INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• There was this $100-dollar bill and a $1-dollar bill talking to each other. As they were lying there side by side the $1 dollar bill said to the $100 dollar bill, "Hey man, where have you been. I haven’t seen you in a long time?"
• The $100-dollar bill replied, "Man I have been having a ball! I been traveling to distant countries, going to the finest restaurants, to the biggest and best casinos, numerous boutiques, the mall uptown, the mall downtown, the mall across town and even a mall that I just newly built.
• "In fact, just this week I’ve been to Europe, a professional NBA game, Rodeo Drive, the all-day retreat spa, the top-notch hair salon and the new casino! I have done it all!"
• After describing his great travels, the $100-dollar bill asked the $1-dollar bill, "What about you? Where have you been?" The $1 dollar replied, "Well, I’ve been to the Baptist church, the Methodist church, the Presbyterian church, the Episcopalian church, the..." "WAIT A MINUTE! WAIT A MINUTE!!" shouted the $100-dollar bill to the $1 dollar bill. "What’s a church?" (Pastor Bill Burnett, New Life Chapel Foursquare Church, Hesperia, CA. April 12, 2015)
• Money related issues are the second most covered topic in the writings in the Bible, behind love.
• Of the thirty-eight parables of Jesus in the Bible, sixteen of them deal with how to handle possessions; all told, 288 verses in the Gospels — one out of every ten — refer to money. Over two thousand Bible verses talk about our personal resources, compared with approximately 500 on prayer and fewer than 500 on faith. We can’t conclude from these statistics that Jesus’ heart was focused on money, but rather that he knew ours would be. (Tim Rolen, New Hope Community church, Clovis, CA. Jan 11, 2015)
• Money is a something that everyone of us think about, stress about, and pray about.
• Whether you are a Christian or not, money is one of the things we all have in common today.
• When you think about money, do you feel secure because you have enough, or stress because you do not have enough.
• What would you be willing to do to receive $10 million? In their 1991 book written by James Patterson and Peter Kim, they reveal some statistics concerning how far people in this country are willing to go for money.
• According to Patterson and Kim’s research they found that of those surveyed…
• (25%) Would abandon their entire family
(23%) Would become prostitutes for a week or more
(16%) Would give up their American citizenship
(16%) Would leave their spouses
(10%) Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free
(7%) Would kill a stranger
(3%) Would put their children up for adoption (Pastor Bill Burnett, New Life Chapel Foursquare Church, Hesperia, CA. April 12, 2015)
• I would imagine since 1991 the numbers would look worse.
• At FCC, we are take up a weekly offering, much the same way a typical church does.
• The practical reason we do so is so that we can fund the work God has called us to do; however, there are some deeper reasons we take up our offering each week, and it has nothing to do with separating you from your money.
• If you are here for the first time today, the subject of this message my fit into your stereotype of what church is all about; however, I want to assure you that the stereotype that all the church talks about money is not true at FCC.
• Today we are not presenting this subject to get something from you, but rather we are trying to do something for you by explaining the issues of offer or giving.
• Today I am going to explain the deeper reasons we take up a weekly offering.
• Let’s begin with looking at 2 Corinthians 9:6.
• SLIDE #2
• 2 Corinthians 9:6 (HCSB) Remember this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
Taking up an offering allows one to experience…
I. The principle of reaping and sowing.
• If you are not a follower of Jesus, you may look at this point with some suspicion. Paul who wrote 2 Corinthians is pulling an illustration from the area of agriculture to make the point.
• If you are farming the ground, the harvest that you will reap when it comes harvest time is directly tied to the amount of seed you put into the ground.
• This is nowhere in the ball park, but if you sowed 500 seeds, the most plants you would expect to harvest would be 500, and that is all the seeds germinate, don’t die or get eaten by the birds.
• If you sowed 10 seeds, don’t be surprised when you your harvest is only 10, and so forth.
• In verse 6, sowing sparingly is in the present tense, pointing to the habit of life, whereas reaping speaks of the future harvest.
• So if today you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly in the future, we understand if we put nothing back for retirement, there will be nothing to harvest when one retires.
• On the other side, the one who sows generously will reap generously. When we generously give to God, we are sowing seeds of eternity by showing God we are generous with what He has provided.
• When we spend it all our ourselves, we show God that life is all about me, myself, and I.
• SLIDE #4
• Galatians 6:7–8 (HCSB) Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
• The famer can decide how much seed to plant, and the Christian can decide how much in his heart he will give.
• This is not about selfish motives, I will give so I get more, it is about trusting God to provide, which we will examine in detail shortly. We are not buying our way into heaven, but rather we are generous because we are a part of God’s family.
• Offering time gives us the opportunity to experience the principle of reaping and sowing.
• Let’s look at verse 7
• SLIDE #5
• 2 Corinthians 9:7 (HCSB) Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.
• SLIDE #6
Taking up an offering allows one to develop…
II. The heart behind the offering.
• Verse 7 offers another reason for taking up an offering. It helps us to develop a heart for God’s work if we are participating, or investing in His work.
• SLIDE #7
• Matthew 6:19–21 (HCSB) — 19 “Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
• So the heart we are to develop concerning giving is that we decide to participate and to what level.
• This involves planning. If you are going to make an investment, you should take the time to plan, and not give on a whim. When I give, I have to pray and plan how much I will give.
• This implies that it is something that is on my mind.
• We are called to give with the correct attitude. We are not to be forced (reluctantly and under compulsion as some versions state), but rather we give cheerfully because we believe in what we are supporting.
• I have found that people who give with a cheerful heart are cheerful people who are enthusiastic about God’s work and His Church. They are not the ones who grip about every little issue in the Church, they faithfully serve and are heavily involved.
• Why? Because they are investing a great deal of their treasure into God’s kingdom, monetarily, timewise, and talent-wise.
• The NASB uses the phrases GRUDGINGLY AND UNDER COMPULSION.
• When we were first married that described how I gave, it was with clinched fist and I was not happy with giving. If not for Robyn, I would have kept it all!
• When my relationship with Jesus grew, so did my desire to invest more into His work.
• God loves a CHEERFUL giver. God is the ultimate giver. If you are not invested in God’s work, you do not see the seeds to offer as planted, you see them as lost.
• If you want to gauge your relationship with Jesus, ask yourself how cheerful of a giver you are, not just at church, but whenever you can be helpful to others.
• Let’s look at verse 8-10.
• SLIDE #8
• 2 Corinthians 9:8–10 (HCSB) — 8 And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. 9 As it is written: He scattered; He gave to the poor; His righteousness endures forever. 10 Now the One who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
• SLIDE #9
We take up an offering because…
III. Offering allows one to build trust in God’s provision.
• From these verse we can see that Paul tells us that when we give, we can trust that will take care of us.
• Verses 8-10 points out that what we have is supplied by God and therefore He will provide what we need, we do not have to hoard what we have.
• WE cannot out-give God.
• SLIDE #10
• Luke 6:38 (HCSB) 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 back to you.”
• We can trust God to the point that we can test Him in the area of giving. In Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, God was chastising the people for holding back with their giving.
• SLIDE #11
• Malachi 3:8–10 (HCSB) — 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!” You ask: “How do we rob You?” “By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. 9 You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. 10 Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.
• We can learn to trust God through our giving.
• SLIDE #12
• 2 Corinthians 9:12–13 (HCSB) — 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God. 13 They will glorify God for your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with others through the proof provided by this service.
• SLIDE #13
We take up an offering because we believe..
IV. Offering is an act of worship.
• When we give, we are not only supplying the needs of the saints, but we are also offering thanksgiving to God.
• By offering a portion of the income God blessed us with, we are acknowledging His provision and Lordship in our lives.
• Verse 13 tells us that God will be glorified because of our obedience in this manner.
• Think for a moment of all the people who have been brought to Jesus through the ministry of FCC, think about all the lives that have been changed as a result of the ministry of FCC.
• None of that happens without the faithful financial support of God’s people who are a part of the FCC family.
• Our mission is to Change Lives by Connecting People With Christ. That is not possible without the financial support of the FCC family.
• I have been blessed to be a part of many generous churches, but FCC stands head and shoulders above the rest. This is one of the most loving, giving churches I have ever been a part of, and that is special!
• Bringing our offerings each week is an act of worship, toward God!
CONCLUSION
• Ok, now hopefully you see that we take up an offering for more than just paying Jerry’s salary and keeping the lights on.
• There is a much deeper component to offering than those issues.
• If you are a part of FCC, you will be an active part of the church not only financially, but also in prayer and service to the Lord.
