Sermon
10-13-13 1 tim 6:17-19 real life
17
Command
those who are rich(AM) in this present
world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth,(AN) which is so
uncertain, but to put their hope in God,(AO) who richly
provides us with everything for our enjoyment.(AP) 18 Command
them to do good, to be rich in good deeds,(AQ) and to be
generous and willing to share.(AR) 19 In
this way they will lay up treasure for themselves(AS) as a firm
foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of(AT) the life that is
truly life.
New
sermon series. THE REAL THING- the real life, the real church, the
real you
Paul
is addressing what has become a common problem in his age
They used to worship idols………now they believe in one god
Christians understand that idols are only stone things of
worship
But now they have resorted to another idol . the love of
money
This life leads to bondage and fear. Fear that I
will never have enough.
How odd is it that Americans who are 4.6% of the world’s
population have 25% of the worlds wealth. And we still feel like we don’t
have enough.
Does that bother you?
We have so much yet we are so worried that we don’t have
enough.
For
the past forty years Eunice Pike has worked with the Mazatec Indians in
south-western Mexico. During this time she has discovered some interesting
things about these beautiful people. For instance, the people seldom wish
someone well. Not only that, they are hesitant to teach one another or to share
the gospel with each other. If asked, "Who taught you to bake bread?"
the village baker answers, "I just know," meaning he has acquired the
knowledge without anyone's help. Eunice says this odd behavior stems from the
Indian's concept of "limited good." They believe there is only so
much good, so much knowledge, so much love to go around. To teach another means
you might drain yourself of knowledge. To love a second child means you have to
love the first child less. To wish someone well--"Have a good
day"--means you have just given away some of your own happiness, which
cannot be reacquired.
We all know the philosophy of scarcity
All
of us have rushed out to buy something that we just had to have and later wished
that we had not.
Ever
looked at a credit card bill and not be able to remember what you bought that
was so important at the time?
Jesus
talked a lot about money
its
dangerous. It is an idol. We think that it is what life is about
consequently
its dangerous
There is another way- he taught generosity
and sacrifice
Sacrifice…….Everytime we have some push
for a project and we ask people to make a sacrificial gift, I always hear from
some that don’t want to sacrifice.
Friends.
Sacrifice is central to Christianity.
What
did Jesus do?
Finding
the real joy in life requires that we get our mind around generosity and
sacrifice
To live a generous life is to find the life
that is truly life
The happiest people we know are living
a generous life
A man buys donuts for the kids
someone finished the f hall ceiling
A Woman – For almost
a year, anonymously helping a young boy who had graduated out of foster care,
providing gift cards to grocery stores, toiletries, supplies to go to college,
and notes of encouragement each month. He wrote her a note thanking her,
saying she was his angel helping him through a very difficult time in his life.
It is
difficult times. I have almost given up watching the news.
It is so
depressing.
I have
taken up sports center instead.
Did you
see Beltrans throw to the plate on Friday night?
A man in our church –
prepares & serves the meal once a month at Westport for 60 people,
sometimes all by himself. Scott has befriended all of the staff there,
most of whom are former alcoholics or recovered drug addicts. Several of
the staff are still struggling with dependency issues. Scott has taken
them to concerts, hangs out with them, is just generally a friend to them and
they think he is great.
-
3 years
ago a man approached the Missions Desk on a Sunday morning asking if he could
donate his competition barbeque meat to Westport. He spent weeks planning
every detail of how he would wrap and refrigerate the meat so that it would be
fresh for the meal at Westport. He decided to go help serve the
meal. He was hooked. He went to Westport every month and donated
his barbeque frequently. When he had surgery for cancer, another family
from the Westport ministry team was at the hospital with his wife. With
his poor health, He still goes to Westport each month, and now purchases
lasagna for the meals since he is unable to barbeque.
-
Generous
kids – so important to learn generosity at a young age. Our children in
Sunday school are hearing this month about the families in Nicaragua and their
lack of food. Eastin prepared collection boxes for the children to
collect money for the village. Nick Harris collected items for Los Pinos
for his birthday party, Nate collected cereal for Hillcrest for his birthday.
Nate shared his school lunch on Friday with his best friend whose family
struggles financially and his buddy never seems to have a full stomach.
It breaks Nate’s heart. Reminds me of the quote by Bob Pierce, World Vision
founder, “Let my heart be broken with the things that break God’s heart.”
-
-
A
member tells the story of their grandma, a loving person in a small community
where she’s lived her whole life. She was always the first one to bring a
meal to a family going through a difficult time, she was the first one to call
and offer a kind word. She hasn’t done anything big or grand, but she has
simply been nice to everyone her whole life. She would never say anything
unkind about anyone. She moved into the nursing home this summer, and the
staff said they’ve never had a resident with so much company. One Sunday
the entire community room was filled with her visitors, as there were over 30
people there at once to see her. Everyone loves and appreciates her,
simply because she’s always gone out of her way to be kind. That is the
reward of a life well lived.
A
story is told of a Christmas eve and a young boy is looking for a present for
his mom 'Do you have any flowers for my mother for 10 cents?'
The man replied, 'Wait just a moment and I'll see what we can do for you.'
After serving the other waiting customers, the owner turned back to the little
boy and said, 'I have good news for you. On Christmas Eve, we have a special on
roses for young fellows who want them for their mothers.' Taking the lad's dime,
he placed a dozen beautiful, long-stemmed red roses in his arms. With a big
smile on his face, the boy left the flower shop and headed home. Those of us
who looked on were warmed by what we had seen, and I know the shopkeeper felt
the blessing of God for his generosity
--------------------------
The story is told that Henry Ford was on
vacation in Dublin, Ireland, when he was asked to contribute toward the
building of a new orphanage. He promptly wrote a check for 2,000 pounds.
When he picked up a newspaper the next day, his generosity was in the
headlines, but the paper had gotten the amount of the gift wrong — instead of
2,000, readers were told Mr. Ford had given 20,000.
The
director of the orphanage apologized and offered to phone the newspaper’s
editor and correct the error.
“There’s no need for that,” Ford said. “I’ll give you a check for the remaining
18,000 pounds, but only on one condition. When the new building opens, I want
this inscription on it: I was a stranger, and you took me in.”
-------------------------
The
story is told that one day a beggar by the roadside asked for alms from
Alexander the Great as he passed by. The man was poor and wretched and had no
claim upon the ruler, no right even to lift a solicitous hand. Yet the Emperor
threw him several gold coins. A courtier was astonished at his generosity and
commented, "Sir, copper coins would adequately meet a beggar's need. Why
give him gold?" Alexander responded in royal fashion, "Cooper coins
would suit the beggar's need, but gold coins suit Alexander's giving."
What
does that say about your encounter with a homeless person on the corner of 24
highway and 435?
The
Harvard Business School ran a study on whether money brought
happiness. 16 employees at a Boston firm received bonuses ranging from
$3,000 to $8,000. The results showed that the only significant predictor of the
level of their happiness was not the size of their bonus but whether or not the
employees had spent any of the money on others.
I interviewed a very generous person
for this sermon.
They made some good points
We
are Created to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves, created to care
for our families and those in need, we are called to Use our resources to serve
Christ and the world. We have a life purpose that is greater than our own
self-interests, and how we spend our God-given resources reflects our
understanding and commitment to this life
A
generous life will bring you JOY. We find more joy in doing things
for other people and for God than we ever did in doing things for ourselves.
Generosity
Affects Us in several ways
o
Through it our hearts are changed. When we give to others
who are in need – hearts are filled with joy.
o
When we give generously, we become more generous.
o
Giving feeds on itself
o
We also find the blessings of God. We don’t give so
we will get, but when we give generously, the unmistakable blessings of
God flow into our lives.
At the beginning of the service we
mentioned the step chart and the commitment card in your bulletin. On a
practical level this helps our budget team know that the ministries of Christ
are funded for the coming year..
At
WCC We don’t use gimmicks. We tell our folks straight up, it takes money
to run this church. We think you want to hear that. We have a
hard-working staff that makes sure you have a place to attend worship, to have
your children baptized. A place for you to be launched into mission… We are
frugal, we understand that we have a fiduciary responsibility to every person
here. We also believe in full disclosure.
Your
giving in the coming year will make a difference in the lives of children,
youth, and adults in our church, as well as in the lives of people everywhere
where we are in mission and ministry in the world.
Conclusion
The
greatest example of generosity is Jesus. Philippians 2 tells us
5 In your
relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:(I) 6 Who, being in very
nature[a] God,(J) did not consider
equality with God(K) something to be
used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing(L) by taking the very
nature[b] of a servant,(M) being made in human
likeness.(N) 8 And
being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death(O)— even death on a
cross!(P) 9 Therefore
God exalted him(Q) to the highest
place and gave him the name that is above every name,(R) 10 that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,(S) in heaven and on
earth and under the earth,(T) 11 and
every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,(U) to the glory of God
the Father.
Generosity
changes us.
We
were created to be generous, and our generosity can be a great blessing in our
lives.
I
pray that through your generous living, you will find that blessings flow back
into your life.
I
pray that you will find that your generosity changes the world as it changes
one person at a time.
no
one ever died wishing they had been less generous
many
look back on their life and are filled with sorrow because so much of it was
centered around them
we have a choice
If we choose for what we think is security, it falls
through our fingers
But there is another way, a better way
To find the generous life is to find the joy
May you choose the life that Jesus lived. The life
that is truly life
