God's Plan For Eternal Economics III, Is there Not A Cause

I think the ushers handed you a teaching outline, is that right, Fred, as you came in? Time won't permit me to do a very thorough background of this entire passage, but 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are, I believe, the two most helpful chapters in the New Testament in terms of principles of giving that God has left for us. Let's just read a few verses here to begin this morning. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave us as much as they were able and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. And so we urge Titus, sincere and early and made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything, in faith and in speech and in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us, see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I'm not commanding you, but I want you to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. Following Doug Anderson's presentation last week, when we kind of detailed in specific history who we are as a church and how we've come to where we are, people were asking, well, how do you feel? I had three responses. The first one was, Lord, you have been very, very good to us. And that's a psalm, by the way, which I read this morning, and it's a song that we're going to sing later on this morning. The second thing was, I had a response of thanksgiving to you for your generosity through the years as God's people. And my third response was, I had a mass of lump in my throat, like, God, are we really going to try to do this? I mean, this is a big thing. How many of you believe that all I've heard for the last three months is, this is a great idea, let's go for it, no problem, we're going to get it done, no problem. How many of you, that's all I've heard? You know what I've heard? I've heard so many people say, well, gee, I don't know, it's not a very good time, and you know, like the economy, and like the presidential election, and I've heard people say, it's not going to happen, don't do it, you know, read my lips, no new building, you know, that kind of thing. I've been hearing this. What we've really worked hard to do and to communicate with you over the last number of weeks is that ultimately this facility is not about building, it's not about bricks and mortar. Folks, there's a lot of bricks and mortar. It's about people. Everything that we've communicated, and my thanks to Johanna for such a marvelous job helping you to see that this is about people. It's about changed lives. Opening our doors is about changed lives for people. The testimonies of Tuesday night, three or four that came up here, people whose lives were going one way, and they came to this church. God touched them, and now they're going another direction. And there's lots more stories that could be told. And I've had breakfast with over 300 of you in the last eight weeks. I've been running 45 miles a day or something. I just don't know where it's all going. Here's what I'm hearing. When people realize that our children are in the situation that they're in, and by the way, Ken did not mention that the trailers back there, that most of them are in right now, are temporary, given to us on a permit basis by McCandless Township that could be revoked at any time because we gave them our word four years ago or so that we were going to build a new building. And they said, well, in that light, we'll let you have the trailers. Folks, if those trailers get revoked, you know where those kids are sitting next week? Take a look at your lap. When people hear that, when they realize that we are spending almost well over $9,000 a month to rent office space so we could have more room out there for nurseries and classrooms, when they come to realize that we are less and less accessible and visible to the community and becoming overrun by the commercialization around us, of 300 people, I've not had one person say to me, well, we really don't need a facility. Not one. And if the people are noncommittal about it, it's usually because they don't have kids or they're not concerned about the lost. But what I have heard raised on numerous occasions is, well, is this the right time? The timing. That becomes the question. Have you discovered that timing in the kingdom of God is just about the most important thing when it comes to obedience? If you get out ahead of God and miss His timing because you're way out in front, what's that called? Now, this is not as sharp a group as last night. They had it just like that. Presumption, isn't it? Getting ahead of God, that was presumption. If you get way behind God and God's way out there moving, and you're way back there, what's that called? Procrastination, I like that. Or maybe disobedience. Isn't the key issue when it comes to knowing God's will, doing it as God leads you at the time? I mean, that's really what this is about. And I want to submit to you why I believe this is God's time. I want to answer the question of those of you who are asking, is this the time that we're to press ahead? And I have just three simple things to share out of the Scripture. First of all, on our overhead, I believe it's the time because history says it is. Notice what Paul writes here in 2 Corinthians 8. He says to Titus, urge them to complete what they have begun. You see, what happened was, the Corinthian church had made a pledge, but they had fallen short. They hadn't delivered on it. Now, the blanks are there. It should be on your overhead. You can write down in your notes. Let us consider history, if you'd like. Let's consider history. What is it about? Well, Paul said, you need to finish what you started. Back in the fall of 1988, we recognized that we were already moving to a place where we didn't have room to accommodate the ministry. How many of you participated in some way in Prelude to a Promise? Would you lift your hand? I want to say thank you because you're the ones who back then already saw that we were moving in a direction that was going to require us to open more space to the community around us. You made pledges and commitments, and I want to submit to you because of that, in the last four years, the need hasn't diminished, it's only increased. And I want to say that historically, you can't deny. I think it takes a willful act of denial to somehow think that the limitations of this facility have not impeded our growth. We have to recognize that it is an obstacle. And so I say with Paul, now finish the work that you began four years ago. Bring it to completion. Let me also say historically that we have evidence that when we obeyed God and launched out in faith, God always supplied. Every time we took the courageous step of doing what God said, He delivered. How many of you remember, here's the old-timers now, December of 1984, when we had tried to buy this building, we were renting some space here, we tried to buy it, and the owner was just not, he wasn't in a negotiating mood. We had offered him $1.2 million over five years to buy this building. So what did we do? Who remembers? We left. Right, Bill? And where did we go? St. Teresa's. And you saw, I think there was a slide of St. Teresa's. I was there Wednesday night before last for the Annie Herring concert, and it's all remodeled and nice and sad. When we went in there, it was stone cold. Remember the first Sunday morning? 55 degrees. We worshiped with our down parkas on, you know, kind of like this. But we obeyed God. We left, moved out. Some people didn't make the transition. Four months later, I came with Bill James, stood under the portico here with all these high rollers, and we bought this building for half of what we had offered to pay about four months before that. God has given us evidence that when we're willing to obey Him, He'll come through for us. He'll change things. No one had ever foreseen that the owner of the building would go bankrupt. Folks, we don't have a clue all the options that God has to supply for the people who are obedient to Him. And that's something we need to get a hold of. History proves it. The second thing I want you to consider is the present. Consider the present. I'm not going to talk about the things that we mentioned last week of low interest rates and construction costs being low and all that. I want to talk about the gospel and the present they need. People are still moving in to this part of Pittsburgh more than any other part of our city. Did you know that Pine Township, where we're going to be building, is the fastest growing township now in the North Hills? I don't know how much longer that's going to be the case, but I know that over the next 10 years, we are going to be right in the vortex of the growth of this area. I don't know timing-wise how much longer we're going to have the same privileges as we do now when it comes to our giving. Scott kind of humorously alluded to telling you about voting. We would never do that. We're going to give you information. You make your own decision. But how many believe that there's a sense of change? There's this thing of change, that people want some answers and change. And folks, I don't know. But when you're looking at a $4 trillion debt and you're looking at how we're going to raise taxes on people to share it equitably, I don't want to be a prophet, but I want to say that there's going to come a time when we're going to be coming after non-profit organizations and start taxing them like they do in most countries in the world. Count on it. We didn't tell you this because we don't want to always come with every need, but just about two months ago we incurred a $40,000 tax bill from Allegheny County and Pound Township on our new piece of property. $40,000. Why? Because there's no building that we're using out there. I said, well, gee, I'll make that my office. No? Well... And so counting the fact that there may be a time, and I don't know when, when we don't have the blessing of being able to use our donations as taxpayers, I don't know, but there's changes coming, I can say that most assuredly. But the most important reason isn't financial. Frankly, you see folks, I believe the present time is a message because I don't see that the people out there that you and I run into have any other hope. I don't see a whole lot of options other than the Church of Jesus Christ for the people of this city. Folks, people are lost. Even as we celebrate here and worship this morning, people, your neighbors and friends, are waking up without any idea of their spiritual condition, without any concern about their eternal destiny, and without any sense of what to do about it, and worse than that, they don't even know we're here. By the grace of God, we're going to change that. One reason I'm convinced we have this new piece of property with all of its own expense and limitation. It's a visible piece of property. And people are going to say, maybe there's some answer here. Maybe there's something going on there that I need to know about. If there's any reason why the time to press ahead is now, that we can no longer wait, it's because the faster we're able to move, the more people are going to hear the Gospel, and the more people are going to stand beside you in eternity and say, thank you. Thank you for caring enough to sacrifice to make the Gospel known to me. I can't tell you what it does to me when I hear someone say, week by week by week, a lot of these breakfasts I had, people say, this church changed my life. That's what they say to me. I found the Lord here. I was healed here. My marriage was saved here. And I want to say, let's not just say, well, gee, that's great. Let's offer that to thousands more. Because the need is that great. We have another 15 to 18 months to build our community group ministry into a network that can assimilate those people. Can I say something to those of you who are thinking, well, maybe we shouldn't do this until we get the ministry all straightened out. Folks, we've been working on this ministry and we're going to continue. And we're mature enough, those of us who have been following Christ 20 years, if we can't figure it out in another 15 to 18 months, let's get someone else to do the job. We can do it. We just need to be resolved that we can do it. And put our hearts together to do it. One more thing. I believe this congregation presently, now, needs a challenge like this that's visible and tangible. So much of what we do to fight against the enemy is invisible. Isn't that true? I wonder if that's him. You know, Nehemiah is an illustration of the fact that physical walls have spiritual significance. Listen to what I'm saying. Physical walls have spiritual significance. The walls that he built around Jerusalem were more than just brick and mortar. They were a statement to the enemies of God's people that permanence and identity had been established for the people of God. And I want to say to you, I truly believe that a facility that we raise up will be a statement to the principalities and powers of the air that I know are still commanding great influence over this city. That we are here permanently, that we're not going to be moved, that we mean business, and that we are going to do all that God's called us to do as the church of Jesus Christ. And I believe that. Pittsburgh needs some positive, tangible statements that God's people are serious. Pittsburgh needs to see that God's people can accomplish something tangible. You tell me why if we serve a God of abundance, and we do, a God who is able as we sing, a God of generosity, why is it that so often churches in this city just get the scraps? Just kind of scrape along from bottom to bottom to bottom? I want to tell you why I think it is. Because the enemy has gripped every one of us with fear and religious spirits, and spirits of rebellion, and spirits of independence, and he's kept the body of Christ divided. And I want to say, church, let's get united behind something that's going to be a statement that says, we're going to stand together and do the will of God. United we can do anything. Divided we can't do anything. And that's why all the elders, the staff, 175 leaders who committed a month ago to this project are standing in unity for the future. Finally, let me just end with this. Let's consider the future. Look at 2 Corinthians 9, and I want to just end by looking at these last few verses in that chapter, beginning in verse 6. You see, the way things work in the kingdom of God is that you sow now, and you reap in the future. Look at 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 6. Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. These are promises, by the way, that are so familiar, I wonder if they just get lost. These are breathtaking promises by the Word of God. You know, when you hear a story about somebody sowing and reaping, you say, well, I wish that could happen to me. Jeanne Yenneker shared Tuesday night about how she had planted a seed 10 days ago, and three days later someone came and blessed her in a way totally unexpected. You hear a testimony like that, you say, well, I wish something like that could happen. How many of you were here, was it the Sunday before last, when Sis Babbitt walked out to go to the ladies' room and came back, and there was this card with $500 on her seat? It was the 11 o'clock service. That's when things really happened. She came up weeping, and she shared how it came at a time in her life she just lost one of her means of income. It was such a beautiful, touching story. Everyone came and started looking at their chairs. But when you hear a story of someone who says, God provided, and you say, well, I wish that could happen to me. It doesn't come by wishing, it comes by sowing. You can't really have faith and expectation until you sow. This is what the Word says. If you feel like right now you're reaping a rather sparing harvest, maybe it's because you're sowing a rather sparing seed. I'm not advocating giving to get, and I'm going to be very careful. This isn't like plug this into God and God spits this out. This isn't give in order to get. But the Word of God is very clear. Charles Hodge, a very conservative theologian, in the early 1900s wrote this. It is appropriate to teach divinely ordained consequences of our actions as a motive to control our conduct. Jesus said it this way. If we could put up Luke 6.38 please, Kelly. Give and it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together, running over. It will be poured into your lap for the measure you use. It will be measured to you. Now folks, who said that? Come on, who said that? Jesus. If that doesn't motivate you to trust the Lord and to give, I'm out of options. I don't have any better deal. It's the Lord who spoke those words. And it seems, by the way, that God's into proportional blessing. The more you sow, the more you reap. That's God's idea, not mine. But it's important. Look at verse 7. That you do it in the right motive. Look what it says, verse 7. Be following me in your Bible now. Each man... So right away, giving is not an option. It says, Each man should give not reluctantly. What does that mean? Well, in other words, if you're sitting there thinking, alright, I have had enough of this giving stuff. You know, just cool it right now. If I write something out, will you stop this series so we can go on and back at it? If that's how you're feeling, that's not... Not reluctantly. Next week when we all gather together to make our commitments, it's going to be an exciting time. What you're going to be seeing is a lot of people coming in, sowing seed. And we're going to celebrate next week our anticipated harvest. That's what we're going to be doing. Sharing together what we believe God is going to do. And what makes this even more fulfilling to me is the fact, dear ones, that as we watch this facility go up, as we watch God touch people's lives, as we hear the stories of how our mission is being fulfilled, and we see people being touched for Jesus, you're going to have the privilege of saying, I shared in that work. I was part of it. And I want to submit to you, what greater return on your investment in savings or anything else can you get than to say, I participated, not just now, but eternally, in the life of another person being changed for Christ. To me, that's a little bit better than three and a half percent you get at Mellon Bank right now. Don't give reluctantly. You know, Thursday night I was at the Home Builders meeting at the Frank's home. And I asked the leaders. There was five couples there. I said, well, what do you all feel about this building? What do you think? And they went around, and you know what they said to me? They said, you know, they're all newer to North Way, except, of course, Jim and Nancy have been here a long time. They said, we've heard the stories of the early people. We heard of the first people that came out and took chances and took risks and brought us to where we are now. They were saying, now we want to be part of the next wave, the next generation of risk takers. We want an opportunity to sow into the future of the church. And I tell you what, they pumped me up. I was excited when I left there. Notice it says, don't give under compulsion. And someone's probably thinking, you know, they're getting us all into one room at the community college so they can lock the doors. And then they're going to bring somebody in who's going to say, who can give $10,000? I've been in those meetings, folks. That's nonsense. Forget it. We're coming together so you can see the people who God's already brought to this church. Many of them you've never met. We're going to be all together that morning for the purpose of making a corporate commitment. Give because you believe it's the vision. Give because you believe in the mission. That it's born of grace. And give because you want to. Notice what it says next. For God loves a cheerful giver. I wish you could have the experience that we have up here once in a while when the offering basket has passed. You know, it's like getting a root canal on some people. The Lord says, I love a cheerful giver. Now, this isn't a release to give according to your mood. I mean, someone's saying, oh, that's helpful. You mean if I'm not cheerful, I don't have to give? But if I am cheerful, I do give? No. You obey the Word and you will be cheerful because you're obeying God. You're listening to God. Now, you know, don't you? Most of you do. That the Greek word for cheerful is the word... This is a very slow group. What? Hilarious. We were over there last night. That's what I mean. Hilarious. Okay? It's literally transliterated hilarious. What you need to do is go home, start working with the numbers, and when you get to hilarious, you know, when you're writing out the commitment, go ahead and say, Ah! Can't believe I'm writing this! That's probably when you're getting close to what God wants. You know, honestly, so often we're miles west of hilarious. We're just way out there somewhere like, okay, God, can't do something. I'm going to write it out. Here's your check. I hope you like it. I think God wants to look down and just say, stick that thing back in your ear. I want it. God doesn't want anything you're giving Him just because you feel like you have to. And can I say this real candidly? We don't want it either. We want you to want to give. And if your life has been touched in any way and you believe in the mission, then you ought to want to give. It's a privilege. And God gives us all these promises along with it. We give with faith. We give with the Word of God. Give hilariously. Give joyfully. Now, I have to say, some of you, you're hilarious about anything. This doesn't apply to you. When you look at a blank check, you say, that's good. That's not your leading. You give what is seriously a joyful gift from you. Now, considering the future, someone says, this is awfully risky, man. You're saying to give more than what's comfortable. Yes. But I have to say, reading these verses, the risk seems to be pretty much covered by the promises of God. Wouldn't you say? Look what it says in verse 8. And God is able, if you have a New International Version, read with me. And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. God's not going to be limited to once. He has His ways of supplying for us. Just watch Him. It may not come, you know, the $500 on your seat or something, hand in hand. We had a person that was meeting with Ken. He said, well, I've had a piece of property that, you know, I'm going to give a percentage of that if it sells. And it hadn't sold for a long time. And I'd be with him. God sent a buyer. Boom, just like that. God will supply. You just have to trust Him with that. You have to believe that even though it looks risky, God is able. You know, it's kind of like bungee jumping. Anyone here ever bungee jumped? Let me see your hand. Any fanatic, crazy people? A couple of hands? Okay. How many of you wanted to do that? If I didn't have this back problem, I'd be there, I can tell you that. I would. And when you bungee jump, I mean, this is what they tell me, is that you're going down there and you're looking right at death. And it's coming at you like, what is it, 32 feet per second per second? And at the last minute, whoosh, up you go again. Giving to God is just like that. You're there and you're saying, I'm taking my whole savings account and whoosh, and at the last minute God goes whoosh and pulls you right back up and supplies something for you. Now, if you don't believe that, sorry, I do. I've experienced it. I live it. And many people who I know have had that same experience. I can't believe how God works. And I've been saving some money for a while for a particular need in our family. I couldn't believe it. About two weeks ago, I sat down and got this report that's all printed out in terms of numbers of shares of stuff that I never paid any attention to for about five years. I have about $2,000 or $3,000 more in that account than I knew I had. Now, you know what? I have a choice. I can say, ooh, good. I can go spend it on myself, or I can see it as seed. Because look what the Bible says. Now, He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed. That's what He did for me. And will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. And you'll be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. Can I say to you, those of you who have the courage to risk something, and I want to echo Ken and say everyone should risk something. God next year is going to touch some of your lives in unexpected ways. You're going to get a bonus you didn't expect, a promotion you really weren't ready for, a gift that you weren't looking for, something God's going to set in motion. With the seed that you plant today, God's going to be delivering you away. Why? So you can increase your standard of living? No, not necessarily. In fact, so that you can be a more generous sower of seed. John Piper writes this, he says, we're meant to be conduits of God's provision, not cul-de-sacs. I like that. Thank God for His abundance. But we have a mission beyond the accumulation of our material goods. We have a God that's worthy. And look what it says in conclusion. He says, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. Dear ones, my passion as your pastor is, that our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, be glorified in this city and through our lives. And I'm putting before you a very tangible challenge, an opportunity to be involved. Today's investment is tomorrow's thanksgiving. Why do I believe now is the time? History demonstrates God's faithfulness. The present demonstrates the reality of need. And the future demonstrates that the promises of God can be trusted. This week, when you receive your cards in the mail, pray over it, won't you? Pray and ask the Lord as a family or as a single person. Bring the cards with you to community college next week. If you don't fill them out, bring them anyhow. And let God speak and let's obey together. And let's do what the Lord says. Let's be His people. Let's stand together, shall we? ...in order to rebuild the city. I'm only going to mention the flow of what's in place and ask you if you want principles. But every principle is worth a lot. The first thing Jeremiah did when he was in exile was that the city of Jerusalem was in ruins and that the walls were gone. He left. We need people who are thinking about what's going on and what they're looking for. I spent a lot of time looking for it. I keep swimming with it.