Generosity is POWERFUL
IT STARTS WITH A RIPPLE – ripple effect
Illustration : power of a ripple
Ripple ( starts with a splash ) of Generosity….. God’s plan
GENEROUS GIVING video
Tom and Bree Hseih – live in community
Preparation
– a WORD to follow
– a budget to serve by
– sacrificial on purpose
RIPPLE STARTS W/ PREPARATION : GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF US
Judges 6 – 8. Just the right size army for victory against 135,000 !
The fleece
The trimming
The victory
Luke 10 (NIV)
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
9 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
Apostle Paul: “8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.r when I am weak, then am I strong” (2Co 12:7-10)
Illustration : how do you buy gift for “someone who has everything”
RIPPLES CONTINUE W/ SEEING AND ACTION
Luke 10 The Good Samaritan
30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and [n]beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 On the next day he took out two [o]denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 36 Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do [p]the same.”
Tom & Bree. (The boys, Jenny, the neighbors )
APPLY / HW
Good prep – Tom and Bree ( median income choice )
Gideon – a fleece, trimming the troops
The disciples – empty pockets
How to get ready???
HW ….. APP – Mint
ASK JESUS
– how much have I been given
– how much will I hold on to?
– how much will I give?