Money Matters

Money Matters. Do we believe that Money Matters to God? Did you realize that you will find about 800 Scriptures that deal with money in the Bible?

Jesus talked about money more than He did Heaven and Hell combined. He talked about money more than anything else except the Kingdom of God. 11 of 39 parables talk about money. 1 of every 7 verses in the Gospel of Luke talks about money.

I would say Money does Matter to God. However, whenever anyone brings up money in the church, we squirm and cringe as if we are talking about something that is against God. When we talk about money, it is usually about our tithes ad offerings.

What exactly is a tithe? A tithe is a one-tenth part of your earnings or harvest given back to the church. The Bible tells us, tithing is one of the greatest acts of obedience a Christian can practice.

There are principles behind tithing that have nothing to do with the money itself. Tithing teaches us obedience. When God asks us for something, we should be willing to give it freely and gladly.

Tithing is not just any tenth; it is the first tenth of one’s income-salary, dividends, interest-income from any source. By giving the first tenth you are putting God first above all other things and trusting God to take care of the rest. Tithing is giving back to God something God gave in the first place. Everything we have is His any Christian knows that.

Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

The Bible has much to say about money. When it comes to money most people only think about “GETTING IT”. There is a whole other side of money that most think very little about, “GIVING IT”. In fact there is an awesome ministry expressed through giving money.

Would you please stand with me this morning as I read to you the Scripture God has led me to this morning?

1 Corinthians 16: 1-4 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.

This is morning I believe God wants us to receive a message on Money Matters. First of all as we look at our reading today we see that Paul tells us to take the first day of the week for determining our giving. This tells us that our….

I.GIVING IS PLANNED.

A. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

1. What’s the big deal with determining our giving on the first day of every week?

2. When the Bible tells us an act should be repeated on a certain day, it necessarily implies that the act should be done as often as that day occurs.

3. In the Old Testament, if a holy day was said to be on a certain day of a certain month, then it would be celebrated every year, just as often as that day of that month occurred.

4. For example we read in Exodus 20: 8 -10 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

5. The Sabbath was the seventh day of the week. This meant it should be kept every week, as often as that day of the week occurred.

6. We use the same kind of language today. If we say, "The club meets on the second Tuesday of the month," you expect it to meet every month at that time, right?

7. If your employer said, "You will be paid on the last day of the week," you would expect to be paid exactly the last day of the week every week. That’s a big deal for many of us who live check to check. I would say that matters to us.

8. Likewise, the Bible so clearly means to give on the first day of every week. And I believe it’s a big deal because we read it in God’s Holy Word.