Generosity.

Well, welcome again. You guys are the real ones for being here today. I'm glad you made it out in the midst of the cold and freezing weather. Congratulations. We're here, and hopefully it's warm enough.

We're here to continue our series this week. Last week we started talking about what is the deeply formed life. What does it look like for us to be formed into the image of Jesus and who God created us to be as his children, as followers of him?

Today we're talking about the idea of deeply formed generosity. A part of being a person who is following Jesus, a disciple of Jesus who's setting out to become like Jesus and do what he did. Jesus was radically generous. I mean, to the point where he gave all that he had, he gave his life for us on the cross to pay the price for our sins so that we can have eternal life with him. That generosity is something that we want to see played out in our lives.

The Vanderbilt Legacy

I'm going to start by telling you guys a little bit of a story of something that really impacted me several years ago. A few years ago, I was in Boston visiting one of my friends when she was in grad school. We had one of the most random, last minute decisions where we thought, why don't we actually take a mini road trip while I'm here in Boston? Let's go to Rhode Island.

We went to Newport, Rhode Island. One of the things that they have a lot there is these insane mansions. Like old money type of mansions. Growing up in the Midwest, we just don't really have that kind of stuff. We went on these mansion tours and it blew my mind seeing the wealth, seeing how massive these places were and learning about some of the stories.

I want to share with you a little bit of the history of a family that is still famous to this day, that was part of building some generational wealth. That's the Vanderbilt family. The first one that kind of came was Cornelius, the Commodore as they called him. He built his fortune on steamboats. In 1863, he became the president of the New York Harlem Railroad and appointed his son as vice president.

Cornelius had three sons, but when he died, he left 95 percent of his fortune to only one of his sons. Can you imagine being that son? No pressure, right? But then he's like, you're the other ones. So that happened. By the time he died in 1877, his estate was valued at nearly 100 million dollars in 1877, almost all of which then went to his son, William.

Despite this enormous wealth, the Vanderbilt family struggled to gain acceptance in New York society and all of those different things, but they continued to try and to make a name for themselves. When the son of Cornelius, William Vanderbilt, died in 1885, only eight years after his father, he had managed to double the wealth of his father. He took it, he invested it, he continued to start all these businesses, and he did all these things. He took what was inherited to him and he doubled it. When he died, he was the richest man in the world at that time. He then divided, he didn't want to do what his father did. He thought that wasn't fair, just 95 percent to one son. So he divided a little bit more equally between his four sons.

It was about a 200 million dollar estate. But the oldest son of his, then named Cornelius after his father. If you're tracking: Cornelius, William doubles it. Now we're at Cornelius again. He received a little bit more than his other brothers, around 65 million dollars, which would be the equivalent to 1.8 billion dollars today. It's a pretty okay inheritance, if you're asking me. I would not be mad about that.

But here's the thing. Cornelius did not add anything to the family wealth. He didn't invest it. He continued to work for the railroad, but what he did do was he built these homes and these mansions. He spent the money on these luxurious and lavish things. After becoming the head of this family fortune and working and spending the money, this home that at one point would have been 150 million dollars, it was later sold in 1972 for only 366,000 dollars.

What started out as this marble house that was purchased, and I think Josh has a picture of it, was sold for only 366,000 dollars. They built it, they put their family wealth in, and all of these different things.

You see, this man came here, and at one point, one man, Cornelius the Commodore, started with very little, but he invested what he had. He started working hard. He multiplied his income. He passed things down to his son, this inheritance, and then somewhere along the way, his grandsons came in and just decided that instead of continuing to contribute and invest and multiply the family wealth, they were just going to consume it all to build these luxurious things for themselves.

They spent their time consuming more than they did contributing, indulging in the luxuries more than they did investing, and all of a sudden, the wealth stopped. We all have choices with the things that have been handed down to us. What are we investing in? What are we multiplying? What are we passing down for generations to come?

Today we're talking about what does it look like for us to be generous people where we're not just thinking about our life and we're not just thinking about how to create comfort for ourselves, but we are investing into eternity. We are recognizing that we can be a part of seeing generations come to know Jesus. One of the ways that we can do that is with our wealth, is with our money.

Jesus Talks About Money

Jesus also talked a lot about money. I felt a little convicted when I was studying for this, that 15 percent of Jesus' teaching was on money. Eleven out of the 39 parables were on money. I was like, oh no, I don't talk about money enough at church. We got to talk more about this.

Why is that something that Jesus talked about so often with different people? I think there's a lot of different reasons. I think one of them is we all understand the importance and the value of money. Money is a source of provision. Money is what we use to provide for ourselves. In a lot of ways, money is what protects us. Money is what we need to live. Jesus was intentional with the way that he talked about money.

We're going to look now at Matthew chapter 6. I want to just help us see just how intentional Jesus truly is. We're going to start in Matthew 6 verse 19.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Matthew 6:19-20

Verse 21 says:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

Verse 22 says:

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness?

Matthew 6:22-23

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

What I love about this is we often, when we talk about giving and storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven, we read those verses in Matthew chapter 6. But I want you to see what's right before that. What comes right before Jesus is saying, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven? It's the Lord's prayer where he's teaching his disciples how to pray. Even before that, he starts with saying the section titled, give to the needy.

I think it's so significant and intentional of Jesus that before he talks about us giving everything to the kingdom and laying our lives down and storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven and things that might be a little hard for us to do, before he addresses the reality that we cannot serve both God and money, what he taught his disciples right before that was to pray for God's kingdom come.

He recognized like, this is not something that's going to be naturally easy for us to do because we need a roof over our heads. We need food to feed ourselves, and money is the way that we get those things. And so there's always going to be this temptation for us to hold tight to the things that have been given to us from God.

But he's teaching his disciples first. He says, this is how you should pray. Pray in this type of way, where he says:

Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:9-13

He's teaching the disciples to pray in a way where they constantly remind themselves that he is the one that provides. That he is the one that we are to give our lives to. His kingdom come, his will be done.

But I want you to see then right after that in Matthew chapter six. The next section, when I look in my Bible, it literally says, do not worry. The next thing that he teaches his disciples to do is he says:

I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you eat or what you drink, about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?

Matthew 6:25

And you read down at the end the last verse in Matthew 6:34. Do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The intentionality in Jesus' teaching here is insane. He's recognizing our human nature and he's saying, okay, first I'm going to teach you, pray, rely on me. Understand that I'm the one, that it's about my kingdom, that I will give you your daily bread. I will provide for your needs. And he's saying, so now store up for yourselves treasures in heaven for where your treasure is, that your heart will be also.

He's reminding us we can't serve two masters. We only have one Lord in our lives. It's either God or it's not. And then he's saying, don't worry, I got you. Don't worry.

Intentional Generosity

We, as generous people, have an invitation to be intentional with the way that we give. One of the ways that we see that in Scripture, and what I would like to call the starting point for us being generous people is one of the practices that we see in Scripture, which is the tithe.

Maybe some of you grew up in church and you've heard about this. I was a Sunday school kid. When my mom first sat us down and we were given 2.50 dollars for our allowance, we then were taught what the tithe was. The tithe goes all the way back to the Old Testament. Abraham was the first person in Genesis 14 to practice the tithe. He gave 10 percent of what was given to him to Melchizedek, who was the priest at that time, as an offering.

We also see then the next time would be Jacob in Genesis as well, where he gives 10 percent. The Bible has lots of scriptures about this. One of them going all the way back to Leviticus, where it says it very clearly:

A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, is the Lord's and that is holy.

Leviticus 27:30

Proverbs 3:9 says:

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of your crops.

Proverbs 3:9

These are some of the roots of where we get this teaching of this practice of the tithe, which is the first fruits and 10 percent of your income. So the first 10 percent, that's what was practiced. We see that in the Old Testament of this practice of giving of the 10 percent.

I like to talk about this as the starting point for us being generous people. When we start to look at, well, what does this still apply for us today? Why do we still practice this as a church? The first thing is that it's really incredible kingdom strategy to start to think about what can we do together that we could not do on our own. I think about how because of us, the individuals in this room, coming and giving of our money. Because money is what makes things happen. Recently, right before Christmas, we saw 160 kids, a few more than that, that we were able to give stocking stuffer items to. I think of those moments of these families coming in and people even asking, wait, like, your church just paid for all of this? And we're like, yeah, we were able to do that.

I could not do that on my own just based on what I could give. But because we're able to come together, we can see those things. I think of things like when we put on the Madison Good Neighbor Gathering and we had all these different cultural celebrations that were taking place and everybody kept kind of going, wait, wait, wait. Like there's only this little group of you guys over here that's serving and wearing these T-shirts and doing this. How are you able to pull this off? How are you able to do this?

Because when we come together, there's kingdom strategy in God giving us these practices for us to continue to come together and do more than we could on our own. Because the reality is for us to continue to see hope and justice here in our city, it does take us coming together with our money so that we can help when people come and they need help with gas and we can provide groceries for them.

The other thing is that tithing is a constant centering for us. Every single time that we give of our tithes and our offerings, it is us reminding our flesh that what we have and our money, that does not control us. It's us surrendering it to the Lord and what he would have. It's forming us into living sacrificial lives for the kingdom. It's a formative practice.

My prayer for us as a church is that it truly would be the tithe, that it wouldn't be a should we practice this, should we give 10 percent of our income, should we not, but that that would be the starting point for our generosity. That we would start to be people that we contribute way more than we consume, that we would be people that we don't just maintain what was given to us, but we invest it and we multiply it.

Intentional and Sacrificial Generosity

The next thing after intentional generosity is sacrificial generosity. What does it look like for us to be people that give above and beyond? What does it look like for us to give in a way that costs us something? And remember, it's not about how much we give, but it's about how we give. Is the way that we give, does it cost us something?

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the term girl math. It's this thing where we get caught up in this idea. Essentially, it's this. If I buy this concert ticket right now for 60 dollars, when I go in August, it's free. Free concert. I didn't actually pay for it.

Princess, I'm just going to call her out, but she literally said this the other night at our staff meeting. She's like, I got a free new water bottle. And we're like, you got a free new water bottle? That's amazing. And she's like, well, actually, you know, it's from a gift card she was given for Christmas. So it's not free. It's free to Princess but it costs someone something.

It's this thing right where we're like girl math. It was free. But nothing's ever free. It always costs somebody something. I've been living that too. A lot of people in January are doing the pantry clean out where you try to only eat what's in your pantry to avoid food waste and save money. All of those things. I've just had to buy eggs and milk. That was like it. But you're trying to eat those things.

Right now I'm like, I'm just eating for free. But I'm not really eating for free. At one point, I paid for the thing, right? I went to Costco, so it's in bulk. So it's like, am I saving money? I don't know. But everything costs someone something, whether or not you're the one that actually had to pay for it.

It costs something. I often think about, as I am one of the only people that other than Princess that has been here from the beginning of our church. This church, like it cost a lot of people, a lot of things. I think back to so many pivotal moments.

In 2020 we're struggling to pay rent and I was having coffee with a friend and he single handedly wrote a check for 11,000 dollars to pay our rent for the next few months so I wouldn't have to worry about anything. I think about another time in 2021 where we did the crazy thing where we decided to move into this new space and to completely raise funds to renovate it and to do what needed to be done.

I also decided to go on a sabbatical for like over a month and say, okay, guys, I'm going to go rest, have fun, you got this. I get a call from a friend who was sharing about our church at a wedding and some random man at a wedding gave 5,000 dollars to our church. I've still never met this man to this day.

I think personally about my baby brother who when I moved here to Madison and was so broke that it took me six months to even buy a mattress and not sleep on an air mattress. At 15 years old, he gave me 600 dollars for my security deposit so that I could have a place to live when I moved here to start doing ministry.

I think back to even the moments that we had at our big give where we raised over 11,000 dollars. We gave so that we can be more sacrificial and generous to our community. It's not about the dollar amounts, but it's the reality of all the different people that have continued to give in a way that it costs them something so that people can come and know Jesus and experience life with him to the fullest, to see his kingdom come in this city.

I also share that from the people that probably had the money and the 5,000 dollars was nothing to them, to my little brother that it was like his savings account, to share that we all have something to give and something to contribute in some type of way. This is not to guilt trip us today, but it's to give us some perspective.

Right now, if you make more than 25,000 dollars a year, that you're in the top 10 percent of the world's wealth. If you make more than 35,000, you're in the top 1 percent. We all have something to give. We all have something to give.

Jesus, when he was teaching about money, I shared earlier 15 percent of the time that he was teaching it was about money. And 11 out of the 30 something parables that he gave were about money. Did you also know that most of the people that he talked to were actually not wealthy but were pretty poor? That most of the people that he was talking to did not have the kind of wealth that we would think would be the ones that you would go after.

And he did have some, but I love the story even in Matthew chapter 12, where it talks about the woman with the two coins.

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts, but a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in everything, all she had to live on.

Mark 12:41-44

The tithe is the starting point. Everything is the end game. That we would be people that give in intentional ways and sacrificial ways because we're seeking first the kingdom.

Eternal Generosity and Legacy

The next thing is recognizing that our generosity, it should be intentional, it should be sacrificial, but that it's eternal. I love in Ecclesiastes 3:11 where it says:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity on their hearts without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from beginning even to the end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Eternity is on our hearts. We are eternal, created for eternity. And if you find yourself not satisfied in the riches and the glories and the things of this world, it's because they cannot satisfy you. They were not created to. Every good thing that we experience here on this earth is simply a display of the real thing, the only thing that can truly satisfy us, and that is the Lord and his presence and his glory.

So what does it look like for us to be kingdom people where we live and we give for eternity? In Matthew 6:21 where it says:

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

This is key for us. This is not a follow your heart type of thing, but this is giving us kingdom strategy to how to be people that have the kingdom on our hearts and on our minds.

How do we tell our hearts where to go? How do we become people that want more of God's presence? Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So essentially what Jesus is teaching here is he's saying that if you want to be more about the kingdom, start giving to the kingdom. Because the more that you invest into it, the more your heart's going to follow that.

It's not follow your heart, it's tell your heart where to go. Think about it this way. We don't just all see random cars passing by, whether it's a taxi or an Uber, and you don't just get in and just hope it takes you somewhere good. Yet sometimes that's how we live our lives. We just wake up and we're like, well, I hope the things that I'm doing take me somewhere good.

No, you typically nowadays, right, you put it in your phone on the app and you say, this is the address of where I want to go. And then it picks you up and it tells you where to go. That's what's happening here is saying, let's just not live our lives in these random ways where we just keep saying, well, I hope the things I'm doing lead me somewhere good, but let's tell our heart where to go. And Matthew's telling us exactly how to do that. Where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.

Now I want to continue to read that in Matthew 31 through 34. This again is just the graciousness and the goodness of God, where he recognizes like there's a reason that sometimes when we talk about these things, like it causes tension, or maybe we get a little anxious. Why is this hard for me to hear? It's again because he's telling us don't worry, but we recognize like there are things that cause us worry.

But let's read this again together.

Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into a fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, what shall I eat, or what shall I drink, or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, but your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

We have hope that God knows the things that we need. And he says, if you will seek first my kingdom now, the promise that we have is that his righteousness and all the things that you need will be given to you. Seek first his kingdom, his way, his glory, and it will be given to us.

Sixty years ago, after saving for years and years and faithfully giving, a small little church in Oak Lawn, Illinois, opened their doors to a brand new building. My mom sent me this this week as this church is celebrating years of having their building and being together.

And this building would be the church that my grandmother went to and began to pray for her husband, my grandfather, to come to know Jesus. They recently had this celebration and I couldn't help but think as I was seeing this little church that I have not been to in years. I don't know the pastors. I don't know anyone there.

And I thought, man, do they know? Do they know that because they opened their doors, that people swept the floors, that they cooked for potlucks, that my grandmother was drawn to there as she was raising her four kids and had a husband who was drinking all the time and not the best to her? Did they know that one day her husband would give his life to the Lord and completely change the legacy of that family as they raised their kids in that church? One of them being my mom.

Thinking about the people that held my mom as a baby, thinking about the ones that were with her when she was a teenager. Did they know that someday then she was going to raise her kids in the church? When we invest in the kingdom and we invest in the local church, we have no idea the legacy that God is building and what he is doing for generations.

What we do matters every single Sunday and also every single day. It matters. What we choose to invest in matters. Stacking chairs, holding babies, singing songs, giving our tithes and our offerings, it matters. Each and every one of us has a story and a legacy of how we got to where we are today.

I share a piece of that story with you knowing that I don't know all the people that gave to that church. I don't know what it cost them, but I know it cost them something. And I know that I have the relationship with Jesus that I do today because of their investment into that place at that time and because of my mom's investment into my life and the way that she raised me to be a disciple of Jesus.

We all have those stories of how did we get here. Recognizing it cost someone something. What happens when we start to dream as a community? To think about the generations coming after us. To think about the person in this room that maybe you don't know, but because of your generosity and your faithfulness to this house and this local church, that their grandkids someday might be serving Jesus somewhere.

You might not ever know them, but that's the type of kingdom impact and legacy that we get to be a part of when we seek first the kingdom, when we store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, not the temporary, but the eternal.

And when we do that, we don't have to worry because we're giving into something that's going to last for all of eternity. So what do we do with that? Our now what for today is to give in intentional and sacrificial ways. How do we be people? That we recognize that what we're doing is eternal, that we're giving to something far beyond ourselves and our lives and it requires us to give in intentional and sacrificial ways.

Practical Giving

So today we're just going to get really practical and what does this look like for us? What does this look like for us? I want to talk about a few things, and one of them is the different ways that sometimes we can think about money.

The first thing is sometimes we ask this question where we say, okay, so God, I understand like I need to invest in your kingdom. So we ask, what should I do with what I have? A lot of times the thought process behind that is we're thinking okay my money my decision what should I do with what I have? Then the next question is God what do you want me to do with what you've given me? At this point we're starting to recognize it came from him. It all belongs to God.

But then there's this third part, this third question. And it's God what do you want out of what you've given me? That a heart posture of saying God we're following Jesus's example. We're giving it all to you. So it's no longer a question of what I should give but what I should keep because my heart and my life is one that's intentional and sacrificial and fully surrendered to your kingdom and your ways.

Another couple of questions that we can ask ourselves, what does your current giving and finances say about who you believe God to be? I want you to think about this. What does your giving and finances, and I say this from a place where I'm right here with you, where I'm looking as I enter into this new year and I'm going, okay, like what do the things that I do tell me about who I believe God to be?

I feel that in moments where it's hard for me to give and I'm thinking, oh, if I give this, like, will I have enough for this? And what is that going to look like? I take a minute to pause and say, why am I worrying? And what is this worry? What is this fear? What is this feeling that I have? Tell me about who I believe God to be.

Because if I believe that he is who he says he is in scripture. If I believe that if I seek first his kingdom, that everything that I need will be given to me. If I believe those things, then I should be able to give freely, right? So what does that tell me about who I believe God to be?

And the next thing to process is who am I becoming as a result of the way that I'm spending my money? Who am I becoming as a result of the way that I'm spending my money? Because I told you that story when we started about the family where one son chose to invest and he died the richest man in the world. He doubled his father's inheritance. And then the next one came along and he, rather than continuing to contribute and give, he kept it for himself. He maintained, he didn't multiply. And eventually it ended.

What will we do with what's in our hands? Are we going to be people that maintain or are we going to create a culture in this city that's about multiplication? That goes beyond just consuming? But we're constantly thinking of how we can contribute and invest into the kingdom for generations?

Here's some practical things now that I want you to pray about. And I want you to even as I'm reading these, to say, God, where am I at? And where do you want me to be? What is my invitation? What's my next step in following Jesus and living a generous life?

The emerging giver is simply, do I need to start giving every time I show up to church? Right? This is a first step. I say this in recognizing like, it's a lot to start giving 10 percent in the tithe. It's a lot to give above and beyond the tithe. These are not easy things when you have a rent or mortgage or bills to pay. So I want you to pray and consider, what is my next step? Is it becoming an emerging giver of saying every time I show up to church, I'm going to give something? Is that the next step I need to commit to?

The next is a consistent giver. Do I need to commit a certain percentage of what you make? And in there, there's that automate it. Like commit to it. Say, I'm going to do this. Whether it's 3 percent, 5 percent, what is that?

Then it's the tithing giver to say, okay, I'm going to do it. I'm going to give my first fruits, the full 10 percent of my income. That's my starting point. That's where I need to be this year.

And then the fourth one is the extravagant giver. Above and beyond asking God, what do you want me to keep rather than what do you want me to give?

And that is the goal of where we all should be is continuing as we go through and we look at what's in our hands to say, God, what am I keeping? And where do you want me to give it all away? Because it's all for you and all for your glory.

As we close with this, and I want you to continue to just think about it. If you need to take a picture of that, whatever. But thank God, where do I need? Where am I now? And where do I need to be? Are there still more mindsets that need to shift in me in order to get there?

I was reminded last week, I read a lot and I want to encourage you to go back in Isaiah 43 and 44, where it starts. And I read the scriptures in 43, where it talked about how the Lord's saying, like the old is past, the new has come. I'm doing a new thing. And then he starts to talk about everything that he's doing. And then he says, but you guys have been disobedient and you're not doing the things that I told you to do. And there is consequences for us not being faithful to things that God told us to do.

But then what I love is we read right away in Isaiah 44 in the first verses where he says, I will help you. I will help you.

And I also talked about last week in John chapter 15, we talked about abiding in Christ. And part of that is remaining. And part of that is being obedient to the things that he's placed in front of us.

But then if you look in John 15, when he says, remain in me, apart from me, you can do nothing. But with me, you're going to produce much fruit. The next thing that Jesus teaches his disciples recorded in John is 16 verse 5. He says, I'm going to send someone to come and help you. Verse 7, he says:

I tell you the truth. It's for your good that I'm going away. Unless I go away, the counselor or other translations would say, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.

John 16:7-8

Verse 16 says:

In a little while, you will see me no more. And then after a little while, you will see me.

John 16:16

Jesus is telling his disciples here. Again, he's saying, I'm sending someone to help you. The Holy Spirit. So when we find ourselves in these moments where we're saying God we want to see your kingdom come. We want to be people that are radically generous. We want to be people that it said of us like that widow where we're saying we gave it all for you Jesus. But yet we recognize that's really hard to do.

The good news, the hope that the Israelites had in Isaiah was that the Lord saying I'm going to help you. And the hope that we have today is in the Holy Spirit saying I'm going to help you. You're not alone in this. I'm here to help you.

Closing Prayer

And so I'm going to invite you guys now to stand. And the last thing that I want to do is I want to pray for us. And then I want to read you this giving liturgy. And it's really a prayer. And it's a proclamation of just saying, God, everything that we have is yours. And so I think we have it on the screen.

And I would love for you to just read this with me as a way of us just surrendering to the Father together.

Holy Father, there is nothing I have that you have not given me. All I have and am belong to you, bought with the blood of Jesus. To spend everything on myself and to give without sacrifice is the way of the world that you cannot abide. But generosity is the way of those who call Christ their Lord, who love him with free hearts and serve him with renewed minds, who withstand the delusion of riches that chokes the word, whose hearts are in your kingdom and not in the systems of the world. I am determined to increase in generosity until it can be said that there is no needy person among us. I am determined to be trustworthy with such a little thing as money that you may trust me with true riches. Above all, I am determined to be generous because you, Father, are generous. It is the delight of your daughters and sons to share your traits and to show what you are like to the world.

Giving Liturgy

This is what it's about. His kingdom come, that there would be no needy among us. And in that we experience the true riches.

So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you trust us to partner with you to see your kingdom come. God, I pray right now for each and every one of us that you would help us to consider in our hearts the ways that you are inviting us to invest into your kingdom. The way that you are inviting us to be people of multiplication. The people that contribute. The people that give above and beyond so that it truly can be said of us that we have withheld nothing from you, God.

So I pray that if there's ways that right now we're starting to think and we're feeling, I don't know how I can do this. I don't know if it's possible. What little do I have? Will you come with your Holy Spirit and would you help us? Will you begin to give us strategy? Would you give us the boldness to make the changes and the decisions necessary so that we can give above and beyond.

God, it is our honor and our privilege to partner with you and seeing your kingdom come right here in this city. And we are praying for all the generations that are going to come, for the lives that are going to be impacted as a result of the faithfulness right here in this room. So we love you, Lord. We surrender this to your name. Amen.

Well, thank you guys again for braving the cold. I would just encourage you this week to continue to reflect on that. Read Matthew 6 and continue to ask the Lord, what is your invitation this year? And then I also just wanted to plug again, Contributor Night. We'll be right downstairs eating some pizza. So even if you've never served or volunteered, we'd love to see you.

And then the retreat. Would love to have you in the room. Just a few more of those practicals. Josh did a great job sharing about it. But Friday night, it's going to be a lot of time of worship together, prayer together. In the morning, we'll be focused on our identity in Christ. Teachings from Chris Griffith in Chicago. And then the afternoon, we're going to be talking about our workplace. We're going to be talking about the unique things that God has placed in our lives and where does that intersect with what he's inviting us to do for his kingdom. And then we're going to have some time just like dreaming as a church where we're just going to be praying and saying, okay, this is who we are. These are the things that God has put on our hearts. Now, what is he inviting us as a community to do? So we're really excited about that. Our identity and the unique invitations into community. So we'd love to have you come. Sign up, 35 bucks, covers food, all that good stuff. We will see you next week.