The Cycle of Generosity

We just completed  our Abundant Joy campaign! I have heard a lot of very positive feedback, and I couldn’t agree more! The purpose of the campaign was to help encourage and empower us to be generous with our lives, and as a result, experience the abundance of God’s amazing love. As we considered ways to holistically give our lives to God in this series, we explored:

-          Giving God our time: devoting our day to the Lord so He can guide us;

-          Giving God our worship: we are going to worship something, so we need to give our worship to the ONE who truly deserves it;

-          Giving God our service: we each have been blessed with talents and spiritual gifts to use in GOD’s kingdom;

-          Giving God our Generosity: using our financial resources to bless others and point them to God.

Of course, if you missed any of the messages in this series, you can watch them on our web site by clicking here: http://www.cokeschapel.org/sermons4.html.

This past Sunday, as we brought our series to a close, I talked about what I call the cycle of generosity. As we think about generosity in our personal and corporate lives in the church, understanding this cycle is important: all of our resources come from God and God wants us to use our blessings to help and connect with others, enabling us to introduce them to God. This reminds me of the great quote by William Barclay, “What is needed in this world more than anything else is something which will link a man to his fellow men.” This cycle is captured in Paul’s writing to the Romans:

Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; everything happens through him; everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes. (Romans 11.33-36, The Message, emphasis mine)

I am so grateful for…and continued to be amazed by…the generosity of this church! Throughout the series we celebrated the various ministries that help us connect with others and point them to God. From our daily ministry in the church, community, and Childcare Center to our special offering for the Bibles and hymnals to go to Mozambique (we raised over $2,700, shattering our goal, meaning we’ll be able to provide a combination of 270 Bibles and hymnals to the Liberdade United Methodist Church!!!), the generosity of individuals and families has enabled our church to be generous for the purpose of changing the world, beginning in our own back yard. And friends, let me tell you, God is blessing this! Hearts are being touched and lives are being changed in our midst by the light and love of God in Christ Jesus! And isn’t this what it’s all about anyway?

I want to thank everyone who has so far given a commitment card for your estimate of giving to God’s ministry through the church. The preliminary reports from the first Sunday of receiving the commitment cards is really encouraging! So far, we have received 36 cards pledging $163,000 to the Lord! I also want to thank those who are still prayerfully considering what they will give. We will be collecting these cards the next couple of Sundays (though we can really take them at any time), so there are still opportunities to share these estimate of giving cards as an act of worship in one of our services. Of course, if you cannot make it to worship, please feel free to contact Velda Graydon or the church office and we will do everything we can to help in your own personal ministry of generosity.

I am going to sign-off this week with a Proverb that has helped guide our campaign and messages over the past month. May this Proverb help us all remember what is we are called to do; who it is we are called to serve; and how we fit into God’s plan for bringing hope and help to the world!

The world of the generous gets larger and larger;

the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.

The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;

those who help others are helped.

(Prov.11.24-25, The Message, emphasis mine)