The Joy of Generosity: When Giving Unites God's People (2 Corinthians 9:12-15) | Pastor Mike Fabarez

We'll do your best to hold back your applause, but we've reached the end of our giving series.

Yeah. So, you can tell your friends that said they'd be back at the end of it that it's time to come back to church.

Now, I know it's been a little uncomfortable and some of you have said, "Well, was it uncomfortable for you, Pastor Mike?

We've enjoyed it." That's very kind of you to say, but um you know, it it is one of those topics. It is a little uncomfortable. You have to admit talking

uncomfortable. You have to admit talking about giving it's it's a hard thing but we're going to have to run into it because uh we're committed to you know

verse byvere exposition of the Bible and we picked second Corinthians to work our way through and and chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians this is an extended

discussion about giving the problem in Jerusalem and the Corinthian Christians are a lot like as I've said the orange county of the ancient world and they're they they're pretty well off and upper

middle class and uh Paul's leaning into them after the Macedonian Christians that are not as well off had given sacrificially and he's writing this letter saying, "Hey, I'm sending Titus and the boys down and and I'm going to

come in. We're going to collect this and

come in. We're going to collect this and and we're going to go off and bring this relief to uh Jerusalem and and you just need to be ready." And u this has been a

topic that we've we've had to lean into.

Now, the thing about money is we we have to deal with it all the time. I mean

every single day there's there money is a part of our lives and you you know you tap your debit card they hand you the sandwich you eat the sandwich and you move on with your day you uh you know

put down the money you get the product you take the product home you enjoy it then and that's that even the big things right you you pay the tuition you take the class you move on with your life you

you buy the car you drive the car you know and that's that end of story you can think about giving that way and you would be remiss if you did. That

would be a mistake. We don't want to start thinking about giving in the same way. And it's easy to do that because

way. And it's easy to do that because you can think about the two kinds of giving we've talked about uh the vertical giving. You can kind of say,

vertical giving. You can kind of say, well, okay, I'm going to set up my giving uh to God through the church like, you know, Pastor Mike alluded to from 1 Corinthians chapter 9. And you

know, I can I can just have that taken out of my uh you know, account and every twice a month I'll have that go over there and it'll go to the church and the church will pay the bills and and check

the box, an obedient Christian. Good.

Okay, done. That's that. Move on with my life. And now this series about

life. And now this series about horizontal giving, I can look out for needs. And there might be someone in my

needs. And there might be someone in my small group, they're struggling and maybe they got laid off or couldn't pay their medical bills or maybe they're in a between jobs, they can't pay their rent. And I I'll see the need and man,

rent. And I I'll see the need and man, I'll I'll I'll give them the money. I'll

zel them some cash and and you know, I I I'll meet the need and and done. Move on

and feel good about it and I've been obedient.

You could think about it that way, but um but you shouldn't because it's not as transactional and as simple and and just as as obvious as that because it's not

it's not it's not like a gumball machine, right? The the transactions of

machine, right? The the transactions of our our finances are like that. We put

in our our quarter and we get the gumball. Giving like we put in our

gumball. Giving like we put in our quarter and then the quarter goes out the backside to someone else. That's how

we view our giving. But it's not like that at all. According to the very end of this discussion in the last four verses of chapter 9 in 2 Corinthians, Paul's going to say it's much more like

one of those um those those machines that we used to see sometimes those those uh cause and effect machines. I

don't know what they called them, but you sometimes you see them at the mall.

I've seen them at the airports before where the Q ball is put in and the ramp goes down. Remember these things? And

goes down. Remember these things? And

then all of a sudden things start happening. levers start moving and

happening. levers start moving and wheels start spinning and lights go off and bells ring and all of a sudden now everything's going and another ball comes in and it just goes nuts.

Everything's crazy. The the uh the one ball gets in this thing and there's just all of these, you know, chain reaction events.

And that's more of how we ought to see giving because giving is very different than the quidd proquo of just sliding my card and getting my product and moving on with my day. We ought to have a much

more um three-dimensional view. We ought

to have a a broader view of of how our our giving works. Now, we kind of touched on it last week and I kind of recoiled a little bit and said we'll get into that more in the next passage. So,

I want us to look at these last four verses of our whole study in looking at this giving. And though most of it has

this giving. And though most of it has been obviously about u horizontal giving when we see needs this direction relationally, we've had to touch on on vertical giving too as we give to God through our church. But we're going to

see how important it is that we understand the chain reaction of events and the way we ought to see this as is radically significant. It's it is it has

radically significant. It's it is it has a a big effect. the significance of your generosity because it'll be motivating for you if you can just keep in mind the things that that God is trying to tell

us here in these last four verses. So,

open your Bibles. Let's look at this and see if it can't motivate us and get us thinking more um properly, more biblically, think rightly about the

impact of our generosity. Verses 12, 13, 14, and 15 of 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 2

Corinthians chapter 9:es 12-15. I'll

I'll read it from the English Standard Version. And here's how it reads. For

Version. And here's how it reads. For

the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. That's what we

touched on last week as you can remember from verse 11.

But their approval of this service, by their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ and

the generosity of your contribution for them and all others while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God

upon you. And then he breaks out with

upon you. And then he breaks out with this this ending statement which is a lot like chapter 8:9 you might remember.

And that's more of a didactic uh instructive statement about Christ being this great example. But here he just breaks out in praise. But thanks be to God for his inexpressable gift which is

unstated. But we know exactly what he's

unstated. But we know exactly what he's talking about because back in chapter 8 verse number nine, Christ is the ultimate though he is rich, right? He

became poor for us that through his poverty we might become rich. That's the

ultimate. It's the inexpressable gift.

The the gift that we can't ever match but is the the standard, the benchmark of all giving. Okay, let's make some sense of this. And and though there's plenty of things here, I I put them into

three buckets because why not? That's

how most sermons work. And um let's let's try and figure this out. How can

we um get this? And and as you see, if you got the worksheet downloaded or if you have a printed version of it, I want to take the first part of verse 12 and the bottom of verse 13. And there's some great words here that I want to kind of

underscore for you and and try and get all of this to give it a a texture of what it means in in our giving. Now, it

says not only in the middle of verse 12, right? Not only supplying the needs of

right? Not only supplying the needs of saints, but I want to focus on that because it is doing that and he says that in the bottom of verse 13, right?

Whatever they're doing, the submission that comes from your confession of the gospel and the generosity of your contribution for them and all the others. We know you're giving to these

others. We know you're giving to these Jerusalem Christians and it is supplying the needs. But he puts it in terms that

the needs. But he puts it in terms that are really big. Now, I warned you about this this word that is used and translated ministry in verse 12, right?

And and it's also it shows up again uh later here in verse 13 by the approval of this service. That's the same word as I warned you last time. We we we

transliterate into English, the word deacon, at least one form of it, deacon.

and and that kind of elevates it at least in our thinking. We know that as an office in the church, a ministry leader, right? Ministry. So that kind of

leader, right? Ministry. So that kind of elevates it. And then the next word, the

elevates it. And then the next word, the ministry of this service. And that word is a word that's often used as almost a synonym of that word deacon. Uh and

that's a word that we transliterate also into English. And and we get the word

into English. And and we get the word liturgy from that. So we get this kind of word deacon and liturgy here stuck together. This this ministry of this

together. This this ministry of this service. Now liturgy is an interesting

service. Now liturgy is an interesting word because the root of that is a compound word uh which means public and and work public work and secular Greek is is describing that as someone doing

something for the public good public works that makes sense u and and and then yet it was kind of taken into the usage in the Bible mostly in the you can go back to before the time of Christ

into the Greek translation of the of the Hebrew Old Testament and it describes the priests who are giving their service uh to the people of God. And as they're working on the Sabbath in particular,

and they're doing their work, sacrificing and showbread and, you know, candles and and and incense and all that, they're they're doing that in service to the people of Israel, and they're they're mediating this this

worship to God. They're working, but they're working on the behalf of the people of God. It's also used in the New Testament. Think about Luke chapter 1.

Testament. Think about Luke chapter 1.

When Zachcharias's number came up and he goes into the temple, it was his turn to do his service as a priest and that's when he gets told that he's going to have a child and he didn't believe it.

So, he's struck mute and all that. You

remember the story, but that word is used. He's doing his priestly service.

used. He's doing his priestly service.

That's how it shows up in the New Testament. So, that's another elevating

Testament. So, that's another elevating word. And then look, it's the service to

word. And then look, it's the service to the who? What does he say? Service to

the who? What does he say? Service to

who? The Jerusalem boys. No, he calls them what? Saints. And again, if you

them what? Saints. And again, if you grew up in a in a Catholic church or some, you know, Orthodox church, you you see that word as a word that doesn't seem to fit unless you've been, you know, dead for a long time and have some

miracles ascribed to you. But that's a word that if you know it in the New Testament context, you know, that means that's anybody who is a Christian. But

it's an elevating word because it's the word in in the in the New Testament language for a holy one. Holy not

because you're morally perfect, but holy because you are literally the technical definition is that you're set apart.

You're no longer out there, you know, just one of them, but now you're in here. You're in the family of God.

here. You're in the family of God.

You're adopted. So, think about all those words, right? That's big. Not to

mention the word that's translated contribution in the bottom of verse 13.

Now, something about the submission that comes from your confession of the gospel. So, you confess that you're, you

gospel. So, you confess that you're, you know, all about the the good news of Christ and the generosity of your contribution. Now, here's another hidden

contribution. Now, here's another hidden Greek word that I know you all know, right? Most of you, I'm sure you know

right? Most of you, I'm sure you know this word, but it's translated contribution. And this is a word was all

contribution. And this is a word was all big, at least when I was growing up in the 70s in youth rooms. It was all posted all over the place on the tie-dye t-shirts we made and all the rest. It's

the word coinia. You've all heard that, right? And it's usually translated

right? And it's usually translated coinia is translated what? Nobody?

Fellowship. Thank you. Fellowship. Okay.

So here's a word, right, that that does start to help us think through. And if

you know your Bible, you think, okay, that was a big emphasis in the early part of Acts, like Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4 when it talked about they were all there together. They had all

things in common. Even that word, right, that word common, that's the root of the word coinia. The word common means they

word coinia. The word common means they they didn't consider their stuff like their own. If there was a need, they met

their own. If there was a need, they met the need. So that by chapter four it

the need. So that by chapter four it says there was not a needy person among them. Right? And the fellowship was we

them. Right? And the fellowship was we were all together. We have all things in common and we're we're fellowshipping.

Well, that's an interesting translation here. But it's in the context of we're

here. But it's in the context of we're we're all a part of the same family.

Well, you're way over there across the Mediterranean. You're all the way over

Mediterranean. You're all the way over in Israel, right? You're in Jerusalem.

These people in Corinth are probably never going to meet these people in Jerusalem, but they see the need. They

see the connection they have as we're fellow saints. We're in this family of

fellow saints. We're in this family of God, right? We're all a part of this

God, right? We're all a part of this family. We're all we're we're declared

family. We're all we're we're declared righteous, right? And and we know that

righteous, right? And and we know that there's a need. And so God has given us grace by having money that that we could sacrifice for you. You're struggling

probably by the famine. Acts 11, there was a prediction of a famine. And in

Claudius's reign, there was a famine.

It's historically extra biblically confirmed. And they're probably

confirmed. And they're probably struggling from that. Maybe persecution.

Whatever the reason was, they needed that money to relieve them. And so they were going to send it off. They'd

probably never, you know, see the effect of it. They'd only hear about it through

of it. They'd only hear about it through letters, but they were going to do this as an act of their their fellowship, their contribution, their involvement, and saying, "You're you're with us." All

of this was about their connection in Christ. Now, I've tried to say there's

Christ. Now, I've tried to say there's aspects of giving I've tried to deal with in the last seven sermons, right?

six before this one and trying to help you see there are aspects of giving that I wanted to kind of be comprehensive because we're dealing with a topic and I've said this could include your neighbor's slab leak or the broken down

car or you know there's an issue in your culde-sac and you're going to involve yourself in that and it's going to ask you to stay the extra hour spend the extra dollar right and go the extra mile

fine it can it can do that right you're going to as you have opportunity do good to all men but as Galatians 6 says especially the household of of of the

faith. So we really want to look first

faith. So we really want to look first and foremost right as we think about the passage here 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9 like I want to see this it elevates it so much

that I want to see my generosity if I find the joy and generosity and this virtue growing in my life as we end this I want to see one of the effects is when I give in the name of Christ to meet

needs right I am really I need to realize that that act of generosity is strengthening the church and that's a big word. It ought to be elevated in our

big word. It ought to be elevated in our minds. Number one on your outline, write

minds. Number one on your outline, write it down. You need to realize your

it down. You need to realize your generosity strengthens the church, the people of God, this this institution that God has given his blood for. This

thing that God is doing, the the the thing going on this planet that Christ said, "I'm going to build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." You are helping even if you

against it." You are helping even if you just help this week, one person, right, get through a hard time because you're willing to spend the extra dollar to see them through this. You're helping them.

You're strengthening the church. And

these these words, right, ministry, service, right? Contribution. These are

service, right? Contribution. These are

all elevated words. And saint, these are big words trying to get Paul to see this as a big deal. Not a big deal when you tap your your your debit card to get a a ham sandwich. Big deal. I mean, it's

ham sandwich. Big deal. I mean, it's important and you got to do it every day, but when you say, "I'm going to write this check to help this guy pay his rent," that's a big deal. That's a

really big deal to God. And God sees this as a big deal. and it's doing something to strengthen the family of God, to strengthen the church of Jesus Christ.

Now, one of the things I'm trying to do is mop up a lot of things in this last sermon in this series because I know when we think about horizontal giving, um even though God may do what he did to me this week, and

that is sometimes when you're preaching on things and maybe when you're being preached to about things, God opens up doors of opportunity to apply it. Has he

done that to any of you? He often does that to the preacher. I got a call out of the blue, not a person in this church, so he didn't know I was ripe for this, but financial need, big financial need. Reached out to me, bold enough to

need. Reached out to me, bold enough to ask. And and I know this guy. I've known

ask. And and I know this guy. I've known

him for years. Fell on hard times. I've

been counseling kind of, you know, through text messages and all that. And

he just laid it out there. I have a need. And so, you know, of course, I

need. And so, you know, of course, I thought, well, I'm preaching on all this, right? Of course, I I can't can't

this, right? Of course, I I can't can't close my heart of compassion against him, right? I had to practice everything

him, right? I had to practice everything I'm preaching on. So yeah, and I I did I did the maximum amount that that was needed and I and I and I I did that. And

so God may open up opportunities like that. But I think to myself here, we're

that. But I think to myself here, we're living in in a you know, a place where there's a million, as I talked about at one installment of this, where there's a million of these social services where where we're rarely going to see someone

saying, "If you don't help me, I'm going to be living under the underpass this week." Right? Rarely are people going to

week." Right? Rarely are people going to miss a meal in our culture. Right?

Certainly in the United States of America and Orange County, California.

So, I wanted to add one thing to this series to maybe help you recognize as my mentor once said or one of my mentors back early in my ministry. We need to

kind of look even at the um the the cultural standards that we live in and say, "Okay, in the body of Christ, if I'm going to strengthen the church, I'm not just looking about is someone going

to go without food or someone going to be kicked out of their apartment or is someone not going to be able to live and and pay all their medical bills this month month. It may be that everyone's

month month. It may be that everyone's copathetic as it relates to all the basics, but is someone needing something that maybe would just make their life kind of get it up to where it ought to be, right? And and that's the kind of

be, right? And and that's the kind of generosity you need to be on the lookout for. And I want to tie this together

for. And I want to tie this together with something I said a couple weeks ago regarding budgeting. We talk about

regarding budgeting. We talk about budgeting. And the budgeting when you

budgeting. And the budgeting when you think about vertical giving, of course, you need to budget as you should to honor the Lord from your wealth, right?

From the first fruit. So you should be giving vertically to God through your church. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 required

church. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 required the decision about how much is according to you but you need to be giving to your church great check that box right but it's more than that because there's a lot of ramifications to that but then I

said you should be budgeting to give horizontally and if you do that you may go through a month or two months 3 months go I didn't see anybody that was in desperate need fine you don't have to that's the great thing about budgeting

to give and to be generous in a horizontal sense you budget which means you decide to live on less so that you can give more. And when you do that, I want you to think more like the

Shounamite woman because the Shounamite woman in the Old Testament is really a great example of generosity, creative generosity in trying to be a creative woman who says, "How can I be generous

in a way that would be a blessing, right? It's it's not like someone's

right? It's it's not like someone's going to starve to death, right? But I'm

going to do something over and above."

And I love this and maybe it's the reason she is introduced to us as a wealthy person as we looked at last week. Maybe God is saying, "I love to

week. Maybe God is saying, "I love to shovel resources in the direction of the Shounomite woman because look at how she lives. She is a generous woman." So,

lives. She is a generous woman." So,

let's meet a generous woman that may help us in a in a in a time, in a small group, in a sub congregation where you're probably not going to meet many people that are destitute. Okay, let's

turn there. Second Kings chapter 4.

Let's take a look at the Shounomite woman and and learn from her. Second

Kings 4, drop down to verse 8. Elisha. Elisha is

not Elijah as you know, but he succeeded Elijah.

And he goes to a place called Shounam.

Shunim is near Mount Gilboa. Might

remember that's where um Saul dies with his sons, which now is a uh the only ski slope in uh Israel. If you ever go to Israel with us, uh not far from the

valley of Megiddo, we always go there to the ruins of Megiddo. But anyway, a little little village named Shounam where there was a wealthy woman. A

wealthy woman lived. Are you with me on this? 2 Kings 4:8.

this? 2 Kings 4:8.

So Elijah goes to Shunam where there was a wealthy woman and who urged him to eat some food. Okay, he probably wasn't

some food. Okay, he probably wasn't starving, but nevertheless, she says, "Hey, have some food." So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. Okay, that's great. That's

good. And is that generous? Sure it is.

But she puts it in turbocharge. Look at

verse 9. She says to her husband, "Behold now, now again, that's such ancient archaic language. But you do know what behold means, right? Behold

means look." When you see that word, right? Look, look here, right? Look now.

right? Look, look here, right? Look now.

Just let let's give this some thought. I

know that this holy man of God who is continually passing our way. This is a holy man. This guy's important. Let us

holy man. This guy's important. Let us

make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, a lamp, so that whenever he comes

to us, he can go in there. Now, usually

we just go right past that and go on to other stuff, and there's a lot of interesting stuff that happens after this, but let's just stop right there for a second. That is an amazing woman right there. I just I just love that.

right there. I just I just love that.

Think about it. Yeah, you need a sandwich when you're passing through, but no, you're a holy man of God, which by the way, just think of that word, holy man. Every single person in your

holy man. Every single person in your small group, if they are a confessed follower of Christ, guess what? They are

a saint. They're a holy man or a holy woman of God set apart for God. I just

love that that's the way she he describes she describes Elisha. Holy

man. I understand. He's a prophet. He's

a big dude. I get it. His resume is more impressive than the people in your small group, but still a child of God and she wants to do good to the holy man. And I

love the list, man. I think about it.

Here's a guy who's always quoting, you know, Moses got probably got some scrolls and he comes through. I'm going

to give him a room. Hey, honey, we don't go much on the roof anymore, you know, and it can be windy. So, I build some walls up there and uh we build Can we get him a table? We got somebody. We

have a guy build a table. Let's get him a nice chair. Make sure it's comfortable. We got someone paddling.

comfortable. We got someone paddling.

Oh, and and a bed, too, cuz maybe he'll get tired and sleep up there. Oh, and uh let's get him a lamp. Just lots that at night he might want to get up and read

some scrolls or write a few things.

Amazing. Amazing. This is a woman thinking creatively about how to bless a saint.

So when you think about living on less so that you can give more, you don't need to wait for someone in dire need. I

want you to say, "How can I bless a saint in my church? How can I bless someone who just can move them from here to there?" And it could be maybe cuz

to there?" And it could be maybe cuz Elisha, maybe there was a lot of people in her neighborhood that all had a place to study and she knows Elisha doesn't.

Well, maybe there is a cultural deficiency and you think, "Oh, this person doesn't have that. this person

doesn't have what they what most people have. And I know they're not destitute.

have. And I know they're not destitute.

They're not out in the in the Costco parking lot begging for money, but let let's let's give them something just so they can get up to speed. As you budget to be generous horizontally,

just be more like the Shounomite woman.

Think of ways to now what happens to her, right? I know that takes the

her, right? I know that takes the spotlight and it kind of makes us forget what she did, but what God did for her based on what she did, and I'm not saying there's a direct connection here,

causation, but there's correlation.

There's certainly something that God does in response to this generous woman's life. Pretty remarkable and has

woman's life. Pretty remarkable and has nothing to do with her finances.

Although she's introduced as a wealthy woman, maybe, as I said, God's providing seed for the sewer and bread for those who eat. God, I'm sure, loves a cheerful

who eat. God, I'm sure, loves a cheerful giver. And I see this in the Shounomite

giver. And I see this in the Shounomite woman.

The saints we should give to our vertical giving as well. We should

think about how God's people are amply supplied when we give. Back to our text real quick. I just want to get this

real quick. I just want to get this second part of it. and and verse 13, the second part of verse 13, the generosity of this coinia, this

contribution, this this gift of commonality.

Can I turn you once you look at this and read this again with me? We'll go to go to Acts real quick. 2 Corinthians

chapter 9 verse 13. There by their approval of this service, right? This

there's that word deacon.

They will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the good news of of Christ, the Messiah, and the generosity

of your contribution for them and for all others. So, it's not just that you

all others. So, it's not just that you had your arm twisted by Paul because that's not it. It's not compulsory.

They're seeing that you're generous people. And the generous people that you

people. And the generous people that you are is because you've submitted yourself to what you've said. You've confessed

that you're all about the good news of the gospel. So you practice what you've

the gospel. So you practice what you've preached, right? You do what you say.

preached, right? You do what you say.

You're not just all talk. You don't just love in in in word and in talk, but you love in deed and in truth. So we've

watched this. You've said that you are followers of Christ. You've said that you follow the one who laid down his life for us. And you are laying down your lives for the brothers. You're

sacrificing. So you are doing what you say. You you believe the things that you

say. You you believe the things that you say, and you're proving it by your deeds. So all of this is is proof. And

deeds. So all of this is is proof. And

there's something about this, as we started to touch on before in the series, that there's a validation of our of our of our character, of our doctrine. We're adorning the gospel of

doctrine. We're adorning the gospel of Christ. As we said in Titus, that idea

Christ. As we said in Titus, that idea of not pilfering, not being all about money, not preferring money over people.

It does something to adorn or make the gospel look good. And if we we're all about the gospel, then we know that people are more important than money.

And in this passage here again, their giving shows that. Now, back to Acts real quick. Acts chapter 2, just to show

real quick. Acts chapter 2, just to show you these connections real quick. Acts

chapter 2. Now, I know you've seen this.

We talk about it often, but I just wanted to show you how this all works here.

First, let's look at the word fellowship in verse 42 of Acts 2, all the way down to the bottom, verse 14. And they

devoted themselves, here's the early church, to the apostles teaching. That

all starts there. And to the fellowship, that's the the the coinia, right? The

fellowship. They're part of this group.

They all are common. The breaking of bread and the prayers. And all came upon every soul because many signs and wonders were being done among the apostles. Right? 2 Corinthians 12:12.

apostles. Right? 2 Corinthians 12:12.

That's the sign of the apostles. Verse

44. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. The root

of the word Quinnia that they had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. So that's the basis of them

had need. So that's the basis of them saying if anyone has a need great now this was unique in that they didn't know how long Christ was going to leave them for right they said how long and they

Christ said not for you to know the times and the seasons so they were hanging out remember they were all brought there because of this festival the feast right of Pentecost so I mean there was a unique thing going on here as people traveled and a lot of people

were sticking around and so they kind of had this commune thing going now over to chapter 4 real quick chapter 4. Go to

the bottom of that chapter.

Look at verse 32. Bottom of chapter 4.

Now the full number of those who believed were in one heart and soul. And

no one said of any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And there it is again, right? Everything in common.

And same same pattern. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon

Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Now here's the goal. There was

them all. Now here's the goal. There was

not a needy person among them. For as

many of the land owners or houses were sold and were brought the proceeds of what was sold, they laid at the apostles feet and it was distributed to each as any had need. Then we meet Joseph who's known as Barnabas. He came to the

apostles. Barnabas means son of

apostles. Barnabas means son of encouragement and certainly is. He's a

very generous man, Levite from the island of Cyprus. He sold the field that belonged to him. He brought the money and he laid it at the apostles feet.

Now, all this to say that many of these people looking at these two passages, they try to get to the place where the mayor of New York is and start to talk about the warmth of collectivism, right?

And they just want to tell you that's not what this passage is teaching.

Matter of fact, you could try to make a lot of the pronouns in the passage because these things, right, like verse 37, the field that belong to him from beginning to end, the Bible teaches

private property rights. Absolutely.

Right. But it gets very clear in the next chapter and all I'm saying is this.

You don't have really the act of giving unless you have the stewardship of you having the direction of what God has given you. Right? Giving as we've seen

given you. Right? Giving as we've seen in our series is about you taking what God has entrusted to you and making the valitional decision to give it. Now in

their minds they said hey Mikasa sucasa right what is mine is yours. And they

saw it that way. They were so quick to give it up. That was a mental thing, but it was theirs until they gave it up, right? They they didn't they weren't

right? They they didn't they weren't coerced to give anything up. And this is where we have to recognize that God has given us this great opportunity to prove

our theology by giving things up by living on less to give more. And this is the picture. Look at now Ananas and Safh

the picture. Look at now Ananas and Safh after everyone was hailing Barnabas.

Well, son of encouragement. Ananas and

Safh they sold a piece of property and with his wife knowledge verse two they kept back for himself some of the proceeds brought um only a part of it and laid it at the apostles feet but they made they made like it it was all

of it Peter says to Ananas why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land now notice carefully what he says while it remained

unsold did it not remain your own rhetorical question rhetorical answer of course it was your own and after it was sold Was it not at your disposal? Yes,

it was. See, this is where communalism or communism or socialism or the warmth of collectivism, it is not what the Bible teaches, right? You have your

disposal of whatever you have that is yours as a steward to direct as you right before God choose. But just like Christ had his glory, right, in in in

Philippians chapter 2, right, his majesty that he then theosis, he emptied himself. He chose to lay aside the

himself. He chose to lay aside the independent use of his attributes to come and be found among us as a human being and to lay down his life for us.

He chose to do that and that's the sacrifice. There's no compulsion there,

sacrifice. There's no compulsion there, right? There's no gun at his back to do

right? There's no gun at his back to do it. This is the voluntary giving. And

it. This is the voluntary giving. And

that act of giving, there's the proving of our theology. There's the there's the the the the echo of what it means to be in in step with the great giver of the

Bible, right? the one who shows us what

Bible, right? the one who shows us what it means to put other people's interests above our own. And and it may be that the language of Acts 2 and the language of Acts 4 almost gets ahead of itself by

saying, "Hey, whatever I have is yours."

But we know what you mean, right? We

know what you mean, right? It is yours.

When I say, "Hey, whatever's in the refrigerator, consider it your own." I I don't expect you when you leave to take out your backpack and start taking all my, you know, my condiments home with you. But if you need it while you're

you. But if you need it while you're here, sure, have it, right? Don't don't

take my peanut butter out of the cupboard and take it home with you or sell it on the street corner. That's not

the idea. So the the point here is we want to be the kinds of people that show our submission to our profession. That

we believe exactly what the Bible says that we should do all the things he's commanded us and say we're just doing what we ought to do. Right? We call him Lord Lord because we do what he tells

us. And he says the commandment he's

us. And he says the commandment he's given us in John 13, right? is to love each other as he loved us. We're just

echoing that standard. And by this all people, verse 35 of John 13, will know that we are his disciples. And that's

exactly what the what Paul is telling him, the Jerusalem Christians are going to say about the Corinthian Christians.

When you give, they're going to say that. You can tell that you're the

that. You can tell that you're the disciples. We tell that your confession

disciples. We tell that your confession to the gospel is real because look at how you're giving. Look at the grace of God active in your life as you give.

All right, back to our text.

Verse 12, bottom of verse 12. Not only supplying the needs of the saints, which is a big deal, and there many facets to that we tried to look at, but it says is also overflowing with many thanksgivings to

God. Now, we touched on that bottom of

God. Now, we touched on that bottom of verse 11. You'll be enriched in every

verse 11. You'll be enriched in every way so as to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgivings to God. So, we know that was part of it. We left some of that for

today. Verse 13. by their approval of

today. Verse 13. by their approval of this service. There's that word again,

this service. There's that word again, right? That that deacon service, that

right? That that deacon service, that that ministry, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession. Okay, so we got

two things here. Thanksgiving and then a bigger word, glory. Glorify God. All

right, let's put one word to kind of encompass both of those words and let's call it worship. And this is something that the Apostle Paul's trying to say, which is never going to happen when you buy a sandwich at the deli this week.

Number two, you need to realize that your generosity, right, here's what it does. It produces worship. And it does.

does. It produces worship. And it does.

I can assure you of that. When you give, it produces worship, right? And let's

just think vertically, even though our text is primarily horizontal, but if you give vertically and you give to your church, as you should because you're giving to God, just like in the Old

Testament, they gave to the Levites, but they're really giving to God, right? you

are you you're just you're aiding worship. You're you're fueling worship.

worship. You're you're fueling worship.

You're underwriting worship. It's the

thing that makes the worship possible.

And then when you give vertically or horizontally to other people, of course, what's going to happen is the first thing that's going to happen is thanksgiving. Of course, that's that is

thanksgiving. Of course, that's that is the essence of worship, by the way.

Okay, once you jot that down, turn with me to Psalm 107. Let's drive this home and let's think of it practically. And

I'm sure all of you can think of examples of this in your own life.

And I hope you've felt it being on the receiving end. And I hope you've heard

receiving end. And I hope you've heard about it being on the giving end of this. Psalm 107.

this. Psalm 107.

Sometimes we overthink worship. And it

can be as simple as this. I know we think worship ascribing to the Lord the glory that's due his name. That's a good definition, a good biblical definition.

But to ascribe to the to the Lord the glory that's to his name. The word glory is a little ambiguous in people's minds.

But to say, okay, we're worshiping him for who he is, but we know a lot about who he is by what he does. And so we're thanking him often for what he does, which is really glorify him for who he

is. So take a look at this first line

is. So take a look at this first line from Psalm 107 verse one. And you'll see this come together. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, to Yahweh, for he is good.

Okay, we're giving thanks to the Lord to God because he's good. Well, okay. Thanks

God for being good. Why? How do we know you're good? Because his hessid, his his

you're good? Because his hessid, his his covenant love, his faithful, his steadfast love endures forever. Well,

how do we know that? Verse two, let the redeemed of the Lord of Yahweh say so, whom he's redeemed from trouble, who's gotten out of of out of a jam, who's

delivered from the enemy. Okay. Now,

when we think of the word redeemed, we instantly go to the big esqueological end of it all. And certainly as New Testament Christians, we think about redeem from the penalty of our sins. And

there's nothing wrong with that. That's

the ultimate redemption. I get it. But a

lot of the times in the Psalms in particular, we're thinking about something more more temporal, right?

He's gotten us out of some battle. He's

gotten us out of some famine. He's

gotten us out of some temporal trouble.

And there's nothing wrong with that because that fuels our worship. And that

certainly fuels our worship by the first step, and that is giving thanks to God.

And Paul is saying when the Jerusalem Christians who've had a hard time feeding their kids and maybe their kids have gone without a meal yesterday and the day before and they're crying crying themselves to sleep at night and all of

a sudden Paul pulls up with his entourage and they got big bags of money and now they can go with all the the inflated prices in the marketplace and they can go and feed their children.

They're going to be thanking God for that. They're going to give praise to

that. They're going to give praise to God for that and they're going to say, "God is faithful. God's love on us is faithful. Now, examples, right? Let the

faithful. Now, examples, right? Let the

redeemed of the Lord say so. Whom he's

redeemed from trouble and he's gathered in from lands from east and from west, from north and from south. Now, he gives an example which is not identical to what we're dealing with, but there's

some parallels. Some have wandered in

some parallels. Some have wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in, hungry and thirsty. That's

a parallel. Their soul fainted within them. I'm sure there are plenty of

them. I'm sure there are plenty of people on the edge in Jerusalem, right?

Can you imagine that?

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble. How many times do you think the

trouble. How many times do you think the prayer meetings among the Christians in Jerusalem did they pray about their plight in Jerusalem? Whether it was persecution or famine or what they were praying and the money could certainly

help. And Paul was collecting the money

help. And Paul was collecting the money having it collected and they were going to get some relief.

Hungry, thirsty, their soul faint with and they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress. And he led them by a straight

distress. And he led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in. Let them thank the Lord for his

in. Let them thank the Lord for his covenant love, his steadfast love, his faithful love, for his wondrous works to the children of men. For he satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul he

fills with good. Now, how does that happen? Usually happens through some

happen? Usually happens through some human intermediary. It usually some

human intermediary. It usually some agency in that. There's usually somebody there that that that is in between the fulfillment of all that. And all I'm

saying is it ends up being an expression, an outburst of of of praise to God. And that's where your giving,

to God. And that's where your giving, right, is is a a a catalytic lighting of a fuse of someone praising

God. You got to know that. That's what

God. You got to know that. That's what

happens, right? When you give to someone, even when you give to a church, trust me, and I I know this. I mean,

worked for a church now for 40 years, right? There's a great deal of

right? There's a great deal of thanksgiving that comes even when the budget is met every year. A great deal of worship, not to mention when someone is in need and that need is met. And

here are these people in Jerusalem that Paul is thinking, "Ah, they're going to overflow with thanksgiving."

Keep reading verse 10. It's not just because something was foisted upon people. Sometimes people get themselves

people. Sometimes people get themselves in trouble themselves. Verse 10. Some

sat in darkness in the shadow of death.

Prisoners in affliction and irons. Why?

because they had rebelled against the words of God. They spurned the counsel of the Most High. They did wrong and they were paying the penalty for doing wrong. So, he bowed their hearts down

wrong. So, he bowed their hearts down with hard labor. They fell down with none to help. Well, they got themselves in a in a mess. You made your bed. You

got to sleep in it now. Yeah. But much

like in the book of Judges, they did earn it, but they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And then you can fill in between these two lines. God is

gracious. God is merciful. Just like

he's been to you. and he delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness in the shadow of death. He

burst their bonds apart. Now, I wonder if there was any human agency in that.

Of course, many times this is just lyrics to a song, but if you think about people that have got sprung out of jail, I bet there was. Who knows? Whatever the

ancient equivalent was, some some public defender said, "I'm going to take up your case." Somebody said, "I'm going to

your case." Somebody said, "I'm going to fund this this defense. I'm going to get you out of here." Somebody came in. Some

some Robin Hood saved you from this situation. You got yourself in trouble.

situation. You got yourself in trouble.

God used someone to get you out. And

then what? Verse 15. Do the right thing.

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, his wondrous works to the children of man. For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts the bars of iron.

I hope any real Christian that's on the receiving end of the generosity of another Christian, I hope that you don't need much training from Psalm 107 to know that it's time to drop to your

knees and give thanks to the living God for his steadfast love to you. It

happens all the time. It's really built into the fabric of the history of almost every Christian. If you live long enough

every Christian. If you live long enough the Christian life, there are times in your life where this has happened. and

and I can think of my own life back in 1988. I was u done with my undergrad. I

1988. I was u done with my undergrad. I

was going to go to seminary and uh come back to California where I grew up. And

so I put my resume out. I had a job offer in LA County, a job offer in San Bernardino County, and a job offer in Orange County. And I went and

Orange County. And I went and interviewed at all three and the church in LA County had a flush budget. The

church in in San Bernardino County had a flush budget. And then I interviewed at

flush budget. And then I interviewed at the church in Orange County and they had a really tight budget and the church was really small. But the pastor, I thought,

really small. But the pastor, I thought, "This pastor's great. I loved him. 65

years old. He was a little bit older, but man, he had a heart for evangelism, disciplehip. I connected with him. Our

disciplehip. I connected with him. Our

hearts were knitted together in the interview. I thought, "This is a great

interview. I thought, "This is a great place." Then I learned out they really

place." Then I learned out they really didn't have any money to hire me. I

thought, "Well, this is awesome.

I was recently married. I kind of needed a paycheck.

I could have taken the other two jobs, but I really felt like this is the place I had to be, South Orange County. Not

because of the beaches, not because of anything else. was all because of the

anything else. was all because of the guy. I thought, I want to work with this

guy. I thought, I want to work with this guy.

And somebody stepped up, a businessman from Newport Beach. Didn't go to the church, but he said, "Well, if I interviewed the

guy, the kid, that's who I was, the kid.

I'll pay his salary for the first year.

I'll pay half his salary for the second year and a quarter of his salary for the third year."

third year." So I interviewed with this guy and said, 'Okay, I'll do it. Never came to our church, just knew the need of the

church, knew the pastor, he paid for my first three years, part of my salary, full salary the first year. And um by the time those three years were over, obviously that things had radically

changed. The church was on its way. The

changed. The church was on its way. The

church had radically changed. And um I just will tell you humanly speaking I wouldn't be standing on a on a platform in South Orange County, California were not for Dawn from Newport Beach. One

guy, generous heart, wanted to help a church. I don't know how much of a

church. I don't know how much of a sacrifice it was for him, but I've thanked God many times for Dawn knowing that God had opened a door for me to do ministry with the right person at the right time. And looking back at the

right time. And looking back at the circumstances, it was because of one person, humanly speaking, who was generous enough to care about a church he didn't even go to. And I praise God

for one person with a generous heart who cared about one Christian he didn't even know. I had one meeting with him. And he

know. I had one meeting with him. And he

said, I want to invest for the good of the kingdom.

and you look at institutions, go read the history of uh Dallas Theological Seminary and the cattle sales that took place at just the right time or or or

the oil salesman, the oil uh brothers who who funded Biola or the things that went on Quaker Oats with the Moody in Chicago. You can go on and on and on and

Chicago. You can go on and on and on and on. None of these things happened,

on. None of these things happened, right, without people, key people at the right time stepping up to be generous.

And you know what? People have been blessed and people looking back have thanked God. Praise and worship

thanked God. Praise and worship literally has been predicated and founded on people that have been generous to make these things happen.

This is how God works. And praise has just just like you want to talk about the you know cause and effect machine.

You know the the the the thing when one ball drops and levers and and buttons and lights flash and bells ring because of one act of generosity.

Worship takes place.

The word glorify, that's a good word. I

know it's lost on people sometimes because it seems so ambiguous. But it

says in our passage, look at it again.

By their approval of this service, they will glorify God. What do you mean? They

they just they give a thumbs up. They

give an approval and they glorify God.

Thanksgiving very specific glorify God.

That's bigger. You remember the glory of God settling in on the temple or the tabernacle. And then you remember Kabad,

tabernacle. And then you remember Kabad, that that Hebrew word kabad that that the glory had departed. The glory would settle when everything was good and copathetic and right. And then the glory

would depart when it was bad, when those things were off. Like sin, right? This

is a good like theological like phrase for it. Sin is like the the way things

for it. Sin is like the the way things shouldn't be, right? Things shouldn't be like that's sin. Things are wrong. But

the glory of God is like the a good description of the way things should be.

In fact, in the New Testament, the word sometimes describes something that's that's beautiful. Even as Jesus sat

that's beautiful. Even as Jesus sat there and talked about the the liies of the field, he uses the word dosa, the word for glory. It's beautiful. It's

right. It's just just the way it ought to be. It's like you walking into your

to be. It's like you walking into your kitchen and it's not covered with junk.

It's it's beautiful. It's sparkling

clean. It's been clean. There's a a vase full of of of beautiful freshly cut flowers. It's it's glorious.

flowers. It's it's glorious.

And and here they're saying they see people in this case wellto-do Corinthians sacrificing their summer vacations to take care of the suffering

Christians in Jerusalem. And they give a thumbs up and say it's just they glorify God. They they they feel the rightness

God. They they they feel the rightness of it all. I love this from 1 Timothy chapter 3. It talks about the church is

chapter 3. It talks about the church is the is the pillar and the foundation or the buttress of truth. It holds the truth of and and the church when it's functioning right. Someone comes to a

functioning right. Someone comes to a church that's working the way it ought to. It just feels right. It's just good

to. It just feels right. It's just good and and it feels like glory. And we

respond to it by glorifying God. And you

know when the church is off and and the church is off when people are there's lots of things we could look at but certainly when they're tightfisted and they have a wrong view of money. When

they're not open-handed, they don't share, they're not generous, they don't give. This whole series we've been about

give. This whole series we've been about the joy of generosity. And the joy of generosity when it's firing on all cylinders, it's a glorious place to be.

And people glorify God. They give it a thumbs up. They approve it. This is a

thumbs up. They approve it. This is a good place. The love of God is not in

good place. The love of God is not in word and talk. It's in deed and in truth.

When the church is doing what it ought to do, it certainly is a glorious place and it people that

see it glorify God.

All right, two more verses real quick.

Verses 14 and 15 says, "While they right, they're going to he's grateful that you've submitted to what you've said. You say you confess the gospel and you've submitted to that and you've given this generous contribution

while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing there's our word again grace of God upon you. 10

times in two chapters this word caris grace shows up and one time tucked away privately you won't see it there in verse 15 but the first word in the sentence thanks is a repetitive use

again of the word caris grace. This

whole theme has been grace used in different ways but grace. And he says, "All this grace of God upon you, the grace of God endowing you with the ability to do it, the grace of God

opening up your hands to do it, and all of this grace that God is showing through you, all this grace God has shown to you." He said, "All of this has made them long for you and pray for

you." People, they can't even imagine

you." People, they can't even imagine their faces in their mind's eye because they've never met the Corinthian Christians. They've only heard about the

Christians. They've only heard about the Corinthian Christians.

And some of them hardly hadn't heard anything about them. They just know there's some Christians across the Mediterranean. That's it. Think about

Mediterranean. That's it. Think about

this. They long for them. That's a

strong word. They they they desire them.

They want they would love to be with them if they could. They'd love to have dinner with them and they pray for them. Wonder how many people pray for you regularly. People

long for you.

Do you know what giving and generosity does? Makes that happen.

does? Makes that happen.

It really draws people together. It

unifies people. It deepens their fellowship. Just to get back to that

fellowship. Just to get back to that word number three on your outline, you got to realize your generosity deepens fellowship.

It builds your relationships. It

enhances your friendships. It makes your connections what they ought to be. If

you're a generous Christian, you're going to have better relationships with other Christians. Just going to be the

other Christians. Just going to be the way it is.

People are going to long for you.

They're going to pray for you. It's just

a natural part of what it means. Your

Christian friendships will be enriched.

Hard for you to bear a grudge against someone who's been generous to you. It's

hard for you to listen to the gossip against someone who's open-handed towards you. That's

really tough.

I mean, the goodness of what it means to love someone in deed and in truth, going the extra mile, staying the extra hour, spending the

extra dollar, it's certainly really hard to have any kind of vehement hostility or barriers against that person.

That's the way God intended it.

Generosity binds people together. It

pulls them together.

There's a principle in this. I think

that Jesus was getting at in part. I know he's speaking about treasure in heaven in Matthew chapter 6 21, but when he says this,

think about it in other ways. He says,

"Where your treasure is, your heart will be also." Right? Where your treasure is

be also." Right? Where your treasure is your heart will be also. Talks about

storing up for yourself treasure in heaven.

Well, I get that, right? I want to care about eternal things. want to care about things that matter in terms of the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

But here's one thing about the kingdom of God and his righteousness is he cares about the people of God and the people that are going to the kingdom of God.

And here's the thing. When you invest in the people of God, when you care about the household of faith, when you care about the saints, when you're engaged in things that feel like worship itself,

right, the liturgy, liturgy, right? You

you're doing things that are the service for the good of God's people.

when you're ministering to them by doing the things that we've been talking about, right? There's just something about

right? There's just something about that, getting your heart there that is really seeking the things that is going to put your heart in the same

place. Put it this way. You invest in a

place. Put it this way. You invest in a company, right? You're going to be

company, right? You're going to be checking to see how that company's doing all the time, right? Invest in a stock, you're going to be checking it all the just how it works, right? If you gamble

on a particular team, which I advise you not to do, I guarantee you're going to check how they're doing. See how they're winning or how see how they're losing.

Your heart's going to be there.

And if you invest in people, you're going to pray for them. You're going to want to spend time with them.

When you invest in things that matter in church, let's think of vertical giving.

Let me put it this way. The flaky church attenders are probably not significant givers to church. Let me put it that way. I can say that as an axiomatic

way. I can say that as an axiomatic statement. People that make it their

statement. People that make it their habit to be a part of their church, we are substantial givers to their church proportionately.

When you invest, right, you want to be a part of it. And when you invest in people, when you give to meet needs, when you give like the Shounomite woman, and

you're you're just trying to enhance because you're generous toward them, you're going to long for them. you're

going to pray for them.

Speaking of dosa, that great concept of glory, we often call these outbursts of of worship like in verse 15 uh doxologies.

You've heard that word, the old hymn that used to be sang at the end of a lot of church services in terms of liturgy.

That's liturggical use of that old hymn.

Doxology is um expression of of of praise and and this is in the first person here. Paul is saying thanks be to

person here. Paul is saying thanks be to God for his inexpressable gift. This is

Paul interjecting here.

And so we can look at it this way that Paul is even being led to a kind of expression upward here that yeah let's just all think thanks be to God for his

incredible giving. And in that sense,

incredible giving. And in that sense, our fellowship is not only increased horizontally, but even Paul is being led to do what was talked about earlier,

right? To worship God,

right? To worship God, but because he is the ultimate giver. I

just want us to think too that we are connecting with Christ in the way that chapter 8:9 said, right? We're

reflecting the character of God. For God

so loved the world that he gave. I mean,

this is so fundamental to who God is, right? Christ. He put the interest of

right? Christ. He put the interest of sinners before himself. He didn't come to be served. He came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. All of

those things, right? When I start to do what he he did, right? He laid down his life.

We should lay down our lives for each other. That that picture of giving

other. That that picture of giving becomes the thing that lets me, right, reflect him. I I'm going to not only

reflect him. I I'm going to not only thank him more fully like he's being thankful. We're going to thank God more

thankful. We're going to thank God more profoundly when we start giving. And

when Paul's even just watching and thinking and imagining the giving that's going to happen in Corinth, he's excited about praising God. He's thanking God more. But when we start giving and the

more. But when we start giving and the Corinthians start giving, right, we're going to reflect Christ more perfectly, more clearly.

Your fellowship with God will certainly be enriched just like your fellowship with other Christians is going to be enriched.

You walk in the light as he's in the light. And there's no way to do that

light. And there's no way to do that without being a generous Christian.

This series has really not been about budgets and money.

I mean, it's obviously intersected those things. It wasn't about Daenerius and

things. It wasn't about Daenerius and bronze coins and all that. Paul has

really been dealing with hearts and spiritual habits, priorities, about sanctification.

And for me, it's been the same. I've

wanted this to be about our our virtue of of being a generous Christian.

There's joy in that. There's progress in that. Having a a spiritual Christian

that. Having a a spiritual Christian habit that I just know as we end this will start a cascade of of impact that can go beyond our

lifetime.

A chain reaction that will matter years from now.

And it just starts with your mindset.

And since we don't talk about this all the time, you're going to have to carry this forward. And I hope in your small

this forward. And I hope in your small groups this week, you can discuss how to keep this going, how to keep this in the forefront of your minds, how to make sure you keep your eyes open. It's one

thing just to kind of settle into a vertical giving, but we've got to keep our eyes open and creatively think about our horizontal giving.

Make this a pattern. It becomes

addictive. You will enjoy it. You will

find joy in it. you will become a cheerful giver and God will be very happy about it. The Lord loves a cheerful. Let's pray. God, help us in

cheerful. Let's pray. God, help us in this series as we digest it, think about it, would you call it to mind in the future we move on to chapter 10 and all the good things that are there for us. I

just pray that you'd help us to put this into our arsenal of knowledge that we would say, u we want to be good doers of the word. We know knowledge puffs up,

the word. We know knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. We want to put all of this information into action, which is what love is all about. It's a verb.

It's something we do. We want to be good givers. We want to be joyful givers. We

givers. We want to be joyful givers. We

want to be liberal givers.

Be the kinds of people that uh constantly find ways to edify and encourage others.

God, let us be uh your hands and your feet, as has often been said, that we can be a blessing to others. God, thanks

so much for your kindness to us. Thanks

so much for your grace and generosity toward us. May we always remember to say

toward us. May we always remember to say thank you to you for all of your amazing gifts to us. And may we always remember even the agency of individuals

that have played an important role in our lives. May we seek to do the same in

our lives. May we seek to do the same in other people's lives. God, dismiss us now after this last song with a sense of your presence and empowerment to do your

will in Jesus name. Amen.