The Good Samaritan and the Path to True Joy.

Senior Pastors here at Christ Fellowship Church, and we're so glad that you're tuning in for service today. - Yeah, Christ Fellowship is one church that meets in lots of different locations, including right here with you. - Yeah, and our prayer for you today is that you would sense God's love for you. See, I don't personally know all that you're going through today and what you're up against, but God does. And here's your prayers, and he knows your name, and he's right here for you today as you call out to him. - Yeah, thanks again for joining with us today. We love you and we're praying for you. - God wants to exceed your expectations this year. What are you expecting God to do this year in your life? Those who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish. - We are a church for the one who has lost that they will be found, and they will find that their purpose in Jesus, the one who gave it all, so that we could experience life and life to the full. - God is more in store than you have in mind, and I believe so much more than it's going to blow your mind. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Oh church, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh praise you ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ Praise God, you praise you ♪ ♪ Praise God, you're all men ♪ ♪ You'll be in the grave ♪

♪ Oh praise God, you're faithful ♪ ♪ Praise God, you're true ♪ ♪ Praise God, there's nobody ♪ ♪ Praise you ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh my soul ♪ ♪ Oh if you praise ♪ ♪ You're the Lord, you're the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, I'm gone ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh my soul ♪ ♪ Oh my soul ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh my soul ♪ ♪ I won't be quite ♪ ♪ I won't be quite ♪ ♪ My God is alive ♪ ♪ I'm gonna keep being inside ♪ I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep inside? I know. I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep me? I'm raised alone. I won't be quiet, my God. I won't be quiet, my God. I won't be quiet, my God is alive. Let me praise you, holy praise you. When I was lost, and all alone, your presence was where I found. You were dead, and you were out now. In every heart, in every law, you've never left me with our hope. You were good, and you're good back now. Come on, yes he is today. I would miss your faithfulness. I've seen you bring my way there. So I pour out my place again. You're worthy. Got you worthy of all this. Your promise is never there. I've got stories I've lived to tell. So I pour out my place again. You're worthy. Got you worthy of all this.

Yes you are. You left the throne, and chose the cross. They found your life to rescue us. Let's save them back. They saved you all now. But even death was not the end. You called me hell, so I could live. They're directing hell, they're directing now. They're directing hell, they're directing now. I would miss your faithfulness. I've seen you bring my way there. So I pour out my place again. You're worthy. Got you worthy of all this. Your promise is never there. I've got stories I've lived to tell. So I pour out my place again. You're worthy. Got you worthy of all this. You're good, and I'm with this day. You're strong, and I'm with this day. You're constant, not with this day. And I'm confident. I've seen you again, and again. You love me. Come on, tell them today. You're healing, and I'm with this day. You're saving, and I'm with this day. And I'm confident. I've seen you again, and again. You're good, and I'm with this day. Yes you are. You're strong, and I'm with this day. You're losing a witness to me And I'm constantly in it I'll see you again If you're the hell with this day You'll be the hell with this day You'll stay and I'm with this day And I'm constantly in it I'll see you again If you're the hell with this you'll pay for this I'll see you breathe, I breathe in So when I pour up my praise again You're worthy, 'cause you're worthy of all the things

Your promise is never there I'll go slowly, I'll let you in So now, you're out of my praise again If you're worthy, 'cause you're worthy of all the things You're worthy, 'cause you're worthy of all the things Your promise is never there If you're worthy, 'cause you're worthy of all the things Come on, pay the Lord, can I worship God? Well, Church, I'm just so thankful It is a blessing that we get to join Weekend, week out in this room and online And we get to lift up the one and only name of Jesus Across this place, we get to worship our God freely If we haven't met before, my name is Hannah And I can tell you confidently That you have been prayed for today That God has a word that He wants to speak to you today Our team is excited that you're here today Welcome to Church And I don't know what you may have carried in this room today Maybe a day you're carrying some grief Maybe there's a loss, some loneliness in your life Maybe there's healing that you need in your body At this time I want to invite our prayer team forward Maybe there's a big decision that your family is needing to make this week Maybe there's financial breakthrough that you need prayer for Whatever it might be, I know one thing And that's like God truly cares what you are going through today The Bible says in 1 Peter that we are to bring all of our worries and our cares to the Lord Because God cares for you

He cares for you today There's this hymn that every time I hear it It honestly convicts my spirit, it says Oh what peace we often forfeit Oh when needless pain we bear All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer And so today under the sound of my voice If you need prayer for something I invite you to come forward with a prayer partner Online as well, we have people in the chat ready to pray with you today God wants to carry it with you, would you give it to Him today? And for those in your seats I just encourage you to be praying for our church family And that you would continue in worship with us today What a friend we have in Jesus Oh our sins in Christ you bear And what a privilege to give Oh where things you got in prayer And oh what peace we often forfeit And oh what needless pain we bear All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer In Jesus Jesus how I trust Him How I root in all and all Our Jesus Jesus precious Jesus Oh far grace to trust in all [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ♪ For the honor of your King ♪ - Oh God, that's our hearts cry. That our whole lives would be for your glory. That you would be at the center of our lives. You would be the center of our families. That you would be at the center of this church.

God, we pray that today as we come before you, we give it all to you. You are at the center. And everything we do is our desire that would be a reflection of your love for us and our, an expression of our love towards you. And churches, we, as we continue in this posture of prayer, we just wanted to take a minute to pray for our country today. You know, it's hard to believe that 25 years ago, this Friday, we'll mark the anniversary of the September 11th attacks on our country. And it just brings up a lot of emotions for everyone, some more than others. And we just wanted to take the time to pray for those that lost loved ones and to pray for our country. And so during this time of prayer, would you just bow your heads? And let's take a moment of silence before we pray. God, we come before you today and we just ask for your continued protection over our country. We thank you, God, for you are a God that protects, you are a God that heals and we pray that even today that you heal our land, God, we know that there are so many that still grieve the loss of loved ones. So this week, would you be with them? God, would you touch them, be close to them, give them a peace that passes understanding? God, we pray for our leaders that you would capture their hearts and we pray that you would continue

to give them wisdom to lead our country. Pray those that are even today in our armed forces that are in harm's way protecting us. God, so that we can live in a country that we do. And God, we don't ever wanna take for granted the amazing privilege it is to be in a country where we can worship you freely, where we can read your word freely, where we can declare your goodness freely. God, I just pray that you would help us today as your church, as we carry your light into our world, God, that you would guide us, that you would lead us, and that you would continue to put your hand to protection over us. It's in your name, we pray. Amen, amen. Church, you can have a seat, amen. We never wanna forget that marker moment and declare God's goodness over our country. And as we go through this week, we wanna continue to pray this way. And this week, we're continuing our series of, this is the life, it's actually the last message in the series, and before Todd comes and preaches, you guys know that at the 815, we do things a little bit different, because when Todd's finished preaching, the service isn't quite over. And so I'll be coming back up to share some important things for the church family,

but before Todd comes and brings the word, our team is prepared a song. They wanna sing over you as you prepare your hearts to receive the word. So let's listen in together and lean in together. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ There was no way till you made one ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Grace upon grace, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Even though I don't deserve it, it didn't ♪ ♪ Even though I couldn't earn it, you give it ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ All my life you've been riding by my side ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ God, I'm just grateful for you ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, there's only one ♪ ♪ There is a heavy glory for all the you've done ♪ ♪ Even though I don't deserve it, it didn't ♪ Who am I that you keep me on, oh my God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you, oh my God, oh my life You've been riding by my side, God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you, oh God, I'm just grateful for you Oh, all over this room, can we stand and lift our hands If he's been good to you, if he hasn't given up on you If he's provided for you, oh there's only one thing we can do Oh, and I, yeah, yeah, I'll live to both of my hands

'Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance And I, yeah, yeah, I'll give it all that I am 'Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance And I, yeah, yeah, I'll live to both of my hands 'Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance, and I Oh, I'll give it all that I am 'Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance And I, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll live to both of my hands 'Cause you gave me chance after chance, after chance And I, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll live to both of my hands Oh, I'll give it all that I am Hey, uh, stay standing with me today just for a minute To think that the God of the universe is thinking about you today Who are we that he has got us on his mind? David writes in Psalm 139 how precious are your thoughts of me Oh God, they cannot be numbered, I can't even count them He says they outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore That's how much God is thinking about you today Which means that no matter what you're going through, you're on his mind He sees it, he sees you, he knows you, right? And today, as you're reaching out to him, the Bible says That God himself is reaching back for you, let me pray for you Father God, I thank you, we're so grateful for you We're so grateful that you're thinking about us today, we're so humbled By that thought, I pray God that you meet every need Represented here today, according to the riches in Christ Jesus our Lord Bless every person we pray, since Jesus' name that we pray and everybody together said Amen, amen, amen church, you can be seated today We are so glad that you're with us today, want to welcome all of everybody At all of our Christ fellowship locations, everybody joining us online

Our Christ fellowship family that might be traveling on this Labor Day weekend So glad you're tuning in and would you help me welcome the men and women of the United States Armed Forces To join with us every week We are wrapping up our series today entitled "This is the Life" And we have been asking the question, how do we find and live this life that Jesus came to give us This Johnson's Inn Full, abundant, not missing any good thing kind of life And what we have discovered is that we all have a picture in our mind Of what the good life, that life looks like Hi Jack, are you okay? Okay, great He's got a path, so he's okay, he can get around He's probably running the sound somewhere, okay We've all got a picture of what the good life actually looks like For some it might be you got enough money, that money's not a problem For some it's when the families getting along and we're all stuck fussing and cussing For some it's when the career takes off or you finally get that house Or take that vacation And there's nothing wrong about enjoying the good things in life But Jesus is constantly challenging us that those things don't make up the good life He actually says that the world would say that it's what comes to your life But Jesus would say it's what God does through your life that makes a difference The world would say it's what you can get and hold on to what you got That's going to make you happy and make you experience the good life But Jesus actually said in Acts chapter 20 verse 33 It's more blessed to give than to receive. And if you've been around Christ fellowship long enough, you know that that word bless is actually a God-given happiness and joy and contentment that comes when we are givers. And the reason we know this is true

is because the happiest people you know are givers. They're not the takers, dear God, the takers. They just are always looking for what they can get. And they're holding on to what they've got. And they always feel like somebody owes them something. They're the ones when you go and try to split the check at the meal. They're like, well, you had the shrimp. I only had the chicken. Dear God, just split it or pick it up or something. I don't know. But givers, they're just generous with their time and they're generous with their words of affirmation and they're generous with what they have in their hands. Generosity is actually life-giving. They did a scientific research was done and it was called the science of generosity. It wasn't a Christian study. They actually tracked over 2,000 individuals for five years and found the people that were generous with their time and their money. They focused on those two things. They were more positive about life. They experienced more emotionally healthy relationships. And third, I quote, they are much more likely to be an excellent health. Yeah, it's just good for you to be generous. Generosity is a good thing because, listen to me, generosity is a God thing. It's the very nature of God.

Nobody has to tell you that generosity is good when you see it in action. When you see somebody helping somebody in need, helping out somebody, widow, orphan, family down the street, you just like know there's something right about that because it is a reflection of God who is a giver. God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Jesus so loved us that he gave his life. And so generosity is actually this reflection of the heart of our heavenly father. And I believe it actually is the way that God has treated us, that God saw us in our need and he ran to us in our time of need and he loved us generously. And now Jesus is saying, live that way. Love that way. And so Jesus tells this story that is actually one of my favorite stories in the Bible that actually helps us know how to live a generous life because when you live a generous life, you're living a life in reflection of the generosity that you have received from God himself. Now, he starts to tell this story, but before he tells this story, the story is a result of a man, an expert in the law that came up to Jesus and asked him a question. And the expert in law means that he would be an expert in the law of Moses. He would have had the first five books of the Bible completely memorized.

Think about that, Leviticus, memorized. Who does that? And it says in Luke chapter 10 that this guy was actually searching for the same thing we're talking about, real life. On one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, teacher he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? So he's looking for real life. But notice he came to test Jesus, which is kind of funny because it never goes good when you test the guy that wrote the book. So he asked Jesus a question and Jesus asked him back, well, what does the law, since you're an expert, say? And the man answers correctly, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus says you've answered correctly, do that, and you will live. But then Luke gives us a little bit more detail. It says the man wanted to justify himself. So he asked the question, who is my neighbor? In other words, who exactly do I have to love like myself? Like how far does this generosity thing really have to go? Now in the Jewish law, the term neighbor actually meant your own people group, your people, your tribe. You gotta love your people that way. So this guy wasn't actually looking for how to love,

he was looking for a loophole. And instead of answering the question, Jesus tells a paradigm shifting parable. A story that actually helps us to see what it looks like to live a generous life. And if you've been around church, even the people that haven't read their Bibles that much, you know this story. And a lot of times when we hear a story that we already know, or we read it and we've already read it before, we have a tendency to shut down and go, I know this story, I know the story of the Good Samaritan. But the Bible is alive and active. And I've seen some new insights in this as I've been preparing. So Jesus tells a story about a man that was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, assumed a Jewish man because he was coming from Jerusalem. It was a 15 mile stretch that is extremely dangerous and treacherous. It was known as the bloody trail because bandits and thieves would hide out and attack people regularly. So it was very dangerous to travel. And that's exactly what happened to this man. Roberts attacked him, they beat him and they take what was his and they leave him on the road half dead. And then Jesus tells about the priest and then later a Levite that sees the man and they're walking down and they pass by

on the other side. Now apparently they must have been on the same side for them to have to pass by on the other side. It's amazing how when we don't wanna get involved all we gotta do is create a little distance between us and the problem. Doesn't seem like it's our problem as much. Then it says, Jesus continues the story in verse 33, but a Samaritan as he journeyed came to where he was and when he saw him he had compassion. Now at this moment, Jesus is telling the story to a crowd of people, the crowd would have gone, (sighs) "A Samaritan." 'Cause they hated Samaritans. Jews hated Samaritans. Jews talked trash about Samaritans. They looked down on Samaritans. He was the least likely person that would show up at this story to have compassion on anybody. And that word compassion in the original language actually means this pity on the deepest part of you that moves you to action. It actually compels you to do something about it. So it's not just emotional, it's actually intentional. It causes you, when you have compassion, to act, to do something. And then Jesus tells us exactly what the man did, verse 34, he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine, set him on his own animal,

brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out to Daeneri and gave that to the innkeeper saying, "Take care of him and whatever you spend, I will repay you when I come back." Which is in three, do you think actually proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? The expert of the law said, "Well, the one who showed him mercy couldn't even say "the word Samaritan, couldn't he, right?" And Jesus said to him, "You go and do likewise." So Jesus introduces three very different responses in this story, and they actually represent three different ways that you and I can live our lives. The robbers looked at the man and said, "What is yours is mine, and I'm gonna take it." That was the first response. What's yours is mine, and I'm gonna take it. The priest and the Levi, their response is, "What's mine is mine, and I'm gonna keep it." And that's where most people fall. Most people don't fall into the first group. I'm looking at a robbery by the time, "What's the problem here?" But most of us just want to keep what's mine is mine. I'm gonna keep it. But the Samaritan said, "What's mine can help you, "so I'm gonna give it. "Take, keep, give." Three different people, three different responses,

and every day you and I are choosing which one is gonna mark our lives. Now remember, Jesus is telling us this story so that we would actually learn to live a generous life, that we would actually think more like God and have more of the nature and character of God who is a giver living through us. So I see two important lessons that we can learn from this story about how we can live this generous life as a part of the life. Remember, if Jesus says it's more blessed to give than to receive, there's gonna be a blessing and a contentment and a joy that comes as you are a giver that he shows us two ways here that we become givers. The first thing I see is that generous people pay attention. Generous people pay attention. And more specifically, generous people pay attention to the people God puts on their path. They're aware. See, see, the priest and the Levite saw the injured man. They were not unaware of his needs. They just chose not to pay attention to the need that was in front of him. And I actually believe that this is one of the more challenges challenging issues that we have as humans because culture tells us to look out for number one, baby. You better look out for number one. There's nobody else is looking out for you. So we end up looking out for ourselves, our family,

our needs, our comfort, our preferences, our finances, our family. We just kind of, it's our ours, right? We kind of focus on that. But we can get so busy building our life that we actually miss the lives of the people that God has put on our path. The need compassion. And by the way, you don't have to fly to some foreign country to find people that need compassion. God has put them all around you on your path. There is your workplace. There in the lunchroom or the classroom sitting by themselves. There in your neighborhood, that lonely person across the street whose spouse died and family moved away, you know who they are, that they need compassion. They could even be somebody in your own house that needs compassion. The question is, are we paying attention or are we passing by on the other side of the road? See, I don't believe that you can love people like Jesus loves people until we begin to see people like Jesus sees people. Think about Jesus. How many times do we see him in the gospels? He was in a crowd of people going somewhere to do something that's important. He's the son of God, he had stuff to do. And he was stopped by one person.

It was blind Bartimaeus on the side of the road. It hollered out, Jesus had mercy on me. It was the woman that pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of his garments and it stopped everything. It was a crippled man sitting by the pool of Bethesda that was there and had been stepped over as he tried to get into the water to get healed. Jesus stopped that day. He saw him, he paid attention. In fact, every one of those miracles that I just mentioned all started because Jesus paid attention to the people that were in his pathway, right? See, I think when we are seeking God, we begin seeing people the way God sees people. God will actually change the way you see people. You will not see people as an inconvenience, you will see them as the individual. You won't see just their problem, oh, you'll see them as a person. They're not just somebody that needs to get their act together. They're God, why can't they get a job? I can't think, no, they're actually someone made in the image of God. The God is sovereignly placed in your path. That he wants you to do something to show and express his love to them. In fact, Jesus was the one that said in Matthew 25, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine,

say it with me, you did for me. And that's why the way we love people tells us a lot about the way we love God. Because nobody can know whether you love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. Nobody can see that, but we can sure see the way you love people, right? They can see whether we love people, how do we treat people? How do you treat people at work? How do you treat people that you disagree with? How do you talk about people that don't vote like you or think like you? Uh-oh, yeah. How do we treat, do you hold on to grudges or do you freely forgive? When you see somebody in need, do you just like, do you go the other way or do you actually go, how can I help? See, how you see people will change how you love people and how we love people that we can see reveals a lot about how we're gonna love the God that we cannot see. So the first lesson that we learned is a generous people and we're gonna be generous because we are making the image of God pay attention to the people in their path. The second lesson we learned from this is that generous people pay the price. Generous people pay the price. What I noticed is that everybody loves the idea of generosity, whoo, until they actually have to

give something away, right? We all love it. Generosity is awesome. All love in that family up until it's life giving until I actually have to give something that I like. Real generosity is really gonna cost you something. Think about what it cost this Samaritan. He had to give up his time. He was going somewhere. He wasn't just like taking a joy trip on this bloody pathway, no. Cost him resources. It was his wine, it was his oil, it was his supplies. Cost his comfort. He actually got off the donkey and put this man on his donkey. It cost him money. He had to pay the innkeeper. Listen, something I've learned. Compassion isn't convenient. Compassion isn't convenient. It's gonna cost something. This guy, this Samaritan, his life became harder so that somebody else's life could become easier, which I think is a picture of generosity and made me ask the question this week, am I willing to make my life harder so that somebody else's life can get better? Am I willing? Am I willing to get off the donkey? Am I willing to let someone else ride?

Am I willing to spend my money or my time for somebody I may not even know? Am I willing, are you willing to change your plans and your schedules? Are you willing to carry something that somebody else can't carry right now in this moment? And did you notice, did you notice that it says that when he got to the inn, he took care of him overnight and then the next day he gave the innkeeper to Daeneri. What? So think about what you get paid a week. One day of that pay, he gave away two full days of his pay. So this wasn't like, you know, spare change. This was a sacrifice. And it made me wonder how do you do that? How was he ready and prepared, not just willing, but ready to give away two full days of his pay to somebody and then covered more costs. He actually had to prepare for it. It reminded me of a great scripture. Don't miss this one. Isaiah 32 eight. If you forget everything I say today, make sure you get this in your spirit. 32 eight says generous people. What's that word? What is it? Generous people plan to do what is generous. And they stand firm.

Their life is planted and anchored in their generosity. So they plant generous people and you're gonna be generous people. We plan to do what is generous. Generous people don't hope. They're not just hoping it happens. They're not just hoping they got some margin at the end of the month. No, they actually plan, which tells me generosity doesn't just require compassion, but preparation. You got to actually get ready for this. 'Cause here's what I know. Most people want to help somebody else in need. Most people, when you see somebody and you, I want to help. You hear about us sending relief over to Nepal? You're like, I want to be a part of that, right? But most people don't have anything extra to help. They don't have a plan to help. In fact, we did a survey of some of the people right here in our church. And the survey confirmed this. The survey showed that 66% said I'm a natural giver. Like I naturally like to give. 31% said they want to be more generous in their giving. But only 26% said they have a plan to be generous. So there's a desire, because again, you're made in the image of God to be generous, but we don't really have a plan to help people get generous. For most people, they live paycheck to paycheck.

Or if they're not living paycheck to paycheck, they're just kind of living off what they've got. By the time the paycheck comes in, it's mostly spoken for. By the time the mortgage, and the gas, your Lord, and then you've got the food bills, and then you've got Netflix, and then you've got my iPhone 28. And there are all these bills that just get on there. It's gone. Want to be generous, but I don't have a plan to be generous. And as I was thinking about this, I thought, well, I don't want to just preach about getting a plan. I want you to know that as a church, we have helped literally tens of thousands of people get a plan in this area. To get a plan in an area, a finance that is called Panic and Worried to actually go, I can be free in this area, and be free to do what I'm supposed to do, and live how I'm supposed to live, yeah. You may not know it, but we have an army of people, volunteers, people that have actually walked through getting financial freedom in their life to help the people in our church walk in financial freedom. And every fall, we kick off all these new classes, and some of you all need to get in here,

'cause you need to get a plan. We got classes kicking off for my God, my money. Those classes are starting up. We have October 3rd, we're bringing in a specialist for a Saturday morning workshop, just to help you get organized and get a plan, according to what God's will says, very limited seating. You can get all this on by tapping the disc on the seat back in front of you, texting the word info to 441-441. It's all there for you. We've got financial peace university, which we have literally helped 20,000 plus people get debt free, 20,000. So if you wanna get, it's here for you. Just get a plan, right? We got a class called Kids, Grandkids, and the Kingdom to help you plan for your future. There's links on our app that will help you if you don't have a will, how to get a will, how to talk to an advisor, because we wanna help you get a plan, because generous people plan to do what is generous. Now let me just pause for a minute and make sure you understand something as your pastor. There is a difference between generosity and stewardship, and a lot of Christians get those confused, right? There's a difference between generosity and stewardship. Stewardship is a word that is not used very often in our modern day English language.

It's the real word is steward, right? And the definition of steward is a careful and responsible manager of somebody else's property. And that's what we all are. We are a careful and responsible manager of God's property. Now stewardship is more than just money. Money is a part of stewardship, but it goes beyond that. It's really about the lordship of my life, that everything in my life comes from God. Everything in my life belongs to God. And so I live with that mindset that is all his. Look what 1st Chronicles 29, 11 says, "Everything in earth and heaven is yours, O Lord." or that word is Lord, over all things. So if you're the Lord over all things, you're the Lord over my life and everything that I am. Psalm 24, verse one. Why don't you say this one with me out loud wherever you are today? The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. So that covers everything, everything and everyone, 'cause you live in it. So everything belongs to God, everything that we have belongs to God. And you might think, well, wait a minute, Todd. I work hard for what I have and what I've made in the career that I've built or the company that I've made. Well, the Bible says even that comes from God. Deuteronomy, verse eight, chapter eight, verse 17,

says, when do you become successful? Don't say, I'm rich and I've earned it myself. Instead, remember that the Lord, your God, gives you the strength to make a living. So everything, even the ability to go to work this week or the creativity, think up something or build that company, it all comes from God. So we live with this mindset that it all belongs to God. So I just wanna make sure that you understand as followers of Jesus that stewardship needs to precede generosity. In fact, I don't believe that we can truly be the generous people we're called to be until we get the stewardship issue right. Because otherwise, if we don't get this right, then we think it's ours. And I'm giving away some of my stuff. Or we think that we have to be the source of it. And I've got limited supply. But if I understand that God is the source of it, and I just keep it open, he could drop in my hand when he wants to drop in my hand and take out of my hand, what he wants to take out of my hand. It's a mindset that creates a spirit of generosity and not a spirit of scarcity and worried about not having enough. So stewardship precedes generosity. Now, if you're a follower of Jesus, what I just shared is really, really important. Now, if you're here today,

and you're just like not a follower of Jesus yet, or you're just checking out this God thing, you don't need to worry about this part, right? You just need to, you don't need to worry about what you're gonna give. You just need to worry about receiving God's love and his goodness, his grace, his mercy, and his life, and his hope that he has for your life. But if you are a follower of Jesus, all of this is very, very important. Because the Bible and Jesus had a lot to say about the connection between our faith and our finances and how we manage it, how we live our lives, right? Very, very clear about it. It's not because God wants your money. God doesn't need your money. The streets of heaven are paved in what? Gold, not plated in gold, where it could ship. I mean, it's paved, it's thick pavement in gold. So God doesn't need, he doesn't need anything. He's God, right? But he does want our hearts. And it was Jesus who said in Matthew chapter six for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, wherever your treasure is, your heart is gonna be connected to your treasure. So when you put God in this first place of your finances and your giving, when you live this way, can I tell you there's just this natural overflow of it impacting people's lives?

Think about it, think about it. When you and I give together, just when we give together at church, right? We're not giving to the church, we're giving through the church. So when we are helping feed the hungry and take care of the homeless, when you give, you're a part of that. When we're taking care of orphans and foster kids and widows and their time of need, you're a part of that. When we're in the prisons, you're a part of that. To the least of these, you're going into all that. The stuff we're doing all around the world, you're the generosity, you're connecting your heart to the things of God. This week, you don't know this yet, but this week we're sending $200,000 to the relief efforts over in Nepal. That's what we're doing together. Yeah, if you're giving, you're a part of that. If you're not giving, you're not a part of that. But when you're giving, you're actually a part of that. I want you to understand that it's connected. And here's what's beautiful is because Jesus said where your treasure is there, your heart will be also, your heart will naturally be connected to what God cares about the most, which is people. So it's not a money issue. It's about God, I want to be connected to what you're

connected to, and I want to live a generous life, and I believe it helps you live that way. Okay, back to the story, and then we're going to pray. Look again at the end of the story. Jesus asked this guy in verse 36, "Which of the three do you think was the neighbor "to the man who fell among the robbers?" And the guy said, "Well, the one who had mercy on him, "and then Jesus ends the whole story "with four powerful words, go and do likewise. "Go and do likewise." Jesus doesn't say, "Go think about generosity. "Go pray about it." Now, he doesn't say, "Get in your small groups "and talk about the Samaritan." He says, "Go do it." You know the price, pay the price. You see something inconvenient. Man, you walk towards it. You see somebody that needs encouragement. You give the encouragement. Somebody that needs your time. Make some room so you can give them your time. God asks you to give, open your hands. That's what he says, go and do likewise. See, followers of Jesus do not walk around the needs. We walk towards the needs. And what if that is the picture of the life that God has created us to live this generous life that reflects the heart of a generous God?

What if the question isn't what I can get out of life, but what can God do through my life? Not how comfortable can I make my life, but how useful can I make my life? Not what can I accumulate in my life, but God, how can you use what I have to actually impact eternity? Because let me tell you something, what you accumulate on this earth stays on this earth when you leave, right? You can't take it with you. But Jesus, the words of Jesus said, you can't send it on ahead. That what we invest in an eternal kingdom that outlasts and outlives us, that goes on. What we invest in people, people are eternal. When we help somebody find Jesus, when we help the next generation find Jesus, when we give a cup of cold water or a meal in the name of Jesus and help them understand the love of Jesus in practical ways, that outlasts you and it echoes through eternity. So here's my challenge to all of us today. Very simple, it's the words of Jesus. Let's go and do likewise. What would it look like this week? If all of us go out and every day this week, we do one generous act towards somebody. Just one, not 10, one. One generous act towards somebody in need.

They're all around you, just open your eyes. Generous people see the people in their path. What would that look like? Just try it for a week. Imagine if all 30,000 of us today walked out this week and we did that, somebody at our workplace, somebody at our schools, somebody in our family, somebody in our neighborhood. I believe the love of God would be on full display in ways that would arrest their hearts towards the things of God. And we would be the salt in the light that Jesus talks about that they would see your good works and they would glorify your father, which is in heaven. Let's go do that, let's go and do likewise. And I believe as we do, because it's more blessed to give them to receive, there will be a blessing that will settle on your life. And the things you're looking for, you're gonna find. Let's just go and do likewise. I wanna pray two prayers today. The first prayer I wanna pray is that we would be generous people, that we would see the people in our pathway that need love and tension and care and our time that we can express God's love to them, right? We'll need to pay the price. And by the way, if you need to get a plan, get a plan so you can do this. We got all those courses coming up. But the second prayer I wanna pray are for those of you today

that I referenced that maybe you've not put Jesus in that first place in your life yet. I mean, the thing he wants to give you is his peace and his grace and his forgiveness and his life. And all you have to do is open your hands and receive what he has for you today. Receive his forgiveness. If that's you today and you need to get your life right with God, that second prayer is gonna be for you. Church, would you bow your heads with me as we pray today? Father God, we thank you for your word that reminds us where true life is really found. That it's not about what we can get. It's about you working through us, letting your light shine through us, letting your love move through us. So I pray today that God, this would be a reminder to all of us that we are called to live this generous life. Help us to see the people that you've placed in our path and love them well this week. As we continue to pray with everybody head about, if you're here today and you would say, Todd, I know I need to get my life right with God. Maybe you've had a relationship with Jesus, but it's not where it needs to be or maybe you've never really turned your life over to him today. I'm gonna pray this second prayer. And if you would say, Todd, would you please include me in this prayer, right where you're seated, would you just raise your hand up?

It just hold it up high, wherever you are, hold it up high. You're saying, I want God's grace today to flood my life. I want His generosity to wash over me. Keep your hands up as we pray this prayer and let's all pray this together after me. Say this, say, dear Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. Just the way I am, forgive me of all my sin. Make me a new person from the inside out, and I will follow you and show others your love every day of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Come on, let's thank God for those that made that decision today.