radical generosity is not just something we do it's a response to who God is as always Travis thank you so much for your help we can thank Timmy and Travis for that man Lots going on in the life of our church in December and you know what I feel about that I am super excited and uh hopefully you are as as well and and just to reiterate today if you are uh if you are a family with elementary school kids are younger in the home we have several thousand of these Advent devotionals and you'll see inside of it there's a little book that comes with it some blocks and we want to invest in your family we want to help you know how to disciple your kids how to walk through The Narrative of scripture leading up to Jesus coming because you know what Christmas is we celebrate the fact that the king is here that Jesus came to Earth to rescue and forgive and restore and we want to help put tools in your hand to equip you to do that so your campus pastors will tell you exactly how that will happen we want to get these to you today start on December first we'll teach you how to use them look at your neighbor and just say super excited say it like you mean it super excited we're super excited today um we're in our final week of this conversation around the culture of God's kingdom we've been walking through all the fall this Kingdom culture stuff and and crazy enough next weekend we start our Christmas series all the way through to Christmas Eve and I cannot believe it's Christmas already but today we're talking about the the last element of the culture of God's kingdom and often times the culture of God's kingdom feels upside down from the culture of the world we live in it feels backwards and counter to it and that's why we have to speak so directly to it because it feels upside down doesn't feel as natural in the world we live in and today's conversation the the topic that I think God wants to speak to us about today I my heart as your pastor is that I want to help breathe life into us I want to help bring hope to us and I think that conversation today might actually speak to one of the biggest reasons Our Lives can feel hollow or they lack meaning or purpose this conversation might be one of the biggest reasons we might experience worry or fear this conversation might be one of the biggest reasons that we tend to drift towards self- protection even selfishness this might be one of the biggest reasons Our Lives feel smaller than God invit us to live might be one of the biggest reasons we settle for less than God's kingdom way of living and the conversation today Here's the the the the culture element we're talking about it's this radical generosity radical generosity the heart of God is radically generous towards us his nature his character the way he the way he engages with us what he provides and and gives to us he's radically generous and God invites us to live into the culture of the kingdom and be radically generous now I just felt not just in this room across the campuses online I felt people just tighten up relax it's not one of those talks today okay we already received the offering is not going by again that's not what I'm talking about this is not a money conversation it is so much bigger than that so look at your neighbor and say relax and enjoy tell them relax and enjoy talking about radical generosity a life style of radical generosity in fact it it might remind you of the words you probably heard from Jesus recorded 20 remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said it is more blessed to give than to receive like you've heard that before it looks real good on a Hobby Lobby piece of wood that's framed and cost $150 you put it on your wall we're blessed to get we we agree with that statement I've not met people that say I disagree I think it's better to be selfish if you think that way you probably don't have a lot of friends it's not fun to hang out with selfish people is it we all agree with the statement and and yet often times we live less than Jesus's words see we we we we we give lip service but don't live that way sometimes I've been on this journey as well of man I tend to be tighten things up protect mind and yet the culture the kingdom of God is radically generous and he invites us to live in the same way and in order to understand how and why God invites us to live this way we have to understand how things started we got to go back all the way back like Genesis 1:1 all the way back in the beginning all the way back and we need to understand something you might have never seen this but from the beginning and at the end God could have put Humanity anywhere and he chose to put Adam and Eve in a garden and then in revelation 22 the end of days when God's like all right now you're with me in heaven if you read revelation 22 he recreates a new Garden for us to live in and if God for some reason decided that I wanted you in a garden and when you're with me in eternity it'll be a garden again then we better understand what's important about a garden you see the answer is in the garden radical generosity comes from how we understand the garden and the backdrop and context of where God placed Humanity Reveals His purposes of how he wants us to live and how he wants us to interact with him and God apparently is saying the ideal world that he wanted for all of us was a garden type world and I want to unpack this with us today here's how it's recorded in scripture Genesis 2 now the Lord God had planted a garden everyone say Garden the Lord had planted at a garden in the east in Eden and there he put the man he had formed the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food and so God planted a garden and he put Adam and Eve in it and God's revealing to us this is what I intended you to live like so just just allow me to unpack like think about life in the garden for Adam and Eve what would that all look like see God created and gave Adam and Eve the whole garden and then God provided the trees and the fruit on the trees for them to enjoy and to eat God sent the rain in the Sun that kept the trees growing and producing more fruit God owned everything but God generously gave Adam and Eve access to enjoy all of it and it wasn't just they laid around all day and lounged God said now you got some work to do and here's how he says this to Adam and Eve he's saying this the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it so hey tend the garden my guy I gave you the trees I gave you the fruit eat and enjoy you work and here's the Garden Culture it's work without worry think about how life would have looked back then you get hungry in the garden you walk by a tree and just go pluck thank you if you're still hungry get another one take a bite eat till you're full when you're done with that enjoy work the garden a little bit take a nap get hungry again go find some more fruit oh look there's a banana look there's some grapes just enjoy eat you work the garden but there's no worry in the garden because God provided he intended this Garden to be full of abundance in fact here's the Garden World God created a garden filled with abundance God owns it all there's more than enough to go around and I Steward what God has provided but I look to God for my needs so when I get hungry I Look to God you're the provider of my needs I I don't have this scarcity mindset I have this abundance mindset that God you're the provider you gave all of this Garden they didn't have to fear or worry about what they needed to survive they did not listen they didn't have to hoard or hide or protect the food think about this if if Adam wakes up early and Eve's still asleep and he's like I got to make sure I get mine so he goes and tries to take all the all the fruit off the trees and hide it in the corner of the garden the silly there's more fruit in the garden that they could eat all day every day the rest of their life and inside the garden when you take an apple off the tree guess what another Apple grows back and grows back and grows back there's this beautiful picture that God's intended designed for Humanity was actually work from the beginning it's never lazy it's never lay around you work but it's work without worry cuz God provided for all the needs and this is a beautiful picture God intent was the garden there's a freedom in the culture of the garden and here's what God says in Genesis 2 he's like here's the deal the Lord commanded the man you are free to eat from any tree bananas pineapple I don't if they grow on trees don't correct me pineapples coconut coconuts are trees coconuts grapes apples oranges pears enjoy your fre up but you must not eat from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil for when you eat from it you will certainly die so God said listen anything you want to eatting here knock yourself out that one tree don't touch it no no that one tree baby don't don't go pull that fruit off and take a bite that's the one I say no to and the garden from the beginning was set up perfect God's provider We Trust then problem was sin entered the world and entered the garden and here's how that plays out now the serpent Satan our enemy was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord had made he said to the woman did God really say You must not eat from any tree in the garden see what Satan did there it's what he always does he took God's words and just twist him a little bit did God say you couldn't eat from any tree see he's trying to make Eve doubt God's generosity towards them he's saying listen I know God built this awesome Garden but you're not allowed to eat anything and he sort of corrected and said' now listen the woman said we we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden but God did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it or you will die so she's in this conversation going now now God said we could eat some stuff and then Satan continues the LIE he says you will not certainly die the serpent said to the woman for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing Good and Evil the first lie was Satan trying to get Eve to believe that listen what God's provided for you is not enough I know you got all the trees but he's holding that one tree back he's holding out on you the first lie was attacking the character of God and attacking his generosity towards people saying listen what he gave you he's holding out on you God didn't give you what you want and he knows if you have that you'll be like him and he doesn't want that he's messing with her and that's still the LIE we sit in today that God is not providing enough God's holding out and after sin listen we went from living in a garden of abundance to now living in a world that is more go with me more like a bakery with scarcity meaning in the garden the trees are always producing whenever you're hungry go get another fruit knock yourself out there's abundance and joy and then sin entered the world and we lost the garden and now we live in a world that's more like a bakery with scarcity and it's like you go into a bakery and they sell pies and donuts and cookies and whatever and here's the thing about a pie that's interesting first of all y'all excited to eat some pie this week for Thanksgiving praise the Lord come on somebody I'm smelling it right now y'all ready forgiving dinner I'm going to fight through that turkey to get to that pie so here's what's interesting about about a bakery sort of culture the metaphor of a bakery is like you got pie but if it starts with eight slices and then seven then five then two then one when the pie is gone it's gone and so for me when one slice of pie is cut out and you put it on a plate and I eat it there's one less slice of pie left it's a scarcity approach to seeing the world and then equally when you live in the garden if someone was to walk by the garden and say I'm hungry you know what you do pluck here you go how many you want five 10 how I I could never eat all this knock yourself out enjoy in a bakery when when someone comes by and this the last slice of pie they go I'm hungry you go wait a second if I give you this pie we have a problem cuz then I don't have pie and me not having pie is a bad day and so you have this mindset in the bakery where I got to protect it I got to I got to hide it away I know moms and dads when when there's a slice or two a pie left you put it in like a tupperware thing you don't put it on the front ledge of the fridge you tuck it in the back behind the green bean and Brussels sprouts so the kids won't get to it and then you sneak out at like 10:00 when everyone's asleep eat it over the sink so there's no crumbs got too real for some of y'all see in a world that God wanted us sin was a garden and then now we lost the garden because of sin we went from abundance to scarcity and when you live in a world of scarcity let me tell you what what Bakery sort of culture looks like see sin created a world like a bakery with scarcity that I own it all but it feels like there's never enough to go around I fight to get what's mine I Look to myself for my knees I got to get if I don't get mine I ain't going to get mine if you get something I lost something you're been a line at Dunkin' donuts and you came for the chocolate glazed and you're some oh someone just went to church and you look and there's one chocolate glaze left and there's three people in front of you you start sizing them up that's not a that's not a chocolate glaz man right there I'll be fine and then someone goes hey I'll take that chocolate glazed and you're like I came here for the chocolate glaze you leave with an Apple Fritter what no one goes there for an Apple Fritter see when a bakery when when it's gone is gone there's a limited amount of pie and there never seems to be enough people are my competitors I have to fight to get mine I can't even get tempted to miss or doubt God's generosity toward us see in the garden it was work without worry and the bakery it's work and now we worry and the world we live in today feels a lot more like a bakery than a garden doesn't it see there's fear and there's worry and we have to protect and we have to hoard and we have to hide and we have to make sure we're looking out for number one and I believe that you can look at Marketing in a culture and it tells you more than you think it tells you you notice how marketers who get paid lots of money to sell us stuff you know how they most effectively Market something they say things like hurry up get it before it runs out limited Supply you know what they do this is interesting they say things like limit two per customer it's not because they have a supply issue it's because they want you to believe that people want to buy 10 of these so they say limit two per customer and you go I better get two then if everyone else wants more than I'll get two what are they doing they're they're playing towards our fear of scarcity and in the bakery culture we have to protect and fight for what's mine and church I'm here to encourage us today God designed his people to live in a garden where he provides we trust there's more than you need and we can just enjoy what God created and he provides and the world around us is a world that feels more like a bakery and it feels like I got to get my slice of the pie before someone else gets gets it and God's inviting us to live differently and just in case we we we can't catch on to what this Bakery world looks like and feels like after you're done eating pie on Thursday somewhere about 4:00 a.m. on Friday there's a bunch of us are going to wake up and go get in a fist fight over a flat screen TV baby it's called Black Friday and it's the day after we're thankful for what we have have and we go now that we got that out of our system let me find something else to be thankful that I now have and in order for you to experience it I want you to see a scene from one of my favorite movies starring this is so weird starring the former Governor of California and one of my favorite comedians simbad uh enjoy the scene from Jingle All The Way enjoy we have received a small quantity of the action figure known as turbo m i Am not going to ask you people to be quiet again do you hear me now here's how things are going to work you will form an orderly line so that an employee can hand you a numbered ball these balls will then be drawn in a standard Lottery fashion to see who gets a doll if you're not one of the lucky view we have plenty of Turbo man's fiful pet tiger booster in Stu we don't want it we don't and by the way in accordance with the laws of supply and demand the new list price on each figure just doubled what just [Applause] buddy [Applause] Me It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year with kissing and everyone telling you be a good it's the most wonderful it's the [Music] wonderful I got it I got it I got it I got it I got it I got it I got it he got to he got to man anybody listen that's what a bakery looks like there's only so much to go around I got to get mine you ever noticed something if you got kids notice that no one has to train a kid to be selfish notice that I don't have to inform my kids let me tell you what it looks like to be selfish some of the first words they say are words like my and boy is it cute when they're like 18 months old it gets less cute when they're 18 years old mine you see this Garden Culture is no longer our default factory setting we've lost the default and our new default is this selfish self-protecting thing and I am not immune see this this conversation is is one that I've wrestled through as an adult for years with my wife that man what does it look like to live radically generous in a world that doesn't feel like that's how you should get ahead like if I'm generous and I give away that piece of pie there ain't no pie left for me and the question that God I think wants to help us answer today is this how do we live like the Garden in a bakery world how how do we live like we know that that the same God that built the Garden in in Eve for in Eden for Adam and Eve that that that same God is the god who is our God today he's not changed we have so how do we live like we know he is who he says he is in a world that does not live that way I want to unpack it and in order to get there the first thing we have to do is we have to start with God because if the answer is in the garden then let's go to the one who gave the garden the answers in Garden living then let's go to the one who built the garden and and God is a generous God you might heard this verse a million times and seen it at football games but here it is for God so loved the world that he gave I'm going to try again when I say gave we're saying it together let's all say gave for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son talk about scarcity one Jesus and he gave Jesus up to get you and I back to himself so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life let let let me talk to maybe some guests in the room or people who are Seekers you're trying to figure out what you believe about this Jesus thing if you hear nothing else I want you to hear this you might have been taught or raised or assumed that God was a stifling selfish withholding ruliving God that's so far away you know the very nature of God is that he is generous God is a giver and his love for you drove him to give Jesus to get you back to himself if you hear nothing else you just need to hear that God loves you that much and that's the nature of God and the answer is in the garden not physically but spiritually listen when Jesus showed up for God so loved that he gave his one and only son he came to Earth Merry Christmas we're celebrating that in a couple weeks but when he came to Earth God ushered in the kingdom of God and what he's saying is this I created you for a garden sin Destro destroyed it and now we live in a culture that feels like a bakery and now because of Jesus I'm bringing in a New Testament Garden that the world out there will not feel like a garden but we can live in here like we understand we're built for the garden and those who follow Jesus the Holy Spirit takes up residence in you and says listen I want to rebuild the garden inside of God's people where we have the freedom of enjoying what God's entrusted to us and believing that he is our provider and being radically generous because he's been generous with us and when that is established in our soul we live different we live like we're in the garden even though the bakery is the world we exist in and it actually gives context to the words that Jesus spoke in The Sermon on the Mount I want to read this section of scripture to you because often times you've heard it and it feels more like an oratory message a a proclaimed thing when really it's like Jesus going guys I I want to inv invite you back to the Garden in Matthew 6 Jesus says these words and it's painting a picture of what it looks like today New Testament after Jesus came what does the garden living look like for us today Jesus says in Matthew 6 starting at verse 25 therefore I tell you man don't worry about your life what you will eat or drink or about your body what you will wear is not life more than food and the body more than clothes and he's like think about it this way like look at the birds of the air they don't sew or reap or store away in Barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them are you not much more valuable than they man can any one of you add by worrying add a single hour to your life and why do you worry about clothes so much see how the flowers of the field they just grow and they don't labor and they don't spin up clothing and yet I tell you that not even Solomon and all his Splendor was dressed like these flowers if if that is how God clothed the grass of the field how much more for you and I he says listen don't worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the pagans run after these things meaning the people who don't even follow Christ that's what they worry about if you know who your father is you don't worry about the same things they do listen the pagans run after that stuff but your heavenly father knows that you need them seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well what's Jesus saying he's he's creating a picture an illusion of don't forget the garden that's how God intended us to give don't you know who your provider is man don't you know who your daddy is like how your heavenly father invited you to live in this world and Jesus is saying I want to call you back you can still live like the garden in here in a world that doesn't even understand how we could live that way Jesus is inviting us back to Garden living to live working but without the worry without having to hoard and protect and be selfish we can live generously when God's established as our provider see radical generosity is not just something we do it's a response to who God is and I saw this week probably the most current picture of what Garden living looks like and it happened to be at my son Lincoln's School parents Thanksgiving lunch any parents do the Thanksgiving lunch with their kids this week anybody all right eat like King well not Kings eat like princes maybe it was not awesome but so and I we sign up we buy our two little meal tickets and we show up to the school and we go to the cafeteria and every time I sit at a at a kids's table and I forget how low those seats are had trouble getting back up afterwards but I did uh so we get there and Lincoln shows up to the cafeteria with the line of his class and and Amber had already made him a lunch for the day he she didn't know what the lunch would look like there so she made him a good lunch and he brings his lunch box in sits down and goes mom and dad can I can I get lunch like the Thanksgiving meal with my with my friends as well and we're like well we you have a lunch but sure let's let's go and buy another ticket it was like $224 or something yeah I can I can spare that for you so get him a ticket we go through the line and we go through and they give us like what looks like some sort of a meat substance and mashed potatoes I believe um and then the roll is the Saving Grace you can't go wrong we we come we sit our trays down and then at our table it's me and Amber and Lincoln and then some of Lincoln's friends sit down and their parents sit down and we we talk and we eat enough to look like we're eating and we we sit and go through it and then when Lincoln finishes his tray he then opens up his lunch box and flips up what mom got him and he starts looking through all the goodies that mom made for his lunch that day and and he opens up and he's got this thing of pepperonis and he opens it up and I look down there and I see him start to toss pepperonis to his friends like thanks bro and they're eating pepperonis and then he goes through and fruit snacks who wants a fruit snack and my initial response was this son do you know how much groceries cost today you're slanging fruit snacks like they're free that's $8 worth of pepperonis and fruit SN he's not even thinking about just here you go here you go you enjoy bro this is so good try this and they're eating all this food I'm sitting like what's going on then it hit me you can live radically generous when you know that your dad's got lunch provided the next day and the next day and the next day see he didn't have to hold on to it cuz he knew didn't even cross his mind cuz he trusts his dad's got lunch tomorrow and when you believe that if I I give this away it's gone of course we live tightened up selfish cuz I got to I got to protect me Lincoln had no self- protection in his mind that day CU he knew who his dad was and I don't want to show off but I did spend $224 didn't need think about it for lunch come on somebody you can't hide money um see when you know your dad's got lunch you live different and the way God created us was to live in a garden where we go God I know man I can eat this apple and know tomorrow there's another tree with more fruit on it and if someone walks by and hungry I can toss them hey enjoy I don't have to protect I can live Carefree because God is careful with me see that's the the culture the garden God invites us into and here's what I want to do I want to turn practical give us three thoughts and I want to get you out of here but my hope and my heart for us is that God would help us live different I wonder if radical generosity is actually the most clear picture that you and I believe what we say about God CU When you live generous people go why would you live that way and the answer is cuz I know somebody and something you might not know yet can I tell you about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ can I tell you about my dad in heaven see I wonder if generosity is potentially the most Stark obvious demonstration that we believe what we say about god let's get practical here's the first one generous people live open-handed because their hope is in God's Vision you see when you trust God as your provider you don't have to hold on tight to everything you can live open-handed and trust God you got you'll fill the hand again when you're ready you provide for me see I don't have to live closeand it generosity is rooted in our hopeing God is our provider here's what 1 Timothy 6 says command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant pause most of us read that and Go whoo I'm off the hook I ain't rich here's the reality study in 2022 in order to be in the top 1% of wage earners in America you have to make $600,000 a year and most of us go cool I'm still off the hook some of you go I okay I am rich good for you here's a problem we only compare ourselves in America America is only 4% of the world's population same study you know what it what it requires your wage your in your income to be to be the top 1% of wage earners in the world 30 $2,000 you go oh shoot I am rich rich see we're talking about that we're all in this category we love to compare ourselves to 4% not the other 96 in this context we are all ridiculously Rich command those who are rich you and I in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth here's the thing having stuff is not bad when stuff has you that's bad where's your hope don't put your hope in wealth it's so uncertain stock markets up and down Things Fall Apart but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment where's your hope command them to do good to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share in this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life the warning is like listen you can live and Miss life like you can exist and miss the life that's truly life and if you choose to hold on to stuff you cannot take hold of the life that is truly life the life is truly life on the other side of generosity and what Jesus wants to invite us into is like listen whether you have a lot in your hands or you believe you have very little in your hands it's the disposition of are your hands closed or open see generosity is more about are your hands closed or open and the belief that if I open my hands God is my provider and will provide again and here's the reality if our hope is in God's provider we can live open-handed like Lincoln slanging pepperonis a lush and when you close it down you might keep what you have but you cannot take hold of the life that is truly life second point gener people don't wait to have enough they begin with what God has placed already placed in your hands like the idea the lie that man I'll I'll I'll become generous when I have enough false you know what enough is not an amount enough is a mindset I know people who have a $100 and say man I don't have enough I know people who have $1,000 and say man it's not enough you won't believe it I know people have a million dollarss and they would whisper it's not enough see if you're waiting to get to enough you'll never become a generous person see enough is not an amount the ideas of saying things like if I had more I would be generous if I had enough I would be generous if this happened then I would be generous generosity doesn't begin when you have enough generosity real begins when you realize he is enough he's my provider I can start now listen it's never too early to start and never too late to begin generosity is not about having enough generosity is realizing I am built for the garden and God is supposed to be my provider and My Hope supposed to be there practical things carry cash and look for opportunity to be generous towards somebody put a $5 bill in your wallet $50 bill in your wallet $100 bill in your in your wallet and say God that one's for generosity help me find somebody I can be generous towards just start looking pay for someone's grocery or gas leave a generous tip today when you go out to eat and help us reclaim what what the world thinks about church folks you know waiters and waitresses say I don't want to take the 12 to 5 shift on Sundays because church people are cheap people let's not be those people be generous demonstrate that you know who God is listen take the time be generous with your time take take the time to actually listen to somebody when you say how you doing don't make that an empty greeting take the time stop and pray for someone when they share a burden be generous with your energy M someone's lawn offer to help someone on the side of the road be generous with your wisdom your knowledge your knowhow pour into the Next Generation here at the church pour into people at work make them better and you think man if I tell them all that I know they'll be better than me and I won't have anything left or God's the one who helped teach you all that anyway he'll give you new ideas he's your provider be generous with your family take the chore that no one else wants kids husbands do the chore that no one else wants in my house I hate folding clothes I amen I hate it you want to know how you can tell if I ever won the lottery I don't play but if I ever won the lottery I would only wear clothes one time and throw them away just cuz I hate folding clothes be generous with the chores take the one no one wants use the resources God has already given you to be generous do you have a house how can I be generous to people with the house God's already given apartment a townhouse your car your couch your food your toys how can you be generous listen gener generous people don't wait to have enough they begin with what God's already put in their hands and I'm telling you God's already put it in your hands and if we understood the nature and character of God we would live in a way that would look like the world is a bakery everyone's fighting over the last piece of pie and we live like we know there's fruit on the trees now I wanted to be done here and end the teaching and I almost did but I could not get to peace with God in the teaching and uh you can ask the team I this is the latest I've ever turned my teaching notes like late last night cuz I couldn't get to peace it's because this this next conversation is is so taken out of context and misused and abused in so many churches you might have seen it's used to manipulate people and make promises that God never made and I I so don't want that to be what you think I'm saying that I don't want to teach it and God won't let me not and so I I'm going to choose to take the risk and teach the supernatural side of this giving conversation because if all it is is do good things and be nice and trust God and go from there I'm actually not teaching you the whole Bible and The Whisper Of God was son you're just telling them what I said you're not making promises that you have to deliver on you're telling them the invitation I've invited them into so I'm going to choose to risk and teach all of God's word and his promises and I don't want to to miss the supernatural piece of this so against my will and for God's glory third Point here it is generous people trust that God will not only provide but also multiply see God can provide abundantly for all your needs and yet in the kingdom of God In the Garden in the in the the nature of God there's this multiplication thing that I don't know how to fully explain LA but I want to read God's word 2 Corinthians 91 and 11 now he God who supplies seed to the sewer and bread for food will also Supply and notice the yellow Supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the Harvest of your righteousness you will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us your generosity will result in Thanksgiving to God I want you to see what is being said most people teach this you'll increase and enlarge you'll be enriched in every way period and go SE SE a seed you've heard it if you've been around the church if not consider yourself lucky SE a seed give God a dollar he'll give you a 100 praise the Lord sew it and we like to stop there problem is God didn't stop there increase enlarge enrich so that you can be generous this verse is not about God making you rich it's about God multiplying so you can stay generous and God's going listen I give this to you so I can give through you God's not saying health wealth wisdom Prosperity that's the Prosperity Gospel if you read the disciples lives they didn't end Rich they ended dead very badly and yet God makes a promise that he will increase en llarge and enrich listen in the economy of the Bakery the world when you give when you live generous you end up with less cuz there's only so much pie to go around but in the culture of the garden somehow you live generously take the Apple enjoy I enjoy it myself somehow when I am generous I end with more and I don't feel the pressure to tell you how God does it I can just tell you I've seen it done and it's interesting the way God created in the garden see when pies are gone all that's left is a tin but when you get done eating an apple have you noticed something about what happens you got an apple you eat it and on the inside when you're done eating you you should stop when you get to the middle that's not edible but when you get done eating what's at the center of an apple a seed and somehow the economy of God's kingdom I can consume I can give away and be generous and even once the Apple's gone there's a seed that you throw that on the ground and that seed takes root and it doesn't grow another Apple it grows another apple tree and here's a quote it's one of my favorite quotes Robert Schuler said this any fool can count the number of seeds in an apple only God can count the number of apples in a seed see the the potential in the kingdom of God is this I can be generous you can clap for that praise the Lord see the culture of the kingdom of God is one that if you would be freed up trust God somehow he multiplies and it doesn't mean you're going to get rich it doesn't mean your life's going to be awesome and perfect all the time it just means that somehow when you put something in God's hands he multiplies it see the nature of the Gospel is that God somehow takes small things and makes them big things if you notice this mustard seeds in the gospel they can move mountains Five Loaves and two fishes somehow feed thousands all these religious people came to the temple and started giving all this money and Jesus is like fooy Widow shows up with two like pennies and he's like that's what I'm talking about somehow Jesus comes to Earth as this little baby that's helpless and he comes back as a king I don't know how God does it all the time but he does somehow God can do more with 90% of my money than 100% that's why I tithe God can do more with a generous person than a selfish one that's why I want to live open-handed God can do more with six days of work than I can do with all seven that's why I take a Sabbath cuz I trust that if I live as a person a resident of the Garden where God's my provider somehow when I get done I don't end with less I end with more and that scripture and that truth is not a financial principle it's a kingdom one and here's what I I truly realized this this week I never connected the dots one of the most frequent prayers that I pray for people and I pray for you 12Stone our church you as people is a prayer for God to multiply and I never noticed this say I I pray things like I pray for our day makers who generously give of their time and serve every week and I say God somehow would you multiply their time when they get home like they came and they served all morning man like production guys have been here since like 2:00 in the morning and I go God when they get home would you multiply their time with their spouse like somehow with half a day with their spouse when it feel like they had a weekend away like God when people come when when people come and serve Wednesdays in student Ministry and they give up one night of the week somehow when they get that 30 minutes before their kids go to bed would it feel like they had a daddy daughter date all day long and somehow would you multiply it like God people here at 12Stone the people generously give of their resources to this church God would you multiply in their life I pray that as you live generously I pray that God will multiply your time your efforts your influence your Effectiveness your energy your resources and somehow God multiplies and in a minute pastors are going to come up we're going to pray over you I want to do that but before we get there I want to remind us that Satan is still Whispering the same lie today that he whispered in the garden God's going come to the Garden trust me doesn't mean you're rich and famous it means I will apply all your needs according to my riches in Christ Jesus come to the garden and Satan Whispers what God has provided you is not enough God's holding out you can't trust God and if you want to get yours you better go take it and I'm telling you that lie robs us from living a radically generous life and God's whispering to his church would you just test me in this trust me live generously live honor me and generously with people and watch what I do so what I hope this week is as you go do Thanksgiving and you see that pie in the middle of the table I hope you remember this conversation and you might just whisper under your breath like that Pie's going to be gone soon that grandkid took a pretty big piece I bet they won't finish you might say something like this to yourself man that's that's how pie works but that's not how I work the spirit of God might just whisper to your soul man that might be how the the pie works that's not how I work I will abundantly provide for you as you have moments with family and friends maybe God will give opportunity to be generous and if we want to make a difference in this world we've got to live differently and we were built for the garden so pastors will you step up and will you pray this into and over our church