#1 - Don’t Be Mad - whenever we preach
angry we do not draw people in but rather
push them away.
#2 - Don’t Use Guilt - guilt works in the
short term, but absolutely has devastating
results in the long term.
people in sales do not actually make a
sale is they simply do not ask. I would say
the primary reason so many people in the
church do not give is they have never been
asked to do so.
#4 - Make It Yours - there are messages I
preached in which the Lord used to bring
about amazing results, so, chew up the
meat, spit out the bones and make it your
own.
four rules
Before
Preaching
This Sermon
On Giving:
This was hands down the most fruitful message I
believe the Lord ever allowed me to preach on the
subject of giving. We saw a significant increase
in first time givers, as well as a large number of
people who stopped giving but began to engage
once again.
I believe there are two keys that made this
message effective:
1 - The approach...I did not come at this with an
angry or sarcastic tone, but rather an invitation
for people to live out their convictions.
2 - The service that was designed around it.
Everything (the music, the graphics, etc.) was
selected with a purpose in mind - and it all
pointed to the message. (I will explain this more
on the “Building A Generous Culture” curriculum
we have available.)
Begin by asking, “How many people grew up
watching Sesame Street? (If you watched the
show or are familiar with it- share a personal
example here of what you remember about it;
your favorite character, a funny moment, etc.)
The thing I remember about Sesame Street is it
was an educational show, often sponsored by a
letter, a number, or a word.
With that in mind, today’s message in our church
will sponsored by the word “GREAT!”
(Here you can list things that begin with “great”
and even use pictures to engage people further.
Things like - the Great Lakes, Alexander the
Great, the Great Wall of China, the Great Wall of
Chocolate—a dessert at P.F. Changs.)
(When I preached this I set the text up like this -
however you choose to set it up is up to you - but
the approach matters in regards to setting up this
verse because it literally sets the tone for the rest
of the message.)
sermon
“How Great Is
Our God”
notes
PAGE 4
notes
Recently when I was reading through the book of
Hebrews, there was one verse that sort of jumped
off the page at me. It’s like I could not stop
reading it over and over again.
Hebrews 7:4 - Just think how great he was:
Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth
of the plunder!”
The first six words seized me and would not let
me go.
I paused to marvel for a minute or two about the
greatness of God.
(Here is an opportunity for you to talk about
what reminds you of God’s greatness, and use
illustrations that connect with people such as a
picture of a sunrise/sunset, the mountains, the
starts, a newborn baby...)
However, one of the things I think may make
people slightly uncomfortable with this verse is
that it is tied to giving (per the remainder of the
verse.)
However, whenever we see something or someone
as great then giving is not a problem, let me prove
it...
At this point I used contemporary illustrations of
things people had paid significant cash for (once
again using pictures) - all because they perceived
them as great. Things you can use are:
• Yeezy’s (shoes)
• Engagement rings
• Louis Vuitton handbags
• Tickets to a national championship
football game (or a Broadway play -
especially “Hamilton!”)
PAGE 5
notes
Once again, we have no issues giving our money
to something or someone that we perceive as
great.
This leads to a question: does the greatness of
God impact the giving in our lives? (The more this
question can be posed with compassion rather
than condemnation the better it will sink in—and
asking the question, “How does the greatness of
God impact giving in “OUR LIVES” rather than
“your life” is disarming, putting you with the
people—not above them!)
The verse in Hebrews is actually in reference to a
story that is found in the book of Genesis 4:18-
20 (at this point I merely presented a “fly by” of
the text and then went back through it. My fly by
was something along the lines of: “this passage
is where we see an appearance of Jesus in the Old
Testament (OT), and that He is all about blessing
Abraham in verses 19 and the first part of verse
20” By the way, this is an EXCELLENT place to
pause as say, “How many here today really do feel
you’ve been blessed by God” and get them to raise
their hand!)
THEN - in the second half of verse 20 we see
Abraham give 10% - what the Bible calls a “tithe”
(and this was hundreds of years before the Law
was ever given.)
Four Things I Believe Giving The Tithe Did In
Abraham’s Life (And It Will Do In Our Lives As
Well.)
#1 – It protected him from greed.
Christians should be the most generous people on
the planet.
The early church didn’t impact society because
of their theology (they didn’t even have a Bible
PAGE 6
notes for the first 300 years) but rather their hospitality
and generosity.
At this point, tell a story where the Lord
challenged you or someone you know to be
generous...
My story was about when I was on a vacation
once and the bellman helped me get my luggage
to the room. I reached in my pocket and handed
him a $10 bill (I thought).
When I went down to the lobby a little while later
I saw him again and discovered he might possibly
be the nicest guy on the planet! He asked me
could he do anything for me, and if I needed
anything to let him know (and he handed me
his business card.) I told a friend of mine, “the
customer service in this place is unreal, the dude
must be a rock star!”
A few hours later I discovered why.
When I took out the money I had in my pocket it
didn’t take me long to figure out I had not given
him a $10 bill—but rather a $100 bill!
To say I was slightly angry would be equal to
saying the Pope is slightly Catholic.
“How in the world could I be such an idiot”, I
thought to myself.
After telling a friend about it, they remarked:
“Maybe the Lord allowed you to do it because
He wanted you to be generous and the only way
He could get you to do so was through your own
stupidity!” (Great friend right!)
However, the more I thought about it, the more
my friend was right. Generosity was an area of
my life that the Lord had been dealing with over
and over. Because I kept on “praying about it”
PAGE 7
notes (you know, that thing we say and do when we
actually know what to do—but don’t want to do
it) I believe He forced my hand and I can honestly
say that was a major step forward in me seeing
the grip of greed broken in my life.
Greed is “that thing” we can’t see in the mirror
(and that we often call by other names, such as
“careful” or “cautious”) - but the most famous
verse in the Bible says, “For God so loved the
world He GAVE...”
If we want to become more like Jesus, the habit
of greed in our lives must be broken, and putting
God first in our finances in the best way for this
process to begin.
#2 – It connected him to the heart of God.
What are some things that frustrate us? (Here use
examples that will best connect with your people
- some of the examples I used were...)
• When your phone drops a call
• People who are in front of me at a
restaurant and when they get up to order,
they STILL don’t know what they want
• People who drive slow in the left lane
• (Save this one for last) - a bad Wifi
connection. It’s the worst when things
are not getting to your phone fast enough
because the internet seems to be going at a
snail’s pace!)
Carrying the connection metaphor out here, I
believe one of the reasons we have a hard time
connecting with God is because we do not see
Him as greater than anything, or anyone we could
give our lives to.
However, I know from personal experience
that giving solidifies the connection in ways
PAGE 8
notes we’ve never experienced before. And the more
connected we are to the heart of God, the more we
will continue to become more and more like Him.
#3 – It increased his faith.
Here, I told a story where I had to overcome
my fear and just trust The Lord. I will share my
example so you will see the what I was trying to
convey.
I was out of town with a group of friends and for
some stupid reason, I allowed them to talk me
into doing a bungee swing.
I’d like to point out: they knew I was afraid of
heights!
They knew there was no way I would do it on my
own...
So they “tricked” me... (LIARS!)
They told me that the swing doesn’t go very
high, that it was designed for people who don’t
necessarily love heights, but still love a little rush
of adrenaline.
As the guy operating the ride was strapping me in
-- along with the other idiot who said he would do
it with me -- he asked, “which one of you is going
to pull the cord?”
I had no idea what “pull the cord” meant, so
naturally I volunteered. (Trust me, I didn’t want
the guy with me to have any responsibility
whatsoever.)
After we were strapped in the guy handed me
the cord and hit a button that caused us to begin
going up into the air...
...and up...
PAGE 9
notes
...and up...
...seriously, it freaked me out. I knew I had been
lied to at this point and desperately wanted Jesus
to come back AT THAT MOMENT.
When we finally stopped ascending, I could
barely hear the guy who was operating the ride
yelling up at me, “pull the cord!”
“Oh crap,” I thought. Now I understood that
pulling the cord was going to release me and my
poor friend and we were going to swing over the
water and most likely fall tragically to our deaths!
I froze!
I didn’t want to pull the cord!
I didn’t want to be there!
The guy operating the ride was losing patience
with me.
“Pull the cord,” he yelled again, but louder this
time.
Finally I prayed, “into thy hands I commit my
spirit” and I pulled the cord...
...and the next 30 seconds were the most
terrifying and incredible 30 seconds of my life.
Seriously, it was an incredible experience, and I
would absolutely do it again. However, it would
have never taken place had I not dug deep, and
found the courage to pull the cord.
When we begin to give it’s sort of like pulling the
cord.
I can specifically remember when I decided to
PAGE 10
notes start putting God first in my personal finances. It
was the fall of 1999. I had over $150,000 in debt
and I had just planted a church.
I was horrified at the thought of giving; however,
the more I read the Scriptures and the more I
prayed about it, I knew it was the right thing to
do. So I “pulled the cord” and began to give. I
can honestly say that it’s been one of the most
significant spiritual decisions I’ve ever made in
my life.
In this text we see Abraham make the decision
to NOT trust in riches, but rather in the One
who richly provides; which is the same thing we
should all consider doing today.
#4 – It unleashed blessings in his life.
(At this point you’ve got to go with what you
are comfortable with. Personally, I am not the
guy that tells people if you will give God $10 He
will give you $100. However, I do believe it’s
impossible to out give God. With that in mind,
this is the story I told in the message to highlight
how giving can lead to blessings.)
I love apple products.
Seriously, if Apple made a toilet I would buy one
(because it would be the most awesome toilet
ever!)
So, when they first came out with the Apple
watch, I had to have one!
I didn’t buy one at first, but I would go on their
website every single night and look at it (Apple
porn if you will!)
Finally, after battling with it for about a week,
I finally purchased one. Not making this up, as
soon as I hit the “purchase” button, I felt the Holy
Spirit say to me: “that watch is not for you!”
I immediately dismissed the voice. I thought
to myself that the devil trying to steal, kill and
destroy me! Then I thought nothing more about it.
The next day, I was reading over a questionnaire
that I had given to the staff at the church I was
serving as the senior pastor of at the time. One
of the questions was: “If you had an extra $250,
what would you spend it on?”
It was so much fun reading their responses, until
I got to Dean’s. He had simply written: “I would
buy an Apple watch!”
And...that’s when the Holy Spirit whispered
again: “that watch isn’t for you, it’s for him!”
I still tried to resist, but finally submitted. I can
still remember walking up to Dean, telling him
the story and seeing tears fill his eyes, which
caused them to fill my eyes as well.
I literally forgot all about it until three days later.
A friend, who lives in another part of the country
-- and had no idea about my desire for an Apple
watch -- sent me one of the kindest notes I had
ever received...attached to a gift...anyone want to
guess what it was?
Exactly - an Apple watch!
It was God’s way of reminding me that I cannot
out-give Him.
I’ve personally seen giving lead to so many
miraculous breakthroughs, both in my life and
the lives of others.
One of the things Abraham wanted the most in his
life was a son. However, he had all but given up
hope on that dream. After this event in Abraham’s
life, we see God show up in Genesis 15:1-6 and
PAGE 12
notes once again, confirm the promise that Abraham
was going to have a son (you really can’t out-give
God.)
How significant was this miracle? We see it from
Abraham’s wife’s vantage point in Hebrews 11:11-
12.
Abraham had an awareness of the greatness
of God, and understood God was not worthy of
merely some things, but everything.
At this point you can decide how you want to
close out the service. I arranged for the band to
come out and begin playing behind me - telling
the people before I gave an invitation that I
wanted us to sing about what we had just heard
about - and so we sang the Chris Tomlin song,
“How Great Is Our God” and tagged it with
the chorus of, “How Great Thou Art” (it was
incredibly powerful!)
We also ran a video as the song was playing with
scenes that depicted the greatness of God.
Afterwards I gave an invitation for people to
receive Christ, and for people to begin putting
Jesus first in their finances. As I said at the
beginning, in over 20 years of doing ministry, I’ve
never seen a response to a message like this. Our
giving increased significantly and we saw over
100 people give their lives to Christ.
AND—here’s a MAJOR aspect to keep in mind:
MAYBE people in your church can’t start with 10%
-- or MAYBE that seems a bit too much to them.
Instead of entering a theological debate with
them, ask them to start somewhere, anywhere.
$20 per week - or maybe 5%. And after 2-3 months
ask those who began giving at the “entry level”
if they’ve missed the money they’ve given or if
they’ve gone without in any area of their lives.
PAGE 13
notes And...if not, then why not continue to trust God
for more and take their giving up a level.
Eventually, over time, and with some
encouragement, they will develop generous hearts -
which is the ultimate goal.
In Building a Generous Culture, Perry
Noble shares the insights, lessons,
and strategies that helped him grow
his church annual church budget from
$48,000 to $63,000,000 in just 16 years!
You can purchase this full resource for
only $99 (a 33% savings!) using the promo
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When you purchase Building a Generous
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• Developing a long-term strategy to
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• A video overview of this sermon
• Discover five fears associated with
preaching on giving, and how to
overcome them.
• A theological outline to help you
unleash your people from financial
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freedom.
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