Generosity, Week 2

Dr. Tim Rivers | November 10, 2024

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We're continuing in our series on generosity today, and I have to tell you, you may want to buckle up because this is going to be one that's going to challenge you. Here's what we believe in Embassy City Church. We believe the entirety of the scriptures has been given to us to study, to read, to teach, and to grow from. So if you're a part of Embassy City, we are going to teach the entire council of scripture and there are some things that are hard and some things that are easy. Some things will make you shout and some things will make you say ouch. Somebody came up to me last week and said, man, I think you cut about half of my feet off. And I said, Lord, that's a lot half. How are you still standing? But we're getting into the word of God. So if you would stand for the reading of God's word, we're going to first Timothy chapter six, the book of one Timothy chapter six, verse number six through 11.

And then we're going to jump down to verse number 17 through 19. So first Timothy chapter six, verse number six, here it is by godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world, but if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains, but as for you, oh man of God, fleet these things. Let's skip down to verse number 17. As for the rich in this present age, charged them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy, they are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life and somebody say, amen.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your goodness and your mercy. We thank you for allowing us to be in your house. We thank you for what you've already done, the many individuals who have already been water baptized. We celebrate that. And now as we dig in your word, give us ears to hear, a heart to receive and a mind to understand what you would say to us. Help us to be changed from the inside out. We give you a name to praise and glory in Jesus' name and everybody say amen. Amen. You may be seated. My title for today is Watch Out for Greed. I told y'all it's going to be real today. Watch out for greed. Many of you may know this, some of you may not know this, but my undergrad is in marketing, so I went to the University of Texas at Arlington woo woo Mavericks and I finished my bachelor's degree in marketing.

But one of my favorite classes when I was studying marketing is a class they called consumer behavior or buyer behavior. And I love this class because this class was set on discovering the psychology behind consumerism. And what I learned in that class is that there is a concept, and it's called the self concept theory, the self concept theory. And this theory was developed by a man by the name of Carl Rogers who basically created this theory out of something that he called self-actualization and self-actualization is when a person feels like they have finally achieved their full potential and he broke this down into there are self concepts, there are certain ways that you see yourself, and the first thing that he said is that we have an actual self, and this is how I perceive myself realistically, this is who you are when the lights are off, when nobody's around, when the makeup's off, when the eyelashes is the back of the drawer, when you are by yourself, that is who you actually are.

This is how you perceive yourself. Then there is the social self and this is how you think people perceive you. So all of us have an actual self and a social self. We have this version of ourself that we know about ourselves, we know who we really are, and then there's a version of us that we present in a social setting because we think that people perceive us in a certain way, and this will put people in conflict in terms of self-esteem is when these two things are at odds. Then there is the extended self and the extended self is what I use to meet my ideal self in terms of this is when people go out and they buy things to project an image of themselves that they want to be perceived as even things that they cannot afford. This is when you go out and you're spending money on stuff to try to impress people because you want them to perceive you in a certain way, whether that be clothes or a house or a car.

This is where people start getting really in conflict because they have a luxury car, but they're in debt to their eyeballs. I told you it's going to get tight or they spend a ton of money on certain things. Why? To project a certain image of themselves because they want to be perceived in that way. Then you have the ideal self and the ideal self is how I want to be perceived by myself and others. It's the version of myself that I want to attain as the ideal image I want to project to the world and I want to feel good about it myself, and I want you to perceive me in that same way. And this is the version that marketers and advertisers play on. It is this self-concept theory that drives the current state of consumerism. Now, consumerism, let's define the word, is the propensity to consume and keep consuming.

It is the drive to buy and own more stuff and to define one's identity to what they own. Why am I teaching this? Because all of us have a propensity to give into consumerism. Marketers and advertisers have spent billions of dollars studying our weaknesses, studying what we want our ideal self to be, and then they present advertisements that appeal to this ideal version of ourself. Think about this. If you buy a Subaru, it maybe is because you saw an ad of a couple holding hands driving through the mountains of Colorado, not arguing, no mountain sickness, and they jump out and they run in the rain. It's 32 degrees and snow on the ground, but y'all got on a Patagonia T-shirt, right? And lemme tell you what does a sexy couple have to do with a Mercedes? But again, they're appealing to us. So maybe if I get the Subaru, then I can magically end up in the mountains.

So this is what marketers and advertisers do. Check this out. This is just experts. They were talking about this that we see on average, the average person sees on average four to 10,000 ads a day. We don't give into all of them, but four to 10,000 ads that we see per day. Think about this for a 32nd Super Bowl commercial, it costs $7 million just for the placement. That's not the cost of what it costs to actually produce the 32nd commercial. Consumerism is heightened by the development of algorithm and data mining. Think about this. Have you ever had a conversation with somebody about something academy or Bass Pro shop or you talked about something and then you go on Instagram and the first ad that pops up and it's on sale, right? You think that's on accident? No, they're listening to us free food. Let's see if that works.

There's sometimes when Janice and I'm talking, I'm like, what do I want in life? And just say it out loud hoping that they'll data mine that. But the truth is that the world we live in capitalizes on the human tendency for greed. We like to call it wants, we like to call it needs. We like to kind of sugarcoat it, but at the end of the day, what consumerism really plays on is the human propensity toward greed. Now, before the advancement of technology, before we entered into the digital age, the notion of more will make me happy is an illusion that has existed before the creation of mankind. The illusion that if I gain more, then I will be happier. Actually started before Adam and evil were created. It started with Satan at the time he was called Lucifer. Lucifer is an angel. He's in the presence of God.

He is a created being. He's in the presence of God. He's in the glory of God. And at some point, Lucifer was not content to be in the presence of God. He wanted to be just like God. He wanted to have what God had. He wanted power. He wanted dominion. He wanted glory. He wanted praise. And so because of his greed, he allowed himself to rebel against God to try to attain the more. But what Lucifer found out is that if you are motivated by greed, the end will always be destruction. So no longer was he not only in the presence of he's no longer in the presence of God, but now he's an advocate for more greed. How do we know that? Because in Genesis chapter three, verse number four, check this out. We could say that Satan was the first marketer. He was the first one to advertise to humans. Genesis chapter three, verse number four, check this out. This is Satan. He's in the garden and he's in the form of a sert. He's talking to Eve and he has this conversation with Eve and he says, man, did God say you can't eat this fruit? And Eve was like, yeah, we can't eat the fruit and neither shall we touch it. And then here's Satan's response to him. This is how advertisement works. You won't die. Go ahead and buy this. It won't kill you.

That's a false promise. The serpent replied to the woman, God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it. As soon as you buy this car, your life will magically be perfect. As soon as I get this house, all my troubles will pass away. You'll be like God knowing both good and evil. Check this out. The woman was convinced, okay, I'll entertain the idea. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious and she wanted the wisdom. It would give it it give her, so she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it too. At that moment, their eyes were open and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness, so they sowed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Isn't it interesting that when you read this passage, it seems as though they were missing something in their lives and greed drove them to try to attain something that they thought they did not have.

When the reality is God said to them, I have given you everything that you need. I've given you seed bearing plants to eat. I've given you shelter, warmth, my presence. I've given you everything. The only thing I don't want you to do is either this one tree that's in the midst of the garden. That's how greed works. Greed appeals to the one thing that we don't have. You have everything given to you by God, even who you are. It's created in the image and likeness of God. So Satan then is like this. Hey, you ain't got everything though because there's this one forbidden fruit that you haven't even tried, and the moment you try that your whole life is going to change. Satan implemented a threefold marketing scheme that leads to greed. Here it is, you ready for this? Number one, temptation, which is a false promise.

When you take this pill, you'll lose 15 pounds by tomorrow. That sounds like death. Don't do it right. Confusion. What God has given you is not enough. Hey, you need this pill because you are not enough. Three deception. The end consequence of greed is deception. Here's what he said, the consequences will satisfy. This is the promise that Satan makes to Adam and Eve. Hey, listen, if you eat of this fruit, you're going to be like God yourself doing good and evil. That was deceptive. They were already creating the image and likeness of God. Nothing about their life changed. In fact, it got worse. The truth that remains across the human experience is that no matter how much you get, it's never enough. Let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter five, verse 10. Let's see what the Bible says about it. Ecclesiastes chapter five, verse 10. The writer several thousand years ago began to write this. This is what he says. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money nor he who loves wealth with his income. This also is vanity. In fact, the more you get, the more you want.

I know this to be true because when Janice and I got married, we had very little money. We were missionaries. We got married and three months later we went to the country of Sri Lanka and we lived in a small apartment that was 189 square feet and I mean we didn't have a lot of money at all. Good thing we were in Sri Lanka because it didn't take a lot to eat and we were just happy being in each other's presence. But you know what we said? It's like, yo, when we make like 20, 30 a year game over, yo we're about to go nuts. Household income about to be fired, right? Then you get a job and you realize I need more. This little 300 square foot apartment ain't cutting it. We want a house. We need more, and you get some more money and you buy a house and you realize, you know what?

This house needs furniture. We can't keep sitting on the floor and eating off of paper plates. Let's get some glass in here. Let's get some silverware, right? You get that and you're like, man, I want a pool in the backyard. Tired of going in the community pool, you get a pool. I don't like my car. That thing rattles when I drive spending more on oil changes than I do gas. It's time you get a new car. That ain't the car I wanted though, right? Am I the only one? Don't leave me out here by myself. Come on now. The more you get, the more you want. Rockefeller, who is worth gazillions of dollars, especially if you converted today, he was asked one time, how much money is enough? This is what he said just a little bit more. He was at the time the most wealthy person in the United States.

I believe somewhere I read that his personal wealth was like 1% of the entire country's wealth and he said just a little bit more often. The more we get, the more anxious and distracted in this content and lonely we get because you have to keep up with all the stuff that you're gaining, right? It is very simple. Again, if you are a married couple and you started off like us, it's very simple to go to McDonald's and order off the dollar menu. You've got like five items. I'll take a double cheese fries and a drink. That's three bucks. It's a lot more confusing when you go to this fancy steak houses. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, I'm just saying you have more choices, right?

Think about this. We are the most affluent country in the world, and yet the average person that you meet is buried and W and greed and lust and an insatiable appetite for more, right? It's no surprise then that the majority of Jesus teaching around money is to watch out for it. Let's look at Luke chapter 12, verse 13. Then someone called from the crowd Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me, and Jesus replied, friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that. Then he said, beware or another translation says, watch out. Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own. Isn't this so countercultural to the world we live in right now? Greediness. Let's look at what greed means. The word greed is in this passage, the same word, covetous, so depending on what translation of scripture you have, it can say guard against every kind of covetousness or against greed.

The word greediness or covetousness is the excessive and moderate desire of acquiring more and more wealth. Greed is like lust, but for things, it is a very counter-cultural idea to think about greed because everything we have is measured in this current society in the world. Everything we have is a measurement of who we are. So if you see somebody drive up in a certain car, you're like, whoa, they must be a baller or a certain type of clothing or a certain type of shoe or a certain type of brand and let me tell you something, there's nothing wrong with driving a nice car and having brands and having a nice house. There's nothing wrong with that, but if you're finding your identity in those things, then you may be motivated by greed and if it's not coming from the overflow and you're getting in debt to try to impress people, lemme tell you something, we are all vulnerable to all kinds of greed. Everybody. You say, oh, not me. Listen, for some it's a bigger tv.

How big does this thing have to be? Your couch is three feet away. Do you really need 120 inch? No, I think I need to move to a projector. The whole wall. Make the whole wall a screen. I really love movies. For some people it's a bigger tv. For some people it's luxury clothing. For some people it's veneers. Your teeth are fine. Ain't nothing wrong with veneers, but if you are motivated to get veneers because you're trying to project a certain image of yourself, check yourself for your wreck yourself. For some people it's jewelry. For some people it's hair and makeup.

Greed will make you spend money. You don't have to impress people you don't know. Here's how you can test If you are worried about how people perceive you, if you dress in a certain way just to go shop. Now, I know this sounds controversial, but there are certain individuals who dress a certain way to shop at certain stores because they want the employees at that store to perceive them as having a certain amount of money and get the treatment. Y'all think I'm kidding. I've got friends who work at places that tell me this stuff. Greed will sneak up on you. That's why Jesus says you better watch out, keep on guard and what he's portraying to us, the picture image that he's given us is the soldier who is on guard against an enemy that desires to do violence. Jesus literally says that this is how greed works.

Greed is not your friend, it's your enemy and greed tries to destroy you. Greed is an enemy that seeks to do great damage and destruction in our lives so that we must be vigilant against it. Greed will rob you of the good life. This is what Paul wrote in Colossians chapter three, verse five, put to death somebody say death, don't just hurt it, put it to death, put to death. Therefore, what is earthly in you? He said, this stuff is already in you and you got to kill it. Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness. The word covetousness again is the word greed, which is idolatry. So you're telling me that greed is a form of idolatry? Yes. How do we know this? God knew and his infinite wisdom because God knows all things. God knew that greed and covetousness was going to be a problem for us. This is why when he decided to write the 10 commandments, the articles of incorporation he included in the 10th commandment. Thou shout, not covet or don't be greedy. Exodus chapter 20, verse number 17. Lemme slow down Exodus chapter 20, verse number 17, for all those who were here last week, you know what I'm talking about. If you know you know which I love that last week, it really made my heart happy that we have so many note takers and so many people that wanted to go get a word.

Coveting is motivated by greediness and is a form of idolatry because here's what greed does, it keeps God out of first place. Jesus warns us again, they at Mark chapter four, verse number 18, and others are the ones sown among thorns. Now he's talking about the word of God, alright, and there are different types of soil. The word of God goes out like today I'm preaching the word of God is going to fall on four different types of soil and one of them he's talking about, he said, others are the ones. He's talking about seeds sewn among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the check this out deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and cht the word and it proves unfruitful. It's interesting that Jesus calls it the deceitfulness of riches or wealth.

Now what You notice something, he does not say that wealth is evil. He does not say that riches is evil. He says it's deceitful. Now He's talking about the word of God, right? Jesus is saying that when the word of God goes forth right now, the word of God is going forth, that some individuals will walk away from here and the word of God will not germinate in your spirit because you are consumed with the deceitfulness to gain more riches. In other words, the priority a certain people's life is not the word of God. It's more wealth and riches. If you spend more time concerned about gaining things rather than the word of God, something may be wrong. Your priorities may be, and this, Hey, I'm just the messenger. I'm in the word Now check this out.

Why are riches and wealth deceitful? Because wealth by itself promises what it cannot give. Look at your average advertisement. It promises happiness, joy, identity, safety, security espouse better looks. Wealth without submission to Christ will lead to greed and greed will never satisfy. Now, let me add this disclaimer because anytime you talk about generosity in the context of a church, now I have no problem at all talking about generosity money within the context of the church because we all deal with it and we're all going to teach. I'm always going to teach the word of God, but what's interesting to me is anytime you talk about generosity or money within the church context, there are some who respond to that by saying, the church just wants my money. Here's the thing, church has been around for 2000 years without your money, right?

It's about the heart where your treasure is, there shall your heart be. Also, it is all about how you perceive the church's position and God in your life. If you view generosity to the kingdom of God as somebody trying to get your money, your perception of the house of God is off, and let me acknowledge this. A lot of us have been in context and in churches where the money was mishandled and it did feel like you were paying a person and not the church. This is not that type of church. We have checks and balances, right? Y'all don't see me up here taking personal envelopes. It's not that type of church, right? It's about the perception of what you think the church is and what the church has done in your life. Let me give you an example. We're going to celebrate in a couple of weeks.

I'm going to show you some of the things that we've done with the resources that come into this house. A lot of things, a lot of things that most of us can't do individually. Think about this. Just a couple weeks ago we had fall carnival, right? At Fall Carnival. We had hundreds of people show up. We had bounce houses, we had popcorn, we had cotton candy, we had all these things and it was absolutely free to anybody who wants to come. Now, there are some of you that could have wrote a check for that thing, but the reality is most of us didn't write a check for that and yet all of us were able to enjoy it. Why? Because you're $5 and you're $10 and you're 10,000 and you're five and it gets pulled together for what? The benefit of the entirety of the body, not just the body but the organization around us and the community around us.

You're a part of that. The funny thing about greed is that few of us will confess that we are greedy now in the culture that we are right now where confession is a big thing. We will confess if we have struggled with pornography or people will confess if they have stole something or people will confess if they've murdered, oh Lord, or we will confess these different things. People will confess adultery and people will confess lust, but very few will confess greed. But can I tell you according to scripture, greed and covetousness is a sin the same way that pornography is the same way that adultery is. The reason why most people will not confess that they deal with greed is because it's going to cost you something to stop being greedy and what it's going to cost you is your possessions. How do I know that? Well, there was a young man that came to Jesus. He said, Jesus, what must I do to enter into heaven? And Jesus said, Hey, honor your father and your mother and love the Lord, and this dude said, got it on lock. Been doing that since I was young and Jesus said, Hey, great. Good for you. Hey now sell everything you have and give it to the poor.

The question was, how do I enter into heaven for eternity? Jesus said, here are a couple things you need to do. He said, I got it. He said, all right, here's your next step. Jesus perceived that he had grief in his heart. Sell everything you have and give his report. Now, I wonder, was Jesus really asking him to sell everything, always just testing his heart? The Bible says that the man went away sorrowful sad. Here's why, because he had great possessions. Am I under word? So there must be an antidote to greed then, right? There's got to be something we can do to ward off the destructive nature of greed that tempts every human heart. Here it is generosity and contentment.

It is true that the more we get, the more we want, but it's also the in verse is also true. The more we give, the more happy and at peace we become. The Pharisees were full of greed. You can read about this in Luke chapter 11 verses 39 through 41, the Pharisees come to Jesus and they're talking to him and Jesus says, Hey, listen, y'all look nice. Your plate is clean, your cup looks really fancy on the outside, but inside, look at what Jesus said. You are full of wickedness and greed, wickedness and greed. So he says, the outside looks great. You're obvious about the offering.

Hey, look, everybody, he said, but inside you're full of wickedness and greed, and then he gives them the antidote. You read about this in Luke chapter 11, verse 39. Here's what he says, give arms and practice generosity and you will cleanse the inside of the cup. So Jesus's antidote to greed and wickedness in somebody's life in terms of possessions is generosity. Why? Because you cannot be possessed by something you relinquish that was way better than y'all responded. You cannot be possessed by something you relinquish because it has no control for you. The word used in the biblical authors for inner satisfaction is called contentment. Contentment. The simple word is inner satisfaction, and in my opinion, and I think there's a culture of individuals who are teaching this, that contentment is one of the most under preached virtues in the world, one of the most under preached.

We talk about peace and tranquility, but lemme tell you, you cannot have peace and tranquility as long as you're struggling with greed. Alright, let's break this down. One Timothy chapter six. Let's get back to it. Verse number six. This is what Paul says, but guiding us with contentment is great gain. This is simply what he means. I want to do just an exposition of this passage that we read. True wealth is not based on having a lot rather on being happy in God and content with what you have that is true wealth. Now, it doesn't mean that you cannot have a lot. It just means that whatever you have, whether it's a lot or a little, are you happy in God? Are you satisfied in God? Verse number seven, for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world, remember this statement, you will not find a U-Haul following a hearse. Why? Because you can't take this stuff with you. Is it any coincidence that many of the billionaires in the world with a B billionaires in the world have determined that they want to give away most of their wealth before they die? Why? Because at some point in their life they realize I cannot spend it all. I read a thing about Elon Musk and I think it was like if he spent a million dollars a day, it would take him like 300 years to spend his wealth.

Isn't that wild? No wonder you're wanting to give it away. Why? Because they found that at some point that just because you have wealth doesn't mean that you have happiness and there's really more joy in giving than receiving. That's a biblical principle that now the world is getting hold of. How much better is it if we get ahold of that when we have $10 so God can trust us with 10 million? Listen, wealth is temporary. Either you will lose it all the day you die or you will lose it way before that. Verse number eight. But if we have food and clothing with these things, with these, we will be content. The word content here is to be satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are.

The Bible doesn't say complacency. There's a difference between complacency and contentment. There are some individuals who will not work, who will not progress their own life, who will not study, who will not educate themselves, who won't move further in life. That's called complacency and sometimes people try to put a label over that and call, well, I'm just being content. No, you're being lazy. Contentment means that you're working hard, you're doing what you're supposed to do, you're stewarding the things that God has given you and you are satisfied with what God has given you as a result. Meaning then here's how you can measure to contentment. If things don't change, will you still be satisfied? If you don't get that raise, if you don't get that new car, if you don't get that house, if you blah blah, will you still be satisfied? And the same is also true. If you get that bigger house and you get that raise, will you be satisfied with that? That's the true meaning of contentment. Now, verse number nine A, but those who desire to be rich, the word desire to be rich literally means those who long to be rich, who lust after riches, who are greedy for wealth, they fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

It sounds a lot more potent like that. This line is most often misquoted. A lot of times people will say the love of money is the root of all evil, and that's not what it says. It says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Literally what the writer is saying is that the love of money or the lust of money or the greed for money or the greed for wealth motivates many of the evils in the world. Racism, subjugation, poverty, redlining. These things are motivated by the love for more money. We all know this person, right? The person that gained some more wealth and they start having some really strange practices to gain more like maybe not disclosing everything about the house they're trying to sell or scamming people out of things or not being fair or having just kind of certain practices that they're twisting and turning to get another $10 and another $5 and now you're suing people for no reason and you're catching people in contracts and you're being dishonest.

The lust for money will make you do stuff out of character and you're going to spend the money anyways. Here's the thing, verse number 10 B, it is through this craving, the craving for wealth and money that some have wandered away from the faith and pierce themselves with many pangs. This sounds dramatic, doesn't it? And yet it's the word of God and we know that the word of God is breathed out by God, so Paul is warning that church here, that there are certain people who have such a greed and lust for wealth that it's actually going to lead them away from God. Jesus himself said, hardly can a rich man enter into heaven. He doesn't say that You can't. He's just saying that if you have a lust for wealth and possessions and you find your identity in those things, then you'll start thinking that you were the one who gained all this and it wasn't the grace and mercy of God. We all met this person that the more money they got, the more arrogant they got, the more self-absorbed they got, the more pretentious they got. They just tossed the keys at the valet.

They trip over small stuff. I wanted ambient water, not ice water. I said, sparkling, right? Have you ever met these pretentious people? Here's what God would love from us, that as he continues to bless you and trust you with more, that you don't change, that you continue to be a kind person, that you continue to open the door for people. Oh, isn't David the one that said, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God? This was the key. He had everything he could just snap his finger and get whatever he wants. Grapes said, we don't have grapes yet. Go find them. He could do whatever he wanted, but as a key, he still had humility. God, I'd rather open a door in the house of God, right? That's how you keep yourself humble and if you can keep yourself humble, God will just lavish on you more stuff. Remember the three servants who were given the talents, right? And they come to the master and two of them said, Hey, thank you so much for trusting me with these talents. Here is your money back. Here are your talents back. Thank you so much. Thank you for I'm just glad that you trusted me. Everything's back to you, and the master was like, wow, I love it. Have it.

The wicked servant came, he says, listen, I buried it because I knew you were your personality. I knew you were a hard master, and his perception of the master caused him to bury the talent instead of invest it. It's interesting that he didn't come and say, thank you. Here you go. He said, man, I know how you are. Here you go, and the master tossed them, slap not just tossed them, took the money and gave it to the one who had the most. Paul's solution for the problem of greed is contentment a man by the name of Randy Alcorn. In his book, giving is the Good Life, which by the way, we bought some of these books and they're in limited supply, and so here's what we're going to do right after service. We're going to give these away to you. Now, here's what we ask because we have limited supply and we still got another service, one per household, husband and wife, just grab one book or if you're a single person, just grab one book and this is really an amazing book on generosity and what it means to truly live the good life.

This is such a good book. I've read it, I've listened to it. If you don't get one here, you can get it on Amazon, you can get it on Audible, but it's a tremendous book on a biblical view of generosity, and here's what I want you to do. If you feel the Lord is stirring, you read this book in combination with hearing the word of God, but this is what he says about contentment being satisfied. This is what contentment is as he defines it, being satisfied in whose you are, who you are and what you have. Those who love and serve Jesus can truly be content. Those who love and serve money can never be to be content is to realize that you have enough, even more is to be happy with what you have. Now, here's the thing. I know some of us are like, I hear you pastor.

Here's the thing. When I reach that level of satisfaction, I will be content. When I finally get the raise I've been praying for when the breakthrough comes, when I finally get that bonus, when I finally get that house, I will be content. When I get that person I've been praying for when I get this or that, when I get that car, that's when I'm going to be content. As long as that's your attitude, you will never be content. You're going to find out that every time something happens in your life, somebody got something better, right? Have you ever been so happy for your car? You whip that joint to the parking lot front row. You get here early to get a front row, somebody whipping beside you with the latest model. You're like, man, I should have waited two months.

Here's the thing, as long as you think that when you get it, you will be content, you will never be content because that's exactly the opposite of contentment. This is what Paul said, in whatever state I'm in, in whatever state I'm in, I'm going to be content there. If I got millions, I'm going to be content. If I got $20, I'm going to be content. Well, I'm worried you can be worried and still be content. There's permission for that because you're also a human, right? There are two sides of the practice of generosity. I'm going to close with this. Number one, if you want to be a generous person, one of the antidotes is to give it away is to practice. Generosity is don't let money grip your heart, and I guarantee you, the world is trying to get you to love money to have an eight insatiable appetite for more money.

I'm not saying don't gain more money. I'm not saying don't be wise, don't store up. I'm not saying all that. I feel like a broken record. I keep having to say that, but I just don't want you to let that blind you from what the Lord's trying to tell you. Give it away. Be a generous person, right? Here's number two, contentment. Have you looked at everything that God's given you and said, thank you. When was the last time you just said Thank you? Thank you for this house. Lord, thank you. Thank you for my yard. Thank you for my children. Thank you for my clothes.

Well, this is last seasons. Be thankful that you have clothes, right? There are many people, not just in foreign countries, in these country that don't have be thankful. Philippians chapter four, verse 11, not that I'm speaking of being indeed for I have learned. This is a learned practice. You're not just going to wake up and be like, oh, I'm content. It's a learned behavior. Generosity is a learned behavior, and we're going to talk more about this next week, how everything that we have actually belongs to the Lord. When you're a believer, you understand that, and then when you understand that, then giving is easy because it's the Lord's anyways, but giving and generosity has to be a practice. What is a practice? You cannot do something one time and think that all of a sudden you're going to be great. Listen, I just started coaching flag football with three and no, so let's go.

I've never coached before. I didn't even play football, but we winning. We do whatever it takes. I told the kids, I said, listen, we're just going to have fun. Remember, winning is fun, but this is what I know practice is important for the game, and sometimes they think, why are we practicing so you can do well at the game? So you have natural reflexes so you can move in a certain way. You always know when somebody practices generosity because it's not just a one hit wonder, this is how we live. Lemme tell you how our family culture, that's why we give into this house at the same time of the month every month because we want to practice generosity so that it becomes easier and easier and easier. Then all of a sudden, I have learned, I've made it a practice that in whatever situation I'm in to be content. Yes, the reality is that most people have so little margin in their life to actually practice generosity. If it hurts you to give $10 to an organization that is fighting sex trafficking, but you're spending 6 98 on a vanilla latte with oak milk at Starbucks, how do I know it's 6 98? Because I bought 'em.

But I do that in combination with giving to an organization. Why? Because if you don't create margin to be generous, you ain't going to be generous, right? Do you really need that many clothes? Do you really need that many shoes? 40 is enough, y'all feel me? Yes, sir. You got to make margin for generosity. It's not just going to happen, right? And sometimes you have to do it. Initially you have to give out of a, Ooh, this is going to cost me. This is going to hurt. That's when you know, okay, I'm taming the beast of greed.

Lemme conclude with this passage. Hebrews chapter 13, verse five. I love this. This passage is so awesome. Keep your life free. Somebody say, free, free, free from the love of money and be content. Somebody say content, content. Notice this. You cannot be content until you're free from the love of money with what you have, be content with what you have for. He has said, wow, speaking of God, I will never leave you or forsake you. Isn't it interesting that we always quote the end of this verse, but we don't caught the beginning. We love. He will never believe you or forsake you or get drunk, but look at the precursor to that. Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have.

Whoa. It's going to change how you use this passage. Now, like I said, we preach the entire council of scripture. What is the true definition of financial freedom? To be free from the love of money? We think financial freedom is, I'm no longer in debt, which is a great thing. I'm not knocking that great thing, but true financial freedom as defined by the scriptures is that you are free from the love of money and you are content. Wow, we have an opportunity to emulate the life of Christ. The scripture says that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He was contented to be equal with God because he was God, and yet he gave himself. That is the true definition of being a generous person, is being content with what you have and having enough margin to give. Who wants to be like Jesus to break the desire of greed?

God gave us seed bearing plants. Greed causes us to hoard seeds. Generosity causes us to sow seeds, and God literally gave Adam and Eve the opportunity for generosity, but they chose greed, and the end of greed is always destruction. Don't destroy your own life by giving in to greed. Watch out for it and somebody say, amen. Amen. If you would bow your heads, close your eyes. Listen, I know it's baptism Sunday, and here's what I also know that some of you we're talking about generosity, you're talking about finances, but some of you are in this place and you're not even, you're not ready for the conversation on finances and generosity as it relates to church because you may not have a relationship with Jesus yet. And so the first thing I want to do is I just want to pray with you if there are those that you have not professed faith in Christ, and I want you to pray this prayer with me so we can shore that up first, say, dear Jesus, let's all said, dear Jesus, dear Jesus, I recognize my need for you. I recognize my need. I believe that you came, you, you died. You rose again. You rose again. You did it all for me. It was an act of generosity. So now, Lord, come into my life. Forgive me of my sins. Be the Lord of my life. Be the Lord in Jesus' name. Thank you Lord for hearing my prayer. Amen. Come on, somebody celebrate those who said that for the first time.

Hey, we've been doing this for a while now. I want to continue to do it. If you wouldn't stand to your feet, please don't leave yet if you don't have to. We're going to take just a minute to ingest the word of God. Let the Holy Spirit speak to us. So if you would just clear your hearts, clear your minds, and let's, for about 90 seconds just soak in the word,

Oh yeah, you love, let's sing together. You are enough. Is there a witness? You are enough. I will be contact in every circumstance you are. You are loved. I'm already loved. I'm already chosen. I know who I, I know what, give spoken. Sing it out. I'm already loved more than I can imagine, more than I could imagine. And that is one more time. I'm already loved. I'm already loved. I'm already chosen. I know who I'm, and I know what you. I'm already loved more than I could imagine. That is enough.

We thank you, Lord. Thank you Lord. Somebody say thank you, Jesus, as we did last week. I want to do it again this week. I want to give you an opportunity to respond to the word. Now, there's two individuals I'm talking to today. First individuals are those who just prayed to receive Christ. You committed your life to Christ. Your next step is water baptism. And so at the conclusion of this service, just head out into the hallway. There are people that are going to be down the hall just waiting for you. Just tell 'em, I want to get baptized. They're all wearing blue shirts or black that say, serve team. They'll point you in the right direction. You'll go over there and get water baptized. Do not leave here without getting water baptized. The second group of people is I want to invite you into generosity.

Some of us in this place are dealing with greed. Some people - don't lie. You're dealing with greed, and God has been disciplining you a little bit today, convicting your heart, saying, Hey, you need to release it, and I want to give you an opportunity to respond to that. So at the end, we're going to say a prayer. We're going to take 10 seconds. We're just going to let the Holy Spirit speak to us, and then I want you to respond, whether it's to baptize or to practice generosity. But I want to say this prayer together and I want you to say it with me. Are you ready? Yes. Say it with me. Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord for all we presently have. All we presently have teach us to embrace contentment. Teach us to embrace contentment and receive your blessings. Receive your blessings with grateful hearts, with grateful hearts. Help us also to be generous. Help us to be generous and given the manner and we have received with great joy. Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord, for every supply. For every supply. Amen. Amen. Now, just take about 10 seconds. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you.

Lord, speak to us. We're listening. We're listening some. It's time to get water baptized. Some. It's time to practice generosity to enter into a consistent relationship with you through the giving of our finances to you. God. Thank you Jesus. Amen. Somebody say, thank you, Lord, respond in kind. You'll see there. You're given options. You could do it through QR code, text to give and the kiosks. Hey, listen, all of us are going to be challenged in this area and how you respond is an indication of what the Lord's doing in your life, but definitely respond to what the Holy Spirit is saying and somebody say, amen.