GENEROSITY HAS TO DO WITH PERSPECTIVE

• Some people think God tells us to give because He wants our money. Psalm 50:9-12 tells us this couldn’t be further from the truth.
• Do we have a                                           mindset or an                                           mindset?

Jesus addressed this war of perspectives in Matthew.

Matthew 6:31-33 31So don’t worry about these things, saying, “What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?” 32These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

• This is about a Kingdom perspective. Is God’s Kingdom more important than your own?

When God calls us to be generous, He provides the ability to do so.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 6Remember this, a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 8And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

o This says that God will not only provide what he is calling us to give, but everything we need; not everything we want, but everything we need.

THE BIBLE GIVES US A GREAT PICTURE OF WHAT GENEROSITY LOOKS LIKE.

2 Corinthians 8:1-5 1Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. 2They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. 3For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. 4They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. 5They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

• They gave out of their poverty.
• They gave not only what they could afford, but far more.
• “They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing…”
• “They even did more than we had hoped”—Why?
  • Started by giving their lives to Christ, then to others
• Can you imagine what would happen if our entire church of several thousand people were generous like this? What about if all the Christians in Kootenai County were generous like this?

GENEROSITY ISN’T ONLY ABOUT                                                                        

1 Peter 4:9-11 9Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. 10God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. ¹¹Do you have the gift of speaking?

Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory

and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

• Generosity is a heart issue, not a money issue
  • Are you generous with your time, your grace and forgiveness, your service?
• Generosity doesn’t just happen.

Isaiah 32:8 But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.

• Generous people actually plan to be generous.

o Do you budget for generosity? Do you plan in your schedule times to serve other people?

GOD WORKS BOTH                   ME AND                                                  ME WHEN I AM GENEROUS?

• 1. I grow spiritually when I let God have control of my finances.
     • I almost always grow more through hardship than ease.
     • We are generous because God is generous beyond comprehension.

Romans 8:31-32 31What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? ³²Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

• 1. • Giving is the antidote to greed.

“Generosity is to materialism what kryptonite is to Superman.”

-Lloyd Shadrach1

My heart goes where my treasure is.

“God wants your heart. He isn’t looking just for ‘donors’ for His kingdom, those who stand outside the cause and dispassionately consider acts of philanthropy [charity]. He’s looking for disciples immersed in the causes they give to. He wants people so filled with a vision for eternity that they wouldn’t dream of not investing their money, time and prayers where they will matter most.”

-Randy Alcorn