Psalm 1 describes the blessed person as one who has dug deep into God’s Word, making it the source of his daily meditation. In pursuit of this kind of blessed life, we briefly review the sermon from the previous Sunday. May you be like a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in its season (Psalm 1:3). This week we look back at Pastor Kim’s sermon on 2 Corinthians 9:6-15.
On Sunday I encouraged you to think through the truths of the passage to grow in joyful generosity. Here are the points again in case you don’t have your notes.
8 means to pursue joyful generosity:
- Evaluate your heart more than your finances (verse 7)
- Rest in God’s love, not secure finances (verse 7)
- Fuel your faith in God, not money (verses 8-11)
- Remember that money is about stewardship, not ownership (verse 10)
- Pursue true wealth/blessing (verses 10-11)
- Understand the greater purposes of money (verses 12-13)
- Be transformed by the Gospel (verses 13-15)
- Take joy in the greatest Treasure (verse 15)
An excerpt:
“For most people, the struggle with generosity is a simple issue of math – whatever I give away, I cannot spend on myself or my family. So if I give away $1,000, I have $1,000 less for myself. If I said, ‘Why not give more to the church, or to support a missionary, or to help a family in need?’ What comes to mind? What slows you down or even stops you? There are hundreds of ways you could phrase it or couch it, but it often comes down to this simple idea – I will have less for myself. Now in one sense, this math is correct – if you give away $1000, you can’t spend that $1000 on yourself… but Paul points out that despite the math being correct, there are different economics in place. What we should be looking at is not straight profit/loss, but sow and reap.”
Question: Generosity is an act of faith. You must believe in God’s generosity before you can be generous. How might the sow and reap principle encourage you to be generous?
“With this, when Christ is our true treasure, we are freed from the tyranny of a love for money and am free to use it to worship God and love others. Money doesn’t own me and I no longer live for it, rather I worship the One who is greater. I follow and serve and love and adore and find my security in the one true and living God, Jesus, who is the Christ. The gospel reveals to me a treasure beyond anything money can buy; the gospel reveals to me a God so glorious, so incomparable, so unfathomable, that the world pales in comparison. And in that worship no longer do I need to hoard my money, I can give it away; no longer do I see it as my treasure but rather a means of storing up treasures in heaven; no longer do I love it but rather I use it to love God and to love others. When we raised money to move into this building we talked about what it means to treasure Christ, and this was the encouragement we mentioned over and over – Treasure Christ above all things, because when Christ is your great Treasure, them money will cease to be – and when money ceases to be a treasure then it will simply be a means to love others and more importantly to love Christ the true Treasure.”
Encouragement: Think about what it would look like if Jesus were your true Treasure? Spend time in prayer, asking God to help you grow in your love for him, so that you value and treasure him above all things.
