The Joy of Giving
March 23, 2014 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: There is great joy in giving back to the Lord!
Focus Passage: 2 Corinthians 9:6-12
Supplemental Passage: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15)
Introduction: A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church "Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself," she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. "Well," said the little girl, "I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I'd be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did." Bits & Pieces, February 4, 1993, p. 23.
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke 1 out of every 6 verses deals with money. Of the 29 parables Christ told, 16 deal with a person and his money. Unknown.
I. Old Testament Law
a. Every Jew was required by the Levitical law to pay three tithes of his property
i. one tithe for the Levites;
ii. one for the use of the temple and the great feasts;
iii. one for the poor of the land.
b. Used for celebration and care of Levites: (Deuteronomy 14:22-29)
c. Only concerned at tenth of:
i. all the produce of the land (Leviticus 27:30)
ii. all cattle (Leviticus 27:32)
iii. all holy things (2 Chronicles 31:6)
II. New Covenant Privilege
a. New Covenant giving is much different than OT tithing
b. New Covenant giving is giving ALL that you have back to God, not just 10%
c. Modern church tradition and legalism has morphed the privilege of giving into a requirement to give 10%
d. Throwing a $5 or $10 bill in the plate every now and again isn’t even tithing; it’s tipping!
III. Worship & Trust
a. When we realize that everything we have belongs to God, we can use our offerings as an expression of worship and trust
b. If we “pay our tithes” we are reverting to OT Law. Grace trumps law every time. HOWEVER, grace ALWAYS exceeds the Law. 10% is a good place to START, but, under grace, we must not consider 10% our goal in giving
c. If our spending habits prohibit the giving of offerings to the church to do God’s work, we have placed our money as an idol above God.
d. If you are in a place where you simply cannot “afford” to give regularly to the church, you have had your priorities out of whack.
e. Strive to get to a place where you can joyfully give a regular amount to the church and even give for special offerings!
f. If you can’t trust God with your money, how can you trust Him with your eternal soul?
Invitation:
