A Giving Plan

SERMON: 2011-07-31--ac1168--a-giving-plan SOURCE DURATION: 00:49:56.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.90 APPROVED: false REASON: All provided candidates consist of repetitive, lyrical phrases typical of a hymn or worship song, indicating the transition from sermon to music. Since no preceding spoken word material is available to mark the end of the sermon, and per instructions, if all shown material appears non-sermon, we select the final candidate index. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: 00:46:14.600-00:49:44.840 ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: yes ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: end Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- Well, last week, in looking at the concluding verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 9, we looked at three things that the Apostle Paul said we need to clearly understand and lay hold of if we're going to cultivate generosity. The first is the biblical law of reaping and sowing. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap, say it with me, sparingly. Whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Universal law of nature and a universal law in the spiritual world. You don't get ahead in life by clutching. You get ahead in life by sowing after the Spirit as God leads. Secondly, we saw giving has to come from the heart. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. Why does God love a cheerful giver? Because a cheerful giver gets faith, understands that God is the originator of all that we have, and a cheerful giver has his or her life being transformed by the power of grace to become more like their father who was in heaven, who gave us everything when he gave us his son. And then thirdly, we saw together that giving serves a two-fold purpose. It helps people and it brings praise to God. And that's where we're going to pick it up this morning. And before I start talking about a giving plan and what that looks like, I'm going to ask Mary Lynn to come up for a moment, because Mary Lynn came to me after the service last week to share one of her stories in terms of reaping or sowing and reaping. And I thought you'd be encouraged this morning as she shares it with you. Good morning. It's great to have an opportunity to bring glory to God by some of the things that he's done in my life. When I came back to the Lord in my 30s, someone told me that the Word was God's love letter to me. So I just devoured the Word. But I found a lot of neat things in there. I found that God said that he would provide for all my needs according to his riches and glory. And I was cheeky back then, and I said, "Okay, God, show me. My son needs a raincoat." So an hour or so later, knock came to the door and a lady who I'd never heard from before or after said, "Thought maybe your sons could use these clothes," and on top was folded a raincoat. So I knew that God would provide for my needs. But during that time, there was a singing group called the Imperials, and they sang the song, "Cast your bread upon the water, and it will come back, pressed down, shaken together and running over." And that really touched me, and I thought, "Okay, God, you must mean what you say." So I planted a seed and ended up being given a free trip to Florida. The man had applied for his old age pension, and he couldn't leave the country, and it was paid for. So God blessed me that time. But the time I told Pastor last week was about not too long ago. I think I still lived in Brighton. I was going to some house meetings with a travelling evangelist, and he happened to mention that he needed a car. So in a prayer meeting at the church I was going to, God told me to give him my car. And I am radical, but maybe not that radical. Anyway, I was obedient, and I gave him my car. And I couldn't believe it, but I was given a van, $14,000, with no strings attached, no money asked for, at the time when three other women and I were going down to Pensacola. That was our chariot to get down there, that God provided for me because I gave him what he asked me to give. I've learned that you can't out-give God. You don't give to get, as Pastor said. That would be greedy. But when you're obedient to the promptings of God's Holy Spirit, it's awesome the way that he will bless you. Thank you, that's great, thanks so much. Thank you Mary Lynn. And, of course, and this is always an important thing to understand, it's not always that simple or always that dramatic. But when God's trying to teach you something, and when He's trying to build your faith, there will be those moments. And part of the key to that, then, is learning to listen for those promptings of the Holy Spirit, take the risk that entails, and then watch and see what God will do. You'll never know unless you step out and test the Lord in these matters. So thank you Mary Lynn, great stories, obviously a gift of faith in that area that God has been instilling in you. So you can talk all you want about this, you can understand all you want about reaping and sowing, you can understand all you want about giving from a generous heart, and God loves a cheerful giver, and you can understand that this is God's way of blessing other people and generating praise around the world, all of that is useless if you don't actually step into it and make it happen. And most of us, most of the time, nothing is going to happen unless we actually develop or consider developing a plan. And interestingly enough, that's what Paul talks about in not only the verses that we have read together this morning, but in the chapter that leads up to it. And so I want to take you back one chapter all the way to the beginning of 2nd Corinthians chapter 8, because Paul begins this passage on generosity by pointing to the example of a neighboring church. So listen to these words as they're recorded for us in chapter 8, the first four verses. And now brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability, entirely on their own. They urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. Keep that slide up for just a moment. Let me quickly point out four significant elements here. The first is that the church that he refers to are the churches in Macedonia. And let me show you a little map just to put that in perspective for you. Macedonia is part of Greece, of course, even today. And here you see Corinth, which is in the region of Achaia that Paul talks about later. But up here is Macedonia. And Macedonia has the church at Philippi, it has the church at Thessalonica, it also has the church at Berea, even has a place called Pella. And the Macedonians were extremely generous, as we'll see in a moment, in their giving. Macedonia was also, just for the record, the place where Michel's brother died 14 years ago. He was a helicopter pilot. He was on loan to the United Nations. And one day, as he was ferrying some of the top United Nations officials from one location to another, he left his filed flight path to show them this particular tourist attraction. This is the Church of Saint Nicola in Mavrova Lake in Macedonia. It used to be a river, or there was a river in that area. They built a dam, and as often happens, the buildings get submerged. And this particular church, depending on how much water there is in the lake, is either totally underwater or it begins to stick out like this. And the local Christians like the joke that the church keeps on rising out of the waters. But he was so intrigued by this tourist attraction that he left his flight path to dip down with his helicopter to show the brass this particular location. What he failed to remember, if we can have that slide back up for a moment, is that if you look carefully, there is a power line right here, right across the lake. And tragically, his helicopter hit the power line. It crashed and all four on board were killed. That's our association in our family with Macedonia, a very, very tragic accident. He was otherwise an extremely accomplished helicopter pilot. Not only was this church in Macedonia, but it says further concerning this Macedonian church that they were very, very poor. Out of their most severe trial, their overflowing joy, and their extreme poverty. These were not people who were sitting on a lot of money. These were very, very poor people. Not only that, but out of their poverty came a rich generosity. He says, "I testify they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability." This was an amazing group of churches with incredible generosity for the Jerusalem saints. And then he goes to add this, "Entirely on their own. They pleaded urgently with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints." Can you imagine people eking out an existence, being so stirred by the needs of the Jerusalem church that they're actually giving not grudgingly, not because it's been demanded from them, but they're standing in line and they're saying, "How can we help?" You know why? Because they understood a very basic spiritual principle, that if they were blessed spiritually on account of the Jerusalem church, they had an obligation to help the church in Jerusalem when they were facing economically difficult times. They understood what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 11, where the scripture says, "If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?" So Paul begins by reminding these Corinthians of the generosity of the Macedonian church. And then it's really a very interesting passage because then he goes on to point out that the reason they were so generous is because of the generosity of the Corinthian church. Listen again to the first two verses of the chapter that we read earlier. If we can move that slide up, "There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints, for I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year, you and Achaia were ready to give and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action." Do you get what he's doing? He says the Macedonian church is incredibly generous, but the reason they're so incredibly generous is because you, the Corinthian church, I told them about you, and telling them about you stirred them into action to become generous. Raises a very interesting question because it almost sounds like manipulation, doesn't it? I mean, isn't that how it comes across to you? And how many, you know, one of the poor parenting skills that sometimes parents have is when they say to Johnny or to Susie, "Why can't you be as good a student as, you know, whoever next door?" Right? And, you know, you try that with your kids a few times and you'll discover that most of them, instead of rising to the occasion, they go down the other way. And so very readily in Christian circles, we think that challenging each other by somebody else's example is therefore a negative thing that we should not do. But that doesn't automatically follow. Manipulation is wrong if it is used for wrong purposes and plays on wrong motivation. But Scripture is filled with examples of where God's people are challenged to do better because somebody else has raised the bar, and that's what Paul is doing here. And he echoes that in Romans 12 verse 10, for example, when he says, "Outdo one another in showing honor." That sounds like competition to me. Don't outdo one another in building bigger houses or running bigger businesses necessarily or, you know, in trying to be the top dog in the power chain. No, no, outdo one another in showing honor, outdo one another in godliness, outdo one another in showing what love in Christ looks like. And he does the same thing here in this passage earlier in chapter 8 verse 7 where he says, "Just as you excel in everything," he's talking to the Corinthians now, "in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in your love for us, see that you also excel in the grace of giving." Now, what word comes from the word "excel"? "Excellent," "excellent." He says, "I want you to be excellent in this grace of giving because, look, the Macedonian Christians have been stirred up by you," and so he uses that example to say, "I want you to work off each other and recognize that you can outdo one another in the good things of God." Does that make sense? Yes. Not all competition in Christian circles is bad. You can have good competition if you do it for the right reasons for the glory of God. That's how we grow. Iron sharpens iron, and so one man sharpens another. The Macedonians were stirred up by the Corinthians. But now, and again, this is very interesting, I think, Paul is having second thoughts because it occurs to them that maybe, just maybe, he has oversold the Corinthians. And what if the Macedonians come along with him to collect from the Corinthians, and now the Corinthians are not ready? And so what does he do? He sends his associate Titus together with, I think, Apollos. The name is not mentioned, but it's the brother who's known in the churches for preaching, and that typically in the New Testament is Apollos. And their job is to go ahead of the Apostle Paul and make arrangements for the gift which they have promised. Listen again to the verses three and four of the chapter that we read earlier. But I am sending the brothers, Titus and Apollos probably, in order that are boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready as I said you would be. For, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to say anything about you, would be ashamed of having been so confident. So here is the point that Paul is making, and the point that I'm trying to communicate with you this morning. Any significant degree, we need the next slide up. Any significant degree of giving involves planning. Any significant degree of giving involves planning. See, it's not hard to give a little bit here and there. But to give consistently and in a sustainable way, as a way of life, takes a lot of planning. Because I think typically what happens with many believers is that we live a hand-to-mouth existence. And so we get our paycheck hopefully, or we make money in one way or the other. And we try to pay our bills of course. And we try to buy the things that we need, and sometimes just the things that we want. And then sort of what's left over at the end of the day, we may contribute to God, or we may share with somebody else in need, but typically our money runs out long before we get around to generosity. And sometimes if there's a special project, we'll be extra generous. Or if we're stirred up, maybe we'll put a 20 in the plate or whatever else. But it's typically hit and miss, and at the end of the day or at the end of the year, we delude ourselves into thinking that we are in fact far more generous than what we actually are. And the only antidote against that, and that's why I read you this story from Scripture, is that we need to sit down and we need to not live by the seat of our pants, but we need to live by planning. Now planning, and we're talking in this context primarily about finances, but it really applies to time, treasure, and talent, does it not? Planning involves two things. Number one, it involves making a decision to give, making a decision to give. Listen again to 2 Corinthians 9, 7, we looked at this last week. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. There is a decision to be made. And this was never more clear to me than many years ago when I was a student at college, and I remember attending an American Thanksgiving Day service in the chapel. And as the offering was being received, I remember the Lord and I having a conversation. I remember being convicted that the $20 that I had in my pocket, I needed to put in the collection plan. I have never known how big $20 was until that moment. And I remember thinking, boy, you know, I'm a poor student, and I can think of all kinds of good things that I could buy with that $20. Any of you ever feel that way when the collection plate comes around? All the things I not only need, but all the things I might also want. Now, here's the irony, it was my parents' money to begin with, because they were financing my way through college, but it was in my pocket. And the question was, was it going from my pocket into the collection plate, yes or no? And I remember the tug of war, because you see, this was a Thanksgiving Day service, and everything inside me said, concretely, you need to be able to demonstrate thanks to God, because he is the giver of all good things. And so God gave me grace in that moment then to do that, but I remember that so clearly, because that was a definitive moment in my life, where I didn't just reach into my pocket for some loose change to put on the collection plate as it goes by, but where I really had to decide, am I going to give yes or no? And many of us here, when we went through the building campaign, went through that whole process. And many of us here perhaps still go through that on a regular basis when we say, "Lord, what is it that stewardship looks like in my heart?" When the Lord said to Mary Lee, "Give this man your car," it didn't just happen. You had to make a decision, and decisions are sometimes very difficult to make. So why should any of God's people make a decision to live generously with their time and their talent and their treasure? I'll give you three biblical reasons very quickly. First of all, because God says so. I know that's a huge revelation, but it's the best I can come up with. And the classic passage, of course, is Malachi 3.10, where the Lord says to Israel in the Old Testament, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven, and pour out so much blessing, that you will not have room enough for it." I believe it's one of the only places in Scripture where the Lord invites us to test Him. Most of the time, you're in big trouble when you test the Lord. But in the area of stewardship, time, talent, and treasure, the Lord says, I think He knows the kind of stuff that we're made of, and how tough this is for human nature. And He says, "Listen, test me, try me out, and see if I won't open the windows of heaven, and I'll pour out for you overflowing blessing." All through Scripture, God says, "If you're going to be one of my followers, then I want you to demonstrate faith by showing the world that you recognize I am the author of all that you have, and everything you have is a gift that comes from Me, and I'm the one who can multiply it for My glory." So why should we give? God says so. Number two, and we dealt with this extensively last week, it blesses others and brings praise to God. In 2 Corinthians 9-12, the service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Talked, as I said, a lot about that last week, don't need to belabor it this morning. And then reason number three, and this is what often surprises people, it will help you grow. It will help you grow. You will be made rich, 2 Corinthians 9-11, in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. You will be made rich in every way. That is to say, your faith will expand as you step out in obedience, and as you step out in obedience sharing time, talent, and treasure, and God meets you there and multiplies the seed of your sowing, then you discover your heart gets bigger. Because remember, this is no longer just about God, or even about other people. God owns the cattle on the thousand hills, the gold in every mine. He can easily sell all His cattle, mine all His gold. Really doesn't need you, and He doesn't need me. But guess what? We need Him, because you see, it gives us opportunity to grow up into the image and the likeness of Christ, and it prepares for us a bigger harvest, not only in time, but also in eternity. Because remember, we're taking the treasures from the here and now, we're laying them up in heaven, where moth and rust do not consume. Are you with me here? We need to understand these matters, because it will help us to decide whether we're rich or whether we're poor. That stewardship of time, talent, and treasure is not an option if you're going to be a follower of Jesus, because God says, "This is what I expect to work in your heart by union with Christ." And God says, "I'm not asking you to do anything that I haven't done, because I gave you everything." Understand that. "Thanks be to God," says Paul, "for His inexpressible gift." God demonstrated His love that while we were yet sinners, what did He do? Christ died for us. So He says, "You believe in Me, I live in you, then demonstrate your faith in practical terms." So, we need to make a decision to give not only, but then, of course, we need to make a decision on how much to give. And there again, three factors come into consideration, let me quickly walk you through those. Number one, what can I afford? Because the biblical principle is spelled out in 2 Corinthians 8-12. If the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. And without spending a lot of time on that, the Bible always talks about equal sacrifice, not equal giving. The biblical principle is there should be equality in the body of Christ. It's not right for somebody to sit over here and they've got everything in the world and somebody else in the body of Christ is sitting over here and they have nothing. Our sacrifice ought to be equal. And the widow with her two pennies in the story that Jesus tells gets more praise in heaven than the Pharisees who, out of their wealth, were publicly flaunting it and throwing it into the coffers. Don't ever think that small amounts don't matter or that because you have little, you only have nothing to contribute. That's one of the biggest mistakes that you can ever make. God doesn't need what you've got to offer in terms of time, talent, and treasure, but He wants you to demonstrate faith even with the little that you have because equal sacrifice is the principle of the kingdom of God. So why should we give and how much should we give, what we can afford? And then number two, what do I have faith for? Because you see, God gives a measure of faith to all of His children and some people have faith that is this high in this area. Somebody else has faith that is this high in another area. And so one of the ways in which you decide in terms of time, talent, and treasure, how much do I invest in the kingdom of God, is what does God give you faith for? What's the passion that burns in your heart? Where do you hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit? Where is God inviting you to step into and to exercise your faith? From Mary Lynn, that clearly was in that situation with her car and the traveling evangelist. And so she had to make that decision. Do I have faith that God will provide for me even if I make that sacrifice? What do you have faith for? And then thirdly, and this again is an important one, what can I give gladly? Because remember, God loves a cheerful giver. God's never interested in gifts given grudgingly. He wants what we have coming from the heart. And that's an important consideration because I can imagine when we're talking about this kind of theme, there is a certain gear grinding that takes place in some of our hearts at least. Is that not true? Remember where your treasure is, that is where your heart is? And I can promise you that if your treasure is in the here and now as opposed to the coming of God's kingdom, then there's a certain grinding that takes place inside you and some of us are living in fear, "Oh Lord, don't come along and make me give my car away." You know, like, "Lord, I don't even want to talk to you about anything because I'm afraid you might just want to start convicting me." And listen, He's not going to drag you into anything that He doesn't prepare you for. So get over yourself. And don't hide from God because you're afraid of the whispers of the Holy Spirit. Recognize that if God calls you to something, His call is always effectual. That is to say, He will create in you both the willingness and the desire ultimately to obey. Now, He might have to get a little rough with you here and there depending on, you know, how stubborn we are, but the point is, He's not going to twist your arm. He's not going to make you do something you don't want to do. He's going to stir in you the kind of faith that says, "This is what I really like to do for the glory of the Lord and for the blessing of other people." Doesn't that kind of make you go like, "Ha?" Come on. Am I the only one honest around here? You know, this is true for all of us. Nobody is so spiritual that any of this comes naturally to us. So let me wind up then just very quickly talking about a very practical plan that a lot of Christians who know a lot more about this stuff than I do operate with on a regular basis, and it's called the 10/10/80 rule. Anybody here familiar with it? Have you ever heard it? A handful of you, it's not fertilizer because that would be way too much potash and it would burn your roots, but the 10/10/80 plan is a very commonly accepted plan of stewardship in Christian circles that over the years has just proven to be very practical. And it goes like this, 10% of your income, you tithe to charity. That is to say you give it away, typically if you're part of a church community, perhaps part of a Christian school movement, that's where your money goes. It comes off the top, it's not the leftovers. In the Bible, it's always the first fruits because God is a great and honorable King, and you don't come marching into His presence without bringing Him the best of what you've got to offer. You don't give Him, "Do you want anybody coming to you with the leftovers of a gift that doesn't honor you?" That is an insult. And biblically, the first fruits are simply the best and the most valuable that you can give to God. The second 10%, interestingly enough, stands for savings. And people who know a lot more about this than I do recommend that after your 10% gets taken off the top, you then put 10% into your savings. You know why? Because savings gives you a buffer zone that enables you to survive the ups and downs of economic recessions. We can't all manage this to be sure, but people who are in the know say that typically if you're a wage earner, half your year's wages you want to have in savings so that in case you lose your job, it buys you the time that you need to find a new job. Now as I said, not everybody can manage it, but don't feel guilty about putting money into savings. The scripture puts it this way in the book of Proverbs. It says, "Go to the ant you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise. It is no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and it gathers its food at harvest." The opposite of savings is what? Debt. And debt, many of us can tell you from first-hand experience, is almost always a killer. Because the further behind you get, the harder it is to catch up. So the 80% then, the last 80% of your income goes into living expenses, paying your bills and doing whatever you want to do. Your discretionary income comes out of that. I know of people who have three jars where 10% of their paycheck goes into this jar, 10% goes into this jar for savings and 80% is what they live off and it's a great way to teach your kids stewardship because the earlier they learn these lessons, the more that becomes a conditioned response that will stand them in good stead financially for years to come. Now let me wrap up with this because I recognize that when we talk about this, there's a very divergent audience here that we're talking about. There's some of you, you're looking at that and you say, "Ah, man, I do a lot better than that. I give more than 10%, I can save more than 10%, I can live off a lot less than 80%." And that is a wonderful gift that you have. And I hope that your skills financially, you will share with other people who can grow into that area and learn by your example and by your modeling because the whole body of Christ profits as the economic status of a community in God increases. Is that not true? The more we have, the more we can share. Secondly, I know there are some of you sitting here and you're saying to yourself, "I'm so far into debt or my financial situation is of such a nature that I can't even begin to approach any of those figures." And I don't want you to sit here trying to beat yourself up and saying, "Well, I made a lot of bad investments, I made a lot of bad choices, I got myself into all kinds of trouble." It doesn't help to cry over spilled milk, but it does help to learn. And so though 10/10/80 may be out of your reach, who of us here cannot cut back on discretionary expenditures? Our financial people here will tell us that when they sit down with people in budget, it is amazing how much money you can spend in the course of a year on things like coffee, restaurant meals, or just, and have nothing to show for it except a fatter belly maybe at the end of the year. That true? Any of us can cut back. And so not only that, but if you can do 10% or 10% and 80%, why not aim for 1%? For some of us, that's a thousand-fold improvement, I guess, it's infinite improvement over nothing. I learned that in grade three, you multiply zero by something and it's, anyway, won't go there. Why not do what you can do? Why not step out and say, "All right," instead of just willy-nilly spending it on this side or the other thing and walking around with, and being an impulse buyer, "Lord, I'm going to make a decision that 1% of what I'm earning today, or 2% or whatever percent God gives you faith for, that is going to you, and I'm going to do it come hell or high water. And this much I'm going to stick into savings. I can maybe only save a buck a week." It's a beginning. And you'll discover that as you step out into it, as you sow, you learn to reap, your faith increases, and you begin to discover the reality of generosity that we've been talking about. But I suspect strongly there may well be still a third group present here this morning. And some of you are saying, "Don't touch my money. If I had known you're going to talk about this this morning, I would have stayed home because this grinds my gears, and it reinforces all my suspicions about the church and how they want my money." Well, let me tell you something. We don't want your money. Give it to some other charity. Don't hide behind that excuse or that lie. Recognize that this is not about God, it's not even about the church. It's about your heart, and your heart growing. And if the gears grind inside you when we're talking about this, then ask yourself the question, "Where am I at in my status with the Lord Jesus? Do I belong to Him, yes or no? If I do belong to Him, yes or no, then what needs to change inside me?" And I'm not suggesting you just sit down and try to force yourself into something that isn't natural, but at least be honest with Him about it, and say, "Lord, I am greedy. I live for myself. I live for my pleasure. I live for the here and now. What my neighbors think of me, what my friends think of me, how I feel about who I am and what I have, more important than anything else. But Lord, I know that that is at odds with the values of your kingdom. I don't even know how to change that. I don't even know if I'm willing to change that. But Lord, maybe you can make me willing to be made willing, to be made willing to somehow or another get to where I need to get for the glory of your name." Because I'll tell you one thing, when the kingdom of God comes in its glory, and the glory of God covers the whole earth like water covers the sea, and when God makes His heavenly city the New Jerusalem the eternal abode of God's people, there isn't going to be one stingy soul left, because we will all have been transformed to share the generosity of the heart of God. And it will be good forever, because there will be more than enough, not only for us, but all the way to go around, because Scripture says, "Thanks be to God for His," what? "inexpressible gift." Think about it. Stand with me as we close in prayer. Father, it's an amazing thing that you're not asking of us anything that you are entitled to ask, because you are the almighty, most holy God overall, without first demonstrating yourself what this looks like. Because Lord, you not only created this whole universe for our enjoyment, then when we fell into sin, you sent your Son, the Lord Jesus, and at an incredibly great expense to yourself, you paid the highest possible price that we might be redeemed as your children. And Lord, how you love it when you look into our hearts and into our lives, and you see your transforming grace changing us from clutches to givers. And Lord, you only know, or only you know, what that looks like for each of us individually. But Lord, we pray that as your grace works in us, we may indeed put you to the test and discover that you open the windows of heaven, not because we're trying to bribe you or trying to play some kind of investment game with you, but because we love you and we believe you and we trust you. So Lord, multiply our seed for sowing in time, talent, and treasure. May we sow generously, and then for your glory, may we reap generously so the world knows that you're our Father, and we're your kids, and we give you thanks. In Jesus' name, amen. [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:46:14.600; remove through 00:49:56.000] Son, I cannot compare to the glory of your love. There is no shadow in your presence. No mortal man will dare to stand before your throne, before the Holy One of heaven. It's only by your blood, and it's only through your mercy, Lord, I come. I bring an offering of worship to my king. No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing. Jesus, may you receive the honor that you're due, oh Lord, I bring an offering to you. Son, I cannot compare to the glory of your love. There is no shadow in your presence. No mortal man will dare to stand before your throne, before the Holy One of heaven. It's only by your blood, and it's only through your mercy, Lord, I come. I bring an offering of worship to my king. No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing. Jesus, may you receive the honor that you're due, oh Lord, I bring an offering to you. I bring an offering of worship to my king. No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing. Jesus, may you receive the honor that you're due, oh Lord, I bring an offering to you. Oh Lord, I bring an offering to you. Oh Lord, I bring an offering to you. Jesus, may you receive the honor that you're due, oh Lord, I bring an offering to you. [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:49:56.000; resume after this marked segment]