What is The Overflow? Part 6

GENEROSITY: Giving reflects our priorities
Exodus 35:4-35, Malachi 3:9-11, Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 21:1-4, Acts 2:44-45, 4:32-35, Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12, 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, 9:6-15, Ephesians 4, 1 Timothy 6:17-19

EXPANSION: Stay hungry
Matthew 16:18, 28:19-20, Luke 2:52, Acts 1:8, 2:46-47, 9:31, 16:5, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 3:7-9, Ephesians 4:15-16, 2 Corinthians 9:9-11, 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13, 1 Timothy 2:3-4, 1 Peter 2:5

As the old saying goes, you should put your money where your mouth is. Well, that's what we hope to do as The Overflow Church. Actually, when we start talking about generosity, we believe it goes far beyond just our financial acts of generosity. We believe that true generosity is connected to the whole person: our time, abilities, and resources.

Before I go any further, let me clarify who we expect to practice generosity. We only expect those people who commit to The Overflow to practice generosity. For example, if you attend one of our worship experiences, you'll actually here us say that if you are a guest or just praying about your involvement with The Overflow, then we don't want your money! Yeah, that's right, we are the church that is saying, "Don't give us your money." At the same time, for those people who do commit to The Overflow, we believe the Bible clearly teaches we should be generous with our time, abilities, and resources, and we want to help you take those steps in your generosity.

Even though we haven't officially launched our church, our launch team is already taking this core value to heart. We are laying the foundation to be a generous church. To further communicate this from the beginning of our church, we are actually giving money away at our preview worship experience on December 12 and at our launch worship experience on January 16. I'm not going to give the details on here, but just trust me, we are going to generously give back to the community!

In direct connection with our desire to be a generous church, we desire to see God's Kingdom expand in our lives and city. We believe the impact of our church and the growth of our personal walks with God will not expand beyond the level of our generosity. For example, if we hold to our time and are not willing to make God a priority in our schedules, then I can guarantee that His presence won't expand in our personal lives. Then, as a direct result, His presence won't be expanding through our church and city.

Research shows that nearly 85% of all church in America are stagnant or declining. This happens because people lose their hunger for God, His Word, and His ways. The church in America is where it is because "Christians" have decided to no longer be generous with their time, abilities, and resources; instead, everything else becomes a priority and God's calling takes a backseat. If only we would remember that God has never stopped being generous, so our generosity must follow His example!

We don't consider ourselves to be radicals, but when it comes to our desire to be a generous and expanding church, we realize we may have to be radical in order to change the common perception of church that currently exists. Our prayer is that through our generosity and commitment to expansion, God's love will overflow throughout this city and the presence of God in both our lives and this city will expand unlike anything we've ever seen before!