Generosity takes a miracle. You don’t just become a generous person unless you have been moved by the hand of God. In Philippians 4:10-23, Paul comes to a crescendo finish to his epic letter to the Philippian church on the source of scandalous joy. A joy that is produced not by man made efforts, but the act of a supreme God working in the life of an ordinary believer. Through trials, through humility, through parroting the Lord Jesus as a humble state of a bond servant, and through a generous heart. Do you believe in miracles? Because that’s what it takes to become a generous person.
Watch the end of the Cal vs. Stanford game, “the Play”, as it is called, played in 1982, at the Cal Memorial Stadium. What a moment. What a place. I used to play rugby for Cal in that stadium. Cal was down by 2, two seconds left, a kick off and a run to the end zone. How did they do it? The announcer says, “It’ll take a miracle.” And it happened. Cal beats Stanford. The announcer goes wild! The Cal students are out of their minds.
Well, what does this have to do with generosity? It will take a miracle to change the heart of the average American church goer to become as the Philippian church became, generous in their giving to the point where Paul says he "mega rejoices” over it. How did that happen and what do we learn from this history lesson?
Joy, true joy, is a miracle of generous giving of one's life and resources. Remember Billy Crystal’s line in Princess Bride? His wife asks him, Max the miracle worker, "will it work?” He says, “I don’t know. Bye bye boys, it’ll take a miracle.”
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Generosity takes a miracle. You don’t just become a generous person unless you have been moved by the hand of God. In Philippians 4:10-23, Paul comes to a crescendo finish to his epic letter to the Philippian church on the source of scandalous joy. A joy that is produced not by man made efforts, but the act of a supreme God working in the life of an ordinary believer. Through trials, through humility, through parroting the Lord Jesus as a humble state of a bond servant, and through a generous heart. Do you believe in miracles? Because that’s what it takes to become a generous person.
Watch the end of the Cal vs. Stanford game, “the Play”, as it is called, played in 1982, at the Cal Memorial Stadium. What a moment. What a place. I used to play rugby for Cal in that stadium. Cal was down by 2, two seconds left, a kick off and a run to the end zone. How did they do it? The announcer says, “It’ll take a miracle.” And it happened. Cal beats Stanford. The announcer goes wild! The Cal students are out of their minds.
Well, what does this have to do with generosity? It will take a miracle to change the heart of the average American church goer to become as the Philippian church became, generous in their giving to the point where Paul says he "mega rejoices” over it. How did that happen and what do we learn from this history lesson?
Joy, true joy, is a miracle of generous giving of one's life and resources. Remember Billy Crystal’s line in Princess Bride? His wife asks him, Max the miracle worker, "will it work?” He says, “I don’t know. Bye bye boys, it’ll take a miracle.”
Life gets hard. We know that - we have lived it! We are familiar with the afflictions of life, and are intimately aware of the pain and sorrow that come with it. But, what do you do in those times? Do you complain to the nearest person to you? Do you buckle in and bear it, making sure no one else knows about it? Or, do you take your situation to God in prayer? This week we explored how the art of lament leads us closer to God, and closer to his heart. Lament does not always make the situation "disappear," but it shows us God's appearance through it all.
The River Church Sermons
Generosity takes a miracle. You don’t just become a generous person unless you have been moved by the hand of God. In Philippians 4:10-23, Paul comes to a crescendo finish to his epic letter to the Philippian church on the source of scandalous joy. A joy that is produced not by man made efforts, but the act of a supreme God working in the life of an ordinary believer. Through trials, through humility, through parroting the Lord Jesus as a humble state of a bond servant, and through a generous heart. Do you believe in miracles? Because that’s what it takes to become a generous person.
Watch the end of the Cal vs. Stanford game, “the Play”, as it is called, played in 1982, at the Cal Memorial Stadium. What a moment. What a place. I used to play rugby for Cal in that stadium. Cal was down by 2, two seconds left, a kick off and a run to the end zone. How did they do it? The announcer says, “It’ll take a miracle.” And it happened. Cal beats Stanford. The announcer goes wild! The Cal students are out of their minds.
Well, what does this have to do with generosity? It will take a miracle to change the heart of the average American church goer to become as the Philippian church became, generous in their giving to the point where Paul says he "mega rejoices” over it. How did that happen and what do we learn from this history lesson?
Joy, true joy, is a miracle of generous giving of one's life and resources. Remember Billy Crystal’s line in Princess Bride? His wife asks him, Max the miracle worker, "will it work?” He says, “I don’t know. Bye bye boys, it’ll take a miracle.”
