The Gift of Grace Revealed

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Jon Ford; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9 The Gift of Grace Revealed

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You are listening to the podcast of Recast Church in Mattawan, Michigan. I've been given the assignment here to really kind of do two things.
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Maybe give a more general Camp Barrichale update, as well as begin to introduce where I believe the
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Lord has us this morning in the scripture. And maybe I can just, one quick story, Jim's already talked about some staffing changes that are going on, and we do have a family right now as well that is working on beginning to raise support to hopefully move up to camp.
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We're excited about that. They will hopefully be joining us in the maintenance department. But just in the last couple of weeks, so our first men's retreat, they're in October, and I know,
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I think many of you, some of you men came to the second one. But the first men's retreat, we had a couple of guys from Ohio come up, and they also are part of a ministry that does construction and specifically roofing.
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And we were talking to them just about the opportunity and the need that we have of our west side chapel, which hadn't been re -roofed in over 30 years, and so needed it.
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It's not a small building, and it also has, I think, a 45 degree pitch on it.
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In fact, so we live up in an area with lots of Mennonites around us. The Mennonites didn't want to do it.
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That kind of gives a little bit of a clue on how steep and big the roof was. Well, these guys from Ohio talked to us and were like, well,
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I think we could do that. In fact, the only thing we'll do is we're going to do it for no profit. Pay for the supplies and pay for our labor, we'll come up and take care of that.
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And we're like, great, that'd be fabulous. Of course, none of this is in the budget because we hadn't planned to have anybody to actually do it.
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But we're like, great. Our founder used to talk about the fact, so Uncle Johnny, who began
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Camp Barachal and started the ministry that we call and where Bennett's and we live, talk about the fact that we were just there to unload the buses and God provided what
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God was going to provide and to what we needed. So these guys came and in the midst of the conversation, from that conversation in early
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October to when they arrived just a week and a half ago, they also decided, you know what?
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I think we can do the other chapel too. So both the west side and the east side, both large buildings, big roofs, lots of shingles.
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They're like, oh no, in a week, I think we can punch both of those out. It was a group of 12, 15 guys.
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By the way, mostly guys from Honduras who didn't speak English at all. It's fascinating.
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But so in a week's time, so they arrived on a Monday and started right off and then went till dark on Saturday, finishing both of those two roofs.
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And we just thank the Lord for that. And the amazing thing is, again, it was something that wasn't budgeted. Well, this week, so that was finished
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Saturday, that would have been since the 12th or so, they finished.
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Well, you know what happened on Tuesday is snow came. And so just in three days, the
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Lord had new shingles, well, they took old shingles off, new shingles on, and then the
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Lord decided, okay, Ruth's done, I'm sending you snow. It's great, great. So, you know, a couple inches of snow and we've got new roofs.
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And the Lord in His providence, suddenly this past week sends...
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So I think the total bill was something like $51 ,000. I think, Jim, something like that for shingles and their labor, which by the way is a steal for the size of the buildings we're talking about and the number of shingles.
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And all we had to do was house them and feed them some food once in a while, you know, once in a while. And well, this past week, the
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Lord saw fit from two different sources. One family heard about what we were doing and they said, you know, we're gonna call you and we're gonna send you a check for those shingles.
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And so they sent a check for $21 ,000. Another family had a dear friend from camp who had recently passed away.
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And part of the proceeds from that and part of the money that was given was also sent to camp, and I think that equaled, if I have my math right, $19 ,000.
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Anyway, all that to say is the Lord provided all but $900 of that $51 ,000.
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Yeah, we thank the Lord. We thank the Lord for that. And it's just amazing to see how as we, by God's grace, continue to work and serve,
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God provides for what we need. And I hope you find that same truth and experience in your life as well and in the life here at Recast of your church.
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That as you faithfully serve, as you faithfully give of yourself to Him and give of yourself then because of that to one another, the
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Lord provides what you need, not always in the way you want it, not always in the time. Again, we had to agree to pay for those shingles and pay them.
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We didn't know where the money was coming from. The Lord provided the money after they had been at camp, but we just thank the
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Lord for how He takes care of us and meets our needs. And so we are right now in the middle of our maintenance season, which has always, it changes as soon as the snow comes because suddenly the outdoor work kind of fades and you turn your attention to inside things.
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And so we are glad for this time of planning, of maintenance and prep. We're currently tearing apart a bathroom in one of the east side cabins and looking towards some other projects that we're hoping to do in the spring and excited about those things as well and continue to plan and make preparations here as we get ready for the beginning of January and January six to eight when we begin to have some of our events starting up, start off with a college and career retreat and teens right away,
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January six to eight. So we're excited about that and glad to have snow and pray that the, we actually pray that the
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Lord continues to send snow. I know you guys probably don't, so I'm down here, but we do that the Lord would continue to send snow and that we would be able to keep it and so that we can make ice for skating and broom ball and keep snow on the trails for cross country skiing and tubing and all that good stuff.
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And if you plan on coming up this winter, a few hands, Quinton, I'm glad you put your hand up.
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That's good. Because otherwise we'd come down here and get you and bring you back up, but we'd love to see you this winter if that would be in your plans from father, sons to father, daughter to lots of weekends for teens.
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And again, even that college and career retreat, it'd be fun to have you guys up. I'm going to turn our attention this morning to second
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Corinthians chapter eight. If you have your Bibles, you can turn there to second Corinthians chapter eight and we're going to talk this morning about the gift of grace revealed and the fact that it has a specific effect, that it did something specific for these churches that are in Macedonia and that Paul wants something specific to happen in this church in Corinth and the grace of God.
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And I've already mentioned it a little bit, just that we see it so many ways, even in our life and ministry at camp, that God's grace when it comes, does something, it has an effect.
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And I'm so thankful that. Let me read from second Corinthians chapter eight verses one through nine.
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Let's read God's word together. We want you to know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part for they gave according to their means as I can testify and beyond their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints and this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the
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Lord and then by the will of God to us. Accordingly, we urge Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace, but as you excel in everything in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace.
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Also, I say that not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine for, you know, the grace of our
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Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich.
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I'm looking forward to, again, looking at this passage with you this morning as we will see the fact,
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I trust, that the Lord's grace has been revealed. The passage starts right away with that. The grace of God has come and that it has a specific effect.
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It has done something in these churches of Macedonia and we're going to look at a math problem and I'm not a math guy, but we're going to look at a math problem here and see that it doesn't really add up to the way we normally think.
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And then I hope we're encouraged by that and challenged by that as well as we think about what the grace of God has come and done, not only for us as believers, but maybe also for you personally as well as for a church.
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What effect has it had? What effect will it, by God's grace, continue to have?
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That's what I'm hoping to look at with you this morning. I hope you will be excited about that even as we gather and sing.
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I look forward to continuing to open God's word with you this morning. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are grateful for your word, for your scriptures that come.
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We pray that you would come and inhabit our praise as we enjoy singing praises to you as we think about all that you have done and continue to do.
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Lord, I pray you'd give us eyes to see, ears to hear. May we see glorious and wonderful things in your law.
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May you do that work in us for your glory and our good, we pray. And we ask these things in your precious name, amen.
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Some of you are probably familiar with the story of Les Miserables, and if that is you, then great.
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Some of you, I'm gonna try to fill you in a little bit on some of the story of Les Miserables or Les Miserables, if that's easier for me to say,
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I'm not French. You figured that out already just by my pronunciations of those. Some of you may suddenly be watching a movie later today, suddenly because of, as I talk about this for a minute.
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But the novel by Victor Hugo, how many of you have actually read? Oh, I got a few hands, oh, very good, okay.
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But the rest of you who probably may be more familiar with the movie from a few years ago, it's the story of Jean Valjean, a convict in prison for 19 years.
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And he was in prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread, because he was hungry.
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And 19 years of hard labor in prison, finally released.
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Comes out as a very hardened individual, and now out of prison, but completely destitute.
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No job, no money, no help, no income. And nobody wants to give him a job as an ex -con, and he's headed very quickly to all kinds of trouble again.
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And exception is a bishop who befriends him, takes him into his own house, and treats him with respect and dignity, takes care of him.
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But what does Jean Valjean do? He betrays that trust, he steals the valuable silverware and flees.
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He's eventually caught, he's brought back to the bishop. And instead of condemning him, the bishop, he tells the authorities, no, no, no,
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I gave him the silverware, it's a gift. And so Jean Valjean is freed at that moment, he's let go.
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But before he leaves the bishop, the bishop makes Jean Valjean promise to use this gift to become an honest man.
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And I want you to hear, maybe hear the words from the movie and the song, that even as I read them, the tune may go into some of your heads, and I get that.
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We have your silver, we caught this man red -handed. He had the nerve to say you gave him this.
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That is right, but my friend, you left so early, surely something slipped your mind. You forgot I gave you these also, would you leave the best behind?
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Release him, this man has spoken true. Commend you for your duty and God's blessing go with you.
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But remember this, my brother, see in this some higher plan. You must use this precious silver to become an honest man.
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By the witness of the martyrs, by the passion in the blood, God has raised you out of darkness.
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I have saved your soul for God. How many of you, that's familiar? Some of the same hands that had read it, okay.
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This one gift from the bishop, which was not a easy or inexpensive gift, but this one gift from the bishop completely changed
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Jean Valjean's life. He uses the silver to eventually buy a factory, which he transforms and now provides wealth for this town.
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And the rest of the story is how his life has changed into one of prosperity because of this one gift of grace from the bishop.
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He becomes from a cynical thief to a tender -hearted philanthropist, to one who now loves like he had been loved.
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And we see it in many ways. His whole life becomes not about gaining for himself, but giving of himself to others.
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It's a beautiful thing in the story of Les Mis, it's a story about the transforming power of grace.
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And it displays the reality that grace begets grace, that gift begets gift.
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As Jesus himself says, freely you have received, freely give. We have sung about that some this morning.
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If I can start backwards in 2 Corinthians 8 with you, we are jumping into 2 Corinthians.
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I think I heard Don say a little bit ago that you will eventually be, Lord willing, in the new year, maybe after Easter, in 1
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Corinthians. And so I'm jumping way ahead of you with you. But in 2 Corinthians, verse 9 that we read earlier this morning, again as we picture some of this grace, and a reminder to us here this morning of some of what
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God's grace has done, a small slice in the whole picture of what
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God's grace has done. And we see it in verse 9, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, and I'm not gonna take the time, but we could turn and run to Philippians chapter 2 and think about what he left behind and what he took on as he came to live here as a human on this earth.
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And we will think a lot about that here this Advent Christmas season. You know the grace of our
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Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, wasn't for his sake, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
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Here is this great grace through Christ that God has done in sending
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Christ, and Christ in his loving, sacrificial obedience has come and done and left his own home, his own place of perfect peace and perfect happiness and joy and satisfaction, all to come here to a place of, well, as we think about even the incarnation at Christmas, to a place of smells and animals and poverty, to a house that was not wealthy, to a town that was in the middle of nowhere, maybe like Fairview, where Camp Barachel is, in the middle of nowhere.
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How many of you have been to camp? Let me see those hands. Oh, quite a few. Oh good, I'm among friends. This is great. That's what the
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Lord Jesus left. Why? So that you and I, you and I could taste, you and I could know, you and I could have an understanding and a glimpse of the riches that we now have in Christ, and it is a glorious picture.
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So, let me go back to the beginning of chapter eight and catch you up just as even as we think about 2 Corinthians.
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This is a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Paul has a long history with this church in Corinth.
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It's really interesting, lots of connections. 2 Corinthians is one of my favorite letters in the New Testament, partly because we get such a hint of who this
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Apostle Paul is in 2 Corinthians. He reveals his heart so much more in this letter than maybe some of his other ones, and so it's really fun to get a kind of glimpse into who this
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Apostle Paul was. And this letter that we know of as 2
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Corinthians, as best as we understand it, is probably actually the fourth letter that Paul wrote to this church in Corinth.
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So he writes a letter earlier. We don't have that letter anymore. He writes another letter after having been there, and that is what we know as 1
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Corinthians, the second letter that he probably wrote. Then he leaves there.
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He hears some things. He writes another letter, not a very kind of a scathing letter,
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I'll put it that way, that he writes. It's referenced in the beginning of 2 Corinthians. And he's encouraged by their response.
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They took that well. And so he now writes what we have as the fourth letter, but we have as 2
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Corinthians. And much of this letter, he's defending himself, his ministry, and what
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God has called him to do, but we have here in chapter 8, as we look here, we have kind of a turning point in the letter.
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We have a real specific focus. It's interesting because we need to be reminded that this epistle to the church in Corinth is not just meant as a friendly, personal letter.
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Paul actually wants to accomplish some specific things in writing this letter.
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And we see one of those right here in chapter 8, because he's going to reference a collection that is supposed to be given, something that he had talked to them about all the way back in 1
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Corinthians. In chapter 16 of 1 Corinthians, Paul writes again to the church in Corinth, now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the church of Galatia, so you also are to do.
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On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up as he may prosper, so there'll be no collecting when
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I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.
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If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. So Paul, in his earlier letter that we have here in 1
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Corinthians, had written to this church in Corinth saying, listen, the believers, your brothers and sisters in Jerusalem are under severe persecution and poverty, and they need your help.
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So when I come again, I want you to have collected some gifts, some funds to help them.
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The benevolence fund was supposed to grow here, and it wasn't supposed to be just a one -time thing. Notice there was supposed to be a regular part.
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Every week, I want you to give to this fund so that when I get there, there's already an amount collected.
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So now, skipping ahead here back to 2 Corinthians chapter 8, because Paul did not end up not coming when he thought he was going to end up coming.
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So he's writing now about this collection that's hopefully there. So as we pick up the text, we want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.
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So suddenly, Paul is referencing these churches to the north of Corinth, these churches in Macedonia.
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Now, you're familiar with some of these churches in Macedonia. Philippi is one of those churches in Macedonia. Thessalonica is one of those churches in Macedonia.
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Aberia is one of those churches. You're familiar with some of these names. We have Philippians to the letter written to the church in Philippi.
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We have first and second Thessalonians to the church in Thessalonica. We're supposed to be like good
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Bereans in terms of making sure that what's said here is really according to the
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Scriptures. So these are not unfamiliar churches to you in a sense, at least by name. And so Paul says, and it's so easy as I read
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Scripture to you to gloss over these words sometimes, either because of familiarity or just because you know you want to get to someplace else where you're hoping to get to.
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We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.
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We must stop and pause there, and number one, just thank the Lord for it, that God's grace has been revealed.
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Now, what does that mean? What does it mean that the grace of God has been revealed? Now, we know in other parts of Scripture that the grace of God has been revealed in many ways.
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What we think of it primarily, as I've already referenced, to the person and work of Christ who has come. God's grace has come, and so what
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Paul is saying is the gospel has been proclaimed in these churches of Macedonia, and it has been revealed not just in the fact that I stood at the street corner in the synagogue and all the different places and proclaimed the gospel.
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The gospel has been revealed not just in the proclamation, but in the fact that it has done a work in those churches, in Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea.
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It has done something. There has been an effect. A people have been raised up. A people have been called out of darkness into His glorious light.
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Something has happened, and it is a wonderful, wonderful picture, and what
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I want to quickly talk about in the time that's fading very quickly because I hardly have gotten to the text yet, but Don said
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I could go until 2 .30 this afternoon, so it's good. God's grace has come and is evident in several things here.
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It's evident in sacrificial giving. We're going to see that. It's evident in eager giving, and it's evident in enduring giving, and no,
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Don did not call me and ask, will you come talk to the church about giving? That is not what he did.
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In fact, I chose this passage based on what I felt like the Lord was having me personally study and prepare for, and it felt right to bring it to you as well.
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Now the truth is that while this passage revolves around the context of specifically giving, it's much bigger than that.
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It's much bigger than just giving out of your wallet or financial. It's a picture of what
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God's grace does and its effect in a particular people at that time and in this place, and I want to think about what
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God's grace effect is supposed to be in me, not just when I sit on a
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Sunday morning and I'm supposed to scan a QR code or whatever and give something or a plate has passed.
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God's grace effect is so much bigger than that, has so much more a part, should have so much more of a better and bigger part of my life than just that part of what it means to be a believer.
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The grace of God has come, and the grace of God has poured out. Sometimes grace is being given for something that you didn't want or for gaining that which you didn't have.
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My first summer counseling, which was in the late 80s, I came to Baracal, was not really familiar with Baracal.
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I'd been on the property a couple times for different things, but I didn't grow up going to Baracal, but my life revolved around at that point as I was still in college.
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I just recently finished, I had stopped playing soccer for Taylor University and all through high school and all through junior high and all of my life.
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I played baseball, I played baseball for 10 years, I actually played, why do
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I mention volleyball because I actually played on a couple organized volleyball teams. I played basketball through high school, I played soccer,
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I won awards, and I don't say this as any kind of proud thing, but I'm trying to set a scene here.
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I was a freshman starting on Taylor University's varsity soccer team. Sports was what I did, games was what
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I did. So now fast forward and I'm at camp, the Lord has done some work in me and I'm wanting to He's brought me there and I'm sitting in this training time at camp and they're talking about some of the things you're going to do with your group is you're going to play soccer and I'm like, yeah,
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I got this, I can do that. You're going to play volleyball and I'm like, okay, I'm not as familiar with that one, but I've played enough volleyball,
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I got this. You're going to play softball with them and by the way, if you've been to camp recently, we don't really play softball anymore, kids can't swing a bat and catch a ball anymore.
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It's sad, but it's true. But back in the 80s, sorry if I've just offended some people here, back in the 80s everybody could still hit a ball with a bat.
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In fact, counselors actually had to bat opposite handed because you weren't allowed to go past second and so you batted opposite handed and I'm like, okay,
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I got this. Of all of the other things that they were teaching us about in workshop about how we're going to do with the tribe and cookouts and campouts and devotions and all that kind of stuff.
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I was like, okay, the sports, I got this. That part, okay, I'm ready for this part, that'll be great, that'll be fun.
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You already have a tense just on how I'm starting to portray the story of kind of where this is probably going, don't you?
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You have a sense of that. Well, the Lord and His graciousness that summer for a guy who was overconfident in his ability with sports and athleticism at that moment in my life, it was a long time ago.
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Saw fit in the, I think, nine different groups that I had that summer except for one.
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The Lord was very gracious in the one, but in the other eight, He was also gracious but in a different way. He chose fit.
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I'm fairly confident in saying that I was the most athletic in our group. In fact, in most of those groups,
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I can say I was the only athletic person in that group. I won, except for one glorious week, except for that week,
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I think I won maybe a total of three all summer, soccer games, volleyball games, softball games.
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And as I look back now, I didn't think this then, but as I look back now, I am so thankful for that experience of losing regularly because it humbled me and it forced me to see beyond the idea of winning.
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It forced me, as God's grace was poured into me at that moment in losing, that there was bigger things in that moment than just who wins on the final score, right?
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It was helping my young elementary age or junior high or high school boys see the fun that can be had in doing something together, in competing together, and just having fun.
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Even if you're losing, how can you do that and still have fun? I got a glimpse of some of that. By the way,
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I now coach in a small town, and small town sports, we also sometimes lose.
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And the Lord has prepared me for some of those things, but I look back at that grace of God that was given to me that summer as not something
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I relished, that I raised my hand and said, yes, give that to me, but God in his graciousness gave, and it had an effect.
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It did something in me. Yes, I'm still competitive, it's true.
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Anybody who knows me knows that there's still some competitive bones that still don't move as fast as they used to, but they still try to move in this body.
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But it's different than it once was, and that's by the grace of God. So as we look at these churches, we want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.
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Here's this math problem. I told you there was a math problem coming. How many of you like math? More grace to you.
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Okay. So here's this math problem. For in a severe test of affliction, so remember these churches of Macedonia, they're the ones he's referring to here in a severe test of affliction.
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Think about Philippi for a minute. Paul and Silas preaching, okay, they start a riot because of their preaching and what
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God has done. Where do Paul and Silas end up? That's a real question. Where do they end up? In prison.
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And what are they doing in prison there? You people are not used to you asking them real questions, are you? Yeah, they're in prison singing, right?
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And the Lord shakes the place like an earthquake, and the Philippian jailer and his whole family are saved, wonderfully saved, because of God's grace coming and joy showing in the midst of difficulty.
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For in a severe test of affliction that these churches in Macedonia, north of Corinth, are experiencing, here's their math problem.
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I'm bad at story problems, you'll figure that out real quick as I describe this. Number one, first part of the equation, they're one abundance of joy, they're having a great abundance of joy, which is amazing in and of itself in a severe test of affliction.
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But it's something Paul himself had been an example to them. I'm getting thrown in jail, but I'm still gonna gather and worship and praise the
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Lord in the midst of it. In the midst of this severe test of affliction, one, their abundance of joy, plus or and their extreme poverty.
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Again, those two things don't normally, in our mind, go together frequently, right? Abundance of joy and their extreme poverty.
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Those are two things that are actually even hard to think about what the result of that would be. And how do we have extreme joy in the midst of extreme poverty?
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But what does it do here for these churches? Have overflowed, here's your equal sign, have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
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Now, catch that. Their abundance of joy plus extreme poverty results in a wealth of generosity on their part.
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Why? Because they were just naturally giving people? No, no,
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I don't think so at all. Why? It's back to verse 1. The grace of God had been revealed.
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God had come and done something in their heart and in their life. And so you see this hint of sacrificial giving, this huge desire to give.
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So much so that as you can see here in verse 4, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.
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When was the last time you and I, and I put myself in this category, was begging for the opportunity to give?
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But that's what these people in extreme poverty were doing. It's as if they gathered for their family night on that particular evening and spent all this time in prayer.
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And one of the prayer requests that's brought up is, by the way, we should remember our brothers and sisters, these believers in Jerusalem.
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And there, Don's about to close the meeting after the prayer, and the people rise up and say, wait, stop, we're not leaving until you let us give to this church in Jerusalem.
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That's the picture I have of a people begging to earnestly give for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.
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And not, the text goes on to say, as we expected, or I skipped verse 3, but they gave not just according to their means, as I can testify,
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Paul says, and beyond their means of their own accord. I picture in this family meeting that Paul mentioned the fact that you can, you know what
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I mean, they have need, but I almost hesitate to think, I picture, again, I don't know how you read the
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Scriptures, but I always try to picture the scene and the setting and hear some of what's going on. And I picture
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Paul mentioning the need, but afraid almost maybe to ask them, because of their extreme poverty, to give.
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He doesn't give them the chance. And they're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, we want to give.
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Why? Because of an abundance of joy that they have because the grace of God has come.
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I don't think Paul uses, by the way, these Macedonian churches here as a way to competitively get the church in Corinth to give.
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That's a little bit like saying, why aren't you like your sister? Saying that to them.
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And that may have some benefit, but it's not a long, really long -term helpful way to encourage them.
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No, Paul here, what he wants to do is remind them and show as an example. And he wants the church in Corinth to be part of something bigger than themselves.
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He wants, why does he mention these churches in Macedonia? Because I think he wants this church in Corinth to say, look, others are giving.
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You can be part of something that's bigger than just your little town, your little church, your own family, and your own life.
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Gather with the people who are poor in Macedonia, who the grace of God has come.
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I know the grace of God has come into your heart and into your life and into your church.
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So join in the opportunity to care for these brothers and sisters who need your help.
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Now, was the churches in Macedonia offering huge? I don't think so. I think it's like the parable of the widow's mite, where Jesus tells the story, right, of the widow who just puts in two pennies into the offering and then asks, who gave more, the
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Pharisee that dropped their whatever in or the widow who just was able to put two pennies in?
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And Jesus clearly says, the one who gave more, not monetarily, but the one who gave more is the widow because she gave of all that she had, not of her excess.
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See what God's grace comes and does in a heart, in a life, in a church, is it causes us to do something.
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And we see that here. We see that here in verse five. And this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves, number one, they gave themselves first to the
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Lord. See, long before the offering plate was passed, the people saw that God had done something in their heart and it caused them to want to give back to God.
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And so they already were living in a life of service. They already looked for ways to help one another, to encourage one another, to be the church.
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They were looking for that. And what was the result of giving first to the Lord and then by the will of God, to us.
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Because what God's grace does is our relationship with Christ gets in right alignment. We recognize the need and the opportunities to care for one another because that's what
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God's work does in us. We learn to love and care for one another more as we learn to appreciate what
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Christ has already done. So giving became a delight and even expression of their joy.
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D .A. Carson writes this, amongst Christians, which groups give the most? Those who are under the poverty line or in the next bracket up or on the highest level of income.
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Test after test has shown that proportionally people give more out of poverty. Isn't that shocking?
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Perhaps the foremost demographer in the world of Christian movement is David Barrett. He says that at the moment there are about 168 ,000
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Christian martyrs a year. That was 168 ,000, by the way. This is from 2016, so it's even been a few years.
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About half of them every year are coming out of the Sudan. In the Sudan, Christians are regularly raped and sold into slavery, starved to death, shot.
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It's a partly Muslim Christian thing, and it's partly a concern for the oil fields that are being developed in the South.
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It's awful. But you should see the church in the Sudan. He says it's spectacularly ...
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I put too many L's in there. It's spectacularly generous. They are eagerly sending missionaries into the
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Central African Republic, and they have nothing, he writes. Jesus reminds us where your treasure is, there will your heart be.
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And where this morning as we think about this Thanksgiving season, and we have opportunities
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I trust this week to gather with family, gather with friends, and rejoice in Thanksgiving to one another over what
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God has done, as you have an opportunity next Sunday to gather and give testimony to the rejoicing of what
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God has done, to the grace of God that has been upon you. I pray that God's grace would be evident, not only in your own mind and heart, but evident in working out of you as it was these churches in Macedonia and becomes in this church of Corinth.
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It works out of them. And Paul continues here in the text, just as I wrap this up, accordingly we urge
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Titus just as he had started, so we should complete among you this act of grace, but as you excel in everything.
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He's writing this church in Corinth, they are good. They have some wonderful abilities and gifts, some wonderful things that this church in Corinth is capable of doing.
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But as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also.
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I say this not as a command. Paul's not saying here, this is what you must do. You must give, and you must give so much.
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He's not saying that. No, he wants the grace of God to be revealed in them.
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But to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine, and as I read these verses earlier, for you know the grace of our
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Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
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God's grace is primarily evident in the giving of Christ. This grace by the bishop was given to Jean Valjean, and his life was changed thereafter.
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And I remind you and I this morning that God's grace has come. God's grace has come and been revealed to you.
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In the person and work of Christ, and how often, how regularly do you think about God's grace?
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The unmerited favor, again, it wasn't given to you because you earned something, because you did something, it was given to you because God loved you.
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He revealed Christ to you, he sent Christ, because he cares for you, not because you come to church on Sunday morning, or grew up in the right house, or aren't like your neighbors or co -workers, no, it was unmerited, unearned, undeserved.
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When God's grace came to you, you could never get it on your own. He in his loving kindness granted it to you that you would know and hear about this person named
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Christ. A quote
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I just saw yesterday, maybe I'll close with this and then a prayer, from A .W. Pink, theologian, daily do we need to pray for a fresh realization of the preciousness of the gospel, a fresh appropriation of its blessed contents, and then there will be renewing of our joy.
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This holiday season is often filled with joy and celebrations, but it's also a time of heartache for many people, many families, they remember lost ones that are no longer with them or just as they feel loneliness or other anxiety or other types of issues, we have an opportunity to reveal by God's grace this morning and this season, today, our desire and our own abundance of joy in what
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God has done and what will that overflow into us being and doing, into the types of Christians we will be.
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We are not our own, we were bought with the precious, precious blood of Christ. We have been given all manner of grace and gift upon us, if we would be faithful, we would pour out all manner of gift and grace upon others, and Heavenly Father, we need your help to do this, we do not naturally do this on our own.
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But we recognize the fact that you, in your great mercy, have come and sent
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Christ, and we have heard and we have received that which we did not earn, but we confess,
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Lord, at times that we are selfish, that I am selfish, that I hold on to what
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I want, I look for my own personal time, I don't look to the needs of others, I'm not sacrificial in my giving or just in my living and caring for one another.
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And so we need your help. Continue to conform us into the image and person of Christ who came and took on poverty so that you and I could be wonderfully rich in the person and work and ministry and life forever in Christ.