Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. A church walking by faith will be a glad and generous people. A giving spirit will be the outflow of a God-trusting heart. Generosity comes from a heart that's anchored and secure in the character and promise of God.
He frees us from the desperate grasping for control that often rules the lives of mankind. As we continue our Living by Faith series, we'll take a look at the connection between what we believe to be true about God and His heart for us and the way that we give. You're listening to the third part of a message that was first preached on March 10th, 2019, at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. If you'd like to hear the whole message or other messages in the series, you can visit us at www.delightingrace.com. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
That's outflow. But if anyone has this world's good and sees his brother in need and yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. Let's dispense with Christianese platitudes. Let's really invest in each other's lives in the outflow of God's love.
Romans 5-5, God's love has been poured into our hearts. It's outward living. Generosity, outward living.
Why? Because God's love has been poured into our hearts. Live in the outflow of God's generosity. A closed, ungiving heart is incongruous with having experienced the love of Jesus. So practice the reality of Romans 5-5 and move outward with your faith.
Here's the last truth, number seven. Generosity and gladness are developed in community with God and his people. Generosity and gladness are developed in community with God and his people. For those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land. It says the inheritance there. It is a place of dwelling.
It is a place of settling down. The Lord is my portion. The Lord is my secure plot of ground. The Lord is. He is my inheritance. This is how it played out in the first century church.
Watch this. Acts 2 verse 46. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with gladness, with glad and generous hearts. Wouldn't it be great if the world knew of us today like this?
Folks, I desire that. You know, when the church is the church, she is beautiful. She is very attractive. That's God's intent. That's why she's called the bride of Christ. When the church is the church, she is beautiful. But what happens when Christians complain and vent outrage? It's a contradiction in terms.
The complaining Christian is a contradiction in terms. Breaking bread in their homes, receiving their food with gladness, with gladness, breaking bread in their homes, receiving their food with glad and generous hearts. I desire for the church to be known this way today. God desires this of us. But generosity and gladness are developed in community with God and his people.
Here's an example of this. Mrs. Chang, an older Chinese woman now living in Los Angeles, visited a poor church composed of farmers in China. The 900 who were present for the service wanted to hear a word from their sister from the USA. So she brought greetings from her church in Los Angeles. She told how the Lord had added many to their church and how they were currently building a large new addition. Then after a word of blessing for the church, she took her seat.
At the close of the worship time, Mrs. Chang was called back to the front. The pastor said her words had thrilled their hearts. They wanted her to have the morning offering to help with the new building in Los Angeles. The total offering was about 140 dollars. A church of 900 people and they gave all of it to Mrs. Chang going to Los Angeles.
Now that just ought to humble us, don't you think? When their overflowing joy welled up in generosity, they gave beyond their ability. So let me conclude today with one verse from the New Testament, Titus chapter 2 and verse 14. Let me unpack this for you a little bit.
Do this with me, William. He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness. Stop there for a minute. What is that? He gave himself for us to redeem us from all law.
What is that? That is God's generosity. What is it again? He gave what?
Himself for us. Think of it. That's the cross. You have no grounds upon which to question God's generosity and love. None. He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself the people of his own possession.
What is that? That's God's community. Who are zealous for good works. That is a glad and generous people.
What if the world knew us that way? It's all packed in one verse. God's generosity, God's community, a glad and generous people. Now, some of you might be sitting here this morning thinking, well, you know, I don't have a lot of stuff. I am not wealthy. God has not entrusted to me a large income or a lot of savings. And I don't have the gift of giving because it is a gift. I understand that. And there are some in the congregation that have that gift.
And it's a wonderful thing. So some of you might be saying, well, this really doesn't apply to me. Well, remember that ninety nine point four percent I mentioned earlier. Well, you know, I don't have the gift of giving.
I don't have the gift of giving. Well, remember that ninety nine point four percent I mentioned earlier. You are rich. You are prosperous.
Your standard of living is prosperous. But what I want you to do is I want you to expand your categories of generosity. I want you to expand your categories of generosity. Don't just be thinking money. Because, yeah, that's what the text is talking about to a large degree. And that's when we think of giving.
That's what we think about. Writing a check or putting cash in the box or something like that. But that's not where generosity is limited. I want you to expand your categories of generosity. Yes, wealth. Wealth is definitely one of them. So wealth needs to be on the list. But how about food? How about food? Generous with your food. Hospitality. When was the last time you invited somebody into your home?
Maybe even somebody who pretty much needed had somewhat of a need. Have you invited somebody into your home or taken somebody out to lunch? You know, I love it when visitors come and somebody in the church takes them out to lunch. I just love that. It's a heart of generosity.
Invite somebody into your home. Hospitality is a fantastic tool to show the love of Christ. Will you be generous? One of the most meaningful meals, the most meaningful meal to me, one that I will never forget. I mean, my wife is a wonderful cook and she does some awesome meals. It's showing.
Never mind. But the most meaningful meal I have ever had and cannot ever forget was in Columbia, South America, where I grew up. I was about 11 years old and there was an elderly couple in the church. They were extremely poor. They lived out in a field near a stream. By the way, that stream, they called it the Jordan. And that's where I was baptized.
So I can see I was baptized in the Jordan. Their house was a shack literally made of whatever scraps they could find. That's what they lived in. They invited my dad and mom and us four boys to their house for dinner. We ate outside on this rickety old table and they served rabbit, coconut, and rice on banana leaves. They didn't have plates. Rabbit, coconut, and rice on banana leaves.
I will never forget that meal. Out of their poverty they gave, you can too. Expand your categories of generosity. How about time? Time is almost a god in our western culture, isn't it?
Could we possibly be guilty of idolatry in this category? Do you have time to invest in someone else? Do you have time to come along someone else and walk with them in a god-word direction?
To help them? How about another category of your ear? You see, Rich, what do you mean by that? Listen. Nobody listens today.
It is a lost virtue. People only listen, preparing for what they're going to say next. Listen to people.
Give them your ear and truly listen to them. It is powerful. And it's amazing what you will hear from people if they know you are listening to them. How about encouragement? Do you know the power of an encouraging word? Do you know the power of an encouraging word? If someone in their example has been a blessing to you, or you've been encouraged by it, it's helped you to rise up and do the same, or they've been a blessing to you and you thinking, you know, well, I don't need to tell me.
Yes, you do. You need to encourage them. You need to thank them. But do you know the power of an encouraging word? Where you just come up along somebody and say, I really appreciate you and what you can do.
Do you know how powerful that is? I encourage you to discover that. That's generosity. Be generous with your... Not platitudes. I'm not talking about lavishing on people's superficial platitudes.
That's nonsense. But encourage people. How about competence? Can you be generous with your competence?
I look out in the congregation, and there's some people that specifically come to mind right when I say something like this. Can you be generous with your competence? Do you have something? Are you able to do something? Can you be generous with your competence? Can you be generous with your competence?
Can you do something where you might be able to help somebody else out with your competence? It's a matter of generosity. And the last category is spiritual blessings. Can you be generous with the blessings that God has lavished upon you and afforded you? Can you be generous with those into somebody else's life? Because that's the true meaning of fellowship. The things that you see, I am sharing them with you.
That's the whole purpose of living pictures, why we do them here. I've given you these categories, hopefully to expand your categories of generosity, because it's not just talking about writing a check or putting money in a box. These are all categories of generosity. Let's live in the outflow of God's generosity. Because God is generous. God is not. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in Him, the One who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on Weekdays at 10 a.m.
