Well, man. Amen. What, what, man, just some incredible stories, right? Like, I love, one of my favorite things is to see the, the heart, the culture of, of serving and, and missions. It's really just blooming in the lives of our students, our high school students, and our college students. It really is incredible to see. Don't forget, we've probably talked about this at all of our campuses, but don't forget if you missed it earlier. Um, stop by the coffee bar today at all of our campuses. Everything that sold or donated at the coffee bar today will go straight towards the mission trips for our high school and our college students this summer. Um, and I'm pretty sure, I don't really know how it works, but we're talking about generosity today. And so, like, I'm, I'm pretty sure that, you know, the more you spend on the coffee, the better it is. I think that's the rules.

So, um, listen, when I hear those stories, okay, I, I can't help but to think about, um, Walter, Walter Carpenter, uh, many of you know the Carpenter family that's, uh, here, that's a part of a venture here at Lincoln Road. Um, man Walter has been just a, a giant, uh, both figuratively and literally, uh, in a lot of ways, um, in the lives of so many students. Like I've heard these stories over and over and over again. Walter has been a man who, from KXP to, uh, movement with our students to mission trips over the years Turning Point weekend. Like all of those, Walter has invested so well in the lives of, of so many families, and if he didn't know Walter passed away, um, this weekend, and, and to be honest with you, like I, I really don't even love to use language, like lost the battle. He battled cancer for a long time. And I, I really don't even like to say things like we lost the battle because scripture tells us that the victory of death is swallowed up. And so, man, when I, when I think about that verse and I think about a life like Walter, that dude lost nothing. He gained everything. Um, but, uh, there, there's no doubt that his family feels and his friends feel the loss. And so, um, we may be a large church and we may be spread out over, um, all of South Mississippi, but we are still a church family.

And so let's do this. I I wanna start by praying for Amanda and the kids, for the carpenter family. Okay? Let's pray. Lord, we come before you. God, we thank you for your goodness, even in the difficulties, especially in the difficulties in the, the valleys that we walk through. The promise of your word is that you never leave us. So when the days are difficult, God, we know that you're right there in the difficulty with us. And so, God, we thank you for that. God, we thank you for as a church. God, we thank you for the testimony of a man like Walter and the way in which you have used him to invest in so many the lives that are eternally changed because of your working. And through him, I said, God, we thank you for that. God, I do pray for Amanda, for the kids. Lord, we just pray for an extra measure, um, a divine measure of peace and comfort in this season. And God, in it all, we, we pray for your glory. God, we pray that even more. We'll know your goodness through this season. Lord, we love you. We want to give you all the praise and all the glory even in the difficulties. All things we ask in your name. Amen. Amen.

Alright, let me, let me tell you where we are today. Okay? So we've been in this series for, uh, several weeks now, five, six weeks now talking through the way of Jesus, right? And really unpacking this idea of followship. Like what does it mean to follow in the way of Jesus? And today we get to the idea of generosity. Now, when we talk about generosity, like understand that that generosity is more than money. That's where our minds go first, rightfully so. But generosity is more than money, right? We can be generous with our time, we can be generous with our talents. We can be generous with our attention and our energy. Like those are things we talk a lot about here. But at the same time, while generosity is more than money, it's certainly not less than our money. And what I mean by that is I can be generous with my, my time. I can be generous with my, my talents, with my, my abilities, with my energy, with my attention towards other people. I can be generous in all of those ways. But if I am greedy or selfish with my money, with my finances, my possessions, then I've missed the mark in the life and the heart of generosity that I believe God wants to cultivate in us as his people.

As you read through the gospels, uh, upwards of like 25% numbers, a little rounded, okay? But somewhere around 25% of the teachings of Jesus and 50% of his parables, the stories that Jesus teaches, 25% of his teachings, 50% of his parables all deal with this topic. They all deal with generosity, specifically generosity around our finances, our money, our possessions, and how we treat those things. And it doesn't take long as you read through these teachings of Jesus to realize that he is teaching a money ethic that is radically different than the culture in the world around him and the culture in the world around us today. Like he is teaching. Jesus teaches us an unreasonably generous money ethic.

This is one of those places, right? How we look at finances and possessions. This is one of those places that, that the people of God has always meant. We've always meant to, to kind of stand out and to be different in this realm. 'cause people pay attention to where the money goes, right? And this was the place, this was the thing that led the, the government of the time, the Roman government, the Book of Acts, when they saw the New Testament church, the people of God beginning to, to spread, right? They, they said that these people are turning our world upside down. And what they were saying, what they were looking at was that the, the people of God, the New Testament church, that the, the needs were being met. There was no one hungry, there was no one going without that. The church was taking care of people and the government was stepping back and saying, Hey, they're making us look bad. 'cause we got a whole bunch of needy people in, in, in our nation that we're not taking care of, but they're taking care or they taking care of people. This has always been one of those places that we're meant to, to stand out and, and, and to be different.

Now, if, if 25% of his teachings right are, are on this idea, then there's obviously no way we're gonna cover it all in here, right? We, we couldn't cover it all in a month. We're certainly not gonna cover it all. Even all the big ideas we really wouldn't cover fairly in, in kind of one setting like this. And so here's what I wanna do, okay? It's gonna be a little bit different. Understand, like my goal today, if I can alleviate a little bit of tension for you, I promise you my goal today is not to ask you challenge you, make you feel bad about giving more towards the church, okay? God may do that. That's between you and him. It ain't my goal today. Okay? Here's what I wanna do. I want to give you just a quick flyover of the, what I would call maybe a summary of the teachings of Jesus when it comes to the generosity He wants us to live out. Okay? So if I could summarize all that Jesus teaches into one statement, right? I wanna give a summary, a little flyover of that. And listen, there's gonna be a lot left unsaid, okay? Because Jesus talks a lot about this. And then we're gonna kinda walk out one piece of that through Luke chapter 12. So Luke chapter 12 is where we're really gonna dig in, in just a minute. If you wanna go ahead and turn there, I'm, I'll meet you over there, but lemme kinda summarize things for you real fast, okay?

If we were gonna look at the teachings of Jesus, I think one of the first things we would come across is understanding that, that what we have is a gift from God. The, I I would say that this is probably the main emphasis of, of the majority of the parables of Jesus teaching us that what we have is a gift from God. The, the Gospel writers would record Jesus saying multiple times, you can serve God or money, but you cannot serve both. You can love God or you can love money, but you cannot love both. And, and the idea is not that God is opposed to money or his people having money, or the people of God flourishing in finances. Like it's not that God is against that, but rather what he's teaching us, it seems that Jesus is teaching us that, that if we will allow it, money can have a God-like power over us. And so what we must do is kind of hold it in its proper perspective under God as a gift from him. I would say it this way. Either, either we believe all that we have is from God, or we will treat what we have as God. Either we'll think about it as a gift from God, or we'll begin to treat it and view it and love it like it is God. And so Jesus reminds us over and over and over again, listen, all that we have is a gift from God.

All that we have is a gift from God to steward. Well, this is probably the, the main focus of Luke 12. So we'll say a little bit more about this in just a minute when we get to that text, right? But, but lemme say this right here. What we have as a gift from God holds a purpose beyond our enjoyment. Now, I do believe that God intends for his people to enjoy his creation and the life that he's put us in. I I think that God intends for us to know joy, but joy doesn't come from money and possessions. That's the point. He teaches over and over and over again. So all that we have is a gift from God, not simply for our enjoyment, but he's given it to us for a purpose to steward. Well, the invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation to partner in God's redeeming and restoring plan. But God is inviting us. Jesus is inviting us to partner in his plan to see his kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. And one of the ways we partner in that plan is by living out an unreasonably generous money ethic in such a way that it radically stands out in the world around us. So all that we have is a gift from God to steward well and bless others. All that we have is a gift from God to steward well and bless others.

Lemme show you a couple of verses right here. Okay? Both of these are from the Apostle Paul, um, second Corinthians, chapter nine. Paul says that you'll be enriched in every way, to be generous. In every way. You'll be enriched in every way, to be generous, in every way, which then through us will produce thanksgiving to God. So Paul says, listen, the reason that God enriches us, the reason that God blesses us, the reason that that we have what we have from God isn't because he, he's rewarding all of our faithfulness and saying, go have fun. Right? But like, following God isn't about getting to the pizza party because we got enough ar points, right? Is that still a thing for kids? I don't know. Um, but, but, but like we, we approach a lot of followship in that way, right? Like, okay, well, well, this blessing's gonna come because I was faithful in this way and dah, dah, dah. And so God's rewarding me. It's the pizza party. I'm supposed to have fun with this. No, God, God enriches us. He blesses us so that we may be generous to others and thus Thanksgiving be returned to God.

And then in Acts, acts 20, Paul says, um, he says, in all things I've, I've shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus. So he's quoting Jesus here how He himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And so the picture that's being painted here is that as God enriches us, as God blesses us, we funnel that to the world around us. We bless others. And in that, as we receive blessing and then bless others, God receives thanksgiving and then we receive joy. Do you see how the cycle works? The picture isn't to hold the blessings hold the enrichment, but rather to send to share because in that thanksgiving goes to God and joy returns to us. So all that we have is a gift from God to steward well and bless others, therefore, avoid greed at all costs.

Now, if I had to summarize it all, I, I think this would be a statement that could, I could summarize pretty well the teachings of Jesus. And, and like I said, there's a lot, there's a lot, um, unsaid there, okay? But, but that's, that's, that's kind of broad flow over big ideas. Let, let me give you a couple of verses right here on, uh, this idea of greed. Uh, Luke chapter 11, I told you 12, I wasn't lying to you. Stay there. I'll meet you there in just a second. Um, but Luke 11, if we start in verse 38 or 39, we'll start in 39. Um, what what happens right before this is that there's this argument between Jesus and the Pharisees because Jesus didn't wash his hands before dinner. Um, which isn't like, you know, whys you calling your husbands out? 'cause they don't wa well, they don't wash their hands in the bathroom enough, right? Like it wasn't that this was like a holiness issue for the Pharisees, okay? The Pharisees that kind of made this rule essentially that, that if you don't wash your hands before you eat, then your dirty hands make your heart dirty. That's kind of how that worked. Uh, and so Jesus being the master teacher that he is, takes this idea, takes this argument, kind of turns it on its head and uses it to address something totally different. Generosity.

So it says, and the Lord said to him, being the Pharisee, now you pharisees, cleansy outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. The dude's like, well, I just wanted you to wash your hands, right? You fools. It's about the strongest language Jesus uses by the way you fools. Did not he who made the outside make the inside also, but give his alms those things that are within and behold everything is clean for you. All right? Now, pause right here for just a second, because this phrase to give as umms, that that is a very Jewish way of saying give to the poor, right? As a matter of fact, some of your translations probably say that, right? Like, give to the needy, meet the needs of the poor. That's what they were saying there. He said, give as umms those things that are within. So he is making this a heart issue. He's making this about what is the inside? Not not my dirty hands, but my dirty heart and behold everything is clean for you. Do you see that Jesus is telling us here that that generosity give his arms, acts as an antidote to greed, then everything is clean for you.

See, I point that out because I think sometimes we get that backwards. I get that backwards a whole lot, right? The idea of, okay, if I can work on the greed, if I can work on the, the selfishness that is just inherent in me, then I can begin to develop a, a, a heart of generosity. I can begin to develop a muscle of generosity. Or maybe the reason I I don't have that muscle yet is because I have too much greed and so I gotta get one out so I can get the other. But what Jesus says is no, the practice of generosity, the act of it, if I will act in this way, if I will practice giving alms, then the greed that is in me will be rooted out, right? We get rid of the greed by acting generously. Alright?

Go to the next verse here, one more verse right here. It says, but woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint and rue and every herb and neglect justice and the love of God, these you ought to have done without neglecting the other. Now, what I wanna point out right here is that there's a difference between tithing and generosity. Okay? Now, if, if you, you hang around church enough, you grew up in church, you've heard this tithing word, you may even hear it today. Like we, we say it a lot here, right? We'll, we'll, at the end of the experience we'll pass the baskets and we may say something like, Hey, here's your chance to drop your communication cards and your tithes and offerings, or you can give your tithes in the, the giving boxes at, at the back. We'll say something like that. Now, the tithe, right? When we talk about tithe, the tithe was, was a, um, rooted in the Old Testament, was the Old Testament command to give 10% of, of what you had, 10% of the first roots off the top to, towards the purpose of God through the temple and the priest, right? 10% went directly towards God's purpose through the temple and the priest.

Now, there's a whole lot of debate on whether or not you and I as, as New Testament believers, followers of Christ under the new covenant, if we are still obligated to that command. And here's what I would say in that, okay? The tithe, the idea of giving 10% is an incredibly wise practice in principle, okay? It, it is a thing that Brooke and I, we, we follow, we, we have for a very, very long time, 10% of what we have off the top to the church, to the local church. The tithe is an incredible principle. It's a wise principle to follow. But we need to understand, okay, that, that the teaching of scripture, not just the Old Testament, not just the New Testament, but the whole teaching of scripture is not that God wants you to live like a Christian with 10% and then an American with the other 90. You tracking on that. It's not that, okay, 10% check, I'm done. Now all of this 90 I get to go party with, I can go throw the pizza party. That's not the picture. The idea that God is teaching us through his word is that we hold all of it a hundred percent with open hands towards God. I'm not telling you give a hundred percent of what you own to the church, okay? That's not what I'm saying. But the idea is that we hold a not just 10%, but we hold a hundred percent open handedly towards God because all of that, the whole 100%, not just the 10%, but the whole 100% is a gift from him to steward well and bless others, right? That's where th idea of generosity comes in. Okay?

Now, Luke, 1220 minutes worth of an intro, I'm kidding. We're gonna be okay. Um, Luke 12 says, and he told them a parable. So this is one of the, the 50% of Jesus's parables that deal with generosity, right? And he told them a parable saying, the land of a rich man produce plentiful. And he thought to himself, what shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops? And he said, I'll do this. I'll tear down my barns and build larger ones in there. I'll store all my grain and all my goods, keep going. And I'll say to my soul, soul, which I love by the way, like, who doesn't address their soul that way? Right? Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, fool, now Jesus saying it again, right? Because the majority of the times that Jesus uses this strong language is in the realm of generosity. But God said to him, fool, this night, your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.

Tolstoy, uh, shares a story, uh, kind of around the question of how much land does a man need, right? And he tells this story that there's this farmer who, uh, gets approached by a businessman one day and the businessman says, Hey, I'll make a deal with you. You've got 24 hours and however much land you can walk around within those 24 hours, I'll buy for you. But here's the catch. If you don't make it back to your property in the, in, within 24 hours, I will take all that you already own. So the farmer wanting more takes the deal, sets off, walking walks as far and as long as he can, walks all day, all through the night. And as he sees the sun is nearing the time where it's gonna rise, he realizes I'm still a long way off from my property, and if I don't make it back, I'll lose it all. So the farmer takes off running he sprints, he gives it all that he has, and just as the sun begins to rise, he crosses his property line victorious. But in all of the hustle and all of the hurry, you can probably see this coming and all of the hustle and all of the hurry, he has a heart attack and he drops dead right there. And Tolstoy kind of summarizes the point, how much land does a man really need, just enough to be buried in?

Now, that's one of those things that I think we all kind of get to some degree, right? Like we, we've seen experienced death enough to know that it doesn't really matter what we have, it's not going in the grave with us. And if it does, we're not gonna enjoy it. Like we kinda understand that reality. But that's one of those places. This is one of those places where it's a lot easier to understand, to believe a reality than it is to live in it, right? And that tension is what Jesus is pressing in here, because I, look, I get it. I can't take it all with me. I understand that, but you know what? I don't wanna miss out while I'm here either. And that's what he's pressing into. And he gives us these kind of two options right here at the end. He says, so, so it is who, the one who lays up treasure for himself. There's option one and is not rich towards God. There's option two, you can lay up treasure for yourself, or you can be rich towards God.

Now, here's where the tension is rooted. One of those makes sense. The other doesn't fair, like I get, I understand what it means to lay up treasure for myself. I can do that savings account, IRA's, a guide, I can do that, but rich towards God, if, if he owns it all, how am I supposed to be rich towards him to begin with? What, what does that even mean? And it's, it's this understanding or, or maybe even a lack of understanding on our part that I think creates the tension that Jesus is then pressing into. Well, how do I do that?

So if you skip down to verse 32, skip down a couple of verses. Luke chapter 12, verse 32, he says, fear not little flock love, by the way, how we've moved from fools to flock. Fear not little flock for it. Is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom, sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old with a treasure in heaven that does not fail, where no thief approaches and a moth destroys for where your treasure is there will your heart be also. So here's how we are rich towards God, how we we, uh, provide money bags that do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that never fails. Like sell your possessions and give to the needy that, that you tell me, that's how I'm supposed to be rich towards God, be poor. Like give it all up. Sell it all is I really want God, what God wants for my wife, for my kids, for my family, because then we're just gonna be homeless and broken and poor. Like, is that, let me leave you at a little bit of tension here, okay? I I don't necessarily think that's the case. I think, and let me just, if I can, like reserve the right to like be a little bit wrong here. Let me reserve that right? I, I think this is one of those grandiose teachings of Jesus kind of in the line of, you know, take out your eye or cut off your hand if it causes you to sin. Okay? I think that's kind of what's going on here with the caveat of understanding that, that this is the exact same line that Luke chooses to use to describe the New Testament church in Acts two.

Do, do we got that verse Acts chapter two, Luke's writing about the church, and here's what he says. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to, to all as any had need. This same language. Jesus said, you, you wanna store it for yourself, money bags, it's gonna be rich towards God, sell it all and give to the poor. And Luke says, well, you know what the church did when they were born, when the church first got started, they sold all that they had and they gave to the port. Now there, there's a couple of words in here. We've got 'em highlighted that I think show us there's something a little bit different going on, right? They were selling, so there's this ongoing progression of it, and they were given the proceeds as any had need. And so it was, it was more need based. It wasn't like, okay, you got baptized today, go sell everything. You know, like that wasn't the idea. Oh, you, you wanna believe, oh, you wanna be a part of the church? Cool, give us your house. Like this. It, it was more, okay, this is what I believe is happening here. It was more that the believers, what marked a change in the believers is that they shifted from a scarcity mindset to an abundant mindset. You know, the difference there, like so many of us operate so regularly in a scarcity mindset. That's why we store up for ourselves. That's why our bank accounts are so big. That's why are we build bigger barns to hold it all because we're operating out of a scarcity mindset. But one of the things that radically changed for the New Testament church and the people of God is that shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundant mindset where they actually believed in the hope and the promise and the trust of God that, hey, listen, just like I provide for the birds and the flowers, I'm gonna provide for you because you mean that much more to me. And so they, they, they operate in an abundant mindset, believing wholeheartedly in the hope of God that the needs will be taken care of. Now, they didn't sell it all in in one moment and go throw it out the window, but they held it all with an open hand so that when the need arose, there was nothing that held them back from meeting that need. So that, back to the verses we read earlier, Thanksgiving went back to God, enjoy, return to them.

Now, okay, great. But like, how do I plan for this? What does that look like? Does 10%, is it 20%? Like, like what's the line? Is there, is there a number I need to live under? There's a great quote by CS Lewis. Okay? Incredible author, credible writer. CS Lewis said this, he said, I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. That's what we want. We wanna know, right? Gimme, gimme a number. He said, I'm afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, et cetera, is up to the standard common among those, this is the crux of it all, that you and I as the people of God are not meant to be common or meant to be uncommon. We're meant to stand out, to be different, to be salt and light. If it's up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small, there ought to be things we should like to do. This is a great rule of thumb. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.

Lemme give that to you in, in maybe a little bit more of a south Mississippi way, okay? Don't let your want be greater than their need. Don't let your want be greater than their need. I can't meet a need because I want another day of vacation. A red flag should go up that something is off in the heart of generosity, that God is cultivating in us if our wants supersede the needs of the people around us.

Now, let me give you something practical, okay? Something a little bit more concrete to sink your teeth into. Uh, Richard, uh, foster wrote a great book years ago. It's called The Celebration of Disciplines, which I realize doesn't sound like a great title, really is a good book promise. Um, but he, in his chapter on generosity, foster listed out like 10 practical ways we could steward. Well, 10, I think it's 10 ways that, that we can be uncommon in the way in which we handle our money and our possessions and begin to develop a generous lifestyle, right? And so I shortened the list, lemme give you a couple. Um, he said buy things for their usefulness rather than their status. It's easy. Avoid anything that produces addiction in you. Hey, listen, you wanna build a generous lifestyle or not? It's probably a good rule of thumb, okay? Avoid anything that produces addiction in you develop a habit of giving things away. You ever met those people that like when you compliment their shirt or their jacket, next thing you know, they're giving it to you or buying you one, just like it, like you can just see there's something different about those people. Don't fall for trends. Develop a deeper appreciation for cre for creation. Listen to me, if your Instagram account is hitting you up with all those sponsored ads for like grounding mats and grounding sheets, don't fall for the trend. Go outside, put your feet in the grass, right? It's easy. Avoid, avoid anything that distracts you from seeking first the kingdom of God. I think it was Foster who, who also said that anyone who isn't seeking the kingdom first isn't seeking the kingdom at all. You cannot serve God and money right now.

Lemme do this so we can wrap up. Um, if you, if you tune me out from the jump, because, well, you just expected a whole nother, you know, preacher, give more to the church kind of message right back here, okay? 90 seconds, just gimme, if you tune me out, gimme 90 seconds right here, okay? 'cause I can't get outta here without knowing that you hear this. Paul says in second Corinthians, second Corinthians eight, nine, I believe Paul says that, that even though Jesus was rich, he became poor. So that through his poverty, we can know richness, understand that God will never ask us to do something that he didn't do first. God always does it first. God gave first. And we're not talking about 10% of an income. We're talking about life for God. So love the world that he gave his one and only son. God gave everything he could to you, to me, so that we could know life, so that we can know blessing, so that we could know joy. And so the, the heart of generosity that God cultivates in us, right? Isn't, isn't a heart that that responds out of, out of obedience alone or obligation or responsibility, But it's a response of gratitude, right? Thanksgiving to him because of all that He's blessed me with. Why would I not be willing to hold openhanded the life, the eternal life that he's given Me?

So we're gonna, I I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna step into a time of response across all of our campuses or our teams are gonna come, they're gonna lead us in a time of worship. And so maybe for you, like there's some evaluation, right? Psalm says, search my heart, reveal God, what is in me? You need to pray that back to God and ask him to reveal what's in you that's keeping you from being generous. Where it is that maybe you're seeking something other than the kingdom first, what money, what possessions, what pride. Maybe taking your heart art or maybe maybe for you, your, your response today is, is to call out and ask for the life that he freely offers you. And you can move to the crosses you can take from you. We'll have prayer team available for you to pray with you, whatever that may look like. Okay? Lemme pray. And then we will, we'll worship and respond.

Lord, we thank you God, we thank you again for your goodness. God, we thank you for your generosity towards us, your grace, your mercy, your love, your bounding steadfast love that we could never earn, that we could never deserve. But in your generosity, you pour it out towards us. God, thank you. I thank you that you gave your life and you gave your life so that, that we could know life and what I pray today for the person that will find it for the first time we pray that you'll guide us, Lord, that you'll move in this time, and that you'll be glorified. All things we ask in your name. Amen.