Is It My Money Or Is It God's Money?

MATTHEW 6:19-21, 24, 33 AND MALACHI 3:7-12

“IS IT MY MONEY OR IS IT GOD’S MONEY?”

A) Boy do I have the stewardship program for us.

* Let’s call it “MONEY SUNDAY.” – The rules are simple, so listen up.

* All offering envelopes will be placed into a large round tumbler,

(on the altar of course).

B) One of the “elected few” will step forward and draw out one of the

offering envelopes from the big round tumbler on the altar.

* The winner (person or family whose offering envelope is drawn) will receive

“DOUBLE THEIR MONEY BACK.”

C) Now before you jump the gun, it is biblical.

* Hezekiah 6:15 “As a man giveth, so will he winneth.”

* (Hey, there is no book of Hezekiah) And just listen to the spiritual benefits

we as a church will receive .......

1. More and more members will begin using offering envelopes.

2. When we make offering envelopes available only to members, you will be

astounded at how our membership will grow.

3. Members will naturally put in more money because they know that if their

envelope is drawn, they will get more back.

* Never underestimate the intelligence of our church members.

4. Worship service will reach new heights of excitement ... You can imagine the

excitement and drama each Sunday as the winning envelope is drawn.

* People will be praying harder than ever, “Lord please let them draw my envelope.”

5. We will never again have to worry about buying expensive offering envelopes.

* Once the idea catches on members will be willing to buy their own.

* You will discover that many will buy more than one pack of envelopes, much like

bingo cards.

6. The pastor will no longer have to work quite so hard on his sermons, as that

will no longer be the “main event.”

* Drawing the winning envelope will be the main event.

* The possibilities are endless of what we could buy and do as a church with

using the stewardship program, “Money Sunday.”

D) But does God want a stewardship program of “Money Sunday” or does

He have another plan?

* Let’s look and see – Matthew 6:21, Jesus says, “For where your treasure .......”

E) It’s an interesting thought to think that whatever has captivated you

(that which we treasure), your heart will follow .......

* And with the heart, your actions are close behind.

F) How we handle money is perhaps the truest indicator of the spiritual

condition of the heart – It quickly reveals our fleshly nature.

* The Bible contains more than 2,000 references to money and possessions.

* Out of the all the parables Jesus told, many of them deal with how we

handle our money.

G) Jesus said more about money than He did about heaven or hell.

STEWARDSHIP IS A HEART ISSUE

A) Always has and always will be – God wants to put more into your heart

than He wants to take out of your paycheck or wallet.

* Unfortunately, most stewardship emphasis center around the aspect of the church

needing more money.

B) We preachers make statements like, “If everybody tithed, we’d never have

to worry about money.” – And I’ve even said that before.

* But where in God’s Word does He ever say worry about money?

* He doesn’t – God says just the opposite, “Do not worry.” – Matt. 6:25; 31 .......

C) Don’t worry about your life (v.25) ... About what you eat or drink,

or about what you wear (v.31) – These are all possessions.

* When life and possessions become our goal, the relationship with God

is hampered.

D) How many times have we heard or said, “I’m too busy to go to church,

or to serve?”

* How about this one, “I wish the preacher would shut up so we could go eat.”

E) And this one takes them all, for a lady once said this was the reason she

didn’t come to church .......

* “I looked in my closet and there wasn’t a thing to wear to church, so I stayed home.”

* Luke 12:15 “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of .......”

F) Treasures of earth grip us ... They seize our feelings, our affections, and they

hold them in an iron grip.

* Let someone try taking them from us and we become bitter, angry and even violent.

G) What you treasure, is where your heart is.

* Matthew 6:24, Jesus goes on to say, “No man can serve two .......”

* The man who said, “Money is not everything, but it is way ahead of whatever is

in second place,” speaks the truth for many a persons.

H) The truth of the passage is, we are going to serve something.