2 Corinthians 8:1-12
‘Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor.
But they are also
And they did it of their own free will. They
They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.
So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to
Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us —
I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.
You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it.
Now you should
Kingdom Builders –
Generosity starts after being faithful to the tithe.
God calls us to be faithful.
Eternal Return on Investment.
Matthew 6:19-21’ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.
Store your
Kingdom Builders:
Local Outreach – Safe Families for Children resources, Christmas Shoppe event promotion and operations, Back to school bash promotion and operations.
Next Generation – Student conference scholarships, mission trip scholarships, ministry school
NLC Building Projects – Water softener, coffee brewing equipment is in need of replacement. Doubling the size of the auditorium to go back to 2 services. Preparing to purchase property.
National Missions – Planting churches just like ours who also tithe to missions. Multiplication effect.
Global Missions – Making sure that the 42% of the world that doesn’t have access to a Christian, a Bible in their language, or a church can hear about Jesus. Sending people to unreached people groups. Sponsoring Leaders, training missionaries, investing in Bible translation, Creative access (business as missions) and compassion initiatives.
William Whiting Borden –
-Prominent family from silver mining
-Gave his life to Christ in Chicago as a teenager at Chicago Avenue Church which became Moody Church.
- Graduated prep school at 16 and was gifted a chaperoned trip around the world by his parents where he was exposed to muslim people who had zero access to Jesus. It was at this time he felt called to become a foreign missionary.
-He then went to Yale as many prominent family young men would. As a freshman at Yale he started a daily Bible Study that he invited his friends to. Within two years that daily Bible study had reached the entire university from freshman to seniors. People were astounded by his influence. He wrote in his journal at this time: “Say ‘no’ to self and ‘yes’ to Jesus every time.”
- He started the Yale Hope Mission. A well traveled English man said what most impressed him about America was, “”The sight of that young millionaire kneeling with his arm around a ‘bum’ in the Yale Hope Mission.”
-He went from Yale to Princeton Theological Seminary. He became a Board member of the National Bible Institute and then the Director of the Moody Bible Institute.
-The call to be a missionary to muslim people who had zero access to a Christian, Bible, or Church never left him. He was intent on becoming a missionary to the Hui Muslims in northwestern China’s Gansu Province, but to make sure he could be effective, he first went to Cairo Egypt to study Islam and Arabic, living with a Syrian family.
-In March of 1913 – he contracted cerebral meningitis and died 3 weeks later. He was 25 years old. Borden is buried in the American Cemetery in Cairo.
-After Bordens death his mom found is Bible and on the front page was taken aback by the words inscribed on the first page. Each with a date next to it.
No Reserves. (The date next to it which his mom believed to be the moment that he had renounced his fortunue in favor of missions)
Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven.
No Retreats. (It had a date next to it and his mom believed this to be in response to his dad telling him that he would not have a spot in the family business due to his pursuit of missions instead of business)
No regrets. (After being diagnosed with cerebral meningitis and was on his death bed he had zero regrets)
-Inspired by William’s faith and the words in his Bible…His family gave $800,000 to China Inland Mission after William died. This built the Borden Memorial Hospital in Lanzhou, Gansu, China from 1918 to 1951. In 1951 it was taken over by the Chinese Government to stop the name of Jesus from spreading.
What WILL you do?
Generosity Next Steps
Tithe (Be a faithful, consistent giver) Consistent Faithfulness (recurring giving – work towards 10% of your income) ACH!!
Give out of what you have. (abundance): App – overflow giving VIDEO
Be eager. (Pray. Start Now, BIG GIVE on December 8)
No reserves.
No retreats.
No regrets.
2 Peter 3:12
You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and
If you take care of God’s house, He will take care of your house!