First 6

Luke 6: 38 "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."

For 6 weeks we've dealt with "putting God first" and this will be the last message of the series.

But I'm including it because our finances are directly linked to our relationship with God.

Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

And God wants our heart!

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This is not a message with an agenda.

I'm not communicating this to get you to give more than God would want you to.

In fact, most of you who consider TPC your home have already given!

And as we enter a brand new year I want to say thanks because what you’ve given is a big deal.

More importantly, God sees it as a big deal!

Maybe you gave without as much as a second thought.

Or maybe you wrestled many nights over what your financial sacrifice would require of you and your family.

Either way, what you did was GIVE--and what you did was SIGNIFICANT.

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Today I want to look at God’s response to generosity.

So let's go back to the book of Beginnings, Genesis.

In the beginning...

We were made in the image of God!

When we look at the beginning of human history we see Elohim, the Creator God, speaking all of creation into existence.

In only 798 words, we go from absolutely nothing to a magnificent, multifaceted Creation.

God created the tomato plant and the Giant Redwood tree.

He made zebras, eagles, whales, and ladybugs.

He created the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, and the fish of the sea.

But the PINNACLE of His creation was a man and a woman.

And the divine fingerprint placed on those first human beings reaches all the way down to us today...

Genesis says, You and I Were created in the image of God.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.’ . . . So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:26–27).

You and I and everyone on the planet — of every age, color, and gender---were formed in the very image of God.

Let that sink in: You were made in God’s likeness.

You are different from every other created thing because you were created in the image of the Creator.

Think about it....The first thing God said about us was, “You were created to resemble Me.”

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Now, no doubt sin has muddied the waters and distorted what God originally intended.

But the image, the divine mark still exists.

We were created to display the characteristics of the One whose mark we bear.

God is love, so we Love.

God is kind, so we show kindness.

And God gives, so we are called to be generous.

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I've often thought to myself that the entire creation testifies that God is a Giver!

Jesus said the same thing: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them" (Matt. 6:26).

The Psalmist wrote, "You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing" (Ps. 145:16).

And God takes care of us as well.

Romans 8:32 states, “He who did not spare his own Son,but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

And the greatest testimony of His giving nature is the verse, "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..." (John 3:16).

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Now, here's a life-changing truth: When you were knitted by God in your mother’s womb, being formed in the image of God, you were wired for generosity!

God’s generous nature is imprinted on your soul.

That's why when you see hunger, injustice, or inequality around the world or around the block......

That part of you that is touched, moved, or disturbed by what you see is your heart beating in tune with God’s heart.

You were wired to care!

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So when you give to God's work, you are taking on the resemblance of the One who first breathed life in you!

You're doing what you were created to do.

You don't just support something---you are taking a tangible step to fulfill your created purpose.

The apostle Paul told the church: “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,” (Eph. 2:10 NIV).

You were made to give!

Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give”. ________________

A second giving truth is:

II. When we give it pleases God

In Luke 21, we find Jesus watching the rich put their gifts into the Temple treasury.

Then He notices a poor widow who puts in two very small copper coins and Jesus says,

“I tell you the truth... this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:1-4).

Here was a woman of little value in her time and culture.

She had no man to take care of her or provide for her.

Her small donation would hardly make a difference to most observers.

In one of the other Gospels, we are told that her coins were worth what represented about six minutes of an average daily wage.

But her small gift caught the attention of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit placed her story in the Holy Bible!

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Maybe, like her, you think your donations are insignificant.

You might be living paycheck to paycheck, just struggling to scrape together anything you can, and feel your contribution won’t count for much.

If so, based on this story I can tell you Jesus thinks differently!

He sees much more than the amount we give; He sees the SPIRIT in which it’s given.

You see, when you give with the right motives, God is PLEASED.

When you act in generosity, God SMILES on it.

This is why the Bible says, "God loves a man who gives because he wants to give" (2 Cor. 9:7).

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A third giving truth is...

III. You can't out-give God...

The apostle Paul wrote a letter to a church in the first-century city of Philippi.

In the FIRST part of his letter, Paul thanked the Philippians for their GENEROSITY in financially supporting his ministry.

And it's BECAUSE they generously gave that he wrote the familiar words:

"My God shall supply all your needs..."

Based on this verse and many others, I believe there is a clear connection between our Generosity and God’s provision!

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Now....Let me balance that statement out by saying that:

I don't believe you have to give money to move God's hand.

You don't have to purchase a healing, or an answer to prayer, or God's guidance or God's blessings with money...

The Bible says "Ask and you will receive," PERIOD!

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Nor do I believe we should think that by giving we can twist the arm of God in our favor.

Some people incorrectly teach this belief and reduce Godto a slot machine.

Listen: Giving is not a formula to corner God into giving you a new car.

If you put money in the offering bucket, God doesn’t promise to surprise you with a forgotten rebate of double that amount in the mail that week.

God’s blessings don’t work that way.

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Truthfully: A $100 contribution might not result in a $100 blessing!

But I do know this--you will be blessed in some way.

While the blessings might not be financial, it doesn’t mean they're not blessings anyway!

Since the best things in life CAN'T be bought with money, then the most important blessings from God may not be financial at all!

In fact, Blessings from giving aren’t even limited to your life on Earth!

Jesus said, "Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven..."

Our giving can literally affect eternity!

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But here's one thing I DO know for sure---blessing comes upon those who are generous!

Listen again to our lead verse, and notice the three "wills" in it:

"Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."

I believe a generous heart with the favor of God is better than great wealth without His favor!

Cathy and I always tithed...

We NEVER BELIEVED we would literally be "cursed" if we didn't, but we DID believe we would miss out on blessing if we didn't!

We believed that 90% with God’s blessing goes further than 100% of your income without honoring God!

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Now finally, we come to the church...

What you are giving to God's call on TP matters!

When you give, you don't just give money to cover expenses; you help fund a part of what God is doing world-wide.

Every penny given to this church is an investment in eternity because Jesus is changing lives through TP, like the person who wrote:

"I just wanted to say how much your teaching has encouraged me. There's been a trial I've been going through for years and those teachings confirmed for me things God has been doing in my life. What a beautiful God we serve!"

"Just wanted you to know that your ministry has helped to "save me from me." I may have gone down the wrong path if God had not intervened through you. He is so merciful!"

"In all honesty I've never been to a church that moves me and touches me the way TP does and I can't thank you enough!"

"Since I've been attending your Church my life has change in every way!"

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The way I see it, We don't HAVE to give...we GET to give!

Because of your generosity, the Gospel will go much further this year, and countless lives will be transformed because you gave!