"Be More Generous" Rev. Reginald W. Sharpe Jr. Wednesday June 1, 2022

0:42 so what we want to do is give you an opportunity to write in the chat and let us know where you're tuning in from tonight. We don't take it for granted that as busy as the world is, everything's back moving, but you are still tuning in with us virtually for our refuel experience, and we give God praise for that. And we thank you so much for tuning in again. Can we open up in prayer? God, would you speak tonight? Clear our minds so that we can open our hearts to receive what it is that you want to deposit into us. Have your way. Get all the glory in Jesus' name. Let the church say amen. Amen and amen. So tonight, this is what I need you to do. Look at the seven ways to give. Let's sow tonight. Let's be givers. Let's be generous. I'm talking about that tonight. You'll see in a minute. So let's make sure we go ahead and sow into the God that has given us everything. Don't just tip God.

1:37 I said give to God. Let's give. Let's release some blessings. Let's release some faith tonight. And let's give to our God, our gracious God. we give God praise. I thank you for sowing. I thank you for doing it. I thank you for being a consistent, generous giver as you are a part of the virtual ship family and we don't take it for granted. God bless our music ministry tonight, our media ministry tonight. God bless our security ministry tonight, our deacons who are serving tonight, our staff. I thank God for everybody who makes this moment possible. And so as you're giving, I want to go ahead and jump into the fifth ingredient tonight because we've been talking about the six ingredients to a happier life. It's our year of fun and so although we're having fun, we're trying to be intentional, grasping biblical principles that help us embrace happiness. I believe with all my heart that the Bible keeps reminding us that God wants us to embrace a happier life. Blessed are the meek literally can be interpreted to say happy are the meek when you go to psalm one and it says happy is the man that walk if not in the counsel of the ungodly and goes on goes on goes on that word blessed again we get the word happy happy fortunate well off is the person that doesn't spend their time in bad company so why would the bible keep using the word happy if it is not god's will for us to embrace happiness and so the fifth ingredient tonight we've talked about mind your own business we've talked about always give yourself something to look forward to we've talked about embracing your unhappy moments we've talked about protecting your internal peace and then the fifth ingredient tonight is be more generous be more generous write it in the chat say it out loud with me come on one two three be more generous be more generous it is amazing to me how many people

3:42 think that the real joy is found in receiving but the real joy of life is found in giving when you are a giver your brain doesn't know that you're the one giving your brain thinks you're the one receiving so that's why the bible constantly tells us and we've heard it it's more blessed to what give than it is to receive because you feel like you're getting something yourself when you are giving something to other people when you give somebody a gift when you give on sunday mornings when you bless somebody with a compliment when you send a thank you card or you send a card in the mail and bless somebody during their birthday season that's why you keep doing it because you feel like hey i'm getting something out of this as well look at your life how can i be more generous Not how can I get more? How can I earn more? How can I manipulate somebody to sow more into me?

4:39 No, you ought to be looking for ways to be more generous. Write in the chat again, be more generous. I need you to understand that the Bible backs this up biblically. Psychologists back this up scientifically that when we are givers, when we focus on blessing others, that's when we end up blessing ourselves so here is where i want to go with this i want to read a couple scriptures to you so you can get this in your spirit from a biblical perspective but i think that this is such a simple lesson tonight but it's so profound that i don't want you to miss the profundity because of this simplicity go to psalm 112 the 112th psalm psalm 112 verse 5 out the message bible says this the good person is generous and lends lavishly no shuffling or stumbling around for this one the good person is generous and lends lavishly literally you if you are a good person if you're a person that's living morally and ethically you don't mind being generous and lending lavishly i'm trying to tell you tonight that there's some blessings in this go to luke chapter six we read this all the time we quote this all the time but i want to read it out of the message bible and give you another look at it luke chapter six verse 37 through 38 watch this jesus is talking and he is in the middle of telling people hey look at yourself now you've got to love your enemies check yourself first look at this don't pick on people verse 37 don't pick on people jump on their failures criticize their faults unless of course you want that same kind of treatment that's where we get the scripture don't judge unless you want to be judged in the king james version but he keeps on going he says don't condemn those who are down that hardness can boomerang oh lord this is another lesson this is another lesson whatever you give whatever you

6:48 do to others is coming back don't be don't pick on people don't jump on their failures don't criticize their faults unless of course you want the same treatment don't condemn those who are down that same hardness can boomerang be easy on people you'll find life a lot easier good lord I love this be easy on people you'll find life a lot easier and then we get to the verse we love to quote verse 38 watch it in context give away your life you'll find life given back but not merely given back given back with bonus and blessing giving not getting is the way generosity begets generosity lord have mercy if i want to receive more if i want some blessings to boomerang back to me then i gotta start it i gotta jump start being a blessing so that i can end up receiving some blessings so whenever we read this scripture i mean we don't really know this message bible as well as we know the king james version this is where jesus says give and it's coming back to you how good measure press down shaking together running over god's gonna cause people to pour blessings into your bosom uh because at the same measure that you give is coming back to you but the message bible breaks it down and says hey give your life away you'll find life giving back but not merely giving back giving back with bonus and blessing giving not getting is the way generosity begets generosity write that in the chat generosity births generosity whenever you give somebody's gonna give it back I told you just a few weeks ago I gave $300 in church and somebody was so moved that I did it they said I know you blessed some mothers on mother's day but I want you to bless your wife here is $300 for you to take your wife to dinner because I gave somebody was prompted to give and whenever you give watch how deep

8:53 the psychologist whenever somebody sees you give it wants it makes them wanna be a giver when you start giving you inspire other people to give when people see you being happy being a blessing they say hey I want to join in and be a blessing as well so whenever we read this text Luke 8 and it talks about give and it's coming back good measure press down here's the real blessing it's not just about money give mercy and it's coming back good measure press down shaking together pray for somebody and somebody's gonna pray for you good measure press down shaking together running over you give forgiveness forgiveness is coming back you show compassion compassion is showing back watch this now but if you sow mess mess is coming back if you sow drama drama is coming back if you sow a dissension and and and you sow fractures into all of your whatever you sow whatever you do is boomeranging back and so that's why i'm trying to tell you that The happier life includes generosity because the moment you start it, you can't stop it.

10:00 You can't stop or control just how much generosity and just how many blessings are going to hunt you down because of the blessings that you started. It's cause and effect. And a whole lot of us will be a whole lot more blessed if you stop being so stingy and selfish and open your heart, open your hands and say, hey, I am excited about being a blessing because the moment I'm excited, maybe I need to teach this on Sunday morning because I feel like there will be another level of giving on Sunday where, you know, we ought to make people clap. Every Sunday I say, it's giving time. And everybody just sits there like, oh, here we go. Here you go again. It's that time where the seven ways to give are going to pop up. But the reason why you get excited, I'm about to read it to you, In 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Is because I just told you.

10:55 That when it's giving time. At the same time. That is giving time. It's receiving time. Oh but if I told you. It's receiving time. The church would go up. If I told you blessings about the fall from heaven right now. And if it actually happened. The church would lose its mind. But every time you give. That is what you're releasing. And I've seen it happen so much in my life y'all. I am not a stingy person. I will give. I will take the bill at the table. I will give. Somebody can have my tie. They can have the shirt off my back if they needed it. Because I understand this. The moment I start the movement of generosity in my life, I will not be able to control the overflow that will find me in my life. preach sharp I'm trying to teach but I feel like preaching because I need you to understand that God has some overflow of favor overflow of blessings but you are the clog in the pipe of the blessing because you are so stingy you think that I gotta protect mine I gotta stash this away and God is saying that is not the way my my favor flows in the kingdom that may be how life flows for you in America but if you are a kingdom citizen and a kingdom minded believer you don't have to stash away your stuff and protect it from recession or protect it from depression or protect it from collapsing the stock God will find you out of nowhere and bless your house bless your children and release some stuff that money came by I need to sit back and be quiet because I'm about to get happy just thinking about the fact that God can bless you in ways and send people to bless you in ways that have nothing to do with money.

12:45 Sometimes you don't need money. You need a job. Sometimes you don't need money. You need an opportunity. Sometimes you don't need money. You need somebody to speak up and protect your reputation. Sometimes you don't need somebody to speak up and protect your reputation. Sometimes you need to go to sleep and sometimes you need peace and sometimes you need protection on the highway And sometimes you need some bullet blocking angels to be on duty while you're walking around minding your business in the city. I don't know who I'm talking to tonight, but when you are a giver, you release giving to you. And there's an old song that says you can't be God given no matter how hard you try. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 2, excuse me, 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 6 and 7. I love this out the message Bible. Listen to what Paul says to the church of Corinth. He's trying to encourage them to be givers. He's trying to encourage them not to be selfish. And this is what he says. Remember, a stingy planter gets a stingy crop.

13:47 A lavish planter gets a lavish crop. This is why when it comes to giving time, sometimes you hear me say every time you give, you're scheduling a harvest. because you have to think of your gift as a seed especially tithes especially your offerings in church you've got to think about it as a sower that you are planting a seed watch the language that paul uses in this agrarian culture that word agrarian just means the culture was based off of the farmland based off of agriculture so he knows who he's talking to and he says remember if you're stingy with the planting you're gonna get a stingy crop but if you're lavish in your planting you will get a lavish crop i want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over and make up your own mind what you will give that will protect you against sob stories and arm twisting god loves it when the giver delights in giving that's where we get the scripture King James Version that the Lord loves what kind of giver a cheerful giver God loves when the giver delights in giving you ought to be happy about it you ought to be happy about being a blessing and and even if you're not happy about being a blessing I promise you if you continue to be a blessing you'll eventually be happy did I just say something if you're not happy about giving if you keep on giving eventually you will be happy because you cannot be a generous giver any way possible and happiness not find you so that's what i'm trying to tell you that's what i'm trying to tell you and then verse 8 in 2nd corinthians chapter 9 it goes even deeper i don't even have time to deal with this watch the watch verse 8 i just can only read the beginning of verse 8 it says God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything no you you you heard it but you didn't hear it God can pour on the blessings

15:57 did you just hear that God's gonna bless the blessing did you just hear that God is gonna favor your favor did you just hear that god is gonna increase your increase well if you didn't hear it that's what you should have heard god is can pour on the blessings plural in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything and that's not just church that's life god's gonna bless you so much as a radical giver that you will be prepared for any and everything that comes in your life is anybody listening to me on the virtual ship god's gonna bless you so good that he's gonna bless the blessings favor to favor increase to increase huh he's gonna peace the peace he's gonna grace the grace he's gonna mercy the mercy so much that you will be prepared for anything that comes in your life i don't know about y'all tonight but somebody ought to write in the chat I receive that I receive that that God's gonna favor the favor increase to increase bless the blessing the music is coming on but let me just read to you one more scripture do you know that scripture in Philippians chapter 4 that says uh and my God shall supply all my needs you know that scripture now let me give it to you in context because we love quoting my God's gonna supply all my needs according to his riches in glory that's Philippians chapter 4 verse 19 but go back to Philippians chapter 15 this is Paul writing to the Philippians watch what he says you Philippians well no you can be sure I'll never forget it that when I first left Macedonia province venturing out with the message not one church helped me out in the give and take of this work except you play very soft he said not one church helped me out in the give and take of this work

18:09 except you church of philippi you were the only one and even while i was in thessalonica you helped me out and not only once but twice not that I'm looking for handouts but I do want to experience the blessing that issues from generosity and because they blessed him are y'all catching this because the church of Philippi took care of Paul Paul turns around in verse 19 after thanking them for taking care of him and he says now let me tell you this now my god is gonna supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory oh my goodness can i read it out the message bible you can be sure that god will take care of everything you need his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from jesus listen y'all i i i can't make you a believer you got to wake up to the reality that there are blessings in serving jesus there's a blessing and being a blessing so who you gonna bless this week who you gonna text this week who you gonna encourage this week who you gonna forgive this week who are you gonna send a gift to this week Who you going to cash out?

19:40 Who you going to zail? Who you going to Venmo this week? Just to say, I want to be a blessing. When you come to church, will your attitude change during tithes and offerings now that you know the moment of giving is also the moment of receiving as well? Because I cannot give without scheduling the overflow of heaven to open over my life. Oh, lift your hand. Wherever you are, lift your hands. Lift your hands. Lift your hands. I want to pray for you. I want to pray for you tonight. God, I thank you that as we're on this journey of a happier life, I pray that you would make us more giving, more generous, less stingy, less selfish. We don't have to protect our posterity. We don't have to protect our financial stability. Because we are in you, walk with you, and trust you. The moment we sow, the moment we lack anything, if we have been givers if we have been tithers if we have been sowers generosity is going to find our address so God I speak I ask that you bless every blessing I ask that you increase the increase I ask oh God that you grace the grace so that when we move we'll be ready as 2 Corinthians chapter 9 said for anything and everything would you bless us until we overflow May we have a Psalm 23 blessing.