GENEROSITY

Good morning! My name is Ryan, I’m one of the pastors here at Georgianna.

It’s so good to be with you in worship today…

[MENTION LIVE STREAM AT 9:45]

Pastor Corky is out of town this weekend, but he is still working!

He is serving as Georgianna’s pastor as he officiates the Davis-Woeste (WAY-STEE) wedding for Kyle and Alex.

And so we certainly wish those families the best this weekend.

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Today we’re wrapping up our “Oneness” series with how we can be one through what we give .

Over the past few weeks we have looked at how we are ONE through our PURPOSE together… through the HOPE that we carry with us… through the HEART that is driving us...

And all of those aspects represent what we believe together… what we give assent to...

but Today we’re talking about how we literally put our money where our mouth is.

But honestly I kind of feel like I’m preaching to the choir here!

Like have you been around here for the past few weeks? $20,000 has already been sent off for Hurricane relief! Over $100,000 raised at a Pie Auction!

Church there is no money tree planted out back! No… it happens because you are people who GIVE!

SIDENOTE: A while back Allie told me she picked up a money tree at Home Depot…

***I’m going to go ahead and save you some heartache now… It is not what you think it is...

I have never been so disappointed in my life when I burst out the door into our backyard.

No money tree… this stuff happens because you are generous and you are faithful.

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You see, I’ve been at churches where a giving sermon wasn’t just a one time thing… but it may be an entire series of several weeks! That culminated with pledge cards at the end where you signed on the dotted line!

I’ve been at churches where it wasn’t so much about bad weather threatening the safety of your community. Bad weather meant we might have to close the church for a Sunday… and that was threatening the offering!!!

We don’t even pass a plate here!

I’ve been at places where there is a mad scramble at the end of the year just to be sure we can make the budget… as if there’s not already enough going on in December!

But there’s something different here… And, truly, I have never seen anything like it.

Georgianna is just full of people who give. It’s almost like we’re trying to take Jesus seriously or something… CRAZY!

But let me tell you something else the I have learned about this place… Georgianna is full of surprises.

This place has blown my mind over and over again over the past 17 months… and I’m sure that will continue.

And here’s the mind-blowing thought that I’ve had. ..

Now track with me for just a minute…

$100,000 Pie Auction;

$20,000 in Hurricane Relief,

1600 uniform shirts provided for Cambridge Elementary students (at $10 per shirt… that’s $16,000),

$160,000 on Compassion Sunday,

$27,000 to Ukraine when the crisis started (with more sent since),

$36,000 to Kentucky,

$64,000 to Life Recaptured… this is just since last Christmas… and I’m sure it’s not a complete list...

Here’s my crazy thought… What if this is still just a portion of Georgianna’s potential?

***LOOK… I even made a pie chart to show you :)

You might think I’m being greedy, right? Like dude… be happy with that… that’s amazing… AND IT IS!

But what if God still has more in store for us… for us as a church? For the community we live in… for the world we live in?

And what if God has more in store for you personally? Because when you are generous and you are faithful… it changes you.

And so… YES, I feel like I’m preaching to the choir today… BUT

*Maybe it will encourage you to keep being generous and give you a "shot in the arm."

*Or maybe it will push you to make that first generosity jump and give you a "kick in the pants" :)

So there’s a spectrum here… somewhere between shot in the arm and kick in the pants :)

*Or maybe you need a reminder for why we do what we do in the first place, and why it matters that you are faithful.

*Or maybe you're just looking for your best next step. Maybe, like most of us, a $3000 pie is out of reach, but you're ready to start "giving yourself away" and be one with the mission here at Georgianna.

Listen… before we get too far into this today…

OF COURSE… Of course what you give is completely personal to you. I don’t know what anyone gives… Corky doesn’t know… we don’t WANT to know.

It is not anyone’s intent that you feel condemnation or judgment. No one responds in any healthy way if it’s pressure that they sense.

But instead I hope there is a Holy Spirit nudge that might happen to us all today. Is that fair?

I pray that you would take a tough topic that sometimes feels maybe a little intrusive… and that you would season it with your grace.

Throughout scripture… and really just throughout our everyday life… we find a couple of different models… or categories of the way people give. And they’re both reflected in 2 beautiful stories in the gospel of Mark.

You may already be aware that Mark is one of the 4 books that about the life and ministry of Jesus… Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They’re called gospels which means good news… because Jesus is absolutely GOOD NEWS. Amen?

And even though it comes 2nd in that list… we’re pretty sure Mark was written first.

Mark is the shortest of them all… and he really just makes sure to cover the important details.

It was probably written at a time of great persecution of the church...

And we don’t know for sure… but those 3 details make us wonder about Mark’s purpose. It was written first, it is relatively short, and it was written in a tumultuous time.

And so if this is the setting where Mark is writing then we wonder if Mark is just simply written in a hurry… to encourage the early church in persecution… and maybe because Mark knows his own days are numbered.

And when you consider all of these things happening… then it makes you think that what Mark chose to include here is extremely important.

And as Mark covers just the basics he chooses to include these two stories we’ll talk about this morning… and this is significant… with women as the heroes.

Remember this is a time when women and children had no rights and no status…

Like right now we live in a culture that is all about gender equality… a great thing.

But in that culture it would be significant to feature women in this way.

I say all of this to say… Women… girls… God’s story honors you. It lifts you up.

Mark doesn’t even talk about the birth of Jesus… but he does stop to tell these two women’s stories.

And specifically how much smarter these women are than the men around them...

There is truth in this book people!

Let’s go to Mark 14 together...

Mark 14:3–9 (NIV)

3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper,

JUST LET THAT INTRO SINK IN FOR A SECOND…

a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Does this feel like an uncomfortable story to anyone else?

First you’re in the house of a leper so I’m automatically wondering… where is the hand sanitizer in this scene?

Then this woman comes over and shares a really intimate moment with Jesus. And it should feel weird to us.

As the same story is told in Luke she breaks the perfume but then add her own tears to it… and she washed Jesus’ feet and dries them with her hair.

And if this feels uncomfortable to us now… it definitely would have back then.. there was VERY strict rules for how women and men should interact.

But to both Jesus and the woman.... it doesn’t matter. We’ll come back to that.

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And let’s talk about the perfume… it’s a big deal.

She’s not dousing Jesus with cheap Axe body spray

It says it was pure nard… which would have been imported from India or another far off place… it flat out tells you it was very expensive in the story.

Some houses would have had something extravagant like this as a status symbol… maybe sitting on a shelf or something.

It was there to wow someone… but you probably never used it.

You might have fine china like this… it’s pretty and expensive and you hardly ever use it.

You might have a classic car like this… it’s pretty and expensive and you hardly ever use it.

We ended up with a pretty and expensive cake from the pie auction a few weeks ago and Allie immediately froze it so we could save it for something special… which means I have no idea when I’m going to eat that cake.

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But it even goes beyond this… her actually breaking the container meant that it was now a one time use…

So it’s not like here are the once in a blue moon special occasions that we use this… This was a once ever sort of thing!

What if you could only pick one event ever to use your fine china… and that was it.

What if you could only take one person ever for a ride in your classic car… and that was it.

I’m really hoping that Allison would choose me to share that cake with.

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***Church… this is generosity. This is one way that people choose to give.

Generosity is really just something that you just didn’t HAVE to do.

You did it out of kindness or love… it just overflowed out of you.

It may be just paying for someone’s coffee or their lunch… or it may be extravagant like breaking a whole bottle of expensive perfume.

Generosity feels really good and IS really good.

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The pie auction was a night of generosity… extravagant generosity… and if you were there then you know… it felt REALLY good.

And it so beautifully reflected what I know of Georgianna’s heart.

What I loved about the pie auction is that people weren’t throwing out big numbers just so everyone would see them throw out big numbers.

People were throwing out big numbers because they wanted to sacrificially give and be generous to orphans who were in need!

It doesn’t make any sense to spend thousands of dollars on a pie… it doesn’t make any sense to waste a whole bottle of expensive perfume.

But WHEN YOU’RE GENEROUS… IT DOESN’T MATTER.

This is just what generosity does… and this is what Jesus followers do. Whether everyone is watching or no one is watching…

This is where the last three weeks of this series come into play. A huge part of our Oneness in purpose and heart and hope is that we’re not generous to be seen or because it makes sense… but we’re generous because that’s what Jesus followers do.

We give ourselves away because He gave Himself away.

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I’ll tell you how I know this.... I heard one story that I know is representative of many others.

I was talking to someone earlier this week who said they came into the pie auction with a budget… what they were prepared to bid… probably like many of you.

And like many of you… he got outbid over and over…

And so he goes home that night and thinks.... Well, I had this amount of money earmarked for orphans in Africa. Should it really matter whether I won the bid or not?

Like, should I keep this money that was supposed to go to children in dire need just because I didn’t get a dessert???

And so he came in… when the masses weren’t watching… and dropped off a check.

Because Georgianna people are generous… we give ourselves away.

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And we’ll do it again! There are going to be events throughout the year where we want you to let that kindness and love and gratitude overflow… during Simple Christmas… during Compassion Sunday… during the Pumpkin Patch! Because it’s not all about money… but this community needs your TIME as well!

Generosity feels good… it’s usually fun… and sometimes it’s a sacrifice… not just a few drops of perfume, but maybe it’s breaking the whole bottle.

And church… Georgianna is generous like no one I’ve ever seen before.

And if you haven’t had the opportunity to give like this… to give in a way that forces you to trust God… I promise you will love it. Joy like you wouldn’t believe.

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But what about when there’s not an event? What about when we don’t feel the energy in the room? What about when it doesn’t feel like it just overflows out of you?

Generous giving can be fun and it can give you all the feels… but it’s hard to operate on feelings alone.

Generous giving is one way that we give ourselves to the church or to any other cause that we believe in… but can I share with you something better?

***Church, what happens when we are FAITHFUL in our Giving?

Not just moments of generosity, but enduring faithfulness?

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The Bible has a lot to say about faithful and regular giving.

It talks about giving our firstfruits… meaning it happens first… on a regular basis.

It talks about giving our BEST… also on a regular basis.

And maybe we’re most familiar with the idea of a Tithe… a regular and faithful percentage of what we have…

The Bible introduces this idea of regular percentage giving and it does so for a reason...

Suddenly we’re all on equal ground… what 10% may equal for anyone of us might be different… but the challenge is the same.

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So let’s go back to Mark for our second heroine of the morning… and in this story we see exactly what difference a percentage can make… and what it shows us about faithful giving.

Mark 12:41–44

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Mark 12:41–44 NIV

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Now I also get a little uncomfortable with this story. It starts out talking about how ANYONE could just sit down and watch what everyone was putting into the offering.

Like… imagine if we DID pass a plate in here… and when we did all the lights went up and everyone stopped and watched where it went and who it passed by and what each person did or didn’t do....

You see in those days there was pressure with the offering! And It was the hope that the pressure would compel people to give more... because everyone would know!

But does this sound like Jesus at all? I don’t think guilting people into something is really how Jesus works...

And you see it as He reflects on what is happening.

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Now, chances are if you have been around the church for a while you may have heard this story before.

Even if you’re not a church-goer, you may have still heard of the story of the “widow’s mite” as it is called. Maybe it’s so familiar that we lose some of the shock of

it.

In those days giving was simply about the dollar amount... and the show of dropping it in.

***There was no paper money... it was all coins. And so the show was not only visible... you could hear it.

TALK ABOUT TREASURY BOX ON IMAGE

And so You knew what it sounded like to drop in “large sums”. You also knew what it sounded like to drop in “two small copper coins.”

And so obviously if your offering sounded the best and was just flat out more money then you gave the most.

In this setting, Jesus’ statement would have sounded ridiculous.

There’s no way the widow gave more, right? The disciples are probably nudging each other, “you know for being the Son of God, you’d think he do better math than that.”

But… The reason that he can say that the widow gave more is because of percentage giving.

The rich people may have given larger sums, but smaller percentages. We don’t know what their percentage was, but in some translations Jesus calls it their “spare change.”

We do know the widow’s percent. It was 100%. Jesus says she gave everything she had.

Jesus ruins the show. The large sums... the sounds of the coins dropping in... none of that can trump these 2 copper coins... because nothing beats 100%.

The regular, faithful amount that you set aside… the percentage that you earmark is far more important that our moments of generosity.

***Let me say that again:

Our faithful percentage is more important than our generous moments.

In this story the rich people are having a generous moment… the widow is giving an astounding percentage.

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A few months ago I had an irritating travel experience.

You may remember that I visited Zambia, the orphanage where our coffee is grown… and had an amazing time while I was there.

However, the trip back wasn’t the smoothest.

I made it from Ndola, Zambia to Johannesburg, South Africa just fine.

I made from Johannesburg to Atlanta just fine.

And after 16 hours flying from South Africa back to the states… my one hour flight from Atlanta to Orlando gets delayed… and delayed… and delayed.

Long story short… I was looking at about a 36 hour delay… after traveling 16 hours from Africa… after being away from my family for 10 days...

So instead I rented a car and started driving… and I was promised a refund for my expenses if I chose to do this.

Well a couple of months goes by and I’ve mostly forgotten about this whole experience… when, what do you know… a check shows up for a few hundred dollars from Delta.

This was about the time we were collecting for Cambridge school uniforms… and because I had forgotten about the refund… and it wasn’t something we were depending on… we just gave it all.

And I’m not sharing this so you’ll know how awesome I am… or to make myself look good. Yes I can occasionally make good decisions… even a broken clock is right twice a day.

But this was basically found money… We weren’t counting on it… I had mostly forgotten about it… and yes maybe it was a nice thing to do… but it required like no faith on my part.

Our monthly income didn’t change.... our regular expenses didn’t change… our quality of life didn’t change.

We got an unexpected check and we gave it away. We had a generous moment. Yay for the Beavers.

But FAITHful giving requires what… FAITH!

It is to decide up front that I’m going to give and keep on giving and keep on giving and make it a habit and a regular part of what I do and how I express worship and how I want to have an impact on this world… and I’m going to do it first so it’s never an afterthought and it’s never forgotten…

because THIS. IS. IMPORTANT. TO. ME.

This is where my heart is.

I don’t want my church to have to shutter up buildings or properties because we can’t maintain them or keep the utilities running. THIS HAPPENS!

I don’t want my church to have to charge kids to come to Vacation Bible School. THIS ALSO HAPPENS!

I don’t want my church to respond days or weeks later… but within hours of a disaster or an emergency.

Did you catch that last week? You didn’t get here last week and get pressured with an “ask” so we could find out how we were GOING TO support SW Florida.

You got here last week to find out how we were ALREADY helping SW Florida.

And yes it’s fun to send a hundred grand to Africa… but your FAITHFUL giving is ESSENTIAL to what we do and who we are.

And as Corky mentioned last week… this doesn’t happen unless we are faithful to the tithe… faithful to regular percentage giving… more than just moments of generosity.

Ideally as one of your pastors… I would LOVE for you to be both generous and faithful… but if I had to pick one… I would pick faithfulness every time.

***You see, our generosity can simply be about a feeling… Oh I’m feeling generous today.

But our faithfulness is about our HEART.

Our generosity can simply be about a feeling… And listen… many of you WERE feeling it at the pie auction… and NOTHING I say should diminish that.

But our faithfulness is about our HEART.

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The widow gave 100%… and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that might not be your number :)

The Bible DOES have a lot to say about a tithe… about 10%. Many of you are there and above… and Georgianna is what it is because of that.

But maybe you haven’t jumped in just yet.

Maybe 10% feels like a lot… and I get it…

Maybe you want to work toward that.

Let me throw out something for you. 6%.

6%

You may wonder where I’m pulling that number from.

Studies show people who make between $50-100K per year... maybe a lot of this room would land in there...

They give away about 6% of their income. If you’re not an intentional percentage giver then maybe you have done it accidentally.

Here’s what I mean by that. You didn’t decide at the beginning, “Let’s give away 6% of our income.”

You may have randomly, sporadically, emotionally given it to different charities

You got a letter from this organization

or someone was out in front of the grocery store

***or you saw that commercial with the sad looking animals and the Sarah McLachlan song on it… and you’re not made of stone… so you gave!

Maybe you didn’t plan to... so plan to!

So if you’re not yet a percentage giver, think about plugging in around 6%. Do it in advance so you don’t simply discover it at the end of the year... but you have done it on purpose and you have given it to causes that you care about.

Not a sporadic sort of emotional thing... but those things where you know your heart is.

And of course… we hope your heart is HERE.

Like Corky preached last week… we want to be ONE in heart.

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We want giving to feel fun… and exciting like a pie auction… and this is generosity.

And we want your giving to be consistent and first and an expression of your gratitude and trust in God… and this is faithfulness.

And your generosity and your faithfulness will change this church… and this world… and it will change you.

I know this because I have experienced this.

I remember growing up I would hear stories in church sometimes or usually from evangelists about people who gave sacrificially… and then one day they had a substantial anonymous check show up in the mail.

That has never happened to me.... still waiting on that envelope… And I’m not going to tell you that it will happen to you.

What I will tell you is just my experience… since we started tithing as a family… we’ve just never worried about money.

I’m not going to tell you that if you give to God then you’ll see it come back to you tenfold. If that is why you are giving… KEEP IT! Put it in the stock market or something!

We don’t give to get blessings… we give out of obedience. And I’m just sharing my own experience… Giving hasn’t made us rich… but we have never worried about it.

God has been faithful. We’ve had what we need… and then some.

And we’ve had our heart changed as well… There’s that scripture about where your treasure is your heart will be there also right?

We’ve seen our heart follow our giving. We now have a vested interested in Kenya… We CARE about student at Cambridge Elementary that I may never meet… we waited on baited breath to hear about how Madam Delva during and after her kidnapping in Haiti.

We were almost late getting to the Pie Auction because my daughter ran back into her room to $20.92 in coins to bring with her.

My HEART is ONE with Georgianna’s…

Here’s the weird thing.

BeCAUSE I have my heart here… my treasure is here.

But also, beCAUSE I have my treasure here… my heart is here.

There’s something reciprocal happening when we are generous AND faithful… and it is making us ONE together in ministry.

Let me ask you this… back to my mind blowing thought...

Do YOU think that we have seen all of Georgianna’s potential?

I am constantly amazed at this church… but I don’t think God is done. Do you?

So my prayer is that we could celebrate what is happening in this place… the unity, the oneness and all that is being accomplished because of it...

But that we wouldn’t be afraid to ask, “What. Is. Next?”

Who You are, who we are, who You’ve called us to be…

I’ve seen churches with some really cool mission statements and slogans on the walls… I’ve even helped write some of them...

But it is so deflating when you see something that sounds great on a sign… but you wonder if it’s actually true inside the church.

I have never had to wonder that about Georgianna… because we DO it.

We are actually GIVING ourselves away… and we are ONE around that mission.

So here’s your shot in the arm or kick in the pants… KEEP IT UP.

Keep being generous… keep being faithful… and watch what MORE God will do.

GENEROSITY

INTRO

ME

WE

OPENING PRAYER

GOD

PASSAGE

WE

CLOSING PRAYER

BENEDICTION