2 Corinthians chapter 8 this morning as we turn once again to this very personal letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth. We've taken as our theme the fourth chapter, the seventh verse, for we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. So as we move through 2 Corinthians chapter by chapter and verse by verse, I want to share with you the treasures that we find here. I suggested as we began our study of 2 Corinthians that the first seven chapters of this book deal with endurance, how a Christian grows through trials. Chapters 8 and 9 deal with benevolence, how a Christian gives even in the midst of trials. And chapters 10 to 13 deal with magnificence. How a Christian can glorify God in times of trial. Now as we open our Bibles this morning to 2 Corinthians 8, we're moving from the theme of endurance to the theme of benevolence. We're moving then from Christian growth, addressed in those first seven chapters, now to Christian giving. I feel like we ought to label chapter 8 and 9 as we open this passage extremely sensitive Handle with care. After all, these chapters deal with giving. And I've been told if you want to kill a Baptist, all you need to do is shoot him in the wallet. So we need to be careful this morning, and not just handle with care, but handle with prayer. 2 Corinthians 8, beginning in verse 1, We do ye the wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, how then in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they are willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship and the ministering of the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first they gave of themselves to the Lord, and then unto us by the will of God. inasmuch that we desired Titus that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as we abound in everything, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in diligence, and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, Yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be made rich." I'd like to speak to you today on the treasure of grace-giving. As we look in God's Word, let's ask His blessing upon it. Now Father, give us wisdom, hearts of understanding, and then the will to apply, that our minds would not just be filled, but that our hearts would be moved so that we would be about your business with joy knowing that you're coming soon. Thank you for the privilege of preaching your word this morning, and may it fall on ready ears. For it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Put a mark here in your Bibles and Second Corinthians and come back with me to the book of Luke, the Gospel of Luke, the sixth chapter for just a moment. Perhaps you've heard the story that I heard of two men who found themselves deserted on an uninhabited island. One man was pacing, filled with anxiety. The other man was reclining, seeming to be ever so serene. The anxious man said to his serene friend, aren't you worried? This friend said, no, I'm not worried. Why aren't you worried, said the friend. The one who was at peace said, I'm a Christian. So am I, said his anxious friend. OK, well, I'm a Baptist Christian. So am I, said his anxious friend. I'm a Christian who tithes, said the friend who was at ease. The anxious friend had nothing to say. And then the one who was at ease responded, my pastor is going to find me. Truth is, fewer than 5% of Americans tithe. In fact, 37% of those who attend evangelical churches don't give at all. In fact, adults who attend Protestant churches in America today, on average, give about $17 a week. Why do so few fail to participate in the grace of giving? Why are so few involved? Well, one in three respond, I have so many debts and obligations that I can't give. And while the surveys don't indicate how many would respond this way, I'm convinced that there are many in America today who would say, I've become cynical because of the abuses in the churches and by the church's leaders. Look at Luke chapter six. We've turned there this morning. I wanna focus our attention on the 38th verse for just a moment. Luke six and verse 38. The Lord is talking and he says, give. and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give unto your bosom for the same measure that you meet with all that shall be measured to you again." The Lord said, give. That's a command. That's an imperative. And with that imperative command comes a sweet and gracious promise. It will be given to you. good measure pressed down, shaken together and running over. So will men, give unto you. Just after World War II, the orphanages of Europe were filled. The poor children who had survived the war without their parents. They were given three meals a day, attention by loving nurses. They were clean and they were warm and yet they were not sleeping through the night. People wondered why the agitation, why the inability to sleep as the children grew stronger, yet they could not sleep until they determined that the children had found a form of anxiety-induced insomnia. And so just before tucking the children in bed at night, the nurses would come between the beds and hand every child a little loaf of bread. and the little loaf of bread was better than any sleeping pill, and the little ones slept through the night. Their anxiety-induced insomnia was taken away because of a grace gift given. There may be some in this room this morning when the topic of giving comes up. There's an anxiety-induced stinginess. But God has given to us loaves of bread, he has given to us grace gifts to enjoy. He has said in Luke 6 and verse 38, give and it shall be given to you. He said in Philippians 4 and verse 19, my God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. And so as we take our Bibles and turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and enter into our conversation about the New Testament's two most important passages when it comes to the matter of Christian benevolence, Christian giving. I speak of this passage as a treasure, the treasure of grace giving. And the word grace immediately arises out of the passage for in chapter eight in verse one, moreover brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. In other words, he says, we want you to know about the grace of God that's been given to the churches in Macedonia. Then beginning in verse 2, down to verse 5, he speaks of that generosity that the Macedonians modeled. And in verses 6 and 7, he turns that modeling of this grace of the Macedonians to the Corinthians and the Spirit of God turns it to us. saying in verse 6, in so much that we desired Titus that as he had begun he would finish this same grace in you, Titus had gone to Corinth to receive an offering from the Corinthians For the people in Jerusalem who were hurting, therefore, he says in verse seven, as you abound in everything in faith and in utterance and in knowledge and in diligence and in your love to us, now see that you abound rather in this grace also. He wants the children of Corinth and the Spirit of God wants us here in this place to know the blessing of grace giving. The passage to which we've turned this morning shows us what godly giving looks like. The example of the Macedonians, verses 1 to 5. The example of the master, verse 9. Again, I'm going to warn you, as we come into 2 Corinthians chapter 8, we're in a passage that needs to be handled sensitively. It needs to be handled with prayer. But if we would know what the grace of giving looks like, there's no better passage for us to examine than this passage that contains the example of the Macedonians and the example of the Master. Let's begin this morning by discovering the example of the Macedonians. Did you see what verse 2 said about the Macedonians? It said that in deep poverty, their deep poverty abounded. to their liberality. In other words, clearly the Macedonians were an impoverished people, but it didn't matter to them. They still were a giving people. Years ago I was invited to pray for a pastor's home at a dedication service in southern India. It was one of the most humbling, meaningful services I have ever attended in my Christian experience. This pastor, with his two daughters and his wife, serving in Kerala and southernmost India, in a very rural area, had been frozen out of the Indian economy, as the Hindus often will do to the Christians. He had been very dependent upon the Lord to provide for his family, and over many years of careful stewardship, he had finally been able to purchase a little piece of land. His piece of land was roughly the size of my office, maybe 20 by 12. But it was sold to him and with great joy he had already laid out the foundations for his house. He was going to have a two-room house there on that piece of land for his daughters and his wife. So he asked, would I come and pray for the construction of his home and for God's blessings on this place, a dedication service for his house. I came, not expecting much, was introduced to this dear man, Pastor Babu, sat at his table. His wife served me not one, not two, but three courses of meat with fancy rice on fancy plates while she and her daughters sat on the side of the room and watched until the plate was empty and they jumped up again to bring more food. I asked the host that I was with, is this how they eat in this village? And he smiled as he said to me, they don't eat this well, Brother Phelps, on Christmas. This is because they want to show honor to you. We went from that rented property over to the place where I was asked to pray. I stood on that little piece of property and looked at those narrow foundations and prayed a simple prayer that God would bless this home. After my prayer, Pastor Babu came to me and put money in my hand. I looked at my host and I said, what's this? And my host said, this pastor wants to give you money because you've participated in this important service and he wants to honor you again. You can imagine how that money felt in my hand. I didn't want his money. So I said to the host, can I give it back? He said, oh no. That would be a terrible offense. He wants to honor you by giving to you because you've prayed for the foundation of his house. The next hour or so was about the most uncomfortable hour of my life. And then a little light bulb went off in my mind and I said to my host, am I allowed to make a donation for his house? Oh yes, said my host, that would be entirely proper. I made a very generous donation. But I learned along the way where generosity arises out of great poverty, we find ourselves fixated. When generosity arises out of great poverty, we learn tremendous lessons about the grace of God and the Spirit of God working in His people. And so it is that the Apostle Paul is writing to the believers in the port city of Corinth. They were wealthy people. The port city of Corinth was an extremely affluent community. But north of them, in northern Greece, was this area called Macedonia. Extremely impoverished. The Macedonian people were some of the poorest in the ancient world. Now, it had not always been that way. But over the past 200 years, the poor Macedonian people had lost their natural resources to the Romans. have been part of Roman civil wars and occupations. In fact, Dr. Arnold's Roman Commonwealth says the conditions of the Macedonians at the time of Augustus was one of desolation and distress because of civil wars between Caesar and Pompey and Augustus and Antonius. Something amazing was happening up there in Macedonia. Among the churches that Paul loved so well, the Thessalonians, the Bereans, Among these churches that Paul had come to love in these years of ministry, the Philippians, they were giving and giving and giving. It would be like someone from Malawi, the poorest country in the world today, where the average person makes about $396 a year. Hearing about your situation here in Indiana, Maybe a flood or maybe a drought. But something has happened here in our homes and someone from Malawi gets the idea of raising an offering and sending it to us here at Colonial Hills Baptist Church. And on Sunday morning I opened the envelope of this offering from these people in Malawi. How would you feel? The Corinthians were affluent beyond imagination in their port city of Corinth. The Macedonians not so. In fact, Paul remarks in verse 4 that they, these Macedonians, prayed us with much entreaty that we would receive their gift. Literally, they begged us earnestly to take the money because they wanted to participate in the ministering of aid to the saints You see, the people in Jerusalem were impoverished. There in Jerusalem, the church had grown, people stayed after Pentecost, they were not able to find employment, and the Macedonians had a burden for that church in Jerusalem, and so they wanted to send money. And as these Macedonians raised this offering that is spoken of here in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, they provide an example for us. Let me recommend that they show us at least in six ways, and I'm gonna cover them quickly, what real godly giving looks like. If you have a pen, take it out and write this down. Let's let these Macedonians be to us here in Indianapolis this morning examples of what grace giving looks like. It says in verse two that they gave in or during a great trial of affliction. And it goes on in verse 2 to tell us that they were in deep poverty. So lesson number one, godly giving is not dependent upon circumstances. Godly giving is not dependent upon circumstances. It is simply committed giving. Godly giving is not dependent upon circumstances. It's committed giving. After all, for 200 years these Macedonians had been under the terror of the Romans, and their poverty was very genuine. They'd go to their mines and they would work, and then the Romans would tax their mines. So all that they had by way of financial stability had been eroded over two centuries. And now worse than that, the believers who were planting churches there in Macedonia, We're under religious persecution as well. The Apostle Paul would write to the church at Thessalonica and say in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 6, you receive the Word in much affliction. Those who do give, listen, those who do give in adversity find it very easy to give in prosperity. But those who don't know how to give in adversity will likewise find it very difficult to give when prosperity comes. We don't often use John David Rockefeller as an example, but he was a Baptist. J.D. Rockefeller was asked one day how it was that he so famously kept his commitment to be a tithing Christian. Old Rockefeller smiled and he said, If I hadn't tithed on my first income, I could not tithe on my income now. But having tithed then when I had nothing, I find it easy to tithe now. It was in Myanmar. a few years ago visiting our missionary, Non Cop. He's in the town of Tadim in the Chin Hills. There are 26,000 people in his town. Most of the houses, if you want to call them that, are made of rough-hewn lumber. The doors, some have them, some don't. The windows, some have them, some don't. Most for windows have tarps over the windows all for warmth or burning wood. It is so poor in the Chin State that the political people who are in charge of Myanmar don't want anyone from the West to visit there. The town of 26,000 non-cop arm missionary is there. He invited us to be part of his church on a Sunday morning. His auditorium is bigger than this room. His church more than 1,000 people. In all of the rough, hewn, plain dwellings of the Chin Hills, the building there, the Evangelical Baptist Church of Tadim, Myanmar, stands out. It's made of beautiful stonework. There are mosaics on the walls. The floor is kiln work that has been done in beautifying the place with 1,000 people gathering. And I said to Brother Copp, with a smile on my face, Did you receive money to build this building from churches that support you in America?" With shock on his face, he said to me, not a dime. I said, how did you then build this building? He said, our people raised hogs. I told them if we raised enough hogs and sold the hogs, we could build our church building. We raised hogs for several years. And at the end of every year, we would add up how much money we had. And after having raised enough hogs, God gave us this building. What a testimony. You see, godly giving is not dependent upon circumstances. It's committed giving. And as I look at the Macedonian example, I discover that godly giving is not a grievous thing. Godly giving is not a grievous thing. It's a glad thing. Look at verse two. In their great trial of affliction, The abundance of their joy. Godly giving should not be a grievous thing. It should be a glad thing. Abundance of joy. Literally he's saying they were overflowing with it. We know 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 7 says the Lord loves a cheerful giver. Can we do a survey? You don't have to answer it aloud this morning. It's just a little survey this morning if you don't mind. Let's ask this question. What's your favorite part of a Sunday morning service? greeting friends, the choir when it sings, standing together to sing, maybe looking forward to the pastor's message. You know what this passage is teaching? Your favorite part ought to be, wow, here come the ushers. I think those are offering plates. I haven't seen one of those in, boy, it must be since last Sunday. And I get to put something in this week. This is great, isn't it? It really ought to be. You see, it's not a matter of grief. It ought to be a matter of gladness. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. And these people were commended for that gladness. After all, listen folks, when we give, we're laying up treasure in heaven where moth and rust cannot corrupt and thieves cannot break through and steal. When we give, we have His promise that He'll give to us good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. In Acts chapter 20, the Lord Jesus is Himself quoted as saying, it's better to give than to receive. It's an exciting thing to be able to be a Christian who gets to partner with God for the purpose of promoting the gospel. What a blessing. The Bible says we actually make to ourselves friends in heavenly places who will greet us at our final coming home." Yeah, that's right. Jesus said, make to yourselves friends of unrighteous mammon that when your time comes, they will greet you even in heavenly places. Let me notice third here that godly giving is not about surplus. It's about sacrifice. Godly giving is not about surplus. It's about sacrifice. Verse 2. Their deep poverty abounded under the riches of their liberality. Deep poverty. Interesting little phrase. In the original language it means they were down in the pit. Literally, they had hit rock bottom. Their deep poverty, that same phrase deep poverty is used to describe Lazarus, who waited for the crumbs under the table when the rich man would not even provide for him. They were deeply impoverished, but their giving abounded. Literally, it was overflowing. They had so little, but they gave so much. I was with a group of teens a number of years ago down in The Baja Peninsula of Mexico. Perhaps the most moving part of that trip was going out to a migrant Mexican farm plantation where we'd been invited to come and sing and participate. And as we came to the host home, a migrant farmer with a great smile welcomed us under a corrugated roof that stood off from his little hovel of a house. A 55-gallon drum was there for the family stove. His wife had been cooking tortillas and meat for our dinner. And that migrant farmer with a big smile told the story of saving for month after month after month to be able to buy the wood and the corrugated roof that was now fashioned to the side of his house as a church for the migrant workers in Mexico. All of the young people came back. with great joy in their heart, having been so wonderfully moved by the hospitality of that dear farmer in the midst of his poverty, rejoicing that God was building a church. You see, godly giving is not about surplus. It's all about sacrifice. We worry about rent and taxes and utilities and gas prices one day and gas prices not the next day, but then stock prices that go along with gas prices. Folks, our heads are in the wrong place. Our hearts ought to lead our hands to understand, for the Macedonians stand as a perpetuated example, fourthly, that godly giving is not forced giving. It's free giving. For in verse 3, for to their power, I bear record, yea, beyond their power, they were willing of themselves praying us with much entreaty that we'd receive their gift. They were literally begging Paul and his friends to take the money Please, as Paul looked at their diminished circumstances and scratched his head and then remembered, that the Lord said, give and it shall be given to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. My grandfather on my mother's side was not a very faithful Christian man. There was a time in his life that he decided to be part of a church. more for social status than for spiritual growth. And then he was mortified, having joined that church, when a delegation from the church came to his house with some cards asking for his signature and his annual pledge. He was not a man of means, and he certainly didn't mean to make an annual pledge when he joined the church. So he never went back. He had been constrained and found the constraint of being forced to give to be very unwelcomed. So it is as we look in this passage, we ought to be thankful to be part of a church where there are no constraints being placed other than the constraint of the Spirit of God upon the people of God. And oh, by the way this morning, isn't it wonderful to be looking at 2 Corinthians 8 and then look at the back of the bulletin and realize God has done some tremendous things for Colonial Hills Baptist Church. This is no reactionary sermon. This is a sermon based on the Word of God and the responsibility of your pastor to preach it to you as it is. And as I look in this passage, I discover that godly giving is not forced giving. It's free giving. I heard the story about a man who was walking along the boardwalk when he saw a little child who was choking. His mother had taken the child out of a stroller and was trying to help the child breathe and the child wasn't breathing. And the man took the child by the heels and held the child by the heels and began to pat the child on the back. And out came a dime. The child was choking on a dime. And the lady said, thank you, thank you. Are you a doctor? The man said, no, I'm a Baptist pastor. I'm used to shaking money out of people. It's not about shaking money out of people. Godly giving is not force giving, it's free giving. Godly giving further is not an obligation, it's an opportunity. It's not an obligation, it's an opportunity. Verse 4, that we would take upon us the fellowship of the ministering of the saints. There was a real need in Jerusalem. Persecution had caused the Christians to become penniless. And that need needed to be met. And so God's people way up in Macedonia who had nothing, by the way, as you survey through the New Testament, you find two types of offerings. There is the offering for the saints who were impoverished and there is the offering for the servants of God. 1 Corinthians 9 and 1 Timothy 5 both say, don't starve the ox that treads the corn. By the way, the ox, that would be me. or pastoral staff members. The Word of God says that if a person is about the gospel, he should live with the gospel. There is an obligation then on the part of Christians to give so that the ministers of God's Word can minister God's Word wisely and well, so they can have the time to invest themselves in the teaching of God's people and in prayer. Some would argue, well, there's never mention in the New Testament about giving to build a building. But look in the Old Testament. There's a whole lot in the Old Testament about giving to build a building. And as you're looking in the Old Testament, thank the Lord for air conditioning and heat. I've been to some of those migrant farms. I've been in some of those foreign places where a two-by-four is a bench and that's the comfortable bench. I'm okay with taking an offering for a facility that would be used for the glory of God so God's people can gather and do the work of the ministry. But I discover in this passage That as we look at godly giving, it's not an obligation, it's an opportunity. They wanted to help out, and thus by helping out, minister to others. And then finally, by way of example, godly giving is not selfish, it's always selfless. Verse 5, they gave themselves first. First they gave of themselves. They were involved in the ministry. And so the financial thing was, that was easy. They were already giving of themselves. They were serving in prayer, they were serving in witnessing, they were edifying one another as a flock because they were involved in ministry giving financially. That was the easy part. They were involved in this grace of giving. And so the members of the Church of Macedonia became models of New Testament giving. We can say it this way, that New Testament giving in this passage that we've discovered so far is committed, it's not circumstantial. It's glad, it's not grieved. It's sacrificial, it's not surplus. It's free will, it's not forced. It's opportune, not obligational. It's selfless, not selfish. Albert Schweitzer was asked, how do you teach a child? Albert Schweitzer responded, there are three ways to teach a child. Example, example, example. And so it is that the Holy Spirit holds up the Macedonians and says, example, example, example. Consider it often, this is what grace giving looks like. This is what motivates us today to be generous in our stewardship. Did you know that during the depression, the average American home gave about three and a half percent of its income to charitable causes during the depression? Did you know that today the average American home gives about 1.7% to charitable causes? Why? I think a lot of people don't realize they have a loaf of bread. I think that they have an anxiety related stinginess. Give and it shall be given unto you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together and running over. My God shall supply all your needs. God's bread always satisfies the soul. Give. You have abounded, he says in verse 7, in so many spiritual blessings, in faith, utterance, knowledge, and all diligence. Now as he addresses the Corinthians, he says, how glad we are to know that you love us as well. Now see that you abound in this grace also. I'm not speaking by commandment, but by occasion of forwardness of others to prove the sincerity of your love. And then this second example. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be made rich. We've seen the example of the Macedonians. The ninth verse contains the example of the Master. When you give, this passage says, consider Christ's preeminence. You know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, though He was rich. And how rich was He? The angels of heaven bowed before Him. The Spirit and the Father conversed with Him. All creation depended upon His oversight and acted upon His will. How rich was He! The glories of a sinless heaven sang His praises. Holy, holy, holy! The angels echoed, though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor. Bill Gates is widely known to be, if not the wealthiest man in America, one of the wealthiest men. Imagine if Bill Gates took everything that he had and gave it all away and moved with his family to wear rags and live in Calcutta. Can you imagine that? It doesn't even compare. to what the Lord left behind when He left heaven for you and for me. Consider His preeminence and let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Consider His poverty. He became poor. How poor! Matthew 8, verse 20 says He didn't have anywhere to lay His head. The Gospel of Mark tells us, as Ben reminded us this morning, He depended on a little boy to give Him His lunch. They were taking a lunch from a little boy. Matthew tells us that he didn't have the money to pay his taxes. And so the disciples pried it from the jaws of the fish. He was poor. And then he was stripped of his clothes. And then he died. And then he was placed in the tomb that a man had fashioned not for Christ but for himself, a borrowed tomb. He was poor. The songwriter said, My Lord has garments so wondrous fine, and myrrh their fragrance fills. This fragrance reached to this heart of mine, and joy my being thrills out of the ivory palaces into this world of woe. And yet, when I look at verse 9, I consider Christ's provision. that you through His poverty might be made rich. Heirs of God, Romans 8, verse 17 says, and joint heirs with Jesus. For He left His Father's throne above. I love what Wesley wrote when he said, so free, so infinite His grace. Emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adam's helpless race. Tis mercy. Tis mercy all immense and free. But oh my God, it found out me. We praise the Lord for His generosity. After World War II, the pastor was working with his congregation to see a new building go up. He was serving the Lord in the land of England, a place that had been terribly bombed. So he stood for people to come by. One family came by and they said, we'd like to give 200 pounds An immense sum. We'd like to give 200 pounds to memorialize our son who died in the conflict. Another family stood by and hearing this very generous conversation, approached the pastor and said, we planned to give 200 pounds. But they said, we heard the other family was giving 200. And our son lived through the battles. We want to give 400. motivated by grace, that God is always good, motivated by His promise that He will give to us. We stand amazed at the Macedonians and at the Master today when we ask the question, do we really understand grace-giving? I trust that your heart responds, yes, indeed, and that your hand will respond as well so that we might know the blessings that God pours out on His people For as we give, He gives to us good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. Let's stand together please as we pray. Heads are bowed and eyes closed and no one looking around. The Lord Jesus Christ has given to you the bread of life. And with the bread of life, the promise of His word, that if you give, it shall be given to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. I have a question to ask you this morning. If you come to Christ, He wants to make you rich. Rich in forgiveness. Rich in fellowship. Rich in hope. Rich in heaven. Brenda, if you've never come to Christ as Savior, in a moment the instruments are going to play hymn number 400, Take My Life and Let It Be, Consecrated Lord to Thee. It'd be our highest honor this morning to show you from God's Word how you can know for sure you're going to heaven when you die. All you have to do is step out from where you are and grab Pastor Ben's hand. He'll be here at the front. And someone will quietly slip to your side and take you to a private place and show you how your sins can be forgiven and how you can have a home in heaven. Christian, do you trust Christ? His grace has given to us that loaf of bread that rests in our hearts and says, it's so. My God will supply all my needs. Have you shown it even today? There might be a Christian in this place that needs to make a commitment of heart right now. Maybe a couple that needs to hold hands and just in symbol pray and say, Lord, all we have is Thine. We give it back today. We ask You to allow Your blessing to break it and multiply it as surely as You did the loaves and the fishes.