August 17, 2025

Luke 21:1-4

Where Duty Meets Delight

We live in a world that values more of everything: bigger, better, faster, stronger, richer, all of which capture our attention. But while the economy of the world is all about getting, the economy of heaven is all about giving… for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

Join us this week as we study Luke 21, verses 1 through 4. We’ll examine the story of a poor widow’s tiny yet extravagant offering, which turns out to be the most famous donation ever made by a human. We’ll discover how God measures worth in a way that turns the world’s values upside down, where the condition of our hearts is more important than the size of our bank accounts; where proportion is more significant than portion size; and where giving sacrificially moves from duty to delight.

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Sermon Notes

Luke 21:1-4

Where Duty Meets Delight

Pastor Matt Pierson

“The Christian life, from one angle, is the long journey of letting our natural assumption about who God is, over many decades, fall away, being slowly replaced with God’s own insistence on who He is…the Christian life is a lifelong shedding of tepid thoughts of the goodness of God.”
Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: the Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers

The Heart of Giving:

1. We are created to be givers

“He measures littleness and greatness by a very different measure from the measure of man.”
J.C. Ryle, Luke

“Faith must reveal itself in works, and such works are the fruit, the evidence, of a true faith….The works are the mark, externally, of the inner reality of faith.”
David Jackman and William Philip, Teaching Matthew

2. God is delighted by a heart that gives sacrificially

“I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.”
2 Samuel 24:24

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare…There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“The measure of all love is its giving. The measure of the love of God is the cross of Christ, where the Father gave the Son to die so that the spiritually dead might have life.”
J.I. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness

3. Where duty meets delight

“We believe the Gospel. For us this means that sacrificial love is not just our duty but our delight.”
David Platt, Radical Together

“The call to lay down narcissistic self-absorption and to serve others at a cost to our conveniences, finances, and luxuries is real. But this is never an appeal to abstract duty; it is an invitation to true happiness.”
Jonathan Pennington, Jesus the Great Philosopher

“Being disciples means being called to see others, and especially others in profound need, from the perspective of an eternal and unflinching, unalterable love.”
Rowan Williams, Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life

Discussion Questions

  • Read the passage together: Before today’s sermon, what did you already know or believe about this passage? Did anything in your understanding shift after hearing the message?
  • Challenge and Reflection: Was there a part of today’s message that was particularly challenging or surprising for you? Why?
  • Unpacking the Message: Pick a quote from today’s sermon notes. Discuss what it means to you.
  • Personal Impact: What’s one specific way you feel called to change or grow after hearing this message?
  • Practical Application: What’s one step you can take this week to put today’s message into practice?
  • Connecting Scripture: Are there other Bible passages or stories this message reminds you of? How do they expand or confirm this teaching?
  • Gratitude: What aspect of God’s character stood out to you in today’s message? How does it inspire praise or gratitude?
  • Pray the Scripture: After hearing the message, is there a specific area where you feel led to pray? How can we pray for one another in light of today’s teaching?

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs

“Anchor Of Hope“ by Brown Bannister and Ellie Holcomb
“May The Peoples Praise You“ by David Zimmer, Ed Cash, Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty, and Stuart Townend
“Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me“ by Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren, and Rich Thompson
“Give Me Jesus“ by Fernando Ortega
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois
All songs are used by Permission. CCLI License #2003690

Call To Worship: Steady Dependance

ALL: Compose our spirits to a quiet and steady dependence on your good providence, that we may not be anxious for anything, but by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, still make known our requests to you, our God. Help us to pray always and not faint; in everything to give thanks, and offer up the sacrifice of praise continually; to rejoice in hope of your glory; to possess our souls in patience; and to learn in whatsoever state we are, there to be content. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!

Source: John Wesley (edited)

Classic Prayer: Basil the Great

Help us to hold fast, Lord, to the rudder of life. Guide our eyes away from the furious waves of lust. Guide our ears and tongues, lest the one receive anything harmful, or the other speak what should never be said. Do not let the tempest of passion overwhelm us, or the blows of depression beat us down, or the weight of sorrow drown us in its depths. Our feelings are waves. Help us to rise above them, steering a safe course through life. Otherwise, with life’s dangers all around, our boats could tip and sink in the deep sea of sin. As long as we live, and amid the unstable circumstances of this world, Spirit, help and show us the way onward. Move us on by gentle winds of peace, until we one day arrive safe and sound at the calm and waveless haven of God, to whom be glory and majesty forever and ever.

Confession of Faith: The Apostles’ Creed, “I Believe in the Holy Spirit”

LEADER: How does the Holy Spirit strengthen you for life in Christ?
PEOPLE: The Holy Spirit bears witness that I am a child of God, stirs my heart continually to worship and to pray, and inspires me to holiness and good works in Christ.

LEADER: How do you receive the Holy Spirit?
PEOPLE: The Scriptures teach that, by repenting and being baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, I am forgiven my sins and I receive the Holy Spirit, who gives me new birth in Christ and frees me from
the power of sin.

LEADER: What is the fruit of the Holy Spirit?
PEOPLE: The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the very character of Jesus developing in us through the work of the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Source: ACNA, Q. 87, 88, 89; The Apostles’ Creed – I Believe in the Holy Spirit, part 2, Article III.

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