Giving Is An Act Of Worship
Proverbs 3:5-10 NASB
Giving can be a very touchy subject for many people. The reputation of the Church has been damaged by folks who have abused others for their own selfish gain. But the excesses of a few wicked folks do not absolve you from your responsibilities.
The Bible outlines three areas that Christians are required to give:
FIRST FRUITS - Giving the first income off of your labor
OFFERING - Giving the best from the fruit of your labor
TITHE - Giving a return of your labor that represents the whole
Giving of your income to your local Church does not include personal mission’s commitments, benevolence or civic donations.
Today I want to share with you three important reasons for being a CHURCH GIVER.
Giving: Acknowledges God's AUTHORITY
It means – you are NOT giving God your leftovers
It means – you should plan what you’re going to give to God.
It means – your gift to God is NOT an afterthought
It means – your gift is something you’ve planned
Giving: Honors God's ATTRIBUTES
It means – you know all good gifts come from God
It means – you are NOT negligent in expressing gratitude
It means – you realize your inability to be self-sufficient
It means – you are NOT driven or motivated by your EGO
Giving: Trusts God's ABILITIES
It means – you are NOT doubting God's love or abilities
It means – you are walking by faith
It means – you are NOT living by your own wits
It means – you should freely give without hesitation
It is easy to trust God when everything is going just fine and dandy. But can you give the Lord your offering when your next pay day is only a wisp of a wish and you can't see any way to make ends meet? God is blessed by what you give and you are blessed when you give regardless of your circumstances.
ILLUSTRATIONS
OPEN: In 21ST Century Christian Magazine a mother told this story:
Our 3 year old daughter was in the habit of giving half of her 2 quarter allowance to God each week. One Sunday we were out of town, so the next Sunday, we gave her an extra quarter to teach her about “making up” our giving when we miss.
She said, “Oh, good, I’ll give one for God and one for Jesus.”
We thought that was cute and didn’t think more about it until the following Sunday. When it was back to the regular allowance and she had only one quarter for the contribution, she started crying. We asked her what was wrong and she said, “Where’s the quarter for Jesus?”
Needless to say, she got an immediate raise in her allowance! We are waiting to see what happens when she finds out about the Holy Spirit.
APPLY: That family was faithfully teaching their daughter a great truth: that giving was an act of worship.
ILLUS: Clara Null of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma told of living in a small town with one bank and three churches. Early one Monday morning, the bank called all three churches with the same request. “Could you bring in Sunday’s collection right away?” We’re out of one-dollar bills.”
Now, why could the bank be sure that there would be $1 bills in the offering? Because many people DON’T PLAN AHEAD in their giving… they give God what they have in their pockets at the time.
ILLUS: One wit observed: “One of the best tests of religion is to find yourself in church with nothing less than a 20 dollar bill in your wallet” (For Benefit of Clergy quoted in Readers’ Digest 5/89)
ILLUS: When I explain to people what it means to become a Christian, I explain faith, repentance and baptism… but I spend a great deal of my time on the “confessing Jesus as Lord” out of Romans 10.
I explain that, in the day of Jesus, if one person called another their “Lord” they were acknowledging that that person “owned them.” They were slaves. The owner not only owned the slave’s services, they owned everything around the slave. The slave owned nothing. (Take out wallet) At this point, I take out my wallet and tell them that “confessing Jesus as Lord” means turning over to Jesus everything you own: everything in your wallet, your bank account, your deeds and titles of ownership – it’s all His now.
ILLUS: Years ago, there was a movie called Shenandoah. The leading character, played by Jimmy Stewart opened the film with a prayer of thanksgiving for the meal. He calls the family in, makes the kids sit still, and prays,
“Lord, we plowed the field, we planted the field, we harvested the crop. We cooked it and put it on the table. It wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for our hard work. But we thank you for it anyway. Amen.”
NOW… was Stewart’s character in the movie “honoring God?”
Noooo… in fact, he was mocking God. In his opinion, God wasn’t necessary. God was irrelevant.
ILLUS: The story’s told of a man who wanted to take his Uncle Dudley on a plane ride.
This was years ago, when planes were still a novelty.
It was Uncle Dudley’s 75 birthday and his nephew said "How would you like to go up with me?"
His uncle agreed and they went up and circled the old man’s farm. When they set down, the nephew asked "Were you scared, Uncle Dudley?"
"No..., but I never did put my full weight down."
QUOTE: Bob Perks ~ "It’s one thing to say you believe in something, but so much more to prove it."
QUOTE: Hudson Taylor said, "Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith."
CHALLENGE
I’m challenging you to at least tithe for the next few weeks and see if God will do what He’s promised in Proverbs 3. Now there is a stipulation on this. You must make sure you submit your tithe in the form of a check of in an envelope so we can trace it… And then, after a period of time that you feel is appropriate, if God hasn’t met your expectations, you talk to our treasurer and she’ll cut you a check for the amount you tithed.
CLOSE:
“Faith Promise Rally?” many churches use it in supporting their missionaries. During the “Rally” Christians are challenged to make a “Faith Promise Pledge” that – in essence – is a promise to give a specified amount of money to missions ONLY if God supplies it above and beyond their ordinary income.
A few years back, Harry Reinfelder attended a Faith Promise Rally at his church, and decided to give a certain amount of money. His immediate first notion was that even if God did not give him the extra money, he would be able to pay it anyway.
After further thought, he decided that his philosophy went against the whole concept of faith giving - giving back to God - so he made a faith promise of "thousands of dollars," and determined "it had to be from God."
His promise set the wheels in motion for God to perform a series of events that would exceed his wildest dreams.
Reinfelder made the pledge in the fall, and months later God still had not supplied the money. His wife Nancy thought the money was supposed to be paid monthly, but Reinfelder told her if God wanted them to pay it, He would provide first.
In the spring, however, his faith promise became reality.
Reinfelder and his wife owned and operated a resort on Munuscong Bay in Michigan’s upper Peninsula. One day Reinfelder received a call from the Michigan Outdoors television program, asking if they could do a show from the resort with Reinfelder.
After the crew arrived, Reinfelder was delayed and couldn’t take them out until long after the generally accepted fishing time. A he was getting ready to go fishing, "something told me to get a salmon net," which is a larger net than what he had originally prepared.
Reinfelder used light tackle and no steel leader, and a walleye fishing lure. A short time later, "I hooked into what I thought was a snag. At the same time, I heard the cameraman turn the camera on."
What he thought was a snag, turned out to be a 50 inch muskie. After playing the fish for 5 to 7 minutes, a very unusual thing happened, "the fish became docile and laid on the surface." At that time, he used his salmon net, "which the fish swam into - all recorded on film."
It was at that time that Reinfelder realized that God would supply the money through "publicity and notoriety." He was right. After being televised on Michigan Outdoors, his business skyrocketed, providing three times in profit what his original faith promise had been.
When Reinfelder took the money to the preacher and told him that he was the one who had made the large pledge, the preacher had his own story. When he saw the card and the amount of money pledged, he thought it was a kid playing a joke and threw the card away!
In addition to providing the faith promise, the muskie has opened other doors for Reinfelder to minister. He was able to sell his resort and go to work for a business that provides flexible hours for his new ministry. He now travels to various churches telling his "fish story." "People have accepted Christ because of that story," he says.
