RISING FROM THE ASHES (2)

“God the Giver”
Colossians 1:15-23

1. if you weren’t here last week, please check out www.canbyalliance.blogspot.com for my message. These messages will build upon each other. I want all of us to be able to track together.

2. I spent this past week in Phoenix teaching a Doctor of Ministry class with 12 pastors for Asbury Theological seminary. The 1st 2 days we met at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Glendale – 100 acre campus, 11,000 people in worship each weekend, trying to raise $20 million in 2 years to build youth & children facilities.

3. our building project barely registers on their construction radar screen. But it is just as important to us as theirs is to them!

4. today I have 3 places I want to go in this message – 1st to the Scriptures, 2nd to the vision behind our building, 3rd, to the faith promise pledge.

God the Giver: Colossians 1:15-23
1. who is the biggest giver you know? Who is the most generous giver you’ve ever met?

2. have you ever thought of God as a giver? He’s our Creator – Savior – Healer – Returning King. And Giver. God is the world’s only pure Giver.

1st God gives to us in creation (1:15-17).
1. As God, Jesus created all things – heaven & earth, visible & invisible, thrones powers rulers authorities. All things were created by him.
2. our very existence as human beings comes from God. The bodies we inhabit. The breath we breathe. The food we eat. The water we drink. Without God, we don’t exist!

3. we work, we create & we give. But our ability to do so comes from God himself. What do you have that you did not receive? (Paul in I Cor 4:7).

4. creation is a picture of, a sign of, the proof of God’s generosity in creation!

2nd, God gives to us in salvation (1:18-23).
1. in addition to the story of creation Scripture tells the story of redemption. We are not just creatures of God; we are sinful creatures due to the fall of humanity.

2. this means that God ends up giving not just as a Creator but also as a Redeemer.

3. it works like this (thanks to Miroslav Volf & his excellent book Free of Charge). All things are from God. All things come through God. But we want to be independent of God. We want to stand on our own 2 feet. We want to claim God’s gifts as our own.

4. when we assert our independence, when we ascribe to ourselves what comes from God, we wrong God. We live in contradiction to who we were created to be. This is our primary sin against God the Giver.

5. so what does God do with us? We mishandle God’s gifts & fall short. And God gives us more – the gift of salvation – freedom from the guilt & power of sin!

6. this is God the Redeemer – through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. God gives by sacrificing his Son for our sin. God’s greatest gift of giving is marked by sacrifice – keep this in mind.

7. I’ve chosen Galatians 2:20 as the verse I’m going to meditate on over Lent this year – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. God the Son is a Giver. He gave his life for me!

8. Volf suggest 3 ways that we are obliged to respond to this giving God:

1st in faith.
1. Faith is the way that we as receivers relate
to God the giver. Our power to be & our power to act come from God. Faith merely recognizes this.

2nd in gratitude.
1. gratitude is what we give back to the giver. We say thanks. Faith receives God’s gifts as gifts. Gratitude receives them well.

2. God’s giving gives our life meaning, value & purpose. God’s gifts come with the message – you are loved, you are valuable, you are well thought of. God’s gifts establish us.

3. and ours is to say thanks with our lips & with our lives.

3rd, in participation.
1. we are not the final destination in the flow of God’s gifts. We find ourselves midstream. God’s gifts flow into us and they flow on from us. God intends for us to be channels of his gifts to our neighbors.

2. God gives us gifts for us to enjoy. Don’t miss this point. God intends to bless us with his gifts. He desires for us to flourish. But he also wants us to bless others with what we have been blessed with. God wants us to be channels.

3. why channels? Ephesians 5:1, Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. To be a channel is to be God-like. Love leads to giving leads to sacrifice.

4. we are called to imitate God. We are to be conformed into the image of Christ. Part of what it means to be like God is to give as God gives. To give is to express God’s DNA that he passes onto us by creating us in his image & likeness. Giving is at the very heart & essence of who we are.

9. all giving begins with God the giver. We respond in faith. We respond with gratitude. We respond as channels.

the Vision Behind our Building
1. MISSION: why do we exist?
To make disciples who love God and love others.

2. VISION: where are we going?
* worship – to worship God as a lifestyle
* growth - to see people transformed into the image of Jesus
* care – to care for people and value relationships
* kingdom-building – to advance the kingdom of God

3. GOALS for this season of ministry
* build a culture of prayer
* build a culture of disciple-making
* serve the needs of our community in the name of Christ
* seek to bring healing to hurting people
* equip people for leadership

Purpose of the Building
1. as we looked at our mission, vision & goals AND listened to your vision & dreams for the new building we came to 3 specific purposes we wanted to building to fulfill.

A Place for the Community
1. Canby-area people enjoy being together for an assortment of events (football games, Slice of Summer, General Canby Days, concerts, plays, coffee & eating, etc).

2. therefore we want to build something that will allow for relationship building, plays, seminars & concerts. In addition, we want to build something that will meet the spiritual needs of our congregation

3. therefore, in light of our congregation and our community build a Worship Center and Coffee
Center that can meet the spiritual and relational needs of CAC & our community.

A Place for Teens and Children
1. Canby-area people value young people (strong public schools, Canby Kids, the growing number of young families choosing to live here.

2. therefore we want to build something that will allow children and youth to feel "at home” in our church. We want to build spaces for children and youth that will allow them to “make it their own”

4. this doesn’t mean we don’t value adults for our senior citizens. There will be ample adult space for classes, social gatherings & program events.

5. we concluded, with your input, that in light of our congregation and the community we want to build a youth center & do all we can to enhance the children's space & ministry.

A Place to Meet the Needs of Others
1. Like all communities the Canby-area has its share of social and economic problems. These appear to be on the rise – the poor elderly, those in need of food, clothing & counseling.

2. we want to provide for a Food Panty space and something that could house community uses – tutoring program, literacy classes & seminars.

3. therefore, in light of our congregation and our community we want to build and/or provide space that can be used for the Food Pantry and other community needs.

4. how? By building something that can be utilized by our community, used by our children & teens & become a place out of which to serve the needs of our community. We want this building to be a ‘channel’ from God to us to our community.

the Faith Promise Pledge
1. let me break this down for you. 1st, money you prayerfully trust God to provide. Make this a matter of prayer. This is between you and God. Let God direct. Seek his face. Ask God to give you a specific amount to pledge.

2. 2nd, over and above your regular giving. If you are not giving, now is the time to start. Scripture is crystal clear on giving – giving is part of what it means to follow Christ. Both Old & New Testaments teach us to give. Ours is to obey. We need the $800,000 we are seeking to raise to be over & above your normal giving.

3. 3rd, through your sacrifice. Sacrifice means sacrifice. We won’t raise $800,000 without sacrifice.

4. the church I began this message with – Christ’s Church of the Valley. Their senior pastor shared last week that God has led he & his family to sacrifice in every building program the church has entered:
* 1st fund-raising campaign sold house & gave equity to church
* 2nd sold both cars
* 3rd gave all his retirement

5. he shared that they had no regrets, that God was faithful to provide for their needs, that they learned how to live by faith.

6. 4th, and his supernatural provision over the next 12 months. This means trusting God for the money he leads you to pledge even if you have no idea where it is going to come from. This means trusting God to supply. This is a level of faith & trust that I believe few of us have ever experienced.

7. I want to conclude by sharing some creative giving strategies with you that I stole from Village Baptist Church in Beaverton – they are seeking to raise $16 million in the next 3 years! 5 Ds = easy to remember!

8. DONATE:
* give from your regular income
* assets – real estate, stocks & bonds, car, personal possessions
* future revenue – rental properties, stocks & bonds, certificates of deposit, interest-bearing accounts

9. DO AWAY – reduce spending to free up resources

10. DELAY – hold off on major purchases like:
* big vacations
* new cars
* new home
* home renovation

11. DO MORE – find creative ways to increase your savings
* thrifty shopping
* finding new ways to earn money

12. DENY – sacrificially cut something out of your life – what can you give up, do without, postpone or alter in order to give?

13. back to Christ’s Church of the Valley. 2 years to raise $20 million. Pastor shared how he went golfing with man from church. This man asked him, how much do you think I should give? Pastor said, I think you should give $500,000! Man with a shocked look on his face said, we could never give $500,000 but we are planning to give $150,000.

3 days later the man called, God convicted me through your answer. $150,000 is not a sacrifice for us. We’re going to give $500,000. To do this we are goin g to sell a building that we have been saving for our retirement – it’s worth $500,000!

14. this time of building & fund-raising is our opportunity to
* do something significant that might outlast our lifetime
* leave a legacy for our children, youth & future generations
* make an eternal difference with our investment