Sermon for 10/31/2010
Giving That Feels Good
Introduction:
A. G's of the godly: Grace, Good News, Group, Growth, Gifts, and now giving.
B. Mainly we are going to be talking about giving of money. One time I prided myself on the fact that I only gave 1 sermon on giving of money a year. If I am going to be faithful to the Bible I better change and talk about it more.
F. If I get up and preach on church attendance, everyone would be happy. If I get up and preach on giving of our finances to God, some people are not happy. Why? Because they don't know the benefits of giving.
G. Some people are upset because there god is their money. We are a materialistic society.
Thesis: Let's examine 5 motivations for giving to God. We will start with the least desirable motive and work our way up to the best. We will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each motive.
For instances:
I. Guilt (Have to giving, feel bad if I don't give). Least desirable.
2 Corinthians 9:7- Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
A. Not reluctantly or under compulsion
1. We should not feel forced to give, guilt cannot be a biblical motivator- but it is used a lot!
3. When I was in Christian radio, we had pledge campaigns. "Will these people just give so we can move onto what we like to do?"
B. Strengths
* Many times it works.
C. Weaknesses.
1. After a while, the people don't want to be around us because we make them feel bad.
2. After a while, guilt no longer motivates and people grow calloused.
3. It does not bring joy and doesn't help people overcome materialism.
II. Responsibility ("Ought to" give)
2 Corinthians 8:6- So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 10And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.
A. Bring to completion
1. This passage implies a responsibility about giving. They started and need to finish.
2. Paul here is telling them that others have given like the Macedonians to this gift, so they should as well. They ought to because Paul planted the church and he wants them to give.
3. As a member of this church, need to take responsibility and give.
4. Studies on congregational giving indicate that 20% of the members give 80% of the funds, 30% give 20% and approximately 50% give nothing at all.
B. Strengths
1. People need to take responsibility, a virtue.
3. We are not able to do this because of lack of money. Whose fault is that? The members.
C. Weaknesses
2. We ask members to give 10% of their income to the Lord. This is biblical.
a. Malachi 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.
b. 1 Corinthians 16:2- 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.
3. This is something to strive to do. But Giving solely out of responsibility limits the joy and the amount given considerably. Some ask the question, should I tithe off of the gross or the net?
4. When people give out of a strictly legalistic approach, it's easy to feel, "I've done my part."
5. The Pharisees gave even a tenth of their spices, no more than a tithe.
III. Needs ("Want to" giving to meet a pressing need)
2 Corinthians 8:13-15: Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.
A. Paul here is talking about giving money to the Christians in Judea because they were in great need. Many of them were starving.
B. In the past, the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea sent out people to bring the gospel to people like the Corinthians. Now the Christians in Judea are in need.
C. God wants us to be concerned about meeting needs.
1. Paul set the example of letting people know about financial opportunities to give.
2. Knowing about a need often kindles a desire to provide the resources.
3. Had the Begarly's come and we helped to meet some of their needs.
4. We would want someone to share with us, too, if we were in need.
5. Paul mentions equality. Not communism but those who are blessed with much are to use it for the good of others. There might come a day when I will need some brother's resources to meet my needs. No one is better than someone else. We are all in this together, we are a family.
6. Manna, those who had a big family gathered much, and those who had a small family gathered less, not about hoarding. Those who tried this, the manna was rotten the next day.
D. Strengths
1. Giving to satisfy needs feels good.
2. People don't give reluctantly.
3. This motivation touches our heart strings and encourages people to learn the discipline of sacrificial giving. Campaigns at Bible College, just give up a soda pop can a day.
4. It can raise large sums of money because some people give only when they see a need.
E. Weaknesses
1. Some will ignore the request, even though there is a need.
2. The church feels like it needs on going efforts to highlight needs which may lead to more guilt than tugging at heart strings.
IV. Thanksgiving ("Can't help it" giving)
2 Corinthians 9:12-13: This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.
A. I have been blessed with so much from God, I can't stop from giving.
B. Giving is a way of expressing thanksgiving to God for what he has done through Jesus Christ.
D. Strengths
1. Giving out of thanksgiving feels very good
2. This type of giving points our hearts in God's direction since we have a tangible way of showing our thanks to Him.
3. This unselfish giving encourages others to focus on God's activity in their lives as well.
5. Put your money where your mouth is. If thankful then show it.
E. Weaknesses
1. What if we don't feel thankful?
2. People can miss the joy of how God has blessed them because they're not focused on Him.
V. Worship ("It's my nature" giving)
2 Corinthians 8:5- And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.
A. Paul uses the Macedonian Christians as examples to the church in Corinth by pointing out a unique quality of their giving. They gave themselves first to God. Their financial decisions flowed out of their relationship with the Father.
B. When it's our nature to give to God, giving becomes an act of worship just like communion or singing or prayer.
C. Philippians 4:18- I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
D. No weaknesses only strengths to this motivation.
E. Worship is the highest possible motivation. It creates true commitment, pleases God, and allows much work to be done to advance the cause of his kingdom, and feels good, too!
So what?
2 Corinthians 9:7: Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
A. Cheerful here is related to our English word, "hilarious." During offering time it should be a cheerful time. Had a fellow who told me it should be a somber time, much like communion.
C. Mary Ann O'Roark- As a little girl I heard grown ups repeat a bible verse that I was certain said, "God loveth a cheerful liver." I asked my grandma what a liver was. "It's a part inside you," she told me, "like your stomach or your heart." I puzzled over how to get my insides to be more cheerful. One day in Sunday school an older kid set me straight: "It's giver, not liver." But I don't think I got it all that wrong. God does love a cheerful liver. John 10:10- I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
