The Generous System of the Kingdom

The Generous Keys to Success

1. Returning

2. Sowing

3. Giving

4. Lending

Purpose

1. To develop a culture both personally and corporately as a Catch The Fire family of generosity. 

2. To give a biblical foundation and reasons for generosity. 

3. To release the supernatural provision of God into our own personal lives, our churches, and Catch The Fire World as a movement, so that we can be a blessing to many, and people will see the nature of God. 

The Key of Giving 

Giving is an act of love, compassion, and generosity. Generosity cures you of worry and fear of lack. Giving doesn’t have an expectation of a return. 

Sowing vs Giving

Sowing is what you do for a harvest. It is an intentional act and placement of a seed of faith. Giving has no expectation of a return but releases the generosity of God.

Proverbs 19:17

“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.”

It's like a little kid lending their dad a few dollars to pay off his mortgage! It doesn’t make sense. But God sees our heart to bless the poor or those in need and He promises to repay us! The principal is as we give to the poor, the Lord will continue to repay us. It is the principal and dynamic of the Kingdom. The Father will repay us for our kindness and generosity. 

Luke 12:22-34 | Do Not Worry

Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

‘Consider how the wildflowers grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you – you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Do not worry is Jesus’ opening statement in this passage. Any introduction that Jesus gives is important. Worry is not from God as we know. Seek first the Kingdom and these things will be given. If our heart is seated in that kingdom than generosity and giving will be a natural overflow in our lives. 

Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God that operates in a different way to our natural minds. If we seek first His Kingdom then all these things are given to us, God is and will take care of us and therefore we can have an open hand with our possessions. 

What stops us from giving is a fear of lack. What restricts our generosity, is a misunderstanding of a generous Father. It is important to deal with our own fears and cautiousness. One major issue is not understanding the difference between stewardship and generosity. 

The Key of Lending 

Lending is an act of stewardship and trust. 

Psalm 15:1-5 

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose way of life is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbour, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honours those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

We can see that lending to the poor and encouraging family and community is making them feel like it is a safe place. This was an important component of conduct and behaviour. 

Psalm 112:5

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. It is just a very important thing. 

Matthew 5:42

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. We need to have wisdom and trust. But there is a call for us to continue to lend. 

Proverbs 3:27-28

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you. 

Sometimes it is the right thing to just to lend something in the moments notice in a dire situation. 

Examples and Testimonies

Lending money provides an opportunity for faithfulness in paying back and it maintains the dignity of that person. 

1. At church, someone owed money to the IRS and couldn't pay it back, which meant he would’ve had to go to prison. As a friend, he came to us and asked us to pay it. We had the capabilities to get this extra money of $3000. I felt it in my heart to have him pay us back in services in our home. He was able to hold his head up with dignity because he worked and paid it back.

2. We have a benevolence team, who looks at the applications, scrutinize, and makes the decision. Someone on the panel declined a request to get $500 instead advised them to get a job. The person on the panel was able to point out the man’s talents and he got a job that week. This man ended up getting the finances for his car and to get his own place. 

Questions/Open Discussion

1. Where have we in our own life been operating in worry and fear, or faith and trust in God’s generosity. If you operated in fear then your church will pick that up.

   a. It is really important that you hear God. The more sure you are that you’ve heard from the Lord, the more you can run the epsom flows of doubt, because you can go back to the word of God.

   b. Trust in your leaders that they heard God. 

   c. Put the word of faith alongside doing some best practices. Doing the wise things and the stewardship part, so you are building well. 

   d. Sometimes in the process of sowing in every harvest, there is a delay. Sometimes you need to hold on to the word and believe. With the parable of the wise sower, there is the parable of the wise builder. It is important to walk in wisdom, which appeals to business people as well. 

2. In your church culture is money a dirty word? Do you teach on tithing, sowing, and giving?

   a. It is important to cheer people on in their giving.

   b. Teach people that it is good to give and lend to people in need. We shouldn’t shy away from teaching about this topic. 

   c. There are different ways of taking up offering, give testimonies on faithfulness of God.

   d. If there is a need it should be a natural thing to talk about. 

   e. It is important to give without expecting a return.

3. Where do you find yourself as a leader? How comfortable are you to take leaps of faith as your church is growing? In areas of hiring staff or stewarding buildings etc.?

   a. Anna: We had to get a new building because we had outgrown the space. We found another building but it tripled our rent. We first started with just a part of it, but it was more. It was a huge step of faith but we really felt we should do it. God has been really faithful. 

Note: If your expenses are the same this time next year, we are doing something very wrong. We are not in the business of saving money. We are in the business of building the kingdom, loving people, and we need to realize that everything that God puts in our hands is to use as resources to see growth coming into the Church, which flows into growth in other dimensions. It is important to invest in people.