Fly High - Acts part 23
Theme: The Acts New Testament Church – “Gives”
Thesis: The Acts New Testament Church consisted of members who gave to God what was His and also to those in need. They gave sacrificially because of their love for God and for others. The question to us today is “Who do you love more Jesus or money?”
Opening Video Illustration:
What price do you place on a human soul? Blue Fish TV clip
• Thoughts to introduce the clip: How much money would you have given to come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? How much do you think others spent on your conversion? What do you think it costs the church to teach you, equip you, train you, encourage you, help you mature in the faith, and reach out to others who do not know Jesus?
• The question “So what price do you personally place on human soul?”
• The Acts New testament Church revealed that they loved Jesus more than money or the things it could buy!
Introduction:
The problem I see in America today is reflected in the following statement:
Quote from A.W. Tozer, “Within the human heart ‘things’ have taken over. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.”
Here is the summary of giving at New Life for 2006 and my challenge to the congregation to give sacrificially for the upcoming 2007 year.
This summary of giving is reality check to awaken us to our spiritual condition:
*2/3 of the members of New Life Community Church gave 76% of all the tithes to the church in 2006.
*1/3 of the members of New Life Community Church did not tithe to the church in 2006.
*Non-members of New Life Community Church gave 18% of the total tithe to the church in 2006.
*¾ of nonmembers do not tithe to New Life Community Church.
Youth and others contributed the remaining 6% of the tithe to New Life Community church in 2006.
See Power point pie chart!
Quote: Doug Hagedorn stated, “I quote a number of Barna’s recent giving statistics, and giving to the church continues drop. The average American pays $1,000 a year in interest and only gives $754.00 a year to the church.”
I add and the income level in the United States continues to rise every year!
He also states:
We are overheating as a society, which means that we are over-heating as individuals.
We can go faster ……..But we have more places to go.
We have more room …….But we have more junk to store.
We have more light……But we work more and sleep less.
We have more income…..But we give less.
We have more religion……Bu we are less moral.
Wow! The choices that we make greatly influence both our finances and our
purposes in life. One of the benefits of simplifying our lifestyles is that we will have both time and money to respond to unforeseen needs…. Our closets are full. We need three-car garages and temporary storage facilities for all of our ‘stuff’ – and our things are really not even ours if we are in debt. If you stop a minute and really think about all of this, it should begin to stir up some anger and discontent with our lifestyles, hopefully enough to move you to action.
A Scary Revelation!
Here is a scary revelation:
First, we are manipulated into buying what we don’t need. Then we cannot pay for it. Then we do not even have a place to put it. Then we do not have time to use it! Something is wrong!
We have less time and money for the church and beneficial ministries, less time for prayer and meditation, and less energy and interest to invest in other people. We have been duped, folks! When our spouse ‘calls’ or God ‘calls’ or children ‘call,’ do they get a busy signal? (From Ease the Squeeze, pages 64, 65)
I want you to be aware what our vision is for 2007 and I also want you to know something – If everyone here who calls New Life their home would tithe we would have plenty of money to achieve this vision for the ministry:
• To buy 5-10 acres of land for building a new facility
• To build a church that seats 400 people
• To build a church with an education wing and a modern nursery.
• To build a church with a youth room
• To build a church with a fellowship and kitchen area
• To build a church with a counseling center designed into it
• To build a church to include a day care in it
• To build a church to run a bible institute out of it
• To build the church and have it debt free upon completion
The finances are here to build if people would release them to the Lord and His work. We must have a Biblical eternal view with how we spend our money and how we use our resources in our lives. If you do not get it then you will miss God!
Richard J. Foster stated, “Conformity to a sick society is to be sick.”
Over the last few months we have been learning about the Acts New Testament Church. The Acts New Testament Church consisted of members who gave to God what was His and also to those in need. They gave sacrificially because of their love for God and for Jesus. If the question was asked of them by a reporter in their day “Who do you love more Jesus or Money? Their response would have been Jesus. I believe if this same reporter followed these disciples of the first church he would soon come to the conclusion that yes they do love Jesus more than money. I think he would have been amazed to see converts and Christian selling their land and their possessions to give to the poor and the needy and for the Gospel to be financed to spread a cross the world. As I have been reading the Book of Acts it is obvious to me that the majority of the new believers in Acts did love Him more than their money and their things.
Just read Acts 4:32-37: The Message
32The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn’t even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, “That’s mine; you can’t have it.” They shared everything. 33The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them.
34And so it turned out that not a person among them was needy. Those who owned fields or houses sold them and brought the price of the sale 35to the apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed it according to each person’s need.
36Joseph, called by the apostles “Barnabas” (which means “Son of Comfort”), a Levite born in Cyprus, 37sold a field that he owned, brought the money, and made an offering of it to the apostles.
The reality check that I see as I look back over the book of Acts is that the sacrifice of many helped to launch the gospel into a society that needed to be restored back to God.
The result of the Christians sacrificial giving was the Acts New Testament church grew and expanded all over the region. This is revival and surrendering our money and things is one dimension of a revival. The Acts New Testament church became a place were the needs of the poor were met by others and their many gifts and offerings demonstrated their love for the Lord. The testimony to the secular society of the day was that the church and its members did not love money more than Jesus. They did not let money corrupt their character and control their lives. They instead trusted in God and gave all they had to others and testified to the world that He was for real. These new converts to Christianity did not rob God of what belonged to Him and His work. They saw the need and they gave with hearts filled with joy for the opportunity to be a blessing to others. They did it because they loved the Lord Jesus and His great gift of salvation. It was motivated and driven by love and by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Quote: Howard Dayton, Crown Ministries stated, “The reason Jesus talked so much about money is that it competes with God for lordship of our lives” (page 105).
So the question that you need to answer today is this “Who do you love more – Jesus or your money?” Maybe another way to phrase it is “Who is the Lord of your life?”
T.S. – Let’s know look at some Scripture verses that explain to us the answer to these questions:
Video Illustration from Sermon Spice, “Two views on money.”
Scripture Text:
Malachi 3:6-12 -- The Message: I am GOD—yes, I AM. I haven’t changed. And because I haven’t changed, you, the descendants of Jacob, haven’t been destroyed. You have a long history of ignoring my commands. You haven’t done a thing I’ve told you. Return to me so I can return to you,” says GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies. “You ask, ‘But how do we return? “Begin by being honest. Do honest people rob God? But you rob me day after day. “You ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’ “The tithe and the offering—that’s how! And now you’re under a curse—the whole lot of you—because you’re robbing me. Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams. For my part, I will defend you against marauders, protect your wheat fields and vegetable gardens against plunderers.” The Message of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies. “You’ll be voted ‘Happiest Nation.’ You’ll experience what it’s like to be a country of grace.” GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.
Jesus in His own words in Luke 20:25 (NASB), “And He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’”
Jesus also said in Luke 16:10-14 (NIV) The Holy Bible, New International Version.
Lk 16:10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
Lk 16:11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
Lk 16:12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
Lk 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Lk 16:14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:6-10, “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 7For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Hebrews 13:5 “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,”
After seeing the video clip and looking at some of our Scripture texts for today I need to ask the question again, “Who do you love more Jesus or your money?” Let me also ask “Who is the Lord of your life Jesus or Money?”
Real life Illustration: When I took my first church as a pastor fresh out of Bible College. I visited with a man who frequently attended the church. When I met with him to talk about the church and my new leadership he asked a request of me. He said, “If you agree with the following then I will continue to attend the church but if you do not agree with my request then I will leave the church and go some where else.” He informed me that the previous pastor had agreed to this request. So I asked him what his request was. He then proceeded, “If I was going to speak on tithing and or giving on a Sunday morning then I needed to notify him in advance” I then asked why I needed to notify him? Because he said “Then I would not come to church that Sunday!” I then inquired some more. Please explain? He noted how if he did not come then he would not be offended with me and with a belief from Scripture that he did not believe in nor adhere too personally. I sat their in amazement over this man’s request! I however did not agree to the request and he quit coming to church until about six months later he showed up on a Sunday morning. I greeted him at the door welcomes him and guess what my subject happened to be that day in my sermon “Giving to God.” he left the service upset and I never saw him again. Later I hear he had died of a heart attack. I wonder today if he would have changed his mind of listening to messages which spoke about “Who is your Lord - Money or Jesus?”
T.S. – The reality check for each of us today is that the statistics all point to the fact that the majority of the Christians in the church of Jesus Christ today love money and its things more than they do Jesus. They have shown that they put their money were their heart is and it’s not in Jesus! New Life Community Church this is not what an Acts New Testament Church is to look like!
I. You love money more than Jesus if you do not give to God what is His!
a. Read Malachi 3:6-12: The Holy Bible, New International Version.
i. Mal 3:6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Mal 3:7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ Mal 3:8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. Mal 3:9 You are under a curse —the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Mal 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Mal 3:11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. Mal 3:12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. Mal 3:13 “You have said harsh things against me,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ Mal 3:14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? Mal 3:15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’ ”Mal 3:16 Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. Mal 3:17 “They will be mine, ” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. Mal 3:18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
1. The truth is God has not changed His mind on giving! He requires the same today that He did back in the Old Testament era.
2. We say here in the Church that we want revival but this one area is responsible I think for holding back “The Revival we all desire!”
a. Sin holds back revival in our lives and therefore we have to repent and change our ways so that the “Fire of Heaven will fall in 07!”
ii. Billy Graham stated, “One of the greatest sins in America today is the fact that we are robbing God of that which rightfully belongs to Him. When we don’t tithe, we shirk a just debt. Actually we are not giving when we give God one-tenth, for it belongs to Him already (Lev. 27:30). This is a debt we owe. Not until we have given a tenth do we actually begin making an offering to the Lord! (From sermon: Partners with God)
1. Psalm 24:1, 2 “1GOD claims Earth and everything in it, GOD claims World and all who live on it. 2He built it on Ocean foundations, laid it out on River girders.”
2. Luke 20:25 “…Jesus said, “Then give Caesar what is his and give God what is his.”
T.S. – You can answer this question honestly by picking up your contribution statement and then looking at your checkbook and see were you money went. This self-awareness act will tell you if you really love Jesus more than money and things or not. You will also discover if you really love Jesus more than money when you get to those faith moment in life and you have only a little bit of money and yet you still give God what is His.
II. You love money more than Jesus if you do not give because of debt or low income status.
a. Read Luke 21:1-4: 1Just then he looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. 2Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. 3He said, “The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. 4All these others made offerings that they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all!”
i. This real life scenario revealed by Jesus tells us that we are to give and be like this poor widow. She role-modeled for us what it means to “Trust in God!”
1. This woman gave all she had and the Lord made note of it and I can assure you this woman was blessed for her sacrificial giving!
2. John Wesley stated, “When I have money, I get rid of it as quickly as possible, lest it find way into my heart.”
b. Some people say they cannot afford to give. I say you cannot afford not to give.
i. Quote by John D. Rockefeller, SR. “I have tithed every dollar God has entrusted to me. And I want to say, if I had not tithed the first dollar I made I would not have tithed the first million dollars I made.” (From Encyclopedia of 7,000 Illustrations).
c. Some people say they cannot afford to give to God yet they overspend on personal items and in turn rob from God to meet their selfish wants.
i. They do not budget God’s share into their finances.
ii. Note: No one is exempt by God for not tithing!
iii. The Word of God told the Israelites that God has “Not changed His mind” about giving to the storehouse – your spiritual place of feeding.
iv. Check out the following statistics:
1. The average Christian only gives 2.2% of their income to the Lord (2003 census).
2. Avg. giving per household is $754.00 a year
3. Yet they spend this much on other items in a year (2003 census of a household making a little less then $60,000 a year):
a. Entertainment: $2,378.00
b. Transportation: $9,090
c. Food at home: $3,718
d. Food away from home: $2,722
e. Alcoholic Beverages: $412
f. Housing: $14,662
g. Tobacco Products: $403
h. Interest payments: $1,000
i. Household furnishings: $2,708
4. Among the born again population, which represents 38% of all adults, the average giving to churches was $1,411 – much higher than a year earlier ($1,220), but below previous year’s totals (2003 Barna).
5. The amount of gross income donated by born again adults to their church averaged 3.8% of their total gross income (2003 Barna research organization).
d. Giving is a major part of the Christian walk and it is a major part of our maturing in our faith.
i. Luke 16:10-14: 10Jesus went on to make these comments: If you’re honest in small things, you’ll be honest in big things; 11If you’re a crook in small things, you’ll be a crook in big things.12If you’re not honest in small jobs, who will put you in charge of the store? 13No worker can serve two bosses: He’ll either hate the first and love the second. Or adore the first and despise the second. You can’t serve both God and the Bank.14When the Pharisees, a money-obsessed bunch, heard him say these things, they rolled their eyes, dismissing him as hopelessly out of touch.
1. Reality check is “You cannot serve both God and money!”
2. Reality check is “Give a little now and you will get more from God to manage for Him later.”
ii. Spiritual development and growing in our faith walk is rooted in how we spend our money and how we give.
iii. A persons giving pattern reflects their spiritual maturity level.
1. You can live in denial all you want but the Lord sees were your heart is by the way you spend your money and use your things.
T.S. - The way we give when we do not have abundance reflects who our heart is committed too. Our giving pattern last year also reflects who we love more and it measures our spiritual maturity level. Our love for Jesus will also be measured if we are ever asked to give sacrificially by the Lord and we choose to do it or not.
III. You love money more than Jesus if you are not willing to give sacrificially and be willing to give it all to Him if He asked for it.
a. In the book of Acts we saw several people who gave great amounts to the work of the Lord and it revealed their love for Jesus.
b. Matthew 19:16-30: Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.” 18The man asked, “What in particular?” Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, 19honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.” 20The young man said, “I’ve done all that. What’s left?” 21“If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.” 22That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go. 23As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom? 24Let me tell you, it’s easier to gallop a camel through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.” 25The disciples were staggered. “Then who has any chance at all?” 26Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.” 27Then Peter chimed in, “We left everything and followed you. What do we get out of it?” 28Jesus replied, “Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. 30This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”
i. The rich man was asked to give it all away to become a disciple of Jesus. He could not do it! Because his riches owned him not he them!
ii. Hagedorn states, “Wealth can entangle us all. It is an American reality that we must face constantly” (175).
iii. He adds this thought, “If we put our faith in things, money, or bank accounts, we have said of them, “You are my security.” It is also easy to get caught in the trap of rejoicing over our wealth. If we do either of these things, we have sinned and been unfaithful to God. To consider these acts sin is difficult because they are not overt and such is the norm even among many Christians. But the Bible calls such attitudes sin. We are walking a tightrope of idolatry and comfort similar to the rich man mentioned in Luke. His intention was to lay up good things so he could take life easy. Cushy Christianity is not biblical. God called him a fool! We must beware! We must be on our guard against all kinds of greed. No matter how much we get, it never seems to be enough! We ‘need’ more for every want, desire, and contingency. ..” (177, 178).
iv. Doug Hagedorn tells us in America that we all need to understand that here in America we are all rich by the comparison to the rest of the world.
1. He tells us to beware that we do not hoard our wealth – James warns of this in his book as well. Yet the majority of Christians in America do not listen to this message in the Bible.
a. Statistics verify this fact.
2. He states, “We can use our wealth either on ourselves or to advance the gospel and to help those in need. It is a choice that each of us makes daily. A ‘soft life,’ a ‘life of luxury,’ is an option for many American Christians and a challenge for even the most saintly and super spiritual. Will we hoard? Will we spend on ourselves? Or will we give? How will we invest our resources?” (179).
c. The choice is up to us if will we continue to rob God and suffer the consequences or will we be obedient to His Word and reap the blessings of it?
Conclusion:
• We need to honesty ask ourselves the Question: “Do I love Jesus more than my money and my things?”
• An Acts New Testament Church loves Jesus more than money and things and it is a church that gives obediently to the Lord and sacrificially to His work that he sends revival too.
• So how bad do you want revival? How bad do you want the fire of Heaven in 07!
• If you really want it Give!
Closing Challenge:
Some of you short changed God last year and you need to make it right! You may say but Pastor Mike I spent all my money and God’s too.
Here is a suggestion: Go into your closets, storage area, garages and see what you can sell to pay your debt and then give that money to the Lord and His work. You will not regret it!
