saying this because of what the Word says, not because I'm feeling some type of way. They were not coerced or manipulated to give, And because I'm trying to help some of us grow up spiritually. Be aware when people try to pressure you to give, to do certain things to fund a lifestyle that they didn't learn how to budget for.

If God places something on my heart to do and tell this church, hey, I need for y' all to go or I need you to sow, I try to give you the vision because, hey, we probably already budgeted certain things. But because we want you to be blessed, we say, hey, we have a toy drive coming up. If you can help and support us, bring in 300 unused toys still in the package that will benefit us so we don't have to spend $10,000 that we have not budgeted because we're trying to make sure it stays warm in here for you when it gets cold.

I want y' all to hear this because I'm not trying to act like we have it all together, but we have to get out of places where people don't prophesy unless you sow a seed.

That's very witchy.

We have to get to these places, look at somebody and just say, grow up. And if you were raised in that environment, ask yourself, does this line up with the word of God or just what you have been told your entire life? My word tells me that God will supply all of our need according to his riches and glory. And we pray that his riches never Run out.

When their heart was transformed, it was no longer an obligation, but it was a privilege to give. They beg, what can we do to help?

When was the last time you asked, what can I do to help? I really want y' all to think about this. Do you view giving as a burden, a blessing?

Because generosity is not about how much you have. It's about how much of you God has.

So I've given you my three points.

No hooping and no hollering. But I found something interesting. And if you just give me about five, 10 more minutes, I just want to share this with you because I believe it will help you.

When God truly has you, something powerful happens. Generosity stops being a duty and it starts becoming a doorway to blessings.

There's a man, you may have heard of him before. His name is Rick Warren. He's a pastor, and he wrote a book called the Purpose Driven Life. That book was so popular where it was Translated into over 137 different languages and over 50 million copies were sold. And now this man, a pastor who loves God, lives on only 9% his income.

And he said the reason that he can do that is because there are clear benefits to living a generous life. So what I want to do very quickly, and I advise you, because I know some of y' all like to write notes. Either write fast or take a screenshot.

If you can't do either one, catch the replay on YouTube, because here are some of the benefits of being generous. Because I want to give you the benefits and the scripture to back it up. Number one, generosity honors God. Worship, recognition. That everything you have, and recognize everything that you have is a gift from Him.

That little check that you get is still a gift from him because he provided you the strength to be able to work the hours. Proverbs 14:31 says it like this. Whoever mistreats the poor insults their maker. But whoever is kind to the needy honors God. So generosity honors God.

Number two, it draws you closer to God. Whatever you invest in is what you are interested in. Your heart follows your gift.

Matthew 6 and 21. Your heart will be where your treasure is.

Number three. It makes me more like Jesus.

He gave his life, and every time you give, you become more like him and your heart grows bigger. Proverbs 21 and 26 says this. Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give. Number four. It's the cure for materialism.

Materialism is all about getting the antidote to that is giving real quick. Your net worth does not determine your self. Worth.

Okay, first Timothy, chapter six, verse 17 and 18, says this. Teach those. This is Bible, y'. All. Bet you never read this before.

Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. Number five.

It demonstrates my faith.

It shows that you're trusting in God's promises. Philemon, that book that Nobody ever reads, 1 and 6, says, and I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ. Number six. It reveals my character. It shows what kind of heart you have.

Because selfish or unselfish, stingy or generous, it will show people what type of heart you have. And here it is. God uses money to test what is inside us, to see if we can really trust him for more.

Number seven. Generosity brings God's blessing. Second Corinthians, nine and eight. Told you I have Bible. And God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Number eight. It increases your happiness.

Acts chapter 20, verse number 35, says this. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Listen, can I just share this with you? Because our generosity needs to be focused. Let me say this real quick, because if it's not focused, then you be feeling.

Lord, I got real ghetto.

There you be. Let me catch myself.

It's more blessed to give than to receive. Because if your generosity is not focused, what will happen? You will start to become very agitated when you give and the focus is not right. So you give somebody $1,000 to pay a bill and you see them coming in with a new car.

What?

Therefore, as a child of God, hear me out. Your generosity should be focused because there is no value in giving money away just to give it away. There's no benefit in being generous with the wrong calls. For example, man, this one blew my mind right here. There was a lady that was in real estate.

Her name was Maria Assanta, and she passed away in 2011. And according to a news magazine, she was a very wealthy real estate investor. According to her will mean, she thought about this, y'. All. She left her $13 million estate to her cat.

That's another reason why I don't like cats now.

Oh, that was sidebar right there. But what was the focus of leaving all of that to a cat that somebody is probably just going to steal in the first place or it's probably going to run away.

So it has to be focused. Number nine. It expands your influence. Influence comes as a result to what you give away. Psalm 112 and 9 says this.

He giveth generously to those in need. His deeds will never be forgotten. He shall have influence and. And honor. That's Bible number 10.

Y' all would like this. It multiplies your money tithing. And I'm not talking about. It's just a principle, not just a command. It's just a simple principle that God orchestrated in the spiritual realm that we can't even explain.

I can't even explain how it works. I try not to get into debates about it. Only thing I know is that it works and it has worked for everybody whose heart is right behind it. God can take that 90% and make it look like 2000%. Then you have your 100%.

And then you wondering how you living. Check to check.

Thank you for helping me out. You're preaching with me. Second Corinthians 9, verses 10 and 11. We say it all the time because it's in our decree and our declaration. Now, he who supplies seed for the sower and bread for the food will also supply and increase your sower seed and will enlarge the harvest of your what?

Righteousness. That means you have to be right living. Just don't do it. Make sure you're living right, because that's what waters the seed. You will be enriching every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.

Number 11. Cause we almost done. It brings God's protection. Because, oh Lord, it brings God's protection. Psalm 112, verse 5 and 6.

Let's say it again. It is good to be merciful and generous. Those who are fair in their business will never be defeated. So anytime that I do right by you, God knows is going to do right by whom? Me.

I'm talking about being generous. And I'm. Please get it out of my mind, because I feel it in the atmosphere. I'm not talking about giving to necessarily the church. I'm talking about where is your generosity.

Some of you who own businesses and won't even provide a service unless they have a certain amount.

And you know, the Lord told you, let it slide. This time it wasn't you. Because if you like me, you be like, nah, bro, because I know how us is all sometimes. That's why I tell the Lord, I can't let you slide. But God, if he tells you to give grace, that's one thing.

And you're just not doing it because you have a big heart. And here's the last one. Number 12. Play melodiously. Melodiously.

Thank you. Hallelujah.

It will be rewarded in heaven.

It'll be rewarded in heaven.

John 14 tells us that in my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, he wouldn't have told you. Meaning there is something that's just for you that won't even compare to anything that you obtain on this side. So my question to you is, how do you bank in heaven?

Because four times in the word of God, Jesus says to lay your treasures up in heaven. And how do you do that? By being generous and investing in others.