Generosity isn't just a good habit; it's a transformative force that can reshape our lives and communities. As we unpack the layered topic of generous giving, rest assured that you're in for a soul-nurturing ride that promises to deepen your understanding of true benevolence. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 9, our discussion navigates through the spiritual tapestry of giving—an act of obedience, a source of profound joy, and a testament to our faith. You'll see why, at Real Life Community Church, we're not after fame or fortune but are steadfast in our mission to be a beacon of hope for those in need.
Generosity isn't just a good habit; it's a transformative force that can reshape our lives and communities. As we unpack the layered topic of generous giving, rest assured that you're in for a soul-nurturing ride that promises to deepen your understanding of true benevolence. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 9, our discussion navigates through the spiritual tapestry of giving—an act of obedience, a source of profound joy, and a testament to our faith. You'll see why, at Real Life Community Church, we're not after fame or fortune but are steadfast in our mission to be a beacon of hope for those in need.
The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, Kentucky. We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message from Pastor Chris May 2 Corinthians, chapter 9 and verse 1.
Speaker 2:If you have it, say amen. If not, it'll be on the screen for you. If not, it'll be on the screen for you. Paul, writing the church at Corinth, says Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, Saying that Achaia has been ready since last year and your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready as you said. It would be Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated, to say nothing of you, for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead and to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. The point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that you have in having all sufficiency in all things at all times. You may abound in every good work. As it is written, he is distributed freely. He has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way. To be generous in every way which, through us, will produce thanksgiving to God, for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 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 for all others. Well, they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift. That's the word of God for the people of God, and you may be seated.
Speaker 2:Well, today I feel compelled to preach on the subject of generous giving. In the 10 years that I've pastored this church, I could count on one hand, the number of times that I've preached on this subject. To be honest, it has been an uncomfortable topic for me to preach on for a couple of reasons. Number one we've all seen the TV preachers and other pastors who have misused the giving text to exploit people for personal gain. And secondly, we have so many people who say today outside the church that the church is all about money. But in spite of those issues, I've been convicted to preach this, because if I fail to preach to you about giving, then I have done you a great disservice. For three reasons. Number one the Bible admonishes us to give and we should probably obey. And how can you obey what you don't know? Number two it's more blessed to give than to receive and I want you to be experienced the joy of giving. Acts 20, 35 pens those words. And then, number three, god blesses our giving. I am called to preach the whole counsel of God and this is part of it. So if you're visiting, please come back and you'll see.
Speaker 2:I don't preach on giving often. If you've been here a while, you know that I could never be accused. You could never accuse me of being all about money, because if I'm on for offering. I forget it almost every time. Somebody has to remind me the board, the deacon board, deacons, where you at you, have asked me to take an offering every Wednesday night. And I'm not rebellious. I want to do what you've asked me to do. But I have not remembered I don't think, a single time Beloved. I am not here to guilt trip you. I am not here to manipulate you into giving more. I'm just here to invite you to enjoy the blessing of giving. I intentionally, today, put offering before my message. I will not be taking up an offering afterwards because I don't want you to make an emotional decision to give today. I want you to consider and meditate on what I'm about to say and then you prayerfully decide what God's calling you to do. Fair enough, smile at me. I know this isn't a message you really want to smile about, but yeah, it's going to bless you, I promise. So.
Speaker 2:The Apostle Paul here is writing to the believers in Corinth and he's asking the church to join the other churches in Macedonia to give an offering that will be taken to Jerusalem to help the poor believers there. That will be taken to Jerusalem to help the poor believers there. And he begins the letter by commending the church at Corinth, saying listen, your generosity is known across the land Beloved. I want the generosity of Real Life Community Church to be known not for our glory but for the glory of God. It is our goal in this church to eventually give away 51% of what comes in to feed the hungry, to help the sick, the poor, the orphan, the widow, and especially To fund missionary efforts To take the gospel when the gospel is not available.
Speaker 2:So, through the lens of this text, I want to bring out three points Number one, why we give. Number two, how to give. And number three I want to bring out three points Number one, why we give. Number two, how to give. And number three, how to grow in our giving. And I'm going to split this up into two weeks. So one more week on giving, but today I'm just going to preach that first point.
Speaker 2:Why does the Bible call us to give, to give? And this is really important. Because If I were to just Talk to you about how much to give, or when to give, or where to give and how you can give more, if you were not a giver, you wouldn't hear anything. I had to say, you wouldn't be disciplined In this aim. That's true with any discipline. If you are going to stick with anything's difficult at all, you've got to know your why. If, if you, you know, say, hey, january 1st, I want to get healthy, I'm going to change my eating habits, how many know that you have that go a lot and then Sonic looks really good. Uh, you know, on January 2nd. And then you know the L8s are calling your name on January 3rd. Come on, I'm preaching. The only way you're going to be successful is to know your why. So why do I want to be healthy? If you're going to give, and you're going to give like the Bible calls you to give, you are going to have to know the why. So here it is.
Speaker 2:Why does the Bible call us to give sacrificially, regularly, generously, so on and so forth? Number one our giving glorifies God. Look at verse 12 with me, for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but it is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. Now you might ask I'm an expository, preacher, pastor why would you start with verse 12? I mean, why not start preaching with verse 1? I'll tell you why. Because the foundation, the foundational reason, let's say, for our giving is the glory of God. That's it and as a matter of fact, it is why we live as Christians. It is the foundational reason that should be for everything we do as believers. It is about the glory of God.
Speaker 2:In John 4.34, jesus said to his disciples he said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Our obedience glorifies God. At the end of Jesus earthly life, he prayed his priestly prayer John chapter 17, verse 4. And he says to his father First and foremost, I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. Jesus earthly mission was aimed At glorifying the father, and that should be our aim as well.
Speaker 2:The Christian life is first and foremost about glorifying God. 1 Corinthians 10.31,. You remember what Paul wrote? He said so, whether you eat or drink. Now think about that the two most base things in life. Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it. What Do what? For the glory of God. So it's not just in our singing, it's not just in the preaching, it's not just in the way we lead our families. It is in every facet of life, even in eating and drinking.
Speaker 2:The aim is to glorify our great God. And then go with me to verse 13. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God. They will glorify God. So the people who know about your generous giving, the people who are blessed like that, they're not going to glorify you, they're going to be thankful to you, but they are going to 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. See our giving.
Speaker 2:There are non-Christians who give right. They're very charitable, but we give. Our giving flows out of our love for God and our confession of the gospel of Christ. That's the aim in our giving To glorify God and to spread the gospel. The chief reason for our sacrificial giving. What is I've said it 50 times, I just want you to get it what is it? To glorify god. Number two why do we give? God uses our giving to meet needs. First of all, that means god uses our giving to meet the needs of the less fortunate.
Speaker 2:Verse 1, paul tells Corinth that he is collecting this offering for the ministry of the saints. In other words, a believer is a saint, a true believer is a saint. They may not act like it all the time. Look at your neighbor. But we are all in Christ, are called saints. The money that's being collected again, it's going to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem.
Speaker 2:And we know that the Bible calls us to minister to one another, to take care of one another when there's a need to help one another, to share what we have so that no one goes without. And that's within the church. And then we know the Bible calls us to go outside of these four walls and to minister to the world in that way, to take care of the orphan and the widow, the marginalized, the poor, the sick. That's what it means to love your neighbor, the poor, the sick. That's what it means to love your neighbor.
Speaker 2:Throughout the Bible we see God's heart for the poor and marginalized. I mean it's all over the place and it is God. God's promises all over and over. And he declares I provide for the poor, I help the marginalized, I'm their advocate, I give them what they need. James 1 17 says this every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father. This is God of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. So God is provider, yes.
Speaker 2:Well then the question is well, how does God provide? Generally speaking, money does not just drop from the sky in the poor people's laps, right money, as we said to our children? You know, money does not. What grow on trees, I guess, technically the paper. You know you get the paper from the tree kind of thing, but the money itself does not grow on trees. So how is it that God provides for the poor and the sick and the marginalized? Any guesses? Through you and through me, through his people, you know why there's hungry, there are hungry people in the world right now. It's because Christians don't give what they should give. I'm just convinced if every believer, if everyone who claimed to be a believer, gave like the Bible called us to give, I think we could end world hunger. Does anybody agree with me on that?
Speaker 2:Amen, I think we could end world hunger. Does anybody agree with me on that? When you give in offerings here, I just want you to know. Your money in part goes to support the Pregnancy Help Center, and Pregnancy Help Center is advocating for the unborn, the ones who cannot advocate for themselves. Your money has helped Madison Home, who feeds daily and shelters in the winter month the homeless population. Your money goes in part to help God's outreach, the wonderful ministry that feeds the hungry In our community. So God uses us and our giving To meet the needs of the poor and marginalized. But he also this is a little uncomfortable for me to talk about but our giving also meets the needs of pastors and the church.
Speaker 2:I want to read you 1 Timothy 5, 17 through 18. I don't know if we have that on the screen or not. We do. Hey, look through 18. I don't know if we have that on the screen or not. We do. Hey, look at this.
Speaker 2:Let the elders this would be pastors who rule well, and you can decide if that's me or not be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, and the laborer deserves his wages. There are people I know who believe that pastors should not be paid. Let me ask you do you want to get paid for your job? This is more than a job to me. It's a calling and it's a joy and it's my life, to be quite honest. But Paul says that pastors are worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. Full disclosure. I get a salary from this church. I don't get benefits, I don't get retirement and those things, but I get a good salary and I'm so grateful to you for that and I make no apologies for it and I know none of you would want me to. You're a great church.
Speaker 2:To be sure, we do not drive new cars, church. To be sure, we do not drive new cars. Our cars each have their, I think, 2012s and have 150 plus thousand miles on them. We live in a modest home, a nice but modest home. I do not have a jet, private jet. It's coming. Bob says it's coming. You think we can do? We have enough, have enough. You know, landing strip out there to. We'll just take the whole neighborhood.
Speaker 2:I don't give you motivational speeches. I'm not the greatest speaker in the world. I am not the most eloquent, I don't have the best advice, except I preach the Bible and that's the best advice actually that you can ever receive. Right, it is not popular to labor over the word today and I'm not putting myself above. There are other great pastors who love you, know love and preach the actual word. But you could go to many different churches today and all you're going to get All you're going to get is a little motivational speech with some good self-help advice and then they'll try to just throw a scripture in there somewhere.
Speaker 2:The scripture at this church, for all of our pastors, is the meat of what you're going to hear every Sunday morning and Wednesday night and any time we preach there is blood, sweat and tears. You can ask anybody who knows me well. That goes into this message, these messages every week, and so your giving it helps me do what I do and I just want to say thank you, really thank you. Not only does your giving support me, but it allows our church to function as it does. You know we have almost $15,000 a month to $16,000 in expenses. It's costly. That's operational000 in expenses. It's costly. That's operational and essential expenses. That's not even ministry money. That's what it takes to make this place operate, and we can't do it without your giving. We support at this little church 29 missions and missionaries that depend on our giving every month. Why do we give? We give to glorify God. Number two, we give to meet the needs of the poor and the church. And number three we give because God blesses our generosity.
Speaker 2:Look at verses 6 and then we're going to jump down to verse 10. Paul writes the point is this. So if you're reading chapter 9, you say well, paul, what's the main point here? It is here it is Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Verse 10, he who supplies this is God seed to the sower. So who gives you the seed in the first place? God Beloved, we're not owners, we're stewards, amen. So he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
Speaker 2:Now Paul is writing in the first century, in the midst of an agrarian culture, and so he uses this well-known illustration about farming, and we're familiar with it here in Kentucky as well. It's about sowing and reaping right. The more seed you sow, the more you plow, the harder you work, the greater your harvest. Is that true? The more you plow, the harder you work, the greater your harvest. Is that true? The principle of sowing and reaping is applied in the New Testament to both spiritual and monetary principles. So let's start with the spiritual. Let me just read you. I don't have these verses on the screen, but let me read you Job, chapter 4, beginning in verse 8.
Speaker 2:Job says as I have seen those who plow iniquity or sin and so trouble reap the same. Did we not just talk about this last week out of Psalm 32? That cool, how God does that? Remember David? He said, listen. He said, man, I, I hid my sin, I kept my sin silent and I was miserable, silent. And I was miserable, my body ached, I was grieved all day and all night. My energy was drived up. But then he said so. Essentially, there he's saying listen, I sowed the seeds of sin and I reaped misery. But then he says I confess my sin, I did not keep silent anymore and his sorrow and grief was turned to joy and he reaped a harvest of God's blessing.
Speaker 2:It's not salvation by works, don't misunderstand me, but listen. A true believer will sow seeds of righteousness and someone who truly receives Jesus by faith and lives in a way to where they're sowing seeds, let's say, of godliness, will in the end reap eternal life, because they prove and they persevere. They prove that they are truly sons and daughters of God. It's not an earning of salvation. I want to say that again.
Speaker 2:So the Bible uses this idea of sowing and reaping for spiritual truths, but then here the principle of sowing and reaping is applied to our finances. Paul says if you sow your money sparingly, you're going to reap it sparingly, and if you sow bountifully, you're going to reap it sparingly. And if you sow bountifully, you're going to reap it bountifully. Do you believe the word of God? Okay, this is what Paul says. Right, you've got your Bible open. I'm not misquoting, correct? This is the point. This is the point within the subject of giving that I am generally most timid to talk about. Why? Because many TV preachers have abused this teaching about sowing and reaping. Yes, if you have been at this church for any amount of time, you know that I abhor what's called the prosperity gospel.
Speaker 2:There are people who use this verse, preachers and pastors who use these verses, this text and others to teach that God is somewhat of a cosmic vending machine. So they say you want a new Ferrari? Oh, you just sow your seed of a thousand dollars and it's, by the way, always into their ministry when they're on TV. They don't say give to your church or give to the place. They say you know, I've got the anointing If you, you know you, you give to your church or give to the place. They, you know, I've got the anointing if you, you know you, you give to me. And what they say is this you want a ferrari, you sow your seed, you want your house paid off, you sow your seed and then you speak it in faith, whatever you want, and god is bound to give it to you. And if you don't get it and they usually don't then it's your fault because you didn't have enough faith.
Speaker 2:That is manipulation and that is a gross misinterpretation of the text. But I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, which is what I've been guilty of, because in the past, just to be real, I've taken this particular text and I've said that of Because in the past, just to be real, I've taken this particular text and I've said that when you give monetarily, it may not come back as a financial blessing. That's actually not what it says here. He's talking about money and so, as uncomfortable as this for me Because of my past experiences, can we just learn what the Bible actually says? The whole context of the chapter is that when we give money to support the poor in the ministry, that God will provide for us monetarily. Now, to be sure, this may not always come as a pile of cash or a check, though it often does. But let me give you an example.
Speaker 2:I just talked to somebody this last week Generous giver, and he said to me he said you know what he said. I bought a car three years ago For sixteen hundred dollars and he said that car has been so reliable it has lasted. And he said he still drives the fire out of it Today, three years later, sixteen hundred dollar car. If you're generous, your vehicle or appliances might last longer. You might get a promotion at work. I think my water heater is 130 years old. I should probably change that and not press my luck.
Speaker 2:But my stepdad is one of the most generous people that I know. I mean he just gives really to a fault, not just in church, but I mean if you know him. This is just his personality, not just with money but with time and all that. He'll drop whatever he's doing to come help somebody. And it has been amazing to see God's almost crazy blessing on him. When I met him he wasn't even a Christian and immediately he just had this, he became a Christian and just wanted to get. He was so grateful for what God had done. He just wanted to give as much as he could away, and so I've watched him build a business from nothing. That's just beyond blessed. And one of the funniest things is whenever he does like raffle tickets for charity, he almost always wins them. It was so funny when my oldest son was a senior in high school. This is so great. They had this auction. He went to a private school and they had this auction, or, I'm sorry, they had this festival at the school and they were raffling off some really nice items and I mean there were tons of people putting, you know, buying tickets, and then at the end of the night they were drawing from this box these tickets and your name was on the ticket, and so they they started, they would announce the names and it's like my stepdad's name is Tim Patrick, so Tim Patrick, congratulations. And then it'd be somebody else in the next one, tim Patrick, congratulations. I'm telling you this happened over and over and over. And people are looking around, mean you talk about voter fraud, right, Like I? Mean they're like somebody has rigged this so like I'm not encouraging you to bet, but if you're going to pick a horse, this derby like, you might want to just ask Tim who he's picking.
Speaker 2:Years ago, listen to this. This is so good. One businessman this is a true story. He was known for giving away 90%. Bobby had a business. He gave 90% away of his proceeds and other business people, even other Christians, were perplexed. Why would you give away 90%? Surely God doesn't expect you to do this. I want you to listen to what he said. This is his reply. He says I shovel out and God shovels in, and he has a bigger shovel than I do. So listen, god really does. This really works. I wish I could tell you, story after story after story I don't have time to do that in my own life how God has done this. It's just unbelievable. It's unbelievable.
Speaker 2:And you know, it's not just in this life that we reap reward, it's in heaven as well. You remember what Jesus said I know you do in Matthew, chapter 6. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasure where In heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. When you sow into God's kingdom, you are rewarded in a way. You're given something that never goes away. So it's not just blessings in this life, but it's blessings in the life to come.
Speaker 2:Listen to Randy Alcorn. If you've not read any of his books on giving, they're absolutely phenomenal. He says this financial planners tell us, when it comes to your money, don't just think three months or three years ahead, think 30 years ahead. Christ, the ultimate investment counselor, he says, takes it even further. He says don't ask how your investments will be paying off in just 30 years. Listen to this. Ask how it will be paying off in just 30 years. Listen to this. Ask how it will be paying off in 30 million years. Boy, that's rich.
Speaker 2:God blesses our bountiful and sacrificial giving. Why does he do this? It's not so we can live in luxury. It's not so we can have mansions and Lamborghinis. Look at verses 10 and 11. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food Will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way. And he tells us why he says to be generous in every way. He's going to make you rich in every way If you're a giver, so that you can be generous in every way. You know that what that's.
Speaker 2:This tells me, this. Here's what it tells me. It tells me that God doesn't bless us for it to stop with us. When you are faithful with little, then he'll trust you with much, because he wants to help those in need. And so what he does, he doesn't give to us, he gives through us. He gives so that you can give.
Speaker 2:And when you, if you're a business owner and you show that you can be faithful with your giving and you want to use what he's blessed you with to help other people, to help the church and the ministry and missionaries, so on and so forth, he will bless you, like he has done my dad, beyond your belief Press down, shaken together, flowing over, he'll do it. You're a business owner, you're generous, is that true? God blesses sacrificial givers that they may have the resources Broke people can't give Like if all Christians are broke and, by the way, don't judge someone's spirituality based on how much money they have. Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit, but then in Luke's version it's blessed are the poor, but we don't have a poverty mentality. God uses the poor and rich and everyone in between. But I'm telling you, if all God's people are broke, how are we going to give? How are we going to help people with their physical needs?
Speaker 2:So one caveat as I close here. Sometimes people sow their seed and quote unquote. They give and they know these scriptures, but they don't see any return. And here's why I believe, why that is. It's not even you know, I mean. Faith is very important, but it goes beyond this. Here's the reason that we see in the text for that situation when you give generously and you know the scripture, and you don't see any return. Give generously and you know the scripture and you don't see any return. God cares more about our heart than he does our pocketbooks, and if you do not give with the right heart, you might as well not give. We don't need your money, that bad I promise. Look at verses 5 through 7.
Speaker 2:So I thought it necessary to urge you, brothers, to go ahead and to arrange in advance for your gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a. What kind of offering? A willing offering, not as an exaction, he says. The point is this Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows bountifully will reap bountifully.
Speaker 2:Each one must give as he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver, beloved. You should never be manipulated to give, and some of you have grown up in that and you're made to feel guilty. If you give with reluctancy or under compulsion, god's not pleased. It echoes the story of Cain and Abel. They both gave and God received Abel's offering but not Cain's. It's a heart issue. When you have the right heart, god is glorified and he will bless you. Let me tell you a true story. Like if you're giving just to get back, like this vending machine thing, god knows that. Like you can say, oh, I care about the poor or the church or whatever, but God knows, god knows You're just trying to get that Lamborghini, or F-350, probably, or 250 in this area, maybe not a Lamborghini, you can't make this up.
Speaker 2:So I was in Greeley, colorado, and I was an associate pastor. I was there for several years and my pastor one Sunday preached on this principle of sowing and reaping. I've never heard this done before and I was kind of taken back, to be honest. So he preaches this message and he says to the congregation he says listen if you've never done this. And he was challenging them to give at least 10% of their income in offering. And he says I believe God will bless you. And he said I want you to test me on this, test the Lord on this. And here's what he said. He said if this doesn't work, if you don't see God bless you in some way. He said just ask for a refund and we'll refund your money back. And I thought this is the craziest thing I've ever heard, but whatever. So this is true. So and I'm thinking about like somebody's going to come to the church and say can I get a refund?
Speaker 2:Guys, that next, maybe two weeks later I think, had this college student come in. I was a college pastor there and he came into my office and he said Pastor, he said I just want to tell you I you know, I heard the sermon a couple of weeks ago. I said you did. He said yeah, and I gave for the first time, really generously. I said you did? And he said yeah, I put that to the test. And he said you know what I said, what he said God didn't give me what I was asking for. Said what he said God didn't give me what I was asking for. And then he said he leans and it goes. Can I get that refund? And we gave it to him. I mean good what we said.
Speaker 2:But as the conversation went on and he was a new Christian, I'm not speaking ill of him as time went on, it was really clear that he gave, but not with the right heart, and God does not bless that. We've got to give willingly. And what's the other word? Cheerfully Offering ought to be one of the most joyous times in our service, because it is a blessing to give. And here's what we're reminded of Dina, you can go ahead and come to the. And here's what we're reminded of Dina, you can go ahead and come to the piano.
Speaker 2:Here's what we're reminded of when we give. We are reminded of the great gift that God has given us in Christ. Not only does he give us every material blessing that we have, not only does he give us families and health and all of these things that we enjoy. But, friends, he gave us the greatest gift that we could ever imagine. He gave us Christ, and we do not have what's called a debtor's ethic. In other words, we're not giving to pay him back. We are more indebted to his grace every day. We're going further in the hole every day, right, and so you could never pay him back. We give out of a love and appreciation for what he's done.
Speaker 2:If you don't know that Jesus, you don't have to give an offering to know him. To be sure, you have to put your faith in him and trust and repent, which means to turn from your sin and turn to him. He wants to be Lord of your life and he'll not just bless you in these ways that we've talked about. He will bless your life in every way. If you come to him with the right heart, he will bless you, he will change your life and he will give you eternal life. He'll take you from darkness into light. If you don't know the Lord, I invite you to come to him today. But for those of us who are Christians, particularly those of you who come to real life, I just want to say again, I want to challenge you, I want to invite you into this joy of giving. Let's be a church marked by radical generosity. Let's get this building paid for so that we can give away that 51 percent, and let's watch what God does.
Speaker 2:God, we say thank you today for the blessings that you have poured out upon us. For the blessings that you have poured out upon us, lord, there is none like you. You are great and, lord, I pray that you would forgive us, those of us who have not given like you've called us to give. We have hung on to our money, lord, in inflation, it's so easy, in this time of inflation and economic woe, it is so easy to fear and to hoard what you have given us. And that makes sense to the world. We live in an upside-down kingdom, or kingdom, or a right side up kingdom, that is.
Speaker 2:And so, lord, I believe that not only should we continue to give what we've been giving, but I think we should give more, because our trust is in you. We certainly cannot trust our government with the money. God, we can trust you. You own the cattle of a thousand hills. If you were hungry, you would not ask us. Everything is at your disposal. You own the earth and all that is within In the universe, every star, every planet, every atom, every molecule. You own it all. It's yours. Help us, lord, to trust you in this area and in all areas In Jesus' good name amen.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening. If you'd like to know more about how you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ, or if you have questions about our church, you can email us at info at myrealchurchorg. Real Life Community Church is located at 335 Glendon Avenue in Richmond, Kentucky. We invite you to join us for worship Sunday at 1045 am or Wednesday at 7 pm. Visit us online at myrealchurchorg.