Word & Deed: The Macedonian Model

radiantvisalia.com
Word & Deed, We are Stewards: The Macedonian Model
with Travis Aicklen

This sermon explores the topic of generosity and giving, drawing inspiration from the Macedonian church's example in 2 Corinthians 8. The message emphasizes that generosity is not about the amount given, but about the heart attitude behind it.

Key Points:

• Generosity is not an amount: The Macedonian church, despite their extreme poverty, gave generously out of their abundance of joy.
• Generosity is an opportunity, not an obligation: The Macedonians begged to be included in giving to the needs of the saints.
• Generosity is giving to the Lord: They gave themselves first to the Lord, and then to Paul and his ministry.
• Generosity is a response to grace: They understood the grace of Jesus, who became poor so that we might become rich.

Lessons from the Macedonian Model:

1. Generosity is not about the amount: It's about a heart attitude of giving freely and cheerfully, regardless of our financial situation.
2. Generosity is an opportunity: We should view giving as a privilege and a way to participate in God's work, not as a burden or a tax.
3. Generosity is giving to the Lord: Our ultimate motivation for giving should be to honor God and express our love for Him.
4. Generosity is a response to grace: We give out of gratitude for the grace we have received in Jesus Christ.

Principles of Giving:

• The principle of later and greater: We may have less in the short term, but God will multiply our generosity in the long run.
• Each of you can be generous: Everyone has the opportunity to give, regardless of their financial situation.
• Generous is not spontaneous or frivolous: It is a deliberate and thoughtful act of obedience and worship.
• God is able: Our starting point for generosity is trusting in God's ability to provide, not relying on our own resources.

The sermon concludes with a call to examine our hearts and respond to God's grace by giving generously and cheerfully. It also invites listeners to receive communion and to pray for freedom from shame and a greater understanding of God's generosity.

Transcript

There is a heavenly city that I'm compelled to find. It's so good to be here. 

I have missed a lot of Sundays this month. And last week I was in Guadalajara speaking at Orijin, celebrating their 10th anniversary with them and speaking to their leaders about what they could and should expect from year 10 to year 20. Radiant Church turns 20 years old in May, and they just celebrated their 10th. 

So it was such a privilege to serve them. They have three services, not two, and the church is going off. I mean, really, you should consider there are cheap direct flights from Fresno, and it is worth the visit just to be in this church on a Sunday. And it's just so exciting. There's like Chivas players in their congregation. 

It's just the place to be. Anyway, they have three services, and the third service starts at one and goes to 230. And I was done after two services, and that third one, when it falls in that afternoon, when I'm used to a nap and a burrito, I was like, I got nothing left. And then what happened is the power went out in the church, and I thought, great, like I probably won't have to preach. We'll just go home. Two was good enough, but no, they were like, the show goes on. So without a microphone, and without my notes, because it was pitch black in there, you know, I'm just screaming at people. 

And it was a huge highlight. But thanks for being a sending church. We have people out today serving a church in Exeter and in Tulare, and it's just a part of who we are, is to build a base church here in Visalia that sends. And so I'm thankful for that. 

And very thankful just to be back. That was my first time getting led by you guys in worship. That worship team served us so well this month. 

It was so cool. I think Bethany and Addy, I don't know, maybe you guys have led, I know you lead in other places, but it was a joy to be led by you guys. In 2008, our church was around probably 75 people. And we gathered really near to the rescue mission on northeast first. We had a small building there. And after taking a mission trip to Sudan, we decided to put together a series of concerts that would raise money to dig wells. We wanted to dig water wells in South Sudan, having seen some of the need there. 

So we put together what we would call the Rock for Water. And we traveled around to five cities in California. And we were hoping to raise in those five concerts what we thought was a huge amount of money. $25,000. That's what we wanted to raise. 

That was a huge number to us when we were 28 years old. The church only had $5,000 in the account. And we emptied the account in order to put on this tour, believing that we were going to get the money we needed to dig wells and bless these villages. So one of our first stops was in Los Angeles. And we played music and between the music and before kind of the artists that everyone came to see. 

We played this video that Eric made. And I called for an offering. And let me tell you, I called for an offering. You know what I mean? There's a difference. 

And on this day, I went for it. Up to that point in my church, our church was young, and we were too cool to talk about money. And I didn't want to press in on this awkward subject. So I just kind of let it be. But on that night, I went to a whole other place all together. And I channeled my televangelist. And I mean, I went hard. 

I was like, if you have anything left in your pockets or your accounts, you're in sin. You know, it was it was as bold as I've ever been. And when I got off the stage, my wife was like, what was that? What happened? 

What got into you? And I remember saying to her, I guess it's a little easier to call for an offering when you have nothing to gain from what is given. I was so apologetic in this setting and so unapologetic in that setting. And my wife said a couple things to me. She rebuked me, not sharply, but in a way that I can still repeat it to this to this day years and years later. She said to me, have you ever received a raise or directly benefited from an offering? And I was like, no, I've actually never gotten a cut of that. 

And then she said, don't you understand that without Radiant emptying their account to back this, there is no rock for water, no water wells in South Sudan without Radiant paying for the less attractive parts of this campaign. I felt really challenged and I have myself personally been growing in this area over the years. I guess when I say this area, I'm probably talking about my ability to talk about money at church. 

And I was reading something this week that I thought was so telling. It was saying that the three things that you would be least likely to want to talk about would be number three and embarrassing health condition. You would rather not share that. Number two would be the details of your sex life. You would not want to talk about that. 

Number one would be the amount of debt that you carry. The number one thing that we carry shame, you would rather talk about your sex life here today. You'd rather talk about that rash that no one knows about. You'd rather take the stage, grab the mic and be like, so I have a condition. 

You would rather do that than talk about your money and the debt in particular that you have. And as we talk about giving, of course, we're talking about margin. Most of us want to be generous but are so maxed out. 

We feel like we can't be that. And I just wanted to pray over this area. I understand that there's a lot of shame represented here that we're all growing and that we're in need of mercy this morning to actually hear what God's saying to us. 

I want the conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit, but not the condemnation that comes from your adversary. And Monica, who's not here, is Monica here? Moe. Well, anyways, I was hoping she was going to pray for us because she prayed in pre-service prayer and it had more umph on it than my prayer. But you're going to get my prayer so we can't wait. Jesus, we just want to ask for ears to hear what you're saying to us. And we want it to be your voice, not the voice of, not the condemning voice of shame, but your spirit leading us and guiding us into something new today. 

And everyone said, amen. Hey, I've grown in my ability to talk about money because I've realized a few things. The first is that money talks aren't talks about money at all. They're talks about what we value, what we desire, what we think will satisfy us as we sing. They're really about control. They're about fear. 

They're about trust. They're about idolatry because money ends up being one of those things that we can really easily and quickly trust in to save us and to get us out of the pickle we're in. Secondly, I've grown in my ability to teach about money because my job is to teach the scriptures and to not teach what I want to teach, but to teach what the Bible teaches. And the scriptures have an unbelievable amount to say about money. 

Jesus, who is perceived by many to be the ultimate hippie and your ultimate homie, he has a lot to say about the subject of money. Glenn read something like this last week, but of course, we would say it's important to pray. That's mentioned 174 times in your Bible. We would say it's important to believe. That's mentioned 258 times in your Bible. 

And we would say it's important to love. That's mentioned 651 times in your Bible. Give is mentioned 1095 times. 

Give. I've also grown in my ability to address this because the answer to misuse or abuse is not nonuse, but right use. So if authority has been abused, the answer to that is not no authority, but right authority. If fathers have been abusive, the answer is not let's get rid of fathers altogether. No, it's like, no, let's have good fathers. 

That'd be a good answer to the problem. And so just because there's been abuse or misuse of funds doesn't mean that we get to avoid the topic altogether. I've also realized over the years and grown because I've just noticed folks like want help. You're here because you want to be generous. No one here is like, yeah, I'm set on being stingy. 

I'm going to be Scrooge this season. No, we all want to be generous. We want to grow. 

We're all attempting to grow in this area. So if you would turn to me to 2nd Corinthians, 8 and 9, these are very famous passages on generosity and giving, but we're going to unpack them together today. The context of this is that Paul has planted a church in Corinth and he planted it on his second missionary journey. It took him a year and a half to plant it, and then he left. And what happened when he left is that the church was led away from him as a leader and ultimately his gospel message. 

So in his departure, the church departed from his leadership. So this book, 2nd Corinthians is them getting back together. Anybody ever broken up and then got back together? Well, of course, when you get back together, there's some conversations to be had, right? It's like, we're going to get back together, but when we get back together, we've got to talk through some things. We've got to work through some things together. And so it's almost like this church is beginning again to receive Paul's leadership, but there's some things Paul needs to address. 

Like, look, some things went down that we need to discuss. So that's the context of this passage. Paul has a deep love for this church, this group of people that are close to his heart, and he wanted them back. He's got much love for these folks. And he says in 2nd Corinthians 8, we want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that's been given among the churches of Macedonia. For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. And this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Accordingly, we urge Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also. I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love is also genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you, by his poverty, may become rich. So this is kind of an awkward part of this letter. Paul is humming along, giving the Corinthian church some advice, and then immediately he begins to talk about another church. So he's talking to the Corinthian church, this is what you need to do, and then all of a sudden he's like, let me talk to you about this model church in Macedonia. 

How do you like being compared to somebody who's just killing it? The Macedonian church is legendary. They're the supermodels of giving. We're still talking about their generosity to this day, and in the middle of this letter, Paul's like, I'm glad you guys are on track. 

Let me tell you about what I saw in Macedonia. They excelled in the grace of giving, and I think no one really likes being compared. You like to compare yourself to somebody who's doing worse than you are, but no one likes to compare themselves to somebody who's killing it. Somebody's going to sit down at your table on Thursday, and they're going to say something like, you know what, Steve deep fries his turkey, and it's so moist, and you're going to think to yourself, then go to Steve's house. 

I can't keep up with all the turkey trends, how everything's being cooked. You come up to me after the service, and you're like, oh, there's this church, and they're doing this and this, and I'm going to say that's great, but what I mean is go away. Go away from me. 

I'm trying my best here. Have you ever compared your spouse to somebody else's spouse who's crushing it? I would not recommend that to anybody here, you know? Husbands, have you ever been compared to another dude and just gone like, well, then you should have married Steve. 

You should have married Steve because he knows how to cook a turkey, and I ruined it. Or what about siblings? Some of you have been compared to your siblings, and it's like, could you just be more like your sister, you know? And it's like, this isn't helpful. This is hurtful. I'm really hurt. 

I need to pray about this now. Kids, I'm sure, the same thing, you know? It's like, well, Bobby, he treats adults with such respect, you know? And you're thinking, Bobby Vapes, you don't know Bobby at all, you know? 

This is what we do, right? Bobby, there's no Bobby's anymore, is there? Does anybody have a Bobby in school? No. 

Jaden, Jaden Vapes. So comparison, comparison is hurtful, but I would say that there are times and moments when it's really helpful, and Paul's not trying to incite a rivalry between these churches. It can be loving to compare and contrast. It can be healthy to show what health looks like compared to the state that you're in. It can be loving to show a standard of health to someone, right? Loving for the doctor to say, this is what healthy cholesterol looks like. 

Loving for the doctor to put an X-ray up and say, this is what a healthy spine looks like. And we don't, in those moments, say, how dare you, you know, talk to me about healthy testosterone levels, you know? We're like, no, we receive that input, we see the standard, and it's actually helpful for us to know where we're at, not just hurtful. So I want you to look with me at the Macedonian model and let it just destroy you. These are legendary, this is the stuff of legend. This is legendary lessons from the Macedonian model. 

The first is this, they excelled in the grace of giving because they knew that generous is not an amount. It doesn't have a certain number of zeros next to it. Listen to this crazy equation. In a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed, wait, severe test of affliction plus abundance of joy, that's weird, plus extreme poverty, that overflowed into a wealth of generosity on their part. They didn't buy into the myth that only rich people are generous, and they didn't buy into the myth of when then. When I'm in this place, then I will be generous. Here's what we know, genuinely know from the statistics, rich people are just rich, and generous people are generous, and they are not the same thing. 

And some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. I know some wealthy people who are incredibly generous, but it doesn't mean when you're in this place, then you're going to be something other than what you are. And the church didn't buy it. They excelled in the grace of giving because they knew it wasn't the amount that counted. And this is exactly what Jesus taught. In Mark chapter 12, Jesus sits down opposite the treasury and he watched people putting money in the offering box. 

This is awesome because this is incredibly awkward. Jesus could not care less about your comfort, and he could not care more for you. And there's those offering boxes in the back. You can look at those. He camps next to one, and he just starts watching what people put in it. It doesn't look away with every head bowed. Nothing. He's just staring at what people are giving. And of course, because it's coins, people are dropping some serious duck tails, kind of bags of gold. That'd be the second week we referenced duck tails in the sermon. Let's keep it going. 

I don't know who preaches next week, but there's got to be a duck tails reference. But people are dropping serious coin in the box. And as you know, many large people are putting, many rich people are putting in large sums. Let's take it. Just contextualizing for the American audience. 

Many rich people are putting in large sums, and a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which made a penny. And he called his disciples to him and he said to them, so then it gets even more awkward. He's like, get a load of this. 

He calls people in to watch. This poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. Jesus says she gave the most. And his disciples were probably like, Jesus, you're the man on some stuff. Like, we wouldn't want anybody else to preach but you. You're the most amazing teacher. You teach with authority and nobody can do the miracles that you can do. 

But we're really glad that you called a couple of tax collectors to do your books. Because that's bad math. That's bad math. That woman did not put in more than everybody else who is making it rain. 

And then he says, for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all that she had to live on. I mean, let's be honest. If this actually happened in our church today, we would rebuke this woman and say, do not do what you're about to do. This is foolish. And again, it's legendary. 

We're still reading about it today. Jesus wasn't pleased or impressed by the size of the gift. He was pleased by what he saw in her heart that she was trusting him completely. We usually give until it hurts. The Macedonian church gave even when it hurt and affected their lifestyle. 

We'll go right up to it touching our lifestyle. This woman put in everything that she had. The second thing is the Macedonian see this as opportunity and not obligation. For they gave according to their means as I can testify and then beyond their means of their own accord. They're begging us. This is the stuff that pastors dream of. They're begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. So if this doesn't appear to be a tax, this is a free will offering and people are eager to get in on it. 

They're like, no, I want to give. Because Paul, as he shares about this church, is probably thinking, I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking I laid some heavy guilt trip on this church. You're probably thinking I squeezed them for all they were worth. You're probably thinking I told them they could buy their way out of purgatory in order to get an offering like this. You're wrong. They were begging me for the opportunity to invest. 

This is not a tax. We're sowing into what is happening. The third thing that happens. It's just been a model for the ages is they gave first to the Lord, it says. And this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord. And then by the will of God, they gave themselves to us. They excelled in the grace of giving because they realized they weren't giving to a church and they weren't giving to a situation. They were giving to the Lord in their obedience. They understood who this was for and what this was for. 

And it wasn't necessarily for this group or for this cause. It was like this is an offering to the Lord. And then it says, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you may by his poverty become rich. So then he goes on after highlighting all that the Macedonian church has done well. He goes on to speak to Corinth. 

And he says, there's no need for me to write to you about this service of the Lord's people. No need for me to talk about Macedonia actually, even though I just gave them a chapter. For I know that you've also got an eagerness to help. 

And I've been boasting about it to the Macedonians. You see what he's doing there? This is awesome. He's got a little pledge drive going here. And he, like an auctioneer, he's egging people on. It's like, no, no, no, the Macedonian, their generosity spurring on the generosity of Corinth. 

And then to the Macedonians, he's saying, Corinth is going to pitch in too, man. They're excited to get in on this. And this is something that we egg on and that we encourage in one another. 

And this is exactly what Paul is doing here. The Macedonians, they get it. They're really excelling in the grace of giving. They're looking for opportunities to sow. 

And we have people here who are Macedonians. Like they're like their eyes are peeled for something that they get to invest in. They want to sow and they're looking for it. 

They're not waiting for me to ask for a tax. They understand that they're sowing and reaping. And then we've also got Corinthians here who want to be that way. I am convinced that there's nobody here who is like, no, I don't want either one of these things. There are those that get it and are doing it. And there are those who are wanting to do it. 

They're wanting to grow in this. So what does he say to the Corinthians, to the group of people that want to learn to give? He says, remember this guys. These are the lessons to the Corinthians, those that are aspiring to be like the Macedonians. He says, remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give. 

Not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work as it is written. They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. And through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. So here's four things Paul wanted this Corinthian group. 

Those of us who are like, I want a little bit more of this. These are four things that Paul wanted them to know. He wanted them to understand the principle of later and greater. Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows generously will also reap generously. When I say you will reap what you sow, do you feel condemned by that statement? Or do you hear an opportunity in that? Do you just shut down when I say, because we use it in a negative way, you will reap what you sow. You're going to get what's coming to you, you know? 

But we could turn it just as easily and I feel like you're supposed to hear it in a slightly different way. You will reap if you sow and you have sown. Our tendency is to think about what we're not doing, but you have invested, you have sown. You will reap. He says there's three ways not to give. 

Don't give sparingly, don't give reluctantly, don't give under compulsion, right? But before he says it, it's so interesting to me because we have to understand God's math. Because he's essentially saying here the best way to increase a sum is to subtract from it. And that goes against everything we know. Logic operates the exact opposite of this. He's saying here that we think that we'll have more if we give less. 

And he's saying that you'll have more if you give more. And this flies in the face of everything that we think. It doesn't sound like good math to us. And then because we don't understand this type of math, he helps us with the farming analogy. And he says, yeah, yeah, yeah, initially you're going to have less seed. Initially you're going to have less in hand, but eventually you're going to have a harvest of joy in your life. Just like the farmer who initially decreases his supply of seed up front, he has hope that it's going to multiply in a harvest. 

Brian Mowry, one of my friends says this, what you keep is all you have. And what you give, God will multiply. The second thing he says is that each of you, each of you can be generous. 

Not a few of you can be generous on behalf of everyone else who can't. But each of us can give what we've decided in our hearts to give. And that's the kind of church that we want to be a part of, right? 

Each of you giving what you've decided in your heart. We don't want to be a part of a church where a few of us do the ministry. We want to be a part of a church where each of us are a part of the ministry. We don't want to be a part of a church where a few of us serve, but a church where each of us serves in different places. We want to be a part of a community where not a few of us float this whole thing, but each of us decide in our heart what we're going to give and give it. There's three ways to give, to not give, he says. 

Sparingly, reluctantly, under compulsion. And I think we all know what that is, right? Everybody's trying to flip the iPad around on you these days. And you just don't know what to do. 

You're like, well, I can be a jerk or I can give under compulsion right now, you know? I was at Dick's Sporting Goods. I spent $100 on I Don't Know What yesterday. And then they were like, do you want to give to youth sports? 

And I was like, isn't that what I'm doing here? Like buying really expensive spandex? No, I don't want to give to youth sports anymore. That's the kind of giving we're trying to stay away from, that this would feel this morning like I'm turning around the iPad on you and you're like, oh gosh. Here's the three ways to give, bountifully, cheerfully, willingly. Notice that not giving is not an option. 

That's crazy, right? Paul's not, hey, givers and non-givers. No, he's like, everyone gives. 

And then some people do it with a good attitude and some people do it with a bad attitude. But not giving is not an option for us. Each one of us can be generous. We can't farm this out to somebody else. Even to your spouse. I don't like that, I don't want to talk about that. 

Each one of you should decide in their hearts what they want to do. In our church, we've got 745, this would be total active adults in our church. People who gave something, anything, who gave at least once in the last year, that's 451 people. So 61% of our church gave something last year. That means that 39% of those who are active in our church did not give last year. Donors giving regularly, that is that they had a rhythm of giving throughout the year. That's 193 people, that's about 23% or 26% of our church. Donors giving a tenth of their income, and I know you're probably thinking, how do they know what a tenth of my income is? 

We don't. So I don't know how to trust this one, but we did this based on a median income of $50,000. So this would be the percentage of people who give over $5,000 a year to the church, that'd be 16%. And of our membership, that would be people saying, you can count me in to give and float this thing. 73% of our members are active in giving here at the church. 

And you can do with these, whatever you want, but I just felt like I wanted to spell this out for you guys. This can be discouraging, but then really encouraging in some ways. I was thinking, what if we increased this number, if 61% of the church gave at least something last year, what if we could make that 80%? What if if 26% of our church was giving regularly or monthly, what if that could become 50%? What if those who tie their give more than $5,000 a year at the church? What if that could grow to 30%? It would more than double the income that we have here at the church. Increase our ability to sow, increase our ability to invest, support ministry in our city and beyond our city. So here's my challenge to you and worship team, would you guys come? 

If you've never given, I just want to encourage you to get in the game. If you're like, well, it's not significant, it is significant. To do in your heart what you've decided to do, it's significant. 

And it requires risk and obedience. If you've never given consistently to the church, like you've given when there's a little bit left, but you've never made it a priority to give, give consistently, give faithfully to the church. If you're thirdly, if you're just on autopilot, you don't see it, you never talk about it, you never pray about it, it just, you give, and you're just on cruise control. I would invite you just to ask Jesus afresh, what are you asking me to do? 

And decide in your heart to do it, instead of just flying on cruise control. Thirdly, I won't explain these, but I just want to throw them out there. Generous is not spontaneous or frivolous. Generous is not the only thing you're called to be. You're called to also be wise and faithful. 

So don't think that generosity is flippant, it's not. And lastly, as we stand together, I just want to say, God's able. God is able. And God is able to bless you abundantly. So that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. Listen to me. 

If you don't remember anything, remember this. The starting point for Christian generosity is God's ability, not your account. God is able. 

I know that your account is not. You're being asked to believe in God's ability. What can God do in this area? Do you believe in God's ability in this area of finance? Do you believe that you're eligible for what God can do in this area? Or are you disqualified in shame? Is this an area that you can even come before God in? 

Listen. I love the reminder in the text because the grace of God has come to us. It's the grace of giving. The grace of giving. 

And then it says, so that, so that you can abound in every good work. And you need to know today that the grace of God is not if, then, grace. If you do this, then you get my grace. The grace of God is always so that grace. The grace of God comes so that we can excel in the grace of giving. And as we come to the table and remember Christ's death, remember this, so that grace. 

Not if, then. He didn't wait for you to be valuable in order to give his life for you. While we were still dead in sin, he gave himself for us. 

For you know. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor. So that you may buy his poverty. 

So that you, by his poverty, might become rich. Let's glory in the gospel of God. Let's take communion, remembering the sacrifice of our Lord, and get prayer today. Break the shame by saying, I would love to pray over this situation in my life. 

There'll be a prayer team available. His name is the highest overall dominion. We're all thrones, over all authorities. I found Moe, and I wanted her to pray us out. She's gonna pray shame off of us. It's gonna be awesome. 

Do it. This is from the middle of Colossians 2. And you who were dead in your trespasses, and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. 

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities, and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. Lord, we thank you that by your broken body and your blood, you put shame to shame. You put death to death, God, and we stand in your victory, and in what you have done. We thank you, God, that you have made a way, not only for the forgiveness of our sins, but the guilt of our sin. God, we just recognize your greatness and your love, that your character doesn't change, and this is always your heart to provide for us, whatever we need, and you have provided for us, everything we need for life and for godliness. 

According to our knowledge of you, so God, would you increase our understanding of who you are and how good you are? We want to know you more. That's why we come to this table. We recognize what you've done, and we say yes. We want it in us. We want more of you, God, and we just acknowledge that it is in you that we live and move and have all our being, and that it's for freedom that you came to set us free. So I do just declare, according to your word, and by your broken body and your blood, that there is no shame in your presence. 

There is no shame in your house, and there is no shame on your sons and daughters that come to you. So we come by faith, and we come grateful and thankful today. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

*Transcripts are generated using AI. Please notify us if you find any errors.