Growing Our Faith Faith For Willing Generosity (Part 4)

Transcription

1 Mailing Address: PO Box 797 Molalla, OR Phone: Fax: Pastor Dale Satrum Growing Our Faith Faith For Willing Generosity (Part 4) Intro: Well, today is the Superbowl. And as fascinating as the game is to watch, one of my favorite superbowl activities is rating the commercials. What amazes me is the enormous amount of faith companies put in their advertising and how much money they re willing to spend for a superbowl spot. ($2.5 million for 30sec. spot doesn t include creating it Over 90 million viewers) Advertisers bank on the fact that their investment in their commercial is going to pay off. There s no guarantee it will! In a similar way, as a believer in Christ, when God calls us to live by faith and be generous, it comes with countless guarantees and promises. (unlike a superbowl spot) Yet so often, we are so reluctant to trust Him. God wants us to have a faith for willing generosity. But, how do we develop that kind of faith? Today, we re going to look at David and how he motivated a nation to be generous. I Chron. 29 Summarize the end of David s life Around 80 yrs old. Making preparations for the building of the Temple. Tabernacle for last 400 yrs) God won t let him build it, but will let him gather the resources for it. His son Solomon will build it. David sets the example / challenges his leaders / people follow. This story just gives us a simple model regarding growing willing generosity with a group. How can our faith grow in order to have a willing generosity? I. Faith For Willing Generosity Is Modeled At The Top A. David publicly modeled the right attitude I Chron. 29:3 And now because of the devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for His holy Temple. (NLT) 1. The attitude of devotion because of the devotion / NASB says it is a delight Either way, David was completely committed to fulfilling this project and it was a joy for him to do it it was his delight! Page 1

2 Devotion: Ardent attachment or loyalty / to give one s self entirely to a particular cause (ardent = emotion / enthusiasm ) Passionate! Have you ever been devoted to a cause? Where you are willing to do almost anything to achieve it? Where you believe in it so much that you are passionately committed to it? Illustrate: Some of you are devoted Chicago Bear fans / Others of you are devoted Indianapolis Colt fans and in a few hrs you will exercise this devotion. / others are just concerned with the commercials. The real devotion though, is from the players on the field. They had to be completely devoted to get to the Super-bowl. This is how David felt about building the temple, and he was public, passionate and unapologetic about his devotion. This is how I feel regarding the purchase of this complex. I am completely devoted to it. I am passionate about it. I am so convinced this is what God wants I am willing to do whatever it takes to follow God and see it fulfilled. So was David 2. The attitude of sacrifice I am giving all of my private treasures of gold and silver to help the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected David is modeling above and beyond type giving. He s talking about sacrificial giving. He actually emptied his entire gold and silver personal treasury! I am giving all That s sacrificial devotion! David was not asking the people to do something he was not willing to model and set the example in. But this is what spiritual leaders are to do. I Peter 5:3 proving to be examples to the flock (NASB) II Thess. 3:9 in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you might follow our example. (NASB) Before David asked anyone to contribute, he modeled it first. B. David publicly modeled a specific amount I Chron. 29:4 I am donating 112 tons of gold and over 262 tons of refined silver to be used (NLT) (3000 talents of gold / 7000 talents of silver) This amount is hard to imagine! 1. David told the people publicly what he was contributing to the work. It wasn t kept secret. Once again, for the leader to set the example, there has to be some disclosure. There has to be some transparency. You can t model in secrecy! A leader s life is in the fishbowl for all to see! Page 2

3 2. As you are all reading your 40 day spiritual journey books, I have been asking you to pray and listen to what God is telling you to pledge by faith during these 16 months. Lisa and I have been doing the same. 3. God actually brought Lisa and I to the same amount independently (explain).we also feel that the Lord is leading us to do what David did. Share our figure publicly. WHY? To model an example and maybe to clear up any misconceptions. 4. Many people think that pastors are exempt from giving. Not so! Lisa and I tithe 10% from our gross income, plus God has led us to pledge $10,000 above what we tithe in the next 16 months! (This is money we do not have!) I will never ask you to do something I am unwilling to do myself! C. David publicly issues a generosity challenge I Chron. 29:5-6 Now then, who will follow my example? Who is willing to give offerings to the Lord today? (NLT) 1. Ever been challenged to step up to the plate? I can t imagine what my life would have become if I never would have had people challenge my commitment level! Challenge me to become more then I was! Challenged me to trust God in new ways! Professor at Multnomah (lunches together challenged my thinking / commitment / devotion / priorities!!!) 2. So Foothills, I am giving you a challenge to trust God. (Not with the same amount) That on Sunday, Feb. 18 th you would make that a day of faith. For some of you, it will be a line in the sand day. Where you cross over and trust God in new ways. What will I trust God for during 16 months? 3. Show several financial breakdowns on a variety of gifts it will take to purchase the building. One latte a $3.50 over 16 months is$1, What are you willing to trust God for in the next 16 months? Are you willing to follow our example of faith and generosity? II. Faith For Willing Generosity Is Followed By The Leaders A. David issues a spiritual challenge to the leaders I Chron. 29:5 Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord? (NASB) David had all of his leaders assembled before him. 1. David understood that before we can give our money we first have to give our hearts. Generosity is a heart issue not a financial issue. To consecrate yourself means to set yourself aside for the purposes of God. 2. He was challenging his leaders to allow God to use them by setting themselves aside for this project. Consecrate your heart to God and His purposes. If you don t do this first, it s impossible to consecrate your resources. Page 3

4 3. The real issue when it comes to our resources is simply; Does the Lord have your heart? Is your heart set aside for God and His purposes? Because if it is, then it makes generosity a whole lot easier and joyful! 4. The difference is a lot like buying Christmas presents for people you don t want to. You buy out of obligation. No joy!!! Lisa and I had to work through this years ago. (Explain) Buying for people you have a heart connection with is so much easier and joyful. 5. Our relationship with God works like this. If He has our hearts, and we love him more than anything He will naturally have our resources. David knew this, so he challenges his leaders to make sure the Lord has their hearts! B. The leaders respond with willing generosity I Chron. 29:6-7 Then the family leaders, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the generals and captains of the army, and the kings administrative officers, all gave willingly they gave almost 188 tons of gold, 10,000 gold coins, about 375 tons of silver, about 675 tons of bronze, and about 3,750 tons of iron. (NLT) 1. Notice the attitude of all the leaders. It says they ALL gave willingly. This is the power of unified generosity. When everyone participates it is powerful! (300 tons of gold!!! Can t even imagine what the temple looked like.) 2. Right now, if you are a leader at Foothills, there are a lot of eyes watching you. People are watching to see if you are walking in this direction. If you will set a generous example for them. 3. Your attitude and response will either make of break what God is doing here. You will help decide if generosity becomes contagious and joyful or is looked upon as a burden. Your attitude and obedience is key! (baton) 4. I want to introduce to you some leaders here at Foothills who are learning to walk with God in this area. Rick and Kim Renner. (Testimony) III. Faith For Willing Generosity Is Embraced By The People A. People follow the public example of the leaders I Chron. 29:8-9 And whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly. (NASB) 1. Now there was a chain reaction of generosity going on. WHY? Because it was modeled by the leaders and then embraced by everyone! It became a movement! Everyone got involved in some way. I believe this is what God wants to happen here. How? 2. Here at Foothills, we want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to be a part of what God is doing. I realize that many people don t have a lot of Page 4

5 available financial resources, but they may have possessions they no longer want / need / or are willing to sacrifice for the Kingdom. 3. Someone gave me this idea this week: To develop a team of people who would help sell donated items for people on ebay / craigslist / etc When the item sells, they would get a receipt of their donation and the money would go into the building fund. ebaying for the Kingdom! It just sounds fun! Maybe this is something you can help with? (Qualifications) 4. We all need to be thinking of creative ways we can make generosity contagious and joyful experience here at Foothills. B. Everyone experiences tremendous joy I Chron. 29:17, 20 I have watched Your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously And the entire assembly praised the Lord and they bowed low and knelt before the Lord (NLT) (Joy / Praise / Worship) 1. Willing, unified generosity produces tremendous joy with God s people. What s going to happen when God provides all the resources for this building? There is going to be corporate joy / praise / worship! 2. What s going to happen when God provides for this building and you did not allow God to use you? There s no joy in that! Oh, you ll be happy for us, but there will be no spiritual excitement and wonder in your life over what God did. You will have witnessed a miracle, but you didn t become part of one. 3. I am sick and tired of reading about what God did somewhere else! (Please don t get me wrong explain) But I long to be part of what God is doing right here! I want to be part of the miracle on Grange Street! The miracle in Molalla! I m sick and tired of seeing the enemy win in Molalla. Tired of hearing how hard it is to make a difference here. The time has come to change it! 4. Movie clip: Miracle (Coach in the locker room before playing Soviet Union the most dominant hockey team in history. this is our time! 5. This is our time to trust God! Our time to do something no other church has ever done before in this area. I m tired of seeing the enemy winning. We have a great opportunity before us and understanding the timing is critical. I Chron. 12:32 of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do (NASB) Ecc. 3:1, 3 There is an appointed time for everything a time to build. (NASB) 6. May we be people who recognize the times that we are in and have the faith to believe God for the willing generosity it will require to follow Him. May we trust Him and go out and take it! Page 5