Grow
The Habit Of Giving
When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground.3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. – Genesis 4:2—5
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. – Matthew 6:19-21
Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on. - Mark 12:41-44
NOW FOR – several weeks we have being talking about several habits that if you embrace and live thme out will help you to GROW UP in your salvation…
SO – does anyone out there want to grow up?
AND SO FAR – we have looked at, the habits of…
• Regular church attendance
• Doing life together
• Sending time in God’s Word
• Talking to God in prayer (A.C.T.S)
• Having a daily quiet time (R.E.L.A.X.)
AND THIS MORNING (9/8/19) – we are going to be looking at the 6th and final habit… The Habit Of Giving…
QUESTION – how does the topic of (giving/money) make you feel?
• Anxious
• Nervous
• Defensive, afraid, uncomfortable…
Does it make you wish you stayed home…
YEAH - what a day to come to church, right?
NOW - I think one of the main reasons why money is such an uncomfortable topic, at its core, is a fundamental and basic misunderstanding of the Christian faith.
Let me explain. IMAGINE - if you will, that your life is a dresser…
NOW HERE’S HOW – many people think about their faith…
WE THINK – that our faith is simply one of the drawers in the dresser of life. YEAH - you know, it’s one of many drawers.
AND THERE’S - the relationship drawer, the work drawer, the recreation drawer.
AND THEN - there’s the money drawer, and then of course there’s the faith drawer.
AND – we may even make that the top drawer.
AND SO - we’re okay with coming to church and letting the preacher open up the faith drawer, because that fits. That makes sense.
“And so, yeah, go ahead preacher. Open up the faith drawer…. rummage around if you want, after all we are at church.
HOWEVER - if a preacher tries to open up the money drawer, there’s a good chance he’s going to get his fingers slammed, right? BECAUSE - church is a place where we talk about faith and, okay, maybe relationships (if it does not get too uncomfortable), but money?
NOW THAT’S - a different category, a different compartment altogether.
BUT B/S – here’s what we need to understand.
THE MOMENT - we start compartmentalizing our faith we are no longer talking about the Christian faith, because the core of the Christian faith is the ‘all inclusiveness’ of the lordship of Jesus Christ.
OKAY – what I am trying to say, and I am not sure I am sayng all that well…
IS THAT WHEN - when we, as Christians, say, “Jesus, You are my Lord and my Savior,” we are in effect saying,
“Jesus, You are my life…
AND - my faith is not merely a drawer instead is the dresser that all the other drawers of my life fit into.
BECAUSE - every area of my life is under the authority of Jesus Christ, is under His lordship.
R U tracking with me…?
THEREFORE - the minute we start saying, “No, my faith is just a drawer; it’s just a compartment,” we’re no longer talking about the Christian faith… AND THAT’S WHEN - talking about things like money in church can become a little bit uncomfortable because we have failed to understand that He’s in charge of that, too.
One of the authors I read this week in preparation for this message wrote…
“Anytime we compartmentalize our relationships with God, we create problems. Lordship is all encompassing. We cannot make certain things off-limits to the Lordship of Christ.
Doing so divides the heart and leads to all manner of sin Compartmentalization is a lie. Thinking that we can effectively follow Jesus is one area of our life while deliberately disobeying Him in another area is insane!”
UNDERSTAND – it is insane to think that we can follow Jesus,
AND – deliberately, knowingly, rebelliously, DISOBEY - Him in some area. I follow Jesus, BUT…
• I will handle money my way
• I will never forgive them for what they did
• I will keep using my tongue and my words in ways that are destructive
• I do whatever feels right to me sexuality
SO – what I am trying to say is… sorry if you are uncomfortbale, but money and giving are things we should and must talk about as His peopledo…
IN FACT – when we study the Gospels what we find that Jesus loved… He loved talking about, He loved opening up the drawer labeled “Money.”
In almost half His parables, Jesus used money as the primary application.
AND LISTEN – when you walk the entire NT and find that the writers guided by the breath of God talked about money 5 times more than they talked about prayer…
SO - Jesus and the rest of the NT writers really had no problem opening up this drawer called money and giving.
NOW – maybe there are some people in here who feel that conversation on giving is unnecessary, because they have been tithing 10% since they got their first allowance decades ago…
IN FACT – they may be thinking that if these other people would simply get with the program a lot more would get and we could move on to other things.
HOWEVER - my question would be… to those who think this conversation is not needed is this…
IS WHAT - you are currently giving to God generous?
LIKE – does your giving still cost you, is it truly sacrificial?
AGAIN – maybe some people think this conversation is not needed, BUT - maybe there are others who are a little offended, and feel like discussion but giving are out of bounds…
UNDERSTAND – there are many people who believe (I think wrongly) that giving is a private matter simply between them and God. QUESTION – where does that belief come from?
I think in part from a wrong application of what Jesus said in Matthew 6… about not using our giving as a way to get people to praise us… (so give in secret, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing)…
Point is our motivation (pray in your closet)
YOU SEE – the truth is that there are many examples in the NT that demonstrate that giving was not always keep private
• The widows offering
• Mary anointed Jesus with a years wages
• Zacchaeus stood up and declared that he would give half of his possessions to the poor
• Barnabas was acknowledged for selling a field and giving the money to church
• Tabitha’s generosity was recognized
• Cornelius was knows for his generosity
• The Macedonian church was used as an example of generosity in 2 Cor 8
AND SO – if you are feeling a little uncomfortable and defensive about today’s conversation…
It might be a good idea to ask yourself why?
BECAUSE - what I’ve discovered personally over the years is that the more defensive I become in listening to a sermon or a message, oftentimes the more I need to hear it.
AND LISTEN – this is not just true of money; it’s true in many areas of life.
That, you know, you sit down and you see the sermon is on a subject, and you immediately feel defensive about it.
UNDERSTAND - there’s a good chance that you need to pray and you need to say, “Okay, God, what are You wanting to teach me? What am I needing to see that I’m not seeing?”
SO - I’m just wondering. Is it possible that the more upset you get about, you know, God going through your drawer labeled “Money,” the more you don’t want to hear a sermon on the subject of giving… is it possible that the more you may need to hear it?
NOW – here is how I want to attack out conversation this morning…
BY - answering 4 questions…
1) What are some reasons people do not give?
2) What are some reasons why people do not give?
3) Why should we give?
4) Where should we give?
BUT BEFORE – we go there I wanted to tell of a great resource that is available to everyone at MGCC…
The resource…. Rightnowmedia
Over 14,000 videos
I. What are some reasons why people do not give?
In his book, “The Great Evangelical Recession,” pastor and author John Dickerson describes the current state of giving in the American church this way….
The financial crisis is not a shortage of funds. It is a shortage of commitment. We do not believe in tithing or for that matter, generous giving… More importantly we do not believe Jesus’ simple, direct statement, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will ne also,” (Luke 12:34).
If Jesus’ claim is true, then the heart of the typical evangelical is not in Christ’s Kingdom. Our hearts are in our cars, credit cards, mortgages and retirement savings.- John Dickerson (The Great Evangelical Recession)
Wow!!!
UNDERSTAND - the struggle with giving is real…
I MEAN – the numbers speak for themselves.
The average Christian gives 2.43% of their income to the church, only 7% of Christians give 10% of their incomes, only 1% of Christians who make over $75k give 10%
What are some reasons people struggle giving generously to the church and other kingdom causes? I asked that question awhile back and here are some of the answers I received.
• Don’t have a spending plan
• Lack of faith and trust in God
• Slaves to credit card debt
• Want to selfishly keep money for big purchases (vacations, new electronics, new furniture, new car)
• Fear
• People forget that their money belongs to God and wrongly think it is their money they are giving or not giving
• Poor money management… not doing it God’s way
• selfishness
• Unequally yoked
• They have forgotten that their giving is an act of worship
QUESTION…
DO YOU - give generously to His church and other causes?
DOES GOD – think you give generously?
AND IF – you do not give generously to the church, what is your reason?
DO YOU – think that God (the one who owns all things) finds your reason acceptable.
II. Why Should I Give?
NOW - I would like to suggest a few reasons (7 to be specific) that should be pretty motivating in moving us to give.
1) Giving, Makes You More Like God
LISTEN - God (the creator and sustainer of the Universe)
IS a giver.
UNDERSTAND B/S – everything we have is a gift from God.
AND WHEN – we give we are like God.
IN FACT - the most well known verse in the bible – says it like this…
God so loved the world THAT HE GAVE his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
AND LISTEN - throughout scripture we see God giving again & again… NOW- I went on biblegateway.com and did a word search of the word give in the New Testament… and that search revealed what I already knew…
THAT – the God we love, serve and worship is a giver!
B/S God gives us…
• Us our daily bread
• Rest
• Forgiveness
• An inheritance
• Eternal life
• Every good and perfect gift
• Grace
• Mercy
• peace
• The Holy Spirit (btw the most frequently mentioned gift given by God in the New Testament)
• Life and breath
• New birth
• Freedom
• Insight/understanding/wisdom
• Endurance, encouragement, strength and victory
• Very great and precious promises
• The right to eat from the tree of life
• (if we overcome) the right to sit on His Throne
Reason #1 for giving is that it makes us more like God – and let me ask you a question - can you think of anyone better to imitate or be like?
A 2nd reason is that…
2) Giving, Draws You Closer To God
Jesus said that, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… - Matthew 6:21
UNDERSTAND… -
• IF - I put my money into entertainment, into recreation, that's where my heart is.
• IF - I put my money into my house, that's where my heart is.
• IF - I money into my car, that's where my heart is.
YES JESUS SAID – just ‘follow our money’ and we will find our hearts.
AND LISTEN WHEN – we put your money in the Lord…
AND – in the things that matter to Him (like the church)
Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her… – Ephesians 5:25
It - will always draw you closer to Him.
Which I contend is a very good thing.
Now the first 2 reasons for giving are pretty good ones… to be more like God and to draw closer to Him.
A 3rd reason why we should give is that…
3) Giving, Breaks The Grip Of Materialism
(the #1 idol and God’s chief competer in this World)
NOW - I am sure that it comes as no surprise that we live in a very materialistic culture. I MEAN - advertisers are not even subtle any more. They just pretty much come right out and say, "You can buy happiness." BUY HEY - that's America! Where many believe in… Life, liberty, and the purchase of happiness.
Question - How can we live in a materialistic world and not become infected by it or bow down to it?
UNDERSTAND – the best way is to become a generous giver…
(yeah, I know that may seem pretty simplistic… but that does not change the fact that it is true)
BECAUSE – often it is materialism (our desire for stuff) that keeps us from giving…
AND – in the act of giving we are saying ‘No’ to materialism.
4) Giving, Is An Essential Way That We Honor God
QUESTION – what is honor?
LIKE - what does it mean to honor someone?
IT MEANS – comminucating through our words and action that someone, is worthy and important to us…
THAT THEY - matter… THAT - we value them
Check out the connection that the Italian prophet Malachi makes between giving and honoring God.
The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!
“But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’ “You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. “Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?’
“You defile them by saying the altar of the LORD deserves no respect. When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies…
When you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will not accept your offerings…
You dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it’s all right to defile the Lord’s table. You say, ‘It’s too hard to serve the Lord,’ and you turn up your noses at my commands,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?” asks the Lord.
“Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is feared among the nations! – Malachi 1:6-14
Pretty powerful words… about the very real connection that God sees between the giving of our offerings and His honor.
Earlier I read from Genesis chapter 4 where we read about the first time that offerings were ever brought before God…
When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. – Genesis 4:2—5
Cain presented 'some of' his crops
Able gave the best of the FIRSTborn
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops… - Proverbs 3:9
OKAY – let’s say I want to honor you on your birthday.
QUESTION – what would make you feel more honored, if I took you out to your favorite restaurant for dinner… or if I went to my favorite restaurant and then brought over to your house my leftovers?
MGCC – bringing your leftovers… is unacceptable and it dishonors God!
Why should you give? Giving…
• Makes you more like God
• Draws you closer to God
• Breaks the grip of materialism
• Is an essential way that we honor God
A 5th reason is that
5) Giving, Strengthens Your Faith
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORDAlmighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. – Malachi 3:10
Understand – God often uses our finances to test our faith. Some of you are living proof of that.
Have you ever had to decide between paying a bill and giving? You only have so much money so where is it going to go?
This is a test.
Giving strengthens and stretches our faith.
Has anyone in this room ever had their faith stretched by their giving…
(I had zero income for 6 months in 2010… we still tithed Laurie’s income)
Another reason to give; is that
6) Giving, Brings Blessings To Your Life
“and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. – Malachi 3:10-12
Jesus himself said, “It is more blessed to GIVE then receive…” - Acts 20:35
NOW - the Greek word for blessed = ‘contentment’ being ‘satisfied.’
MGCC - Jesus says that giving will bring us contentment and satisfisfcation.
AND – could you think of a better blessing than that?
QUESTION – do you think that people really believe what Jesus said?
YOU KNOW – I am not so sure, because if they did, they would give more. Have you ever heard anybody say, "You ought to give 'til it hurts!" Jesus says - You ought to give until it feels good.
Understand - there are only two kinds of people in life.
There are givers and there are takers.
And here’s the deal… you are either one or the other.
You're either giving and generous with your time, your money, your efforts, your energy, your life.
Or you're a taker.
QUESTION - which type of person do you think is happier?
UNDERSTAND - there is a reason that the root word of "miserable" is "miser".
The more I hold on to, the more stingy I am with my time, with my money, with my tithe, with my effort, the more unhappy I will be.
Karl Menninger, the dean of American psychiatry, founder of the world famous Menninger Clinic, says "Giving is a criterion of mental health. Generous people are rarely mentally ill."
AND – I would add and they are rarely… mean, grumpy, negative and unhappy people.
LIKE – how many giving and generous people have you meet that were unhappy and miserable?
I have never met a single one.
BUT - on the other hand…
7) Giving, In An Investment For Eternity
UNDERSTAND – you cannot take it with you but you can send it on ahead. Jesus said, "lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven" – Matthew 6:19
Question - How do you do that?
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. – 1 Timothy 6:17-19
No "we can't take it with us." but we can send it on ahead.
I Heard about the guy that died and got to heaven. He saw all the big mansions and then one little shack. He said, "Is that where I'm supposed to live? Why?" Answer: "That's all the building material you sent ahead."
There are only two things that are going to last forever: the word of God and people. Everything else is going to burn up at the judgment. Invest your time and money in the word of God and people.
AND - when you invest in those two things, then you will store up for yourself treasures in heaven.
NOW – let me be clear about something…
you do not have to give.
HOWEVER – if you choose to give you will…
1. Be more like God
2. Draw closer to Him
3. Overcome the grip of materialism
4. Honor God
5. Grow in your faith
6. Have God bless you with contentment, joy and satisfaction
7. Store up teasures for yourselves in heaven
III. Where Should We Give?
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. – Malachi 3:10
Gary Johnson writes…
In Malachi’s day, the house of God was called the Temple… Israelites were required to take their tithes to the priests serving at the Temple. The preists were required to put them into the storehouse, a place of safe keeping.
Tithes were used to accomplish 4 key purposes of the Temple…
• Provide for the priests and levites (similar to ministers today.
• Provide for the prophets to take the message out on the road (similar to missionaries today)
• Provide for widows, orphans and needy (similar to benevolence today)
• Provide for the upkeep and repairs of the Temple (similar to maintaining the church building today)
UNDERSTAND – when we bring the whole tithe to the local church, it provides for… ministers – missionaries - benevolence and maintenance.
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income…
- 1 Corinthians 16:2
NOW - what we have practiced as a family is to give our tithe to the local church and to give offerings to other kingdom causes…
(IJM, Compassion Internatiional, Rapha House, Missionaries, and other causes that come up)
AND B/S – I contend that there is no greater cause, then the Church of Christ.
The body and bride of Christ
The hope of the world
IV. How Should You Give?
1) We Should Give Willingly
For if the willingness is there, your gift is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don't have. - 2 Cor. 9:12
Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under pressure, for God loves a cheerful giver. - 1 Cor. 9:7
HEY – if you feel like I am pressuring you this morning, trying to pin you down to the mat, until you ‘tap out’ and say…
“okay, okay… enough already, I’ll give”
I apologize because that is not my intent
I do not want you to give because you have to
I want you to give because you get to.
And because I want you to experiecne the 7 incredibles blessings that come with giving that we already talked about
2) We Should Give Thankfully
132 days ago I started listening to a through the bible in a year plan on the youversion bible app…
AND – around 6:30 am this Thursday morning as I was walking my dog around the lake I heard these incredibly powerful words about giving thankfully.
David has been gathering material and resources for the building of God’s Temple… because he was so ready for it to no longer be in a tent while he lives in a palace.
because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the house of my God over and above all that I’ve provided for the holy house: 100 tons of gold and 250 tons of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the buildings, the gold for the gold work and the silver for the silver, for all the work to be done by the craftsmen…. Then David praised the Lord in the sight of all the assembly. David said, May You be praised, Lord God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. Riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in Your hand, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name.
But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand. For we live before You as foreigners and temporary residents in Your presence as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. Yahweh our God, all this wealth that we’ve provided for building You a house for Your holy name comes from Your hand; everything belongs to You. I know, my God, that You test the heart and that You are pleased with what is right. I have willingly given all these things with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.
Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors, keep this desire forever in the thoughts of the hearts of Your people, and confirm their hearts toward You. – 1 Chronicles 29:3-5,10-19
We'll never be able to repay God for all that He's done for us.
But - every time we give, we're saying, "Thanks, Lord. Thanks for all you have done, are doing and will do for me"
3) We Should Give Sacrificially
Like we see this verse in 2 Samuel 24…
Now some guy wants to give to King David both his land and animals, so the King can offer them to God.
And David replied with these powerful words…
No, I insist on paying for it, I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offering that cost me nothing… 2 Samuel 24:24
I love this CS Lewis quote, lean in church...
“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our giving excludes them.” - CS Lewis
4) We should give percentagely
UNDERSTAND - even before the Law was established, God put a principle in place for His people to give what’s called “a tithe,” ten percent of their income that would go to Him.
NOW IF - everything belongs to God, if everything is His anyway, then that seems more than reasonable, right?
That seems pretty fair.
IN FACT -the Bible as we have already seen says that when we refuse to give to God back what is His, it’s not a…
Listen. It’s not a failure to be generous; it’s actually stealing.
Do you see how that works?
Like, if it all belongs to God and God says, “I want you to give back to Me this amount,” and we don’t do that, it’s not that we’re not being generous; it’s that, the Bible says in Malachi chapter 3, we’re robbing God.
Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. – Malachi 3:8
OKAY – raise your hand if you think stealing from God is a good idea?
QUESTION – if we passed the offering plates and you saw someone take a $50 bill out of it and stick it in their pocket, what would you think of them?
BUT – what about the person who never put anything in to begin with?
And that is a…you know, that’s a different perspective for some of us. THAT – our not giving is in effect stealing from the God who loves us, redeemed us and pours out His grace on us.
OKAY – let’s say you’ve got a wealthy uncle. And an investment comes up, and he signs the investment over to you. It brings in about ten thousand dollars a month, about $120,000 a year—a ton of money.
Ten thousand dollars a month…and your uncle says, “Look, hey, you can have this money. Ten thousand dollars a month it’s bringing in. All I’d ask you to do is…I need about a thousand of that for some other purposes.
So every month when you get that ten thousand dollars, if you would just send a thousand dollars on to me that would be great.”
QUESTION – who here would sign up for that deal?
Well, yeah! You know? That seems fair. If you’re giving me ten thousand dollars a month, I’ll give you back a thousand dollars.
Why? Because it’s all his! And he has the right to ask for that if he wants to.
AND - it doesn’t seem like too much to ask. I mean, we would do it begrudgingly.
AND SO - it begins with this idea that everything belongs to God. AND – in turn here is what He’s asked for:
the first…the first fruits…the ten percent and not the leftovers.
AND LISTEN – Percentage based giving is also a NT concept.
UNDERSTAND – Jesus never said not to tithe…
IN FACT – when He did mention it, He said that they should continue doing it…
What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith.
You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. – Matthew 23:23
YOU KNOW – this week I was thinking about this command of % giving and I got to wondering…
Why is giving one of the only commands that we think is it acceptable to not obey or to slowly ease into?
I MEAN – we do not do that with other commands…
LIKE – if a married guy came to me and told me that he struggles with adultery, I would not tell him…
“Well, Hezekiah (safe name) I know this is hard thing for you, so if you could just commit adultery ½ as much, that would be a good place for you to start.
NOW UNDERSTAND – everyone gives a % of his or her income to God…somewhere between 0-100%.
Q - is the percentage that you currently give generous?
How do you know?
Have you ever asked God?
B/S – I want to challenge you to pray a bold and simple prayer
“Lord, show me what percentage of my income is generous.”
(and let me say that whenever we are looking for some loophole or a reason what it is okay for us to give less to God and His church, that his not a good thing)
CHECKOUT – what God through Paul in 2 Corinthians 9
7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. – 2 Cor 9:7,8
Each of us should give.
UNDERSTAND - giving is for everyone. Nobody is exempt from the blessing and joy of giving to the Lord. Giving is for the rich, the poor and everyone in between.
Give what you have decided in your heart to give.
B/S - Make a decision. Have a plan. Ask God what He wants you to give and then do it.
Do not give reluctantly or under compulsion.
LISTEN - Percentage-based giving provides great freedom. You make a decision about what percentage is generous, and then you give it right off the top. No questions asked. You give out of God’s abundant provision instead of your meager leftovers. hen AND LISTEN – when giving is the first thing you do with money, it becomes the most joyful thing you do with money.
God loves a cheerful giver
Do you feel God’s pleasure in the way you handle the money He entrusts to you? In the way you give?
NOW – it’s not that God will love you less if you refuse to give, but when we refuse to give, it places a rift in our relationship with God.
ON THE OTHER HAND - giving tightens the bond and draws us close to Him because it demonstrates trust and worship.
And God is able
LISTEN - You do not need to be afraid. God is able…
He can provide whatever you need. QUESTION - Is it more foolish to trust God and give, or to trust self and withhold?
When you give, you will abound in every good work.
REMEMBER - God’s provision is not for selfish gain but so we can abound in the work He calls us to.
• Seeking and saving the lost….Expanding the kingdom
• Building up His church, Spreading the Gospel
AGAIN – I want to encourage you embrace the spiritual growth habit of giving to pray this bold and simple prayer…
“Lord, show me what percentage of my income is generous.”
Pray it silently yourself?
We Should Give Expectantly
2 Corinthians 9:6 "Remember this, Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows generously will reap generously."
This is a law that every farmer lives by.
IN FACT - he lives and dies by it. When a farmer wants to plant a crop or harvest a crop, all he knows he has to do is sow.
And that is what we are doing in giving….
MGCC – we should give… EXPECTING
• To become more like God
• To be drawn closer to Him
• Our faith to grow and be stretched
• Blessings, contnentment, joy and satisfaction
• God to be honored
• Our materialism to be cured
• To have treasures being stored up in heaven
• It to impact our forevers and the forevers of countless others
• Good deed and good works to flow in greater abundance out from us into the world for their good and His glory
