Hey, hey, hey.

Hey, it is so good to be back.

Thank you so much for that warm welcome.

And I have missed you all.

I watch you from a distance online at times and keep up with Jeff and all that he's got going.

And I love this church because you guys are a bunch of servants.

You have a lot of joy.

I always tell my wife, I say, man, it is a place of joy.

You can't walk on any campus without experiencing that.

So if you are watching online or if you're at one of the other campuses, thank you so much for being a part of this worship service.

And we're in this series called This Changes Everything.

And it's an exciting time because we're talking about some things that are really important to everyday life.

And it comes back to how it is that we're going to handle some of the things that are the big rock issues of our time.

Maybe you heard about the elderly man who had been graciously sent home from the hospital so that he could die in his own home.

And the doctors said that he wouldn't even last through the day.

But as the older man laid in his bed, he smelled the sweet aroma of his wife baking his favorite chocolate chip cookies.

He wanted one last cookie before he died.

and so he somehow mustered up the strength to somehow get out of his bed.

He crawled over to the landing.

He rolled down the steps.

He grabbed the shag carpet and slowly pulled himself toward the linoleum floor of the kitchen where he scooted his way across.

And with his waning strength, he lifted his withered hand toward the plate.

He grasped a warm, moist cookie, but his wife whacked his hand with a spatula.

Don't eat that.

Those are for the funeral.

Wow.

We jumped right in, didn't we?

Now, we laugh about someone saying, hands off to our homemade cookies, but our selfishness isn't limited to sweets or snacks.

Sometimes in our desire to be practical and prudent, we miss out on some great opportunities to brighten someone's day.

We worry more about storing up rather than being on the lookout to give up or to bless someone.

And today we want to focus on giving rather than keeping.

On being known as Christians who are lavish in meeting the needs of others and sharing with one another.

And lavishness means...

Extravagant, generous, and abundant.

There's no limit to lavishness.

And that might explain why it can sometimes be misinterpreted as reckless or wasteful.

It's something that you heap on and pour out in generous measures.

Now don't get me wrong, we need to have a strategy and we need to have a plan with our finances, a plan for giving and saving and spending.

But too often, the giving portion of the equation gets the short end of the stick.

Now, the New Testament paints a beautiful picture of the lavish generosity of the early church.

I'm going to read a passage from Acts chapter 4, verses 32 and 35.

It begins with verse 32.

It says, All the believers were united in heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything that they had.

The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's great blessing was upon them.

There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

Now, we're going to be camping out in a book that is filled with page after page of wisdom and godly advice.

It's found in Proverbs, and we're going to look at the 11th chapter.

If you have your Bible, you can go to Psalms.

All you do is go to the dead center of your Bible, and you're pretty likely to find the book of Psalms, and Proverbs is right there.

Psalms, Proverbs is right after it.

But I'm gonna divide this talk into three different parts.

Here's the first part, the paradox of generosity.

The Bible paints a paradoxical picture.

Proverbs chapter 11, verse 24, says it like this.

It says, one person gives freely, yet gains even more.

Another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

And many of you have experienced this firsthand as you've loosened your grip on things, and God somehow causes some things to happen that we just really can't explain.

Now, proverbs are general principles.

They're not promises.

They're principles that mean that the overwhelming majority of the time, this is the way it's going to play out.

The person who gives freely will gain even more.

And money is not bad, and money is not good.

It's how you choose to use it.

And there are two major habits that can help defeat a love for money.

They are budgeting and giving.

One controls money's power.

The other disarms money's power, and yet both give glory to God by how we use them.

We use our money for his glory, not for our own.

A budget is a way of telling your money where to go.

That's what you're doing.

And you can't master money if your heart is built on a foundation of materialism, greed, and discontent.

And whenever I talk about generosity, I'm not talking about being wasteful or frivolous, but I'm talking about holding on to the things of this life loosely.

And it is possible to be prudent with your resources while at the same time being lavish and loving as a Christian.

No generous individual ever regrets giving rather than keeping, sharing rather than hoarding, because they know that they're sowing seeds.

And the Christ follower desires to hold on to the things of this world loosely.

It's not wrong to have things, especially if you use them to advance the gospel or to show the love of Christ.

The Bible gives us numerous examples and names of God's faithful who had plenty of stuff.

They just made certain that the stuff didn't have them.

2 Corinthians 9, verses 6 and 7.

You probably know these verses.

Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

God loves a cheerful giver.

And that word for cheerful in its original form is the word, the Greek word, hilarious, which is where, of course, we get the word hilarious.

So he's saying, you're giving cheerfully.

It's outrageous.

It seems countercultural.

and yet we're happy to share with others and to return to God what already belongs to him.

And God's word says, if you sow generously, you're going to reap generously.

And while the Proverbs are principles, this is a promise.

This is Paul's words in 2 Corinthians.

If you sow generously, you're going to reap generously.

It might be an unexpected rebate on a purchaser.

a raise in your pay or an overage in your escrow account or a tax refund or someone out of the goodness of their heart provides some service but doesn't charge you.

Maybe the person behind you in line buys your meal or your groceries.

I don't know how it happens, but God has limitless creativity and he has some incredibly bizarre ways to get money back to his people who are generous.

Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Last May, my wife and I had just talked privately about a step of faith and making a financial commitment to some ministries that we knew that we couldn't meet without God's help.

But we just decided, you know, hey we're just gonna walk by faith on this and we're gonna keep giving confidently that God's gonna provide.

Well in the past 10 years there's a speakers bureau that I do a lot of work with and they land me some pretty interesting opportunities to speak with businesses and different organizations.

And when an organization books me, the Speakers Bureau has me sign this four-page document with a whole bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo.

One time I tried to read the document, but I think I fell asleep on page two.

But last year I signed one of those with some place I was speaking.

The next week I got the organization's signature back.

But three weeks later, I got a phone call that this university had canceled on me.

And I'll tell you, I was a little hurt and I was a little embarrassed, but it turned out they had actually canceled their entire event, so it wasn't just me, but I hadn't looked at my bank account in a while.

And I noticed that two weeks before, there had been a big deposit in my checking account from that university.

And so I called the Speakers Bureau to inform them about the mistake that had been made.

You know what they said?

They said, no mistake.

They said, that four-page contract that you signed, it says that if they cancel, they still have to pay you half of the money because you could have said yes to another group in the meantime.

but you would block those dates out for them.

I'm like, oh, wow, I like this, all right?

Let me just say that I was no longer hurt, and I was no longer embarrassed that this never has happened.

In fact, now I'm actually hoping and praying for more people to schedule me and then to cancel me, all right?

But God is so creative.

I mean, he's got this.

I just need I just need to learn to trust him.

And some people say, well, rather than trust him, you know what I'll do?

I'll just settle my accounts with him when I die.

And can I say, what a terrible way to go through this life, because you will miss out on so much fun if you do it that way.

Our three adult children know that our priority in death, as in life, will be first.

to give to ministries.

Someone said, do your giving while you're living, then you're knowing where it's going.

In addition to your regular tithes and your offerings that you give to one and all, why not think about including the church in your will or your estate planning?

You see, you can continue to make a difference through your death for decades to come.

That way you can have an eternal impact long after you're gone.

There's another proverb, Proverbs.

chapter 3, verse 9.

It says, honor the Lord with the first fruits of your crops.

In other words, we give him the best.

We give him what's first.

We start with him.

Numerous studies throughout the years continue to show that there is this amazing correlation between those who are the most joyful and those who are the most generous.

Isn't that amazing?

I find it interesting that the word miserable.

comes from the word miser.

And Jesus said, it's more blessed to give than to receive.

Wow.

Jesus says it's a more joyful experience to give than to get.

It's a more fulfilling life when you are generous than when you are stingy.

And I believe that the level of your joy is in direct proportion to how cheerfully you give.

It was Warren Wiersbe who said it like this.

He said, an open heart cannot maintain a closed hand.

And we give with a willing heart and a happy heart because God loves a cheerful giver.

Apparently our attitude when we give matters a whole lot to God.

And maybe it matters even more than how much we give.

But if we mutter under our breath every time the offering is taken, or we smolder inside every time we get a letter requesting money for someone going on a mission trip.

Generosity should bring joy to us, not tension.

There is this struggle of tugging of war between God and money and stuff.

Look back at Proverbs chapter 11.

We've seen the paradox of generosity.

Let's see the reward of generosity.

Verse 25, it says, a generous person will prosper.

Take the spotlight off of yourself and start giving to the Lord and sharing with others.

Now, before you start to tune me out and say, oh, you know what?

Here we go.

I knew it.

Prosperity gospel sermon, health and wealth message, where you hear the preacher say in a Kentucky twang, if you send in a thousand dollars, God will give you back 10 times that amount, along with some KFC.

We were so poor when I was a kid.

We used to go down to Kentucky Fried Chicken and lick other people's fingers, okay?

I'm sorry.

It is so bad when I get away from my notes.

I apologize, okay?

I'm sorry.

Well, he might, he might, if you give a thousand, he might give you 10,000.

But he might not.

I mean, the son of man.

Jesus had no place to lay his head.

But if you think he's going to give you something, maybe he will.

That's up to him.

Prosperity doesn't always mean financially.

It doesn't always mean that there's going to be a blessing financially for you.

It might be he gives you great health.

It might mean he sustains your household appliances.

It might mean he keeps your car out of the shop.

He might give you a much-needed deep friendship because you're about to go through a really rough season of your life.

And he knows you're going to need friends more than money.

1 Timothy 6, verses 18 and 19.

Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

So we're commanded to be generous.

And don't miss this.

The Apostle Paul is saying, When you're generous, you're laying up treasure for the coming age.

I got this buddy.

He has a financial portfolio that is unlike any other you've ever seen.

In addition to his normal one, what he says he does is he writes down anything that he gives beyond his normal giving to help somebody out.

He just records it in this, what he calls a spiritual portfolio.

So if he supports someone on a mission trip, he jots that down.

And if it's...

wife gives to help a family that's in need, or he gives to a relief fund, or buys a lunch, or helps a single mom through an anonymous gift.

He just privately writes it down.

It's just for their eyes only.

But then he started realizing that as he was doing this, there were all sorts of unexpected blessings, little things and big things.

So he started writing on the other side, different ways that God showed up, kind of like two sides of a ledger.

and the blessings that he was receiving.

And his habit caused me to do the same thing.

And I can't tell you what a great exercise that has been for our family.

And you might wanna just start keeping track of your extra giving.

And on the other side, just write down his lavish extra blessings, a private heavenly portfolio just for your family.

Use it as a way of teaching your kids that you can't out give God.

What if you started a generosity fund?

What if you budgeted an amount of money to bless others with?

I'm talking about beyond your tithe to the church.

Maybe this is something you do weekly or monthly.

Maybe you start with giving gift cards for the community this Christmas that Rory just talked about on the video.

And setting that amount aside and just saying, I want to invest in and some other people in some different ways as well.

Some of you won't have enough money to do that, to start a generosity fund until you start tithing.

And right now, you're hearing that, and you're like, oops, oh, that was a slip of the tongue.

Dave didn't mean to say it.

He got it backwards.

No, I didn't.

Let me say it again.

Some of you won't have enough money to start a generosity fund until you start tithing.

This is what the Bible teaches.

90% with God will always go further than 100% on my own.

Perhaps you've been a Christian for a long time, but when it comes to this area, there really isn't a real rhyme or reason to your giving.

It's done more on a whim or haphazardly, and you don't think about it.

You don't think about that much until March or the first week of April when you start thinking about doing your taxes.

You start wondering, oh, I wonder what my tax deduction will be.

I wonder what I can write off and lower my taxes on.

And you see then what you gave to One and All, what you gave to other charities and ministries.

And all of a sudden it begins to hit you that maybe you really just flipped God the leftovers rather than the first fruits.

You gave him the last rather than the first.

You gave him what was left rather than what was right.

And when you give to God the first and not the last, I believe that God blesses your trust.

And I believe, I believe firmly it frees you up to have something left to use, then to bless others.

He keeps saying it throughout his word.

In Proverbs chapter 22, verse 9, the generous will themselves be blessed for they share their food with the poor.

And when you take the spotlight off of yourself.

and you focus on the needs of those around you, it gives your life purpose and meaning and it's incredibly fulfilling.

I've been around, I've been in ministry over 40 years.

I have been around a lot of deathbeds.

in a lot of hospitals, in a lot of homes, and I've heard a lot of regrets.

And yet in those final minutes or hours, I have never, I have never heard someone say, I gave away more than I should have.

Nobody's ever said that.

When I was a kid, our family would travel.

about two hours away to visit my grandparents.

And every time we left their house, they lived on a farm out in Indiana.

Every time we left their house, my grandmother would come walking down to the car and she was carrying a Tupperware.

Remember those clear Tupperwares?

You know, sometimes they would close well, sometimes they wouldn't.

And she'd come down with a Tupperware.

Last thing is we would leave every single trip.

And she'd have this Tupperware full of chocolate chip cookies.

And there was nothing like my grandmother's chocolate chip cookies.

And my mom would crank down the window, and grandmother would say, here's some cookies for her, and she'd wink at my mom.

I didn't know what was going on.

But we'd get down the road a little ways, and my mom would say, you guys want some cookies?

And my brother and I, yeah, we'd love some cookies.

And she'd get those out for us.

It wasn't until I got older that I realized what she was doing when we were eating the cookies, because my mom would reach down underneath all the cookies, and there would be an envelope underneath all of them.

And she'd take the envelope out.

The envelope had a $5 bill from my grandmother.

All of her kids were in ministry.

$5.

60 years ago, we'd pay for the gas for a two-hour drive to and from, and she knew we didn't have the money, and so she had that for us every time we came.

But she had to hide it in an envelope because my granddad was stingy, and she couldn't let him see it.

or he would never let her give it.

The older I got, who do you think I wanted to be like?

My grandmother or my granddad?

Because my granddad, he kept everything.

But my grandmother, she always gave everything away.

Which one do you want to be like?

That's...

the question for us today purposeful generous giving is always more winsome and productive than selfishness and greed the paradox of generosity the reward of generosity and finally the blessing of generosity proverbs verse 11 chapter 11 verse 25 whoever refreshes others will be refreshed if you have the perspective that everything that I have belongs to God, then you realize it's not yours in the first place.

And so you begin to view yourself more as a manager rather than being an owner.

You're working on behalf of him to share what he's blessed you with.

You're more of a pass-through.

You're just a vessel, and you can be a blessing to others.

One night, just a few years ago, it was after midnight, and my wife and I were with another couple.

at a Waffle House in Kentucky.

That's kind of like Fogo de Chow here in California, all right?

One of those really high-class places.

Beth and I were there with Bob and Linda, and I knew the waitress pretty well.

I knew she had a boyfriend.

We got talking to her some, and turns out, she says, well, she says, my boyfriend, who you've never met, Dave, is the tonight.

He's working this shift.

I said, you got to be kidding me.

I said, I got to meet him.

So she brings him over and the guy with me, he starts grilling him, you know, so how long you guys been together?

You know, what's, what's going on in your relationship?

And you all are living together.

Okay.

So why, why, why haven't you gotten married?

And the guy says, well, I'm, I'm waiting until I can give her an engagement ring.

He said, we've, we've gone, we've picked one out We just don't have the money yet.

And Bob, the second he says that, reaches in his pocket and pulls out his wallet, and he pulls out some hundred dollar bills, and he said, you guys need to get married.

He said, how much do you need for that ring?

And then he said to the cook, you say when.

And he started counting $100 bills.

One, two, three, four.

When he hit four, he kind of glanced at me and looked at my wallet.

And I said, when?

No, I felt guilt tripped in.

So I started, you know, 10, 20.

Well, that's all I had, all right?

So I'm trying to go through, you know, fives, we're down to the ones pretty quickly, you know?

But I tell you that story because I want to be like Bob.

I did Bob's funeral two years later.

At the funeral, I said, how many of you all have ever received some unexpected financial gift?

Out of the blue from Bob, more than half the room raised their hands out of 400 people.

I want to be like Bob.

I want to be a Christian who sees a need and steps in to help.

Christians should be known as the people who are quick to step up to the plate.

God will give you opportunities to give to people, so be on the lookout.

They're everywhere.

Now, you can't help everyone, but you can help someone.

Isaiah chapter 58 verse 10 in the Old Testament says, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noon day.

And it goes on to say that the Lord will meet your needs.

In some of the most joyful and fulfilling moments of my life were not when I received something, it was when I gave something.

I was so fortunate.

I was so blessed to have parents who taught my brother and me generosity.

They didn't just teach it, they modeled it.

And parents, your kids are watching you.

Let them know about your giving habits and patterns because trust me, they see your spending habits.

So let them know about your giving habits.

And some of you are thinking, well, generosity?

I don't know.

I mean, generosity costs more than I can afford.

But is it more than God can supply?

You do realize that you have the biggest say in where your money goes.

Most of our problems come back to the fact that we didn't live within our means.

And we talked earlier about a budget.

A budget can help you.

Budgets can save you from some impulsive purchases.

I preached at the same church for 30 years.

On my 25th anniversary at the church, They surprised me in the middle of one of my sermons.

The chairman of the elders came walking out in the middle of one of my sermons, put his hand on my shoulder, and I'm like, oh, this is it.

Okay, I guess I'm out.

No, he said, no.

And they gave me a trip to Hawaii for our 25th anniversary at the church.

He said, we're paying for everything.

So we were just so overjoyed and excited.

Wow.

But about 10 days before we arrived, a nice gal named Kathy from the hotel sales office called me.

She said, Dave, she said, wonderful news.

You all have been selected to get to attend a 90-minute presentation about a timeshare.

And I don't want to make a big deal about it, all right, but we'd been selected.

You probably have never been selected for something like that, but you know, it's pretty rare, all right.

And she added, we'll give you a delicious free dinner in exchange for your time.

I thought, wow, I've been selected.

So I spoke with Beth and Beth said, oh no, no, no, we don't need a timeshare.

Why do it?

We're just going to say no.

There's no reason to listen to the presentation.

So the next day Kathy calls, I said, hey, I don't think it's going to work.

She said, oh, that's not why I called.

She said, I just wanted to tell you, I've been approved to throw in a round of golf for you.

and a free massage for your wife, plus the dinner.

She said, Dave, have you ever played golf in Hawaii?

I said, just on my laptop.

But as the man of the house, I stood strong.

And I said, first, let me get my wife's permission.

So I talked to Beth again.

And she said, no, no, it's not in our budget.

Besides, after the presentation, I'll be saying thanks, but no, no thanks.

Which way to my massage, right?

So I politely declined the offer again.

I thought that was it.

Two days before we're supposed to fly to Hawaii, she calls me up and she's out of breath.

Kathy goes, Dave, I had to call you.

She said, this never happens.

I was able to get two rounds of free golf and a couple's massage plus the dinner.

You've got to sign up.

There's no pressure at all.

It's just a 90 minute presentation.

So Kathy says, I'll call you tomorrow.

I talked to Beth.

Beth said, look at me, focus.

I know you're going to feel obligated if we listen to the timeshare thing.

We don't have a timeshare in our family budget, so you've got to say no.

So the next day when she called me up, I broke it off with Kathy.

I gave her the let's just be friends speech.

I was so afraid that I was going to cave that I actually wrote out what I was supposed to say so I wouldn't blow it, all right?

When she called, this is what I said.

Thank you, Kathy, for your generous offer.

Beth and I don't need your vacation club.

We've got each other, and every day is a vacation.

Beth had one rule the whole time that I was there in Maui.

I was not allowed to get within 20 feet of Kathy, all right?

Now, don't misunderstand me.

There's nothing wrong with getting a timeshare if you plan for it, if you can handle it financially, if you can still give God the first fruits of your income.

But in our case, we hadn't planned for that.

And I'm grateful for a wife that helps keep me on track because I can be rather impulsive.

And so we learn to say no to our wants so that we can prioritize what the Lord deserves, the first 10% of our income.

That means that we have to make certain that we're living within our means.

If your output exceeds your income, then your upkeep will be your downfall.

And so you have to say, okay, if I'm going to be so deeply in debt and I can't hold back, then that's going to keep me from being able to share with others.

We don't give to get, we live to give.

And so realize your blessing may not be an increase in your income.

It might be in some other way.

And when you give to the church or to other ministries, it isn't about God getting something from us.

It's about God doing something in us.

And your greatest joy will come through giving rather than keeping.

A few months ago, we had six pastors from all over the country that came to our house, spent a day with us.

They asked my wife, said, in your ministry of four decades, you served in some amazing churches.

What's been this?

spiritual highlight, and we looked at each other, and we both said the same thing.

It was a giving campaign at our church 30 years ago.

That was not the answer that they were expecting, for that to be the spiritual highlight.

But there was a stretch for six weeks where we knelt and prayed by our bed every single night, and we said, Lord, What do you want us to do?

What do you want us to give?

What do you want us to pledge so that people can come to Christ?

And that started us on a journey that honestly has been the most thrilling rollercoaster ride of our lives.

This last Wednesday at a Bible study group at our house, we got talking about contentment and we got talking about generosity some of the very things that we're talking about today and just on a whim I got a bunch of four by six cards out and we just passed them out to everybody and I said hey here's what I want you to do I said just jot down what are some barriers to keep you from being generous and I said just write that down don't put your name on it at all just write down some of the barriers and then I said I then For those of you who tithe and give 10% of your income to the Lord, I just want you to write down some of the blessings of your tithing.

And so I looked at them all later that night, and of course they were anonymous, but the blessing of obeying, teaching opportunities for our kids.

When we personally started giving, we had unexpected bills come up, but we never stopped our giving.

It was something important to us.

Money would randomly show up in our account.

Just one after another.

Putting giving as a priority plants seeds of peace and contentment.

Just card after card.

But there was one that was my favorite.

Let me read it to you.

God will bless you beyond what you can imagine.

You will experience God's creativity.

You will experience great joy.

It is contagious.

You know why that's my favorite one?

Because it's in my wife's handwriting.

And she didn't grow up in a home where tithing was modeled for her, her tithing was talked about, her tithing was done.

And I just am so proud of her, the way she just has, the longer we've been together, I've just watched her let go, let go, and give, and give, and give.

And maybe that could be your story.

You know, you can't take it with you.

A hundred years from now, the items that that we can become so consumed with, it'll be trash.

It'll be worthless.

This phone, your car, my house, your technology that we get so excited about, it won't be worth squatting five years.

Why would we spend time talking about money and generosity and trust?

Well, it's because where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.

And you can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.

The only thing you can take with you to heaven is people.

And God will give you opportunities through generous living to be able to impact and reach others through your giving to this church, also through your giving to those that you come across who are in need.

So this year, let your heart grow a size and start thinking about how you can use your resources and possessions to make an eternal difference.

If God has blessed you with a home, then use it as a setting to show the love of Christ.

If God has blessed you with a stable family, then...

Use your money to help those who are in more unstable homes.

Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says, God demonstrated his own love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

That is the ultimate generosity.

It's a test of obedience and of trust.

And you might feel like today, well, you know, I don't know why I'm here for this.

You don't feel like you have any hope.

financially or vocationally right now today.

But you can have hope spiritually and eternally because of the gift of Jesus Christ.

And the Bible says, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.

How do we become rich?

Well, it's through something called grace.

And that's what Jesus offers And that's more important than any amount of money.

Grace, God's riches at Christ's expense.

For God so loved the world that he gave.

Not only did Jesus pay for your sins and mine on the cross, but there's more.

1 John 3, verse 1.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God.

And that is what we are.

What a gift.

Let's pray together.

Our Father in heaven, you are the giver of every good and perfect gift.

And we come to you right now and we say, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.

And so we praise you for the gift of Jesus.

May we never take it for granted.

May the example that was set by you giving up your one and only son, and by Jesus giving up his life, may that inspire us to give sacrificially and generously.

It's in the name of Jesus that we pray.

Amen.