Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Grow in Generosity | The Good Life | Part 1

Episode Date: October 6, 2024

We all want the good life. Maybe to you, that means the latest tech or zero traffic on your commute. But a truly fulfilled life? It comes when we grow in generosity. Let’s find out more in this message. ABOUT THIS MESSAGEYou want your life to count—to have real purpose and meaning. But getting there can often feel out of reach. The secret to The Good Life might already be in your hands. Let’s find out how in our new series.PRAYERIf you're facing something difficult, you don’t have to carry it alone. If it’s on your mind, it’s on God’s heart. We want to pray with you and support you through whatever you’re facing. Share your prayer request: https://www.life.church/getprayer ABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appNEXT STEPSHave you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://www.life.church/yesFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.churchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #robertmadu #thegoodlife Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm excited to preach the gospel today and not just preach. I get to preach a part of your series called The Good Life on generosity. So I'm excited about that. I'm adding to the house today speaking on generosity. And I know why they called me to preach about generosity. I know why. Because I'm so good at it. For me, generosity is like humility.

I've just mastered it. So I'm going to share some principles today. Come on, you're laughing because you know what I know. You don't ever graduate from generosity. Come on, this is something that your entire life, you have to continue to grow in. And I'm excited about this series because we're going to learn how to grow in our generosity.

Now, before you get excited about that, think about how hard that is. It's hard to grow in generosity because our default settings are not generosity. It's stinginess. Come on. At our core, you're like me. I know you.

It is wired within us to get all we can, can all we get, and then hide the can. But I'm believing God is going to do something so supernatural in this series. We're going to learn how to grow in generosity, and we're going to learn how to live the good life, which is not a life of, bless me, bless me, bless me, but Lord, use me and let your love and your life flow through me to other people. you are not supposed to die full, you're supposed to die empty. You're supposed to die empty. And we're going to learn that in this series. And so who better to learn from than the great Apostle Paul, the artist formerly known as Saul? And I want to look at 2 Timothy, 2nd Timothy today, chapter number one. I want to look at verses 1 through 7. This is Paul writing to his spiritual son Timothy. And let's look at what he says. He says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus. To Timothy a beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I thank God whom I serve with the pure conscience as my forefathers did. As without ceasing, I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy. When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in, you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is

in you also. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, stir up the gift of God. Don't store up the gift of God. Stir up the gift of God, which is join in any time in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound, the mind. Come on, that is good stuff right there. And then I want to add one more scripture to this that might seem like it's out of order right now, but stay with me to the end. It'll make sense at the end. I want to add this scripture, Genesis chapter 2, just one verse, verse number 7, and it declares God formed man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, the man came alive, a living soul.

Paul says, Timothy, stir up the gift of God which is in you. And all the way from Genesis, God breathed the breath of life in us. I want to preach in this Good Life series using this as a title, Direct Deposit. Direct Deposit. across every location in Life Church. Just look at the person next to you, get in their face, get in their personal space, and say, neighbor, oh, I saw some of you didn't even want to talk to your neighbor.

Come on. Look at them right in the face. Say neighbor, you've been given a direct deposit. Just in case that neighbor was stuck up. Find another neighbor. Find another neighbor. Come on, say other neighbor. I'm telling you, you've got a direct deposit.

If you believe God's going to speak, give them. some praise today. Life Church, fam, this is a milestone year for me. It's a milestone year for a couple of reasons. First of all, I turned 40 this year. Oh, yes. Big 4-0, turn 40. I know you're shocked.

I don't look like it. I don't look like I'm 40. I know. The adage is true. Black don't crack. It doesn't. It doesn't. Even if it did, I exfoliate.

So turn 40 this year. It's a big deal, the Big 4-0. And not only that, this year, I am celebrating, believe it or not, 20 years of full-time ministry. 20 years of full-time ministry. For 20 years, I've been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I got receipts. I think they got a picture.

Y'all got that picture. There it is. Come on. That was my ministry shot when I just started out preaching the gospel. For 20 years, I've had what I believe is the greatest job in the world. I just get to preach the good news. Get to tell people the good news of who Jesus Christ is. So you don't have to worry about me being frustrated on the job today.

What I'm doing before you, I was created to do. I was called to do this. You know, there is a difference between a career and a calling. A career is what you get paid to do. A calling is the thing you were made to do. Oh, it's the thing that when you do it, your soul comes alive. And you say, I was put on the earth to do this right here. I was called to do this.

And I'll never forget the first time that I got invited to preach at a church outside of my home church. I'll never forget it. Y'all, I was nervous. I fasted the whole week. I was reading the book of Leviticus. And I never forget pulling up to this youth group in Texas. And I mean the place was packed. I mean packed.

I mean jam packed. 22 kids. Packed. And there I am. Getting ready to preach. This is my first time outside of my home church. getting ready to preach, and I gave it everything I got. I still remember my title.

It was check your mind space. You're checking your mind space. You need to check it. Never mind. And I finished preaching, and it was amazing. It was awesome. It felt like it was great. And I'll never forget.

I went to dinner with the pastor afterwards, and he said, great message, great ministry. And we ate. And after we finished eating at Cheddar's, he leans over the table, and he hands me an envelope. It's like, what is this? I get in my car and I open the envelope. and it is a check for $250 and a gift card to Chili's and a gift card to Old Navy.

I will never forget. I was like, your boy made it. I'd called my Nigerian father who's here with me. I was like, Dad, you won't believe this? I said, they pay you to do this. I was so shocked. I didn't know anything about honorarium. I didn't know how to spell it.

I was so shocked anybody would let me preach to anybody, and I'll never forget the check and the gift cards that I got that day. That was a long time ago. I mean, I've gotten a whole lot more checks since then. But I learned something since that day. I learned that every check is a check. It is a check to see, am I going to master this? or is this going to master me?

Am I going to serve this or is this going to serve me? It is a check to see whose is this really? Because I'm putting into my account but it's not really my. Ladies and gentlemen, that is something that I learned and thus begin this journey of generosity.

And generosity, I understand, is way deeper than money, but we have to talk about money and talking about generosity because Jesus talked about it. He talked about it because the reality is when it comes to money, our heart is inextricably connected to it. That's why the Bible says things like,

where your treasure is, there your heart is also. Jesus says things like, you cannot serve both God and money. Think about that for a moment. God says, my number one competitor is not football. It's not sex. It's money. You cannot serve both.

Why would he put money on the same scale as himself? Because money will say things to you that God is supposed to do. Money will say things to you like, let me open doors for you. Let me make a way for you. Let me show you where your value and your significance really is. Money will say things to you, oh, that only God is supposed to provide for you. Not only that. Studies have shown that even when you start to make more money, you start to make more income,

it's interesting what happens in people's psychology. Whenever people start making more money and start climbing up the economic ladder, we don't usually tend to think, well, now I have more responsibility to be generous. We don't even tend to think, huh, I make more money than other people. Psychologists have told us we tend to think I'm now better than other people, because I make more than you. Oh, look at what I drive. Look at what I wear.

I'm better than you. Which is a strange thought to have to think that you are better than anybody, especially because the Bible let you know in Genesis chapter 2 verse number 7, that God created man from the very dirt of the earth. Oh, if there was ever a Bible verse that should stop you from being arrogant. If you are struggling with any type of pride, hear me life church family, Please go to Genesis chapter 2 verse number 7. That should help your pride right there.

The Bible is clear that none of us came from some amazing celestial substance. All of us came from dirt. Oh, I might not get invited back after I do this. Would you do me a favor at every location? Would you look at the person to your left? Look at them real good. Look at the person to your right. Look at them real good.

Look at the person behind you. Look at them real good. Every location. Look at the person in front of you. Okay. According to Genesis 2 verse 7, every person you look at the person you look at the right? that is a dirt bag. Oh yes, oh yes.

Because we came from nothing but dirt. You need a visual. Let me help you today. This, like how I'll do that. This, ladies and gentlemen, is you. How many, you know, we didn't mess up the life church budget getting this dirt today. I had them get it for me.

This is dirt. Every single person came from nothing but dirt. The Bible is clear. And it's funny me to think about all the things we do for our dirt. Come on, you got up today and you washed your dirt. I hope you washed your dirt. You put deodorant on your dirt. Ladies, the amount of money you spend on your dirt.

Oh, you get your dirt manicured. You get your dirt pedicured. Guys in the gym working out dirt. People spend billions of dollars around the world on dirt surgery. Oh, yeah. Dirt suction, dirt lift, all the things that we do for our dirt. And I don't understand of all the things that God could have used to create us. Why would he use dirt?

You understand that your God does everything with beauty and with splendor. Oh, come on, if you've ever seen a sunset, you have seen the handiwork of our God. If you've ever had your breath taken away by the beauty of creation, that was done by the hand of our God. You do know he's the interior designer of heaven. He did the streets in gold. He did the gates in pearl. But when he got ready to create you and I, his prize possession, the one he said, his only son to die on the cross floor of all the things he could have used.

He said, let's use dirt. Oh, I was so mad. I was so mad. I said, hold on, God. Streets in heaven get gold, but we get dirt. That's messed up. Until God started revealing to me the revelation that is hidden even within the creation process. because since the beginning of time,

God has actually been teaching us something about who he is and about what he works with. And hear me, Life Church, you ought to be excited today that you serve a God who is holy, but he's not afraid to work with things that are dirty. You serve a God who is awesome, but he's not afraid to work with things that are awful. You serve a God who is magnificent,

but he is not intimidated by things that are ordinary, dirty, or mundane. And I want to thank God that when everybody else is trying to keep dirty situations and people away from them, God says, no, no, no, bring me that dirt. That dirt that you think is insignificant, that person you think that I cannot use, I will put my hands on that dirt. I will shape that dirt. I will work with that dirt, and I can use it for my glory and for my purpose. That's good news, church.

Oh, you ought to thank God that he doesn't need Pinterest perfect Photoshop people to get the glory out of their life. But that God is showing us that he can work with dirt. Work with messed up, got issues, dirt situations. Not only does he show us this, you understand the creation narrative. you're the only thing that God put his hands on. He reached down and touched the dirt. Not only did he touch the dirt, he breathed into the dirt,

and it came alive and became a living soul. That means the on the inside of you. Know what your most valuable asset is? It's not your house. It's not your boat. It's cute. The most valuable asset you have is hide of you

a generous, his breath and humanity and then gives us the opportunity to be generous with our life and give it back to him. What are you doing? Road breath. We're dirt.

Ooh, can I tell you something else? Dirt is the only environment that is conducive for a seed. You cannot put a seed in a diamond. You cannot put a seed in gold. But if you get some dirt and place a seed in it. How many know you can watch it grow

into something beautiful and powerful? And can I tell you our God is a good, good father and he's a good, good gardener. And although you came from dirt, there is a seed on the inside of you, and that seed is a gift, and I came to tell you

he is ready for you to stir it up. Somebody say stir it up. Oh, come on, say it like you got some faith. Say stir it up. You have got to stir up. You have got to stir up the gift that God has placed on the inside of you. And to me, generosity, the good life starts with somebody who's not stored up the gift of God, but has made a decision to stir up the gift of God. Come on across every location. Somebody say, stir it up. Come on, say stir it up.

I love this text in 2 Timothy because the Apostle Paul, he's writing to his spiritual son, Timothy, and he's letting him know about the gift that God has put on the inside of him. But you can't really appreciate what Paul is writing to Timothy until you understand the context from which Paul is writing it from. Paul is writing 2 Timothy from a jail cell. He's writing from a jail cell. Whenever you read 2nd Timothy, you are eavesdropping into the psychology of somebody that knows they're about to die. Paul knows his life is coming to an end. And how many know when you know you're about to die, ooh, you understand that your words are powerful, that they mean something.

you don't have time to waste when you know you're about to die. Can you imagine if I told you you only had 24 hours to live? Benj and Netflix would not be that important to you. So I find it intriguing in the last moments of the Apostle Paul's life, of all the things he couldn't written about, he feels the need to tell a spiritual son, Timothy, whatever you do, stir the gift of God on the inside of you. Whatever you do, make sure you are doing something

with what a generous God has given to you. He gave you a direct deposit. What in the world, Paul, if that was me, and they're about to kill me, the last thing I'm going to do is write you a letter about starting up the gift of God. I'm writing one letter if I'm on death row. Don't kill me. But now Paul, he feels the need to tell Timothy, stir up the gift of God that is in you. Why?

Because that is what life is about, the good life. What did you do with what God put in you? When you get to heaven, God's not going to ask you how long you went on the U version app. You should read it, but he's not going to ask you that. He's not going to ask you what your favorite denomination was. He's not going to ask you how many times you jumped up and down during your favor and praise of worship. He's going to want to know, what did you do with the deposit? What did you do with the opportunities that I put on the inside of you?

Are you exhaling what I inhaled inside of you before the foundation of the earth? Oh, we are living our entire life to hear two words, ladies and gentlemen. well done, my good and faithful servant. Not well posted, my good and faithful servant. Not well thought, my good and faithful servant. Not well dreamed, my good and faithful servant. Well done. Some of us, I'm convinced when we get to heaven, God's going to go, well. Because we didn't stir up what God put on the inside of us. Oh, the Bible is replete with examples. This is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7, he says, but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the all surpassing power is from. Here it is, God, not from us. Look at what he says in the book of Romans.

Romans chapter 12, verses 6 through 8. He says, in his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it's giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness, hello, I wish somebody will start a kindness ministry in this climate and day in which we live in. Do it gladly. Do something with the gift God has given you. I came all the way from Dallas to tell somebody, stir up the gift of God on the inside of you.

Don't store it up. Stir it up. You've been given a direct deposit from a generous God who just gave it to you. My dad is here with me, and he's from Nigeria, and I often talk about that. And I never forget when I was a kid, and I ate a peach one day. And I got to the seed of the peach, and I went to my Nigerian father, and I said, Dad, what is this? Or just a kid.

He said, that is the seed. I said, really? He said, yes. He said, son, do you know if you take that seed and you plant it in the ground, a peach tree will come up? I said, n'n, Daddy. He said, son, it is true. So true story, my father and I, we go to the backyard. I will never forget this.

We plant the peach seed. And y'all, I am excited about my peaches that are coming, y'all. I'm about to start a peach enterprise. I'm so excited about my peaches. True story, we plant the peach seed the next day. I go outside to check on my peaches. To my shock, there is no peach tree. I said, okay, maybe it needed a day.

All right? I waited two days. I waited three days. I waited a whole week. I waited two weeks. After two weeks, I didn't even go outside anymore. I was mad. I was upset.

I'm in the house. You got to see this. My nose is pressed up against the window pain. Tears are coming down my face because I don't have my peach tree. My dad walks in, sees me crying. He goes, what does he? wrong with you. I said, don't talk to me, Dad. You liar? You're just a liar. You said I was going to have a peach tree. There's no peach tree. You're just a liar. He starts laughing. He says, oh my goodness.

He says, son, come here. Takes me outside. I'll never forget it. He asked me, have you done anything with this since we planted it? I said, no. He says, son, listen to me. Every day you come home from school, go and get the water hose and water this seed. Stop crying like a little baby and go and get the water holes and keep watering and wait to see what will happen. I hope somebody sees where I'm going with this today. Because I am convinced there are so many believers that have their nose pressed up against the window pain of their life. And you think your Heavenly Father lied about what he was going to do in you and through you. And God's going, no, I didn't lie.

I just been waiting on you to do something. I've been waiting on you to stir up the gift of God that's in you. gave you a deposit. You got to stir it up. Oh, I feel like preaching now. Somebody with faith just say stir it up. Come on across every location say stir it up. Come on, say it like you believe.

Say stir it up. Oh, you got to stir past worry. You got to stir past fear. Stir past your insecurity. Stir past what they said on your Facebook page. Stir past the comments section. Come on, somebody say stir it up. Oh, would you stir up the gift of God that's on the inside of you?

It doesn't matter what's happened in your past. How many know God wants to do something new on the inside of you? You got to stir it up. Somebody say stir it up? And once you stir it up, you begin to see, wait a minute, on the inside of me. A direct deposit. You know what I love about that illustration? It's none of you knew that was in there.

You know why? Because I'm the one that put it in there. This is why I actually get excited when naysayers come in my life and they say, I don't see that happening in your life. I don't see God doing that. Of course you don't see it. You didn't put anything in me, but there was a God that put a gift on the inside of me,

and as soon as I start stirring up the gift, oh, come on, somebody. As soon as I start working what he gave me, you're going to see something that eyes have not seen and ears have not heard. Neither has it entered in the heart of men the things that God has already deposited on the inside of you.

You want to know the good life? The good life is the day you realize the gift that the generous God put on the inside of you. This right here is the greatest day of your life. In fact, one writer says it like this. There's two important days in your life. Not the day you're born and the day you die, but the day you're born and the day you find out why you were born.

Stir up. Generosity to me, the good life is when I stir up the gift of God. on the inside of me and I say, God, here is my gift. Use it for your glory. I came to tell somebody, this is your year. This is your season to stir it up. What are you waiting for? I promise you, you have something. You have something. Hear me. Across every location, 45, 12 different states. Oh, hear me. Just as sure as I'm holding this gift in my hand, every single person has a gift. something God has given you to do what He's called you to do. And I'm wondering, do you know what your gift is?

And I'm begging and sweating and shouting to tell somebody, stir up the gift of God that's on the inside of you. Now, I wish I could land the sermon right there and say, just stir up the gift. And once you stir up the gift, life is going to be easy. And you're not going to have any issues. And you're going to float in every room you walk in. And somebody just going to bless you with a Tesla.

I wish I had that message for you today. I wish the good life was just stir up the gift, work the gift, and use it for God's glory. That's the end. But no, no, no, no, no. I must warn you that the day you stir up the gift of God, the day you realize what God is put in you and you take it seriously, get ready for all hell to break loose in your life. Because there's anybody that's on the hit list of hell. is the person that's understood what God has given them. Once you realize your gift, the enemy is going to come after you.

And I came to tell you, there are three entities that are after your gift. God wants your gift, the enemy wants your gift, and other people want your gift. All your life, they're going after the direct deposit. God wants it because he gave it to you. Every good and perfect gift comes from God and tell me, fulfillment is when you say, God, here's my gift. I'm giving it to you. God wants it because he gave it to you. The enemy will convince you to use your gift for you.

Just want to make that clear. The kingdom of darkness doesn't want you to walk around looking evil, wearing black, gone, eh, no. He'll just say, use your gift to serve you. Just do you. That's actually the enemy's favorite line. Do you. Do what you feel. Be selfish.

Use your gift for you. you. But then other people want your gift. And this is where it gets tricky. Because God wants my gift, that's a good thing. The enemy wants my gift. That's a bad thing. But other people wanted my gift. Is that good or is that bad? Because other people want your gift. The only problem with other people who want your gift, because gifts are shiny, you have to know that when other people meet you, they don't just get your gift. They also get your dirt. And people can handle your gift. but not a whole lot of people can handle your dirt. Oh, come on, your dirt is your humanity.

Your dirt is the part you don't post. So most of us go through life showing our gifts and hiding our dirt. And if you're not careful, you start approaching God, showing the good parts and hiding the mess. Showing God, hey, you can use this, but you can't use this. so I'll just hide it.

And can I tell you that is not freedom. Do you want to know what freedom is? Freedom. And the good life is when you take your dirt, all your flaws, all your issues, and you take your gift, and you get it out of your hands, and you put it in the hands of a God that created you.

You put it in the hands of the God that formed you. When you get it out of your hands, that's the good life. Can I tell you this as I close? Hear me, Life Church. Life is predicated upon whose hands you put. something in. This is what I've learned at 40. Life is predicated upon whose hands you put something in. Come on. A basketball in my hands is worth about $20. That same basketball in the hands of

Steph Curry is worth $160 million, a three-point shot, and one of those right there. It matters whose hands you put something in. Come on, if you take a paint brush and you put it in my hands, I will paint you some beautiful stick figures. But you take the same paint brush and paint and put in the hands of a Leonardo da Vinci, you have a masterpiece that will take your breath away because it matters whose hands you put something in. Come on, if you give me a staff or a rod, I won't do anything with it in my hands, but in the hands of a Moses, it will split a red sea, and people will walk out of slavery into freedom. Come on, a slingshot in my hands can't even hit the backside of this building, but a slingshot in the hand of a young boy named David

will defeat a giant and knock him down. Come on, if you take some hammer and some nails and you put it in my hands, I will build you a birdhouse. But you take the same hammer and the same nails and you put it in the hands of Jesus? How many of you know, we got salvation, we got life, we got freedom, we got joy, we got peace, we have hope, we have every single thing we need

because of a generous God who gave his life for us and made a direct deposit. The good life is when you realize what has been deposited on the inside of you. And you say, God, I'm not just giving you my gift and the good parts because you can handle my dirt too.

And I'm going to put it in your hands. Use my life for your glory. I'm going to ask every head be bowed and eyes be closed today. Across every location. Father, thank you. for modeling generosity, for you so loved the world that you gave,

your only son. God, if it was just one of us, you would have done it for us, you've been so good. You've been so faithful, so kind. Lord, from Genesis, you showed us that you're not afraid of dirt. You can work with dirt.

So Lord, today, I thank you for the direct deposit that you've put in us. Help us to stir it up. Bring it to you so that so many people's lives will be changed for your glory and for your purpose. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Amen. Come on, church. You can Pastor Robert. Thank you. And now today, those of you, you know there's a gift in you, you want God to stir it up. Raise your hand right now. Raise them up, raise them up. Father, we ask, by the power of your Holy Spirit.

stir up the gifts within your church to bring you glory. God, whatever we have, it's yours. Stir up the gifts, God. Use us to be a generous blessing as you have blessed us. As you keep praying today, some of you don't know where you stand with God. Let me tell you the good news of God. Salvation is not something you earn. You want to talk about a generous God for God so loved the world that he gave.

His one and only son. The only way you're made right with God is to receive the free gift of God through Jesus that all of our churches, those who say, I don't know where I stand with God today, turning away from your sins, turning toward him when you call on the name of Jesus, he'll hear your prayer, he'll make you new.

Those who say, I'm ready, Jesus, I want you, I need you, I give you my life. It's your prayer, lift your hands high right now today. All of our churches, lift them up and say yes, Jesus. I need your salvation. All of our churches, praise God, you online, type in the comment section. I am surrendering my life to Jesus. I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. Pray aloud. Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus. Save me. Forgive all of my sins.

Strew up the gift within me. To do your will, to serve you faithfully. My life is not my own. I give it to you. Use me. to bless others, to share your love. In Jesus' name, I pray. Can you give glory to God today? Somebody say start it up. Somebody say start it up to God praise.