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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
Red Letters - A Heart To Help Those In Need
Why do we give? Is it the warm feeling when friends applaud, or the thrill of an online shout-out? In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus drills past the act of giving to expose its motive, and Pastor Tyler Lynde invites us to do the same.
Jesus starts with a warning: if our charity aims at human approval, we should enjoy the “likes” quickly, because that applause is the full payout. Tyler explains how first-century Pharisees literally hired trumpeters to announce almsgiving. Today’s versions are subtler—photo ops, branded T-shirts, humble-brag posts—but the heart pattern is identical.
Then comes the guarantee: earthly praise is a cheap prize compared to heaven’s reward. Proverbs 27:2 and Luke 12:1 reinforce the danger of hypocrisy—the spiritual yeast that puffs up performance while leaving motives sour.
Next, Jesus issues a disarming instruction: give in secret, so secret that your left hand can’t gossip to your right. Tyler illustrates this through a childhood memory: his struggling family once discovered twelve bags of groceries on the porch, no signature attached. The anonymous giver skipped human credit but secured the Father’s smile.
Finally, Jesus offers radical assurance: “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” That promise reframes generosity as an act of worship before an audience of One. Tyler urges us to imagine how faith would rise if we truly believed God watched every covert kindness.
Key takeaways:
- Check the motive. Ask daily: “Am I giving to be seen, or because I’ve been seen by grace?” (Eph 2:8-10).
- Guard the method. Practice covert giving—anonymous gifts, private cash apps, or needs met before anyone can ask.
- Trust the reward. God’s ledger is eternal; nothing done from love goes unnoticed (James 1:27).
Ready to ditch the trumpet? Press play, let Tyler walk you through Jesus’ four-fold framework, and discover the freedom of generosity that seeks no spotlight. Share the message so more hearts can experience the joy of giving God’s way.
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So we're in the middle of a sermon series called Red Letters, and it's all about the words of Jesus that are found in the Sermon on the Mount. It's so important for us to understand that Jesus gives us a portrait of what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and so all throughout this sermon we see examples of that over and over again. Mark did a great job last week of showing us the difference between following the letter of the law and the spirit or the intent of the law. We learned that sin is not merely about outward actions, but the state and intentions of our heart, which is the seedbed of those actions. In other words, whatever is in your heart is going to make its way out in our words, in our deeds, in the way that we live right. So the title of today's message is a heart to help those in need. A heart to help those in need.
Tyler Lynde:Let's look at Matthew, chapter six, verses one through four, and the word of God says beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father, who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret and your father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. Let's pray, father. We thank you for the word of God. We thank you that you didn't just give it to us so that we would have something to read. You gave it to us so that it could read us, so that it could bring about the transformation in our hearts that needs to happen. Lord, we pray that you would open this word today, that you would open the eyes of our understanding, that our revelation that you give us by the Holy Spirit would come alive, lord God, and that we would understand and not only understand it, but have a will and a desire to carry it out by your work and by your grace. We thank you for these things in Jesus' name, amen.
Tyler Lynde:Some of you have heard this story, but I'm just going to repeat it for those who haven't. When I was about nine years old, my family was very poor, but we didn't know we were poor. Anybody grow up like that. My family never talked about it, but one day in particular the cupboards were empty. We had no groceries except for one chicken pot pie, and my mom put it was a Wednesday. My mom put that chicken pot pie in the oven and she cooked it and the dinger went off and my brother and I started to salivate. Right, we were hungry and she was pulling it out and I don't know if it was from weakness, because she hadn't been eating much, or what happened, if it was just the devil himself, but that chicken pot pie fell over in the oven to the bottom of the oven, and the bottom of oven had not been cleaned for some time, and so that chicken pot pie found its destiny within the electric part of the oven, at the bottom of the oven, and we didn't get to eat. My dad always taught us you can trust in Jesus. We trust in the Lord. He takes care of our needs. This was a Wednesday.
Tyler Lynde:We went to church on Wednesday night. My dad was a pastor. The only other person in attendance was my aunt. My aunt was also poor. My dad preached like he would preach to a group like this. And at the end he took up an offering and my aunt gave $1 in the offering and on our way home we stopped by Wendy's and back then there was a special where you could get two cheeseburgers for a dollar, and so my parents took that dollar and they bought two cheeseburgers and they gave them to. So my parents took that dollar and they bought two cheeseburgers and they gave them to my brother and I, who sat in the back seat chewing on them, feeling I was feeling a little bit. I was very thankful, but watching my parents glance into the rearview mirror as we were eating that burger, there was something in me that connected with that and realized they probably wanted the burger as well.
Tyler Lynde:We got home and my dad unlocked the door and we walked inside and we turned around and all of a sudden my dad and mom began to shout. I assumed there was a mouse or God forbid a snake or something like that in the house. But as the lights turned on and we turned the corner, my brother and I saw something we'd never seen before, at least for a long time Twelve bags of groceries sitting on the kitchen table. We opened the refrigerator and the refrigerator was filled with steak and pork chops and chicken and milk and yogurt and all of those things. And here's the crazy part there was no note, there was no letter. There was no letter, there was no recognition, there was no acknowledgement. There was just 12 bags of groceries and a fridge full of food.
Tyler Lynde:When my brother and I looked at each other, and as the four of us celebrated, we realized the Lord Jesus did take care of us. To this day I still don't know who did that. The doors and windows to our house were locked. I would thought it would have been an angel, but there was one telltale sign that it wasn't there was a box of Count Chocula in the bags on the kitchen table. And we know no angel buying Count Chocula, right? Anyway, we're not going to get religious this morning.
Tyler Lynde:Why do I tell that story all these years later? Because what an impact it had on our lives. Only God really knew. My parents hadn't been telling anybody, they hadn't been complaining to anyone, nobody knew. But God knew. And God spoke to one of his children and one of his children somehow miraculously brought that food in there and left it for us. So last week Jesus was confronting the wrong thinking about that says as long as I don't do the dirty deed, in other words, as long as I don't murder anybody, as long as I don't commit adultery, then I'm fine, right? No, jesus goes much deeper. He clearly showed us that what's in the heart is what matters most. What's in the heart of men is what matters most. And in today's passage, jesus moves on to a new set of topics, but he has the same goal in mind. He wants to shine a light on the heart of men and women, and that's what he wants to do in our lives as well.
Tyler Lynde:The Jewish leaders had three religious acts that they performed regularly, and they asked for their parishioners, they asked for the Jewish people to perform these acts as well. So one was giving alms to the poor. Second was prayer, and the third was fasting Fasting. That's coming in a couple weeks. On the surface, these things are really good, aren't they? We, as believers, are called to engage in these same kinds of activities. So there's nothing wrong with giving alms to the poor, there's nothing wrong with prayer, there's nothing wrong with fasting, but the motivation that is behind those things is essential and very important. See, the problem that Jesus was addressing is not having the proper heart motivation when it comes to the reason why we do these things. Why do we do these things? So let's not allow ourselves to get distracted from the truth.
Tyler Lynde:How many of you know, jesus was not teaching behavior modification. In other words, jesus wasn't saying if you will it enough, if you have a strong enough mind, if you will it enough, if you have a strong enough mind, if you desire it enough, you can change yourself. And if you change yourself, then you can have the right attitude about giving and about prayer and about fasting. How many of you realize there's a missing ingredient in all of that that I just said? And what is it? It is the grace of God. You see, he is saying that if you are a recipient of the grace of God and God is your father, then the natural outworking of that is that you will gloriously change and live like you're a family member. How many of you are glad that you are part of the family of God? And how many of us find us on a daily basis acting like we're a part of the family of God?
Tyler Lynde:Why did we get quiet? Come on, I know this church, I know you and I know that many of you, on a daily basis, do live like children of God. You act like children of God. You do the types of things from a heart that's pure, that prove out the fact that you have been born again. I see it and I know it's true. But how many of you know? All of us are in process and there's room for improvement. Right, because practicing your righteousness isn't about earning it, but living like you've received it as a free gift. We don't live the way that God calls us to live in order to earn righteousness. We live the way that God calls us to live because we've been made righteous.
Tyler Lynde:Ephesians 2 says it like this For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. Did you save yourself? It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So we are born again. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, when we repent of our sins and we believe in the sacrifice of Jesus, his life, his death, his burial and his resurrection, we put our faith and hope in Jesus Christ, we're born again and the grace of God transforms our hearts and we are granted the righteousness of God. In Christ Jesus, you have been given, as a follower of Jesus, the gift of righteousness, right standing with God, your relationship with him has been made right. And if that's not the case for you yet, I implore you, I beg you, I beseech you, that today would be the day that you would acknowledge your need and that you would put your faith, hope and trust in a risen savior. Amen, amen. So we as believers.
Tyler Lynde:The Holy Spirit lives in us now and continues the work of sanctification. The natural outworking of the ongoing process of sanctification is that we will become more and more like our heavenly father. In what ways? In the way we speak, in the way we live, in our thought life, in our actions and, most importantly maybe, in our motivations, why we do the things that we do. So we're going to see a pattern emerge over the next three weeks, as Jesus addresses these three activities almsgiving, prayer and fasting at some length.
Tyler Lynde:So let's look at number one. The first thing that happens is there's a warning to not do the activity regularly in order to be praised by human beings. There's a warning to not do the activity to be praised by human beings. Number two, there's a guarantee that those who ignore this warning will only receive human praise. Number three, there's an instruction on how to perform the activity with the right heart. And number four, there's an assurance that our heavenly father, who sees in secret, will do what Will reward openly. You can take a snapshot of that slide if you want to real quick for your notes. I know I'm moving quickly this morning.
Tyler Lynde:So let's look at this particular passage today about helping those who are in need and having a heart for that, and let's look at our four different segments. So the first one is a warning. It says thus when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may be praised by others. Now there's a presupposition here that says not if you give. What does it say when you give? So what does that mean? Should we be giving to those who are in need? Absolutely, this should be one of the joys of our life. Excuse me, in fact, true religion is associated closely with this very thing in scripture. Look at James 1.27,. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, in their time of need, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. It is pure religion for us to help those with the right heart, to help those who are in need. So the warning is clearly about how and why we give to those in need.
Tyler Lynde:Jesus may have been using some hyperbole here. Sometimes he used some imagery to bring the point home, right. So he says you shouldn't sound the trumpet before you come to deliver the gift that you're going to give to the needy, right? Can you picture that in your head? Somebody blowing the alarm, blowing the trumpet and saying I'm here to save the day, right, but he's clear here that we, as children of God, are not to make a big deal about ourselves. Hello, we're not to make a big deal about ourselves and our own goodness. What are we here to make a big deal about? About God and his goodness?
Tyler Lynde:Jesus calls the person engaged in this perilous self-promotion hypocrites. Hypocrites the term hypocrite was originally used for actors on a Greek stage who put on various masks to play different roles. They'd put on a mask, they'd pump energy and they would play out these different parts as they were masked in order to do that. Jesus here says to the religious leaders in a very scornful way, especially the Pharisees. Especially the Pharisees, he says that they were performing external acts of righteousness that were masking, even from their selves, even from their selves, their own inner corruption. You see, hypocrisy is so evil because many of those who are involved in it think they are right with God. You know how to stop being a hypocrite. Acknowledge that you are one in some way, not saying we have to stay there. But how many of you know all of us? If somebody were to follow us home and walk around with us, soon enough they'd find some area in our life where our action or our words or our thoughts, our motivation, didn't line up with God's way. Right, in order for us to change, we have to understand that we have a need for change. In this case, hypocrisy is defined as doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.
Tyler Lynde:Jesus, in another passage, warns his followers to break from the religious status quo when it came to hypocrisy. In Luke 12, verse 1, it says in the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples. First beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. It seems like every day in the news, now or every other day, we're hearing of another person who is famous in the Christian world, who has been discovered is living a hypocritical lifestyle. My friends, we have to be so careful, we have to be so guarded because, but for the grace of God, there go I. We're not here to sit in judgment or to scorn. We're here to say God, as far as I'm concerned, protect me, keep me from being a hypocrite. You know the number one reason people aren't in church today. When you ask them what will they say overwhelmingly Because of hypocrites. I'm going to give you a living illustration, a modern day example of what Jesus was talking about.
Tyler Lynde:So can I have a volunteer, please? Are there any volunteers to be willing to help me? Okay, this man right here on the front row. Would you come down? Let's welcome him. Thank him for being so willing to help out this morning. Isn't that great? Come on over, sir. Come on over. So what is your name? John, john? Okay, richard, it's good to meet you. I'm glad that you're here with us today.
Tyler Lynde:And you know, I was just thinking. I was sitting at home and I just kind of had this thought yeah, that's it, that's the right stuff. You ready to make it rain? Are you hungry? Yes, he's hungry. Are you homeless? Yes, he's homeless. He's got two of the three H's I was looking for. He's hungry, he's homeless and he's. Is he handsome? Yes, he's got all three. Are you kidding me? This is the trifecta. This is what I've been waiting for for so long.
Tyler Lynde:I have this right here, this hard-earned money right here. Do you see it? You want to smell? It Smells like cash, smell like cash. Could you use this money right here? Do you see it? You want to smell? It? Smell like cash. Could you use this money right here? Are you sure? Okay, all I need you to do is I need to take a picture real quick. That's okay. No, don't touch it, don't. Yeah, no, don't, don't touch me. No, we don't do that. No, don't touch me. No, we don't do that, we don't go there. We definitely don't go there. Okay, all right. Can you smile for the camera? Oh, wait, wait. Would you mind just take that hand and just point at me, if you would, oh, and just say you, da man. Okay, all right, wait, just a second here. Let me take care of this. I got to get this on the socials.
Tyler Lynde:Hashtag blessed to be a blessing. Hashtag homeless no more. Hashtag man. T-money's good Hashtag. This about to go viral. Okay, thank you. Appreciate it. Yeah, what. What are you talking about, richard? This is what are you talking about. Are you going to buy drugs with it here? I can spare that, all right. Yeah, what are you on about? What's wrong? Okay, hopefully you get the point. We could do this all day. I've got lots of other examples we could do. It's fun, all right, let's look at the guarantee, the third part.
Tyler Lynde:Jesus says truly, I say to you they have received their second part, they have received their reward. Let's be honest. It's so easy to love the glory that comes from people acknowledging us and recognizing us more than the glory that comes from God. It's instant and it's very gratifying when people acknowledge how great we are. By the way, it's not wrong for people to acknowledge that. In fact, there's a verse about it.
Tyler Lynde:Proverbs 27, verse 2, says let another praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips. Not wrong for somebody else to say thank you or to, but how many of you know the motivation of our heart as the person who's being used by God to be a blessing to others. Matters, matters, greatly. See, we are tragically wrong when we prefer the praise of others over the praise of God, when we prefer the praise of others over the praise of God, when we're more concerned about what somebody else thinks of me than we are concerned about what God thinks of me. The sad irony is that when we do the right thing for the wrong reason, we may be able to impress others, but God is not impressed and he will not reward us. He's not impressed and he will not reward us.
Tyler Lynde:So what is the instruction? The third part of this? Jesus goes to the farthest extreme in the way that he contrasts the way his disciples are to perform acts of righteousness with the ways of the religious leaders. They are to have such pure motives of concern for the poor that when giving, they won't pay attention to themselves at all. They won't recognize themselves at all. Sometimes this means giving anonymously, but it always means not making a big deal about it, not making a fuss over it, not looking for some kind of self-promotion or looking for somebody to raise the flags or the banners or somebody to shout team money's in the house. You see, when we help those in need with a pure heart, it's about bringing honor and glory to God and not about ourselves. What a beautiful concept.
Tyler Lynde:We see a great example of this in the life of David. David was used by God to gather together everything that was going to be needed for the building of the temple. He wasn't going to get to build it because of the blood that he shed, but his son after him, solomon, was going to be able to build it, and so David had the privilege of gathering all of these things together, and at the end of that process, he says this in front of all of the people. Therefore, david blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said blessed are you, o Lord, the God of Israel, our father, forever and ever.
Tyler Lynde:Yours, o Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is whose. David's, god's. Yours is the kingdom, o Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is. It is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our god, and praise your glorious name.
Tyler Lynde:But who am I and what is my people that we should be able thus to offer? Willingly? Offer what Willingly, for all things come from you and of your own have we given you? For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow and there's no abiding. Oh Lord, our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness, in the uprightness of my heart. In other words, with the right motivation, I have freely offered all these things. In other words, with the right motivation, I have freely offered all these things. And now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you, to you. You see, when we understand that everything that we have, everything that we own, everything that we wear, everything that we drive, everything that we live in, every breath that we take, it all belongs to God, when we live that way and believe that it should be easy to give with the right heart. It should be the easiest thing and it should bring us such great joy to be able to do that Now.
Tyler Lynde:This isn't just a skit that I'm going to do right now. This is for real. I was praying about what I should do this morning and I felt like the Lord spoke to me, that I was supposed to come to Michaela and I was supposed to give her this gift and to say to her the Lord sees you and he knows you and he loves you, and this is a gift from him. It's not from me, it's from him, and he just wants to be a blessing to you and to let you know that he's your father and he loves you and you can put your trust in him completely. Okay, love you. Thank you, lord.
Tyler Lynde:What is our assurance? Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. See, our Father sees everything and he loves to ultimately reward those who act with genuine sincerity instead of seeking public praise. There isn't a thing that we do for Him out of a right heart that he doesn't see and take note of. He takes note when we are obedient to him and we have the right heart, the right motivation when we do it. He's a doting father For all the parents and, I should say, all of the grandparents in the room. How much of your percentage of your conversation is about you talking about those little ones? Did you see what they did today? He's a doting father. He loves to celebrate his children's joyful obedience. It should be the cry of our hearts to hear our father say well done, my good and faithful servant. Let's pray together.
Tyler Lynde:Father, I thank you.
Tyler Lynde:I thank you for this church. I thank you, lord, that this church is such a generous church. Father, I thank you for all of the individuals that make up this body, and I thank you for the heart that's behind the desire to be a blessing to others and to recognize that everything that we have is a gift from you. I ask that you'd help us, lord, to run away from hypocrisy and to make sure that our heart's motivations are right. And we know that the Holy Spirit is the one that's working on the inside of us to bring us to the place of recognizing our need for change in these areas.
Tyler Lynde:And so, lord, we ask that you'd help us. Help us to change, father. Help us to change, help us to share your heart of compassion, lord. I'm so reminded of the many times where Jesus had compassion on people and he reached out and he met them at the point of their need. Father, would you give us your heart for those who are hurting? Would you give us your heart for those who are in great need today? And, lord, would you also give us the provision that we need? We thank you that every blessing comes from you, and we do want to be a blessing to others. We ask that you would funnel finances and other things that are needed, resources in our lives and through our lives to others. And, lord, let it be said, god is glorified by Trinity Community Church because of the heart of the people to help those who are in desperate need of help. Thank you for doing these things in Jesus' name, amen.
