Good morning. How are you all doing today? Awesome. Well, we like to start our services by saying,
welcome to anybody that is joining us here in our sanctuary for the very first time,
or if you're joining us online for the first time, welcome.
We're so glad you're here to worship with us here at Hosanna.
I am Pastor Nathan and today we are starting a brand new series on a very, very important topic.
The topic is generosity and giving.
You know, this is a topic that affects every single one of us individually.
It's a topic that affects every single church, every single ministry, every single missionary.
And really generosity and giving, it is a topic that includes so much more than our money.
But our money is a huge part of it. It's a very, very significant part of it.
And, you know, money can be an awkward topic to deal with.
You know, many times within churches and church leadership, one of the common worries is, oh no,
if you talk about money, people are going to think you're greedy, you know.
And some people have the ideas that talking about money isn't spiritual,
or they're worried that their unchurched friends are going to be turned off if the church talks about money.
Or they think that just nobody wants to talk about money at all.
And the reality, I think, is all of us, all of us, including Christians,
we're talking about money all the time, aren't we?
I mean, we're literally always thinking about money.
Which one of us aren't talking about money or thinking about money,
or in some cases arguing about money almost every single day, you know?
In the world we live in now, it's with gas and groceries and, you know, kids if you have kids,
and people are worried about their paychecks and their savings and their car and the repairs on the car
and the rent and bills and retirement.
Money is a part of our life.
And it's something we talk about regularly.
And regarding money, talking about money being a spiritual thing,
you know, Scripture is literally packed with financial teaching that changes lives when it's applied.
In fact, you might be surprised to know that Jesus talked more about money than he talked about love.
Now, it wasn't his number one topic. Sometimes people say that.
The number one thing Jesus talked about money, not accurate.
But he did talk about money more than he talked about the topic of love, which is interesting.
And because so much of this Christian thing that we're a part of,
so much of it is about relationship, and relationship is very often affected by financial issues,
it seems to be a very spiritual thing to discuss money from a spiritual, biblical perspective.
And when it comes to biblical financial discipleship, really money shouldn't be a taboo subject.
It shouldn't be a subject that we avoid.
And you know, when churches or pastors don't talk about money in a proper biblical manner,
we really don't get any biblical financial discipleship.
That's what happens.
And so my goal is to provide one of the most important forms of pastoral care that I can provide to you all.
And that is to teach you what Scripture says in this series about money, about debt,
and really how to be obedient to God in what is this huge area of our lives.
And really how to be good, faithful, generous stewards of what God has given to you.
Because really, if we're not learning about what God has to say about money in his word,
we're all going to get our financial stewardship elsewhere.
Many of us like watching the TikTok money hacks, and that's our financial discipleship.
We get our tips on the internet or on YouTube channels or through Instagram.
And I guarantee that if you're going to TikTok or Instagram or your broke friends or the world to get your financial discipleship,
well, I guarantee the world does not want to help you be wise with your finances.
It definitely does not want you to be generous with your finances.
What the world wants to do is to take every dime you have to keep you perpetually enslaved to debt and buried by high interest.
That's what the world wants.
And as a result, we end up squandering what God has entrusted to us wastefully, selfishly, ignorantly, or all three.
So, it was about four to five months ago that the Lord put this on my heart to do this series when we completed Revelation.
And since that time, I've had many conversations with different members of the body here at Hosanna
where the topic of money just came up, came up all on its own, right?
And I realized a number of things in those conversations.
Some things are very obvious, some things not so obvious.
One of the obvious things is that many are struggling financially.
Let's all say, duh, right?
It's been a tough economy.
But in having these conversations with some of you here in the body, those conversations which inevitably lead to,
well, what does God's Word say about money and finances?
What I discovered and realized is there's quite a bit of misunderstanding, fear, mistrust,
or in some cases outright rebellion against what the Word of God says regarding our finances in general
and then really with the idea of generosity and giving specifically.
You know, the most common, the most regular commonalities that I've discovered
in a lot of these conversations I've had with many of you here
is that the financial struggles are coming from just simple errors like overspending.
Living beyond your means, just being in incredible debt, or just plain poor financial habits.
And so when we're enslaved to debt, right, when we practice poor financial habits,
often the very first thing to go is our giving, our generosity.
And then that then has a negative effect not just on ourselves, but then it affects our churches,
it affects the ministries we're a part of, it affects outreaches.
And really the mission that we're all a part of as the body of Christ is affected
and in many ways diminished.
And so over the next few weeks we're going to look at things like the heart and purpose behind giving, right?
Really the why of giving, why we give as Christians.
And I'll give you a hint, it's not primarily about your money, alright?
We're going to look at what I'm calling the doctrine of giving.
We're going to talk about what the Old Testament says about giving,
talk about the issue of tithing, what the New Testament says about giving.
We're going to address those issues about the New Testament doesn't ever say anything about a tithe.
We're going to deal with that question, right?
And really deal with the what of giving.
Then we're going to deal with the practicalities of giving,
which is really dealing with the how of giving, dealing with how to steward practically what God has given you
and talking about what the Bible says about debt, about lending, about saving, and all that type of stuff.
And I'm sure there's going to be overlap through all of these studies over the next four weeks.
But really all together the goal is that all of us are going to be able to live
and to move within the will and purpose of God when it comes to our finances.
And really experience the freedom and the blessing that God has for us
when we steward what He has given us His way.
That's the goal.
But today we're going to start our series on generosity and giving
by answering a really important question, focusing on this one thing.
What is this thing called church?
What is it? What are we a part of?
What does it mean that we are all part of the body of Christ?
What is the purpose of the church?
How is the church supposed to function?
Why we need the church as individual believers?
And then ultimately what generosity and giving has to do with any of that.
But before we get into the study today we're going to spend time in worship as we do
because God is God no matter what's going on with our finances.
God is God no matter what's going on in our world.
God is God no matter what's going on, period.
And we know our God is a gracious God, a generous God, a giving God.
And we who have been created in His image and saved and washed clean of sin
and redeemed are just called to live as an example of who He is.
And so we want to praise Him for who He is and just thank Him for who He is
and what He's done in our lives in worship and then we'll get into the Word.
So if you all pray with me, Father, we're so grateful for who You are.
We thank You, God, for blessing us with just all the many blessings You've given us, Lord.
I know all of us, God, have been at times where maybe we don't feel like we're being blessed.
But Lord, as I've said many times, God, if You did nothing else in our lives,
if You never blessed us one single way beyond our salvation, we still owe You everything.
But God, You don't only save us, but then You dwell within us and You give us.
And then You dwell within us and You teach us and You guide us and You lead us
and You empower us and You equip us. God, You do so much.
And Lord, one of the biggest areas of our lives that demonstrates
whether we've given ourselves to You truly and completely,
whether we've yielded ourselves to You in everything, is really our finances, God.
And so, Lord, we want to learn what it is You have to say about our money.
We want to learn what it is You have to say about this church, our church, the church, Lord,
biblically, so that we understand what we're called to do as part of this body
that is Your body, that You are the head of, Jesus Christ.
We love You, we praise You, and Lord, we just want to let You know
how much we appreciate You, God, in our worship today.
It's in Your name we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.
This is part one of a four-part series, and as I mentioned, today we're going to try and build a foundation,
a foundation for this topic of giving and generosity,
and that foundation really comes from what is the church?
What is this thing called church? What is it all about?
How does it work? How does it function?
What is God's intent for us coming together as a body of believers?
And so, that first question is, what is the church, right?
Many people today, if you ask them what the church is,
they would probably think of the building, right, and point to a building.
Oh, it's that, that's the church over there.
And that is not really a biblical understanding of what church is.
In the New Testament, the word for church in the original language is ecclesia.
In the ecclesia, that word simply means an assembly or called out ones.
And so, the root meaning of the word church in our Bibles is primarily a people,
not a place, all right? It's primarily a people.
In Romans chapter 16 verse 5, when Paul was greeting Priscilla and Aquila
at the end of his letter to the Roman Christians,
he said, greet also the church that meets in their home.
And right there in that verse, we see that the church is referring to the people,
the body of believers that met in their house.
In Ephesians chapter 1 verses 22 and 23,
it gives us the picture of the body of Christ,
and it tells us that the church is the body of Christ that Jesus is the head of.
It says this, Ephesians 1 verse 22,
and he subjected everything under his feet,
and appointed him as head over everything for the church,
which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
And so, what we learn in that verse is that the church, the people,
the assembly is the body of Christ.
And as the body of Christ, that means we are the fullness of Christ,
which means that we are the group of people, the assembly, that is full of Jesus.
We are the full expression of Christ in this world.
That is what the church is, and how and who we are supposed to be,
and how we're supposed to function.
So really, the body of Christ, the church,
has been made up of all believers in Jesus Christ
since the very onset of the church in Acts chapter 2,
and it will be all the way up to his return.
Now, biblically, when thinking of the body of Christ, the church,
there are typically two expressions seen in Scripture.
There is what we call the universal church, and then what we see as the local church.
Now, referring to the universal church, again, this is every believer,
everywhere on this planet, that has a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
That is what we refer to as the universal church, right?
1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 13, Paul says,
For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free,
and we were all given one spirit to drink.
And that is why you could go on a missions trip, or go on a business trip,
or just a vacation, and run into someone on the other side of the planet,
and you find out they're a Christian, and there's instantly a, oh, oh, hey, we're family, right?
Because we're all part of the universal body of Christ.
But the local church is seen in the many epistles that we see written in the New Testament,
letters written to very specific local gatherings of believers,
like the letter to the Corinthians, the letter to the Colossians,
the letter to the Ephesians and the Philippians.
Right, as we were studying through Revelation,
you remember the seven letters to the seven churches of Revelation.
Galatians chapter 1, verse 2, Paul says this, that he's writing to the churches, plural, of Galatia.
So these churches are the multiple local gatherings of believers there in the province of Galatia.
That's who Paul was writing to.
So these churches are groups of believers gathered for localized ministry,
localized ministry, both inward, meaning ministry from the church to the church,
and then outward ministry, which is the church out to the world around them.
Now, by extension, the location where these believers gathered together for inward and outward ministry
came to be called the church, right?
And so the local church location-wise, when we say that is the church,
what we're pointing to is the place where believers are able to gather together
to fully apply the body principles, right?
We're all members of one body. We're going to talk about that later.
So it's the body principles of inward ministry,
where we're all called and equipped and gifted in some way to minister to the body of Christ,
and it's a base of operations to apply the principles of outward ministry
as we as a collective go out to change the communities that we're a part of.
So that's the church. That's what the church is.
But the next question would be then, who needs the church? Right?
That is a question that is being asked by many today, including many believers.
This question has been asked since the very, very beginning of the church.
You know, in Acts chapter 1, the disciples were returning to Jerusalem
after the ascension of Jesus Christ,
and we read there that it was them plus 120 others that were gathered together,
waiting on the Holy Spirit.
And that was the first assembly, really. That was the first church, right?
And then in Acts chapter 2, we get to the day of Pentecost,
and in the New King James Version of the Bible, it says they were all together in one accord.
That means a body of believers gathered together in one mind, in one spirit, and one purpose.
And then we read there in Acts that the Holy Spirit then falls upon them, right?
And they all start speaking in languages they don't know, and the people are amazed, right?
Like, I'm going to paraphrase what the people said.
Aren't these dumb Galileans? How are they all smart enough to speak all of these languages?
And yet they do it, and the people are amazed, but we read there that some others are like,
ah, they're drunk. They're drunk, and they dismiss it.
What are they saying when they dismiss it?
Who needs this church? Who needs this gathering of believers? Who needs these people?
And that was the beginning of this idea that has been asked down through the ages.
Who needs church? Who needs it?
It's been carried through the entire book of Acts, right?
As the story of Acts goes on, it's this question that's constantly being answered, right?
We eventually get to the story of a man named Saul who's going, who needs this church?
They're upsetting our religious thing, and he goes around and starts arresting Christians until Jesus went, uh-uh-uh.
And then we get to later on, I think it's Acts chapter 12, our Herod, a political leader, says, who needs the church?
They're messing up our political regime, and it says that he starts harassing the Christians, right?
On and on and on, but the church kept growing and kept growing.
And more and more got saved. And we read from the very beginning that they gathered together.
It says in Acts chapter 2 that they gathered in the temple daily.
That's the congregational corporate gathering.
And they gathered from house to house, which are our community groups, our small groups.
They gathered together in both of those ways, learning and loving one another,
and maturing in their faith and growing in their walk and practicing their faith together.
Now in modern times, our current culture, at least here in America,
that same challenge, that same question, who needs the church, is alive and well.
The need of the church is more and more questioned and devalued in our culture.
And as I said, even in the lives of those who are professed believers in Jesus Christ.
You see, in 2012, there was this group of people called the Nuns.
Not N-U-N-S. N-O-N-E-S. Like none of that, right?
It was this group of people that were identified as the Nuns.
These were people that in polls that said, how do you religiously affiliate?
They said, I am unaffiliated with any religious expression in any way.
Now this group of people called the Nuns included agnostics who say,
well, I believe there's something out there, but I can't identify him.
And then atheists who say there's no God, right?
It included them. But a majority of these people that were being identified in polls
would say things like, I believe in God. I believe he exists.
I believe he's my savior. I believe he's my savior.
I believe he's my savior. I believe Jesus died on the cross,
but I'm not affiliated with any church or any denomination.
They would say things like, I used to go to church.
Or things like, I love Jesus, but not the church.
Many of them would say things too like, I believe in God,
but I very rarely, if ever, go to religious services of any kind anywhere.
What are they saying? Who needs the church? What is the point?
And there's many reasons that people have brought up for this type of stuff,
but I believe the issue is way more spiritual than anything else.
But polls do say that attendance in church is on the decline.
Less and less people are attending church.
Coming out of COVID where everybody got to go home and watch it on TV,
many churches have struggled to get their people back into fellowship.
Because, I mean, come on.
Who doesn't want to sit on their couch in their jammies
and eat cereal while they're watching church, right?
I'm not going to lie, those couple months it was pretty cool, right?
But aided by a lack of biblical understanding of what this thing called church is
and what its purpose is, and how it's supposed to function
as a collective effort of the body of Christ under the leading of Holy Spirit,
we see less and less people in church in our culture today.
Who needs the church? I do. You do. We all do.
Everybody needs the church.
Even the unsaved need the church because of the mission of the church.
For those of us that are believers,
why does Hebrews 10-25 say to not neglect to gather together
as some are in the habit of doing?
Why does it say that?
Because then, just like today, some are in the habit of neglecting to gather together.
It's an issue within the church.
And why?
Well, there are Christians today who think it's not important for me to go to church.
They think it's not necessary, right?
You hear things like, I can read my Bible on my own. You should.
I can watch stuff on YouTube. Well, we're going to talk about that.
I can worship on my own. Yes, you can.
But there is a very clear call within the Bible that his people would gather together.
And it really, the people who have shunned church for many reasons,
and some are good reasons.
There are reasons why people have to remain home and watch church on YouTube and stuff.
But many just don't think they need it.
And this gathering that we're a part of, this coming together, committing to this,
making time every week to come together in fellowship,
here on Sunday congregationally and throughout the week in different community groups,
it's vital. It's critical. It's a necessary part of our Christian faith.
It's a necessary part of our Christian walk and our Christian growth and maturity.
We all need it. We all need it for reasons we're going to look at right now.
Now, the first reason why we need church, I believe, is because Christians need each other.
We need God's people as God's people.
Every human, I believe, has a need.
I think God created us all with a need to belong to something,
to belong to a family, to belong to a group,
to have a place in our lives where we can truly say, I belong.
And Scripture emphasizes the need for this thing called fellowship over and over and over again.
The modern word for fellowship, we use the word community,
hence why we call our small group ministry our community groups, right?
They're about building community.
Now, sociologically, studies have shown that people tend to gravitate towards groups
and gatherings that often reflect their common hobbies or common value systems.
Maybe they gather together based upon cultural divides or certain beliefs.
It's just a sociological thing that has been identified.
It's a need that we have. It's a basic need that every human being has.
It's a need that God created us with, a need for connection,
a need for belonging and acceptance and support and encouragement and accountability.
God created us with this need, and the church is the place that should excel at meeting those needs.
Now, in Psalms chapter 68 verse 6 in the CSB it says, God provides homes for those who are deserted.
Now, you might go, that's a fantastic verse for a homeless ministry, right?
It's just like, God provides homes for those who are deserted, and that's an important thing.
But in the New King James Version, this is how it's rendered.
God sets the solitary in families.
Or in the ISV Version, God causes the lonely to dwell in families.
In other words, God's cure for loneliness, God's cure for isolation, is to have relationship, is to have community.
And in the gathering of the family of God, the gathering of the believers that is called the church,
Christians experience connections with other people.
They experience connection with people who share their values, and share their beliefs, and share their priorities and goals.
This is a community that shares those things.
Church is the place where when you weep, someone will sit down next to you and weep with you.
Church is the place where when you're discouraged, someone will come alongside you and pray for you and encourage you in the Lord.
When you have a practical need, the community pitches in together and tries to help that practical need.
But I think even more importantly, the community of Christ, accountability is found.
And sometimes we need that, say, hey brother, hey sister, I'm struggling with a thing.
Can you help me, hold me accountable because I'm trying to honor God with my life.
We find spiritual support and practical help all in pursuit of the common goal of godliness.
There is no other place that can duplicate the kind of community that is found in the church.
You know, when I'm struggling, especially spiritually, when I'm feeling spiritually defeated or down, you know, I don't go walk into Starbucks.
Or down to the city hall, or I don't log on to Discord and connect with a bunch of randos and just start sharing my heart with everybody.
But I do search out my Christian family because it works.
Because they get it.
And because I know their counsel to me is going to be biblical.
It's going to be good counsel.
You know, and that's where we get the body principles of ministry from 1 Corinthians chapter 12, right?
Paul gives us this whole description of just as our physical body has many parts that need each other and depend on each other, the body of Christ is the same.
We have different giftings, different experiences.
We all have different victories and failures that other people in the body need to glean from and need to learn from.
And if you're not here, your experiences, your victories, your failures, your giftings are removed from the equation.
And you might be the very person God wants to use to minister to someone else in your family.
And when you say, it's not important that I go.
Really?
We aren't being part of the body of Christ without actively participating in the body of Christ.
Christianity is not and was never meant to be a one-way relationship.
Christianity is not a thing where it's just about me and only me and feed me and speak to me and teach me and bless me.
Church is about us.
It's about we, not me.
And this togetherness doesn't happen elsewhere the way it happens in the family of God.
Without that unity, without that fellowship, without that connection, you're isolated.
What does that isolation lead to? Well, we just read it, right?
Loneliness.
It leads to depression. It leads to anxiety.
I mean, even if you win alone and you have nobody to celebrate that win with, it's empty.
It's empty.
And it leads to all manner of mental health issues we see today. So many.
And I believe what people really want more than an email, more than a text, more than a funny meme shared with them.
And don't misunderstand me. I love a funny meme, okay?
But what people want more than that is face-to-face, eye-to-eye contact.
They want real, sincere, genuine attention and community.
They want to really be seen and heard.
And that's relationship.
Now the church provides this.
The church provides this. But yes, we are a group of broken, sinful people,
full of our own problems and our own baggage and our own issues.
But you will never experience love like you will from some broken, sinful person who has genuinely experienced the saving love of Jesus Christ.
You will never experience love like you will from someone who has experienced that themselves.
And that's what you get in the church.
So because we need God's people, we need the church, which is God's people gathering at a place. Okay?
Alright, number two. Why do we need the church? Because we need God's principles.
We need to be exposed to regular doses of God's truth.
At least once a week.
Prayerfully more.
Ideally, you should be in your word every single day exposed to God's truth.
But the reality is, is there are many, most Christians hardly spend any time in the Bible.
And so this place provides a place where there is teaching.
If there's one place in the world where you should be able to expect truth to be distinctly heard, it's the church.
It's the church.
You know, 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15, Paul said this.
He goes, but if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household,
which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Now that word household that he uses there, in the original Greek, it means the family unit as understood by the physical place in which they gather.
You get that?
So it's referring to the family unit as understood by where they meet.
Household. The household.
So this family unit in a physical place, which is the church of the living God, is the place that is to be the pillar and the foundation of the truth.
It's where we come together corporately to learn and to live out our conduct as God's people, God's household.
And really with all the world's voices around us and everything that we get from social media, right?
All the opinions and how we should live, the opinions on what we should value, how to plan our lives, how to spend our time and our resources.
Like really in the cacophony of all of that, we need to hear that clear voice that cuts through it all in the word of God that says, thus says the Lord.
Says the Lord.
We need God's truth.
It's essential for us individually, and it's essential to us corporately in order to be the body of Christ properly.
Now in Acts chapter 2 verse 42, we see in the early church it says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, which means the gathering together, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
You notice what the first thing on that list was?
The apostles' teaching.
You know, we understand according to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11.
It says he himself, speaking of Jesus, gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ.
So scripture tells us that God has given some.
That word given means he gave it to the church as a gift.
God has selected certain people within the assembly of his body and pulled them out and say, I am going to call them and equip them and give them to the body as a gift to do these things that are listed here in Ephesians chapter 4.
And so pastors, that word actually is shepherds, right?
God has gifted to the body, to the assembly certain people to be shepherds, to spiritually care for the needs of the body.
And then he says there are some specifically given to be teachers, to teach.
What was it that they were devoted to in Acts 2 42?
The apostles' teaching.
Now there are no scripture writers today.
We have God's canonized word in its fullness, right?
But we understand in the early church, God was speaking to his apostles and that's kind of largely what we have in the New Testament, right?
These letters to his leaders that now we have as the word of God.
And then as the church has gone on, we study those things and teach those things and study those things and teach those things.
And so as he's given teachers called to devote their time to study the word of God, to comb through it, to analyze it, to then come to the body and say, hey, I've studied this in depth and detail and let me teach you what the word of God says.
Why?
To equip the saints, the body, for the work of the ministry.
We all have a part to play.
It says to build up, or that means to strengthen the body of Christ.
So why did the early church devote themselves to the teaching?
Because they knew they needed God's truth.
They knew they needed it.
They knew it was essential for their spiritual health.
And they knew that God had given to them specific people, called and gifted and equipped to teach them.
Why?
So that as an assembly, they would know how to conduct themselves in God's household, God's family, the church, and be built up, strengthened spiritually, and equipped to do ministry.
And that word ministry simply means to serve.
To serve both inward, one another, and to serve outward to the world as we take the gospel out.
Now, yes, we are called to individually be in the word of God.
Your only source of God's word should not be me.
Please don't put that burden on me.
Alright?
I am not to be the only place you ever hear or read or see the word of God being taught.
You should be in the word every single day.
Your primary connection to God's truth should be you connecting to God's truth.
But it is very clear that the Bible says I've called specific people to be teachers.
Right?
And so between your own individual study and then the teachers that God has given you to be a part of that, we know that it's a complementing, it's a supplementing thing where you're studying on your own.
And then the teachers, myself and others that God gives to the assembly to study and to teach the word of God, it all comes together to be a part of your growth and your blessing.
Full-time teachers, I mean, I really get the privilege and the honor to study full-time.
I easily put in 10, 15, 20 hours studying a passage before I bring it to you here on Sundays, and I'm blessed and honored to be that for you.
Right?
Now you may or may not be putting in 10, 15, 20 hours of study on your own, and that's okay.
I get to do that to come in and supplement your own reading on your own devotional time.
But the idea is that we gather together to hear from those God has given us to teach us, like coming together for one large communal meal.
Which then complements and supplements our own smaller personal meals that we're having every single day throughout the week.
Now, again, some might say, well, teaching, I could get that by watching you on YouTube.
Right?
And again, I've said it many times, there are those that have to stay home, right, for health reasons or issues that require them to not be able to get here, whether it's mobility or whatnot.
And so YouTube's a blessing, and being able to live stream our services is a blessing.
But for those that are just using that as an excuse to not come to church, you're misunderstanding that church isn't just about learning.
Right? We don't come here just for me, right? Teach me, feed me. It's not only about that.
It's about living and applying what we learn as part of the body of Christ.
We can't put into practice the over 60 one another verses in Scripture if we're not gathered in community.
Right?
There's these Scriptures that say love one another, comfort one another, forgive one another, one another, one another, one another.
If you're never around one another, how do you obey those verses?
And that's what church is. So we need God's people, we need God's principles.
Reason three why we need the church? Because we need God's purpose.
I believe most humans, if not all of them, long to know the purpose, the meaning of life. Right?
That's everybody's question.
Why am I here? Why was I created? What, who was I created to do, to be? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What is my purpose?
I mean, I think all of us, right, when we look at the world around us, we all want to know there's a point to all of this. Right?
Because some of this is just nonsense going on around us.
And we go, there's got to be a point and a purpose.
And really, I think all people in some way want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
They want to be a part of something significant.
And the truth is, church, you are.
You are a part of something significant.
That's what the church is.
The greatest cause in all of the world, greater than any other cause that exists, is the forgiveness cause.
Greater than any other cause is the salvation cause.
The gospel cause.
Why did Jesus come and give his life?
So that the whole world would have the opportunity to be saved and forgiven.
In church, we're a part of that cause.
It's greater than any philanthropic cause, any political cause, any societal cause, to know that you're a part of God's cause.
His business, His eternal purpose is huge.
It's huge.
Philippians chapter 1 verse 3.
Paul said, I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you.
Always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer because of your part of God.
Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
Did you hear that?
We together are partners in the family business.
We get saved.
We become a child of God.
And then we are enlisted into that cause, that purpose, the meaning of everything, right?
That business is getting people to know our dad.
To know the father, to know God as savior.
That is the purpose.
It's what motivated Jesus through his whole life.
The purpose of salvation that people would know who he is.
And where forgiveness is found.
And the purpose of every Christian is the cause of God.
The cause of Christ.
The cause of the gospel.
And you know what that purpose is and how it goes out?
It's the church's call, our call to be a part of this organization that goes out and changes one life on earth.
One life on this earth at a time through the preaching and the teaching and the sharing of the gospel.
And then guess what we do after we did that?
One more.
And then one more.
And on and on and on.
And so we gather together, we assemble to learn so that we can collectively work towards the cause.
Each doing our part as the body of Christ, right?
You might be a foot.
That means your part of the cause is to get the rest of the body there.
You might be a hand.
You're like, I can't get anybody there but if someone gets me there, wow, I can work the tools.
You might be, who knows, we can go on and on with that one, right?
I don't want to spend all the time on a fun illustration there.
But we gather, we learn, and we do it all in partnership together.
Collectively pursuing God's purpose.
And the fourth reason why we need the church is because we need God's presence.
Now again, you might be saying, well, I have God's presence, right?
God's everywhere I go on my own.
I could have it alone.
There's truth to that.
God is everywhere.
God is with you individually wherever you go.
But there's a special promise that Jesus gave in Scripture to those who gather and meet together
and worship together and learn and grow together and minister to one another together as the body of Christ.
He says this in Matthew 18 20.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.
What does that tell us?
It's Jesus' manifest in the gathering of his body.
We need that.
We need what happens when we gather together.
It's essential.
Now again, you might be going, you know, can't I have God's presence on my own?
Can I experience it on my own?
Can't I discover God's purpose on my own?
Can't I study and learn and grow on my own?
Yes.
You can do all things you own, but not on your own, but not to the full extent that God purposes for you.
Why?
Because you on your own are not the body of Christ.
On your own individually, you're just a part of the body of Christ.
I'm not the body of Christ personally, individually.
I might be the mouth because I speak and I teach.
We are the body of Christ corporately.
We need one another.
Without the we, you and I individually will not be functioning spiritually as we should.
Again, in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 20, Paul says this,
As it is, there are many parts but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you.
Or again, the head can't say to the feet, I don't need you.
Why? Because if they did, the body would not function as it should.
And those individual parts would not function as they should,
or receive what they need from the other parts of the body in their time of need.
So, now practically, how is the church supposed to function?
Or what does this have to do with generosity and giving?
We know that the church is an entity created by Jesus himself.
In Matthew 16, 28, after Peter's confession that Jesus, you are the Messiah,
he said this to him, on this rock, on this confession, I will build my church.
So we know that it's Jesus who is building his church.
And then we get to the book of Acts and we see that it is the Holy Spirit
moving in his people and through his people and gifting his people
and equipping and empowering his people, guiding, and all of that,
that the church would grow and function.
And we already know that we're called to trust him with our whole life,
that we're called to yield our whole life to him, to his purpose and his will.
And we already know, we've looked at that, we are his body.
We are the hands and feet of Jesus in this world today.
We are his everything with him as the head guiding and leading us.
The idea of all of that and everything I've shared today is that collectively,
we accomplish more together than we do individually.
That doesn't relieve us of our individual responsibilities and obligations.
But collectively, we accomplish more when the body is working together
and functioning together and everybody knows their place and their part.
Wow! We accomplish so much.
And really, it's accomplishing what God wants for us.
This is how we, the body of Christ, are meant to function.
In collective unity and fellowship and participation.
Our growth, our maturity, the help we need, the support we need in the process of that,
it's based on that.
Our call to gather and then the resultant discipleship that happens out of that
and the encouragement and the exhortation of one another is based on that.
Our learning and our accountability and our being held accountable to biblical truth
and sound doctrine is based on that.
Our expression of ministry to one another and the exercise of our spiritual gifts is based on that.
And our participation in the evangelical mission as the church,
both locally and globally, is based on that.
You see, twice in the first two chapters of Acts,
Acts chapter 1 verse 14 and chapter 2 verse 1,
it tells us in the New King James Version that they were in one accord.
And again, that means united together of one mind, one heart, one purpose as the church.
And then as the church grew.
As we see through the book of Acts, we see that there was a collective participation
in the needs of the church and the needs of the church family and the mission of the church.
It was all a part of the growth and the participation, right?
Acts chapter 2 verse 44, now all the believers were together and held all things in common.
Acts 432, now the entire group of those who believed were of one heart and one mind
and no one claimed that any of his possessions were his own,
but instead they held everything in common.
And somebody just went, here we go.
I was waiting for this shoe to drop.
That word common there, it means of mutual interest.
It means to be shared collectively.
It's not communism incidentally, alright?
It's common-ism.
It wasn't that everybody sold every single thing they had, right?
There's a verse in there where it says, and they all sold their houses.
And then I think one or two verses later it says, and they were gathered together in someone's house.
If everybody sold every house they had, right, okay.
So the idea is that this was taking place amongst the gathering.
But the common, holding everything in common, means that there was a voluntary, not compulsory,
but a voluntary, willing, collective participation in all things.
And that included the expenses of ministry, both inward and outward.
Both spiritual needs and practical needs, this is what it's talking about.
This is where the issue of generosity and giving comes up in this particular study.
That as the church we are called to share our lives with one another.
We are called to share our talents and skills with one another.
And guess what? We are called to share the money that God has given us with one another.
All for the benefit of the body of Christ, the church, the gathering, and the mission of this gathering.
Now please understand, and we're going to talk more about this in detail in the next few weeks,
but God does not need your money.
Giving is not a situation where God is wringing his hands and he's going,
please, I just, I can't do it, you know, I'm so broke.
The Bible tells us God owns a cattle on a thousand hills.
God provides miraculously all the time.
But God does want your heart.
He wants your commitment, he wants your obedience, he wants your trust.
And nothing quite demonstrates that more than what we do with our money.
That's why Jesus spoke more about money than he did about love in my opinion.
What we do with our money really demonstrates where the priority of our heart is.
And so part of God's desire in our lives,
a part of his will that we would grow and mature and become more like him,
involves faithful stewardship of the money he's given us.
And don't misunderstand, when God asks for a portion of your giving,
he really owns all of it.
And we're going to talk about that in the future.
We're going to deal with that next time when we get to the heart of giving.
But for the sake of understanding this thing called church that we're a part of, this foundation,
is that we all, every Christian, we are called to collectively, voluntarily, willingly participate in the work and the mission of this entity,
this body, this family called the church.
And so as we need God's people, right, as we are called to gather together,
to learn God's truths, to be equipped for the work of the ministry,
as we are called to do all of that, guess what guys, as much as I would love it, you all can't fit in my living room.
I'm sorry, my couch is comfy, but it only seats four.
And we can't only do church online, because if we only did church online,
you don't have the opportunity to minister your gift to someone else here in the church, because you're separated.
You don't have the opportunity to build relationship with others in the local body that you're a part of,
because you're never with them, you're just watching a screen, you're just consuming teaching.
So God gave us this building to meet in. Praise God.
The story of what God did and how he gave us this building, I know Pastor Gary shared it many times, and it's awesome.
I don't have time to share it today, but God gave us this building, and we are so thankful,
we are so grateful, right? I mean, how many of you would want to be outside in a tent in the rain and the cold?
We know that's where Calvary started, but they eventually moved out of that tent into a place,
a shelter where they could meet together, right, and get out of that weather and all that stuff.
But I just want to be frank and honest with all of you here. Can I be frank and honest with you guys?
Okay. I know there are some that when they think of giving and generosity in the church, they go,
well, I'm only going to give when there's a need, right? And some people think that.
Okay, I want everybody to look up right now. Look up. See those lights? They run on electricity.
If you need a need to give to, there's one, because that's an electricity bill that we pay for as a church
to meet and to gather in this place, right? If it's too hot or too cold in here,
and I love you guys, you guys are not shy about telling me when it's too hot or too cold, okay?
Not shy at all, but when it's too hot or too cold, guess what? We got to run the air conditioning,
or we got to run the heaters. Those don't run for free. I would love it if they did, but they don't.
You want to wash your hands in the bathroom? Well, there's a water bill for that.
And then in this building and our building down the street and our nursing and all that,
we have someone who cleans up this space, right? It doesn't stay clean.
There's someone who comes in and vacuums and cleans, and they take care of the trash,
and they take care of the maintenance, and they change light bulbs when they're out, right?
Someone here does that, and guess what? It is a full-time job, and we got to pay them to do that.
Someone makes sure that all the bills are paid on time. That's a full-time job, too.
So if you're the person who goes, I'll only give when there's a need, well, I just gave you four or five
that are weekly needs that don't go away as we are then called together to collectively participate
in the assembly here in what God's given us here at our church.
But that's just the unexciting practical stuff, right? Nobody gets excited about like,
oh, can we pay the electricity bill? But it's a need. It's a part of our gathering together.
But those type of unexciting practical things are like splitting the gas bill in a carpool, right?
Of course, you split that bill. Oh, okay, let's all pay for that, you know?
And the overall just needs of being able to gather together so that we could learn,
administer one and all that stuff that we were talking about,
it's more than any one person can handle. But when the entire body of Christ participates, it's no problem.
And again, we're going to talk more about all the details and the ins and outs and what the Bible says about that,
but as a church, it's not just about the electricity bill and the water bill and the needs.
We also, as a church, try to pool resources collectively so that we could then help those
and benefit those that are members of this body when they have practical needs.
We call that as a church, benevolence, right?
Benevolence is a thing where, again, we collectively help with the needs of our family here.
What that means is from time to time, we have people here in the body call us up and say,
hey, I'm really struggling this month. You know, something really terrible happened and I need help getting groceries.
Or can I get gas for my vehicle? Or sometimes it's I'm behind and I need help with the utility bill, right?
That's the benevolence. That's what we see in Acts where it says they were selling things and nobody had need, right?
They were pooling resources together and we try and do that as a church as much as we can.
We would love to be able to cover every need every time in its full expense, but we can't often.
But that's benevolence.
And then, of course, we also support as a church outward ministry and missions and missionaries and organizations that are doing kingdom work, right?
Because we're called to be a part of the gospel going out.
And so, again, collectively, we're able to participate in that support in a much greater way than any of us might be able to do individually.
And we're all in different places with what God has blessed us with, and some can do more and some can do less.
But when we pool resources together, we're able to do some significant things in helping the gospel go forth.
And then as a church, we're also always looking for ways, always looking for ways to minister to the needs both in our community and the needs inside the church, right?
That's why we do things like vacation Bible school during the summer because, you know, we want to be able to bless the community and invite the community to bring their kids to the thing where they're going to learn about Jesus.
It's not free.
It's free to do that.
It's free to me.
It's free to the community.
But we collectively participate to put those types of events on for the sake of the gospel.
Now, when we choose not to participate with our time or talent or our money, when we choose to say, no, I'm only going to give when there's a need and we're not paying attention to the needs that are around us every single week.
When we choose to to really make poor financial decisions with the money God's given us and sink ourselves into such debt, we can't give anymore.
To live beyond our means to a place where we can't give anymore.
And we sacrifice all of that.
We limit the reach of the body of Christ here at Hosanna.
And that then affects our involvement with the purpose and affects the power of his presence.
Right. Now, again, I'm not saying that if you don't give somehow God's effect in this world is diminished.
He is God Almighty.
And again, we're going to talk about more of that in the weeks to come.
But he has called every single one of us.
And we see it clearly throughout scripture that every believer is called to collectively participate in the body of Christ, the household of God, the church.
And as part of the body of Christ, part of that means that we're called to be generous with our time.
That means serving and volunteering when there's calls for help.
That means our talent.
Right. You may have a job doing something and you also have this real cool talent that's not your job.
And the church may have need of that serve.
And our resources.
And again, we'll talk more about that in the next few weeks to come.
But Jesus created this thing.
Jesus created this thing called church.
Jesus made us a part of this thing called church when we gave our life to him and submitted and yielded our life to him and said, God, I give my all to you.
But far too many Christians in the church today go, God, I've given you my everything except my wallet.
I have reasons why I can't.
And really the call to give our life to him includes everything, every part of our life.
Every single part of our life and the mission, the purpose of this thing called church.
It's critical.
It's necessary both for us individually and for the world.
That's why I said even the unbelievers need the church.
Because the church's mission is to raise people up and equip them for the work of ministry so that they're serving one another, that we continue to grow and mature, that we then shine the light of the gospel and go out to the world as changed people and change lives that they would get saved and go, what is it?
And then, hey, come and see.
And then they come to be a part of the family and on and on and on it goes.
But we grow best when we grow together.
God's presence shines brightly when we're together.
We function effectively when we all learn what part of the body we are and then operate accordingly.
We minister to the needs of one another and the world around us in ways collectively that we often can't do individually.
And God has lifted high for all to see in his body, the church united, working together in all things when we collectively, willingly, consistently and obediently participate together in being used of God to meet the needs of his body in this world, including the financial ones.
So next week, we'll start to dig into some of the details of all of this.
But I wanted to start with that as the foundation of what we are a part of as the body.
And there are many of you here that are so faithful supporters at Hosanna.
God bless you guys. God bless you guys.
But in my conversations with some that I could see are missing out and they're frustrated and they're angry and they're like, and then when I see them, like, you know, you're not being obedient to God in this area of your life.
And when we're obedient to God, he blesses us. He really blesses us.
Again, we'll get into that in greater detail over the next few weeks, but let's pray and let's worship him. Amen.
All right. Father, we love you so much.
God, we ask that you would just continue to speak to us, God, about our role in the body, Lord.
God, every believer, you've called us and placed us into your body.
And God, we're a part of the body to participate, to contribute.
And Lord, that is our time. That is our talent.
And Lord, that is our money.
And God, we see in the early church, Lord, that giving is not to be something that is begrudging, Lord, but there was just this gladness of unity in the body of Christ to help one another, to support the work of the church, God.
We read of people being able to sell property and they came and they laid the money down at the apostles' feet, that it would then be used for the work of the ministry and the church and blessing the people and taking care of the church and the needs of the people in the church, God.
And Lord, we want to be a part of that.
God, we don't want to be a part of any statistic, God, that exists out in the world today where we read of churches closing their doors one after the other, God.
But at the same time, Lord, we don't want to be irresponsible with the funds that you call us all to give to be a part of this collective effort here, Lord.
And so, God, we trust you, Lord, and we trust the leadership you raise up to be good stewards of those things and we trust the elders and the deacons that are serving to be stewards of what you've given us in our church, God.
And Lord, we ask that you would help us and move within us as the Holy Spirit that we individually would trust you, even with our resources, to step out in faith in the areas you're calling us to give.
God, that we would be an effective part of that body that you've called us to.
Lord, we're so thankful that you've called us together to assemble.
We're so thankful, Lord, for the people you give us in our lives to disciple us, to teach us, to exhort us, to encourage us.
Lord, we're so thankful, God, that we have this building and this place to gather, Lord.
Thank you so much.
And Lord, I pray, God, that the blessing of stepping into faithful generosity, Lord, would just ignite through our body and through the entire Church of Christ, Lord.
That people would experience, God, just the amazing truth of your promises, Lord, when they step in faith with what you're calling them to do.
And Lord, truly we know that your command's in your word, Lord.
They're not optional.
And so, God, over the next few weeks, Lord, speak to us about all those individual questions we have when it comes to this very sensitive topic of giving, Lord.
But at the end of all of it, Lord, may you be glorified.
May you be lifted high.
May the purpose and the mission of your church be uninhibited here in Bellflower.
As this local fellowship gathered here called Hosanna, Lord.
Let your gospel go far and wide.
May we serve one another.
May we minister to one another.
May we bless one another effectively, God.
Our brothers and sisters who aren't gathering, Lord, who, as Hebrews says, have neglected to gather, Lord.
God, if they're not here for any reason that isn't legitimate, God, and you know their heart, convict them now, Lord.
That they would come be a part of the fellowship here, Lord.
That the giftings and the calling that you have in their lives, Lord, they would bring to minister to that, to the rest of the body here.
And to participate in the blessing of this community.
We love you.
We thank you.
It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Let's worship, guys.