Man, I love that last quote that this will speak volumes to what God is doing here. Welcome this morning. Glad you're at church. We are actually in week five of a six week series that you just heard in that video that we're just calling all in. And this whole series is literally just pointing towards our commitment as individuals and as a church to go all in, to go all in for this community and to go all in for Jesus in every single area of our lives. Now, specifically as a church, it's literally to go all in for the 114,000 people that live within five miles of this church, five miles to which 85% of them are not active in a local body of Christ. So here's our goal, or here's our wish, and here's the vision. It is to keep moving, to yes, keep doing all the ministries we're doing, and actually doing them better.
Yes, to keep doing all the missions that we're doing, and to keep doing them better, but it's also to cross this threshold of this problem of space that we have here in the house. So here's what we're looking to do over these next two years. We're looking to build a new multi-purpose worship space on the front lawn, on that big grass area. <laugh> Actually, every week I got people going, "Matt, where is this gonna be? " And I'm like, "The only grass that we have left is where it's gonna be. All right? We're gonna look at building new parking lots across this place and everywhere we can. We've already started those. We're gonna also increase our discipleship space behind me with eight new rooms there. And then number four is to grow our church planning, grow our world missions, ideas, and establishing another center like we did in Kenya, and to grow our training of the next generation of church leaders.
Now, we've been honest, all right? And I, and I wanna do this every single week. We've been honest every week to point out that this is going to take an over and beyond step of generosity for all of us. And so over these last weeks, we've actually, as a church, we've been preparing our hearts for next week. Now, last Sunday night ... Let me let you know a little bit of a news though. Last Sunday night, um, we had all of our staff, we had a bunch of our leaders from the church, and we had our oldest life group, the Joy Group, all right? The Joy Group. They came together last Sunday night. Now listen, the joy group just kind of invited themselves, all right? And I am so glad they did. They, as our oldest group, said, Hey, man, if you're gonna have a commitment night, we, as the oldest group, wanna go first and in advanced commitment night.
And I'm gonna tell you guys, it blessed my heart. We got together, we had some worship together, we had some prayer time together, we had a celebration together, and I'm not going to lie. I was a little bit worried about it. It's kind of weird as this advanced commitment night, but I was not going to move forward next week without us as leaders doing what we did first. But man, the Lord showed up. The spirit in this room, some of you are there. I can already see your heads nodding. The spirit in this room was incredible. And let me share this with you. We had 185 families last week that went ahead and made some early commitments towards this project. And listen to this. God has already, already. Our goal in this project is to raise at least $25 million to get us started. God has already given us ha- over half of what we need.
Over a ... Now, you can clap for that, all right? You can clap. I couldn't wait this week to tell you what he's already doing. All right? What he's already ... So if you're wondering, eh, I don't know if the church is behind this. I got news for you. We're behind it. All right? We're behind it. And then next week, all right, next week, we're gonna keep moving. Next week, listen, tell grandma you'll come to her house on Easter, all right? We need you here next week. We need you here. It's gonna be really easy this week to go, uh, I don't know about it. Listen, next week we're gonna get together. We're gonna celebrate together. We're gonna worship together. We're gonna hear some stories together. And then next week, we're gonna come and we're all gonna make our commitments to the next generation of Bern Hickory next week.
It's going to be, I promise you, it's gonna be a time of celebration and it's gonna be great. All right? Listen, if you got a copy of scripture, two Corinthians chapter eight. Second Corinthians chapter eight is where we're gonna be this week. Look, if you have not gotten one of these books, as you're finding that, grab one of these books. Or in fact, if you're just building a collection of these books, grab another one, all right? We've got them in the lobby. It's got a commitment card in the back. We just want you to have all of what there is to know about this. Second Corinthians chapter eight is where we're gonna be. Now, as you're finding that, last week, I opened up with a quote that's actually just really been pressing in to my life and our family's life when it comes to generosity.
And I wanna do that again today because there's a second quote that has been in my journal for about six weeks that I've just been praying for my life. And it's actually challenged me personally and actually let Melissa and I in kind of some things that we're looking at, even as a family that have been walking in generosity since we have been married. Listen to this quote. Here it is. Here it is. Biblical generosity is not something that God wants from me. It's something that God wants for me. All right? Now look, before you kinda go, "Eh, I ain't buying that fast or I ain't bad. Stick with me just for a minute, okay? Stick with me for a minute. Here's why. Here's why. When we approach biblical giving how God does, what we begin to see that biblical generosity, biblical giving is a transformative life decision that develops me, that actually blesses me, that increases my joy, and it opens up God's power to move in my life.
And I'm not overstating this by saying it like this. Literally, when we lay down our first and best, when we sacrificially give to the Lord, here's what he does. He changes everything in us. He changes us. That's what we talked about a couple weeks ago, that our heart follows our treasure. Our treasure will always demand our heart. And these videos that you've been seeing every single week, right? These videos of regular church people, what they have been showing us is, is that yes, Pastor Matt has to get up there and say that. Yes, they probably just have some agenda. What these videos have been showing you is not braggadociously, but they've been showing you that there are people that have discovered what it looks like to experience God in giving. That there are people that have watched God multiply their lives like the boy did in week number one with the fishes and the loafs.
There have been people that have seen God provide like God did when he protected Noah's family when they sacrificed for God. There are people that have felt the joy like in week three that the, that the Israelites did when they saw the temple of God being built, when they came and they brought and they blessed God. There are people that have been blessed, like last week, right? The five talent and the two talent people of last week that have been blessed financially and emotionally and spiritually. And there are people. They're real people. You're seeing them every week that have experienced the supernatural presence of God. When we just say," Here I am God. "Now look, look, let me say it. I said it on week one and I'm gonna say it again. Here it is. I know it is weird when somebody like me gets up to talk about money.
I know that it's weird, right? I know. Now if I get up here and talk about love, everybody's like, " Oh yeah, I do it, pastor. "If I get up here and talking about joy, it's like, " Oh yeah, oh yeah, we want that. I get it. It's weird. "Which shows us all this attachment that we have to it. But do you know who it wasn't weird to hear about giving? It wasn't weird to the kid that gave up his five loaves and two fish and God multiplied it. It ain't weird for him, right? You know it's not weird to talk about it? It was Noah's family that saw God provide. You know what's not weird for all those people in the Israelites that built the temple of God and just watched God bless it. It ain't weird for them. You know who it's seriously not weird to talk about giving?
The five talent and the two talent guy from last week, right? Even the one talent guy looking back on it now, because we know what happened to him, right? Now, he's like, " Hell, it ain't weird. In fact, I wish I would have talked about it more. "You see, here's the deal. I want us to begin, and I say this every week, just to see the simplicity behind that we give because God gave first. It's the bottom line of all of it. We give because God gave first because God keeps giving and because God will always provide. But in that being sounding so simple, let me tell you this, there's still so many misconceptions in our minds as Christians when it comes to giving. So many, uh, you could call them even myths. And actually two Corinthians eight helps us deal with some of those myths.
Second Corinthians eight is the Apostle Paul speaking to the church at Corinth and he's actually leaning in to this churches of Macedonia that actually teach us one of the most biblical and one of the most bold and joyous giving moments in the New Testament. Now, obviously Paul is writing this to the Corinthians, but now this letter gives us so much wisdom to live by and it actually lays out five myths that I know that I have dealt with personally and tried to tell myself. Let me read it to you and then we'll walk through it because I want to show you this amazing picture of biblical and bold generosity. Here it is. Two Corinthians chapter eight verse one. Here it is. Watch what he says. He says," 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 they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability, entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing this service to the Lord's people and they exceeded our expectations. They gave of themselves first of all to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. So we urged Titus just as he had earlier made a beginning to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part, verse seven. "But since you excel in everything, in faith and speech and knowledge and in complete earnestness and in the love that we have kindled in you, watch this, see that you also excel in this grace of giving. Now there's a lot in this passage, but what I want to do is I just want to point out five myths of Christian giving.
Now, you may not be a Christian and, and you've even seen some of these myths, but these are just things that I've walked, that I've seen, that I've heard. And actually I've even heard them over the last couple of weeks when it comes to giving to Jesus. You'll see what I mean in just a minute. Let me list the first one and then you'll kind of be able to track what I'm talking about. Let me give you the first myth. Here it is. The first myth is this. It's that Christians give generously. Number one, you can write it in your notes because that's just who they naturally are. That's the first myth that we tell ourselves. You know, Matt, that's just who they are. They grew up doing it. They grew up seeing it. They grew up putting something in the plate. That's just who they naturally are.
And it's actually just what they do. No. No, no, no. Let me give you the truth behind it because here's the truth. Actually, Christians give generously because God is at work in their lives. That's why they give generously, because God is doing something in their lives, because God is moving in their lives and God wants to do something through them. In fact, I want you to see how Paul starts this passage so you know that I'm not making this up. Because what Paul is saying is, is he's not looking at the Church of Corinth and going, "Hey, you need to understand about these churches over here in Macedonia, right? They've got this all in thing going on. They're doing that and they're killing it. It's crazy. It's wild." That's not what he says at all. In fact, look at verse one. Watch what it says.
It says this, "Now brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given." Underline that, the Macedonian churches. You see, it's grace that has changed them. It's grace that has made them. These people aren't naturally who we're seeing right here. They have just been overwhelmed by grace. What is grace? Grace is just the unmerited favor of God. That's what it is. So Paul leans in right here and he says, "It's grace that's changed them. It's grace that's given them this ability." But listen, when we talk about grace, most of the time, all that we talk about is the saving grace of God, which is, which is amazing. Can I get an amen there? That is amazing. But you know there's other kinds of grace that God gives? Did you know there's a thing called common grace that God literally gives to all mankind?
The fact that you could walk outside yesterday, whether you're a Christian or not, and you could just soak in the sunshine, you can have a good meal, you can have a laugh, you can have relationships. That's the common grace of God. He gives that to all mankind. That's the first kind of grace. The second grace though is actually saving grace. For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not of your works. It is the fact that Jesus has reached down into our souls and radically redeemed us. That's saving grace. But did you know there's a third kind of grace? And, and there's a lot of words for it, but I just kind of defined it most of the time in my mind. It's just empowering grace. Empowering grace. That is the fact that because God has given me common grace, because God has radically redeemed me and give me saving grace that now I can live my life in God's presence for God's kingdom that God has given me joy and God has given me hope.
And God has given my family this wholeness. And what Paul is saying right here, is he's like, "Hey, let me tell you how God is working in this church." God has changed them so much. He has gifted them so much with grace that they are transformed to the point that they literally just say, "We get to do this. " That's what he's talking about. They're not looking at it going, "Hey, we got this project going on and God is working through us." No. They're looking at it going, "Because of who God is, because Jesus has radically saved me. Jesus is walking with me. Jesus has blessed me. Jesus is preparing a place for me. Jesus is making a home for me in eternity I get to give towards this happening in someone else's life." Listen, church, here's the deal. When that grace grips us, we become generous.
It's what it's saying in the text here. And if we as Christians, i- i- if our generosity and of our faithful giving is not a part of our walk with Jesus, I'm gonna be as bold to say it like this. I just wonder how much of the grip of grace that we understand. I just wonder because when that grips our hearts, we can't help, but to be generous with our time, to be generous with our resources, be generous with our funding, to be generous with our, with our words and our affirmations and our whole life. Paul says, "No, it's not naturally who they are. It's supernaturally who God has made them." Church, what would happen if the grip of grace got on every single family of this church? We would radically make a difference with the kingdom. That's what it's saying. That's the message it's given.
We would transform this community and literally this world for the gospel. That's why our number one goal, I've said it every single week. Our number one goal is for every single family to be gripped by grace, to grow in grace, and to begin to see what it looks like to give in grace. Myth number one, that's just who they naturally are. No, no, no. It's who God has made them. Here's myth number two, maybe you've said it to yourself, I have. Christians only give when they have the resources. I mean, you know, Matt, people give generously when they have extra rights. Oh, we said that before. Well, let's look back at the church of Macedonian. Let's watch what happens in their life. Look at verse two. So you know this, not me making it up. Watch it. It says this. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overwhelming joy and their extreme poverty weld up.
Watch this. Enrich generosity. Look at the words here. Very severe trial. Look at the words extreme poverty. Look at the words, but they have an abundance of joy because what God has done in them, and then they gave generously ... Oh, there's so much here to talk about, but let me, let me bring you into a little bit of a scene of what's happening here to show you how strong this is. The Romans, during this time period, especially in this Macedonian area, they had taken over everything. They had taken over all the commerce, all the government, all the businesses, all the social life, all the sales. The government, I mean, the Romans had come in and literally taken everything. And for people that did not swear allegiance to seizure, what happened in their life is they would actually be banned from government. They would be banned from commerce.
They would have their businesses taken away and they literally, at many, many, many times could not even buy groceries. So either as a Christian, you swore allegiant to another ruler that wasn't Jesus, or you took it on the chin, you swore allegiance to Jesus alone, and you knew that you were gonna be poverty. You knew that you were gonna be stricken with hunger and actually lots and lots of pain. But God was stirring so much in these Christians' lives that would not swear allegiance to Caesar, that they said, "Listen, we have to do everything we can to show people who Jesus is. " And what did they do? They gave anyway. They gave anyway. Here's what most of us do, not in this church, but other churches. Here's what most of us do, okay? Most of us, when time gets tough, instead of leaning into God in the area of serving, in the area of sacrificing, in the area of giving, most of us, when times get tough, we lean back from God thinking that I can just take a break for a little while.
But do you know what God says? God says, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You don't understand. Give me a chance. You don't understand. Give me a chance to move." In fact, Tuesday morning, I, I, I woke up to an email in my ML box from a, a widow lady that came to our advanced commitment night on Sunday night. She, she's lost her husband. It hasn't even been a year yet. She not, she didn't like kind of turn inwardly and just kind of go home. She serves here in the church all the time, but man, she's, she's struggling. She just lost her husband. She's been struggling with figuring out what life looks like, how to, how to work, uh, how to live, how to fund all this stuff. And she came to advance commitment night because she's a leader here at the church on last Sunday night.
And she said, "Matt, I walked in and I was scared. I didn't know what to do. I thought that maybe I kind of had an idea, but I'm telling you, she said, Matt, I did not know if I could do anything. So I settled and I said, God, this is what I'm going to do. And then all of a sudden, last Sunday night in worship and all these testimonies, she says this, and I want to quote her, she says, "A peace that very naturally came over me in my heart led me to say, here I am, Lord, I'm yours and what I was thinking I could do is nowhere close." And she actually doubled the amount that she's committing for the next months because God has been doing a work in her life. Listen, Chris, I don't, I don't know if I've ever had that kind of faith before.
I'm just gonna be honest with you, but the Bible never says that God will take care of every single problem and every single need and lay down every single track of our lives in order for us to be generous. It says, "Be generous and watch what I'll do. " Myth number one, Christians give generally because that's just who they are. Myth number two, Christians give generously because they have the resources. That's what we're seeing in the text right here. Myth number three goes right with it and that's that Christians give generously only what's left over and they can afford. Now this one's quick, but I want you to see in the text what Paul says in verse three, he says this, "For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and watch this and even beyond their ability." You know what I love so much about this?
It's not that these Christians got together and they had a $5 bill in their pocket and they pulled it out and it was a $10 bill and they were able to give it. That's not, that's not what the text says, although that would be kind of cool, right? I mean, it really would, right? What it says here in the Greek is literally that they gave so generously that it was out of sync with what the world thought that they should do. That's what it means in the text. In other words, when people, when non-Christians saw what they were doing, saw how they were sacrificing, it just seemed weird for those that had not been gripped by grace. That's what it means. But when we read the Book of Acts, we see this over and over and over again, don't we? We see the early church serving and giving and supplying needs.
In fact, one ancient Roman historian, I put this quote in your nose because I just want you to see even how the outside world looked at the church during this time period. One ancient Roman historian in, in about 100 to 15080 said it like this, talking about the Christians. He said this. He said, "They marry." In other words, hey, Christians, they get married as do all others. They have children, but they do not destroy their offspring. In other words, hey, these people marry and they're serious about it. They have family and they're serious about it because the Romans, they would just, if they didn't want a girl, they would take the girl out. If they thought it was an unplanned pregnancy, they didn't care about it. Watch what he said. They share their table with all, but, but not their bed with all. Boy, what does that mean?
That means, hey, they'll give to people, but they don't share their bed. That's just for their spouse. Watch what he says about them also. They are poor and they make many rich. They are short of everything, yet they have plenty of things. Look at this guy, this Roman historian outside looking in, he's not a Christian. He's like, "Hey, these Christians, they're just weird. They're not like us." In Roman culture, you shared your bed with everybody. You didn't care. You had no sexual ethics of you at all, but you gave your stuff to nobody because it was your stuff and I earned it and I'm gonna do what I want to with it. Are you seeing it? What else did he say? See, these Christians though, they only share their bed with their husbands, with their wives. They have a sexual ethic that points to the holiness in their life, and yet they also give to many to supply for many to know King Jesus.
Do you know in the early 1st century Christians were known for five things? They were known for loving Jesus because they were known as the way, the followers of Jesus. They were known for the love of their family. They didn't kill their children. They wrote, they, they, they would teach them the gospel and love them. They were known for generosity. The fact that they would give, even what are we seeing beyond their means? They were known for sexual purity instead of being promiscuous like the rest of the world. And they were known for God just supernaturally providing for them. I think it's a good model for us, don't you? We see it all through the beginning, the Book of Acts, that this kingdom giving just became their priority. Now, that doesn't mean they couldn't go to Starbucks or couldn't go on a vacation. No. It just means that this is what set the priorities of their life.
And like we said last week, God is not calling any of us to just come out and give everything we have to God and, and, and, and hope the mortgage gets paid, hashtag all in Bern Hickory, right? No. It's not what he's pr- it's not what he's asking. What he's asking those for us to honor him in every single thing of our lives, but yet be prioritized in giving back to him first. Just saying, "I just, I just wanna see you move." Listen, as Muslim and I've been praying through this thing, that's just what's been on our hearts this whole time, is that I just want this community to see Jesus how I see him. I just want him to have a chance and be part of God's plan. In fact, which leads me to number four, but let me read you the verses and then I'll show you what it says.
Here it is. Verse three, watch what he says. He says, "For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability entirely on their own verse four, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people. " All right, here's the next myth. Write it down. Christians give generously, oh, I've heard this one, only because they're shamed or pressured into it. Oh, I've heard this. I've even watched people walk out of this room. All right? I'm not gonna lie to you. What, what, what did Paul say right here? Paul said, "No, no, no, no, no, no. These people haven't been ashamed to do anything. These people haven't been drugged to do anything." What is Paul saying? These people are begging us to be a part of God's plan. Now, now let me let you know my world for a minute, okay?
I've been, I've been a part of Bernie Gree for 25 years. I've been a pastor here at this church. This summer will be 25 years for me, and I've seen a lot of stuff. I have been asked to do a lot of things. I've been asked all kinds of stuff. Preach this, preach this book, have this song played, do this series, preach through this book, support this ministry, start this ministry. All kinds of things. Let me, let me let you into something here. I have never once experienced anyone come up to me and go, "Hey, Pastor Matt, let's do a giving generosity deal right now. Please let us do it. Can we just be all together, all committed, all for his glory for one season? Come on, pastor. When are you gonna do that? If you won't do it, I'll go find the church that will." I've never heard anybody say that, but that's what these people are saying.
They're like, "Just give us a chance to invest in the next generation of people to know Jesus." It's the opposite. What, l- look back at verse three with me again. Watch what it says again. Watch. Just so you know, it's not a coercion. Watch what he said. Entirely on their own. They urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people and they exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves, first of all, to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. Let me just let you in know something here. When you read the Bible, biblical giving is never just something that is begged, pleaded, bribed, bargained. No, it is literally every time, it is literally just an overflow of obedience of the grace of God that has gripped our hearts and our desire to see the next generations know Jesus.
That's it. That's all it is. It's not weird. It's not crazy. It's not awkward. It's none of that. It is my heart being attached to the kingdom before it's attached to anything else. That's all it is. In fact, one chapter over, look at this verse, two Corinthians nine: seven, it literally just says that God loves a cheerful giver. You know what that means? That means that, that, that, that the literal word cheerful there is, is the Greek word that we get our word hilarious from. Do you know what this literally means, that God loves a giver that just literally says, "I can't wait." Listen, I had a phone call two weeks ago that somebody that, that we had been talking about this, I had lunch with about this whole initiative. And listen, this joker could not wait, could not wait over these last couple months.
It's like, "Man, when do I get to give? When do I get to do this? When do I get to do this? " And finally, I'm like, "Listen, calm down. We're gonna be okay. We're gonna get there." That's what it's talking about here. And here's the cool part about Bern Hickory. Man, some of you, this is your heart. This is your heart because you have seen God move in this and you know that God never, never, never leaves you hanging and he multiplies every single thing that you do. Here's my last myth and we're done. I Last myth is just Christian. Christians give generously only when they're super Christians. Only when they're super Christians. Man, that's pretty spiritual. I can't think of another way to put it, all right? Y- you know what I'm talking about, right? The third grade, you're sitting in class and all of a sudden they come in and get like half the class and then you and those other kids, they're, they're looking at each other like, "What in the world's going on?
" And you're like, "Hey, they're going to Target. You just learned to write," right? That was my third grade experience, all right? Some of us look at giving like that, like, well, well, that's for the super Christian. That's for the person that's got everything else together. That's the, that's for those that, that, that, that leave us behind because they just want us to go play on the playground and they get to learn things, right? No, no, no, no. Giving is not a next level obedience. Giving and generosity is right there in line with everything else that we love for the church to teach you on all the time. In fact, look at these verses that Paul says last. He says this. Verse seven, it says, "But since you excel in everything," in other words, hey, since you're excelling in faith and in speech and in knowledge and in complete earnestness and in the love that we have kindled in you, watch, this is not me talking.
This is the Bible. See that you also excel in this grace of giving. In other words, giving and generosity should be right there with all the other spiritual doctrines in our life. The spiritual disciplines in our life. It's not a different category. He's saying, "Listen, keep growing in your faith. Keep growing in your knowledge. Keep growing in your love. Keep growing in your biblical knowledge and love of all other people, but also keep growing in your generosity." In church, listen, this season, this all in initiative, yes, yes, yes, yes. I'm not gonna mistake. I'm not even gonna try to pull some wool over your eyes. Yes, it is for a specific project, a specific time. But even better than that, it is for all of us to grab hold of this truth and for all of us to grow in the grace of giving, to grow in the grace of giving because never, never God will let you outgive him.
He won't do it. I'm telling you this last season for Melissa and I, and, and, and I don't say this braggadociously, but from the moment we've got married, there's never been a moment in our life that our first and best, our first 10% went to the Lord. We have always known that God can do exponentially more with 90% than I can with my 100%. I just know that I am too dumb to deal with it all. Let God, right? I know that. But man, this last season, we just can't wait to see what God does when we over and beyond say, God, here it is. Here it is. Here it is because we've seen what he does when we're just typing. And I cannot wait to see the rest. In fact, watch what Paul does. He ends with this challenge and then we're done. Watch what he says.
Here's the te- less, the finishing of the text, verse eight. Paul says, "For, for I'm not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others." Another, again, there's something about generosity that just shows our genuineness in the grace that has transformed us. And then he reminds us this, this is worth the price of admission right here, verse nine. If you didn't hear anything else, hear this. For you know that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, another word, he was rich, he was in the kingdom of God. He had everything. He was over all of things, yet for your sake, what does it say? He became poor. What does that mean? He left heaven as the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. He took on this flesh suit and he's walking in the middle of sin.
He's walking in the middle of hurt. He's walking in the middle of, of persecution. He's walking in the middle of all of these things. For your sake, he became poor. Why do he do it? Why do you do it? Watch this. And this is why we give. So that through his poverty, so that through his poverty might become rich. You know what that means? No, no, no, no. God's not gonna bless you with millions tomorrow. Although he might, I don't know what he's gonna do. But what that means is, is that because of what Jesus has done, leaving heaven, come into the earth, walk in the life that I should have walked, died in the death that I deserve to die, raising from the grave, ascending back to the Father that now everything in me should be gripped so much by this grace that I live as a rich spiritual person knowing this ain't my home.
Do with me what you wish. Have what you will. Throw at me what you will because King Jesus has given me eternity. That's what he means. And actually, that's what giving does to those of us that know Jesus. It lets go of this world that's trying to hold onto it while we're holding onto this world. It lets go of it and it sends it forward to the kingdom of God and it shows others that our king is worth it. Remember where we started? Here's the quote. Biblical generosity is not something that God wants from me. Now, there is a from component. We have to lay it down. It's actually, it's actually something God wants for me. Here's my question. Have you ever tested a minute? Have you ever tested it? There's only very, very few things that God says, test me and watch how I will move.
But generosity is one. Generosity is one. Let me ask you something this week.
What does your giving say about the grace of God in your life? What does your giving say about your commitment to wanting others to see the grace of God? What does your giving say about how rich God has already made you in him? Listen, this week, I'm already praying for the conversations that are gonna happen in houses and homes all over this area. I'm praying that God brings us all to a point like the Macedonian churches, and that we step out in a way just like them, that in generations from now, people will go, "Remember when Bernt Hickory did this. " Listen, I fully think he's gonna do it next week. I do. But it's gonna take every single one of us trusting God and saying, "Here I am, Lord. Use me. Make me.
Give me a burden for the next generations." Listen, for some of you, you're there. Man, you're living in it, you're giving, you're joy, you know what it's like to sacrifice. All I would say to you is keep going, keep going, keep going. But for some of you, your first step of obedience is to try God in this. Maybe this next three years is a time of generosity like you have never tried before. Let me make a deal with you. If you sacrifice and step out and you give God your first and best for your next three years of your life and something happens in your life, and God doesn't come through on his end, let me tell you this. You call me and we'll refund every single dollar that you have given to this church in that time period. You know why I can say that so boldly?
Because I've never seen God not come through. Never. What's your next step?