Speaker 1: 0:00

My name is Stephen. As Marie said, I'm the lead pastor here at Madison Church. I am glad that you guys are here before the snow and before the like minus 100 degree wind chills or something. So you know, man, I hope you guys all make it this week. I hope we'll see you next week. Get your hats and gloves out. But concluding this series today and I want to talk about profiles again and personality profiles A few months ago, I had everybody on our leadership team at Madison Church take the Disc Finder profile, and two things.

Speaker 1: 0:34

If you didn't know, madison Church is run by some really amazing people who volunteer anywhere from two to four to maybe six hours a week to do some ministry work. They work down in our MC Kidman, out in the lobby with hospitality and greeters and in here planning music, and so we are a volunteer-run church and we are so grateful for those guys that they do that. That's the first thing you might not have known. The second thing, though, is let me explain what DISC is. Disc is a personality profiler that has four big categories, and it's been studied about in psychology for about 50 years, so there is some science and research and statistics behind it, and I thought it would be really good if we could group everybody on my leadership team into four quadrants. So I was like we're just going to stereotype you into one of these four corners? No, it's not quite like that, but there are several subcategories and what was really cool about this was that we got feedback and we got language for how we are.

Speaker 1: 1:29

Sometimes I can be stubborn and you know what. That's what my disc showed. It said Steven is a very direct, results oriented person and specifically I kind of tend to go high on this. It's a circle. So if you want to imagine with me a circle, I'm as far north as you can get, which is to say that I have like a pioneering spirit. I like to dream, I see new opportunities, I have no problem taking risk, and that's my personality. That's what it came back at. But if you were to look at Dan's, he is actually the exact opposite of me. So whereas I'm pioneering straight north, he is stability straight south. And so how this looks like is I am ready to go, take on new initiatives, and Dan wants to weigh the pros and cons. He probably wants to make a list, he wants to think about it. He is very analytical, like that. Now we make a really good team for that reason, because I can say, hey, I think this is an opportunity and he can look at it, make sure we're not making a mistake, and then I can make sure we get the results that we're after and he keeps us on track, he's a good finisher, and so we make a great team, and these are our strengths.

Speaker 1: 2:36

But, of course, oftentimes when you work with other people, weaknesses come out, and that's the other thing that the disc pointed out was some weaknesses, and so what I have found personally to be true is that our weaknesses are intertwined with our strengths. It's not like our weaknesses are something just over here and I just got to deal with that. Oftentimes it's not just as easy as fixing one thing. When we're talking about our weaknesses right, it's usually oh, like 10 things I've got to work on, and so, for example, conflict between Dan and I could arise. If I really feel passionately about something and I want to rush into it and we're going to do it by the end of today, that would make Dan maybe a little grumpy. He would say well, have you really thought about it? How do we know we're not rushing into a mistake, which would make me grumpy because I'm like you're a dream killer. Why do you do this to me? I have this great idea. It's from God. Why are you standing in the Almighty's way right now? Sometimes I get confused between me and God, and so there's potential conflict to arise. Now it's all about perspective because, objectively, there's nothing wrong with Dan analyzing Objectively, there's nothing wrong with me being results-driven. As a matter of fact, if I was the only person in the world, nobody would even know I had any weaknesses, right? And if Dan were the only person in the world, no one would know him or his weaknesses. But furthermore, the potential conflict can work well together.

Speaker 1: 4:03

It depends on the situation too. So, for example, if Dan and I were challenged to both build an airplane, I would finish first. I know I would. I just know there's no doubt in my mind I might be missing a wing, but it's going to finish okay. Now, dan, on the other hand, he would take a little bit more time, but even I would rather fly in Dan's airplane than an airplane I would make okay Because he's analytical like that.

Speaker 1: 4:28

Now, flip side to that is if we were having our church service downtown on the 10th floor and someone came bursting into the service and said okay, we're all going to die. A fire has totally consumed the first five floors of the building. You want to follow me because I'm going to get us out of there right now. It's going to be all about the results. Which is getting out? You don't want to sit behind with Dan while he tries to figure out how the fire got started.

Speaker 1: 4:51

Okay, now, that's just an exaggeration and I'm kidding. It doesn't mean that Dan can't be pioneering or have dreams. He absolutely does. It doesn't mean that I can't be analytical. Sometimes I accidentally am, especially when it comes to fantasy football. I try to be. I'm not very good at it, though.

Speaker 1: 5:11

But strengths and weaknesses, and it kind of compares person to person. Now I know when I talk about weaknesses, we don't want to talk about our weaknesses. A lot of us are uncomfortable with our weaknesses, we get defensive about our weaknesses and we really, really don't want to talk to other people about our weaknesses. So, good news I'm going to talk about weaknesses today with everybody, but we don't know any of yours, so that's going to be a secret. But at the end of the service, I'm going to talk about your weaknesses, though you don't have to own them. Okay, but what I would ask is that you stay open to what we're going to talk about today.

Speaker 1: 5:49

We all have weaknesses and, in the same way that strengths are like wind in our sails, weaknesses are anchors hanging off the back of our boat. Now, we can pretend we don't have an anchor hanging off the back of our boat and get frustrated by everyone else flying right by us. Right, and we do that. We say, well, that's not fair, well, he's just lucky. When meanwhile, it might be that, oh no, you have a huge anchor hanging off the back of your boat. You want to look at that? No, there's no anchor back there. I don't have a weakness. What are you talking about? Okay? Well, today I would like to have maybe an uncomfortable conversation with you so that we can grow. We're very passionate about growing spiritually here, and our weaknesses honestly keep us from growing, especially when we ignore them. Now, throughout this whole series, we've been talking about generosity profiles, and we're going to show a quick video to recap what all of those are.

Speaker 2: 6:43

Everyone is born with the inclination to give. Generosity is in our DNA, but the key to a life of generosity lies in our motivation, and what might motivate you to give generously may be different than what motivates me. The six distinct generosity profiles can help us better understand our motivation to give. Cause movers are motivated by making a difference. They are the first to step up and be generous when a tangible need arises. Relational and responsive cause movers like seeing how their giving makes an immediate and observable difference. Jesus tells a story about a cause mover in Luke, chapter 10. We often refer to him as the Good Samaritan. Cause movers, you reflect the image of our generous God when you cheerfully give out of your motivation of making a difference.

Speaker 2: 7:40

Budget keepers are motivated by being wise, with a high sense of responsibility. Budget keepers manage money wisely and actually enjoy budgeting and planning. They approach giving carefully, asking what can I afford to give? Budget keepers are generally comfortable talking about money. The woman described in Proverbs 31 is a great example of a budget keeper. Budget keepers, you reflect the image of our generous God when you cheerfully give out of your motivation of being wise.

Speaker 2: 8:15

Faith stretchers are motivated by spiritual growth and see generosity as part of their faith journey. Faith stretchers stretch to give because they believe God will reward their faithfulness, but they don't necessarily expect that reward to be monetary. The poor widow who Jesus observed giving her last two coins is an example of a faith stretcher. Faith stretchers you reflect the image of our generous God when you cheerfully give out of your motivation to grow spiritually. Disciplined doers are motivated by joyful obedience. The commands in scripture are life-giving to them. Disciplined doers give because God commands it in His word. The more consistently disciplined doers follow biblical principles, the more aligned they feel with God's ideals for their life. After Zacchaeus' life-changing encounter with Jesus, his joyful obedience was unleashed, making him a great example of a disciplined doer. Disciplined doers you reflect the image of our generous God when you cheerfully give out of your motivation of joyful obedience.

Speaker 2: 9:30

Community growers are motivated by being part of a community. They believe the mission requires everyone to pull together and do their part in a variety of ways. To a community grower, giving of one's time and talents is just as important as giving financially. They do give financially because they know it's important, but they can get frustrated when financial generosity is the focus. The community that Moses rallied to build the tabernacle was filled with community growers, so much so that Moses had to tell the people to stop giving. Community growers, you reflect the image of our generous God when you cheerfully give out of your motivation of being part of a community.

Speaker 2: 10:15

Legacy builders are motivated by leaving a legacy. They want their lives to count for something, both now and after they're gone. When an organization or cause captures their heart, legacy builders will make a significant investment, both in the present and in long-term planning, with the goal of leaving a mark on the world that is bigger than themselves. In the Old Testament, boaz risked his reputation to rescue Ruth, becoming a legacy builder by restoring a family line that ultimately led to the birth of Jesus. Legacy builders, you reflect the image of our generous God when you cheerfully give out of your motivation to leave a legacy. Understanding our distinct motivation can help us grow in generosity so that ultimately, together, we can help more and more people find their way back to our generous God.

Speaker 1: 11:16

All right. Well, if you were here a couple weeks ago, that is what Dan talked about, but she did it in 25 minutes faster. So if you missed that week, you know. There it is and it's a good recap. Throughout the series we've been talking about different profiles, different motivators, and so you got this little handout. Go ahead and, on the side here, star which two you are, or which two you think you are, which sounded like you. You're going to star those because we're coming back to this card After you. Star, if you want to follow along, we're going to go to 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, to study today and talking about generosity and weaknesses.

Speaker 1: 11:57

Now, a little context, while you're going to 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, is that Paul is challenging the Corinthian church, which is a very, very unhealthy church. They're just not doing a lot of things right. Paul is trying to help them out. He's written a couple letters at this point and he's saying hey, you guys are kind of reluctant to give, and that's kind of one of the issues that he wants to talk to them about. Now there is something important to know that there is a famine going on in the land Now. 2,000 years ago, famines could wipe out entire societies, neighborhoods, towns, whatever, because they didn't have like modern day irrigation technology that we have. If the weather was bad for long periods of time, people would starve to death. They couldn't just run out to the grocery store and buy a bunch of food, and so there is a famine in the land. You might be saying well, what about government assistance? I would say it's the Roman Empire. Don't forget, this was 2,000 years ago. If several thousand people died, there was just several thousand people less that they had to worry about, and so they did not care.

Speaker 1: 12:57

And so Paul is jumping in. He sees a huge opportunity for the church. He says hey, all around you there's this huge need that needs to be met. But you're not giving. And so 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 2, reads they. He's talking about another church. He says they are being tested by many troubles and they are very poor, but they are also filled with abundant joy which is overflowed in rich generosity. So Paul is talking about another church just down the road, going through the same things. They have the same needs. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even say this church in Macedonia is wealthy. He doesn't say they have awesome jobs with amazing benefits and swanky homes? He doesn't say any of that, actually. Benefits and swanky homes he doesn't say any of that Actually. He says they're very poor.

Speaker 1: 13:45

Think about this this church in the Bible that's been translated to hundreds of languages for thousands of years. What's the one thing we know about this church? They're extremely poor. Aren't you glad Paul's not writing a letter about your life right now that he can just pass on to everybody else? I would hate to know what he would write about me.

Speaker 1: 14:05

But he says they are very poor. They're just like you, they're like several of us. We don't feel like we have a lot, but they have joy and but they're generous, no matter what. It didn't matter about what their bank account was like. It didn't matter how the stock market was doing, it didn't matter if grandma sent them a birthday check last month. They were generous, no matter their financial situation. And that's kind of the very first point I think that we all need to get this morning is that generosity is not about our means, it's about our mindset. Generosity is not about what we have, but rather it's about what we think, or how we think about what we have. Mindset is so important and mindsets are the only difference between the church in Macedonia and the church in Corinth. I don't have enough. That is what the Corinthian church was saying.

Speaker 1: 14:59

And this is a scarcity mindset that many of us have. And the scarcity mindset constantly pokes at you and says, hey, you know that your neighbor's house is bigger than yours, right? Pokes at you hey, did you see? Your friend got that new car. They just posted it on Facebook. Their car's newer than yours. The scarcity mindset says, hey, is your boss taking their third or fourth vacation this year? And have you had one yet? No, okay, just wondering. That is what the scarcity mindset does. And it was doing it to the Corinthians 2,000 years ago.

Speaker 1: 15:31

And we can understand right Can we understand that why they weren't giving. There's a famine in the land. How long is the famine going to last? Six months, six years? I mean we can understand why they would have been stingy. They're probably saving what food and what money they had to keep their families alive and going. So I think that we can all understand why they were reluctant to give.

Speaker 1: 15:54

But Paul challenges them anyway. He says there's a different mindset, the mindset that the Macedonians have, and that is a God has provided mindset. It is an abundance mindset. Paul is saying it doesn't matter the square footage of your apartment, what year your car was built or if your vacation this year is a two-day trip to Milwaukee. He says you're going to be thankful because God has provided you have clothes on your back and food to eat and you have a wonderful church that you can go to and be a part of. And all the difference is between the Corinthian church that has no joy and the Macedonian church that has joy is in their mindset. So you should be thinking right now okay, well, I would love to have the Macedonian mindset. How do I do that? And if that's what you were wondering, I'm so glad that's what you were asking, because that's what I want to address next.

Speaker 1: 16:44

In verse 7, paul tells the Corinthians exactly how they're going to do this. He says since you excel in so many ways, I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. Paul is saying if you want your mindset to change, you have to change your behavior. If you want to change the way you think, you've got to change the things you're doing. He says, corinthians, you guys are just like Dan, you're analytical and you're stable and you come up with really good plans and that's a strength. That's awesome. Corinthians, you're just like Stephen. You're pioneering and you focus on the results and you're very direct, and that's awesome.

Speaker 1: 17:18

And in the at this, he addresses the weakness. You're not good at this, but I want you to and I want you to excel and we're going to start doing it. Well, if it was that easy, wouldn't we all just do it? They would have just done it and we'd all just do it today. But we know that it's not. The thing is, it's not simple why we don't. And that's why we're going to be talking about the profiles, because different people in here will have different reasons why we have a mindset that says I don't have enough or I can't give, whether that's relationally, whether that's financially or whether that's by serving. We would all have, maybe, different reasons, and so today we're going to talk about the shadow sides of our profiles. I didn't want to call them weaknesses because I didn't want you to be defensive, but that's what they are okay. So, when you see shadow side, they're weaknesses and it's okay. We all have weaknesses, but the difference is if we're going to address them and deal with them so that we can move on further in life. And so the goal for all of us today is to recognize why we hesitate, what is stunting our growth. And I'm also going to give you a Bible verse, and the challenge this week is to memorize that Bible verse. So when you do feel hesitant, when you feel that scarcity mindset poking you hey your neighbor, hey your coworker, hey your family you can go back to this Bible verse and just repeat it over and over in your mind, and that is how we're going to begin to change your mindset.

Speaker 1: 18:41

So let's first talk about the cause movers. We've talked about you guys first. Every week you guys got to feel special, right? Always talking about the cause movers. We've talked about you guys first. Every week you guys got to feel special, right? Always talking about the cause movers, as mentioned, motivated by making a difference, drawn to causes here and now, you guys are always the very first ones to rally at Madison Church. We're like, hey, we're doing a fundraiser for MC Kidman. The cause movers are like, yeah, let's do it. Hey, we're going to volunteer across the street yeah, let's do it.

Speaker 1: 19:04

And in the research done they did a bunch of research about these different profiles they found that cause movers were average at everything. That's good. You guys weren't, like, necessarily bad at anything. You're not necessarily great at anything, you're kind of right in the middle, which is okay. Now a word of caution for you guys.

Speaker 1: 19:22

So what is the weakness here? The word is control. Control for the cause movers. You don't want to give if it's not on your terms. You don't want to volunteer if it's not on your terms. You don't want to go to small group and talk about your life if it's not on your terms, if you don't feel like it. So the response to that is to give up control's, to give control back to God and trust that God is working, yes, through you, but that, yes, god is also working around you and that, yes, god is working through the leaders here and the leaders there. And, yes, god can overcome even the worst of leaders and the worst of policies and the worst of whatever, because God is in control. So if you're a cause mover, you're going to write down control. I need to watch. That. That's my weakness is control. That's what makes me hesitate to give.

Speaker 1: 20:16

And the Bible verse you're going to want to memorize is Malachi 3.10. And I'm not going to show the Bible verses because I've got to get through five more of these. Okay, so we're going to be. We'd be scrambling, but it's Malachi 3.10. And what this verse says is God is challenging the people. He says they're withholding from him their treasures. And God says test me, bring me your treasures, loosen your control, open your hand and see that I don't open up heaven and rain down my treasures on you. So when we're a cause mover and we're feeling like control, we memorize this verse and we remember God is in control and I can absolutely trust him with that.

Speaker 1: 20:54

Budget keepers, you guys are motivated by being wise. You have a high sense of responsibility and because of that, you're actually very comfortable talking about money and our church needs that. Some of us are poor and broke, and not because we don't have good incomes, but because of our spending habits. But we don't want to talk about it. But budget keepers are very wise. Oftentimes they could be accountants or CPAs or financial advisors I'm none of those things, okay, but the budget keepers are wise. And what we found with the budget keepers in the research was that they are most generous in volunteering, in serving, and so the budget keepers volunteer. That's awesome.

Speaker 1: 21:37

The caution here, the shadow side, is that budget keepers tend to be risk averse. They don't want to take chances when it comes to finances. Oftentimes a budget keeper will budget kind of giving financially toward the bottom of their list. They'll make sure rent is paid and the bills are paid, and a little bit in the 401k and a little bit in savings just in case something goes wrong, and a little bit here and a little bit there, and then at the very end we're like, oh yeah, and we're going to give to God.

Speaker 1: 22:04

So the challenge is not for the budget keepers you guys already volunteer a lot. The challenge is to give regularly. I don't know what that means for you. Perhaps, maybe giving regularly means upping the frequency, maybe giving regularly means upping the amount. But it is, as a budget keeper, prioritizing trust in God. It's about saying, yeah, it is a little risky to trust God with a little bit more or a little bit more frequently, but that we're going to trust God anyway, despite the risks. The Bible verse for you guys Proverbs 3, 9 through 10, which says honor the Lord with your wealth and the best part of everything you produce, then he will fill your barns with grain and your vats will overflow with good wine. Budget keepers, when we budget God in and we up our frequency or the amount and we trust God with our finances, he says you're going to be blessed for that.

Speaker 1: 22:58

Faith stretchers, you guys are motivated by spiritual growth, and generosity is part of having faith, and what we can learn from you guys is the way that you're always living out your faith. You guys are examples of faithful people and you always stretch yourself. The research showed that you guys faith stretchers are most generous in relationships, that you guys just love other people. You guys open up, you bring people with you to church or your small group, or you're just good at doing life with other people. Now, this should be no shock to the faith stretchers. Maybe that your caution, your shadow side, is busyness. Faith stretchers are very busy. They're running from one meeting to the next, from one activity to the next. They're always busy.

Speaker 1: 23:40

So the challenge is to ask yourself what do you perhaps need to quit? What have you done that God didn't necessarily want you to do? What have you taken on? What responsibility that God was like? I didn't ask you to do that, okay, but I am asking you to do that, but you're too busy. So maybe for us faith stretchers, the object here is to say I'm going to quit this because I really don't feel like God told me to do this so I can start doing this thing that God did tell me to do. The challenge then would be perhaps volunteering more. You can volunteer at a place like the community center. You can volunteer at our church Lots of opportunities but that would be a challenge. And your memory verse for the week is 1 Peter 4.10. It reads God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Yes, faith stretchers, you have a lot of gifts, a lot to contribute. Now it's time to start using it.

Speaker 1: 24:34

Disciplined doers, motivated by joyful obedience, you enjoy giving because, frankly, god says to give, and so for you it's like checking the box. Yep, I did that. An MC can learn from your commitment. You guys are disciplined and committed. You guys are faithful and steady, and the research shows that disciplined doers are generous with their finances, but not relationships. You guys tend to be a little stingy with your relationships.

Speaker 1: 25:03

Your word is isolated. That is your weakness. You're isolated. And the reason is is because you go to church and you check that off your relationships. Your word is isolated. That is your weakness. You're isolated and the reason is is because you go to church and you check that off your box and then you give, because God told you to give, and you check that off your box and you go to small group because the pastor is constantly talking about going to small group. So you check that off your box and then you become isolated. You're just checking off boxes.

Speaker 1: 25:22

But what I'm challenging you to do is to open up relationally. If you're a disciplined doer, if you're really interested in growing in generosity, open up. Take somebody from your small group out to eat, hang around a little bit after church and talk to someone and find out what they're doing. This week and I know what I just did was give you another box to check off, okay, so you guys are lucky, I think, just like you. But this week you want to make sure and going forward. Hey, if I'm going to grow, I'm a disciplined doer. I need to be less isolated.

Speaker 1: 25:53

Your memory verses 2 Corinthians, 5.20. So we are Christ ambassadors. God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when he pled. Come back to God. We need to be more relationally generous. If you are a disciplined doer.

Speaker 1: 26:11

There are the community growers. The community growers generally are party animals. They're motivated by being part of the community. They can pull people together, always having a really just fun time, and we can just learn from you guys and the way that you share your lives and the openness and the authenticity that you guys have. Research shows no surprise you guys are most generous Relationships. Right, ding, ding, ding, of course, and we found out that the area that you could grow in is finances.

Speaker 1: 26:41

The word for you guys, community growers, is frustration, because you guys get frustrated that it seems like whenever people talk about generosity it's about finances. But my caution to you guys would be that just because we're talking about finances doesn't mean that we're diminishing how important volunteering is. It doesn't mean we're saying that small groups aren't important. We can compliment something like finances and talk about it without insulting something else like volunteering. That's completely possible. Now our country and our society values volunteering and nobody really has an objection to going to small group and hanging out. But in our society we consume and consume and consume, and we know that greed is rampant. So when we talk about generosity, I don't have to convince you it's good to volunteer. I don't have to probably convince you you should go to a small group, but when it comes to finances and giving, I probably have a little work to do. And so that's why, if you're a community grower and you're frustrated, why are they always talking about money? It's because it really does. It's a societal sin. We are plagued with greed.

Speaker 1: 27:45

The verse to help you overcome is Matthew 6, 24. This is Jesus speaking and he says so God. Jesus talked a lot about serving. He shared his life with his disciples, but here he says specifically if you worship money, you can't worship God. It's one or the other. And last but certainly not least, we actually just saved the best for last legacy builders. I say that because I am a legacy builder. Of course, we're not the best, we're all just different. We are motivated by leaving a legacy, and the Madison Church community benefits from our passion and our dreams. Legacy builders are people who have these grand visions, these ideas always coming into their head, and we have a passion to go chase them, and the community can learn from us.

Speaker 1: 28:35

Now the research shows that we're most generous in volunteering. We're the first ones to show up and we're the last ones to leave, and we're okay with that. We're very comfortable with that. The caution for us is to worry. Okay with that, we're very comfortable with that. The caution for us is to worry. I can speak to this, this is very true. I struggle with stress all the time, and so this one really relates to me as a legacy builder that I have to not worry Now. Interestingly enough, the research showed that out of all six profiles, can you guess what the wealthiest group was? It's the legacy builders. So when legacy builders are worried about giving, it's not because they're poor, it's because we're just worried about our legacy. And oftentimes what makes legacy builders have the wealth are the decisions that they're making. They say no to the coffee today, or they say no to going out to eat on Friday night, and I'd rather save that money for this. But then what happens is because of the intentionality that goes behind leaving a legacy, we can sometimes become generously stingy.

Speaker 1: 29:39

My challenge for legacy builders just like me is to invest heavily in the mission of God. Yes, leave a legacy for your family and your children Absolutely so important. But you can leave an eternal legacy by making a big investment in a ministry here at Madison Church that changes the lives of the people in our community. The memory verse for us is 633, matthew 633. It says seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need. That's a promise. God says live righteously, put God above all else and he will provide for us. If we are concerned about our legacy, we're going to invest in the kingdom of God, because God then will help protect our legacy.

Speaker 1: 30:27

Now here's the thing. Maybe you were a cause mover, but you related more to the worry side. Or maybe you were a faith stretcher and you related more to the frustration shadow side. Totally possible, that's okay. You can jump around all you want. Whichever one of those stood out to you the most, go ahead and circle it. Just make a big circle over the challenge verse and the shadow side, no matter which one you starred, which one speaks to you the most. And your challenge this week is to pray about that shadow side. Say God, help me not to worry, I'll find peace in you. God, help me not to be frustrated, I'll find joy in you. God, help me not to be isolated, help me open up and be in community with you.

Speaker 1: 31:09

All of us, every single person. I know we don't like talking about our weaknesses. Every single one of us, though, have weaknesses and opportunities to grow. We can be more generous, and not just with our money, but with our time and relationships, and when we think about generosity, we have to always go back to Jesus. His life was everything that we should strive to be, and he lived an absolutely, profoundly generous life.

Speaker 1: 31:36

The US constantly sells you stuff. You turn on a commercial and there's a newer car that you just have to have. You go on Facebook and somehow they knew you were looking for a new tablet yesterday, and they've got 30 right here that you can scroll through and maybe you'll like that. You go to get your mail and you were pre-approved for a credit card. The message with all of those is not enough, not enough, not enough. Here's more, here's more, here's more.

Speaker 1: 32:08

It's no wonder that every single one of us in the room struggles with a scarcity mindset, because the minute we leave this place, we're told and we're sold we don't have enough and we're not enough, but God says otherwise, and I have to ask who are you going to believe? God, your heavenly father, or the United States and people who are trying to sell you something? We read in 2 Corinthians 8, 9, the conclusion of this little passage. He says we know Paul's writing. He says you know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes, jesus gave up everything in exchange for nothing, so that you and I, who have nothing, could have everything. He was rich and became poor so that we could share in his riches. He left heaven for earth so that we could leave earth for heaven.

Speaker 1: 33:01

He's the ultimate example of somebody who lives a generous life, financially, relationally and through serving. The only proper response, because we could never, ever pay him back for that the only proper response is to live a life worthy of the calling that he has called us to and together, every single one of us, the six profiles, working on our weaknesses, becoming stronger. We'll be a community that is defined by giving back. We'll make Madison a city in which people don't have needs. The way that we serve with our skills, give with our finances and open up relationally will lead more people to connecting with God and each other than ever have in this city before.