generosity

January 20, 2025

Everyday Disciple: Through the Lens of Prayer

Matthew 6.1-18

In the middle of these three examples, giving to the poor, praying, and fasting, Jesus stops to give instruction on prayer. But why? If Jesus considers it so important, shouldn’t we?

I think if we’re honest, for most of us, prayer is an optional exercise with no real power. We pray because we feel like we should…or maybe we feel like praying will change God’s mind and get Him to see things our way. But that’s not real prayer. The prayer that Jesus talks about has the power of rending the veil between heaven and earth…the spiritual and the physical. It allows us to see more clearly the reality of the kingdom. In prayer we practice the presence of God.

Prayer brings heaven and earth together. When we pray, we bring our cares and worries to the One who infinitely cares about us. And He gives kingdom perspective to our day-to-day lives. The inner life of prayer nourishes our soul.

Watch out for the pretenders of righteousness…those who want others to see their good deeds. Hard to miss them. They tend to make it obvious. And again, if we’re honest, it’s all too easy for us to slip into a righteousness of show…attempting to impress others with how “good” we are, right? The praise and approval of men is very alluring. But as kingdom citizens/everyday disciples our job is to cultivate the inner life of the Spirit, learning the secret life that the Father calls us to. Seeking only His praise. Living only for Him. And as we cultivate the inner life, we begin to live in the true righteousness of the kingdom. Beautiful irony…the more we cultivate our inner life with the Father, the brighter our light shines. Prayer is certainly a big part of that.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

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This post is based on a sermon from our Everyday Disciple series: Songs of the Season. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

November 11, 2024

IMPACT Promise Week 6: The Generosity of God

2 Corinthians 9.10-15

“Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all generosity, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.”

Last weekend Wendy and I were visiting our son’s church, and the pastor said something that stuck with me about giving. We will call it four views of “my stuff”: 1) all that I have is mine 2) the more is mine 3) some of what I have is mine or 4) all that I have belongs to the LORD (generous/kingdom IMPACT mindset). Helpful way of thinking about this idea of generosity.

Everything we have comes from the LORD. Everything. He has entrusted us with His resources. He provides the seed…time, talent, experience, gifts, money/stuff…and He expects us to invest those resources until He returns. Parable of the Mina’s in Luke 19. Guess what He wants us to invest in? Our kingdoms? Building bigger barns…seeing who can die with the most toys…having a YOLO attitude? And who gets all that stuff when you die? Eventually it all goes to the graveyard or the junkyard. What a foolish way to live! Or are we to invest in His kingdom? Yeah…His kingdom. Easy to say, but hard to do. It requires us to let go, rather than hold on. To recognize that we are not the main character in our story. He is. Our job is simply to say “yes” to Him.

Here’s the thing…our money/stuff and how we use it…is a good indication of our spiritual health (all mine vs. all His or somewhere in between). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges His disciples not to worry…about food or clothing…the necessities of life…God will provide for us just as He does for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air. He says instead that we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to us. For where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.

Now’s the time to make an IMPACT. Strive to become a generous giver, not a bigger barn builder. Then watch and see what the LORD does.

IMPACT Promise is a great place to start.

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This post is based on a sermon from our IMPACT Promise series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

October 28, 2024

IMPACT Promise Week 4: Teamwork

2 Corinthians 8.16-24

Each of us is called to make an IMPACT. And all of us can have IMPACT in different ways. Sharing our story. Serving in a ministry. Investing our financial resources in kingdom purposes. Loving our neighbor. All of the above.

Our greatest IMPACT is the one we make together. Serving alongside one another with an earnestness…a diligence…an eagerness…a zeal to reach the lost, expand the kingdom, and make Jesus more famous.

So what about you? What IMPACT are you having right now? What kind of IMPACT do you want to have  around the block and around the world?

It starts today…sign up to be a part of our IMPACT Promise and say “yes” to the LORD.

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This post is based on a sermon from our IMPACT Promise series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

October 21, 2024

IMPACT Promise Week 3: Finish What You Start

2 Corinthians 8.8-15

Why be generous? Because of Jesus. Though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, so that we through His poverty might become rich. That’s God’s grace. That’s the gospel.

Being generous is a heart attitude. Not really something that’s easy to teach. It starts with the recognition of God’s grace…His generosity towards us. Those forgiven much, love much. Those forgiven little, love little. Truth is…we’ve all been forgiven much. And when that sinks in, we will do a much better job of loving. Loving God and loving others. We will simply be more generous. We will have an IMPACT mindset.

Everything we have, we’ve been given. It’s been entrusted to us. It all belongs to God. We are managers of His resources. And one day we will have to give an account…have we been generous with His stuff? Have we been generous with the money, time, relationships, etc…with the life He’s entrusted to us?

Another way to ask that is…what kind of IMPACT are you having right now for the kingdom? What kind of IMPACT would you like to have? 

Let’s start today…sign up to be a part of our IMPACT Promise and say “yes” to the LORD.

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This post is based on a sermon from our IMPACT Promise series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

October 14, 2024

IMPACT Promise Week 2: The Overflow of Grace

2 Corinthians 8.1-7

Because of the grace of God they had received, the churches of Macedonia give generously and with great joy despite the desperate circumstances they are facing. Because of God’s grace.

That kind of generosity doesn’t come naturally for most folks. For most of us, even giving something may be a stretch. So, how do we get to this “generosity” thing? It starts by recognizing God’s grace in our own lives. That of course should lead us to offer ourselves to the LORD. His grace should motivate us to be all in! To have an IMPACT. And then, from there, showing grace to others…even in crazy, generous ways…is just the overflow of the grace the LORD has shown towards us.

There are lots of examples of generosity right here at Central…lots of folks having an IMPACT. Some of that’s through sharing their story. Some of that’s through serving. Some through giving. All of it through loving. All with the desire to be all in. To have an IMPACT.

So what about you? What IMPACT are you having right now? What kind of IMPACT do you want to have?

What would Central look like if everyone was as generous as you are? If everyone gave and served and shared and loved exactly like you, what IMPACT would that have, not only on Central, but around the block and around the world?

A simple start…sign up to be a part of our IMPACT Promise.

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This post is based on a sermon from our IMPACT Promise series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

January 22, 2024

5 Marks of a Disciple: Generous Living

Luke 18.18-27, 19.1-10, 21.1-4

God’s economy is different than ours. The stories of the rich young ruler, Zaccheus and the poor widow are reminders that God is not looking at the size of the gift, but the motivation behind giving it. God’s not after our money, but us. And when He gets us, He gets all of us…including the resources He’s entrusted to us to invest in kingdom purposes.

Just as our Father is generous, He wants us to be generous too. Because of our so great salvation, our thankful and happy hearts should loosen our grip on our stuff and free us up to give…and to give generously like both Zach and the widow. In fact, we as believers should be the most generous folks on the planet!

But so often we’re not. We act more like the rich young ruler. Maybe it’s because we have too low a view of God. Maybe we’re afraid to trust Him because deep down inside we believe Him to be stingy…that somehow He might hold out on us. And if we give away what we have, there won’t be enough for us. 

Yeah…but that’s not the picture that the Bible paints of who God is…think about the number of stars in the heavens, the number of galaxies, the greatness and vastness of space. In the Genesis account, when God creates the sun, moon and stars, what is their purpose? To give light to the earth, and for signs and for seasons. Seems to be a bit extravagant, doesn’t it?

What about God’s grace and His mercy and His love? His boundless, immeasurable love? The cross where the sins of all mankind were placed on His beloved Son. Every sin atoned for. Every one. So that all might be saved…if they will believe in Jesus.

So if God is so incredibly generous in these things…both in creation and in redemption, then why would He be stingy in providing for our needs (birds and flowers)? Our generosity problem has nothing to do with our wealth or lack thereof. The widow was certainly not rich by anyone’s standards. It has everything to do with our faith and obedience. So the question is, do you trust God enough to be generous and to live generously?

BTW generosity isn’t just about our stuff. It also involves our time and our gifts/talents/abilities. As I said before, one of the most valuable resources we have is our time. We have not all been entrusted with the same amount of stuff, but we have been entrusted with the same amount of time…24 hours in a day the last time I checked. The question is…how are you going to invest it? Generous living is just that…generous living.

If giving is new to you, I know what it feels like to look at your finances and wonder, “how?” Or to look at your calendar and wonder, “when?” Let me just challenge you to try it. Pick an amount and begin to give regularly. Set a goal…maybe ten percent, and build those giving muscles until you reach it. Volunteer to serve in a ministry. Taste and see that the LORD is good. Strive to become a generous giver, not a bigger barn builder, knowing that investing in the kingdom pays eternal dividends. Then your heart won’t be wrapped up in your stuff, but in the kingdom. Just like Zach and the widow.

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This post is based on a sermon from our January series: 5 Marks of a Disciple. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or Threads: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

September 4, 2023

God’s Provision

Philippians 4.10-23

Paul finishes the book of Philippians sharing the secret of contentment…trusting God in whatever the circumstance to provide what is needed. I think you could even shorten that to…trusting God. In every circumstance.

Joy. Peace. Contentment. All much-sought-after commodities in today’s world. And yet all things that are elusive to so many folks…even folks like us who have trusted in Jesus. Instead, anxiety, fear and greediness seem to rule the day. So how do we get to the good stuff? Paul says it’s something he learned. That would sure seem to indicate a process. Something we can grow in.

Two important ingredients to start off with are prayer and right thinking (which of course comes as a result of our time spent in the Word). Then when a trial comes, when stuff happens…it’s asking God for wisdom in the trial. Seeking Him in the suffering. But also praising and thanking Him in the good times. In any and every circumstance, recognizing our total dependence on Him. That’s not easy because we’re not conditioned for it. We are pretty self-sufficient as a species. But that’s where our time in the Word…thinking excellently…saturating our mind with the good stuff…comes in. Reminding ourselves on purpose when God provides, “Hey, this comes from God!” When a need arises, making prayer our first (and hopefully only) response instead of worry. Keep a journal of what God’s done so you can remind yourself over and over and over again.

And as our trust level rises, we will see our joy, peace and contentment rise as well. The God of peace will guard our minds…in Christ Jesus.

The gospel and unity. Investing our minas together. Running down Torah Road together. Crashing the gates of hell together. Let’s do this together.

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This post is based on a sermon from our Philippians series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Twitter: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

January 16, 2023

All In: The Joy of Giving

1 Chronicles 29.1-20

Giving…generosity…is easily overlooked as a spiritual discipline. I have said it a few times…pray every day, spend time in the Word every day, share your story at every opportunity, and fellowship with other believers as often as you can, but giving is another one of those disciplines that’s at the core of what it means to follow Jesus. I don’t know how we can express love…for God or for our neighbor…without giving. Giving of our time. Giving of our abilities. Giving of our resources. Giving of ourselves. Giving reflects the love that God so generously has shown toward us in Jesus.

If giving is new to you, I know what it feels like to look at your finances and wonder, “how?” When I was growing up, giving was not a practice my parents modeled. With eight kids…money was always tight. So giving wasn’t something I was used to…and putting myself through college, I never had two nickels to rub together as my dad would say. I didn’t think I could afford to give. So it wasn’t until I met my wife Wendy that I even considered giving as a spiritual discipline. And even then, I wasn’t sure how the giving thing would work out. But we did it anyway, and we haven’t looked back since.

So let me challenge you to be all in and give giving a try in 2023. Pick an amount and begin to give regularly. Set a goal and work towards it. Taste and see that the LORD is good. I think you’ll find that giving actually helps you release your death grip on the stuff that you are holding on to so tightly and experience the joy of seeing kingdom impact.

I said it before, but it’s worth repeating…when we give, God is more concerned about the “why” than the “what”. He looks at the heart. And it’s only when we give with a thankful heart, an upright heart, a willing heart…one that is turned towards Him…that we will know the absolute joy and gift that giving is.

And for those of you for whom giving is a discipline that you’ve practiced for awhile, thank you for your faithfulness.

Remember, everything we have comes from the LORD. We have simply been entrusted with it for a short time. So whether it’s a little like the widow or much like King David, let’s be generous givers!

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This post is based on a sermon from our All In series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Twitter: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

November 22, 2021

ThanksGIVING

2 Corinthians 8.1-15

Generosity is easily overlooked as a spiritual discipline. You have heard me say often…pray every day, spend time in the Word every day, fellowship with other believers as often as you can, and share your story at every opportunity, but generosity is another one of those disciplines that’s at the core of what it means to follow Jesus. I don’t know how we can express love…for God or for our neighbor…without being generous. Being generous with our time. Being generous with our abilities. Being generous with our resources. Being generous with our lives. Generosity reflects the love that God so generously has shown toward us in Jesus.

Two characters in the Gospel of Luke highlight for me the two opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to generosity…the Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18) and Zacchaeus (Luke 19). They are alike in some ways. Both are wealthy. Both have the resources to be generous. But, their characters couldn’t have been more different. We expect the Rich Young Ruler to be generous…he is well respected, a much loved leader in religious circles and generally a good guy. Zacchaeus…not so much. We don’t expect him to be generous at all. He is a despised tax collector…and not just a tax collector, but a chief tax collector. Both of them have an encounter with Jesus…one becomes a generous giver out of the overflow of his thankfulness for what Jesus has done for him, and the other leaves very sad. Jesus changes everything. And it’s not what we expected. For Zacchaeus, Jesus’ gracious offer of salvation is Good News indeed, and he goes from being a taker to a giver, from greedy to generous, from entitled to thankful… But the Rich Young Ruler can’t stand to part with his stuff. His selfishness and greed, which were already there, have just been revealed.

Let me ask you a question, and be honest with yourself…which one best describes you? 

Let me ask it another way. What would Central look like if everyone was as committed as you are? If everyone gave and served and prayed exactly like you, would we be more thankful and generous, or less?

Everything that we have comes from God. We are merely stewards of what He’s entrusted to us. Whether He’s entrusted us with little like the widow or much like King Solomon, it’s all His. We have to keep that in mind. And know this…God is more concerned about the “why” of our giving than the “what”. He looks at the heart. Sometimes it’s harder to be generous when you have more…our stuff tends to get in the way…to capture our hearts and cause us to want more. But the more we pursue generosity, the easier it is to let go of our stuff.

If being generous…if giving…is new to you, I know what it feels like to look at your finances and wonder, “how?” Let me just challenge you to try it. Taste and see that the LORD is good. And you’ll see for yourself, that when we’re generous, God’s always faithful to meet our needs.

And like our spiritual gifts, God has given us resources to build up the body. We won’t experience the fullness of joy and abundance of life that Jesus wants for us until He has all of us, including our resources.

If you haven’t experienced it yet, as I said earlier, this is a very generous church. I know there are a ton of stories of folks who give and give generously. We couldn’t do the ministry we do…we couldn’t reach the folks in this valley and around the world we’re reaching…we couldn’t have the kingdom impact we’re having…without you. So thank you.

But may we excel still more and more, and may we grow in the grace of giving.

pro rege

This post is based on this week’s sermon. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Twitter: @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store, Google Play or the Amazon App Store.

February 24, 2020

Essentials: Generosity

Luke 20.45-21.4

God’s economy is different than ours. The widow’s offering is a reminder that God is not looking at the size of the gift, but the motivation behind giving it. God’s not after our money, but us. And yet we cannot give ourselves to Him without giving everything to Him, including our stuff.

Throughout church history, generosity has been one of the defining characteristics of Christianity. The care of the poor, the first hospitals and schools, leper colonies, providing for widows and orphans, for the downtrodden and left behind…all witnesses to the power and provision of God. Just as our Father is generous, He wants us to be generous too. Because of our so great salvation, our thankful and happy hearts should loosen our grip on our stuff and free us up to give…and to give generously. In fact, we as believers should be the most generous folks on the planet!

But so often we’re not. Maybe it’s because we have too low a view of God. Maybe we’re afraid to trust Him because deep down inside we believe Him to be stingy…that somehow He might hold out on us. And if we give away what we have, there won’t be enough for us. Yeah…but that’s not the picture that the Bible paints of who God is…think about the number of stars in the heavens, the number of galaxies, the greatness and vastness of space. In the Genesis account, when God creates the sun, moon and stars, what is their purpose? To give light to the earth, and for signs and for seasons. Seems to be a bit extravagant, doesn’t it?

What about God’s grace and His mercy and His love? His boundless, immeasurable love? The cross where the sins of all mankind were placed on His beloved Son. Every sin atoned for. Every one. So that all might be saved…if they will believe in Jesus.

So if God is so incredibly generous in these things…both in creation and in redemption, then why would He be stingy in providing for our needs? Our generosity problem has nothing to do with our wealth or lack thereof. The widow was certainly not rich by anyone’s standards. It has everything to do with our faith and obedience. So the question is, do you trust God enough to give generously?

If so, where might you start? Well, if you’ve never given before or have only given sporadically, then start by being intentional. Sit down with your family and pick an amount and give that amount regularly. Maybe sign up for online giving. Revisit your giving throughout the year to see how you’re doing. If you’ve been a consistent giver, make it a goal to increase that amount…shoot for generous. Watch how God provides. Strive to become a generous giver, not a bigger barn builder. Remember God gives generously to us so that we can then give generously to others. When we invest in the kingdom, it pays eternal dividends.

Here at Central we are striving to be generous with our finances, too. We give away 20% of our budget…both locally and globally through missions and, soon, through church planting. Definitely something to celebrate. I know some folks in Japan who are thanking God for your generosity!

Make 2020 the year that generous giving becomes a priority for you…just like the poor widow.

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This post is based on our January Series, Essentials. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @ccclancaster