Sermon Notes: I Chronicles 29:1-9

Sermon Notes: I Chronicles 29:1-9

October 11th, 2015

Title: The Generous Rejoice

Generosity Defined:  Free, cheerful, sacrificial giving

Free means we give because we want to. We are not being forced or coerced. Also we are not giving to get. 

Cheerful means our hearts are in it.

Sacrificial means it hurts and that is what makes free and cheerful so hard. It is not difficult to give when we it doesn’t hurt. It is not difficult to give when there is no sacrifice involved. 

We give generously because God’s house is great (vs. 1).

It is a great work.  It is not a work for man, but a work for God. 

 We give generously because we love God’s house (vs. 3).

 ESV Devotion/ NKJV-Affection

David has a love for God’s house. You could translate this as David had his pleasure set on God’s house. Often our failure to give generously and freely comes from our failure to love God’s house.  We love ourselves and our houses a lot. We love our comfort and ease. But our affections are not set on God’s house and God’s people. Notice how different David’s attitude is towards God’s house than ours is. Psalm 26:8, 27:4, 84:1, 10, and Psalm 122:1-9.

Why does David love God’s house so much? Because the Lord is there. It is His dwelling place. And because the people of God are there.

 The Church is not perfect. Our church is far from perfect. Yet the Lord is here and we are called to love her and support her. But this devotion cannot be just a heart devotion. There must be tangible proof of that devotion and it comes in the form of energy, money, and time.

  

We give generously beyond our own homes and needs (vs. 3).

There is an excess of giving towards God’s house from David. What this means is the priority is on building the Kingdom and building up the people of God.

People did not give from the extras. They did not give the leftovers.  They gave gold, silver, bronze, iron and precious stones. Proverbs 3:9-10

 God’s Kingdom is greater than our little kingdoms therefore we are to give generously to ti.   

We give generously as a sign of our consecration to the Lord (vs. 5).

Where we put our money is a sign of where our devotion is.  Where our money goes is a sign of where our heart is.

  

We give generously because it produces more generous givers. (David gives the people follow.)

Generous leaders create a generous people. 

Men are you generous in your homes? Ladies are you generous with your families?

            Illustration: Grandma Bethel’s cooking.

Do you give willingly and cheerfully? One way you can tell you are giving generously is that those you give to give to others and not back to you. There is a type of giving that expects a return. I give to my children so they give back to me. But what you should be looking for is I give to my children and my children give to God and others. If you give to your children so they give back to you that is not generosity. 

Jesus was generous. He gives gifts to men (Ephesians 4:7-11).  God pours out upon his kindness.

  

We give generously because it brings joy. (vs. 9)

There are few more joyous occasions than when people give generously to a work. A few months back some friends of mine wanted to record some Psalms. They did not have the money so they started a Kickstarter fund. Over several weeks the money they needed came in. But a lot more did as well.  It was great to see these men who are trying to raise up wonderful music for the church be given to generously. 

We often think that giving generously will steal our joy. But it works the other way. Free, cheerful, sacrificial giving for God's house brings us great joy.