The following sermon was used in conjunction with the book "Take God at His Word, Book 2: Expect a Harvest" written by Dr. Kregg Hood, Sweet Publishing (5750 Stratum Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76137)
Dr. Hood has an excellent packet to go with this sermon series that would be well worth your investigation.
OPEN: A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church. “Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself,” she told the girl.
When they were leaving church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given.
“Well,” said the little girl, “I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter… so I did.”
APPLY: The mother may not have agreed with her daughter’s reasoning, but at the heart of the matter is this fact – the daughter gave in the way she believed.
AND IT’S TRUE OF ALL CHRISTIANS – we give as we believe
I. In I Chronicles David led the people to believe in what they are giving to.
David believed that God deserved Temple. At first God would not let him build the temple. He was not allowed to because as I Chronicles 28:2-3 tells us: David was a man of war & blood. That was not the type of man God wanted to have building the Temple.
BUT David still believed that a temple for God should be built, AND SO (vs 2ff) he dedicated his own wealth to the project. And his vision is so INFECTIOUS that (vs 6) the other leaders dedicated money for the Temple. And then (vs 9) the people gave freely and wholeheartedly to the new Temple.
And because of their VISION and because of their BELIEF Israel built a temple to God that was so beautiful that it shone like a golden sun on Mt. Zion, AND it testified to the glory of their God for next 350 years. But they gave and they built because they believed in a vision.
II. This congregation is now about 29 years old.
It started as a church plant in a home, then it moved to the YMCA, then to a Funeral Home, then to an old drafty church building and now a fellowship hall. Everything I’ve seen about this church speaks of a belief in a vision.
When you bought here, you bought enough land to expand. When you built the building you had 3 sides bricked and the last had siding so that when you built the new worship center that was where it would be. When you paved parking lot you built it with enough room for more people to park when the new building was built. When you hired Brad (our youth minister) you did so in the belief that this would help us grow to the point that a new worship area would be justified.
THE REASON I PREACH A SERMON every year on stewardship and giving is because I believe in the same vision you do. AND I KNOW you can’t grow if you don’t give.
ILLUS: Flip Wilson was a popular comedian several years ago, and one of his characters was a Preacher at the “What’s Happening Now Church.” Flip did a Skit where he told about this preacher. He’d shout out:
"IF THIS CHURCH IS GOING TO SERVE GOD IT’S GOT TO GET DOWN ON ITS KNEES AND CRAWL!!!"
And the audience yelled back "Make it crawl preacher, make it crawl!
"AND ONCE THIS CHURCH HAS LEARNED TO CRAWL, IT’S GOT TO GET UP
ON ITS FEET AND WALK!!!"
"Make it walk preacher, make it walk" the audience moaned.
AND ONCE THIS CHURCH HAS LEARNED TO WALK ITS GOT BEGIN TO LEARN TO RUN!!!"
"Make it run, preacher, make it run!"
"AND IN ORDER TO RUN, ITS GOT REACH DEEP DOWN INTO POCKETS AND LEARN TO GIVE!!!"
(pause) "Make it crawl preacher, make it crawl."
A Church can’t grow if it doesn’t give. And if it doesn’t give… it’ll crawl.
NOW HOPEFULLY, you don’t give to the building project, and you don’t give to the preacher. Hopefully you give to God, to Glorify Him & Build up His kingdom. Hopefully, you give with a vision that God is going to do something special because of your faithfulness.
III. Now when David wanted to inspire people in their giving – he set the example.
He said – this is what I’m giving. Then the leaders in the congregation stood up and they set the example, the pattern.
I’M GOING TO DO THIS MORNING – what David & those leaders did then. On January 30th I’m going to challenge you to tithe. Diana & I have committed to the tithe. Brad & Beth (our youth leaders) have you been committed to tithe?
Elders (asked one by one) have you been committed to tithe?
We’re doing this not to brag. BUT BECAUSE - if we as your leaders won’t tithe - why should you? But if we’re committed it, we need to set an example.
IV. In I Chron. 29 David says something else about belief (vss. 10-17)
In David’s prayer, he prayed acknowledging that they were giving to the building of temple because they believed God would supply. The funds all came from God’s hand in the 1st place. They were only using His bounty to build a place of worship for Him.
Other passages of the Bible speaks of this kind of “belief” other times as well.
I Corinthians 9:6-11 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
And 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. As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever."
Now 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. You 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.
Malachi 3:10-11 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "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.
This is all in agreement with the powerful passage in Hebrews 11:6 that says: …without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
And so, faith is important in all aspects of our walk in Christ. Especially in our giving.
Do we believe that God will reward us if we are faithful in our giving???
That’s a question I had to ask myself this past week. As I was preparing the letters that we sent out to every regular attender and every Christian telling about Jan. 30th – and challenging each family to the tithe… as I was putting labels on envelopes questions filled my mind.
· What right did I have to decide for you folks that you should tithe?
· Did I believe that God would bless anyone who put in their tithe
· OR would only those who were well off enough to give actually increase their giving?
· WAS IT POSSIBLE that I might deny someone a blessing if I didn’t send out those letters?
I had to face the difficult question – did I really believe what I preach?
V. So you might ask – Jeff, why did you send letter out to everyone?
Didn’t you know?
I sent those letters out because I had already asked myself the hard question: Did I believe?
I TELL YOU WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO. If you actually decide to give a tithe on Jan. 30th … we’re going to give you a money back guarantee. If you tithe and you believe that God hasn’t supplied for you as this passage says, you just march up to me and you tell me how much you put in… and we’ll refund your gift.
CLOSE: The reason I am convicted in believing what I’m preaching is because of a I once heard a man give his testimony of coming to Christ after many years of alcoholism, self indulgence and waste. He was part of singing group that came to share at the church where I was preaching.
He told us that, when he finally came to Christ, his family’s finances were in a state of disrepair. One night, while attending a Revival at his church, he looked into his wallet for something to put into the offering plate. All he had was a $20. He and his wife looked at one another, remembering a significant bill that was coming due, she squeezed his hand in agreement, and, he placed the $20 in the plate. He said that they both experienced something like a lifting of a burden from their shoulders.
Upon arriving at home, there on the dining room table was an envelope containing the precise amount that they needed to pay their creditor. He marveled at the grace of God in supplying his need at the just the right time with just the right amount of money. But who put the money there? He had no idea
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Attitude: Why I Give - Luke 10:25-10:37
The Power of Belief - 1 Chronicles 29:1-29:22
Consecration - Mark 12:41-12:44
Desired But Not Required - Malachi 3:8-3:12
