Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:10] Well hey friends, welcome to this edition of the weekday podcast. Thanks for hanging out with us all week long. I do want to encourage you make plans to join us this Sunday as we're in week three of building bridges and it's going to be a great, great day. But today I want to think about open hands and open eyes. And this comes from Acts, chapter 2, verse 45 where it says they begin selling their property and their possessions and they were sharing them with as anyone might have need.
[00:00:34] Now honestly, most of us don't think we're greedy. We just get what I would call tight fisted without realizing it. We hold on to time or money or stuff and we call it being responsible. But here's the idea for today. Generosity grows when people around you feel like family. When you think about the early church, they didn't give because they were guilted into it. They gave because the gospel changed their relationship to everything else. They moved from the this is mine to this is ours, not because they lost ownership, but because they gained a family. And here's what's happening. When you begin to feel like you belong to a spiritual family, you, your generosity I think becomes more natural. You don't have to be convinced that the needs matter. You notice them because they're close. And that's why this line from the sermon from this last Sunday I think is so true. Proximity awakens responsibility.
[00:01:26] Problems look easier to solve when they're far away from a distance. It's easy to analyze people, it's easy to critique systems. But when you're close, when you're knee to knee, when you're story to story, you begin to ask a better question. God, what do you want me to do now? If you want to make this practical, many of us have that same internal conversation when it's time to be generous. I could donate that, but I might need it one day. Open hands say God is yours. Show me how to steward it well.
[00:01:54] And generosity isn't just financial.
[00:01:56] Now sometimes the need isn't money. It's actually time or presence. A ride, a meal, a conversation, serving on a team, showing up when someone's overwhelmed. So ask yourself, what do I have available?
[00:02:06] What has God entrusted to me that can meet a real need? And then choose one act. Choose one act of generosity. This week, maybe it's to give, to serve, to share a resource, or to meet a practical need for someone and see what happens when you open your eyes and you open your hands. Have a great day. We'll see you back here soon.
[00:02:25] Sam.
