Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: II Cor. 8: 9; 9: 6- 15         

June 9, 2024

Message: “The Greatest Gift of All!”

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro.: 1. Last year we studied I Cor. 16 where Paul encouraged the Christians in Corinth to raise money to help the poor Christians living in Jerusalem. 

a. To explain that passage, we also had to discuss  II Cor. 8-9 where Paul encouraged them to be generous.

b. So I am not going to go into great detail today, talking about that specific gift.

2. What I am going to do is share some of the most well-known verses in the Bible that are found in these passages.

A. We will begin with II Cor. 8:9. 

1. Paul wrote: “You all know of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although He was rich, for our sakes He became poor, that though His poverty we might become rich.

a. As Paul encouraged them to give to this offering for the poor in Jerusalem, he shared how Jesus set the supreme example.

b. He calls Jesus’ act of kindness an act of grace. Grace is something that is undeserved. It is a gift freely given. For the same reason, we are to give and help others, not because they deserve it, but simply because we care about them and care about their souls.

c. The truth of the matter is that we all tend to be our own worst enemy and often bring our own problems on ourselves. But Jesus lovingly and willingly chose to help us anyway. That is what we should do also.

2. In the second part of vs. 8, Paul reminded them that Jesus was and is the Son of God who came from heaven where He obviously had everything. He was rich! 

a. If He did nothing, He would still be rich. If He was selfish, like many of us who just want to get richer, He would have been better off staying in heaven.

b. Most important of all, there is no sin, suffering or death in heaven. So why should He put Himself in harms way just for us? But that is exactly what He did!

3. Vs 8 continues: “Although He was rich, for our sakes He became poor so that we through His poverty might become rich.”

a. Some rich people are very generous, but rarely to the point where they themselves become poor. It cost them what they choose to give, but they continue to be rich.

b. Jesus gave everything up and lived a life of poverty just so He could help people who were in poverty find God.

4. It is important to consider what it means to be poor.  a. Many of our parents were brought up in the midst of the great depression. My mother was paid 25 cents an hour. She remembered the day when it was wonderful to just receive an orange for Christmas.

b. Yet many of us had Christian parents who loved the Lord. We never even thought of ourselves as poor. With Jesus in our hearts and parents who loved the Lord, our homes were simple but reflected the love of Jesus.

c. So poverty is not necessarily a matter of how much you have. You can be rich and yet be spiritually poor.  Sadly, many young people in our day have been deceived into thinking money and sex and pleasure are the definition of being rich. 

5. In Matt 5: 3, Jesus said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” 

a. To be poor in spirit means you realize you are a sinner who cannot save yourself.  Therefore you come to Christ and ask Him to save you and teach you how to live for Him.

b. Zacchaeus was a rich man, but came to understand true richness is only found in Jesus. Jesus gave everything up so He could save people like you and me.

6. But most of all, Jesus not only gave up things. He came and willingly lived a tough life, ultimately suffering and dying on a cruel cross so that through His death, we might live. 

a. How many of us would choose a life of suffering just so others could come to know the Lord? 

b. It is no wonder that Paul ends II Cor. 8:15 by saying: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.”

B. So how should Jesus’ gift of love affect how we live?

1. In II Cor, 9:6, Paul writes: “He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.”

a. In plain words, what we sow we will also reap. The Philippian church was very poor but gave beyond what they could afford!  God blessed them for doing so. 

b. Corinth was very rich.  Paul wondered what they would do.  When God makes us aware of a special need how will we respond?

2. In II Cor. 9: 7, Paul writes: “Each person should give what he has decided to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

a. So what we give or how much we give is obviously affected by how much we have. But there is something even more important than the gift itself.

b. That is the attitude in which we give it or in which we do it.  It is amazing how our attitude is wrong. God wants us to serve Him or give to others for Him in a cheerful, kind way. 

c. So remember to pray before you give or act so that Christ may shine through and not your negative feelings that rob Him of the glory He desires and would normally receive if we did it more cheerfully and willingly.

3. Finally, consider what it says in II Cor. 9: 8. Paul writes: “For God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that in all things at all times, having all you need, you will abound unto every good work.”

a. Every Christian should underline special verses that mean a lot to them.  Some people call them “life verses” because of how they have affected their lives. 

b. As a pastor, this promise has always meant a lot to me. Basically it is saying that we can never out give the Lord.  That does not mean God promises us He will make us rich. But He will make it up to us in His own special way. Many Christians have found a lot of joy in giving.

In conclusion: 1. Don’t ever take God’s gift of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for granted. By His life and death and resurrection, He has already out given all of us.

2. Of course, that is because “God is love.” He loves to give. “And God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, so that whosoever will believe in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

3. In plain words, it is in the very nature of God to give and give and give some more. And the gift of Jesus is the greatest example of all. 

a. When we come to believe in Him and invite Him into our hearts, that is when God gives us the gift of Himself and makes us partakers of His divine nature.

b. The more we yield to Him, the more opportunities He will give us to share His love with others.

4. And the more we develop a giving, serving spirit, the more we also discover the joy of the Lord.  Amen!