Leave a Legacy for the Church
To leave a legacy for the church, we must
Pray for the church
Serve in the church
Give to the church
Slide 1
We are finishing up our Leave a Legacy series today.
Over the past month we have looked at where a positive, godly legacy begins
(with a faith that continues to grow)
We have looked at how to leave a legacy as
a wife and mother
a husband and father
Slide 1 and how to leave a legacy for our neighbor.
Today I want to talk about Leaving a Legacy for the Church.
You may not have thought of this, but today you are beneficiaries of the legacy of others.
Because of others you are able to sit here today and
worship the Lord,
grow in your relationship with Him,
be encouraged and spurred on to action,
enjoy fellowship, and
live out the salvation of the Lord.
All of these things are due at least partly to the people that went before us at this church.
How is it that they left a legacy?
How can we leave a legacy for those who will come after us in this church?
There are at least 3 things we need to be doing today, to leave a legacy for this church for tomorrow.
To Leave a Legacy for the Church we need to
Pray for the Church
Slide 2
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
Slide 2 11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count
you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul has set an example for us that we need to follow.
In many of Paul’s letters to the churches, He tells them he is praying for them because prayer is vital for the church to continue to have an impact.
Hickory Creek Community Church is here today because God has been faithful to keep it here as those who first began this particular local church prayed for the church.
Just as in the letters we read from Paul to the churches, there was prayer going on for the church so that as people obey God and act in faith, God would fulfill the noble purposes that where behind the beginning of this church.
The continuation of Hickory Creek continues to be dependant in part upon your faithful intercession through prayer.
We need to continually be praying for this church so that we can be part of the legacy of this church and others can continue to be blessed by it being here.
Our prayers today will affect
The future of this church, which will affect
The salvation of souls in the future
The saving of marriages
The tuning from addictions
The living of life.
Pray for this church each day during your prayer time. If you don’t’ have a time when you normally pray, establish one. This will help you stay connected with God and help you to leave a legacy for the future works of this church.
Another thing that we must do to leave a legacy for the church is to
Serve in the Church
Slide 3
1 Peter 4:10
10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
Slide 3 A month or so ago, we talked about spiritual gifts and how we needed to be
using our gifts.
Well, that remains true today. We need to be serving in the church if this church will continue to remain and leave a legacy for the future.
When this church was first established, the people who founded it served in various aspects to make sure the church was functioning properly.
As this church has gone through changes, its people have continued to serve in it.
As I came to this church several months ago, seeing many of the people here step up in their service so that this church would continue to be a place where others could come and find hope, was inspiring.
As Paul wrote to the church in Rome
Romans 12:4-5
4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
(from New International Version)
We belong to each other and need to be serving with each other so the work of the church can go forward.
One of the main reasons that Christ has left us here is to serve in the church.
Ephesians 4:11-12
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
(from New International Version)
We are supposed to be built up to serve.
Are you serving in the church?
Are you helping to leave a legacy in this church?
We have plenty of areas of available service
Adult Sunday School
If you are equipped to teach Sunday School for adults, you could help bear some of that load. Jim Coyle has been doing that for years and has taken on a whole lot more lately.
Nursery
We could use people who are willing to help out once every 5 or 6 weeks in our nursery. The nursery is a vital part of the ministry in any church to be able to reach new people. Parents who come and know they have a safe place for their young children are more apt to come back and hear the Word of God spoken more.
Children’s Ministry
We could use help in teaching our children’s ministry on Sunday’s. LeeAnn and Jeff Hill have been incredible in their service to our kids and could definitely use some help so they can be refreshed by being in service on Sunday.
Cleaning the Church
You could volunteer to clean the church once every 5 or 6 weeks. It will take you a few hours on a Friday or Saturday, but that is service to the Lord.
There are so many behind the scene things that go on that many of us take for granted that are just going to be there each week.
When each one of us do our part in this,
we grow stronger as a church and
we do better at leaving a legacy through this church that will positively affect our community for years to come.
Be part of leaving that legacy. Talk to me after church about how you can become a member of our church and where you might be able to serve.
Finally,
Another thing that we must do to leave a legacy for the church is to
Give to the Church
Slide 4
In our giving to the church, we not only leave a legacy for the future church, but we also reap the benefits of giving to the church.
Malachi 3:8-10
Slide 4 8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, ’How do we rob you?’
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse-the whole nation of you-because you are robbing me. 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.
When we give, we not only help leave a legacy through the ministry that the church is able to do with those funds, but we reap the blessings of full reliance upon God.
In our society today, there are many who practice idol worship. Now they may not call it that, but by their actions they do it. We have replaced the God of the Bible with the god of this world, which is money.
This was an issue even in biblical times.
Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew 6:19-24
19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The things you truly value will be shown in your actions.
Jesus goes on to say in v. 24
24 "No one 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.
As we serve God, and walk in obedience to him, and don’t become a slave to the false idols of this world, like money
we store up treasure in heaven,
we reap the blessings of full reliance on God here upon this earth, and we leave a legacy for the future of the church so others may come to know Christ, and may know what true living really is.
Ok, so we know we are supposed to give, but practically speaking what should that giving look like?
Some practical considerations
How do we know what to give?
The Bible gives us help with that too.
From the beginning, we see offerings being made to the Lord. All the way back to Cain and Abel, we see them present an offering to the Lord. What is the type of offering that pleases the Lord?
Give a Tithe
Slide 5
Malachi 3:8-10
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, ’How do we rob you?’
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse-the whole nation of you-because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that
Slide 5 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.
A Tithe? What is that some of you may ask? A Tithe is 10%.
I believe in tithing.
I believe it is biblical.
When I first heard about tithing, however, I thought the person was crazy.
You think I should be giving 10% of my income to the church. Are you nuts? If I did that I wouldn’t be able to live.
But I’ll tell you as I understood about who is ultimately the provider for me and my family and as I took those steps of faith and trust in Him, I have been blessed beyond belief.
Some of you may be saying, “Tithing is so Old Testament.” We don’t have to be tithing anymore. That went out with the Law.
Well, I will tell you that tithing actually started before the law came into effect (Genesis 14 – Melchizadek)
It occurred under the law and
Jesus reiterated it in the New Testament.
Matthew 23:23
23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Tithing should not be the sole gauge of our spiritual condition, but it is not something we shouldn’t be doing. We should tithe as we continue to walk in obedience and trust in the Lord for our provision.
Some of you out here probably have never tithed before. I want you to think about what a tithe of your income would be per week.
If you made $52,000 per year, a tithe would be $100 per week that you would give to the church.
Now that your minds are completely blown by that number, I want you to think about what you are going to give this week.
Now I know the difficulty of beginning to tithe when you have never done such a thing before. If you have never done that I would ask you to choose a percentage and begin giving it and commit in your heart to give more as God continues to provide.
This is an area that is going to be difficult for people because money is so much of a touchy issue with so many. But it is the Lord that says test me in this. I don’t know one person who tithes who regrets doing it. In fact, God has truly blessed them in both providing for them and in their spiritual growth.
My suggestion would be to take Him at his word and test Him and begin tithing for several months and see what happens.
Another aspect of how we should be giving is that we should
Give the First fruits
Slide 6
Proverbs 3:9-10
9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Slide 6 Deuteronomy 26:9-10
9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me."
A first fruits offering is the first and best part of whatever it is that we give to God.
We give back to him the best portion of what He has blessed us with as an acknowledgement that we know that He is the one who has given it to us.
What we are saying in giving this kind of offering, is that we trust you Lord to always make provision for us.
We are not going to use the resources you have given us and see what is left and give you back that. That is giving God the leftovers.
We give him the first part and trust Him that it will be enough to meet our needs.
That means we give God before the government taxes us. We give on our gross income. Some of you may think that that is gross, but it shows that we trust God to meet our needs and not money.
Another thing we need to do is
Give Regularly
Slide 7
1 Corinthians 16:2
2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
When we get paid, we need to give back to God.
Now I give weekly. I take what I make in a year and divide it up into about 52 payments. When I got bonuses or extra income, I would tithe on that as I received it.
Others may give twice a month as they get paid or monthly, but we need to be giving regularly.
Now this means if you happen to not be here on a Sunday, you still need to be giving to the local church.
And this isn’t just about this church. This is about every local church. This is what the Bible teaches you should be doing to support the work that God is doing through His chosen instrument, the church.
Finally, concerning our giving is the last thing we need to be doing. We need to
Give Cheerfully
Slide 8
2 Corinthians 9:7
7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (from New International Version)
There is no blessing for those who cannot give cheerfully. Tithing and giving is about our hearts. If we are doing something grudgingly, then it is not going to be helping us grow. If you are going to tithe, you should do it because you believe that that is what God wants you to do, and it is, and that He is the one that will meet every need you have, and He will.
Conclusion
I want to leave you with one of my favorite verses. Matthew 6:33
Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all of these things will be added unto you.
God will hear your prayers.
God will honor your service.
God will meet your needs.
And God will honor your giving and use all that you do for the church to help you leave a legacy well into the future by the work that this church will do today and beyond.
Mark 12:41-44
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on."
(from New International Version)
