The Greatest Giver

6 · The pastor makes a theological claim by juxtaposing the widow's offering with the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume

This poor widow is immortalized by Jesus in this and the other gospels. She, along with this other unnamed woman in Mark 14:3-9, which we're gonna read, says this: And while he was at Bethany— Jesus— in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table A woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, 'Why was this ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.' And they scolded her. But Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. For you will always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly I say to you, whenever the gospel is proclaimed and the whole world, what she has done, will be told in memory of her.

7 · The pastor unpacks the significance of Jesus' verdict that sacrificial giving is 'a beautiful thing

It's amazing. Here we have two women in the Gospels that are two of the greatest givers and examples to us. And so Jesus draws our attention to this widow, just as he drew and he commended this other woman who, who put this costly nard. It was 300 denarii. That was like a year's worth of money, of wages. And here's what he says to his disciples: She has done a beautiful thing for me. And so, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand, when Jesus is watching and when he sees us give, he says to you, you have done a beautiful thing for me. You've done a beautiful thing for me. It's like he's here and he's cheering us on. He said, yes, yes, yes, well done, well done, well done, keep it up. This brings me glory. I'm so happy when you do this. It glorifies me because now you are doing what I am going to do. I'm gonna lay down my life for you. I'm gonna purchase you with my blood. I'm gonna pay the debt you could never pay. And so now we know we're— we don't have a debt any longer. Now we're free to give.

8 · The pastor synthesizes the lesson from both women (the widow and the anointing woman) into a propositional theological claim: the heart behind the gift matters more than the size of the gift

One of the women's gifts was actually large and costly. The other's was small and worth almost nothing. Yet the issue in both instances is not what they gave, but why they gave. In both instances, the issue is the heart. Matthew 6:21 says, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So where's your treasure? Where is your treasure? Is your treasure in your money, your bank account, your stock certificates, your house, your car, your clothes? Is that your treasure? Or is it somewhere else?

9 · The pastor provides historical-cultural background on the 13 trumpet-shaped receptacles in the temple treasury, explaining how the architecture itself encouraged conspicuous giving

In this scene, we have Jesus sitting and watching people give their money. There were 13 trumpet-like receptacles where money was dropped into. So the more you gave, again, the bigger the noises you would make, and of course, the greater attention you would draw. So you see what's happening? These guys are coming. They got these big bags of money and they're dropping them in there so everybody could see them. Look at me! Look at how much money I'm giving! And here comes another guy. Oh, you think that's good? Look at how much money I'm giving! Oh, here comes a third guy. Oh, you think those guys are giving a lot? Let me show you what a real giver gives! And Jesus says, man, I'm not impressed with any of you.

10 · The pastor details the exact value of the widow's gift (1/64th of a day's wage) and contrasts human perception (no one noticed, some may have mocked) with divine perception

But what I do notice is this poor widow putting in two copper coins worth a penny. She gave all, everything she had to live on. So some gave a lot because they had a lot. Some gave their all, though they have little. One thing we can learn from the gospel is that Jesus watches and hears individuals. He hears the cry of the blind beggar Bartimaeus when no one else does. Now he sees the generous and sacrificial gift of a poor widow when no one else sees a thing. No one hears the sound of the two small coins as they're dropped into the treasury. These coins were the smallest bronze coin in circulation at the time. Two of them equaled 1/64th of a Roman denarius, a day's wage for a typical worker. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart. Jesus knew that she gave all that she had. He and he alone knew this. He and he alone was able to draw their attention to this. Others, I'm sure, were probably mocking her. Look at that woman, all she threw in. You can't even hear what she put in. Maybe she didn't even put in anything. But Jesus knew. He knew what she put in, and he knew this. He knew that what she put in was everything, everything she had.

11 · The pastor shifts to a broader theological claim about God's nature as fundamentally giving

God is a giving God, isn't he? We've just celebrated Christmas. We give each other presents, right? Have you ever thought about why do we give presents to one another? How did this custom start? It's because God is the original giver.

12 · The pastor grounds the claim that God is a giver in John 3:16, the most famous verse in the Bible about God's gift of his Son

John 3:16, what does it say? It says, for God so loved the world, he gave, he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. See, God is a giver. He is a giving God. Jesus is a giving God. He is going to give his life. He's going to willingly lay down his life for you and for me. Willingly he does this for us. That's why we give each other presents. It's a reflection of what God's done for us. So if we want to reflect God, then we are givers, right? It should be part of our nature.

13 · The pastor announces the second major point of the sermon and signals the importance of what follows by highlighting Jesus' use of 'truly I say to you' as a rhetorical device demanding attention

Number 2, why to give. Mark 12:43, he called his disciples to him and he said to them, truly I say to you That's when Jesus in the Bible says, truly I say to you, pay attention, pay attention.

14 · The pastor expounds on Jesus' evaluation of the widow versus the wealthy donors, establishing the central distinction between sacrificial giving from poverty and comfortable giving from abundance

This poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box, for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had. To live on. Jesus saw both the gift and the heart, both the act and the motive behind the act. He knew those who gave only because others were watching, and he knew those who would give when no one was watching. He shows us again, the kingdom of God's system is not our system. We're impressed by the Bill Gates and the Jeff Bezos and the Elon Musks and all these billionaires that have all this money, but what good is it? What good is it if not given and consecrated to the Lord? A sacrificial giving honors Christ even if the amount is small. Again, Jesus says, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing, for they all contribute out of their abundance. What she did— listen, what she did is like this. It's like Bill Gates coming and saying, here you go, I'm writing out a check for $128.8 billion and I'm putting it in the offering. That's what it's like. That's what she did. That's all she had. Comfortable giving honors no one, even if the amount is large. Please notice that Jesus did see what others were giving. What draws attention to us is that they gave out of their abundance. Their giving was not sacrificial, it was comfortable. Did they truly give God their best? No, they gave what was easy and convenient. Jesus was not impressed. Remember the story of Cain and Abel? Abel, what did he give? He gave the best. He gave the first and the best portion to the Lord, and God was pleased with him. And Cain did not, and God was not. He rejected what Cain gave him. We want to be like Abel. We want to give God our best.

15 · The pastor cites Warren Wiersbe to crystallize the theological distinction between contribution and consecration

Warren Wiersbe says it this way: the rich made a big production out of their giving. But Jesus rejected them and their gifts. It is not the portion, but the proportion that is important. The rich gave out of their abundance, but the poor widow gave all she had. For the rich, their gifts were a small contribution, but for the widow, her gift was a true consecration of her whole life.

16 · The pastor cites William Kelly to establish a typological connection between the widow and Jesus: her total self-giving foreshadows his

William Kelly said, this poor widow's sacrificial giving was a foreshadowing of Jesus' own. She gave all she had, and so would he. Jesus takes notice of the widow's great sacrificial giving, as he would in a few days give even more sacrificial special giving—his very own life.

17 · The pastor narrates his own conversion to tithing as a young Christian

Let me tell you a personal story. So when I got saved, I got saved in 1979, a long time ago. I started attending different churches until I, I landed here at Cross of Grace Church. I was a young Christian, and I remember they would take up the offering, and they kept saying, okay, we're gonna take up the tithes and the offerings. And so I came from a denomination, we never talked about tithes. I thought, what in the world is a tithe? And so I just started asking, and I started reading, and I started studying, and I found out, oh, a tithe means a tenth. A tenth of what you earn. I thought, oh. That's what a tithe is? That's what everybody's doing? Yeah, that's what people are doing. Oh, okay, all right, well, great. I'm a Christian. Jesus saved me. I love him. Everything I have is his, so if he wants 10%, all right, I'm in. Now let me just say this, especially if you're not a Christian. I'm not talking about giving to earn salvation, because how are we saved, brothers and sisters? We are saved by by grace alone, through Christ alone, through faith alone. That's how we're saved. I'm just trying to encourage us in this whole area. So I thought, all right, Abraham gave a tenth. You can read about it in Genesis. He gave a tenth to Melchizedek. Jacob gave a tenth. He made a promise to God, if you bless me, I'm going to give you a tenth. And so I thought, wow, if Abraham could do it, if Jacob could do it, I guess I'm supposed to do this. And so I started doing this. I started giving. All right, I'm gonna, I'm gonna start giving a tenth, Lord, to you.

18 · The pastor continues his personal testimony with a story about supporting missionaries and providentially meeting his future wife through that act of giving

So then here's another story. Then in 1980, '81, there was 4 missionaries from our church, 4 young missionaries, and they were going to go to South Africa. And so these missionaries, you know, they were raising funds, and so we as a church were supporting them. And I, I hear the call to help them and to support them. And so, you know, I start praying and say, okay, Lord, you know, what, what do you want me to do here? What do you want me to give? And so I feel like the Lord tells me what to give, and it's a pretty good amount of money. And I said, okay, Lord, I, I can do that. I want to help these missionaries. So fast forward to 1983. And there's a young woman in my house, and this young woman is reading a letter she wrote to me thanking me for supporting her as a young missionary. That young woman was my wife. She had been one of the missionaries. So am I saying if you support others, you may find a wife? No, I'm not saying that, okay? That was just for me one of the blessings that I I got forgiven. And then Kim, actually Kim told me when she wrote the letter, she thought I was a much older guy because she thought, well, it must have been an older person because a young person couldn't afford this. But it was me. So she was pleasantly surprised. And I was pleasantly— I didn't even realize. Um, until she told me at that moment that she was one of the missionaries that I helped, because I didn't know her back then. I didn't know her. So you never know what can happen when you start giving.

19 · The pastor pivots from personal testimony to theological instruction, establishing the New Testament framework for giving

So for us as New Testament Christians, we understand that giving is an act of grace, okay? It's grace, grace, grace. We are Christian stewards. You know what a steward is? A steward takes care of someone else's possessions. So that's what we are. We're not owners, actually. God's the owner.

20 · The pastor makes the first theological claim in a series about grace-based giving: all that we are belongs to God because we have been purchased by Christ's blood

So grace-given is guided by a proper perspective. All that I am belongs to God. 1 Corinthians 6:19. We are not only dependent on God, but we all are owned by him. The price he paid to purchase us was the precious blood of his son Jesus.

21 · The pastor extends the stewardship principle from 'all that I am' to 'all that I have

Number 2, all that is belongs to God. We're accustomed to thinking and speaking of our possessions. The things that we possess are not really ours, they're God's. Look, who created this world? Who created this earth? The trees, the fish, everything, the stars, the sun? Who sustains us? How do we even breathe? This morning. It's because God created us. God has given us the breath of life. That's why we're even here this morning.

22 · The pastor makes two linked theological claims: (1) believers are temporary custodians of God's possessions, responsible for transferring them wisely for God's purposes, and (2) God meets believers' needs through the generosity of other believers

Number 3: God has entrusted his possessions to me. The custodial nature of our stewardship of God's possessions suggests that they should ultimately be transferred to another trustworthy steward, either an individual or an institution, so that they can continue to be used for God's purposes. Number 4: God's possessions entrusted to me have a purpose. God's assets meet personal needs. In Philippians, Paul is writing to the Philippians and he tells them, my God will supply all your needs in Christ Jesus. How does he supply all our needs? Through one another. Through one another. Remember the early church? What happened? Read it in Acts 2:42. They come together, they're worshiping the Lord. There's 3,000, there's a lot of people, there's a lot of needs. And then what happens? People start selling stuff— lands, houses— and they start bringing it to the apostles and they say, "Hey, I know that widow needs some help. I know that family needs some help, so here you go." Wow! I mean, do you think that drew the attention of people around them? When somebody would ask, you know, 'Hey, Zacchaeus, why did you sell that land?' 'Well, you know, the church needed some money because there's a lot of widows we have in the church.' What's a church? 'Well, it's— church is what Jesus purchased. I'm a Christian, and so my life is transferred, so everything I have is now His. And so, you know, He needed that land to be sold and given to them so they could help those widows.' That's radical stuff, huh? That's New Testament Christianity.

23 · The pastor makes the theological claim that believers are eternally accountable for how they steward God's resources

Next, God's assets build and glorify God's kingdom through me. How we apply them is a matter of individual judgment and prayer since we alone are accountable to the Lord. Our accountability also extends into eternity. Oh, that's a sobering thought. When you get to heaven, "Hey, let's see how you did, son. Let's see how you did, daughter." The Lord's cheering for us. "Let's see how you did. I entrusted you to do this. I gave you 1 talent. What did you do with it?" "Oh, I buried it." "Oh, well, could have done better." "I gave you 5 talents. What did I do? Look, I gave 5 more. I gained 5 more, and then I gained more, and then I gave more." "Ah, well done, good and faithful servant." Well done, good and faithful servant. As stewards, we have been given the privilege of arranging for God's assets to flourish well beyond our years. We can stand with Abel, who offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith, he was approved as a righteous man because God approved his gifts. And even though he is dead He still speaks through faith.

24 · The pastor connects the widow's offering to the parable of the tenants earlier in Mark 12, establishing that faithful stewardship was the issue Jesus was addressing throughout this section of the Gospel

In Mark 12, the parable of the tenants, Jesus tells the story of the vineyard and how it was leased to the tenants. It says, "He sent his servant to receive back from the tenants some of the fruit of the vineyard, but he was sent away empty-handed." He's talking about Israel. And what they should be giving back to the Lord. He kept sending his servants, he keeps sending prophets, and he said, finally, I'll send my son. Surely they will respect him. But no, they take the son and they kill him and think the inheritance will be theirs. Jesus is telling this story to them and they want to kill him. Because he— they know he's talking about Israel. He's talking about these Jewish people. They are the vineyard. They haven't been faithful with what they've been given. We want to be faithful tenants. We want to be faithful with the talents.

25 · The pastor announces the third and final major point of the sermon—how to give—and rereads the climactic verse from Mark 12:44 to transition into practical application

Number 3, how to give. Mark 12:44, they all contributed out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had, all she had to live in. Live on.

26 · The pastor grounds the 'how to give' in Christology: Jesus models total, joyful, sacrificial self-giving

Jesus, in just a few days, will be giving all that he has—his very life, his blood, his dignity—for all of us. All for those who rejected him, who hated him, who mocked him. Jesus gives the ultimate sacrifice: himself. He's going to model for his apostles and for us how to give. He holds nothing back because he loves us and willingly and joyfully and sacrif— officially gives himself in order to purchase our salvation. You see, brothers and sisters, we owed a debt to God that could never be paid by our good works. It could never be paid. Hey, if I, if I had Bill Gates' money and I thought, well, surely God will save me if I give him all my fortune, God says no. No, I won't save you because you gave me all your fortune. I'll save you if you surrender yourself to Jesus and you put your faith in him and in him alone and what he's done. And so that's why when Jesus is on the cross, what are the last words he says? It is finished. Paid in full. Paid in full. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says this: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

27 · The pastor develops the Christological foundation for giving by meditating on the incarnation and cross

Do you think Jesus was rich before he became He came to this world. He was the King of the universe. All things are His. He laid it all aside. I mean, think about it. Jesus didn't come and He wasn't born in a palace. He was born in a stable with the animals. Stinky cows and horses. Horses and all kinds of other things. That's where our Jesus, that's where our Savior, that's where the King of the universe was born for us. See, that doesn't make sense to people that aren't saved. Why would the King of the universe do that? Because he was humble. Because he was humble. Philippians 2:8-11 says, and being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

28 · The pastor makes a cascading series of theological and applicatory claims: (1) believers are eternally rich in Christ—adopted into God's family with an inheritance that can never be taken away; (2) this eternal security frees believers to give generously without fear; (3) giving should be viewed as investing with God for eternal returns, not maintaining perishable possessions; (4) believers are building a heavenly account that will result in grateful testimonies from those who benefited from their giving

So if you are in Christ today, if Jesus is your Lord and Savior, here's what you are: you are rich. You are rich, not with money. You are rich with eternal truth. You are rich with eternal life. You are rich with eternal hope. You are rich because now you are adopted into God's very own family. Jesus is now your elder brother. God is your Father. That's why we pray, "Our Father." He's our Father because Jesus has purchased the way for us to call Him Father. And nothing and no one can take that away from you. So you may lose everything you have, but you can never lose that. You can never lose that. So what does this do? It frees us to give because we live now and enjoy the grace of God. And so our giving today is guided by biblical principles. So A, giving is to be viewed as investing with God, Mark 6:19. We get a return that will last eternally. When we invest money in what is perishable, we are consumed with maintaining what we have. But when we invest with God, it unburdens us and deepens our relationship with God. In this really excellent book called The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn, he makes a statement. He says, well, you can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. Ahead. Where? To heaven. You can send it on ahead to heaven. To heaven. There's a bank account in heaven. Did you know that? When you're giving, you're investing in that bank account, that heavenly account. And one day, those people that that account has touched, they're going to meet you in heaven and they're going to say, thank you, thank you for giving. One day those people in India that we gave last year money to so they could hear the gospel and be fed, they're gonna say, "Thank you. Thank you for giving. That's a beautiful thing you did for me when you gave so I could eat, and more than that, so I could hear about Jesus, my Savior." Be given is to be sacrificial.

29 · The pastor defines sacrificial giving: it is giving when we do without something we would otherwise have so that God's work advances

Jesus noticed the woman who truly gave sacrificially, for she gave all she had, the essence of giving a sacrifice. What does this teach us? Should we give one-tenth? Maybe. We gotta give sacrificially. True sacrificial giving is giving when we do without something we would otherwise have so that God's work will be advanced.

30 · The pastor narrates a family practice of showing his children the church offering check before mailing it, making the family's kingdom investment visible and tangible

So when my kids were all little and lived at home, one of the things we used to do was we used to make a practice of— I'd write my check out to the church and I'd call all my children, Ricky and Kara and Liana and Elma. I'd say, hey, come here, come here, guys, look, come here, I want you to see something. What, what, Dad? I said, look, this is what we as a family— this is what we are investing in the kingdom of God. "Look at the check." So they'd look at it, and I could just see their little minds just whirling around and thinking, "Oh gosh, you know, that'd be nice money to use on me or, you know, my toys or a nice little trip or vacation or, you know, all kinds of stuff." But I wanted them to understand we as a family, we as a family are investing together. It's not just mom and dad, guys. You too. We're all doing this as a family.

31 · The pastor tells a humorous story about choosing a Subaru over a Porsche as a modest example of sacrificial decision-making

So, you know, last year or 2020, you know, COVID started. So Kim, my wife, because she loves me so much, she encouraged me to get another car. I call it my COVID car. And so she said, "You know, honey, I know you love driving a stick shift, and you know, you're getting older. And so before you're too old and you can't drive a stick shift anymore, you ought to go ahead and get a stick shift." Thank you, honey. Thanks for that encouragement that I'm getting older and I won't be able to do it much longer, but okay. And so I'm thinking, yeah, stick shift, a sports car. I love sports cars. Ooh, what should I get? Oh, I think there's a new Porsche dealer in town. Oh, wouldn't that be nice? Those are great cars. They're good cars. They're German cars. You know, they build really good cars. And then I started praying. I said, God, nope, nope, nope. Ah, no, I don't think the Lord's calling me to get a German car. Porsche. How about a Subaru? Okay, I get a Subaru. Yeah, it's a great car, but it costs about one-third of the Porsche. So anyway, yeah, sacrifice. Was that a big sacrifice? Not really, but I'm just trying to encourage you.

32 · The pastor delivers a rapid-fire series of applicatory principles for giving: (1) faithfulness matters more than amount; (2) giving can be spontaneous in response to specific needs; (3) giving should flow from love and gratitude, not legalistic obligation; (4) giving should be generous, modeled after Christ's generosity; (5) giving should be joyful, with attitude mattering as much as action

So giving is not just a matter of what we have. Faithfulness is what pleases God. You do not have to possess a large amount to be sacrificial. And remember again the widow. The widow, what did she do? She gave 2 pennies or 1 penny. D, giving can be in response to a need, spontaneous and special. If you can meet a need of a brother and sister in Christ, that's a huge blessing to you to meet that need. Did you know that? For God to say, hey, I want you to meet that need. I want you to help this other person. Me? Yes, you. D. E. Giving should demonstrate love, not law. Love and gratitude to God for who he is and what he has done is the fountain out of which grace giving is to flow. Giving is to be generous. 2 Corinthians 8:2-3. As Christ has given to us, shall we So should we give. Gee, giving is to be joyful. Our attitude in giving is as important to the Lord as the giving act itself.

33 · The pastor tells a story about correcting a young man who tried to use the 'joyful giving' principle as an escape clause from giving

I remember there were some young men years ago I was mentoring, about 4 guys, and we read this scripture and this young man said, oh, so if I'm not joyful, then I don't have to give, right? I thought, really? Is that what you think it says? Yeah, that's what it says, you know, that our giving is to be joyful. And so God loves a cheerful giver, and if I'm not cheerful, then I shouldn't be giving. Giving. I don't think that's what it says. Matter of fact, it doesn't say that. Matter of fact, probably you need to repent of your bad heart in giving and ask God to give you a joyful heart in giving, because that's what he loves. So we want to be joyful in our giving.

34 · The pastor applies the principle of total consecration, warning against reducing discipleship to a financial percentage

And H, giving is to be complete. Total discipleship extends far beyond our financial giving. To God. The New Testament clearly teaches total commitment in all areas of our lives. Overemphasizing the tithe has caused us to miss this important truth. We don't want you to think, oh, okay, well, yeah, if I'm tithing, good check, I can't be doing that. Hey, you know what? New Testament Christianity, New Testament giving is this: here it is, Lord, here I am, Lord, All I have is yours. We sang, here's my heart, Lord. Here's my heart, Lord. All I have is yours. What do you have? Lay it down. Let's say, here it is, Lord. Your money, your clothes, your house, your cars. Everything we have is from God. So whose is it? It's God's.

35 · The pastor offers a concrete eschatological perspective to encourage detachment from possessions

Think of it this way. I think of this thought many times to encourage my soul. Hey, you know that nice car I like, my little Subaru BRZ I like driving around, my little stick shift car? I think, you know, 100 years from now, that car will be a pile of junk. You know what? Everything we own 100 years from now is going to be gone. You know what's not gonna be gone? Heaven. And those we've touched with our giving.

36 · The pastor makes a nuanced theological claim about blessing in response to giving

Giving biblically always results in God's blessing. Being obedient to the Word of God will always open the way for his blessings to be experienced. Not a guarantee of financial returns. We're not giving to get. But something better— God's pleasure with us.

37 · The pastor concludes by synthesizing the sermon's argument into a comprehensive definition of biblical giving: a voluntary act flowing from gratitude, motivated by the understanding that everything belongs to God and by gratitude for Christ

Conclusion: Biblical and spiritual giving is the act of giving oneself and all that one has completely to God by a voluntary act that flows out of a thankful and grateful heart. It is motivated by a sincere understanding that everything belongs to God and that he is the source of every blessing. It is also motivated by gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ. By returning a portion of that blessing to God, the believer is acknowledging that he has received God's blessing and that he is truly grateful. The times of Israel's greatest spiritual fervor and the church's greatest impact on society are the times of the greatest sacrificial giving. This indicates that there is a correlation between the spiritual state of true believers and their willingness to be involved in sacrificial giving. In practice, giving 10%, it's a good place to start, but it's not a— where you stop. God wants us to grow in all areas of our Christian life, including giving. As we look to him in faith, as we look to the cross, we give. But this is what he's going to do. He will do through us and for us beyond that which we could ever hope or imagine. In light of God's indescribable gift of his son Jesus, it is hard to imagine doing anything less. God gave his all He gave his best. So should we.

38 · The pastor closes with a brief prayer thanking God for the widow's example and asking God to help the congregation become givers like her

Let's pray. Father, thank you for the story of this widow, Lord. What an example of a giver. She gave, Lord, because she loved you totally, wholly, and completely. Help us, Father, to be givers as well. In Jesus' name, amen.