Church 101: A Beginners Guide to Church
Part 3 - Giving and Church
“God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.”
1 Corinthians 9:7 (MES)
“To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. “
Deuteronomy 10:14 (NIV)
1 Corinthians 16:1-2 (NIV)
1 Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
Introduction
To the outsider it may seem like the church is all about money
To be sure, the church needs to meet operating expenses just like any other organization
But there’s more to it than just collecting money
For the Christian, giving is an act of worship
It says that the giver trusts God with his or her resources
Giving can be done in a variety of ways because we have a variety of resources
What are those resources? Or What can we give?
Time – a commodity that seems rare but that we all have. Must be budgeted
Talent – everyone can do something. No one is without some ability unique to them
Treasure – The focus of tonight
Why is it important that we focus on money?
1 Tim 6:10 – “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
What we think about and how we handle money can affect our eternity
There are more parables in the Gospels about money and wealth than any other single topic
Jesus thought it was a very important issue
So tonight I want to focus on money
Why should we give?
What should we give?
To whom should we give it?
When should we give?
Etc.
I hope to answer these kinds of questions tonight.
Because how you answer those kinds of questions will tell you how giving will affect you on TUESDAY AFTERNOON
Before we look at some of the basic principle of giving I want to briefly touch on four laws of the harvest
These can and will impact your entire week
And they go to the heart of why we take an offering each week
Some of these will overlap a bit with the principles below
THE LAWS OF THE HARVEST
# 1. WE REAP WHAT WE SOW
Proverbs 11:18 - The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward
Proverbs 26:27 - If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him
In other words; sow good, reap good…sow bad, reap bad
Not just a financial sowing and reaping
# 2. WE REAP IN A DIFFERENT SEASON THAN WE SOW
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
You have to be patient
God will give the increase to our sowing when HIS time is right, not ours
ILLUSTRATION: Buying Netscape Stock (AOL Today – 52 5/8)
# 3. WE REAP MORE THAN WE SOW
Matthew 13:8 - Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
One apple seed will grow an entire tree which will obviously reap lots of apples.
# 4. WE REAP PROPORTIONATELY TO WHAT WE SOW
2 Corinthians 9:6 - Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
If you plant 2 tomato plants you will get two plants worth of tomatoes
But if you plant 100 tomato plants…wow
PRINCIPLES OF GIVING
1. The Primary Principle
Deuteronomy 10:14 – “To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it”
When you give to the church you are giving to the Lord.
And you must remember that he owns it all anyway
So you are simply giving back to him that which he already owns anyway
It’s called stewardship
Stewardship says that God has loaned you what you have and wants you to use it properly, not waste it
Parable of the talents Matthew 25
You can either be a good steward or a poor steward
Either way, God will reward you appropriately
2. The Purpose Principle
1 Corinthians 16:1 – “Now about the collection for God’s people…”
This principle tells us what the money we give is for
It is “for God’s people”…the church
The prophet Malachi indicates that the tithe is to be brought into the local church…the storehouse
That money is to be used to support the workings of the church
From benevolences to salaries
It is to reach out to the world through missions and the various programs offered by the body
The primary beneficiaries of the offerings we give are to be God’s people
After that we have an obligation to reach out to other needy Christians and churches
And then to those outside the body
3. The Period Principle
1 Corinthians 16:2a – “On the first day of every week…”
The church has traditionally met on Sundays
The first day of the week
And Paul is indicating that when we go to church, part of our worship is that we participate in giving
This will certainly affect Tuesday afternoon because you will need to be preparing yourself all week to give
That may mean passing up the traditional afternoon snack from the vending maching
Or setting aside the first check written against your paycheck
I don’t think Paul would say that you have to give each week
You may be paid monthly
But the idea is that you habituate yourself to giving on a regular basis
Not sporadically
Your giving is a habit just like going to church is a habit
4. The Participant Principle
1 Corinthians 16:2b – “…each one of you…”
No one should consider themselves exempt from giving
We are all part of the body and as such are expected to participate in it
Whether through giving or through some other means
Perhaps exercising your gifts
God expects that we will play a role, not just sit around the halls on Sunday morning and people watch
We have a part to play and god wants us to play it
Remember the guy with the one talent
5. The Proportion Principle
1 Corinthians 16:2c – “…in keeping with his income…”
How much should I give?
In keeping with your income
Ten percent?
No real mandate in the New Testament
Old Testament mandated it as part of the law to support the otherwise unemployed Levites
New Testament
Luke 6:38 – “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.”
2 Cor 9:7 – “ Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”
There is nothing wrong with giving ten percent of your income…in fact it is a good starting point
But don’t let you idea of tithing stop you at that amount
Conclusion
Why do we give?
Because we are thankful that God has given to us
It is an act of worship
And God says that when we open up to him and sacrifice for him he will in turn bless us with everything we need
2 Cor. 9:8 - “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.”
When you loose your grip on money
God then begins to miraculously provide
I can tell you from experience that it is when we are faithful with out money that he somehow provides for us financially
When we became Christians we began to trust God to provide for us after our deaths
But too often we refuse to allow him to provide for us now by trying to do it all ourselfes
“Whoever would find his life must first loose it”
“The least shall be the greatest”
“The last shall be first”
Same principle
The one who gives will be the one who is provided for
That’s not our motive for giving
Our motive is to worship God with all our soul, mind, strength, time, talent and treasure
To worship with our entire selves
PRAY
