God’s Mission
Ed Stetzer once said this about the church…
“God’s church doesn’t have a mission, God’s mission has a church.”
Ed Stetzer
You may wonder what that has to do with giving and generosity. We’ll get to that in just a minute.
But before we do, let me ask you this question.
Before you go on a trip, what do you do?
My wife and I just celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. If you’re really good at math like I am, then you know we’re only 2 years away from our 25th wedding anniversary. For years, we have had this dream of going to Hawaii for our 25th wedding anniversary.
But before we decided where we want to go or how we plan to get there, before we picked the destination and made travel plans, we began with our reason.
Our why.
Why do we want to go on a trip? Why do we want to make this journey? What is the reason, the motivation, the purpose?
Our WHY, our reason, our purpose, determines our destination.
A Generosity Journey
We are all on a generosity journey.
But before we talk about what we should give or how much we should give, we have to begin with WHY we give.
And if we’re being honest, sometimes we’re resistant to thinking deeply about WHY we give, or at least WHY we should give to church.
And that’s for a lot of reasons.
Some of us just want to write a check and be done with it.
Some of us just want to find out what the need is, where the money is going to go, and then we’ll make our donation and move on.
Some of us have stopped giving to church or have never given to church because we don’t trust the church, or maybe we were hurt by a church in the past.
Some of us give to other good things, other good organizations, even Christian organizations, and in our mind that’s the same thing as giving to the church even though we know deep down that it’s not the same thing.
Some of us have never made the connection between faith and giving and depending on God.
Some of us always give out of our abundance and have never given sacrificially, not really.
Some of us didn’t realize we were on a journey much less WHY we are on a journey to begin with!
And for all those reasons and more… it might be helpful for us to push pause and talk for just a moment about WHY we give and WHERE we’re going.
WHY do we give?
Let’s go back to the beginning and see if we can discover WHY we give and WHERE we’re going .
When I say, let’s go back to the beginning, I’m talking about going back to the beginning of the church. And in so many ways, Acts 2 is where we read about the beginning of the church.
Jesus had told his disciples after his death, burial and resurrection, and before he ascended to Heaven, to go to Jerusalem and wait there for the Holy Spirit to come. There are about 120 people, men and women, who are all gathered together in this place in Jerusalem just waiting for the Holy Spirit.
They really have no idea what they’re waiting on or what’s going to happen when the Spirit comes. They are just being obedient, trusting Jesus, taking Him at his word.
They’ve been waiting about 10 days. So, over a week! Just waiting, believing, trusting.
And then it happens. There’s a sound like wind, but there is no wind. The sound fills the house where they are gathered and then what Luke describes as tongues of fire appear over their heads. This sounds like something out of a science fiction movie but this is happening in real time and these disciples, all 120 of them, are just as confused as you are right now wondering, “What’s happening?”
Then they realize that they have this ability they didn’t have before to speak in other languages. One lady starts speaking in Spanish, another guy discovers he now knows French! Not really those languages, but you get the point.
And you may wonder, why? Why is this happening?
Well, it’s Pentecost. Pentecost is a Jewish festival that happens 50 days after Passover and there are Jews from all over the known world who have traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. Jews from other places who speak different languages. Languages that now, these disciples of Jesus who have just received the Holy Spirit can speak!
And these disciples of Jesus come out of the house and realize they weren’t the only ones who heard the sound of the wind when there was no wind. Everyone in Jerusalem heard. All these people from different places had heard it and came to their house to find out what was happening!
Well, now, these disciples have a captive audience. All these people believe in God. Most of them were here 50 days ago for Passover and many of them were here the day Jesus was crucified. Now they get to hear, for the first time ever, the good news about Jesus preached in their own native language! Amazing!
A God Moment
Peter is one of those disciples and he steps to the front of the crowd and begins to speak. Listen to what he says…
“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. – Acts 2.22-24
Right here, every one gathered in Jerusalem that day is experiencing a GOD MOMENT!
You know, one of those moments where there’s no other way to explain what’s happening except to say, this is a GOD MOMENT.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been a part of a God moment. I’ve been a part of a few. And every time it happened, what happened was unexplainable. Sometimes even unimaginable. Except that every one there that day knew… God is at work in this moment.
What made this moment a God moment?
- The presence of the Holy Spirit.
- The availability of the disciples.
- The obedience of the disciples.
- The courage of the disciples to use the gifts God had given them.
What happened as a result of this God moment?
37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
- The Holy Spirit pierced the hearts of the unbelieving community.
People heard the gospel, the good news about the great love of God revealed in Jesus at the cross, and they asked…. What do we do now? What do we do in light of this good news about God’s great love?
So Peter told them…
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.
2. The church had it’s first Baptism Sunday!
People responded to this Good News and were baptized in the name of Jesus! And when that happened, 3000 people had their sins washed away and they received the Holy Spirit! God did SOMETHING BIGGER than those 120 disciples could have ever asked, dreamed, or imagined!
And when that happened…
3. A Spirit filled community was formed.
And what does a Holy Spirit filled community look like?
Now we get to the end of Acts 2 and I want you to hear what Luke writes.
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
What did THEY do?
They shared everything they had. – Acts 2.44
They sold property and possessions for the benefit of the community. – Acts 2.45
They were filled with great joy and generosity. – Acts 2.46
Why?
Because… “God’s church doesn’t have a mission, God’s mission has a church.”
What did God do?
Each day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. – Acts 2.47
So you may be wondering, I thought this was a sermon series about money, about giving, about generosity. Why are we reading Acts 2 about the beginning of the church?
And the answer to that question is this: Before you think about WHAT to give and HOW MUCH to give, you need to answer this question…
Ask Why First
How you answer that question changes how you answer every other question.
If you don’t answer the WHY question first, chances are you won’t be able to give what you give in a God honoring way.
Why did these first Christians give and live generously?
Because they had just experienced the power and the presence of God in a powerful way and they wanted to experience it again and again.
Because they were seeing people come to faith in Jesus every day and they wanted to see more!
Because they understood that living and giving sacrificially is a part of following a Savior who lived and died and who now lives again generously and sacrificially.
Because they understood that “God’s church doesn’t have a mission, God’s mission has a church.”
Why do we want to give?
Why? Because we want to experience the power and the presence of God in this church.
Why? Because we want to see more and more people come to faith in Jesus Christ.
Why? Because we understand that living and giving sacrificially, not just out of our abundance, is what it means to have faith and it’s one of the the only ways to GROW our faith. If we never give sacrificially how can we ever truly depend on God? If we only give out of our abundance how can we experience God do immeasurably more than we could ask, dream, or imagine?
There is a direct connection between faith and sacrificial giving.
Sacrificial givers grow in faith.
Direct Connection
There is a direct connection between a faith filled, spirit filled, community of people the Lord blesses and sacrificial giving.
And all this can happen…
If we wait on the Holy Spirit.
If we make ourselves available.
If we are obedient to His voice.
And if we have the courage to follow Him in faith.
“God’s church doesn’t have a mission, God’s mission has a church.” – Ed Stetzer
Do we want to be a church that exists for ourselves?
OR… Do we want to be a spirit filled community, devoted to the teachings of scripture, to fellowship with each other, to sharing in meals together including the Lord’s supper, and to prayer?
I don’t know about you, but I want to see people being added to the Lord’s church daily.
I want to be a part of a spirit filled community filled with great joy and generosity.
I don’t want to just give from my abundance because that requires so little faith. I want to learn to give sacrificially so that God can do in me and through me something bigger than I can ask, dream, or imagine.
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”
— Ephesians 3.20-21
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