Sermon:
My son has got to the wonderful stage where he has begun coming out with the funniest of things to say.
Children can be exceptionally funny and yet with their brutal honesty can at times show us things about ourselves that we don’t like to admit.
I came across a story the other day and, with my son in mind, it really appealed to me.
A woman took her two small boys and a daughter to see Peter Pan at the matinee one Saturday afternoon at the local movie house. The tickets were R25 each. The young daughter watched as the mother pushed necessary R100 note under the window and received four tickets.
The next day the same mother and daughter were at church. When the collection was taken the child saw her mother open her purse, take out a few coins, and put them in the plate as it passed them.
The little girl looked up at her mother and in a clear stage whisper which everyone around could hear said, "Mother, church is a lot cheaper than a movie, isn’t it?"
It may be an amusing illustration, but how aptly it represents our own sentiment sometimes.
From this illustration you could probably deduce that our theme “Would You Give God Your Lunch.” is about giving. Now before you think that when I mention the word giving, I am referring to the offering that will be passed a little later, just pause a moment before you conclude that this is another sermon asking for more money. Money plays a large part in giving to the Lord, but make no mistake that’s not the be all and end all of our sacrifices.
But before we rush off and draw up some misconceptions about what it means to give in the church lets first see exactly how giving sacrificially and the church all fits together.
To Serve Not To Be Served
So let’s start at the beginning. What is the purpose of the church? Well the church is Christ’s body. And one of Christ’s purposes was to look after others. Lets take a look at Mark 10:43-45.
Notice there – Christ was there to serve and not be served.
That pretty much sums it up for us. Giving to the church means making ourselves, our talents, our gifts, our time, and all of our resources, all things that God has given us anyway available to serve others.
This is what we mean by giving. To give of ourselves in any which way we can and if we can in every which way we can to help Gods kingdom to grow by serving others.
SERMON NOTE ONE
Giving to the church means requires us to adopt Christ’s attitude of SERVING and not wanting to be SERVED.
Why Do We Give?
I don’t think we truly need to go through the scriptures as regards giving. I don’t think we need to convince ourselves that financial giving is expected of us as Christians. But there are a few things that we may need to remind ourselves of.
Firstly - It is our God given responsibility to grow the Kingdom. And if that kingdom needs my planned offering then it shall have it. If that kingdom needs my time, then it can have it. You see God has asked us for it.
SERMON NOTE TWO A
It is our God given RESPONSIBILTY to grow the Kingdom.
Secondly - He has chosen each of us and He has given us every resource gift and talent to ensure that we are left at odds on how to give to his kingdom. He knows what we can give. But more importantly he knows what we hold back.
SERMON NOTE TWO B
He has mad sure that we have the TALENTS and the GIFTS to be able to give back to others and to Him.
It is thirdly our responsibility to give because of that special gift that God has given you. Now when we look at our church and we see that perhaps financially we are not where we should be, what comes to my mind is that perhaps we are not giving as we should because we have not really discovered that special and unique gift that God has given us. If we never discover that, the responsibility of giving to Gods kingdom will always weigh heavily on our hearts and minds.
If you feel hen pecked as regards the requests to give in the church, then today we will stop nagging and we will challenge you to go away and find that which God has especially given you. For when you find that giving will no longer be a chore but a pleasure.
SERMON NOTE TWO B
IDENTIFYING the gift we have been given from God will prompt us to use that specific gift to grow Gods kingdom.
Personal Reference
I know from my own walk, that we may be able to identify certain gifts that motivate us to become warmish in the church. But we don’t really sit down and consider that we are of worth to God. And as a result move from being warmish to passionate. We have the talent. We have the gift.
My Gift is of Little Worth
No I don’t think so. I mean I can crochet well, but that’s about all I do really well.
With this in mind, let’s think back to our New Testament reading. You probably did what I did. Skimmed over it because we know the story. But I recently noticed a character in that scripture that I had never noticed before.
Allow me to highlight who I am talking about by telling you his little story.
Boys Story
A young lad and his mate had heard about the pretty cool stuff that a great man had been doing. And it just so happened that one morning this great man was coming to the hill near his town and had been healing and making the blind see and all kinds of things.
So him and his mate were about to rush off and see this man when his mom called him back and gave him a small parcel with a snack for him and his friend.
When they got down to the seaside there were thousands of people and they were all listening and marveling at what the man was doing. Then everything stopped and the boy could see that the people who seemed to have organized everything were talking amongst themselves and then they spoke to the man who called himself Jesus and the man looked straight at the boy. When the other men started asking around for food, the boy told the men that he had 5 loaves and 2 fishes for him and his friend for lunch and that Jesus must not worry about them because mom had already packed them some lunch.
When the men returned to fetch the food, the boy, thinking about Jesus looking straight at him gave it freely because he had heard so much about Jesus and knew that he could have whatever he asked.
The man came back with the basket after Jesus had prayed and the men started giving our baskets of food. Everyone ate from the young mans food and there was still left over. The young man could not wait to go home and tell his mom how much everyone enjoyed her fish. How he gave without hesitation knowing that whatever he gave Jesus would be used beneficially.
Link Back
This boy would never have thought that the lunch his mom had packed would ever be able to feed over 5000 people. He would never have thought that the meager amount he had would equate to food for everyone. But what he did find out was that when he gave what little he thought he had to the great man Jesus, it was used mightily and the results were blessings. If the Lord can take 2 fish and 5 loaves, imagine what he can do with your nimble crocheting fingers.
SERMON NOTE 3
It took only a BOYS LUNCH to feed the 5000.
But Craig miracles don’t happen any more…things like that made it easy to understand how small things we give become used in a mighty way.
Modern Little Girls Story
Well let’s look at another story that happened more recently…
A little girl arrived at a church one Sunday morning and a burly door steward telling her that the church was full and that there was just no more room because the church was to small, but actually thinking that she was a street tramp, the steward turned her away at the door. Seeing the incident one of the Pastors quickly went after her and took her by the hand and led her into the Sunday school.
The little girl was so touched by the loving kindness of the pastor that she had difficulty sleeping that night while her mind raced while she thought of all the children who had no place to worship because they had been turned away for one reason or another.
2 years later that little girl died and the parents called the pastor and asked him to conduct the funeral service. After the service the parents came to thank him for his message and handed him a small parcel which the little girl had left for him.
Inside the box the pastor found a purse with 57 cents in it. There was a note that read “This is to help build the church a little bigger so more children can go to Sunday school.”
For 2 years she had been saving those 57 cents. The Pastor took her offering and her story to the pulpit that Sunday. Through a series of articles about the little girl and messages from the pulpit, the donations begun to come in and very quickly the little girls 57c became $2 500 000.
So if you ever happen to go to Philadelphia, why not pop into the Temple Baptist Church which seats around 3300 and also visit the Temple University which through many more donations to the memory of this little girl was built. 57 cents was all she had, but she offered it to the Lord for his work and he did not feed 5000 but housed almost the same in a church.
Jesus Feels?
How does Jesus feel when we give sacrificially?
Do you remember when Jesus was anointed by the woman with the fine oil. Read with me on how he reacted to her giving in Mark 14:6
What an honor. We do special things for each other all the time. We send out cards on birthdays and we make sure we include special names in our notices of ill members of our congregation and there are the flowers we can out in the church to mark special occasions. All very good things, but to the man on the cross who bled wept suffered and cried for you, we struggle to do those special things.
SERMON NOTE 4
You have the PRIVLEGE of doing something special for Christ.
Just for Him
This woman probably knew that there would be shock and horror at her seemingly wasteful actions. She did this with on person and one person only in mind. She did this only for Jesus. She was solely focused on him. What have you done recently just for him. Not any personal gain or recognition or anything other than just doing something special for him.
SERMON NOTE 5
It is just a little something and He knows you did it JUST FOR HIM.
Opportunities
God makes sure that you have the gifts to do special things for him, but he also makes sure that the opportunities arise for you to use them.
You need to be in tune with him so as not to miss those opportunities. A 19th Century writer, Robert Richardson said that there are 3 things we cant take back: 1. The arrow as it leaves the bow, 2. the spoken word, 3. and the opportunity missed.
We would jump at the opportunity to give to our Jesus, His kingdom and his work.
In the days before modern harbors, a ship had to wait for high tide to make it into port. The process of timing this just right was Latin ob portu. The ship had to wait for just the right moment or the skipper and his crew would have to wait for the tide to go right through its cycle again to get into port.
God gives us many high tides to give to him. Like the woman with the perfume, break that jar and let the sweet smell of our gifts fill our kings nostrils. And I use that analogy because these special things we do for him are a sweet aroma. That’s how it is described in 2 Cor 2:14-15.
He does not look at what it is. He knows he can use anything to the benefit of his kingdom. He looks specifically at how it is given. For that which is given in love of Christ is used in a mighty way.
SERMON NOTE 6
Don’t miss out on the HIGH TIDES and OPPORTUNITIES God gives you to give to His kingdom.
Conclusion
So it does not matter what you give!
It does not matter how much it is that you have to give!
Each and every one of us has something special that (expensive perfume) we can give to our Lord who has given us so much for the furtherance of his kingdom. Because if we give it with the motive of serving others in Christ’s church, then whatever the gift, it is priceless to our father.
SERMON NOTE 7
Don’t worry about what you have to give. Whatever it is God will bless it and use it to the GLORY of his kingdom.
God took just 57c and seated 3500 people in a church.
God took just 2 fishes and 5 small loaves, and he fed 5000.
You provide the bread and let god take care of the sandwiches.
Will you give God your lunch?
