By now I am sure that most of you have been filled to capacity with the meat of the season. Gorged yourselves with stuffing and potatoes those potatoes that are orange…Yams(ugh..Silence of the Yams!)and that red stuff(I’ve never really cared for that). Thursday ushered in the beginning of perhaps the most unselfish time of the year. Along with that it is the most commercial time as well. As I watched the news this week they were covering the first of a series of economic roundtable discussions called “America Works”. Why? Because a lot of America isn’t working since we’ve realized our vulnerability. In Chicago on Monday, CEO Alan Lacy from Sears and the CEO of Circuit City and many others joined in dialogue to try and figure out the secret to resurrecting a suffering economy.
Americans have always been infatuated and fascinated with the acquisition of money. How do people get so rich? Money makes the world go around. Someone said that too many of us are spending money we didn’t earn, to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like. We make it, spend it, invest it, lose it and then go through the cycle over and over again. Ask anyone “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and you’ll hear a resounding , yes, all the while people line up to participate in reality based tv shows with big money purses. What is it about money that catches us in its web?
Can we ever be satisfied…how much money is enough?
Ask that question to someone in the missions field, living off of morsels of bread and water and the vegetation of the month and your answer would be different than the young professional with his diversified stock portfolio, playing the Wall Street game every day.
Money issues have infiltrated the church too…at times, they have even escalated enough to split a church and even destroy it. What does God say about money management? Jesus gave us 38 parables. 16 of them deal with money. There is more discussion in the NT about money than heaven and hell combined. You’ll find 5 times more discussion on money than prayer. 500+ verses on prayer and faith and over 2000 verses on money and possessions. We can deduce by this that money and how we use money is important to God.
But I don’t want to just deal with the financial side of increase today. I want to look at some principles that not only will apply to our cash position but also will help us benefit the most as we invest what we have: time, talent, energy, etc. You see, in God’s world there is no need for Economic Roundtables because he owns all the wealth of America. In His world there is no lack, no repetition, no boredom, no limitations. There is enough time, enough talent, and enough energy to do all that must be done to bring about His purposes. And the good news is that he passes that on to us..
18But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
Proverbs 10:4 tells us that diligent hands bring wealth.
How do WE get it?
What do we do with it when we get it?
How much is enough?
Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
There is so much wisdom contained in this scripture. The very first nugget that we have to extract from this is the fact that we get out of life what we put into life. It’s the thought that if you don’t do something with life, life will do something with you. If you don’t manage your money, your time and your talent, then those things will manage you. It does not get much clearer than verse 6…what you plant you harvest.
You see the bible tells us that it all comes down to a “heart issue”…you have got to put all of yourself into anything you give to the Lord. If you help on the load-in crew, you throw all of yourself at it. If you play in the band…you put your heart into it….when you drop a contribution in the can as you leave, you do it with a smile, not reluctantly but cheerfully. If we do our part, He said He would do His…
“all grace would abound to you…so that
in all things
at all times
having all that you need….You will abound in EVERY good work”
So we get wealth (financial, spiritual, physical, emotional) by doing what we do wholeheartedly as unto the Lord, and not unto men. Put your heart in it!
There was a preachers wife who decided along with her husband that they really had to start saving more and spending less in the New Year. Well she went shopping and found the dress of her dreams. It cost way too much but she just had to have it.
When she showed it to her husband, he said, “after all we said about spending less money, how could you?” She replied,”the devil made me do it” Didn’t you tell him, Get behind me Satan? Asked the exasperated preacher. “I certainly did” she replied, “but he said it looks really good from the back!”
That’s how we get seed…..but where does it come from?
Many people think that they are “naturally” talented, self-made, and inherently gifted. Our scripture today tells us a different story…look at verse 10…
10Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Where does the talent, the ability, the finances, the health come from?
He is the supplier…he supplies the seed to the sower
You and I are the sowers. He makes us able and equips us for every good work. You see we find out what we need to know from His word
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:17
He supplies us with what we need but it is our job to sow. Sowing opens the door to another world of opportunity. God backs you up with more support.
-he will increase your store of seed
-enlarge your harvest of righteousness
-made rich in every way(you see its not just about money)
Increase, enlarging, made rich…
What that means is
1-we will always have something in reserve to tap into…an account to withdraw from….an endless, unlimited line of credit!
2-you will have more and more opportunity to make deposits, to scatter your seed…remember you use it or you will lose it
3-you will have more time, resources and ability to bless others with…God will show up in ALL the areas of your life.
You see prosperity is not just a teaching about money…it’s a thought from the heart of God about making you healthy in every area of your life so that you are an asset and not a liability to those around you. If we all understood the grace of giving there would be no needs unmet…no poor within the church…no lack of solid teachers for our Kidz department…no shortfall of jobs for those who believe. The grace of giving does not come naturally!
Giving takes faith, giving takes action on our part, giving takes determination.
That’s why we call it the Grace of Giving. It’s hard to be consistent…
To show up everyday and give 100% at work…to consistently pay your tithes into Gods work…to extend yourself for those less fortunate when you have so much to do already.
Luke 6:38 says it like this.
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 to you."
Giving puts receiving in motion…not the other way around. That’s why it is more blessed to give than to receive…one moves you forward, one does not.
When you give into God’s purposes and God’s plans, IT always comes back to you. What is IT…whatever you sow…time, energy, money
There was an inscription written on the tombstone of a wealthy man that read..
What I had I lost
What I saved I lost
What I gave away I now have
I encourage you this morning to start practicing the Grace of Giving. Random acts of kindness go a long way…pay it forward and it will always come back around to you.
That has always been the heart of God..
11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
So that you can be generous on every occasion. You will be able to help always and in ALL ways.
God gets the glory…you get to give…not giving to get, but rather giving to get to give again! People will realize that you are always available to help because God supports you.
What God supports will stand
You see people won’t notice you or your money or talent…God outshines all of that –the focus is not on you…it remains on him..the source
The Grace of Giving will bring you more partners,friends and supporters…..verse 14 says that people will become heart-tied to you..they connect with you.
One of our values is fellowship…bring community to the church and the church to the community. When we operate within the grace of giving, not only will our church be blessed but folks that come in from the outside will experience something that compels them to become heart-ties to us…they will share in the vision…the opportunities …and when there are needs they will rise up to the occasion and jump in to meet them.
Thank be to God for his indescribable gift!
We are so wealthy
When was the last time that you put your heart into something that you did? Do you give up too easily?
Gal 6:7-9 “do not become weary in doing good for at the proper time(due season) we will reap a harvest
The Grace of Giving will turn debts into dividends in every area of your life!Pray
