Giving Your Best To God Series

With appreciation, I acknowledge using sermon central as one of many sources for this message.

PORTRAITS OF FAITH: GIVING YOUR BEST TO GOD

November 12, 2006 Jay Robison Gen 4:1-5 and Heb 11:4

What does being faithful to God look like? Need to ask regularly

This week in Bible study read quote

The reason many of us aren’t growing spiritually

is because our faith doesn’t reach beyond our sight

Real faith begins when our senses end. When we see something,

we usually don’t feel the need to trust God for it. And since we

can’t see very far, living by sight keeps us living small.

Faith says God I know that whenever you speak you’re telling truth,

I can stake my life on it. Faith proves what we believe about God.

Many of us act like have more confidence in selves than do in him.

Jesus died to save the world we don’t have to,

Jesus is Lord over church we no have to bail it out

We just serve him, place ourselves at his command

If our faith is lacking we are not acting on the power and promises

of God we won’t see supernatural work in our lives,

we’ll live in the natural with all its limitations

So what does faithfulness look like? Heb 11 portraits of faith

3 over next few weeks Then periodically come back to see

Heb 11:1 KJV Faith is the substance of things hoped for

The evidence of things not yet seen

Substance dimensions weight, evidence proven

WHO God chose for His 1st examples of faith. Who did He use?

Abel no disrespect but as you read thru OT, he is not

type of guy that would ordinarily catch your attention.

In Genesis these Abel only in a grand total of less than 10 verses.

WHY would God do that? Because most of us see selves as ordinary

people, nowhere near as impressive as Noah\Abraham\ Moses.

Abel was son of Adam and Eve brother of Cain story in Gen 4

Brothers brought an offering to God

As we consider giving our best to God includes $$ but not just that

Also your time, talents, are you giving best as teacher, servant?

1. Giving IS A PART OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

Have you ever considered how much you have been given in life?

This thanksgiving important for us to remember how received

Your first clothes were given to you by someone else

You were fed as a baby, protected as a child

Schools you attended there because someone else gave

Our nation protected by soldiers, owe debt to Veterans

This church here because people before us gave

We have been given a lot

Remember, God has GIVEN US EVERYTHING

Your arm is not your arm God gave it to you

You job not your job, can be taken away in an instant God gave

Very breath in our lungs was given to us by God

You did nothing to create the food you ate last night

This beautiful planet was given to us by God

we have to take care of it Abel and Cain gave to God

3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. Genesis 4:3-4 NLT

Cain became a farmer, Abel was a shepherd each man brought

an offering to God voluntarily to God recognized had been given

Remember this God doesn’t NEED WHAT WE HAVE TO GIVE

You and I NEED TO OFFER WHAT WE HAVE

God is not poor, we are not bailing God out of the hole

Giving $$ time\talents to God does God no favor but pleases God

But it does a lot for you to follow God’s call to give

Take pride in serving, in faithful $$ giving

2. Your giving GIVES YOU AWAY

One of the lessons we learn from this story is

Our giving gives us away, if we are generous

That comes from our heart, if we are selfish

That also gives us a peak into our heart

In our world generosity is rare Years ago on Candid Camera,

children were placed 1 at a time in a room w\a plate of cookies.

On plate were at least 2 cookies, one of the cookies was very large.

Adult left the room & kids were told could take a cookie.

You know, all took big one. One boy was asked why he took big

Host Alan Funt told boy, “All you left me to eat was little cookie.

I would have eaten the little cookie & given you the biggest one.” W\out a blink boy responded, “Then you got the one you wanted.”

Look at story of the 2 givers in our story