AM I GENEROUS?

by Pastor Kent Munsey 12PM SERVICE

MAIN SCRIPTURES JOHN 12: 1-6 "Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.”

SERMON POINTS

INTRODUCTION: Heart of Generosity | Heart of Selfishness 1. THE ENEMY OF GENEROSITY IS SELFISHNESS 2. THE EXTRAVAGANCE OF GENEROSITY

- 3 Levels of Giving

- Giving Is an Extension of the Heart 3. THE REWARD OF GENEROSITY

- We Can’t Out-Give God

CONCLUSION: Challenge INTRODUCTION Heart of Generosity | Heart of Selfishness We are stepping into our Missio Dei season. It’s an exciting time for us as we really our faith in this season for all that God wants to do. Our church is only 5 years old and last year we raised 791,000 in which 750,000 came in. Our goal is to purchase this building and become owners not renters. We will acquire the front lobby and the space above us. Our rental income will actually cover our monthly note.

In our main text for today located in John 12:1-6, we see two heart's on display - Mary and Judas. The act of giving an extravagant gift, reveals the two different hearts; a heart of generosity and a heart of selfishness. The text challenges us to answer this question, “Am I Generous?” Q1: Why did Mary give such an extravagant gift?

Q2: Why is Judas so upset?

G = God = Generous | S = Satan = Selfish As humans, we are all born into sin. We were born selfish. Pastor Kent used the example of his 3 boys and how no one had to teach them how to be selfish. One of their first words was “mine!” What’s interesting, is that God (who isn’t selfish) uses that word “mine” when he refers to the tithe in the book of Malachi. He tells us to return back what is His (10%). In the text, Judas makes a scene in front of everyone and angrily yells, “Why wasn’t this oil sold and given to the poor?” In Mark 10:17-23, we hear Jesus asking someone to sell all they have and follow Him. It wasn’t something he expected or commanded, it was something He said to a person who asked to go further in the things of God. Judas is trying to use Jesus’s words from Mark 10 but he doesn’t have Jesus’ heart or spirit behind it. A lot of Christians use God’s word without having His spirit and heart behind the Words that He is saying. Scripture shows us that Judas made this bold statement without actually even caring about the poor!

THE ENEMY OF GENEROSITY IS SELFISHNESS

Extravagance is perception. It’s basically seeing that someone has more than YOU. We tend to judge things based on where we are personally. Pastor Kent shared an example of a visiting Pastor who joined us last year for our two52 conference. There was a generous couple in our church who opened up their beautiful home to host a dinner party for the visiting pastors. The couple lives in one of the best places you can own in Chicago. The visiting pastor leaned over to Pastor Kent when they arrived and said “Wow this place is unreal! However, if this couple was as generous as you say, then they would sell this big place and give the money to the poor.” Pastor Kent responded and said, “You don’t care about the poor. If you cared about the poor, you would sell YOUR house and give the money to the poor.” You see, Judas doesn’t know anything about what Mary is doing here or why she’s doing it and yet he gives himself permission to judge what he thinks is “extravagant,” “too generous," “appropriate," and what is "not appropriate.” In verse 6, we clearly see the selfish heart of Judas, "Not that he (Judas) cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.” Who is the leader of this group of twelve? You guessed it, that would be Jesus! He knew that Judas was a thief. Yet, he didn’t let that be a disqualified to access God’s grace. Our God is so good and generous, that despite our weaknesses he will give us the opportunity to make the right decisions.

In Chapter 3 in the book of Malachi, the prophet confronts the people of Israel and gives them this message from God, “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.” Pastor Kent, asked the room if anyone would take and steal from the offering bucket as it passes by your row during the live service? Then he asked if anyone would keep money that belongs in the offering bucket? Is there a difference between taking money that is in the offering bucket and keeping money in your bank account that belongs in the offering bucket? In Chicago there is a difference, because one of them is probably a felony! However, in heaven, God sees them as one in the same.

THE EXTRAVAGANCE OF GENEROSITY 3 Levels of Giving Did you know that every gift in the bible can be put into three categories - a tithe, an offering and an extravagant gift? Let’s talk a little bit about the extravagance of generosity. God led by example in this area of extravagant giving when He gave us His only son Jesus to pay the costly price for our freedom. In 1 Chronicles 29, we read about David giving the best offering possible for the building and construction of God’s temple. Scholars say his offering would be valued at 21 billion dollars! In Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4 we read about a widow whom Jesus pointed out who gave only 2 mites, but God saw it as

extravagant because she gave all she had to the House of God. Again, in the book of Acts 4 when the early church started, we read that “there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed for each person’s basic needs.” Selling your home and giving all the proceeds to the church would definitely fall into the “extravagant” category! In John 5:5, we see Judas saying that this woman's oil should of been sold for 300 denarii and then given to the poor. 300 Denarii is 300 times a laborer’s daily wage of earnings. This woman basically gave Jesus a years worth of salary in this moment which is why the bible called it “costly oil.” If you gave a year’s worth of your salary in our Missio Dei offering would you call that gift “extravagant?” I’m pretty sure that we all would! What if you took that year’s salary and poured it on someone’s feet? Most of us would judge that and say that would be extravagantly wasteful! Giving Is An Extension of Our Hearts Extravagant generosity has very little to do with the amount, and everything to do with the heart. Jesus explains in the text that what Mary is doing is vital - she was anointing Him for His burial. That’s why when the women showed up at the tomb to anoint his body, He had already been resurrected and was no longer in the tomb. Mary’s act of generosity was prophetic and essential to one of the most amazing acts ever done by God - raising Christ from the dead! Can you imagine having the opportunity to be apart of that? Mary’s heart in giving was just to be generous and

express her gratitude. She wasn't even thinking that it could have impact nor was she expecting anything in return. Her extravagant generosity was something personal between her and God. Regardless of how much God has (since He owns it all), He cares about giving! It’s not the amount we give, its the heart behind the sacrificial gift that impresses the Lord. Did you know that the very first gift we ever give back to God in response to His generous extravagant gift of salvation, is our heart. Think about it! Luke 15:7 says that "heaven is full over joy over just 1 sinner who decides to repent than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance." There is something precious to God when we give Him something costly, like our heart. Our response to receiving God’s extravagant gift (His Son Jesus) is also an extravagant move - giving Him our whole heart - our entire life. in Zephaniah 3:17, it says that “God rejoices over us with gladness …and singing.” That word “rejoices” in the hebrew mean to “jump and twirl about.” When we give ourselves fully to Him, He rejoices - jumps and twirls about! It’s amazing that we can cause God to get so passionate and excited about us that He jumps and twirls about. Paul calls us “living sacrifices” in Romans 12. Our lives bring joy to the heart of God!

THE REWARD OF GENEROSITY We Can’t Out-Give Our God Pastor Kent shared some interesting statistics with us about giving. As he taught earlier, there are three levels of giving - tithes, offering, extravagant offerings. Did you know that 5-7% of Christians actually tithe. Here at City Church we have around 1,000 people who attend City Church on a weekly basis across all of our services. 30% of those who call City Church “home,” give something in the offering. The reason that most people never get to level 3 of giving is because they have not activated their faith in obedience to start at level 1 in giving their tithe to God. Last year, when we look at the amount of money that came in for Missio Dei ($750,000), it wasn’t the result of a lot of people. Around 50 people gave 95% of that offering that was collected live in service ($250,000). There were around 5 people who gave the rest. What’s amazing is that these were people who were already tithing. Once you have trusted God with level 1 and 2, it’s easy to step into level 3 with your faith. The word of God teaches that He will “provide seed to the sower,” (2 Corinthians 9:10). Tithing allows God to be in the midst of our finances. He promises an open heaven of blessing over our lives that goes beyond just money. Inviting God into our finances through tithing breaks the curse off of our lives. God tells us to “test,” Him in this! There are rewards for those who give to God. Pastor Kent shared a testimony out of Gateway Church by Pastor Robert Morris who authored the book “The Blessed Life.” In it he talks about a man who built a very successful business. One day, he paid everything off cash that he owned (even business debt). He decided

to add up his cash (checking, savings, retirement etc). He heard the Lord ask Him “How much money do you have?” The Lord then said, “would you give it to Me?” This was a man who was already tithing and giving God 50% of his income! He explains how the first thought He had to the question was fear and the second thought was “the Lord asked me.” He took all the liquid cash in all 4 accounts and gave it away. A little over a year later, he woke up and heard the Lord say, “Steve, how much money do you have?” He thought to himself, “oh Lord not again!” God told him to get up and go look. In all 4 accounts, he had double the amount he had sown the year before. What took him 15 years in business to build, God did in ONE YEAR. Pastor Kent shared another powerful story that happened to him recently. He had a powerful God-encounter one night. He had been struggling with the fact that last year’s Missio Dei offering wasn’t enough to purchase the building here at River West. He was telling God that He didn’t want to have to ask our church again for this. God said to him, “Kent, the problem is that you think when you ask that people are giving to you. When I have you ask, they are giving to Me. Don’t you think that my people, if they knew that I wanted this building, would give and do whatever needed to be done so I could have it? It’s not you, its Me.” Missio Dei is about being on mission - God’s mission. We are not doing a “campaign,” or a “fundraiser.” We are simply asking those of you are a part of the City Church Family to ask God what He would like you to give and to believe that God will provide it for you to

sow. If you are not tithing, we would ask that you take that step with God and activate your faith. Our prayer is that on June 14, 2015, you would give all that God has asked for you to Give. We know that He has asked us to bring the tithe to His House. We also know that God will lead us in what to give. Conclusion | Challenge Judas was upset because he wasn’t a generous person. He was a selfish thief and did what he wanted / what he thought was right. Pastor Kent answered the question that he asked us at the beginning of the message, “why would this woman give such an extravagant offering?” Generosity come from gratitude. Two months before this woman’s brother had died and Jesus showed up to the funeral and raised him from the dead right before their eyes. Mary gave because she could and she wanted to show her gratitude. God will never ask you to give more than what you can. She gave not expecting anything in return. However, our God is a “rewarder,” (Hebrews 11:6). The scripture passage in Matthew 26:13 says that "as a reward, for her act of generosity, wherever the good news is preached throughout the world, her extravagant offering would be remembered and discussed in memory of her.” You see, God is a rewarder. It’s not something He does, it’s who He is!

God’s blessing is a result of God being with us - He truly is our great reward. In Genesis 12:1-3, Abram didn’t just get the blessing, He received God who was His “great and exceeding reward.” Will you exercise your faith in this season, to lean into God’s word about giving and ask Him what He would like for you to give? When we open our hearts and let God fully in, our lives will never be the same. It’s impossible to out give our great God! He desires to bless us with good gifts and to give us seed to sow into His kingdom work here on the earth. We are on mission here in Chicago - God’s mission. What an amazing thing to be apart of! Let’s exercise our faith and believe for God to do what He says He will do - provide so we can give.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES

Malachi 3:8-10

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse for you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." 1 Chronicles 29: 2-5 "Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold, silver for things of silver, bronze for things of bronze, iron for things of iron, wood for things of wood, onyx stones, stones to be set, glistening stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble slabs in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver: three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses; the gold for things of gold and the silver for things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be done by the hands of craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?” Mark 12:41-44 "Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples t

o Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” Luke 21:1-4 "And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,[a] but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” Mark 10:17-23 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words [a]he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”

2 Corinthians 8:5 "And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God." Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Romans 12:1-2 "So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." Mark 14:9 "Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

Genesis 12:1-3 "GOD told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you. I’ll make you a great nation and bless you. I’ll make you famous; you’ll be a blessing. I’ll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I’ll curse. All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you.” John 12:1-6 "Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead,[a] whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it." Luke 15:7 “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don't need repentance." Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, wi

ll save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” 2 Corinthians 9:10 "For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you." Hebrews 11:6 "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Matthew 26:13 "I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman's deed will be remembered and discussed." Genesis 12:1-3 "The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 15:1 "After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a

vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."