Life at Ten - 18th May 2025

·40 min·4 clips

A visiting pastor confesses jealousy over Life Church's facilities while praising their radical generosity to the community.

The episode features a visiting pastor delivering a sermon at Life Church NZ on generosity. He opens by praising the church's generosity, noting their facilities are used by many community groups. He shares a personal confession of jealousy over their building. The speaker then recounts his early ministry at Grace Vineyard Church, where he avoided talking about money, leading to 90% of the congregation not giving despite over 1,000 attendees. This caused financial strain and staff shortages. He describes the fear pastors have around discussing finances, labeling it a 'demonic realm' and noting people boycott series on giving. The speaker explains how God challenged his fear of man, leading him to start teaching on generosity. He shares success stories: a young couple inspired by the book 'Kingdom Builders' wanting to fund the kingdom, and dramatic donations including $4.9 million from one couple and $500,000 from online viewers. He mentions Life Church's $4 million building project and how sacrificial giving enabled it. The speaker discusses other churches in his movement, like one in a poor area that received a $100,000 check and a house after teaching on giving, and another north of Auckland gifted a $3.5 million church building. He uses biblical references, such as Matthew 6:19 on treasures in heaven, and quotes John Wesley and Billy Graham on money and God. The acorn analogy illustrates how small gifts can multiply in the kingdom. He recounts the feeding of the 5,000, emphasizing Jesus uses what we have. The sermon concludes with 2 Corinthians 9:6 on sowing generously, urging cheerful giving without compulsion. A prayer blesses Life Church for future generosity.

As heard by us

A personal sermon presents generosity as a shared church discipline, rooted in mentoring, struggle, and hope for a building.

This single-episode sermon frames generosity as a practice that forms the life of a church. It begins in gratitude for Paul and Jill, whose care and mentoring shaped the speaker's early years, then traces that spirit through Carl and Angela and the wider Life Church community.

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Why you'd press play

You get a warm, candid sermon on generosity, rooted in church friendships, personal gratitude, and one poor-area church falling behind on community center payments.

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