Satisfaction of Generosity

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3 October, 2021Pastor Mark SchultzAuthentic Generosity

Are you the total package? Do you have all the necessary components for success in life? IQ, EQ, PQ, SQ. CQ? IQ - the intelligence to comprehend ideas and process information. EQ - high self-awareness and ability to control your emotions in difficult situations. PQ - your ability to provide value in your position and be reliable. SQ - the social intelligence to read the emotions of others and interact accordingly and fit into the culture and environment around you. CQ - the cultural quotient - aware of and able to embrace differences in others. A good measure of these quotients in your life will provide a solid foundation for your future and lead to satisfaction in life…so they say.

The problem is as we measure those things, we always view them in comparison to others. Either we are superior than others, or lacking in comparison to others. Both responses are incorrect! Paul tells us that the only measure that leads to real contentment, transformation and fulfilment in life is the WQ and GQ. An awareness of these two quotients at work in your life and through your life becomes the very point at which you will discover the deepest satisfaction of generosity. We'll explore and unpack those quotients today.

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But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

God doesn’t use weak people despite their weaknesses; he demonstrates his perfect power through their weaknesses to reveal his grace and generosity to the world. 

2 Corinthians 10:7-18; 12:7-10

7 You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. 8 So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” 11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.

12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. 14 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. 17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.


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The beginning matters.

The foundation is important for any building project.

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