THE OFFERING BOX TO BLESSINGS.
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
GIVING IS A DEMONSTRATION OF LOVE FROM ONE'S HEART...
YOU WILL GIVE YOU TIME, TALENT AND ENERGY TO WHAT YOU VALUE THE GREATEST.
YOU CAN GIVE WITH LOVE, BUT YOU CAN NOT LOVE WITHOUT GIVING.
I. WE ARE GOING TO EAT AND THEN DEATH WILL COME...???
DO I REALLY TRUST GOD? DO I REALLY TRUST THE PREACHER?
A. THERE IS A TERRIBLE DROUGHT IN THE LAND...
THERE IS FAMINE AND EACH DAY THE SKIN AND BONES OF DEATH CORPSE ARE
BEING BURIED...
B. THERE IS NO HOPE!
THE END!
1 Kings 17:10 (MSG) So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the entrance
of the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, "Please,
would you bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink." 11 As she went to get it, he
called out, "And while you're at it, would you bring me something to eat?"
12 She said, "I swear, as surely as your God lives, I don't have so much as a biscuit. I
have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together
just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we'll die."
13 Elijah said to her, "Don't worry about a thing. Go ahead and do what you've said. But
first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then go ahead and make a meal
from what's left for you and your son. 14 This is the word of the God of Israel: 'The jar of
flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain
on the land and ends this drought.' " 15 And she went right off and did it, did just as Elijah
asked. And it turned out as he said—daily food for her and her family.
C. WE HAVE BY FAITH WENT FROM SCRATCHING THE EMPTY TO THE BLESSINGS
THAT WILL NEVER RUN DRY.
II. THE TITHING/GIVING BOX
Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken
together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that
ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Luke 6:38 (MSG) Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—
given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."
A. Lyle Eggleson gave his life to Jesus and after study and preparation time, Lyle decide to devote
his life to MISSIONS. So Lyle went to the rocky coast line of CHILE to serve. There was planted
a small church and the Lord bless the congregation to grow to about 80 people. But the
unemployment was high and the poverty level was terrible.
B. The average monthly offering was around $6.00 a month. They could not support a LOCAL
NATIONAL PASTOR for the church. Missionary Lyle Eggleson began intense prayer, seeking
the Lord to help and aid this little body of believers.
C. After a season of prayer EGGLESON TRUSTED GOD to help. One day as Eggleson was
walking through the community, he stopped to visit some new converts, a middle age couple.
THE COUPLE HAD RECEIVED A NEW TESTAMENT upon accepting Jesus as their Savior.
They loved reading God's word. Lyle knocked on the door and they welcomed him.
MANUEL thanked the Missionary for the church, the Bible, and for loving them as new coverts.
But MANUEL STARTED ASKING LYLE, WE READ A WORD WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND?
IT IS THE WORD TITHING. We do not know what TITHING MEANS?
Missionary Eggleson was hesitant to explain because MANUEL and his wife had NO INCOME.
He had been unemployed for years. They were near starvation. All they had was 25 Rhode
Island red chickens. They lived on the eggs that were laid and they bartered eggs for other
essentials.
D. They saw the expression of hesitancy on PREACHER LYLE's face and they asked him,
tell us the truth. We want to please God. So Lyle took them to 1 Corinthians 16 and to
2 Corinthians 8 & 9 and Lyle explained how PAUL URDGED ALL BELIEVERS TO EACH
WEEK LAY ASIDE A PORTION OF THEIR INCOME TO SHARE WITH THE LORD. HE
EXPLAINED TO THEM WHAT 10% WAS OF THE INCOME. Manuel was so happy with
the information.
E. On Sunday at church MANUEL was so happy, he OPENED their TITHING BOX and
presented several small PESOS. The amount of the offering was around 19 cents.
The next Sunday Missionary Lyle was riding his bicycle to church and MANUEL was so
excited as he had the BOX and the BIBLE UNDER HIS ARM.
F. On Tuesday Manuel and his wife were so hungry and there was nothing to eat. There were a
few PESOS IN THEIR TITHING BOX which would buy them breakfast. They thought about
"borrowing" and taking God's PESOS and buying food.
After discussing the situation with the family, they decided THOSE PESOS BELONGED
TO GOD and they said: NO! THAT IS GOD'S MONEY. WE JUST WILL NOT EAT THIS
MORNING.
So Manuel went to the HEN HOUSE the nest that had been empty in the morning
had eggs in them. As a matter of fact the nest that were always empty had fresh eggs in
them.
G. Later that morning a local farmer came by and made an offer to BUY THE CHICKEN MANURE
for fertilizer. Manuel was amazed at how much the farmer offered. They loaded the manure
in his cart. They bought the food they needed and THERE WAS MONEY LEFT OVER!
His wife was in desperate need of new shoes, with this money she could finally
get her shoes. So his wife caught a ride, 6 miles, into town to may buy some
new shoes.
H. When she got to town and started walking to the shoe store her nephew ran up to
her. They had not seen each other in 5 years. As they walked along into town, her nephew
explained he had been working almost 6 years and the LORD HAD REALLY BLESSED HIM.
NOW HER NEPHEW WAS THE PROUD OWNER OF A SHOE STORE.
So his wife walked into the shoe store and found a pair of shoes she loved. She pulled out the
money to pay for her new shoes.
Her nephew said: YOU ARE MY FAVORITE AUNT, I CAN NOT TAKE YOUR MONEY. THE
SHOES ARE A GIFT FROM ME TO YOU!
I. MANUEL WAS SO EXCITED AS HE OPENED HIS GIVING BOX AND LAID THE OFFERING
ON THE ALTAR.
THE STORY DOES NOT STOP HERE. MANUEL WENT LOOKING FOR A JOB AND HE
FOUND A GOOD JOB ON A GOVERNMENT PROJECT THAT WOULD LAST AT LEAST TWO
YEARS, MAYBE WORKING INTO FULL TIME. Now they had the 25 chickens and a weekly
pay check, MANUEL GIVING BOX WAS NEVER EMPTY AGAIN.
MANUEL COULD NOT WAITH TO SHARE HIS TESTIMONY WITH THE PREACHER AND
HIS CHURCH FAMILY. SOON OTHERS IN THE CHURCH STARTED A GIVING BOX OF
BLESSINGS. GIVING SO INCREASED AT CHURCH. THE CHURCH PAID THEIR RENT,
THE ELECTRIC BILL AND A GREAT LITTLE INDIAN PREACHER THAT FINISHED SCHOOL
CAME BY AND PREACHED. THEY GAVE HIM THE LOVE OFFERING. THEY HIRED HIM
AND HAD THEIR VERY OWN PASTOR...
PREACHER LYLE WAS ABLE TO TRUST THE CHURCH INTO THE HANDS OF THIS NEW
PASTOR. THE NEW LITTLE CHURCH GREW, SOULS WERE SAVED ALMOST WEEKLY,
THE LORD ADDED TO THE CHURCH, THEY BOUGHT THE PROPERTY.
J. The Eggleson family moved up the road and started a new church. Missionary Lyle
testifies that all this started with a prayer, UNDERSTANDING tithes, and a OFFERING BOX
OF 19 PESOS and THE HAND OF BLESSINGS FROM THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
ONE MAN BELIEVE GOD'S WORD AT FACE VALUE AND CHANGE HIS WHOLE LIFE.
III. SHOW OFF GIVING? SEEMS THERE ARE THOSE THAT THING THEY CAN
BRIBE GOD'S BLESSINGS...
SURE, WE BELIEVE IN SEED FAITH --- THE MOTIVE?
A. Giving can be impressive and self-rewarding?
Matthew 6:1-3 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise
ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms,
do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,
that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
B. We had a man at Prestonsburg that had a super good job for living in the mountains.
He made better than the average salary, but he never gave an offering to the Lord.
Often he would brag to others about his pay check.
10 PM one night there was a knocking at the door. The man was crying he had
been fired and lost his job several weeks prior.
He had a $5.00 bill in his hand, he said, this is the last money I have to my name.
I want to give it to the church, SO THE LORD WILL BLESS ME.
1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store,
as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
IV. I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT YOUR GIVING...
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE NEED TO GIVE...
2 Corinthians 9:7 (KJV) Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give;
not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7 (MSG) I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make
up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting.
God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.
There is a book called TORTURED FOR CHRIST written by RICHARD WURMBRAND
that teaches about the torture and cruel treatment in the communist prisons and how
faith works even when the conditions are mean and cruel.
Wurmbrand understand the WORD OF GOD DOES THE WORK OF GOD.
Wurmbrand was punished by withholding his daily bowl of soup.
But Wurmbrand had believed and practiced TITHING ALL HIS LIFE.
All he had was one bowl of soup once a day.
WURMBRAND GAVE HIS BOWL OF SOUP AWAY EVERY TENTH DAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS.
HE BLESSED THE SOUP AND HE GAVE HIS SOUP TO A WEAKER PRISONER.
Once a weak he received one piece of bread.
Wurmbrand kept track and every 10th week he gave his piece of bread to another prisoner.
THUS HE CONTINUING TO TRUST GOD...
WURMBRAND LIVED AND MADE IT OUT OF THE PRISON CAMP AND LIVED TO
TELL HIS STORY FAR AND WIDE.
V. SOME PEOPLE THINK GIVING IS ALL ABOUT MONEY?
YES, IT IS! BUT THE REACH OF GIVING IS MUCH GREATER...
Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as
ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not
to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
A. GIVE JOY ---
B. GIVE FAITHFULNESS...
1 Corinthians 4:2 (KJV) Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
C. GIVE PEACE ---
D. GIVE A VISIT ---
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
E. GIVE HOPE ---
F. GIVE TIME ---
Conclusion: ARE YOU A TAKER? ARE YOU A GIVER? Do you love to give?
Do you give expecting a return? Do you demand someone to give to you?
You are lying to yourself when you say: MINE, MINE, MINE... GRUDGINGLY?
GIVING IS A DEMOSTRATION OF LOVE FROM ONE'S HEART...
YOU WILL GIVE YOU TIME, TALENT AND ENERGY TO WHAT YOU VALUE THE GREATEST.
YOU CAN GIVE WITHOUT LOVE, BUT YOU CAN NOT LOVE WITHOUT GIVING.His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
