Transforming Attitudes Toward Money
7/19/2009 Deuteronomy 28:1-14 Luke 19:1-10
Let’s begin with a short film clip on our attitude toward our blessing. The portions of Scripture in the clip comes from 2 Corinthians 8:7. It says7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you [a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. Have you ever prayed, “Lord let me excel in this grace of giving?”
Have you ever heard a challenge about giving and said I want to give that amount one day. I can remember when Pastor Toby and I were in seminary. We got a job as house-parents taking care of kids in a group home. We each made $8000.00 for a total salary of $16000. At the time it seemed as though we were rich compared to what we had been making. We were always tithers even before we got married.
I remember listening to Dr. Kennedy preaching a sermon on tv and he said, “I thank God that I reached the place where I could give as a tithe what I first made as my salary. Something inside of me said, I want to do that too. I looked forward to the day, when we would be able to give $16000.00 in a year for the work of the ministry.
Of course I thought that if we gave $16,000 that would mean we were earning $160,000.00. Well I was wrong in that our salary has never reached $160,000 but for several years we have past the $16,000 mark in our giving. What happened was a transformation in our attitude towards money. Giving to the kingdom of God has been one of the best decisions we ever made. God has blessed us in ways we could not have imagined.
God is not opposed to you having money. God even has a plan for you to receive more money than you deserve. Just like in the clip, those donuts showed up undeserved, God has blessings for you that are completely undeserved. In our Old Testament passage, we see that God is willing to bless everything around us. But there are some requirements that God asks of us in return. God ask for our obedience. We will not obey God if we do not trust God. Think of all the big things we trust God for. We trust God to keep earthquakes out of Cleveland. We trust God to keep the sun working for our lifetime. We trust God to not suspend the law of gravity which would allow our oxygen to escape.
We trust God to watch over our children. We trust God to keep these bodies working. We trust God to watch over us as we drive, knowing that there are drunk drivers on the road and people on cell phones texting. We will boast to others of our trust in God for our salvation, even though we know we don’t deserve to be saved based on our record of behavior.
We testify that God is good all the time and that God is an awesome God. We even declare, “How Great Thou Art,” and just in case people didn’t hear it the first time we say it again “how Great thou Art.”
Yet when it comes to possessions and money, we are not so sure that God can replace what we give back to God. God has a simple plan for financial increase. God says “if you give me back 10% of what I give you, I promise you, I will increase the 90% that you have. Trust me on this. I will have your back.”
This is the only place where God says, “put me on the spot and give me a chance to prove myself. I’m only asking for 10% of what you have.” Yet most Christians, are saying to God, I do not believe you can do this or that you will do this for me.” Let me ask you this, is it because you believe God is a liar, God is unwilling, or God is not loving and gracious that you say no to God’s offer.
Our attitude toward our money influences the way we will understand God. When Jesus is on the inside of us, our love for God will influence our attitude toward our money. As pastors for 20 years we have watched many of you in your attitudes toward money. Some of you when you had little, you gave nothing. God has blessed you with a salary most of the congregation would love to have, and you still give little of nothing, but you do spend well on yourself.
Some of you when you had little, you tithed on that little. Now that God has blessed you with more, some a lot more, you still tithe. You have seen God bless you with things you did not think would come your way, but they did. Some of you have not increased your giving for years. Yet you wonder why God is not blessing you. Others of you are eager to give 10% of everything that comes into your life in any way form or fashion. You’re not waiting to be blessed, you are already blessed because your goal is to be a blessing to the kingdom of God.
Do you want your life of giving to be transformed by Jesus Christ? If the answer is no, then you are choosing to cut short your ability to be used by God, and your own spiritual growth. There is no such thing as a partial lordship to Jesus Christ. Jesus is lord or Jesus is not. It is a privilege to be in a place to be able to choose whether or not to give. We ask you to give at Glenville for three reasons 1) God requires it 2) you need to do it and 3) the kingdom of God uses money to operate.
There is not a verse in the bible that says, “give if you feel like doing it”. God says” to bring in the tithes and offerings”. God says “give and it will be given back to you.” God says, “let those who are rich be eager to share.” God says “set aside some money on the first day of the week”.
God says “if you give generously you will reap generously.” God requires an active role of giving on our part. The more we become like Christ, the more generous we become in our giving. The word of God emphasizes percentage giving, not amount. Jesus ask us to move beyond just thinking about money and possessions to the point of laying down our lives for one another.
Why do we need to give. Our purpose on this planet is to love God and to love each other. We cannot love without being givers. God so loved, that God so gave. If you are to love, then you are to give. That giving includes our possessions, our time and our talents. God never asks us to give beyond what we are able to do. That again is why God deals with percentage giving and not amounts.
We may put ourselves in a position to be locked into things we can’t afford, but then it’s up to us to get rid of those things so that our giving can be obedient with our faith and trust in God. God actually wants us to put ourselves in a place where He can pour out blessings in our lives. When we give, we allow the Lord to bless us in all the work of our hands.
We need to give because the kingdom of God needs money to operate. It costs money for us to sit in these comfortable chairs in an air condition room. It costs money to feed children in Haiti and Nigeria. It costs money to keep our kids off the streets and headed for college. It costs money to broadcast the gospel world wide on the internet. It cost money to have 8 weekly broadcasts. It cost money to have pastors dedicated to your growth in the word of God and ways of God. It cost money to have a loan program in place to help you in your time of need. It cost money to try to keep our families and marriages together.
It cost money to support and encourage one another in crisis. It cost money to do our prison ministry. It cost money to have all the many wonderful ministries that come out of this congregation. It cost money to love each other as Jesus loved us. It costs money to reach people for the cause of Jesus Christ. It costs money to make a difference in the lives of others for Christ.
We have to decide if we’re going to trust God with our money or not. We decide if we’re going to be transformed or not. In our New Testament reading we met a very shrewed and wicked businessman. The man had made millions ripping people off. His name was Zaccheus. Yet in one single encounter with Jesus, his attitude toward giving was transformed.
For the first time instead of seeing the poor as a group to rip off, he saw them as a group in need of his blessings. He said Lord, right now, I give up ½ my goods to the poor. Out of what I have left, I will pay back 4 times as much to those I have cheated. What on earth could cause such a drastic change. He opened himself up to the transforming power of Jesus Christ. Was he going to have less money for himself? Yes he was. But he gained something far greater than the money he had. He truly became a child of God on his way to heaven. The money that would have cried out against him in hell, is being transformed into treasure in heaven.
Some of you honestly think, when I finish paying off this car then I’ll be able to tithe. You do realize they will have a newer car then, and the pull on you will be even greater than this one was. Maybe you need to evaluate if you really must have a new car. You say, as soon as I get a better job, then I’ll be able to tithe. You do realize none of us are guaranteed tomorrow’s job, and tomorrow’s job may pay a lot less than we’re getting now. It is never easy to downsize our standard of living, but it’s always possible.
Sometimes we are forced to downsize because of a job loss, an illness, a divorce or some other circumstance, but when it happens we keep on living. We discover God is still with us, and we can still enjoy life. Possessions do not necessarily determine the joy we had in life. It is a blessing to know contentment. The choice to tithe is a spiritual decision to downsize so that I can be obedient to God. It is also a choice to put myself in a position to be blessed by God in ways I could not imagine.
Jesus said, “Don’t store up treasures for yourself on earth, because they are not going to last. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, for where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” Think of all the things we have purchased with money that we should have tithed, that are now gone. That money will not do us any more spiritual good. Those things kept us from being obedient to God. All the possessions that we accumulate are eventually going to disappear.
Our kids will throw out some of our treasures without even thinking about it as soon as the funeral is over. They are going to sell our stuff at a fraction of the cost, just to get rid of it. They are going to blow through the money we took years to save in just a month or two. Money that should have been waiting for us in heaven, will be used for all kinds of sinful things back here on earth. Meanwhile we will be in heaven explaining to God why we needed all those things that are now doing us absolutely no good.
We need you to help in your giving more than ever. I know financial times are hard, but God is God and God’s promises are not based on the economy of the United States. Look at ways in which you can let go of things to bring your giving in align with what God requests. For those of us who have been at 10% for years, why not go for 11% or 12 % just to see what God might do for you in return. Go ahead and put a smile on God’s face because we are told, God loves a cheerful giver.
The more we sow, the more we harvest. The more we give, the more of a return God sends us. At the bank, I saw a sign for a CD that will pay you about 1.5% return on your money. Give us $100 dollars and we will give you $1.50 if you wait a year. In Luke 6:38 Jesus says, “give and it will be given to you, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. Now that sounds like a lot more than $1.50 on a $100.00. But then it all depends on whose word you can trust.
Why not look at your next pay stub, your next check, or your next allowance and ask how much am I really giving. Is it nothing. Is it less than 1%. Is it 2%, 5%, 8%, 10% or more. Then ask, God if I was truly transformed by the love of Christ, what would you have me to do? When you come back, move toward what God would have you do. Move at least 1%. Some of you can do more because you are way down on the giving side, but all of us can do something for Jesus and the kingdom of God.
In our clip, as we excel in speech, in love, in knowledge, let us also excel in this gift of giving. Chris felt so much better about himself when he freely gave of the blessings that God provided to him. Whether its donuts or paychecks, they both come from the Lord.
Your generosity is going to lead you into a richer life. The tithing plan is not just a financial one. God offers to bless our children. He offers to bless our relationships. He offers to bless us when we come home and when we go out. He offers to remove those who are attempting to hurt us. He offers to bless us in the use of our talents. He offers to bless everything we put our hands to which includes our homework. He offers to make us a more holy people. He offers to heal our bodies and prevent diseases. He says, just keep my commands and see what I will do.
God desires to transform us into being more generous as individuals and as a church. Are you willing to say, “here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you’re my king.” Money will not control my life. Jesus will. You may be scared or anxious at the thought of living with less. You may be more attached to the things of this world than you should be. Today is the day to start your transformation process in your giving.
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick
Transforming Our Attitudes Toward Money
7/19/2009 Deuteronomy 28:1-14 Luke 19:1-10
A. At The Movies With Chris Webb
1. God Please Give Me Something
2. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you [a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
3. First Job First Tithe
4. Giving A Wise Choice
B. God Wants To Give You Something
1. You Don’t Have To Deserve It
2. Trust & Obedience
3. Trusting For The Big Things
4. Trusting For Other Things
C. God Wants To Be Put On The Spot
1. Keep 90% Let Me Work On 10%
2. Just Give Me A Chance
3. Liar? Unwilling? Not Loving?
D. Does Money Influence Our View Of God
1. Our Behavior With Our Money
2. Do We Want Transformation
3. Partial Lordship
4. Three Reasons For Giving
E. What God Requires
1. Giving Is Not Optional
2. Giving Is Proportional
3. Giving Just The Beginning
4. Lay Down Our Lives
F. Why We Need To Give
1. Love God & Love Others
2. To Be Blessed
3. To Be Used
G. The Kingdom Of God Needs Money
1. Building Use
2. Mission Use
3. Ministry Use
4. Outreach Use
H. Who Will We Trust
1. A Businessman’s Encounter
2. Jesus And Zaccehus
3. Eyes Of Compassion
4. Money Transform Our Future
I. Deceptions That We Believe
1. Once I Finish Paying
2. Once I Get A Better Job
3. Forced Downsizing
4. Spiritual Choice To Downsize
J. Jesus And Our Possessions
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.
1. Treasures & The Trash
2. God & The Economy
3. Bank’s CD & Jesus Rate Of Return
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
4. Making The Choice To Be Generous
K. God’s Plan Goes Beyond Finances
1. Children, Health, Talents
2. Homework, Holy, Obedience
L. Here I Am To Worship
1. Lord Change Me
