The Time of the Great Giving
Church Planting Sunday
December 9, 2012
Introduction
It is December 9 today and Christmas is just around the corner. We may have heard this familiar chorus by Maranatha telling us what Christmas is all about.
The lyric of the song says: (Note: singing this song by the preacher would draw the attention of the listeners, whether or not he sings it right lol)
Christmas is a time
Christmas is a time
Christmas is a time to love
Christmas is a time
Christmas is a time
Christmas is a time to love
We often start to worry
And people get upset
If things don't go alright on Christmas day.
What we should remember
In all the push and shove
Is Christmas is a time to love.
Maybe things don't sound right
Or look the way they should
And maybe they're not perfectly in tune.
It really doesn't matter
Lets keep our eyes above
Coz' Christmas is a time to love.
To the writer of this song, Christmas is a time to love. How about you? What does Christmas mean to you?
To some, Christmas is a time for parties and reunions.
To others, Christmas is a time for vacation and for visiting their dream places.
Still for others, Christmas is a time for good business.
What do you think Christmas is for God? If we are going to ask God what does Christmas mean to him, what do you think would be God’s answer?
I think God’s answer would be that Christmas, for Him, is THE TIME OF THE GREAT GIVING.
Why? Because it was on that first Christmas that God gave the greatest gift of all.
I remember an award winning animated film in 1995, Land Before Time III.
The story revolves around the life of prehistoric animals that are now extinct. The group of Lightfoot, a group of young animals from five different kinds of prehistoric specie, was constantly being bullied by a group of teenage dinosaurs. They were fighting over food and later, over water, when the river was blocked by fallen rocks and water got very scarce. There was great discord among the ancient animals. However, when the water problem got worse, and a great fire struck the great valley where these animals live, they started to unite to find ways to survive. To make the long story short, the rocks that blocked the great river were removed and once again the life giving river started to water the great valley. While waiting for the grasses to grow again, the animals started to share food with each other in order to survive. The animals that were once fighting over food are now sharing food with each other. LAND BEFORE TIME 3 was aptly titled: THE TIME OF THE GREAT GIVING.
Christmas is the time of the great giving because it was on the first Christmas that God gave the greatest gift of all, His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 3: 16 says: For God so loved the world that HE GAVE his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Christmas is the time of the great giving because the one who gives the gift is the great God.
Could you imagine receiving a gift from a great king or let us say, from the president of a country? Let us suppose that you receive a gift from president Pnoy. What would you do? Ah, you would probably give your best care to preserve the gift. Maybe, with much care, you would enclose the gift in a glass container to preserve it and place a tag right in front of the object to let those who see it know it was from the president himself.
Some gifts are so valuable because of their assessed value or commercial worth. But there are gifts that are so valuable not because of its monetary value but because of the significance of the one who gives it to the receiver. A simple note could be priceless to a person who receives it from the one he greatly admired and loved.
The gift that was given on that first Christmas day was a great gift because it was a given by the great King, the one who created all things, the God of the universe, the one who really loved us and cared for us.
Christmas is the time of the great giving not only because the gift that was given comes from a great King but also because the gift that was given was a great gift.
What was the greatest gift you have ever received?
I remember a story about Arnold Palmer. Have you heard of this man? Arnold Palmer was a great golf player. In 1974, he was inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame, a coveted title given only to a few extremely gifted individuals. In 1998, he won the PGA tour Lifetime Achievement award. It was told that at one time, Arnold was asked by a King from the Middle East to coach him how to play golf. For several days, Arnold and the king had a great time playing golf together. When it was time for Arnold to leave, the King asked what gift he would desire to receive. Arnold loves to collect golf clubs and told the king that he would appreciate receiving one coming from the King himself. In case you are not familiar with a golf club, a golf club is the one golfers used to hit the golf ball. The King said that he would be sending his gift a few days later.
When the King’s gift arrived, Arnold Palmer was a bit surprise that it was only a small package and based on its appearance, it was far from a golf club he expected. When Arnold opened the package, it was just papers and no golf club. But the papers were no ordinary papers for it was a several-hundred- acre land title the King had purchased as a gift to Palmer. When Palmer asked for a simple golf club, the King was thinking of a golf course where golfers of a club play. Arnold Palmer definitely received a great gift.
However, Arnold Palmer’s gift was no match compared to the one that was given on that first Christmas day. John said: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus is God’s indescribable gift.
The gift is a great gift because the gift is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christmas is the time of the great giving not only because the gift that was given comes from a great King and the gift that was given was a great gift but also because the Gift that was given brought about great blessings to those who receive it.
John said that those who received the gift received eternal life. Have you ever received something as a gift that you don’t need at all?
I heard a story of a young lady who really cried upon seeing the gift she received during a Christmas party. She has been announcing that she wanted short pants from whoever her Kris Kringle may be. She was announcing it daily and expecting to receive one. But when the revelation time came and everybody starts opening their gift, this young lady really cried because she received a gift she does not need at all. Would you like to know what gift she received? A dozen of glasses and she has more than 10 dozens of it in her house from their wedding gifts. That is why she cried.
The value of the gift usually depends on how needful it is to the receiver. For example, a car given as a gift would not be of great value to the one who already owns a dozen cars. But a glass of water could be so valuable to the one who is dying of thirst and needing that one glass of water to survive. The value of the gift depends on how needful it is to the one receiving it.
The gift we received was a great gift because it was what we really need and it brought us great blessings indeed.
God gave the best that he could give. He gave His son for the salvation of the world. Every time you see Christmas symbols, remember that at the first Christmas in Bethlehem, God gave His son. Every time you see the CROSS, remember that God gave His Son so that you and I will be brought back into a relationship with Him. John 1: 12 says; but to those who receive Jesus and believe in His name he gave them the right to become children of God. Because of this relationship we have with God through Jesus, we receive eternal life. Eternal life is a life of eternity with God and this is the result of our faith in Jesus and what he did on the cross to save us.
God gave us the right to become His children through Christ.
God gave us eternal life.
God gave us provisions for our daily needs.
God gave us joy, guidance and peace.
God gave us hope.
God gave us reasons to forgive, to love, to care.
Everyday, God gives us countless of blessings.
God is indeed a giving God and He wants us to be GIVERS also. God wants us to be givers like Him. God wants our lives to be characterized by charity and generosity.
God gave us love so that we can love Him back and love our fellowmen.
God gave us forgiveness so that we can forgive others.
God gave us joy and peace so that we can share it with others.
God gave us blessings so that we can bless others.
When we give, we actually do not lose anything. When we give we actually gain something. Jesus himself said this; “It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20: 35).” Luke 6: 38 is another verse we see Jesus talking about giving. He said; 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.”
I heard one pastor sharing about God’s ‘out of this world’ mathematics.
He said that in the bible 1+1+1 = 1 (God the father + God the Son + God the Holy Spirit = One God)
Again he said, in the bible 1+1 = 1 (Husband + Wife = 1 ) The two shall become one.
He also said that in the bible 100 -10 = 200 or more because God promised that when you give the tithe, the Lord will bless you abundantly.
This is quite interesting, isn’t it?
But you know friends this is what I am very sure of, that when we give because we love God, God releases the power to multiply not only what we have given away but also what is left with us.
Remember the young boy who gave the two fish and the five loaves of bread to Jesus? When the young boy gave to Jesus what he had, Jesus multiplied it and fed more than five thousand people and the boy had more than enough for himself as well.
What is it that God wants us to give to him?
God wants us to give back our TIME to him.
December is one of the busiest months for many of us. If some of us can barely spend few minutes in our quite time during the regular months, our December schedule would be worst unless we make a commitment to give time to the Lord by spending more time with God’s word and by spending more time in prayer. Let us make sure that every Sunday we are here in our church for our time of corporate worship.
God wants us to give back our TALENTS to Him.
God wants us to give back to him our talents and gifts. This Christmas season, our church will be busy with many programs and activities. For some of you who are not serving yet, it is time for you sign in and help wherever you can.
God wants us to give back our TREASURES to Him.
God commanded us to return His tithes back to him. We don’t give our tithes, we return it. It is not ours to give. It is Gods. This Christmas season, some of us will be tempted to use the Lord’s tithe for other purposes. God, through prophet Malachi called those who used their tithes for personal purposes as robbers. We don’t want God to call us robbers, do we?
The tithe is God’s tithe. Let us remember that we start giving only after we have given our tithe. There are other ministries all of us can give to. YOU CAN GIVE TO OUR CHURCH PLANTING FUND. As a church, we want to be a people who take part in accomplishing the great commission. Planting churches is one of the most effective ways to accomplish the Great Commission. We want to win people and disciple them and doing this we need a local church to do the process of discipleship. It is our desire to have daughter churches and we cannot do this if we don’t have funds for our church planting ministry.
Today is CAMACOP CHURCH PLANTING SUNDAY and we will be given opportunity to pledge for our church planting fund. Remember that is a pledge and this is not compulsory. And because it is a faith pledge, it is you who would determine the amount you want to give on a monthly basis for the whole year 2013. If you pledge to give 100 pesos a month for our church planting ministry, that means you have 1200 pledge for the whole year. We will start giving our monthly pledge on January of 2013, and we will continue to give on a monthly basis until December of 2013.
This church planting fund will not be given to the national office. It will be our fund designated for our church planting project. 80 percent of the money that we receive for this fund will be used for our church planting ministry. The 20 percent will be forwarded to the district for the district’s church planting projects.
Let us not forget that when we plant churches, we are actually investing our time and resources on something that is eternal. Just imagine that the people that will be reached by the gospel through our church planting ministry will one day join with us in heaven and will worship the Lamb with us. That is why giving to church planting fund is an eternal investment. Giving to our church planting fund means giving to a ministry that is very close to the heart of God.
One day Jesus and His disciples were inside the temple and it was time for people to give their offering. Many people gave large amounts of money but there was one widow who gave only a coin, a very small amount of money. Jesus told His disciples that the widow who gave a coin gave more than those who dropped large amounts of money in the offering box. Why? Jesus explained that the widow gave out of poverty, she had nothing left for herself, she gave all she had while the rest gave out of abundance. For Jesus, the widow gave a GREAT GIVING because she gave sacrificially.
God is pleased when His people give sacrificially for His cause. Church planting is God’s cause. Church Planting is God’s mandate. It is God’s main task for His church.
Inserted in your programs is a church planting pledge form. If you want to sacrificially give for our Church Planting Fund, please fill in the form with the amount you have decided to give starting January 2013 up to December on a monthly basis. I will give you time to do it now (give them 2 to 3 minutes to fill out their pledge form). Tear down the portion that had a ‘church copy’ printed on it and drop it in the offering box later and keep your copy to remind you of your pledge.
May this Church Planting Sunday be a Time of great giving for all of us as we sacrificially give for the church planting fund of our church. God bless all of you and may God’s favour and blessing be upon all of you now.
( Note: Kung wala kayong bulletin O program sa church, ipa distribute sa mga ushers ang pledge forms sa huling bahagi ng message. Kung walang pledge forms na available na galing sa national office, humingi na lang kayo ng copy sa district tapos ipa-photocopy na lang ito para sa lahat ng members o attendees ng church. Ang mahalaga ay mabigyan ng pagkakataon ang lahat ng members ng church na maka pag pledge para sa church planting fund ng inyong church)
