September 12, 2025 • 33 mins
What if your personality is secretly sabotaging your generosity? This eye-opening exploration of the "shadow sides" of our giving profiles reveals why some of us hesitate when opportunities to give arise—and it's not always about money.
Through a fascinating examination of the DISC personality assessment and six distinct generosity profiles, we discover that our weaknesses are actually intertwined with our strengths. The pioneering spirit that makes some of us visionary can also make us stubborn. The analytical mind that helps others make wise financial decisions can also make them overly cautious with giving.
Whether you identify as a Cause Mover struggling with control, a Budget Keeper battling risk aversion, a Faith Stretcher overwhelmed by busyness, a Disciplined Doer fighting isolation, a Community Grower dealing with frustration, or a Legacy Builder wrestling with worry—this message offers specific biblical guidance for your unique challenge.
At its heart, this message confronts the scarcity mindset that our culture constantly reinforces. "The minute we leave this place," the pastor notes, "we're told and sold that we don't have enough and we're not enough, but God says otherwise." The ultimate question becomes: who will you believe?
Drawing inspiration from 2 Corinthians 8, we're reminded of Christ's ultimate example—he who was rich became poor so that we could share in his riches. He left heaven for earth so we could leave earth for heaven. The only proper response to such generosity is to live worthy of this calling.
Take the challenge to identify your shadow side, memorize your corresponding Bible verse, and watch as God transforms not just your giving, but your entire approach to life's resources.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is Stephen.
As Marie said, I'm the leadpastor here at Madison Church.
I am glad that you guys arehere before the snow and before
the like minus 100 degree windchills or something.
So you know, man, I hope youguys all make it this week.
I hope we'll see you next week.
Get your hats and gloves out.
But concluding this seriestoday and I want to talk about
(00:24):
profiles again and personalityprofiles A few months ago, I had
everybody on our leadershipteam at Madison Church take the
Disc Finder profile, and twothings.
If you didn't know, madisonChurch is run by some really
amazing people who volunteeranywhere from two to four to
maybe six hours a week to dosome ministry work.
They work down in our MC Kidman, out in the lobby with
(00:46):
hospitality and greeters and inhere planning music, and so we
are a volunteer-run church andwe are so grateful for those
guys that they do that.
That's the first thing youmight not have known.
The second thing, though, islet me explain what DISC is.
Disc is a personality profilerthat has four big categories,
and it's been studied about inpsychology for about 50 years,
(01:07):
so there is some science andresearch and statistics behind
it, and I thought it would bereally good if we could group
everybody on my leadership teaminto four quadrants.
So I was like we're just goingto stereotype you into one of
these four corners?
No, it's not quite like that,but there are several
subcategories and what wasreally cool about this was that
we got feedback and we gotlanguage for how we are.
(01:29):
Sometimes I can be stubborn andyou know what.
That's what my disc showed.
It said Steven is a very direct, results oriented person and
specifically I kind of tend togo high on this.
It's a circle.
So if you want to imagine withme a circle, I'm as far north as
you can get, which is to saythat I have like a pioneering
spirit.
I like to dream, I see newopportunities, I have no problem
(01:52):
taking risk, and that's mypersonality.
That's what it came back at.
But if you were to look atDan's, he is actually the exact
opposite of me.
So whereas I'm pioneeringstraight north, he is stability
straight south.
And so how this looks like is Iam ready to go, take on new
initiatives, and Dan wants toweigh the pros and cons.
(02:15):
He probably wants to make alist, he wants to think about it
.
He is very analytical, likethat.
Now we make a really good teamfor that reason, because I can
say, hey, I think this is anopportunity and he can look at
it, make sure we're not making amistake, and then I can make
sure we get the results thatwe're after and he keeps us on
track, he's a good finisher, andso we make a great team, and
(02:35):
these are our strengths.
But, of course, oftentimes whenyou work with other people,
weaknesses come out, and that'sthe other thing that the disc
pointed out was some weaknesses,and so what I have found
personally to be true is thatour weaknesses are intertwined
with our strengths.
It's not like our weaknessesare something just over here and
(02:55):
I just got to deal with that.
Oftentimes it's not just aseasy as fixing one thing.
When we're talking about ourweaknesses right, it's usually
oh, like 10 things I've got towork on, and so, for example,
conflict between Dan and I couldarise.
If I really feel passionatelyabout something and I want to
rush into it and we're going todo it by the end of today, that
(03:17):
would make Dan maybe a littlegrumpy.
He would say well, have youreally thought about it?
How do we know we're notrushing into a mistake, which
would make me grumpy because I'mlike you're a dream killer.
Why do you do this to me?
I have this great idea.
It's from God.
Why are you standing in theAlmighty's way right now?
Sometimes I get confusedbetween me and God, and so
there's potential conflict toarise.
(03:39):
Now it's all about perspectivebecause, objectively, there's
nothing wrong with Dan analyzingObjectively, there's nothing
wrong with me beingresults-driven.
As a matter of fact, if I wasthe only person in the world,
nobody would even know I had anyweaknesses, right?
And if Dan were the only personin the world, no one would know
him or his weaknesses.
But furthermore, the potentialconflict can work well together.
(04:03):
It depends on the situation too.
So, for example, if Dan and Iwere challenged to both build an
airplane, I would finish first.
I know I would.
I just know there's no doubt inmy mind I might be missing a
wing, but it's going to finishokay.
Now, dan, on the other hand, hewould take a little bit more
time, but even I would ratherfly in Dan's airplane than an
(04:24):
airplane I would make okayBecause he's analytical like
that.
Now, flip side to that is if wewere having our church service
downtown on the 10th floor andsomeone came bursting into the
service and said okay, we're allgoing to die.
A fire has totally consumed thefirst five floors of the
building.
You want to follow me becauseI'm going to get us out of there
right now.
(04:45):
It's going to be all about theresults.
Which is getting out?
You don't want to sit behindwith Dan while he tries to
figure out how the fire gotstarted.
Okay, now, that's just anexaggeration and I'm kidding.
It doesn't mean that Dan can'tbe pioneering or have dreams.
He absolutely does.
It doesn't mean that I can't beanalytical.
Sometimes I accidentally am,especially when it comes to
fantasy football.
I try to be.
I'm not very good at it, though.
(05:11):
But strengths and weaknesses,and it kind of compares person
to person.
Now I know when I talk aboutweaknesses, we don't want to
talk about our weaknesses.
A lot of us are uncomfortablewith our weaknesses, we get
defensive about our weaknessesand we really, really don't want
to talk to other people aboutour weaknesses.
So, good news I'm going to talkabout weaknesses today with
everybody, but we don't know anyof yours, so that's going to be
(05:33):
a secret.
But at the end of the service,I'm going to talk about your
weaknesses, though you don'thave to own them.
Okay, but what I would ask isthat you stay open to what we're
going to talk about today.
We all have weaknesses and, inthe same way that strengths are
like wind in our sails,weaknesses are anchors hanging
off the back of our boat.
Now, we can pretend we don'thave an anchor hanging off the
(05:56):
back of our boat and getfrustrated by everyone else
flying right by us.
Right, and we do that.
We say, well, that's not fair,well, he's just lucky.
When meanwhile, it might bethat, oh no, you have a huge
anchor hanging off the back ofyour boat.
You want to look at that?
No, there's no anchor backthere.
I don't have a weakness.
(06:16):
What are you talking about?
Okay?
Well, today I would like tohave maybe an uncomfortable
conversation with you so that wecan grow.
We're very passionate aboutgrowing spiritually here, and
our weaknesses honestly keep usfrom growing, especially when we
ignore them.
Now, throughout this wholeseries, we've been talking about
generosity profiles, and we'regoing to show a quick video to
(06:39):
recap what all of those are.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Everyone is born with the inclination to give.
Generosity is in our DNA, butthe key to a life of generosity
lies in our motivation, and whatmight motivate you to give
generously may be different thanwhat motivates me.
The six distinct generosityprofiles can help us better
(07:03):
understand our motivation togive.
Cause movers are motivated bymaking a difference.
They are the first to step upand be generous when a tangible
need arises.
Relational and responsive causemovers like seeing how their
giving makes an immediate andobservable difference.
Jesus tells a story about acause mover in Luke, chapter 10.
(07:26):
We often refer to him as theGood Samaritan.
Cause movers, you reflect theimage of our generous God when
you cheerfully give out of yourmotivation of making a
difference.
Budget keepers are motivated bybeing wise, with a high sense of
responsibility.
Budget keepers manage moneywisely and actually enjoy
(07:50):
budgeting and planning.
They approach giving carefully,asking what can I afford to
give?
Budget keepers are generallycomfortable talking about money.
The woman described in Proverbs31 is a great example of a
budget keeper.
Budget keepers, you reflect theimage of our generous God when
(08:10):
you cheerfully give out of yourmotivation of being wise.
Faith stretchers are motivatedby spiritual growth and see
generosity as part of theirfaith journey.
Faith stretchers stretch togive because they believe God
will reward their faithfulness,but they don't necessarily
expect that reward to bemonetary.
(08:32):
The poor widow who Jesusobserved giving her last two
coins is an example of a faithstretcher.
Faith stretchers you reflectthe image of our generous God
when you cheerfully give out ofyour motivation to grow
spiritually.
Disciplined doers are motivatedby joyful obedience.
(08:53):
The commands in scripture arelife-giving to them.
Disciplined doers give becauseGod commands it in His word.
The more consistentlydisciplined doers follow
biblical principles, the morealigned they feel with God's
ideals for their life.
After Zacchaeus' life-changingencounter with Jesus, his joyful
obedience was unleashed, makinghim a great example of a
(09:17):
disciplined doer.
Disciplined doers you reflectthe image of our generous God
when you cheerfully give out ofyour motivation of joyful
obedience.
Community growers are motivatedby being part of a community.
They believe the missionrequires everyone to pull
together and do their part in avariety of ways.
(09:39):
To a community grower, givingof one's time and talents is
just as important as givingfinancially.
They do give financiallybecause they know it's important
, but they can get frustratedwhen financial generosity is the
focus.
The community that Mosesrallied to build the tabernacle
was filled with communitygrowers, so much so that Moses
(10:00):
had to tell the people to stopgiving.
Community growers, you reflectthe image of our generous God
when you cheerfully give out ofyour motivation of being part of
a community.
Legacy builders are motivated byleaving a legacy.
They want their lives to countfor something, both now and
(10:21):
after they're gone.
When an organization or causecaptures their heart, legacy
builders will make a significantinvestment, both in the present
and in long-term planning, withthe goal of leaving a mark on
the world that is bigger thanthemselves.
In the Old Testament, boazrisked his reputation to rescue
Ruth, becoming a legacy builderby restoring a family line that
(10:44):
ultimately led to the birth ofJesus.
Legacy builders, you reflectthe image of our generous God
when you cheerfully give out ofyour motivation to leave a
legacy.
Understanding our distinctmotivation can help us grow in
generosity so that ultimately,together, we can help more and
(11:08):
more people find their way backto our generous God.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
All right.
Well, if you were here a coupleweeks ago, that is what Dan
talked about, but she did it in25 minutes faster.
So if you missed that week, youknow.
There it is and it's a goodrecap.
Throughout the series we'vebeen talking about different
profiles, different motivators,and so you got this little
handout.
Go ahead and, on the side here,star which two you are, or
(11:39):
which two you think you are,which sounded like you.
You're going to star thosebecause we're coming back to
this card After you.
Star, if you want to followalong, we're going to go to 2
Corinthians, chapter 8, to studytoday and talking about
generosity and weaknesses.
Now, a little context, whileyou're going to 2 Corinthians,
(12:00):
chapter 8, is that Paul ischallenging the Corinthian
church, which is a very, veryunhealthy church.
They're just not doing a lot ofthings right.
Paul is trying to help them out.
He's written a couple lettersat this point and he's saying
hey, you guys are kind ofreluctant to give, and that's
kind of one of the issues thathe wants to talk to them about.
Now there is somethingimportant to know that there is
(12:21):
a famine going on in the landNow.
2,000 years ago, famines couldwipe out entire societies,
neighborhoods, towns, whatever,because they didn't have like
modern day irrigation technologythat we have.
If the weather was bad for longperiods of time, people would
starve to death.
They couldn't just run out tothe grocery store and buy a
bunch of food, and so there is afamine in the land.
(12:44):
You might be saying well, whatabout government assistance?
I would say it's the RomanEmpire.
Don't forget, this was 2,000years ago.
If several thousand people died, there was just several
thousand people less that theyhad to worry about, and so they
did not care.
And so Paul is jumping in.
He sees a huge opportunity forthe church.
He says hey, all around youthere's this huge need that
needs to be met.
(13:04):
But you're not giving.
And so 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 2, reads they.
He's talking about anotherchurch.
He says they are being testedby many troubles and they are
very poor, but they are alsofilled with abundant joy which
is overflowed in rich generosity.
(13:24):
So Paul is talking aboutanother church just down the
road, going through the samethings.
They have the same needs.
As a matter of fact, he doesn'teven say this church in
Macedonia is wealthy.
He doesn't say they haveawesome jobs with amazing
benefits and swanky homes?
He doesn't say any of that,actually.
Benefits and swanky homes hedoesn't say any of that Actually
.
He says they're very poor.
(13:45):
Think about this this church inthe Bible that's been translated
to hundreds of languages forthousands of years.
What's the one thing we knowabout this church?
They're extremely poor.
Aren't you glad Paul's notwriting a letter about your life
right now that he can just passon to everybody else?
I would hate to know what hewould write about me.
But he says they are very poor.
(14:07):
They're just like you, they'relike several of us.
We don't feel like we have alot, but they have joy and but
they're generous, no matter what.
It didn't matter about whattheir bank account was like.
It didn't matter how the stockmarket was doing, it didn't
matter if grandma sent them abirthday check last month.
They were generous, no mattertheir financial situation.
(14:30):
And that's kind of the veryfirst point I think that we all
need to get this morning is thatgenerosity is not about our
means, it's about our mindset.
Generosity is not about what wehave, but rather it's about
what we think, or how we thinkabout what we have.
Mindset is so important andmindsets are the only difference
(14:51):
between the church in Macedoniaand the church in Corinth.
I don't have enough.
That is what the Corinthianchurch was saying.
And this is a scarcity mindsetthat many of us have.
And the scarcity mindsetconstantly pokes at you and says
, hey, you know that yourneighbor's house is bigger than
yours, right?
Pokes at you hey, did you see?
(15:12):
Your friend got that new car.
They just posted it on Facebook.
Their car's newer than yours.
The scarcity mindset says, hey,is your boss taking their third
or fourth vacation this year?
And have you had one yet?
No, okay, just wondering.
That is what the scarcitymindset does.
And it was doing it to theCorinthians 2,000 years ago.
And we can understand right Canwe understand that why they
(15:34):
weren't giving.
There's a famine in the land.
How long is the famine going tolast?
Six months, six years?
I mean we can understand whythey would have been stingy.
They're probably saving whatfood and what money they had to
keep their families alive andgoing.
So I think that we can allunderstand why they were
reluctant to give.
(15:54):
But Paul challenges them anyway.
He says there's a differentmindset, the mindset that the
Macedonians have, and that is aGod has provided mindset.
It is an abundance mindset.
Paul is saying it doesn'tmatter the square footage of
your apartment, what year yourcar was built or if your
vacation this year is a two-daytrip to Milwaukee.
(16:14):
He says you're going to bethankful because God has
provided you have clothes onyour back and food to eat and
you have a wonderful church thatyou can go to and be a part of.
And all the difference isbetween the Corinthian church
that has no joy and theMacedonian church that has joy
is in their mindset.
So you should be thinking rightnow okay, well, I would love to
(16:35):
have the Macedonian mindset.
How do I do that?
And if that's what you werewondering, I'm so glad that's
what you were asking, becausethat's what I want to address
next.
In verse 7, paul tells theCorinthians exactly how they're
going to do this.
He says since you excel in somany ways, I want you to excel
also in this gracious act ofgiving.
Paul is saying if you want yourmindset to change, you have to
(16:59):
change your behavior.
If you want to change the wayyou think, you've got to change
the things you're doing.
He says, corinthians, you guysare just like Dan, you're
analytical and you're stable andyou come up with really good
plans and that's a strength.
That's awesome.
Corinthians, you're just likeStephen.
You're pioneering and you focuson the results and you're very
direct, and that's awesome.
And in the at this, he addressesthe weakness.
(17:24):
You're not good at this, but Iwant you to and I want you to
excel and we're going to startdoing it.
Well, if it was that easy,wouldn't we all just do it?
They would have just done itand we'd all just do it today.
But we know that it's not.
The thing is, it's not simplewhy we don't.
And that's why we're going tobe talking about the profiles,
because different people in herewill have different reasons why
(17:46):
we have a mindset that says Idon't have enough or I can't
give, whether that'srelationally, whether that's
financially or whether that's byserving.
We would all have, maybe,different reasons, and so today
we're going to talk about theshadow sides of our profiles.
I didn't want to call themweaknesses because I didn't want
you to be defensive, but that'swhat they are okay.
So, when you see shadow side,they're weaknesses and it's okay
(18:06):
.
We all have weaknesses, but thedifference is if we're going to
address them and deal with themso that we can move on further
in life.
And so the goal for all of ustoday is to recognize why we
hesitate, what is stunting ourgrowth.
And I'm also going to give youa Bible verse, and the challenge
this week is to memorize thatBible verse.
So when you do feel hesitant,when you feel that scarcity
(18:29):
mindset poking you hey yourneighbor, hey your coworker, hey
your family you can go back tothis Bible verse and just repeat
it over and over in your mind,and that is how we're going to
begin to change your mindset.
So let's first talk about thecause movers.
We've talked about you guysfirst.
Every week you guys got to feelspecial, right?
Always talking about the causemovers.
We've talked about you guysfirst.
(18:49):
Every week you guys got to feelspecial, right?
Always talking about the causemovers, as mentioned, motivated
by making a difference, drawn tocauses here and now, you guys
are always the very first onesto rally at Madison Church.
We're like, hey, we're doing afundraiser for MC Kidman.
The cause movers are like, yeah, let's do it.
Hey, we're going to volunteeracross the street yeah, let's do
it.
And in the research done theydid a bunch of research about
these different profiles theyfound that cause movers were
(19:11):
average at everything.
That's good.
You guys weren't, like,necessarily bad at anything.
You're not necessarily great atanything, you're kind of right
in the middle, which is okay.
Now a word of caution for youguys.
So what is the weakness here?
The word is control.
Control for the cause movers.
You don't want to give if it'snot on your terms.
(19:31):
You don't want to volunteer ifit's not on your terms.
You don't want to go to smallgroup and talk about your life
if it's not on your terms, ifyou don't feel like it.
So the response to that is togive up control's, to give
control back to God and trustthat God is working, yes,
through you, but that, yes, godis also working around you and
(19:54):
that, yes, god is workingthrough the leaders here and the
leaders there.
And, yes, god can overcome eventhe worst of leaders and the
worst of policies and the worstof whatever, because God is in
control.
So if you're a cause mover,you're going to write down
control.
I need to watch.
That.
That's my weakness is control.
That's what makes me hesitateto give.
(20:16):
And the Bible verse you're goingto want to memorize is Malachi
3.10.
And I'm not going to show theBible verses because I've got to
get through five more of these.
Okay, so we're going to be.
We'd be scrambling, but it'sMalachi 3.10.
And what this verse says is Godis challenging the people.
He says they're withholdingfrom him their treasures.
And God says test me, bring meyour treasures, loosen your
(20:38):
control, open your hand and seethat I don't open up heaven and
rain down my treasures on you.
So when we're a cause mover andwe're feeling like control, we
memorize this verse and weremember God is in control and I
can absolutely trust him withthat.
Budget keepers, you guys aremotivated by being wise.
You have a high sense ofresponsibility and because of
(21:01):
that, you're actually verycomfortable talking about money
and our church needs that.
Some of us are poor and broke,and not because we don't have
good incomes, but because of ourspending habits.
But we don't want to talk aboutit.
But budget keepers are verywise.
Oftentimes they could beaccountants or CPAs or financial
advisors I'm none of thosethings, okay, but the budget
(21:24):
keepers are wise.
And what we found with thebudget keepers in the research
was that they are most generousin volunteering, in serving, and
so the budget keepers volunteer.
That's awesome.
The caution here, the shadowside, is that budget keepers
tend to be risk averse.
They don't want to take chanceswhen it comes to finances.
(21:45):
Oftentimes a budget keeper willbudget kind of giving
financially toward the bottom oftheir list.
They'll make sure rent is paidand the bills are paid, and a
little bit in the 401k and alittle bit in savings just in
case something goes wrong, and alittle bit here and a little
bit there, and then at the veryend we're like, oh yeah, and
we're going to give to God.
So the challenge is not for thebudget keepers you guys already
(22:07):
volunteer a lot.
The challenge is to giveregularly.
I don't know what that meansfor you.
Perhaps, maybe giving regularlymeans upping the frequency,
maybe giving regularly meansupping the amount.
But it is, as a budget keeper,prioritizing trust in God.
It's about saying, yeah, it isa little risky to trust God with
(22:28):
a little bit more or a littlebit more frequently, but that
we're going to trust God anyway,despite the risks.
The Bible verse for you guysProverbs 3, 9 through 10, which
says honor the Lord with yourwealth and the best part of
everything you produce, then hewill fill your barns with grain
and your vats will overflow withgood wine.
(22:48):
Budget keepers, when we budgetGod in and we up our frequency
or the amount and we trust Godwith our finances, he says
you're going to be blessed forthat.
Faith stretchers, you guys aremotivated by spiritual growth,
and generosity is part of havingfaith, and what we can learn
from you guys is the way thatyou're always living out your
(23:08):
faith.
You guys are examples offaithful people and you always
stretch yourself.
The research showed that youguys faith stretchers are most
generous in relationships, thatyou guys just love other people.
You guys open up, you bringpeople with you to church or
your small group, or you're justgood at doing life with other
people.
Now, this should be no shock tothe faith stretchers.
(23:29):
Maybe that your caution, yourshadow side, is busyness.
Faith stretchers are very busy.
They're running from onemeeting to the next, from one
activity to the next.
They're always busy.
So the challenge is to askyourself what do you perhaps
need to quit?
What have you done that Goddidn't necessarily want you to
do?
What have you taken on?
What responsibility that Godwas like?
(23:50):
I didn't ask you to do that,okay, but I am asking you to do
that, but you're too busy.
So maybe for us faithstretchers, the object here is
to say I'm going to quit thisbecause I really don't feel like
God told me to do this so I canstart doing this thing that God
did tell me to do.
The challenge then would beperhaps volunteering more.
(24:10):
You can volunteer at a placelike the community center.
You can volunteer at our churchLots of opportunities but that
would be a challenge.
And your memory verse for theweek is 1 Peter 4.10.
It reads God has given each ofyou a gift from his great
variety of spiritual gifts.
Use them well to serve oneanother.
Yes, faith stretchers, you havea lot of gifts, a lot to
(24:31):
contribute.
Now it's time to start using it.
Disciplined doers, motivated byjoyful obedience, you enjoy
giving because, frankly, godsays to give, and so for you
it's like checking the box.
Yep, I did that.
An MC can learn from yourcommitment.
You guys are disciplined andcommitted.
You guys are faithful andsteady, and the research shows
(24:53):
that disciplined doers aregenerous with their finances,
but not relationships.
You guys tend to be a littlestingy with your relationships.
Your word is isolated.
That is your weakness.
You're isolated.
And the reason is is becauseyou go to church and you check
that off your relationships.
Your word is isolated.
That is your weakness.
You're isolated and the reasonis is because you go to church
and you check that off your boxand then you give, because God
told you to give, and you checkthat off your box and you go to
(25:15):
small group because the pastoris constantly talking about
going to small group.
So you check that off your boxand then you become isolated.
You're just checking off boxes.
But what I'm challenging you todo is to open up relationally.
If you're a disciplined doer,if you're really interested in
growing in generosity, open up.
Take somebody from your smallgroup out to eat, hang around a
(25:35):
little bit after church and talkto someone and find out what
they're doing.
This week and I know what Ijust did was give you another
box to check off, okay, so youguys are lucky, I think, just
like you.
But this week you want to makesure and going forward.
Hey, if I'm going to grow, I'ma disciplined doer.
I need to be less isolated.
Your memory verses 2 Corinthians, 5.20.
(25:56):
So we are Christ ambassadors.
God is making His appealthrough us.
We speak for Christ when hepled.
Come back to God.
We need to be more relationallygenerous.
If you are a disciplined doer.
There are the community growers.
The community growers generallyare party animals.
They're motivated by being partof the community.
(26:17):
They can pull people together,always having a really just fun
time, and we can just learn fromyou guys and the way that you
share your lives and theopenness and the authenticity
that you guys have.
Research shows no surprise youguys are most generous
Relationships.
Right, ding, ding, ding, ofcourse, and we found out that
(26:38):
the area that you could grow inis finances.
The word for you guys, communitygrowers, is frustration,
because you guys get frustratedthat it seems like whenever
people talk about generosityit's about finances.
But my caution to you guyswould be that just because we're
talking about finances doesn'tmean that we're diminishing how
important volunteering is.
It doesn't mean we're sayingthat small groups aren't
(26:59):
important.
We can compliment somethinglike finances and talk about it
without insulting something elselike volunteering.
That's completely possible.
Now our country and our societyvalues volunteering and nobody
really has an objection to goingto small group and hanging out.
But in our society we consumeand consume and consume, and we
(27:22):
know that greed is rampant.
So when we talk aboutgenerosity, I don't have to
convince you it's good tovolunteer.
I don't have to probablyconvince you you should go to a
small group, but when it comesto finances and giving, I
probably have a little work todo.
And so that's why, if you're acommunity grower and you're
frustrated, why are they alwaystalking about money?
It's because it really does.
It's a societal sin.
(27:42):
We are plagued with greed.
The verse to help you overcomeis Matthew 6, 24.
This is Jesus speaking and hesays so God.
Jesus talked a lot aboutserving.
He shared his life with hisdisciples, but here he says
(28:05):
specifically if you worshipmoney, you can't worship God.
It's one or the other.
And last but certainly notleast, we actually just saved
the best for last legacybuilders.
I say that because I am alegacy builder.
Of course, we're not the best,we're all just different.
We are motivated by leaving alegacy, and the Madison Church
community benefits from ourpassion and our dreams.
(28:26):
Legacy builders are people whohave these grand visions, these
ideas always coming into theirhead, and we have a passion to
go chase them, and the communitycan learn from us.
Now the research shows thatwe're most generous in
volunteering.
We're the first ones to show upand we're the last ones to
leave, and we're okay with that.
We're very comfortable withthat.
The caution for us is to worry.
(28:47):
Okay with that, we're verycomfortable with that.
The caution for us is to worry.
I can speak to this, this isvery true.
I struggle with stress all thetime, and so this one really
relates to me as a legacybuilder that I have to not worry
Now.
Interestingly enough, theresearch showed that out of all
six profiles, can you guess whatthe wealthiest group was?
It's the legacy builders.
So when legacy builders areworried about giving, it's not
(29:12):
because they're poor, it'sbecause we're just worried about
our legacy.
And oftentimes what makeslegacy builders have the wealth
are the decisions that they'remaking.
They say no to the coffee today, or they say no to going out to
eat on Friday night, and I'drather save that money for this.
But then what happens isbecause of the intentionality
(29:34):
that goes behind leaving alegacy, we can sometimes become
generously stingy.
My challenge for legacy buildersjust like me is to invest
heavily in the mission of God.
Yes, leave a legacy for yourfamily and your children
Absolutely so important.
But you can leave an eternallegacy by making a big
(29:56):
investment in a ministry here atMadison Church that changes the
lives of the people in ourcommunity.
The memory verse for us is 633,matthew 633.
It says seek the kingdom of Godabove all else and live
righteously and he will give youeverything you need.
That's a promise.
God says live righteously, putGod above all else and he will
(30:18):
provide for us.
If we are concerned about ourlegacy, we're going to invest in
the kingdom of God, because Godthen will help protect our
legacy.
Now here's the thing.
Maybe you were a cause mover,but you related more to the
worry side.
Or maybe you were a faithstretcher and you related more
to the frustration shadow side.
Totally possible, that's okay.
(30:41):
You can jump around all youwant.
Whichever one of those stoodout to you the most, go ahead
and circle it.
Just make a big circle over thechallenge verse and the shadow
side, no matter which one youstarred, which one speaks to you
the most.
And your challenge this week isto pray about that shadow side.
Say God, help me not to worry,I'll find peace in you.
(31:01):
God, help me not to befrustrated, I'll find joy in you
.
God, help me not to be isolated, help me open up and be in
community with you.
All of us, every single person.
I know we don't like talkingabout our weaknesses.
Every single one of us, though,have weaknesses and
opportunities to grow.
We can be more generous, andnot just with our money, but
with our time and relationships,and when we think about
(31:24):
generosity, we have to always goback to Jesus.
His life was everything that weshould strive to be, and he
lived an absolutely, profoundlygenerous life.
The US constantly sells youstuff.
You turn on a commercial andthere's a newer car that you
just have to have.
You go on Facebook and somehowthey knew you were looking for a
(31:46):
new tablet yesterday, andthey've got 30 right here that
you can scroll through and maybeyou'll like that.
You go to get your mail and youwere pre-approved for a credit
card.
The message with all of thoseis not enough, not enough, not
enough.
Here's more, here's more,here's more.
(32:08):
It's no wonder that every singleone of us in the room struggles
with a scarcity mindset,because the minute we leave this
place, we're told and we'resold we don't have enough and
we're not enough, but God saysotherwise, and I have to ask who
are you going to believe?
God, your heavenly father, orthe United States and people who
are trying to sell yousomething?
We read in 2 Corinthians 8, 9,the conclusion of this little
(32:30):
passage.
He says we know Paul's writing.
He says you know the generousgrace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
though he was rich, yet for yoursakes, jesus gave up everything
in exchange for nothing, sothat you and I, who have nothing
, could have everything.
(32:50):
He was rich and became poor sothat we could share in his
riches.
He left heaven for earth sothat we could leave earth for
heaven.
He's the ultimate example ofsomebody who lives a generous
life, financially, relationallyand through serving.
The only proper response,because we could never, ever pay
(33:11):
him back for that the onlyproper response is to live a
life worthy of the calling thathe has called us to and together
, every single one of us, thesix profiles, working on our
weaknesses, becoming stronger.
We'll be a community that isdefined by giving back.
We'll make Madison a city inwhich people don't have needs.
(33:32):
The way that we serve with ourskills, give with our finances
and open up relationally willlead more people to connecting
with God and each other thanever have in this city before.
My name is Stephen.
As Marie said, I'm the leadpastor here at Madison Church.
I am glad that you guys arehere before the snow and before
the like minus 100 degree windchills or something.
So you know, man, I hope youguys all make it this week.
I hope we'll see you next week.
Get your hats and gloves out.
But concluding this seriestoday and I want to talk about
(00:24):
profiles again and personalityprofiles A few months ago, I had
everybody on our leadershipteam at Madison Church take the
Disc Finder profile, and twothings.
If you didn't know, madisonChurch is run by some really
amazing people who volunteeranywhere from two to four to
maybe six hours a week to dosome ministry work.
They work down in our MC Kidman, out in the lobby with
(00:46):
hospitality and greeters and inhere planning music, and so we
are a volunteer-run church andwe are so grateful for those
guys that they do that.
That's the first thing youmight not have known.
The second thing, though, islet me explain what DISC is.
Disc is a personality profilerthat has four big categories,
and it's been studied about inpsychology for about 50 years,
(01:07):
so there is some science andresearch and statistics behind
it, and I thought it would bereally good if we could group
everybody on my leadership teaminto four quadrants.
So I was like we're just goingto stereotype you into one of
these four corners?
No, it's not quite like that,but there are several
subcategories and what wasreally cool about this was that
we got feedback and we gotlanguage for how we are.
(01:29):
Sometimes I can be stubborn andyou know what.
That's what my disc showed.
It said Steven is a very direct, results oriented person and
specifically I kind of tend togo high on this.
It's a circle.
So if you want to imagine withme a circle, I'm as far north as
you can get, which is to saythat I have like a pioneering
spirit.
I like to dream, I see newopportunities, I have no problem
(01:52):
taking risk, and that's mypersonality.
That's what it came back at.
But if you were to look atDan's, he is actually the exact
opposite of me.
So whereas I'm pioneeringstraight north, he is stability
straight south.
And so how this looks like is Iam ready to go, take on new
initiatives, and Dan wants toweigh the pros and cons.
(02:15):
He probably wants to make alist, he wants to think about it
.
He is very analytical, likethat.
Now we make a really good teamfor that reason, because I can
say, hey, I think this is anopportunity and he can look at
it, make sure we're not making amistake, and then I can make
sure we get the results thatwe're after and he keeps us on
track, he's a good finisher, andso we make a great team, and
(02:35):
these are our strengths.
But, of course, oftentimes whenyou work with other people,
weaknesses come out, and that'sthe other thing that the disc
pointed out was some weaknesses,and so what I have found
personally to be true is thatour weaknesses are intertwined
with our strengths.
It's not like our weaknessesare something just over here and
(02:55):
I just got to deal with that.
Oftentimes it's not just aseasy as fixing one thing.
When we're talking about ourweaknesses right, it's usually
oh, like 10 things I've got towork on, and so, for example,
conflict between Dan and I couldarise.
If I really feel passionatelyabout something and I want to
rush into it and we're going todo it by the end of today, that
(03:17):
would make Dan maybe a littlegrumpy.
He would say well, have youreally thought about it?
How do we know we're notrushing into a mistake, which
would make me grumpy because I'mlike you're a dream killer.
Why do you do this to me?
I have this great idea.
It's from God.
Why are you standing in theAlmighty's way right now?
Sometimes I get confusedbetween me and God, and so
there's potential conflict toarise.
(03:39):
Now it's all about perspectivebecause, objectively, there's
nothing wrong with Dan analyzingObjectively, there's nothing
wrong with me beingresults-driven.
As a matter of fact, if I wasthe only person in the world,
nobody would even know I had anyweaknesses, right?
And if Dan were the only personin the world, no one would know
him or his weaknesses.
But furthermore, the potentialconflict can work well together.
(04:03):
It depends on the situation too.
So, for example, if Dan and Iwere challenged to both build an
airplane, I would finish first.
I know I would.
I just know there's no doubt inmy mind I might be missing a
wing, but it's going to finishokay.
Now, dan, on the other hand, hewould take a little bit more
time, but even I would ratherfly in Dan's airplane than an
(04:24):
airplane I would make okayBecause he's analytical like
that.
Now, flip side to that is if wewere having our church service
downtown on the 10th floor andsomeone came bursting into the
service and said okay, we're allgoing to die.
A fire has totally consumed thefirst five floors of the
building.
You want to follow me becauseI'm going to get us out of there
right now.
(04:45):
It's going to be all about theresults.
Which is getting out?
You don't want to sit behindwith Dan while he tries to
figure out how the fire gotstarted.
Okay, now, that's just anexaggeration and I'm kidding.
It doesn't mean that Dan can'tbe pioneering or have dreams.
He absolutely does.
It doesn't mean that I can't beanalytical.
Sometimes I accidentally am,especially when it comes to
fantasy football.
I try to be.
I'm not very good at it, though.
(05:11):
But strengths and weaknesses,and it kind of compares person
to person.
Now I know when I talk aboutweaknesses, we don't want to
talk about our weaknesses.
A lot of us are uncomfortablewith our weaknesses, we get
defensive about our weaknessesand we really, really don't want
to talk to other people aboutour weaknesses.
So, good news I'm going to talkabout weaknesses today with
everybody, but we don't know anyof yours, so that's going to be
(05:33):
a secret.
But at the end of the service,I'm going to talk about your
weaknesses, though you don'thave to own them.
Okay, but what I would ask isthat you stay open to what we're
going to talk about today.
We all have weaknesses and, inthe same way that strengths are
like wind in our sails,weaknesses are anchors hanging
off the back of our boat.
Now, we can pretend we don'thave an anchor hanging off the
(05:56):
back of our boat and getfrustrated by everyone else
flying right by us.
Right, and we do that.
We say, well, that's not fair,well, he's just lucky.
When meanwhile, it might bethat, oh no, you have a huge
anchor hanging off the back ofyour boat.
You want to look at that?
No, there's no anchor backthere.
I don't have a weakness.
(06:16):
What are you talking about?
Okay?
Well, today I would like tohave maybe an uncomfortable
conversation with you so that wecan grow.
We're very passionate aboutgrowing spiritually here, and
our weaknesses honestly keep usfrom growing, especially when we
ignore them.
Now, throughout this wholeseries, we've been talking about
generosity profiles, and we'regoing to show a quick video to
(06:39):
recap what all of those are.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Everyone is born with the inclination to give.
Generosity is in our DNA, butthe key to a life of generosity
lies in our motivation, and whatmight motivate you to give
generously may be different thanwhat motivates me.
The six distinct generosityprofiles can help us better
(07:03):
understand our motivation togive.
Cause movers are motivated bymaking a difference.
They are the first to step upand be generous when a tangible
need arises.
Relational and responsive causemovers like seeing how their
giving makes an immediate andobservable difference.
Jesus tells a story about acause mover in Luke, chapter 10.
(07:26):
We often refer to him as theGood Samaritan.
Cause movers, you reflect theimage of our generous God when
you cheerfully give out of yourmotivation of making a
difference.
Budget keepers are motivated bybeing wise, with a high sense of
responsibility.
Budget keepers manage moneywisely and actually enjoy
(07:50):
budgeting and planning.
They approach giving carefully,asking what can I afford to
give?
Budget keepers are generallycomfortable talking about money.
The woman described in Proverbs31 is a great example of a
budget keeper.
Budget keepers, you reflect theimage of our generous God when
(08:10):
you cheerfully give out of yourmotivation of being wise.
Faith stretchers are motivatedby spiritual growth and see
generosity as part of theirfaith journey.
Faith stretchers stretch togive because they believe God
will reward their faithfulness,but they don't necessarily
expect that reward to bemonetary.
(08:32):
The poor widow who Jesusobserved giving her last two
coins is an example of a faithstretcher.
Faith stretchers you reflectthe image of our generous God
when you cheerfully give out ofyour motivation to grow
spiritually.
Disciplined doers are motivatedby joyful obedience.
(08:53):
The commands in scripture arelife-giving to them.
Disciplined doers give becauseGod commands it in His word.
The more consistentlydisciplined doers follow
biblical principles, the morealigned they feel with God's
ideals for their life.
After Zacchaeus' life-changingencounter with Jesus, his joyful
obedience was unleashed, makinghim a great example of a
(09:17):
disciplined doer.
Disciplined doers you reflectthe image of our generous God
when you cheerfully give out ofyour motivation of joyful
obedience.
Community growers are motivatedby being part of a community.
They believe the missionrequires everyone to pull
together and do their part in avariety of ways.
(09:39):
To a community grower, givingof one's time and talents is
just as important as givingfinancially.
They do give financiallybecause they know it's important
, but they can get frustratedwhen financial generosity is the
focus.
The community that Mosesrallied to build the tabernacle
was filled with communitygrowers, so much so that Moses
(10:00):
had to tell the people to stopgiving.
Community growers, you reflectthe image of our generous God
when you cheerfully give out ofyour motivation of being part of
a community.
Legacy builders are motivated byleaving a legacy.
They want their lives to countfor something, both now and
(10:21):
after they're gone.
When an organization or causecaptures their heart, legacy
builders will make a significantinvestment, both in the present
and in long-term planning, withthe goal of leaving a mark on
the world that is bigger thanthemselves.
In the Old Testament, boazrisked his reputation to rescue
Ruth, becoming a legacy builderby restoring a family line that
(10:44):
ultimately led to the birth ofJesus.
Legacy builders, you reflectthe image of our generous God
when you cheerfully give out ofyour motivation to leave a
legacy.
Understanding our distinctmotivation can help us grow in
generosity so that ultimately,together, we can help more and
(11:08):
more people find their way backto our generous God.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
All right.
Well, if you were here a coupleweeks ago, that is what Dan
talked about, but she did it in25 minutes faster.
So if you missed that week, youknow.
There it is and it's a goodrecap.
Throughout the series we'vebeen talking about different
profiles, different motivators,and so you got this little
handout.
Go ahead and, on the side here,star which two you are, or
(11:39):
which two you think you are,which sounded like you.
You're going to star thosebecause we're coming back to
this card After you.
Star, if you want to followalong, we're going to go to 2
Corinthians, chapter 8, to studytoday and talking about
generosity and weaknesses.
Now, a little context, whileyou're going to 2 Corinthians,
(12:00):
chapter 8, is that Paul ischallenging the Corinthian
church, which is a very, veryunhealthy church.
They're just not doing a lot ofthings right.
Paul is trying to help them out.
He's written a couple lettersat this point and he's saying
hey, you guys are kind ofreluctant to give, and that's
kind of one of the issues thathe wants to talk to them about.
Now there is somethingimportant to know that there is
(12:21):
a famine going on in the landNow.
2,000 years ago, famines couldwipe out entire societies,
neighborhoods, towns, whatever,because they didn't have like
modern day irrigation technologythat we have.
If the weather was bad for longperiods of time, people would
starve to death.
They couldn't just run out tothe grocery store and buy a
bunch of food, and so there is afamine in the land.
(12:44):
You might be saying well, whatabout government assistance?
I would say it's the RomanEmpire.
Don't forget, this was 2,000years ago.
If several thousand people died, there was just several
thousand people less that theyhad to worry about, and so they
did not care.
And so Paul is jumping in.
He sees a huge opportunity forthe church.
He says hey, all around youthere's this huge need that
needs to be met.
(13:04):
But you're not giving.
And so 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 2, reads they.
He's talking about anotherchurch.
He says they are being testedby many troubles and they are
very poor, but they are alsofilled with abundant joy which
is overflowed in rich generosity.
(13:24):
So Paul is talking aboutanother church just down the
road, going through the samethings.
They have the same needs.
As a matter of fact, he doesn'teven say this church in
Macedonia is wealthy.
He doesn't say they haveawesome jobs with amazing
benefits and swanky homes?
He doesn't say any of that,actually.
Benefits and swanky homes hedoesn't say any of that Actually
.
He says they're very poor.
(13:45):
Think about this this church inthe Bible that's been translated
to hundreds of languages forthousands of years.
What's the one thing we knowabout this church?
They're extremely poor.
Aren't you glad Paul's notwriting a letter about your life
right now that he can just passon to everybody else?
I would hate to know what hewould write about me.
But he says they are very poor.
(14:07):
They're just like you, they'relike several of us.
We don't feel like we have alot, but they have joy and but
they're generous, no matter what.
It didn't matter about whattheir bank account was like.
It didn't matter how the stockmarket was doing, it didn't
matter if grandma sent them abirthday check last month.
They were generous, no mattertheir financial situation.
(14:30):
And that's kind of the veryfirst point I think that we all
need to get this morning is thatgenerosity is not about our
means, it's about our mindset.
Generosity is not about what wehave, but rather it's about
what we think, or how we thinkabout what we have.
Mindset is so important andmindsets are the only difference
(14:51):
between the church in Macedoniaand the church in Corinth.
I don't have enough.
That is what the Corinthianchurch was saying.
And this is a scarcity mindsetthat many of us have.
And the scarcity mindsetconstantly pokes at you and says
, hey, you know that yourneighbor's house is bigger than
yours, right?
Pokes at you hey, did you see?
(15:12):
Your friend got that new car.
They just posted it on Facebook.
Their car's newer than yours.
The scarcity mindset says, hey,is your boss taking their third
or fourth vacation this year?
And have you had one yet?
No, okay, just wondering.
That is what the scarcitymindset does.
And it was doing it to theCorinthians 2,000 years ago.
And we can understand right Canwe understand that why they
(15:34):
weren't giving.
There's a famine in the land.
How long is the famine going tolast?
Six months, six years?
I mean we can understand whythey would have been stingy.
They're probably saving whatfood and what money they had to
keep their families alive andgoing.
So I think that we can allunderstand why they were
reluctant to give.
(15:54):
But Paul challenges them anyway.
He says there's a differentmindset, the mindset that the
Macedonians have, and that is aGod has provided mindset.
It is an abundance mindset.
Paul is saying it doesn'tmatter the square footage of
your apartment, what year yourcar was built or if your
vacation this year is a two-daytrip to Milwaukee.
(16:14):
He says you're going to bethankful because God has
provided you have clothes onyour back and food to eat and
you have a wonderful church thatyou can go to and be a part of.
And all the difference isbetween the Corinthian church
that has no joy and theMacedonian church that has joy
is in their mindset.
So you should be thinking rightnow okay, well, I would love to
(16:35):
have the Macedonian mindset.
How do I do that?
And if that's what you werewondering, I'm so glad that's
what you were asking, becausethat's what I want to address
next.
In verse 7, paul tells theCorinthians exactly how they're
going to do this.
He says since you excel in somany ways, I want you to excel
also in this gracious act ofgiving.
Paul is saying if you want yourmindset to change, you have to
(16:59):
change your behavior.
If you want to change the wayyou think, you've got to change
the things you're doing.
He says, corinthians, you guysare just like Dan, you're
analytical and you're stable andyou come up with really good
plans and that's a strength.
That's awesome.
Corinthians, you're just likeStephen.
You're pioneering and you focuson the results and you're very
direct, and that's awesome.
And in the at this, he addressesthe weakness.
(17:24):
You're not good at this, but Iwant you to and I want you to
excel and we're going to startdoing it.
Well, if it was that easy,wouldn't we all just do it?
They would have just done itand we'd all just do it today.
But we know that it's not.
The thing is, it's not simplewhy we don't.
And that's why we're going tobe talking about the profiles,
because different people in herewill have different reasons why
(17:46):
we have a mindset that says Idon't have enough or I can't
give, whether that'srelationally, whether that's
financially or whether that's byserving.
We would all have, maybe,different reasons, and so today
we're going to talk about theshadow sides of our profiles.
I didn't want to call themweaknesses because I didn't want
you to be defensive, but that'swhat they are okay.
So, when you see shadow side,they're weaknesses and it's okay
(18:06):
.
We all have weaknesses, but thedifference is if we're going to
address them and deal with themso that we can move on further
in life.
And so the goal for all of ustoday is to recognize why we
hesitate, what is stunting ourgrowth.
And I'm also going to give youa Bible verse, and the challenge
this week is to memorize thatBible verse.
So when you do feel hesitant,when you feel that scarcity
(18:29):
mindset poking you hey yourneighbor, hey your coworker, hey
your family you can go back tothis Bible verse and just repeat
it over and over in your mind,and that is how we're going to
begin to change your mindset.
So let's first talk about thecause movers.
We've talked about you guysfirst.
Every week you guys got to feelspecial, right?
Always talking about the causemovers.
We've talked about you guysfirst.
(18:49):
Every week you guys got to feelspecial, right?
Always talking about the causemovers, as mentioned, motivated
by making a difference, drawn tocauses here and now, you guys
are always the very first onesto rally at Madison Church.
We're like, hey, we're doing afundraiser for MC Kidman.
The cause movers are like, yeah, let's do it.
Hey, we're going to volunteeracross the street yeah, let's do
it.
And in the research done theydid a bunch of research about
these different profiles theyfound that cause movers were
(19:11):
average at everything.
That's good.
You guys weren't, like,necessarily bad at anything.
You're not necessarily great atanything, you're kind of right
in the middle, which is okay.
Now a word of caution for youguys.
So what is the weakness here?
The word is control.
Control for the cause movers.
You don't want to give if it'snot on your terms.
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You don't want to volunteer ifit's not on your terms.
You don't want to go to smallgroup and talk about your life
if it's not on your terms, ifyou don't feel like it.
So the response to that is togive up control's, to give
control back to God and trustthat God is working, yes,
through you, but that, yes, godis also working around you and
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that, yes, god is workingthrough the leaders here and the
leaders there.
And, yes, god can overcome eventhe worst of leaders and the
worst of policies and the worstof whatever, because God is in
control.
So if you're a cause mover,you're going to write down
control.
I need to watch.
That.
That's my weakness is control.
That's what makes me hesitateto give.
(20:16):
And the Bible verse you're goingto want to memorize is Malachi
3.10.
And I'm not going to show theBible verses because I've got to
get through five more of these.
Okay, so we're going to be.
We'd be scrambling, but it'sMalachi 3.10.
And what this verse says is Godis challenging the people.
He says they're withholdingfrom him their treasures.
And God says test me, bring meyour treasures, loosen your
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control, open your hand and seethat I don't open up heaven and
rain down my treasures on you.
So when we're a cause mover andwe're feeling like control, we
memorize this verse and weremember God is in control and I
can absolutely trust him withthat.
Budget keepers, you guys aremotivated by being wise.
You have a high sense ofresponsibility and because of
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that, you're actually verycomfortable talking about money
and our church needs that.
Some of us are poor and broke,and not because we don't have
good incomes, but because of ourspending habits.
But we don't want to talk aboutit.
But budget keepers are verywise.
Oftentimes they could beaccountants or CPAs or financial
advisors I'm none of thosethings, okay, but the budget
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keepers are wise.
And what we found with thebudget keepers in the research
was that they are most generousin volunteering, in serving, and
so the budget keepers volunteer.
That's awesome.
The caution here, the shadowside, is that budget keepers
tend to be risk averse.
They don't want to take chanceswhen it comes to finances.
(21:45):
Oftentimes a budget keeper willbudget kind of giving
financially toward the bottom oftheir list.
They'll make sure rent is paidand the bills are paid, and a
little bit in the 401k and alittle bit in savings just in
case something goes wrong, and alittle bit here and a little
bit there, and then at the veryend we're like, oh yeah, and
we're going to give to God.
So the challenge is not for thebudget keepers you guys already
(22:07):
volunteer a lot.
The challenge is to giveregularly.
I don't know what that meansfor you.
Perhaps, maybe giving regularlymeans upping the frequency,
maybe giving regularly meansupping the amount.
But it is, as a budget keeper,prioritizing trust in God.
It's about saying, yeah, it isa little risky to trust God with
(22:28):
a little bit more or a littlebit more frequently, but that
we're going to trust God anyway,despite the risks.
The Bible verse for you guysProverbs 3, 9 through 10, which
says honor the Lord with yourwealth and the best part of
everything you produce, then hewill fill your barns with grain
and your vats will overflow withgood wine.
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Budget keepers, when we budgetGod in and we up our frequency
or the amount and we trust Godwith our finances, he says
you're going to be blessed forthat.
Faith stretchers, you guys aremotivated by spiritual growth,
and generosity is part of havingfaith, and what we can learn
from you guys is the way thatyou're always living out your
(23:08):
faith.
You guys are examples offaithful people and you always
stretch yourself.
The research showed that youguys faith stretchers are most
generous in relationships, thatyou guys just love other people.
You guys open up, you bringpeople with you to church or
your small group, or you're justgood at doing life with other
people.
Now, this should be no shock tothe faith stretchers.
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Maybe that your caution, yourshadow side, is busyness.
Faith stretchers are very busy.
They're running from onemeeting to the next, from one
activity to the next.
They're always busy.
So the challenge is to askyourself what do you perhaps
need to quit?
What have you done that Goddidn't necessarily want you to
do?
What have you taken on?
What responsibility that Godwas like?
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I didn't ask you to do that,okay, but I am asking you to do
that, but you're too busy.
So maybe for us faithstretchers, the object here is
to say I'm going to quit thisbecause I really don't feel like
God told me to do this so I canstart doing this thing that God
did tell me to do.
The challenge then would beperhaps volunteering more.
(24:10):
You can volunteer at a placelike the community center.
You can volunteer at our churchLots of opportunities but that
would be a challenge.
And your memory verse for theweek is 1 Peter 4.10.
It reads God has given each ofyou a gift from his great
variety of spiritual gifts.
Use them well to serve oneanother.
Yes, faith stretchers, you havea lot of gifts, a lot to
(24:31):
contribute.
Now it's time to start using it.
Disciplined doers, motivated byjoyful obedience, you enjoy
giving because, frankly, godsays to give, and so for you
it's like checking the box.
Yep, I did that.
An MC can learn from yourcommitment.
You guys are disciplined andcommitted.
You guys are faithful andsteady, and the research shows
(24:53):
that disciplined doers aregenerous with their finances,
but not relationships.
You guys tend to be a littlestingy with your relationships.
Your word is isolated.
That is your weakness.
You're isolated.
And the reason is is becauseyou go to church and you check
that off your relationships.
Your word is isolated.
That is your weakness.
You're isolated and the reasonis is because you go to church
and you check that off your boxand then you give, because God
told you to give, and you checkthat off your box and you go to
(25:15):
small group because the pastoris constantly talking about
going to small group.
So you check that off your boxand then you become isolated.
You're just checking off boxes.
But what I'm challenging you todo is to open up relationally.
If you're a disciplined doer,if you're really interested in
growing in generosity, open up.
Take somebody from your smallgroup out to eat, hang around a
(25:35):
little bit after church and talkto someone and find out what
they're doing.
This week and I know what Ijust did was give you another
box to check off, okay, so youguys are lucky, I think, just
like you.
But this week you want to makesure and going forward.
Hey, if I'm going to grow, I'ma disciplined doer.
I need to be less isolated.
Your memory verses 2 Corinthians, 5.20.
(25:56):
So we are Christ ambassadors.
God is making His appealthrough us.
We speak for Christ when hepled.
Come back to God.
We need to be more relationallygenerous.
If you are a disciplined doer.
There are the community growers.
The community growers generallyare party animals.
They're motivated by being partof the community.
(26:17):
They can pull people together,always having a really just fun
time, and we can just learn fromyou guys and the way that you
share your lives and theopenness and the authenticity
that you guys have.
Research shows no surprise youguys are most generous
Relationships.
Right, ding, ding, ding, ofcourse, and we found out that
(26:38):
the area that you could grow inis finances.
The word for you guys, communitygrowers, is frustration,
because you guys get frustratedthat it seems like whenever
people talk about generosityit's about finances.
But my caution to you guyswould be that just because we're
talking about finances doesn'tmean that we're diminishing how
important volunteering is.
It doesn't mean we're sayingthat small groups aren't
(26:59):
important.
We can compliment somethinglike finances and talk about it
without insulting something elselike volunteering.
That's completely possible.
Now our country and our societyvalues volunteering and nobody
really has an objection to goingto small group and hanging out.
But in our society we consumeand consume and consume, and we
(27:22):
know that greed is rampant.
So when we talk aboutgenerosity, I don't have to
convince you it's good tovolunteer.
I don't have to probablyconvince you you should go to a
small group, but when it comesto finances and giving, I
probably have a little work todo.
And so that's why, if you're acommunity grower and you're
frustrated, why are they alwaystalking about money?
It's because it really does.
It's a societal sin.
(27:42):
We are plagued with greed.
The verse to help you overcomeis Matthew 6, 24.
This is Jesus speaking and hesays so God.
Jesus talked a lot aboutserving.
He shared his life with hisdisciples, but here he says
(28:05):
specifically if you worshipmoney, you can't worship God.
It's one or the other.
And last but certainly notleast, we actually just saved
the best for last legacybuilders.
I say that because I am alegacy builder.
Of course, we're not the best,we're all just different.
We are motivated by leaving alegacy, and the Madison Church
community benefits from ourpassion and our dreams.
(28:26):
Legacy builders are people whohave these grand visions, these
ideas always coming into theirhead, and we have a passion to
go chase them, and the communitycan learn from us.
Now the research shows thatwe're most generous in
volunteering.
We're the first ones to show upand we're the last ones to
leave, and we're okay with that.
We're very comfortable withthat.
The caution for us is to worry.
(28:47):
Okay with that, we're verycomfortable with that.
The caution for us is to worry.
I can speak to this, this isvery true.
I struggle with stress all thetime, and so this one really
relates to me as a legacybuilder that I have to not worry
Now.
Interestingly enough, theresearch showed that out of all
six profiles, can you guess whatthe wealthiest group was?
It's the legacy builders.
So when legacy builders areworried about giving, it's not
(29:12):
because they're poor, it'sbecause we're just worried about
our legacy.
And oftentimes what makeslegacy builders have the wealth
are the decisions that they'remaking.
They say no to the coffee today, or they say no to going out to
eat on Friday night, and I'drather save that money for this.
But then what happens isbecause of the intentionality
(29:34):
that goes behind leaving alegacy, we can sometimes become
generously stingy.
My challenge for legacy buildersjust like me is to invest
heavily in the mission of God.
Yes, leave a legacy for yourfamily and your children
Absolutely so important.
But you can leave an eternallegacy by making a big
(29:56):
investment in a ministry here atMadison Church that changes the
lives of the people in ourcommunity.
The memory verse for us is 633,matthew 633.
It says seek the kingdom of Godabove all else and live
righteously and he will give youeverything you need.
That's a promise.
God says live righteously, putGod above all else and he will
(30:18):
provide for us.
If we are concerned about ourlegacy, we're going to invest in
the kingdom of God, because Godthen will help protect our
legacy.
Now here's the thing.
Maybe you were a cause mover,but you related more to the
worry side.
Or maybe you were a faithstretcher and you related more
to the frustration shadow side.
Totally possible, that's okay.
(30:41):
You can jump around all youwant.
Whichever one of those stoodout to you the most, go ahead
and circle it.
Just make a big circle over thechallenge verse and the shadow
side, no matter which one youstarred, which one speaks to you
the most.
And your challenge this week isto pray about that shadow side.
Say God, help me not to worry,I'll find peace in you.
(31:01):
God, help me not to befrustrated, I'll find joy in you
.
God, help me not to be isolated, help me open up and be in
community with you.
All of us, every single person.
I know we don't like talkingabout our weaknesses.
Every single one of us, though,have weaknesses and
opportunities to grow.
We can be more generous, andnot just with our money, but
with our time and relationships,and when we think about
(31:24):
generosity, we have to always goback to Jesus.
His life was everything that weshould strive to be, and he
lived an absolutely, profoundlygenerous life.
The US constantly sells youstuff.
You turn on a commercial andthere's a newer car that you
just have to have.
You go on Facebook and somehowthey knew you were looking for a
(31:46):
new tablet yesterday, andthey've got 30 right here that
you can scroll through and maybeyou'll like that.
You go to get your mail and youwere pre-approved for a credit
card.
The message with all of thoseis not enough, not enough, not
enough.
Here's more, here's more,here's more.
(32:08):
It's no wonder that every singleone of us in the room struggles
with a scarcity mindset,because the minute we leave this
place, we're told and we'resold we don't have enough and
we're not enough, but God saysotherwise, and I have to ask who
are you going to believe?
God, your heavenly father, orthe United States and people who
are trying to sell yousomething?
We read in 2 Corinthians 8, 9,the conclusion of this little
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passage.
He says we know Paul's writing.
He says you know the generousgrace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
though he was rich, yet for yoursakes, jesus gave up everything
in exchange for nothing, sothat you and I, who have nothing
, could have everything.
(32:50):
He was rich and became poor sothat we could share in his
riches.
He left heaven for earth sothat we could leave earth for
heaven.
He's the ultimate example ofsomebody who lives a generous
life, financially, relationallyand through serving.
The only proper response,because we could never, ever pay
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him back for that the onlyproper response is to live a
life worthy of the calling thathe has called us to and together
, every single one of us, thesix profiles, working on our
weaknesses, becoming stronger.
We'll be a community that isdefined by giving back.
We'll make Madison a city inwhich people don't have needs.
(33:32):
The way that we serve with ourskills, give with our finances
and open up relationally willlead more people to connecting
with God and each other thanever have in this city before.
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