God is Generous!

No one could ever be as generous as God! James 1:17 tells us that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.” How is that for generous!? Every good & perfect gift comes from the generous God.

We should be Generous!

It was always God’s will that His people be generous. To be conduits of blessing. As Children of God, as people created in His image, we should be generous. Generous with our time, our listening ears, our energy, our heart, our love, and yes… our money.
There are 3 reasons why someone might lack the generosity that God intends.

No Heart
No Plan
Wrong Season

5 types of Givers

Non-givers
Initial givers
Systematic givers
Proportional givers
Extravagant givers

Financial Peace 4 – Generosity from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

Financial Peace 4 – Generosity

Sermon Notes by Chris Fluitt

Redemption Church Plano Tx

**Bumper Video – God Pie

We are in the final week of our Financial Peace series. We would love to see every member of Redemption Church have financial peace, to be good stewards, to make God the #1 priority, to worship God in every area of their life including money, to be free from debt, to build wealth through disciplined saving. It is our prayer that what we have discussed the last weeks have challenged you to bring change to your life.
WHATEVER WE CAN DO TO HELP YOU IN THE AREA OF MASTERING YOUR MONEY we are willing… please take advantage.

We can help you build a budget.
We can give you advice.
We can help you build a debt snowball.
You can ask us questions

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE – do not continue life as usual. If you don’t like your current life situation… then don’t continue to live life this way.

Today on this final day we are going to talk about Generosity.
I hope you understand that God is Generous. No one could ever be as generous as God
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.(NIV)
It was always God’s will that His people be generous. To be conduits of blessing…
We talked about the covenant that God made with Abraham, that Abraham and his seed were to be a blessing…

Jesus tells us that GIVING carries a greater blessing than receiving. Acts 20:35 ..the Lord Jesus himself said: `It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”(NIV)
Proverbs 11:24 One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.(NIV)
Proverbs 11:25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.(NIV)

Proverbs 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.(NIV)
Luke 6:30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.(NIV)
As Children of God, as people created in His image, we should be generous. Generous with our time, our listening ears, our energy, our heart, our love, and yes… our money.

I could only come up with 3 reasons why people might not be generous. If you can come up with any other reasons feel free to text our anonymous line 214 856 0550.

We may lack generosity because we lack heart.
#1 No Heart for generosity
Money is a heart issue. Our treasure and heart occupy the same space.
We actually see the person in need of our help and we know that we have something that would help them, yet our heart is not in tune with the need… our heart is more in tune with the money in our wallet. No heart for generosity.
Loving money is the root of all evil (we talked about that last week). If you love the dollar bill more than the need, then you have no heart for generosity.
Most people have a heart for generosity. Every person is made in the image of the Generous God.
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.(NIV)
Most people have a heart for generosity, but we lack a plan.

#2 No Plan
I believe that most people see the need and feel the need. The reason most lack generosity is not that they don’t care. It is not that they don’t realize the good they can do or the difference they can make. It is that they have not made a plan. They need a budget.
Oh no… I said the word. I said… Budget.
Sarah had a talk with someone recently about a budget and they responded.. “I don’t like budgets, they are too restricting.”
The truth is a budget doesn’t limit your money. It plans how you will best spend your limited amount of money.
Your money is finite. There is only so much money coming on pay day. If you do not have a plan for your money, then there is no telling where it will end up. This is why sometimes you have “too much month and not enough money.”
Without a plan, your money may end up at the mall and not your rent or mortgage. Your money could end up at a restaurant and not in your kids college savings account or your retirement. Your money needs a plan.
Like our video earlier, if you don’t plan you will get to the end of the table with no more pie to share. We are often faced with opportunities to be generous, but we have no more pie to share.
You can plan to be generous. You can build giving into your budget. You have the heart for generosity and now you plan ahead of time for it.
Paul writes to Corinth in 2 Corinthians 9 about a gift that was being prepared. Corinth had pledged an offering to Macedonia and where in the midst of planning and preparing that gift.
In Acts 11 a prophet named Agabus prophesied about a coming famine to the area of Jerusalem. Before the famine ever hit the city of Jerusalem, the Christians in the city of Antioch had PLANNED and prepared a generous offering.
Isaiah 32:8 But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands.(NIV)
There is one more reason why someone would lack generosity
#3 Wrong season
Sometimes we go through seasons where we aren’t able to be as generous as we would like. Our heart wants to give, but no matter how we plan we can’t give to the level we would like.
Life is filled with seasons like this.

Perhaps you are a college student working a part time job and studying your guts out.
Perhaps you are a single mom or dad with kids.
Perhaps you are on between jobs…
Perhaps you have some urgent needs… perhaps perhaps perhaps.

3 things to add to the wrong season discussion..

Don’t beat yourself up over this. Be responsible. Be a good steward.
It should only be a season. There is something wrong if this continues throughout your life.
You can always do something. You might can’t give as much as you would like, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give something. During this season find other ways to contribute.
1. Remember that it is not about the amount but the heart. A gift from your heart is not insignificant.

5 types of Givers
Non givers
Every giver at one time was a non-giver. If you are non-giver God loves you. If you are a non-giver I love you. God’s love is not contingent on if you give.
A non-giver is simply someone who has not yet discovered the joy of giving. Maybe it is a heart issue – God can change that. Maybe it is a lack of a plan – that can change. Maybe it is just a season – Seasons change.
If non-givers will grow in generosity they become..
Initial givers
Do you remember the first time you gave? For most it is a powerful indelible moment. It is exciting to give to God. There is a heart connection in giving.
If initial givers will grow in generosity they become..
Systematic givers
Systematic givers have learned the joy of giving and they usually form a system to their giving. They give regularly.

Every time I’m at church I give $20 . The system is, if I’m here I give $20.. if they aren’t present then they don’t give.
Every paycheck an automatic payment is made. It is a set amount and a set date.
Every month I give this amount of money.

You won’t give substantially until you learn to give systematically. Consistent generosity always adds up.
You can’t be a systematic giver until you demonstrate your heart for God and implement a financial plan.
If you want to help Redemption Church, or any church for that matter, you can do it by simply being consistent.

Consistently attend
Consistently invite people
Consistently give
Consistently volunteer

If Systematic givers will grow in generosity they become..

Proportional givers
Proportional givers have made generosity a priority. They have taken a look at their finances and give the biblical proportion – Which is the Tithe (10%).
Some might cap the account they give. They will only give $100, even if they get a raise or a better paying job. If they make 1 million more dollars they still give that systematic amount. BUT not proportional givers. The more proportional givers are blessed, the more they give.
If proportional givers will grow in generosity they become..
Extravagant givers
Extravagant givers don’t limit themselves to tithes.. they don’t limit themselves to offerings.. they actively practice generosity. They listen to God’s voice and if He tells them to give they give.
Extravagant givers don’t act like it is their money. They know it belongs to God. When they have an opportunity to help someone they have already made the decision to do something to help them. Before they have the need in front of them, they already lived out their finances in a way to be able to help. They choose to live in such a way that their finances would be usable for God’s Kingdom.
The Bible is full of extravagant givers like Barnabas in Acts 4. I wish I had more time to go over some of the amazing stories in Acts about generosity.

Wherever you are on this list of 5 types of givers, you can go further. You can go further in generosity. It takes heart, a plan, and a right season. I challenge you to take a step towards generosity today. Purpose it in your heart and ask God to help you.

You know that the Church of Jesus Christ is important right? You know that we are called to win the entire world for Jesus right? You know that the Church is empowered by the Holy Spirit right? BUT do you know that God expects the Church to support itself financially? In the book of Acts when there were needs the church practiced generosity and sacrificial giving.
That does not happen as much as it should today… Check out this stat.
An empty tomb, inc. report found Christians in the United States give only 2.43 percent of their income, far less than the biblical 10 percent tithe. Can I remind you that we are living in the richest nation on earth… Can I remind you that God gave us the money anyway… dude he brought the pie… Can I remind you that His word commands us to be givers…
What could the Kingdom of God do if every Christian in America tithed?
How many orphans could we save? How many naked could we clothe? How many thirsty and hungry could we give drink and food? How many aids patients could we minister to? How many homes could we build? How many churches could we plant? How many hospitals could we build? How much good could we do, if we would just do good? …if we just obey the Bible?

I was in a great church in Waco Texas. Shout out to Christian Life Church. I remember early on there was a fuss in the church because the Pastor, Robert Nelson, shut down the peanut brittle fundraiser. There were some words being thrown around behind his back because “we had always done fundraisers.. and how is the church going to make it without peanut brittle and bake sales and car washes.. Doesn’t he understand that the church has to have fundraisers?”
I remember what Pastor Robert Nelson said. He said that “God’s church in the book of Acts never had fundraisers. Fundraisers don’t grow the church. God calls people to grow His church.”
Giving fuels ministry not fundraising. You can help grow Redemption Church. You are called to help grow the Kingdom of God through-out the world. You need the heart, the plan, and right season.
MUSICIAN

In 2 Sundays Pastor Yoel Rodriguez will be with us. He is Pastor of Buenas Nuevas Casa de Alabanza. He is going to be with us.
FIRST – I want you to be here.
Second – I want you to practice generosity.

Do you have the heart for it? The heart to help people? The heart to carry the Gospel? If you don’t have the heart today, TRUST ME you will have the heart when you ear Pastor Yoel preach and show pictures of what is going on in the Church.
Will you plan? You have 2 weeks? Can you look at your budget and find something to give?
I know it is 2 weeks away… that is close and your finances might already be reserved for other things… so I am going to challenge you to sacrifice. I AM NOT asking you to skip paying your debts, electricity bill, or mortgage… but I will ask you to take the money you WOULD HAVE SPENT eating out, set it aside for God and go eat a turkey sandwich instead. Instead of purchasing that thing you don’t really need… set that money aside for the cause of generosity. Instead of starbucks… Instead of the movies… Maybe you have been saving for a large screen TV… maybe you give that money to God instead.