Rising from the Ashes (3)

“GIVING THE JESUS WAY”
John 3:16; 2 Cor. 8:9; 9:15

A Giving Story Like No Other – John 3:16; 2 Cor 8:9; 9:15
1. the Jesus story in the Bible is the greatest giving story the world has ever known. His eternal existence as God, his birth into our world, his life, suffering, death, resurrection & Spirit existence in & with us today.

2. today I want us to think about the ‘giving nature’ of the Jesus story. Read passages. Let’s think about these 4 particulars –

1st, the Jesus story is birthed in a heart of love.
1. for God so LOVED the world. At the heart of the universe lives the Triune God who has eternally existed as Father Son Holy Spirit in a community of love. If you could cut open the Triune God he would bleed love.

2. God decided to create us & enfold us into his circle of love. He sent his Son Jesus to widen his circle of love & draw us inside it. Even while we were sinners, his special creation that rebelled against him.

3. he sent Jesus to get us back. And he sent Jesus because of his LOVE for us – pure, unconditional, unselfish, no-strings-attached.

2nd, the Jesus story necessitates leaving one’s comfort zone.
1. that he GAVE his one and only Son. To give his Son God had to send his Son. Jesus had to take a trip. It meant entering a new & foreign culture. He left everything he had known for all of eternity to know something brand new.

2. think of Jesus leaving his comfort zone in this greatest giving story known to us:
* heaven to earth
* spirit to flesh
* infinity to finiteness
* God to man/human
* perfection to imperfection
* holiness to sinfulness
* peace to violence
* light to darkness
* riches to poverty
* the worship of angels to the rejection of his people

3. has anyone ever given up more out of love & for love?

3rd, the Jesus story is actualized in an act of sacrifice.
1. God GAVE his one and only Son. To give his Son meant that God’s Son was killed. Crucified on a Roman cross as the sacrifice for the world’s sin.

2. if the Jesus story is the greatest giving story known to us – then – we learn that the true nature of giving is sacrifice:
* riches for poverty
* life for death
* his life for the lives of others

3. the question could be asked – is giving really giving if there is no sacrifice involved?

4th, the Jesus story bestows the gift of eternal life.
1. that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Not bios life, biological life. We receive that from the hand of God at birth. But zoe life, spiritual life, the very life of God himself. Life now & life to come.

2. eternal life comes to us as:
* spiritual life instead of spiritual death
* reconciliation with God instead of estrangement
* pardon instead of judgment
* eternal life instead of eternal death (separation from God in Hell)
* Jesus in us now lighting up our life instead of self in us now messing up our life

3. these are 4 particulars of the Jesus story, the Triune God giving story in Jesus.

Giving the Jesus way
1st, our giving is best given out of love.
1. As we give to God, to our families, to our friends, to the church, to the world around us.

2. is your giving fueled by love? For God? Your family? Friends? Church? Others?

2nd, our giving is best given out of trust.
1. it takes trust to leave one’s comfort zone. Trust that everything will be alright, will be taken care of.

2. what defines your comfort zone? God or your financial holdings? If our trust is in our bank account, we will have a hard time giving. If our trust is in our God account, we will find a way to give.

3. to give away money is to transfer your trust from dollars to God. From the things of creation to the Creator himself.

3rd, our giving is best given out of sacrifice.
1. to give with sacrifice is to give like God. The universe has never seen a greater sacrifice than that of God giving away his Son to us.

2. part of what it means to become like Christ is to learn how to sacrifice – not just our money, but our time, talents, possessions – all that we have & all that we are.

Buildings are tools to help people meet Jesus & grow in Jesus
1. our church building is simply a tool to be used to help people meet Jesus & grow in Jesus. Nothing more & nothing less.

2. this defines the nursery-toddler rooms. The children’s classrooms. The youth area downstairs. The adult classrooms. The coffee bar & connecting space. The worship area. Even the janitor closets & bathrooms. The kitchen. The parking lot. The sound-light-audio/visual booth. Office space. Food panty.

3. Tools, all of them, given by God, held in our hands, for bringing people to this Jesus I have been talking about this morning. Meet him & grow closer to him in love, adoration, obedience & service.

4. let me share with you how I ‘see’ this tool being used –

5. children’s area:
* (Kayla Nelson) – grade school girl, brought from grandparents, connects with teachers & friends, comes to love Christ, wants to be baptized & was last spring
* places for kids to be loved, taught, prayed with, prayed for, make friends, learn their Bibles, say ‘yes’ to Jesus + party time
* MOM’S group meets here – CH article Mom’s To Get The Straight Talk on Meth – last Thursday, Clackamas County Sr. Deputy District Attorney Dave Paul – team of CAC people to assist MOM’s with event = greet, go-fers, refreshments, lend a hand with kids

6. food panty: relief to relationships to real life change
* story of JThorton’s niece & 2 sons coming to Christ
on Ash Wednesday – party being planned!
* woman angry at God for ‘taking her husband’ – has started attending Los Hechos church
* feeding the hungry in the name of Jesus = we care because God cares

7. youth area:
* place for our youth to meet Jesus & grow in Jesus
* Andra Booze/Williams – CHS student, invited to a youth retreat, exposed to Jesus, accepted Christ, became a part of the youth group, invited her parents who started coming, dad made a commitment to Christ before dying in a plane crash that took his life & the life of his son, largest memorial service our church has seen, worship center full, old sanctuary/overflow/balcony full, people standing & sitting in the foyer, now married to Julene & Jim Trigg’s son, Darin & serving Christ

8. classrooms:
* bible studies, theology classes, parenting classes
where Jesus & his way are learned
* place for our exciting women’s ministry –
Monday nights = dinner + story + Knitting or card-making + where friends from the community can be invited to hear how Jesus is making a difference in someone’s life

9. God wants us to use this ‘tool’ to impact our
community, 1 life at a time.

10. as you prayerfully seek God’s face for the amount of your pledge ask yourself & God 3 questions:
* how much can you give from what you have?
* how much can you sacrifice?
* how much can you trust God to supply?

11. Ray Pritchard story – pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Chicago – church raising $2.6 million for renovations – asking for Faith Promise Pledges to pay for it – he & his wife pledged 3xs amount they gave to church in year – didn’t no where the money was coming from – God supplied it all & more!

12. here’s the email he sent me this week:

Yes, God did provide in an amazing way. The funny thing is the goal seemed impossible. But the money just started to come in from all these unexpected sources. It was as if God said, “Okay, since you’re giving the money to my work, I’m going to open the doors of heaven.” It was a little bit here, an unforeseen check there, an extra gift here, and we ended up giving the entire three extra years with six months or so to spare. We ended up giving a fourth year to the campaign as God blessed us.

In a way, I think our story is typical in that we didn’t have anyone die and leave us big amounts of money, and when we made the pledge, neither Marlene or I had any idea how we would do that much giving. But God provided, we paid all our bills, and took care of us along the way. To me it reaffirmed the crucial importance of leaders setting the pace. Our example seemed to motivate lots of others to step up to the plate.

I know that $800,000 sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but the first step is for you to determine how you want to lead the way. There are lots of ways you can do it as long as the people know you are “all in” along with them. Tell them that they don’t have to know where the money will come from. If they knew, they wouldn’t need very much faith. Challenge them to trust God and leave the details in his hands.

This could be a huge turning point for your congregation that will lift it to a whole new plateau. I am praying toward that end.

Let me know how it goes.
Cordially,
Ray Pritchard

13. my prayer is that through our building endeavor God will shape our hearts to be more like the heart of his son Jesus – that we would give out of love, out of trust in God, and in sacrifice!