The gift of generous giving

I have the mission of being able to talk to you about what is in the heart of our pastor and it is interesting because we are living the last steps of the challenge to be able to finish the construction of the new sanctuary. How many are happy about that?

Probably someone will say, Lord, you do not live in a temple made by the hands of men. But we have a good time here when we sing to the Lord, or not? here there are a lot of temples, the Lord already dwells in us. But when we come together the Lord brings a blessing. Look how good and how delicious it is to live, dwell, share brothers together in harmony.

And there is a detail of grace and the work of the Holy Spirit and at the end it says, because there the Lord sends blessing and eternal life. Do you know what the goal is that we can get together one day a week or two days a week? It is that moment, when you enjoy it with your brothers, you leave blessed. Tell your brother, you are going to leave here blessed, for two reasons, tell him, because the Lord is going to bless you and because you saw me and because I am sitting next to you.

You know that the story of Joseph says that the Lord blessed because of Joseph, those who were around him were blessed, so if you have a brother by your side, the brother should feel proud to be blessed because you are close to him. his side. And you must have the responsibility to bless your brother who is next to you, to be a source of blessing.

You know, it's good that each of us can understand that we need to complete the work that the Lord has allowed us to do. This is a special time for our church where recognizing God's faithfulness is tested by us. By this I mean, how many of us recognize the faithfulness of the Lord? Has the Lord been faithful? Has the Lord been with you even in those moments that even the shadow is gone?

The generosity of each one that as part of a vision makes us responsible for finishing the work that has been entrusted to us. There are many ways to show our gratitude to God, but one of the most difficult is through constant giving. It is not easy to give. It is not easy to deliver. The only one we ask to give is the Lord, "Lord, give me, Lord, give me, Lord, give me."

And sometimes we arrive with the grocery list at the edge of our bed and in reverence we kneel down and begin and present the grocery list to him. "Lord, give me this, give me the other, I need this, I need the other." And God is so good that he listens to us. And he still answers many of these things to us, and he still gives us many of these things. He is faithful. And there is no other way to describe the Lord's faithfulness in us.

Each one of us must understand that we are in a moment where the church must learn to enter into the dynamics of the kingdom, to understand that at some point in our journey we are going to have the opportunity to offer sacrifice of adoration and praise in the area of giving. in the work of the Lord.

We know that giving in the work is an act of worship. Even the word of the Lord recommends that when we are going to give, we are going to adore, we are on account with our brother. We cannot come before the Lord with a monetary offering or with an offering of worship, if we are not on account with our brother. So it's a constant challenge for us.

Not many congregations have the opportunity to project themselves into these challenges. You know, in Massachusetts there are hundreds of congregations. Those who reach these challenges are very few, and although it is the dream of each one of us as pastors and ministries, not all of us will reach this task. It's not wrong to do it.

But those of us who are allowed the Kingdom in this way are constantly challenged to fulfill this task that the Lord has entrusted to us. The meaning of giving is to give up or deliver something, some possession, something that you have. But giving generously means giving or delivering even beyond the interests or profits that we can get. And that is where the challenge of the Lord's church is, reaching that dynamic of the Kingdom of giving generously is when we understand that we depend on God.

How many have learned to depend on God? If the Lord has clothed the flowers and the fields, the Lord will be faithful with his creation. Has the Lord been faithful to you? In the action of giving generously, it needs to be higher than some people can tell us. Many times we are questioned by our families, our friends, or even society. Tell me they haven't told you, "Hey, do you give 10% to the pastor?" "No, I just give him the 1."

How many have not been told that? “And you give 10% to the church? And that pastor look at the cart he has. Look at the houses you've bought." How many of us have not been told that?

But we know where our blessing is. And we know that we do not give to man, we obey the Lord. The Lord's church is the only human entity and living organism where prosperity and abundance are based on giving the Lord what he is demanding from us.

He knows that the Lord did not ask for Isaac, just give me Isaac's leg. He asked for it in its entirety. And there he went with Isaac. Isaac was waiting for the lamb, he didn't know it was him. Sometimes the Lord asks us for everything to give us everything. Many times the Lord asks us for everything so that all his promises begin to be activated in us.

Do you know why I'm telling you this? Because the church, the León de Judá congregation is entering the last stretch of the sanctuary and we need you, the church in general, all those who listen to us on the internet, those who are going to see us a few days later, those who are going to to come on Sunday, they can come with a kingdom consciousness of saying, "I want the work of the Lord to be accomplished."

There are three principles, first we know that all things are from God. Psalm, chapter 24, verse 1, says that the earth is the Lord's and its fullness. The earth is the Lord's and its fullness. So from him are all things. If we can begin to understand that, we will begin to understand that we cannot deny the Lord anything. The second principle is that all things come from God.

In First Chronicles, chapter 29, verse 12, it says 'riches and glory come from you and you rule over all, in your hand strength and power and in your hand to make great and to give power to all.'

Even if we have the most extraordinary capacity that can be registered in this state, in this country, the Lord in his mercy did not give that. If we have the skills, if we have the intelligence and the wisdom to do good business, it's not because of us, it's because God gave us those skills.

So everything is from the Lord. Everything comes from the Lord, even us. In the book of Psalms, chapter 100, verse 3, the word of the Lord says thus, “recognize that the Lord is God, he made us and not we ourselves. We are his peoples and sheep of his meadow."

The gift of giving generously is activated when we understand or enter into the process of understanding that all things come from God. Nothing we have is ours therefore, when the Lord asks us, not because he needs it, but because he tests us, tests our obedience, tests our gratitude and he does not say give me.

So if you think this is proof, say thank you, Lord. We always believe that trials are like sisters to temptations. Do you know what a test in the Lord is? it's an exam. How many have given exams at school, at university? There are some who are in the finals, I don't know if it's the World Cup final or some other final, but the finals are giving proof of the proof. They measure you, what do they measure? What you have studied, what you have learned in the process. The tests that the Lord sends us, if we consider that giving the Lord a test, is the product of what he has taught us in the path of faith.

He has sustained us, he has been our provider, he has been faithful, from him all things come. Therefore, when he says, 'Today I am going to test them,' we have to pass that test with flying colors. Tell him, 'Lord, it's for you. Sir, I learned. Lord, I trust you. I know that you will not abandon me, I know that you will not leave me, I know that all things come from you, that is why I pass my exam.'

So if any of you think that giving to the Lord is a test, you better pass it. Many of us fail. There are teachers here in this church who know what it is to fail a student, and they know what it is to promote another.

The generous believer understands not only that God owns it, but also, look, God allowed us to be his partner stewards of creation. Who is going to give you part of your capital? Nobody. He wants to be a partner and you don't put any. Only the Lord allowed us to live in this society that he has allowed us to enjoy, so we are stewards of the Lord's goodness.

The generous believer honors God with his goods. You can see this in Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 9 and 10. The generous believer prospers in everything. Proverbs also says this, chapter 11, verse 24 and 25. In everything. They are the promises of the Lord. Do you believe the Lord? do you believe the Lord? Do you believe that the Lord keeps his promises? Do you think the Lord does not forget? I believe that the Lord does not forget.

The generous believer receives in the same way that he gives. In Luke chapter 6 verse 38 we see this. The generous believer gives joyfully. God does not like long faces.

Second book of Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 6 and 7. The generous believer feels and lives happier when he gives than when he receives. Look, what it is to give in the kingdom, what is the dynamic of the kingdom. We no longer worry if we are going to receive. Some do the math, 'well, if I give a thousand and the Lord says he's going to give us 30.' Some do the math, right? 30, which is the other, 60 70? And a hundred to one, wow! If I give a thousand I already have a palace for myself.

And probably when we start in this process of giving, this natural, human mentality tells us, "Well, the Lord is going to bless me and give me double, triple. " But as we learn to give to the Lord what is his, we no longer worry if we are going to receive it or not because we know that he cares for us.

That is the confidence we must have. The generosity of God's children has always been a special hallmark. The people of the world do not explain God's economy. People in the world cannot explain how in churches you can do so much with so little. It is that we have the creator of all things, we have the one who made everything out of nothing. By faith we believe that the universe was constituted by the word. How not to be grateful to the Lord.

To the extent that Christ with his saving power and the Holy Spirit with his power of conviction make it easier for us each day to decide to give to the work. There are so many promises given in the word for those who give, but when we stop looking at the benefits of giving and focus on the one who is the true giver where things come from, then we don't despair.

When you give, you don't worry when the Lord is going to give you what he has for you. Because when we give thinking about him, we are saying, 'Lord, hold me in your hand. I affirm myself in you. I don't need anything else.’

Not even with all the money you can earn, not even with all the skills that you or I may have, will we replace the generous power of the Lord. The Lord is a generous God. God is a generous God. And today I speak to your spirit so that you can say, 'Lord, teach me to live to give what you want me to give.'

Perhaps you say, I have already given everything, and the Lord will tell you, 'Perhaps you lack something.' Let us resolve in our hearts that the Lord put in us the fervent and ardent desire to be generous in his work.

When a church is generous God spares no generosity for his church. So there is a small section to go, a little bit to go. You know what was done on Sunday was a prophetic act. When everything in our natural eyes can be negative, in spiritual eyes we are taking the land that the Lord is giving us. Do you know what that means? It does not mean a ministerial empire, it means that many men, thousands of men and women, are going to pass through and many of them are going to have the opportunity to know Jesus as their Lord and their savior and you and I are going to be part of that great pickup.

So think about it. Why don't you pray to the Lord and say, 'Lord, I want to be there for the last stretch.' worrying beyond the norm.'

This is a church that has been blessed by the Lord. and the more we give the more blessed we will be. The people who love the Lord spare no effort, spare no resources, do not look for justifications, but act, we act because we love the Lord and he has loved us.

A paragraph that calls my attention a lot, the book of Genesis, chapter 28, about the treatment of Jacob and God in Bethel, verse 15 says, "Behold, I am with you and I will keep you wherever you go and I will bring you back to this earth for I will not leave you until you have done what I have told you.”

The Lord is not going to leave us, he wants us to do it and he is not going to leave us, he wants us to fulfill the purpose for which we were brought on this occasion. And Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely, the Lord is in this place and I did not know it and he was afraid and said, how terrible is this place, it is nothing other than the house of God and the gate of heaven and Jacob arose morning and took the stone that he had placed at the head..."

How many have slept on a stone? Sir, I don't want to go back to that cellar where I slept for the first few years. Sir, I don't want to show up in that attic where I had to be cold and hot. Do you know what Jacob did? He blessed the place where he laid his head. It wasn't comfortable at all. We are looking for a more or less comfortable headboard for our bed that the other day makes us get up straight without much pain, and we bought an expensive headboard.

Jacob only had a hard time bending down and adjusting the stone and putting his head on it. He got up in the morning and still with an attitude of adoration, that he understood what God was doing for him, he blessed the place where he placed his head. Do you know what Jacob did? He said, Lord, I offer this stone to you for now. For now I offer it to you, but I know that you are going to bless me and he says at the end, “And Jacob made a vow saying, − verse 20 – if God were with me, he had already blessed the stone, he had already anointed it with oil, − yes May God be with me and keep me on this trip, − he was making his own the words that the Lord had already assured him that he was going to bless him, − that I go and give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return in peace to my father's house, the Lord shall be my God..."

Is the Lord your God? Is the Lord your God? Is the Lord your God? What can you say to the Lord today? tell him, and this stone that I have put as a sign, did not have a dollar, but it did have a stone. Maybe you don't have a dollar, you have a stone, anoint it, because there is a blessing there.

"It will be a sign, it will be the house of God and I will set aside a tithe of everything you give me for you."

The Lord gave us first. The Lord gave us first, he gave us first. He gave up his Son for us. So I don't know what you have to bless, to promise before the Lord, but I want to tell you something, there is something that is going to be born of you these days, and you are going to promise it to the Lord and the Lord is going to bless you.

Close your eyes for a moment. Probably many of us are like Jacob, we only have the stone at the moment. But he understood the word of the Lord, he understood that God was going to bless him. You know, there is a concept in the epistles of Paul, in the epistle of Corinth he says, "He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, but he who always bountifully will reap bountifully."

You know, the interesting thing about this is that it uses the same word in the present continuous tense, the one who sows, not the one who sowed or the one who will sow, but the one who sows. Every day the Lord is asking us to sow. Don't stop doing it, don't stop saying, 'Lord, I'm going to sow this.' One day it may be finances, another day it may be your time, another day it may be space to serve him. There are so many ways to sow at different times before the Lord, but what the Lord wants is that we constantly, continually sow is what he is asking of us.

Lord, Almighty Lord, I ask you for the challenges of this congregation, I ask you, Lord, for what you have placed in the heart, Lord, of our pastor and of the vision of this church. I ask you, Lord, that you can open the windows of heaven, that you open the heavens and pour blessing rain on a church that is going to turn in front of your throne to give generously in gratitude.

I bless each one, Lord, of those who from today are going to make a new pact with you, are going to make a new promise before you, Lord, and you will bring what you have promised for each one of them. Thank you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. The lord is good? The lord is good?

Let's stand up.