Grace-Fueled Generosity: Living Beyond Need

There. We know what it means about trials and temptations. The Christians in Judea that he's raising money for and asking for funds for, the church in Corinth had already agreed a year early that they were going to participate in it because in the area of Jerusalem, the intensity of persecution had risen. That's one of the reasons that they sent Paul out of Jerusalem because when he became converted, he was such a bold leader as a Jewish one, they came against him very severely. So he ended up going back to Troas and God used that in eight years of developing him in Christ, giving him revelation so that when he came back to Antioch, he was further equipped in the things of God with revelation and was sent out from Antioach on these missionary journeys. And part of that's what we're seeing to the churches that he's talking about here. And that persecution wasn't as strong in Macedonia as it was in Judea at the time, but it was starting to bring great affliction and they were being what you would call today canceled culture, but it was real canceled culture. Because if you were a Jew and you became a Christian, you were not allowed in the synagogue, the associations of buying and selling. Most of the income among the Jews, they were not allowed to buy and sell. They were not allowed to sell. The Jews were among each other of buying and selling. You became a Christian, you were put out of the synagogue and you were marked, nobody could buy your food. Nobody could buy your product. So it was even among the Gentiles, when they became Christian and persecution arose, the first thing, it was like a canceled culture. We've learned that term in the last five years, but that's what it was. They were canceled out. Consequently, they couldn't buy or sell. It was a true market. The beast, if you understand what I just said, if you identified with Rome, if you identified with apostate Israel, if you identified with that, they weren't going to buy or sell and the Christians truly were in need. And he says, these believers who were up in Macedonia went beyond what was they're even able to do. That's real generosity. I've noticed something about the grace of generosity. It's never based on how much you have. These believers didn't have a lot of money. They didn't have a lot of money. They didn't have a lot of money. They didn't have lot. Isn't that interesting? And so in this process, there's no natural explanation for it because sometimes we're tempted to think, when I get more, I'll be more generous. Somebody help me. Anybody besides me ever thought that? I will do more, but God stirs up a generosity in us, doesn't he? By his grace. I was telling James when I first came here to pastor up in the the symbols of God, we had district meetings and I went to district meeting. We're going to go out to a cafeteria for lunch. And I felt like the Holy Spirit told me to buy that pastor lunch. So I got in line with him at the cafeteria. I was prepared to pay his lunch. When he opened his wallet, he had far more money than I did. So I didn't buy his lunch. And the Lord convicted me over it because I was looking at it as a human of what the need was. The grace of generosity is not based on need. Isn't that interesting? Because it's not for your glory. Boy, I have a lot of money. I have a lot of money. I have a lot of money. I have a lot of money. I helped him out. Poor guy, he probably couldn't have had lunch that day had I not bought him lunch. God would not have gotten any glory. So generosity, though, there is a great need, but they themselves were in need. Great affliction and extreme poverty. I don't know if I like the word poverty, but he uses it because I think there's a difference between being poor and in poverty. You may know what I just said. I know what poor is like. I know what poor is like. I don't think I've ever been in poverty. In my home, I didn't know we didn't have anything. Why? Because God was supplying. We prayed for everything. Everything. I mean, everything. I don't want to get over on that, but I never felt poverty, but I know what it's like to be poor. You know what I mean? Or not have something, but he used the word poverty, so I'm going to use it here. Out of extreme poverty, they welled up into what? A generosity. And so Paul does something. He separates that natural thing, isn't it? A natural thought, okay, if I have some more, then I'll be able to do better. But these Macedonians weren't waiting for a shift of conditions. I love it when God's generosity moves through a congregation. It's contagious. It really is. When I see generous people, and I'm not talking about large amounts of money. I'm talking about the heart that's generous towards other people, preferring one another and going out of their way to honor one another. I know it is a grace. The Macedonians saw this, that the big deal was that they were living from a different source, weren't they? Circumstances said, but their hearts said what? Abundance. Can I just say something to you right now? Don't buy into the philosophy of a limited pie. Do you understand what I just said? If you get something, I'm not getting something. That's in our nation right now, and that's not biblical. Because when God is your source, there is no limited pie, and he'll give you the size of pie that he wants you to have. When it's cut, you always choose the big one. He'll give you the one that you're supposed to have, right? So the challenges come, when we say, when I have more, then I'll give more. Well, I understand the amounts, but we're not talking about amounts. That's not what this is. That's not what scripture addresses here. It addresses about a grace that's working in us, and he talks about this grace, and that means that no one of us, and I love this part, no one of us is left out of the grace of generosity, and I love that because it's not based on any amounts. It's based on the heart. I want a generosity. There's heart, and the Lord may challenge you with big generosity. I was hesitant to share this. I've shared it public before, but in 1985, Lisa, I was on the platform with the praise team. You had been part of the praise team. We're on our face and interceding for worship, and the Holy Spirit said, gave me a vision of Haiti and said, go home, sell your house, and build a church in Haiti. That wasn't the miracle. What the miracle was is when I told Amy, she said, if God said it, we have to do it. That's a miracle. It's a miracle when you're, in your 20s. How's God going to do this? And we put our house up for sale. Jim Palmer painted me a sign. We put for sale by owner, and no one came. In fact, the sign rotted and fell over. I had to explain to the people in the church in those days, because when you're in a denomination, if your house is up for sale, they think you're leaving. So I had to explain, wait a minute, we're not leaving. We're just supposed to be doing this, and sure enough, during that three-year period, you couldn't even get into Haiti because there were six coups that took place. But at the end of those three years, you're not leaving. You're not leaving. You're not leaving. You're not leaving. So in 1988, when it's time to go back, a friend of mine called me, David Briggs, and said, you ready to go to Haiti? I said, yes. Guy walked through our house that next week and bought the house, paid cash for it. God knows, doesn't he? But we were without a home for eight or nine years, living where we could. We didn't know that was going to be the hardest time in our lives financially. But the Lord prepared us for it. We didn't have a house payment. Hallelujah. Didn't have anything to keep up. Hallelujah. But God prepared us for that period of time. But it did something in my heart, too. To say, Glenn, you don't own anything. How many of you know what I just said? You don't possess anything. Glenn, you don't control anything. We think we do, but we're stewards, aren't we? And that's what he's, this is what the Macedonian church was saying. They're saying, in this need of poverty, in the hardest time, and I share that with you because that was the hardest time of our life. I think in the hardest times, generosity begins to come up in you. I believe generosity is an antidote to selfishness. Anytime you start to feel fear and selfishness, I challenge you. Say, God, let the grace of generosity flow from me and find somebody in need. Become a faithful, systematic giver. Let something flow out of your heart. It just shifts you. And I know that's true because Paul, in 1 Timothy chapter 6, he told Timothy, command those who are rich, command those with money to give and be generous. It's a contract. It actually conflicts against, it's an antidote against the love of money. And it's easy to fall into that, isn't it? And so it's the whole process, okay? How do we keep this balance? The way you keep it balanced is this grace has been given. This grace was given to the church. And I believe the church that understands this grace will never be controlled by the economic climate. You won't be controlled by it. Not saying you won't go through times, but you won't be controlled by it. You won't be controlled by fear. If you're in this room this morning and you're fearful, I know what it's like to have lack. I know what it's like when they cut off our gas. They have to go sleep on Tom and Jean's sofa. I know what it's like not to have enough, but there's never a place for fear. Are you hearing me? In the midst of that, David said, I once was old and not once was young. And now I'm old. What else did he say? I've never seen the righteous forsaken or a seed begging for bread. The generosity of the saints, is to see that happen among us. I'm asking you, would you do something with me right now? Just patronize me. Would you put your hand on your chest and pray this prayer with me? Say, heavenly father, show me this grace that's working in me. I ask you to make it clear in my life, in Jesus name. See, Paul says this grace produces what? A generosity. So the grace itself, it's a grace, isn't it? It's God's ability. Now here's another thing I see that he pointed out grace, what is it? It's revealed in worship. If the focus is upon God, it's different than if your focus is upon your need. Notice what he says here in this passage. This is really, really eye opening. It's really interesting. He said, they urgently pleased with us. So something had already happened in their heart, right? Pleaded with us with the privilege of sharing in this ministry. That word service is diakonia. It's the same word you get for serving or deacon or, or ministry. They pleaded, let us be a part of this ministry. You know what they're saying? Generosity is a part of ministry. We say every member is a minister. Then all of us can be what? Generous. There's a ministry in that. He said, in the Lord, to the Lord's people, I want to minister to the Lord's people. And they exceeded our expectations. What's this? Here's what they did. They gave themselves first of all to the Lord and then to the will of God also. So what happened here? Is they begged for the favor. Why did they beg for the favor? Because something had happened in their heart in worship toward the Lord. Here they're giving themselves, not in a transactional thing. So many times in the church, I've seen giving made into a transactional movement. We'll address that maybe in chapter nine, when it gets into the seed has been given to sow. There is a proper place about that. But how many times have you heard somebody say, there's 10 people here going to give a thousand dollars. Now you stand up right now and sow. You're going to give a thousand dollars. We'll never do that. I can tell you back in the eighties, we had a guy, I won't tell you his name, but he came. And at the end of the message, he got everybody's wallet out. He wanted everybody to get their wallet out. And he's going to pray and blessing on it. And if you give this offering, you know, you're going to be blessed. And he did that without permission. So afterwards, I pulled him aside and I said, we don't do that here. We don't do that here. To his credit, he repented, gave the offering back and said, he'd come again at no cost. Hallelujah. That wasn't in my notes. I thought I'd throw that out there because there's no part of coercion in it, is there? There's no part of manipulation. And Paul in a minute says, I'm not commanding you. I'm not commanding you. So there's no command in this. This is the grace of God that works in our heart. And yet they are pleading. So what is this? What's happened here? Why? Because we see them giving themselves first to God. Worship is foundational. We cannot separate worship from generosity. It is a part of our worship. You cannot separate the Lordship of Christ from stewardship. I know I'd get amen out of you on that one. That's your heart, isn't it? Two weeks this summer, you're going to be teaching on finances and stewardship is his emphasis. On a Wednesday night, don't miss that. We're going to have family. We're going to have parenting. Gil Slider's teaching on parenting for two weeks in the summer. The Rays, Jeff Linnae teaching on marriage, two weeks in the summer. You guys teaching on finances. How many believe that's biblical? The real hard though is you can't separate. If stewardship is not a part of your life, I'm going to suggest that Lordship is not a part of your life. The more you realize who God is, the more you say, Lord, it's yours. And I want a heart of worship out of it. This is what comes forth in it. For this is a grace. It does not operate. It's never about money. It's always about surrender. Someone is surrendered completely. Giving becomes a joy. I can suggest that they pleaded with great joy because they had given themselves first to the Lord. And Paul makes that clear. Now, here's another thing that's interesting about this is not only is this grace that produces generosity, and not only as we've just learned here in this passage, but it does something else. This grace is reflected in the very nature and the character of Christ. It reflects the Lord himself. And this is the part that really ministers to me. Look at verse six through nine. He said, we urge Titus. In the same letter in chapter seven, he said, when Titus came and saw your repentance, he came and told me, and you made him happy and joyous. And now this is what he says. We urge Titus, because you had made this promise to give, we're going to ask you to follow through on it. Just as he had earlier made a beginning to bring also to completion. This act of grace on your part. Now, though grace is a work of God, notice the apostle here, Paul challenges them concerning their activity. Grace is God's ability, but it doesn't mean we don't have a responsibility. Watch. He says to bring able to completion, this act of grace on your part, but since you excel in everything, he commends them in faith and speech and knowledge and complete earnestness and in love. We have kindled in you these things we've kindled in you. See that you also excel in this grace of giving. I'm not commanding you. Notice that. But I want to test the sincerity of your love. Remember that. We'll come back. Comparing it with the earnestness of others. For we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich. Notice how he moves. From the example of the Macedonians now to the very gospel itself of the Lord Jesus. And he says here that Christ himself is the example. Notice as he had sent Titus to help bring what? The activity or the act of grace. The act of grace was by the Holy Spirit, but Paul knew they needed an encouragement. So sometimes in the midst, you might be motivated because you see somebody else do it. Somebody might urge you to do it. Remember, it is not commanding. It's not coercion. It's not manipulation. Please never let that happen. Let no giving ever take place out of manipulation. Let no ever happen out of command, right? Or intimidation. But let it be of the joy. If it's out of the joy, then there is a grace that's at working in you that is an example of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he gives us the scripture concerning what he means by that. So Paul knew. That they were going to need this reminder because they did not come behind in any gifts. They didn't come behind in speech. What was that? That's prophetic gifts, the proclamation of the gospel. In fact, the scripture says they came behind, moved in all of the gifts and he commended them in all these areas. And he's in this grace, all gifts, so to speak, this grace. So he emphasizes the generosity is not coming from being commanded, but he says, I urge you. And this here, for you know the grace of God. And he says, I urge you to do it. And he says, I urge you to do it. And he says, I urge you to do it. And he says, I urge you to do it. And he says, I urge you to do it. And he says, though he was rich. What does that mean? I know sometimes there are those who've made the emphasis of Jesus's richness, that he had lots of money and he walked here on the earth because he had a treasure in Judas. Well, honestly, the riches of glory set with the father, father's right hand, and all of his glory, rich in need of nothing. God, the spirit in need of nothing. And yet he self out. He chose. on poverty poverty is a spirit if you understand poverty is a condition and it's a condition of brokenness i want to tell you right now educate change poverty a heart that reverses public scripture that reverses poverty i believe is a state of being if you christ became that in his poverty both words there doesn't he he became part of provision but then in my sin for us who knew no sin made the righteousness that was huge i have a burden in my heart the bridges out of poverty like that to help people well you can love jesus and need a new mindset a new mindset being you with a lack it's like i mentioned while i go the limit in a fear mentality and i want to remind you i'm the lack okay i my experience has been i know what i know what's like who's money i remember remind you that i was scammed out of three bitcoin knows what that's worth right now you just tell me in february right before our missions man did i ever pray what did it do for me made me it made because it got in my app pretty regularly because at the time it was going up i don't care what you've gone are you listening to me don't let god's going to bring you through provide for you a hardship that you may go through is temporary because the wealth christ on giving you others i'm sure i've noticed the healthiest people in our midst are the ones who've been generous over a long period of time it's not a flash in the pan generosity you know what i mean they're stable they're solid they honor god in their life and they're stable i'm a landlord of a couple but amy and i have a couple of properties and i've watched something over the years when someone moved in and sin messed up their life their finances went down i can almost tell you when the casino opened and i was like oh my god i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i can tell you what date that was because i had a tenant sin destroys you doesn't it but as believers we have a grace and we have example in christ and the wealth that you have can i just say this the wealth you have in relationships among believers is genuine jonathan eslick sharing the message over there he said i gotta talk about michael and maureen because they're their neighbors and how he's watched their generosity in the midst of their trial to help people and how people are helping them now i've noticed that too i watched shirley when you and ed walked through his dark hour when he was in oklahoma city behind the scenes they pour into so many people and guess what happens if they ever go through a dark hour all of you going to be there and it hurts my heart because sometimes pastoring james i've heard people say nobody cared for me but they've never invested in anybody i'm still preaching maybe i should move over here i'm trying to make this light as i can they may hear what i'm saying could you start with generosity of pouring yourself into people see a need they have you just go do it that's like said michael mows my grass when he comes to mowing grass he moves over and mows mine because they live in the house the house next door it's little things it's not the big things is it it's the little things find your neighbor in need of something it's a generosity how many of you like for that start working in you more and more a real generosity because it's contagious isn't it and i've watched church i've watched the church over the years be so generous it's like i want to be a part of that i want to be a part of those kind of people i i want to join in with them it's like whoa and i know people take advantage of it but if your heart is giving as unto the lord it doesn't matter it doesn't matter even even if you gave to someone and they did it wrong they messed up wrong you were given as unto the lord weren't you it's the same reward and paul says over in he says to the church in philippia and philippi he says i want you to know you're faithful to give to me and i want you to know it's on your account we probably never think about something being on our account i never think about that do you being on your account but evidently there's an account what if that accounts not only in heaven what that account is now as well meaning as you are generous towards others others are what generous back to you i want to bless you in that i want to pray for you and i want to pray for you and i want to pray for you and i want to pray for you pray that over you. I want the generosity to be as Christ is our example. Why? Because the cross is the ultimate example of generosity. Even words of encouragement given at the right time is a precious gift. The difference between flattery and real honoring is flattery. You're saying it to get them to do something. Honoring is giving with no expectation of return. You're honoring them out of your heart. He became, talking about Christ, became poor through the incarnation, humility, suffering, and ultimately the cross, that through his poverty, we would become rich. Meaning what? We receive all of his blessings in heavenly places, salvation, reconciliation, transformed his righteousness. The Christian grace of giving is what? It is Christ-centered. It is Christ-centered. Let's not make it anything else. Now, there are needs that rise up. This was based on a need, but the response was not out of a need. It was a response out of a grace. So it's okay to be aware of need, but people who are generous give because they want to invest into that need. And so we clearly see the grace of God. And here's my call for us today. Here's my call. I want to declare that the grace of giving is not law-driven. It is not guilt-driven. It is not pressure-driven. What is it? It is grace-produced. Say that with me. Grace-produced. It is expressed in worship, isn't it? And it is Christ-centered. You see some men preparing for the Lord's Supper as they move around the building, getting ready right now. Why? Because that was the ultimate thing for us, wasn't it? Would you stand together with us? We're going to do two things. We're going to pray for a grace of generosity, for the understanding of generosity, which I believe you already have through the Lord. We're going to pray for a grace of generosity, which I believe you already have through the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe every believer in this room. And if you came today and you're not fully aware of what Christ did for you at the cross, that he became poor for your sake, meaning he emptied himself out of heaven. He was made to be poverty, which means your sickness and your death and all those things that sin came against us. He was made to be sin for us who knew not sin, that we might be made what? The righteousness of God. Today, when we go to the Lord's table, I want you to think of the gift that he gave. I want you to think of the wealth that you've received. I want you to ask for generosity in your heart. After we have received the communion, which they'll serve you in just a moment, I'm going to ask you if you have need in your life for healing, need in your life for anything, would you let us be generous together around you for prayer and just be there to support one another, experience the body. And this week, if you hear of something, even if it's a small thing, to go out of your way to say, I want to practice this grace of generosity. Family, friends, you can start there. But in this room, to prepare your heart for communion and hand out the elements and we'll share. And I'll lead you in. We have what we call individual communion. You saints for being sent to the Holy Spirit. This is me. Maybe released in this house. Another compassion, one for another. How many of you have been in with you? You know, it's not what there isn't it? John Ferry, you reminded me of one. This morning, former city manager of a wassail. I told him for years, him in the hospital. I told him, I said, brother, you're a five-fold ministry shepherd. You truly a man of led the wassail city for me. Great man of God right now. Some of you going through different things. You need someone to stand with you in prayer to get your elements ready. These little plastic things are a little but I understand. So I submit the night that Jesus was betrayed, he, he took bread and he broke it. And he gave definition to it. He said, this is my body, which is broken for you. That's the poverty. You understand what I mean? He said, this cup is my blood. Wow. We have open individual communion here. Meaning if you're born again, we're open for you to receive with us. When Paul said, examine yourself. He's not talking about you being guiltless or worthy in the sense of your own self. He's saying, but you look to Christ who forgives you. You look to his body, for what he did for you. And you don't eat and drink this unto yourself for any other reason, but recognizing Christ himself and the work he did the cross. Then you're partaking worthily. It's a adverb describing the manner in which you take, not the fact that you are coming here today in that place of perfection. You're coming by the grace of the Lord Jesus. But shall we pray? If there's anything you want to talk to the Lord about in this serious moment, let's take a moment and do that. Father, we come before your throne. We come before your throne. We come before your throne. Before the cross, even recognizing Jesus, that it was your body that was broken. It was your blood that was poured out. Those of this room that are confessing their sin. You said you're faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You did that at the cross. Our faith is in that work and that work alone. Lord, we receive this bread today, remembering your death, this cup, remembering the pouring out of your blood for our forgiveness. We bless both in the name of Jesus. In the name of the Lord Jesus. Everybody said, amen. Let's take the bread together. If we would remember the Lord's death. Remember the brokenness of his body. That was broken for you. The cup of bitterness, the cup of blessing. He said, this is my blood. And he said, all of you drink it. Let's do this together. If you're needing someone to stand with you, needing someone to pray with you, would you just step out in the aisle or come down to the front to step out now, come down to the front. We're going to gather. This is our ministry time right now, church. In this moment of holy worship, you see a sister, a brother come down, a couple come down, come and gather around them. Not just our prayer teams, but some of you that have a heart to pray, you're welcome to come as well. Lori's on the prayer team, but she's here for prayer. So I don't want to, right? You're here for prayer, not just as a prayer team. So somebody want to gather around her as well and pray. If there's someone in this room that you feel close to and you're drawn to go pray with them, you feel free to do that too. Sometimes it's not about how much need they have, as I saw it. It's about how much need they have as I saw it. And I'm going to pray with them. That man had more money in his wallet than I did. It really is about obedience. So maybe you're being obedient to go pray with them. Could we just pray together right now? Let's just pray in the sober moment of prayer. Holy Spirit, I know you're present. You're always with us. Teach us to be your body. Teach us to be close to one another. Teach us to be compassionate toward one another. Teach us to be aware of need, Lord. Teach us to stand. If you're here being prayed over, no brothers and sisters want to stand with you. They want to walk with you. They want to walk through with you. They want to be there with you. Lord, I ask for healing where healing is needed. I ask you for wisdom where wisdom is needed. I ask you for direction where direction is needed. I ask you for deliverance where deliverance is needed. I ask you for the outpouring of your spirit, Lord, in every way and every capacity. Lord, bless the generosity of the people in this house, not just with the finances, but with their heart toward one another in the city, in this community, graciously loving one another, ministering to one another, may the hand of the Lord be mighty upon every individual. Lord, I bless these precious couples. Lord, couples who are walking out holy matrimony, couples who are walking out what it really means to be married, longtime faithfulness over the years, many years, learning to love each other again afresh and anew, learning to forgive one another fresh and anew. Lord, heal their homes and heal their lives. Father, make this day a precious day. Restore where the wounds have come from past. And Father, for those who find themselves in a lonely moment right now, may they feel the presence of the Lord and the graciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ gathered around them among the saints. Let a word be fitly spoken today like apples of gold among us as we walk among each other, even in dismissal today, that would be a way of encouragement in every capacity. We ask you, Father, we give you the honor and the glory and the praise. Honor and the glory and the praise. Thank you, Father. Remain in his presence or be seated, whatever you like to do. These are being praying to continue to pray. Those of you that are being prayed for, continue to be patient. We're not in a hurry, but you may be seated if you like while others are being prayed for. Hallelujah. I know it was the blood and so precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. Oh, fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Precious is Thy flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Hallelujah, it was the blood, could have only been the blood. Hallelujah, it was the blood, could have only been the blood. Could have only been your blood, could have only been the blood. How precious. How wonderful you are, cause everything changed. It's getting harder to recognize the person I was before I encountered Christ. And I don't walk like I used to, I don't talk like I used to. I was washed from the inside, I was washed from the inside out. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it was the blood, could have only been your blood. Could have only been your blood. It's never been about performance, perfection, or striving for acceptance. Yes. It's never been about baby steps. Let me tell you, my baby steps. Tell you it's only by the blood it's never been about deserving or earning it's a gift that's freely given let me tell you it's only by the blood does anybody want to be whole and righteous purified and spotless let me tell you it's only by the blood does anybody want to be worthy forgiven just if i really live it let me tell you it's only by the blood hallelujah i know it was the blood could have only been the blood hallelujah the opportunity to meet my name is john gagner i have the opportunity to welcome you all here today so good to be with you all we're going to continue this time of worship with our tithes and our offering um there's several ways um we have here are a couple ways for you to give you can use the seat back envelope that you've got there it's a little white envelope and you can use the seat back envelope that you've got there it's a little white envelope below and put your check or cash in there and just mark five you put in the offering buckets as you are leaving today on each side of the double doors you can also text to give which many many people do you're welcome to do that using this number provided here if you've never done it before you can just shoot a text to that number and it will give you all the information to get set up or you can go online at dlc.tv to do that as well and fun fact about the little text to give thing you can actually type in keyword there speaking of generosity this week and there are lots of different ways that you can give from anything in in here locally to missions and other things as well so y'all are welcome to do that so father i ask in this moment that you prepare our hearts to give back to you what is yours god that we would walk in obedience and trust faith father that we all go we have jobs we have careers god you provide that work to us you provide provide our finances to us we want to give you what it's yours and so father in this time we in this time we ask that you bless it uh and that we would just have hearts that are joyful in our giving lord ultimately that generosity will continue to grow and grow and grow each and every one of us in jesus name amen amen okay um just so y'all are aware if you haven't already um there's a black book located on uh one of the sides of the seats there if you don't mind filling that out and passing it down your row uh that would be great and if you are new with us today we also have what's called a welcome card in the seat back in front of you looks like this just ask for a little bit information about you your name your email and your phone number if you don't mind filling that out and again it'll be in the double doors on each side we have some offering buckets you can put that there we're going to contact you just let you know the few ways that you can get connected here at destiny life um i know that our leadership would love the opportunity to show so we can fill that out put it in the offering bucket inside of the double doors there and leaving today now let's take a quick minute see what's going on here at dlc with our announcements hey dlc fam my name is ian and we are so glad that you are here this morning check out what we have for our announcements today we're just a few weeks away from ati summer conference happening june 7th through 10th during the day sessions we will have a vbs style experience for kids ages five years through fifth grade for all info and to register visit dlc signup.com men don't miss our next men's breakfast saturday may 30th at 8 30 a.m on the owasso campus sign up at dlc signup.com tonight is the third sunday of the month and our focus is house church night this will be an amazing time to connect and worship together just like the early church in the new testament did find a host home by scanning the qr code on your seat flyer or visit dlc.tv third sunday we even have a map on this web page that shows you the locations of all of our host homes so that you can find the closest one to you see you there this summer the family life ministry team is hosting a series of seminars to pour into families we are calling this summer is for family these seminars will cover parenting finances and marriage you do not want to miss these all information can be found on our dlc app or at dlc.tv summer that's dlc.tv summer that's all our announcements for this week if you have a prayer need please let us know we'd love to come along side you in prayer have a fruitful week dlc fam peace out you want to have a real fruitful week we're gonna do a special offering everyone pull out your wallets the more you give sorry man not gonna give me a mic again i know the best part of that though is they all caught it everyone's listening everyone's listening that's great hey again thank you for being with us today um we've got a couple of quick announcements um to mention here again we're going to be doing a little bit of a as you've heard many times already house church is tonight at 6 p.m we're not going to go through it they've already done the video glenn's talked about it but we are very excited about it hope to see you there and number two is um we're doing a missions fundraiser um called the panama pickle ball tournament for all you pickleball players out there it'll be saturday may 30th at 8 a.m at the clemore rec center so here just down the road from us and it says all levels of players are welcome so if you've never played before it's for a good cause right come come and give it a shot and we'd love to have you there and so if y'all stand with me um we're just going to pray this service out here and um you'll be dismissed father we love you and we come into agreement with all that you're doing and lord i love the definition of success being obedience to you and so father in our daily lives help us to be successful lord to be completely obedient to you lord in our generosity and our giving of our time god of our finances and everything else that we have lord to our friends our families those in our community and father in jesus name i do pray that every single one of us would have eyes to see an opportunity this week for generosity god that you'd have it on our minds to be generous with one another and to be generous in our communities to be all that you would have us be to be your hands and feet and in that have the opportunity to share your word to share your truth to share the gospel message it's in jesus name we pray amen y'all are dismissed have a great afternoon

I am clean was staying on me shame was running deep but love was spilled on cavalry oh hallelujah I am clean it's not what I have done but what you've done for me I'm standing in your victory oh hallelujah I'm washed in the water washed in the blood I'm as good as oh hallelujah I'm washed in the water, washed in the blood, all because of you. Oh, hallelujah. Cause you took away my shame. Then you nailed it to a cross. You got me running out of grace. Hallelujah, here I come. Cause you took away my shame. Then you nailed it to a cross. You got me running out of grace. Hallelujah, here I come. Cause you took away my shame. Then you nailed it to a cross. You got me running out of grace. Hallelujah, here I come. Cause I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood, all these good eyes. Oh, hallelujah. I'm washed in the water, washed in the blood, all because of you. Oh, hallelujah. Yesterday, I was living in the light of a new day. I won't waste another minute in my hallways. Praise the Lord, I've been born. The Lord is upon me. I got a resurrection in my veins. Praise the Lord, I've been born again and again and again and again. You rescued me out of the mess I was in. You traded my sorrow for something to sing. Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once laid. Again and again and again and again. You rescued me out of the mess I was in. You traded my sorrow for something to sing. Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once laid.