Next Steps

Embodied – Colossians 3:1-4

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The following is the manuscript of a Sunday teaching I delivered on May 3, 2020.

Close your eyes.

Picture the first thing you will do after the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order ceases.

It might be a place you will go to eat. Maybe it will be a gathering with friends. Maybe it will be the gym where you go to work out.

How clearly can you see it?

Right now, some of you see this picture crystal clear. Some of you are distraught because you feel like you can’t picture anything. Whether you can picture it clearly, or can’t picture something at all, what will make that picture reality?

Acting on what you picture. As we will say in this series, it’s embodied–to give a tangible or visible form.

A vision, a dream, a thought becomes reality when it is embodied. Some of us are living in a dream world that we never expect to make it a reality because we are unwilling to take action. Some of us are living so firmly focused on the world around us that we never dare to dream of more–a picture of what could be thus is seemingly foreign. Some of us see both the dream and the reality and have no flippin’ idea how the two get bridged because we don’t see how the dots can get connected. All three of these disconnects prevent us from seeing the vision of God be expanded through people. That has already been God’s goal–his will and his way manifested through people.

In the same way, the reality of Jesus bringing heaven to earth through His Church right now, while not always seen with clarity doesn’t make it any less real. The reality in heaven must become embodied on earth. The vision made manifest is not always the most practical. It’s not always the most heroic. God’s will embodied is composed of men and women who learn obedience through the Holy Spirit wherever they are.

Paul is writing to a group of believers whom he wants to remind them that their experience can catch up to reality. Paul wants them to aspire to be like Christ because through Christ God sees them as actually like Him. Therefore, they don’t need external practices to make them appear to be what they in fact actually are. 

If then you were raised with Christ: Paul here begins a section where he focuses on practical Christian living, with a clear understanding that practical Christian living is built on the foundation of theological truth. Because we know that Jesus is really raised from the dead, then our identification with Him becomes real. Now, if you are skeptical about the claim of the reality of Jesus’s resurrection, on this week’s episode of the mid-week podcast we will cover some basic evidence of the resurrection. 

It is only because we were raised with Christ that we can seek those things which are above. The idea of being raised with Christ was introduced back in Colossians 2:12, where Paul used baptism to illustrate this spiritual reality. Now, seeing that we are raised with Christ, certain behavior is appropriate to us. An inward resurrection drives external resurrected living.

“The opening verses of chapter 3 sustain the closest connection with the closing verses of chapter 2. There the apostle reminds the Colossians that ascetic regulations are of no real value in restraining indulgence of the flesh. The only remedy for sinful passions is found in the believers’ experience of union with Christ.”

Because we were raised with Christ, we should act just as Jesus did when He was resurrected.

  • After His resurrection, Jesus left the tomb. So should we – we don’t live there any more.
  • After His resurrection, Jesus spent His remaining time being with and ministering to His disciples. So should we – live our lives to be with and to serve one another.
  • After His resurrection, Jesus lived in supernatural power with the ability to do impossible things. So should we – with the power and the enabling of the Holy Spirit.
  • After His resurrection, Jesus looked forward to heaven, knowing He would soon enough ascend there. So should we – recognizing that our citizenship is in heaven.
  • After His resurrection, Jesus knew he would return to judge the earth and make it new. So should we — actively demonstrate what this new earth will be like so that more people will get to experience it.

To emphasize the implications of Christ’s resurrection, even more, Paul added the phrase, sitting at the right hand of God: Our attention is to be focused on the sovereign rule which Christ now exercises. The command to aspire to the things of heaven is a command to meditate and dwell upon Christ’s sort of life, and on the fact that he is now enthroned as the Lord of the world.” (Wright)

The logical conclusion, of your being risen with Christ, is that… Set your mind on things above: 

“The believer is to ‘seek the things… above.’ The word ‘seek’ marks aspiration, desire, and passion…. In order to seek these things the mind must be set on them.” The best Christian living comes from minds that are fixed on heaven. They realize that their lives are now hidden with Christ in God, and since Jesus is enthroned in heaven, their thoughts and hearts are connected to heaven also. Paul has now flipped the object that was hidden. The mystery of Christ has been made known to us so that we can be hidden in Christ.

Actively look & do not settle. This is not passive. 

Inevitably I end up coughing loudly or knocking something over to reveal my location so I can extricate myself from said contorted position. Horrible game. This, I think, is the kind of seeking we sometimes employ when attempting to “seek the things that are above.” We give the search little attention – 10 minutes in the Word here and there, a brief pause to pray or meditate – but are ultimately distracted by other things and aren’t fully invested in the search.

See, my kids might look for me for a few minutes but ultimately if you offered them a snack or a video game they’d abandon the search immediately without bothering to inform me. Isn’t that often what our seeking looks like? Half-hearted, easily distracted. 

We just got finished with looking at how the ascetic practices and rules will not curb self-indulgence, meaning, these won’t effectively move our eyes from self to what is above. So what will?

First, seeking God in a distracted world begins with picturing the end. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory: The promise of the return of Jesus is not only that we will see His glory, but so that we also will appear with Him in glory. Christ who is our life:  Sometimes we say, “Music is his life” or “Sports is his life” or “He lives for his work.” Of the Christian, it should be said, “Jesus Christ is his life.” There is a nuance between “Church is his life” and “Jesus is his life.” In our community groups, we will take a look at this nuance.

On that day, all will see the saints of God for what they really are, not as they merely appear to this world. “Paul, the prisoner, an eccentric Jew to the Romans and a worse-than-Gentile traitor to the Jews, will be seen as Paul the apostle, the servant of the King. The Colossians, insignificant ex-pagans from a third-rate country town, will be seen in a glory which, if it were now to appear, one might be tempted to worship.”

Second, Encounters with believers who embody the character of Christ. [One of my first encounters, in-laws with cars. Everyone had their own car.]

While ascetic practices won’t curb self-indulgence there are good practices that put us in position to be changed. Ultimately, these practices won’t bring change because that only comes from the Holy Spirit. What do other people’s encounters with you communicate about your encounter with Christ?

‘Earthly things’ are not all evil. Even things harmless in themselves become harmful if permitted to take the place that should be reserved for the things above.” When good things become God things in our lives, the people we encounter will be directed to something temporary instead of the intended eternal.

This is why we talk about progress over perfection: Disciplacing the temporary things that aren’t connected with Jesus from the driver’s seat of our lives. If we are connecting with Jesus, then the next interaction with the person should be different than the next.

Imagine what our world might look like if people saw Jesus as clearly in your life as they see a video on a smart phone. Imagine if their interaction with you catapulted their lives in a community of people who began to shape their life for the better. People would begin to experience Jesus wherever they lived, worked, or played.

 If this sounds like pressure to you, then please know this…we won’t get it right. Together we must return to the core of who Jesus is…a Savior who forgives us and then gives us the motivation to try again. Today, you have begin to experience newness of life through Him.

Substance – Colossians 2:11-13

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It was an odd day, on the playground. One of best friends was being oddly annoying. I was on the swings. I don’t remember what. Being a sensitive third-grade boy, I was irritated that another student kept teasing me over liking a third girl that clearly in third grade I wasn’t interested in.

I took both my middle fingers and stuck them up and said that’s what I think about you.

As soon as the words hit the air, a whistle blew. Kyle principal’s office now. Oddly perplexed, not that I was in trouble but with what had come out of me. For the first time, I became fully aware not of myself, but of a nature inside of me. I felt like a monster.

Maybe you remember that first out of body experience where something arises out of you that you instantly want to stuff back inside. Maybe you wouldn’t use the harsh word of monster. In reality, we react to that internal nature in three ways: Embrace, ignore, or we control.

No matter the response to embrace, ignore or control it doesn’t actually change the inside. Maybe you feel exhausted because all your effort is spent keeping the beast in check.

When we try to manage our sin, what’s inside will always come out. The substance of our success is not ourselves. The story of Jesus is the substance of our success.

That’s why we are in this series: Substance. Let me do a previously on. A guy named Paul who used to kill Christians and then became one when he encountered Jesus is writing a letter to a new church. Paul is in prison and he is hearing that they are doing well, but they are going to start facing some pressure to turn away from Jesus. Paul knows that when you add to the message of Jesus you rob the story of its power. Yeah – I know but. Or, I better listen and learned but let me cover my bases. This decision is based out of fear.

There is no need to fear because Jesus fulfilled what was required by God so that you can experience real change. Paul reminds us of the fullness residing in Jesus and the reality to be lived for followers of Jesus.

In a time of fear or disgust about fear (which is the power dynamic) the substance that provides the antidote that we seek is the story of Jesus.

We pick up what Paul is saying in Colossians 2:11-13.

Paul recounted their conversion. Paul pointed to a bigger story. This story includes what is called the Old Testament in our Bibles. Circumcision was instituted by God to be a physical sign of the agreement between the people of Israel and God. It was never meant to be purely physical. It was to point to a spiritual reality that the people who had the physical sign and believed God was a part of the family of God. Paul says that these believers who weren’t Jewish didn’t have to become Jews. They were part fo the family of God when they put off the body of flesh (sinful impulses that dominate us). The agreement was fulfilled by Jesus and therefore, external signs were no longer required because the people could experience a changed heart. We have a propensity for drawing lines and boundaries where God does not draw lines and boundaries.

Paul says “no” you are part of the family of God when you “put off these desires” through your baptism. Baptism here is the removal of the power of sin over your life when you are buried [in the water] and raised. There are boundaries — you aren’t int he game if you are in the stands. You have to step onto the court in between the lines. Music, sports, there are lines — if you aren’t a believer you agree with sentiments. The question is not are there boundaries, but “who sets the boundaries?” As we discussed last week, when we set the boundaries its because we misunderstand Jesus, thus ultimately limit ourselves to truly experiencing life.

Sin is like pollution. It contaminates. Too often we want people to just deal with it, which points to our own selfishness. Selfishness is the antithesis of the gospel—because the “good news” is that we don’t serve a selfish God who thinks only of himself, but is totally himself in that he thinks of us.

Paul cites this story here because the hero of the story is Jesus and we enter into this story. Paul cites baptism in the midst of all these rules because it’s the single act that says, “I can’t conquer my fleshly impulse through additional rules or appeasing the outside forces. I conquer through surrender—surrender to Jesus.” Paul is saying that baptism and circumcision aren’t the same things. In fact, additional rules like circumcision aren’t needed because we are identified in Jesus—baptism shows that. If you have never taken that step of baptism—it’s time.

The Colossians are part of a bigger story by faith. This is extremely difficult for us. Because the day and age in which we live want physical markers to identify with. What marks us as the family of God isn’t our dress as in some religions, or by our ethnicity, or by our social class, what sets the family of God apart is the people who make it up from all walks of life from all backgrounds bringing the selfless love of God to the forefront of every part of their life. It’s stepping into a story that God has promised will go on for generations to come because it has!

The results of the bigger story are:

    1. Made Alive with Him – We are no longer bound.
    2. Forgiven – Cleansed from overstepping the line.
      1. God forgiving is forgetting in as much as seeing us united with Jesus, not in our sinful state. The love of God unleashed to rescue all humans from their captivity in order to bring them into the liberated family of God. This unleashed a cycle of forgiveness and connection. Forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgiveness is giving grace and getting life in return. Your eyes are wide open about what you are doing. You are not disillusioned. You choose something because of what you experienced in your baptism.

These truths are supposed to enable believers to cope with fear & pressure by having compassion. They cannot look down on anyone in disgust. You were there too. You are not the hero of your own story

We have a value at Generations called Story over Sin.

Story over Sin – Cultivating lasting relationships that discover how Jesus shapes our identity, our past, and our future rather than being defined by others or ourselves.

See, we aren’t the hero. If you say that you want to know that truth If you say you want to be able  Song by Skillet, “it comes awake and I can’t control it. Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head, Why won’t somebody come and save me from this, make it end? I feel it deep within, it’s just beneath the skin.

You may be wondering what action steps to take. Here are a few.

    1. Admit – You aren’t the hero and you cannot control the monster.
    2. Ask – Go to God and ask for His help. Ask for God to heal, restore, and show you the grace that He has promised.
    3. Practice – Put the way of Jesus into action. Try to follow him.
    4. Persevere – You will screw up. Keep going. God is gracious.

A Letter from the Pastor: Answering What’s Next?

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Friends & Family,

Last night the latest recommendations of the CDC were published on my newsfeed, which strongly suggested no public gathering with more than 50 people for the next 8 weeks. Governor of Washington Jay Inslee followed suit and levied a similar ban, and then subsequently instituted the same internal requirements for all bars and restaurants. Our team had been anticipating at least two weeks without the ability to gather, but now this number has grown. We still anticipate reevaluating where we are at the end of March. Regardless, this is no longer a blip on the radar.
As a church community, we’ve strived to maintain a healthy perspective on our gatherings: that the Church is not an hour-long service on Sunday, but rather a people… a family. If you’ve been around Generations for any period of time, you’ve probably heard this or seen it stated with joy repeatedly. We have chosen to emphasize the everyday adjective. We have intentionally chosen both liturgical and Spirit-led practices in regard to our gatherings, wishing these to form how we live in response to what Jesus has done throughout our weeks.
Yet this doesn’t make the news last night any less jarring. As a pastor, I love gathering to worship with our Generations family! I love how Charles and the team lead us in worship through song. I love the casual environment where anyone can feel welcome. I (and I never thought I’d say this) even love the hard work of pulling all of our equipment out of the trailer setting it up, tearing it down, and putting it up again because it is a beautiful picture of what family united by Jesus does when they come together. Gatherings never have been our everything, but they’ve been a significant part of our practice of loving God and neighbor. They have marked us as a young church.

 

The circumstances have forced us to learn how to navigate a world without a Sunday Gathering at the American Legion. On one hand, I grieve the time we are losing together. Yet on the other, I see these days ahead as an opportunity to step more fully into our calling to (here I go again) be everyday people who expand the family of God because of Jesus for generations to come. What a time to hold our methods of doing church open-handed and allow God to shape us. As I’ve repeated, our gatherings may be moved or canceled, but Church is not.

 

So where do we go from here? Because the Church is family, maintaining and growing both spiritually and in community throughout these coming months must be an intentional focus. For most of us, we’ll likely not be in a room with more than our family or a few other folks. We are committed to two important steps in the coming days:

  1. to invest and equip our people through online resources and connection points (like social media or video conferencing), and
  2. meeting the tangible needs that will inevitably rise moving forward, both inside and outside our walls.

This week, I will be launching online community opportunities via Zoom Video and/or Google Meets. These are video platforms that will hopefully be accessible to the majority of our people and provide interaction and encouragement through the days ahead. For those who won’t have access to these tools, we’re committed to finding ways of equipping them with resources and connections as well. We will be experimenting, see what works, and keep our focus on Jesus.

 

On top of this, we’re aware of the financial strain that many of our own may be facing in the days ahead. We have maintained that the best way to make known both needs and resources for people inside and outside the walls of the Church is through texting 360.295.4141.  As these changes continue, we anticipate these needs to grow exponentially, and we want to be the kind of Church where “God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them (Acts 4:33b-34).” The church is family, right? Together, we can be that family through caring for the needs that arise. So in the coming days, if you find yourself in need, please – do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Finally, I want to encourage us as individuals moving forward in following Jesus. In the days ahead, it will never be more important to care for our souls through practices of both loving God and loving neighbor. As I’ve sought to navigate what is ahead, here are some of the practices I’d encourage:

 

  • Engage with God. We must remember who we are and whose we are in these troubled days ahead. This doesn’t happen by accident. In the weeks ahead, renew your commitment to abiding in the presence of God through Scripture and prayer. We will continue to equip you with resources, but it won’t happen by accident. Allow the Story of God in Scripture to be the lens through which you see the world around us – not the other way around.
  • Disengaging from the news. It’s important that we are informed and follow the guidelines that our authorities give us for our protection. Yet it’s one thing to be informed… and another to be engrossed. Spending our days in the constant stream of information and opinion will only further our anxiety and drive us further into scarcity and fear. As a discipline, learn what you need to know, then love your neighbor and yourself where you are. It’s ok to turn it off for some time.
  • Embody care for your physical needs. I don’t know about you, but this change has thrown any family rhythms that I had completely off. On my own, I’ll spend too much time sitting around, distracting myself with entertainment and not taking good care of myself. It’s important in the weeks ahead to care for our physical needs through exercise, eating as healthy as we can, and rest (there is a difference between rest and escape).
  • Reach out. I have heard is said that “our greatest poverty is loneliness.” We already live in one of the most isolated and lonely cultures in history, and this difficult season will surely accelerate the problem. In the days ahead, make it a habit of reaching out to 2-4 people every week. Check-in emotionally. Pray for one another. Learn of needs that may need to be met… in short, be family. Whether by phone, text, social media or another way make it a discipline to grow relationally with others in the days ahead.
  • Love your actual neighbor. You have neighbors. Physical neighbors. And in these times, they’re probably battling the same cycle of emotions that we are facing as well. In the coming weeks, reach out to your neighbors. If they need groceries, a yard mowed, or just a conversation, don’t hesitate to be the hands and feet of Jesus right where you are by loving your literal neighbors!
  • Pray. Intercession (a type of prayer) is simply asking God on behalf of other people, places or situations. In moments like these, the Church needs to mobilize in prayer for the healing and wholeness of our world. May we be quickened to prayer for God to break the power of this sickness over our world and bring healing! Resources for how and what to pray will be shared shortly.

In the days ahead, take courage. In an anxious world, let your faith steady you and embolden you beyond your own interests towards a love that looks like Jesus. Have the courage to love well. In the words of Paul, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14).”

 

Friends and family of Generations Church, I love you. I am thankful for you. This challenge is an opportunity. God is present and at work among us, and I can’t wait for the stories of his faithfulness to rise and move us forward into a bright future.

 

In Christ,
Kyle Davies

Substance – Colossians 2:8-10

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The following post is the manuscript from the talk by Kyle Davies delivered Sunday, March 8, 2020, at Generations Church.

We are going to start off by having a little fun today. We are going to begin with a little exercise. I am going to throw nines dots up on the screen. I want you to draw nine dots on your teaching time notes. Maybe you’ve seen this before, your goal is to draw a line through all nine dots without picking up your pencil and in less than 4 total straight lines.Nine dot

As you begin, I want to recap our series Substance to this point. If you are new you can always go back and listen to last weeks on the podcast. Kaleb gave us a good start – get connected to Jesus. “Paul apparently being convinced that true gratitude for God’s grace is an important offensive measure against the false teaching.

Paul develops a powerful positive theological argument against false teaching by rehearsing the completeness of the spiritual victory we share in Christ.

Christ is substantive. Specifically in Colossians 2:17, the substance is the Messiah. This is important because Paul, who writes most of the back section of your Bible, is writing to a group of people who are being pressured to believe and live out that Christ is not enough.

Paul knows what they have been initially taught because he led Epaphras to follow Jesus and Epaphras started this new church community.

What has happened is teachers have come in after the fact and attempted to influence this church in another direction.

Here’s their basic message: We have some additional practices that will add to your life and help you be fulfilled.

Let me elaborate on that a moment: We know following Jesus is hard. It’s difficult. And you might not always feel like you are fulfilled when you are following Jesus. The reason you might feel this way is because some others, us specifically, have these incredible experiences that move us closer to God. You don’t have to feel insecure about missing out on these experiences. We can help you experience these same incredible moments. So, just let us give you some practices and you’ll be able to have these great experiences and minimize any suffering. We will make sure that you measure up, that you are satisfied, and that when others ask you about following Jesus you can point to these experiences through the practices that we will give you.

These false teachers are attempting to give these Colossians believers additional practices or additional rules that are not dependent on Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and return. This is an attempt to coerce the Colossians believers into believing that true spiritual fulfillment is not found in Christ alone.

Now, you may be wondering “why” well our Scriptures don’t give us the clear “why.” Let’s revisit our activity for a moment.

Did anyone get frustrated and look up the answer? In our culture and our time, we have a propensity for wanting to get things right.

When we open our Bible and begin to walk with Jesus sometimes there is clarity about what right is. Sometimes there is a mystery that makes it hard to apply the principled way of Jesus to different situations throughout our week. No two situations are exactly identical. To avoid true dependency on Jesus, we opt for some rules. Even if it’s simply to rebel against them. We like to know the boundaries of play.

Many times we say in safe comfortable predictable patterns because it’s easier to play by a set of rules that we make up and that we establish rather than take a step dependence upon God each and every day. Even if this set of rules says that we cannot know for sure.

It’s easier to live by a set of rules we make up because we can establish the mark for success, eliminate failure, and know the standard. Change is difficult. It’s messy and often unclear.

Let’s go ahead and look at the solution to the nine dots. What you see here is that you actually have to think outside the box to accomplish the task. My guess is your brain made some assumptions about the process.

Paul’s words here in Colossians 2 begin to address these additional rules that we put in place in our own lives because of our propensity for achievement, approval, control, or satisfaction.

While the desire may be different for each of us

Paul addresses these additional rules. These rules can be both assumed or articulated.

These rules…….Take you captive. They hold you prisoner. The philosophy is the product of mere speculation and does not put adherents in touch with divine truth. Ambrosiaster commenting on Paul in the 300s: “Paul calls this tradition of philosophy fallacious and inept, because it is not worked out according to the power of God but according to the weaknesses of the human mind, which restricts the power of God to the limits of its own knowledge so that no one will ever know that is is possible to do anything other than what the carnal reason suggests.”

Common to both Jews and pagans was the basic idea of cause and effect and in a sense it rules nature and the minds of men. We live under the idea that we get what we deserve; when we are good, we deserve to receive good; when we are bad, we deserve to receive bad. Paul warned the Colossians to not subject themselves to this grace-eliminating kind of thinking, and to consider themselves dead to it.

….Tell lies. They are deceitful. They give you a false sense of success. They misrepresent what it means to follow Jesus for yourself and for others. They seem to be arguing that certain practices must be added in order to achieve true spiritual fulfillment. One cannot add to Jesus without, in effect, subtracting  from his exclusive place in creation and in salvation history. The phrase “based elements of the world” conjures up the idea of spiritual attunement to air, earth, fire, and water. They may have felt they needed to appease these spirits or Gods in these natural sources.

Paul is not actually attempting to deny their reality, however, their preoccupation with rules about material things, was like the pagans, and were thus in need of pleasing. Thus, putting them in the place of Christ. The false teachers are proclaiming and demanding a doctrine and demanding practices that do not depend on Christ.

….Give you less authority We have authority in Christ: Christians need not fear these powers, therefore, because they are firmly under the control of their own head, the one in whom all the fullness of deity had come to reside. The Colossians believers will have no interest in listening to the false teachers once the realize that they are already filled. Paul says that this is a fact to be enjoyed, not a status to be achieved.

Sandwiched in the middle of these reasons, Paul writes a statement that proves why these are true.

Read verse 9. “FULLNESS” Jesus claimed to be God, received worship as God, and was crucified because of his claims to be God. We will touch on this more next week. God has taken up residence in and therefore revealed himself in a body. Meaning, there was never a time in Jesus’ earthly existence where he ceased to be God.

Picture this: You go to the Pacific Ocean with a  friend—two finite dots alongside a seemingly infinite expanse. As you stand there, you take a pint jar and allow the ocean to rush into it, in an instant the jar would be filled with the fullness of the Pacific. But you could never put the fullness of the Pacific Ocean into the jar. Thinking of Christ, we realize that because he is infinite, he can hold all the fullness of Deity. And whenever one of us finite creatures dips the tiny vessel of our life into him, we instantly become full of his fullness.

From the perspective of our humanity, the capacity of our containers is of great importance. Our souls are elastic, so to speak, and there are no limits to possible capacity. We can always open to hold more and more of his fullness. The walls can always stretch further; the roof can always rise higher; the floor can always hold more. The more we receive of his fullness, the more we can receive.

Paul is not advocating the view, so common in his day, that true spirituality was to be found by abandoning or by strictly subduing the body. Rather, god has chosen precisely a body in which to take residence and through that body, sacrificed on the cross and raised from the dead to win ultimate victory  over the powers of darkness.

When we fail to understand Jesus, we succeed in limiting ourselves.

So what: We underestimate what God wants to do through us. When we don’t know how to cope with that reality we begin to draw lines, boundaries, and form rules.

We underestimate what God wants to do through us.

  • —By limiting ourselves to our own rules
  • —By misunderstanding the person of Jesus
  • —By playing by manmade rules

The substance of life is Christ. This is why at GenChurch we have a value Spirit over Self. Daily depending of Christ is very different than depending on the rules you establish.

For example, Damien Lillard on playing outside the Three Point Line because of size. He can’t drive inside. He can’t play defense. It’s limiting.

This is what we do to ourselves when we depend on other rules of life. Fulfillment isn’t found in a formula. Christ’s fullness in you provides fulfillment.

Now what: How do I begin to depend more on Jesus?

  • Identify your influences (TikTok, Facebook, Fav news channel)
    • You will hear a certain perspective and rhetoric about their way of thinking. The greatest challenge here is distinguishing between what sounds right and is actually Christ-like.
    • I mentioned GaryVee – His line “don’t you just want to be happy” is easy to pick on.
    • Because in the pursuit of your happiness you may actually treat others poorly. You may make unethical decisions and sacrifice morality for the sake of personal satisfaction.
  • Connect w/ Jesus because he brings freedom and we will get it wrong

Give Over Get – In Finances

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Over that past several weeks I have been going back to the chiropractor, I’m extremely thankful. I needed and adjustment. The alignment of your spine is important. I didn’t realize that my spine could cut off the nerves to different parts of my body and keep other systems from functioning well. I needed an alignment.

The lives of Christians must align with the way of Jesus. Sometimes we need an adjustment. This is how we functionally use our values around our church. The way the choices are framed up helps position so that we can be healthy believers. One of our Values is Give Over Get.

As we have looked at Give over Get, this series has been about our character and priorities of generous living aligning with the gospel of Jesus.

There are very real barriers and habits that prevent us from living a life of holistic generosity in our relationships, how we use the gift/skills God has given us, and the perspective we have on money.

With that final word—money—right these some of you just went on the defensive. You’ve been in churches, or haven’t in the church because of this subject. I hope that if you have been journeying with us through this series that you have seen that generous living applies to more than you finances, but it does apply to your finances.

How we handle and think about money in relation to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus does communicate the condition of our hearts—because Jesus says so.

Go back and look at the last four passages we have taught from:

  • Luke 12 – Where your treasure is —there your heart will be also.
  • Matthew 6 – “When you give…”
  • Luke 10 – The Samaritan took out two denarii and said: “Take care of this man.”
  • Matthew 20 – The workers are rewarded by God’s generosity.

Money is always involved. Time is money. Or, you use a skill that you could get paid for and you volunteer for free. It needs to be stated that generosity doesn’t just take place in relationships with your time and grace. It doesn’t just take place in terms of your time in serving others and in serving in the church. It takes place in actually using money. They took an X-ray to see where I was out of alignment.

Here’s what I want us to do…write these words side by side: NOT ENOUGH – ENOUGH – EXTRA.

What you actually are and what you feel you are maybe two different things. Everyone falls within this category.

In a chapter that deals with the end times, Jesus stresses money’s importance. This text, therefore, calls us to examine our hearts in the scope of eternity. Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem. We see him sitting at the temple. Two pictures are present: the Pharisees and the widow. See Luke 20:45 – Luke 21:4.

Everything the Pharisees do reward them for their hard work and their exercise of effort and talent. Instead of seeing the abilities they have as being the faithful exercise of stewardship from God, they take personal credit for them. But if what was given to them they received from God, there is no room for boasting and self-exaltation. Especially as we look at the widow, the point of the larger story, we should not be criticized for the wealth we have, rather the posture in which we wield it. Giving out of abundance is appreciated, but it costs little.

Jesus turns to a contrastive image. That is why Jesus praises the widow here. Her attitude and action serve as an example of how believers should live. Giving to God is part of communicating our dependence on Him. This dependance is evident through the amount that is given and the heart behind the gift.

The widow gives two mites which are a fraction of a day’s wage; 1/100 of a denarius. She gave two mites, not just one. The widow might have kept one coin for herself, and no one would blame her if she did. Giving one meant giving half of all her money. The widow challenged the mindset that says, “I’ll give when I have more.” To watching the first-century world, this specific act of giving echoes back to God as the provider.

Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity meditates on this scene in a convicting way. He asks us to consider what our counsel to this woman might have been if she had asked us what she should do with these last two coins. would we say something like, “The Lord knows these are your last two coins and would understand if you purchased bread instead?” Many of us would. yet Jesus commends this woman for giving her last in worship to God. Giving all she had demonstrated her surrender to God. It was an act of great faith.”

The widow had virtually nothing, yet was a giver. This means that we can all please God with our giving just as much as the richest man can please God with his giving. Whatever we give sacrificially to God, He sees it and is pleased. The widow made a spectacular contribution. God sees the amount of your gift.

Jesus sees us when we give. I want to take a step back. Jesus turns the tables of evaluation here. How does one measure giving? True giving aligns the bank account and the heart with God.

We tend to appreciate the amount of a gift, not necessarily the sacrifice that went into the giving. It’s never about the amount of $$ you give. It’s about the heart. He notices how much we give, as we see with both the Pharisees and the widow, but is far more interested in the faith and motive and heart in giving than simply the amount.

The proportional amount communicates the heart. The woman gives to God her all. The value of a gift is determined by what it costs the giver. This is what made the widow’s gift so valuable. It is not sacrifice to give to God out of your extra. The others gave out of their abundance; she gave sacrificially, out of her poverty. 

Give over get has a lot less to do what’s actually in your bank account. Not Enough – Enough – Extra

This means that no one is too poor to give. God wants you to live a generous life. In one sense, this woman’s gift would not have been missed had she kept her two coins to live on. But what would have been missed was her sense of participation within the community unto God. We are about expanding God’s family.

God does not need our money. If God needed our money, then how much we give would be more important than our heart in giving.

When you give to something you begin to care about its well-being. When you give to the church, just as the woman gave in the temple, you giving is for the benefit of another not just the consumption of the services. Instead, it is our privilege to give to Him, and we need to give because it is good for us, not because it is good for God. It brings our alignment.

The woman’s generosity grows her heart toward God and others. Giving out of less means that basic things may be given up in order to honor God. One’s prioritization in giving shows where one’s emphasis lies. If you can pick up a Dutch Bros/Black Rock/Starbucks but cannot bring yourself you give.

What we give to God deserves priority. He should not receive our leftovers. As is all too common, the leftovers mysteriously shrink in size to take care of things that are not necessities.

When we give to God what is set aside from the first we limit what we use for ourselves. It develops not only a healthy recognition that our resources belong first of all to God, but it can also lead us to be more disciplined with what is left for us after we give. This startling confrontation with our finances brings about our alignment. She did not see her money as the source of her security.

What is always most vital is that we should be given over fully trusting God himself. This is what the gospel demands. The call of Christ requires us to turn away from the world, from sin, and from our own control to trust solely in him. The gospel calls us to give ourselves over to God, acknowledging that he has purchased our lives with the blood of his Son. we constantly give our lives over to Him. Cross out not enough and extra HE IS ENOUGH. When He is enough the questions about what is enough to give disappears and alignment begins.

We are about expanding God’s family at Generations Church. When we invite people to give this is what we are inviting them to give toward: Expanding God’s family because of Jesus for generations to come.

I think it would be foolish of me to talk about money without addressing how Generations Church utilizes it. We value Give over Get – You give to see the vision and values lived out in Salmon Creek.

  • 10% of our tithes and offerings go to Church Planting
  • Since October 2019 over 6,000 have been used to help people with rent, gas, food, clothes. We even gave way every $$ we brought in on Sundays during the month of October to four missions.

How can a new church do this? We rely on the generosity of others. Generations Church is supported by people who have given sacrificially. Yes, we need you to give. There are two ways to give for those of you who may want to give, but feel liek to you may not have the means.

May we live and give in such a way that reflects how generous Jesus has been toward us.