Giving to Glorify God

We are in lesson number two on stewardship.

! And I have to tell you, I remember at one point in ministry being very hesitant to teach

!

on stewardship.

And the honest truth of that is that I was a little troubled by the fact that it seemed

a little over the top for me as a pastor, who, by the way, I want you to know you do pay

me, and I'm very thankful for that.

And I felt as a pastor it was a little embarrassing to talk about giving because I was a recipient

of your generosity.

And I thought, well, I ought not to do that.

And then it dawned on me, you know what?

But whether you pay me or not doesn't change the fact that the Word of God is explicit

and consistent about giving.

And here is a spiritual truth that you need to get your arms around, and giving is one

of the starting places of genuine spiritual progress.

So last week we talked about the why.

Why?

Why do we give?

We give to glorify God.

I think about that passage in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, where it says this,

1 Corinthians 10:31

Whatsoever you do, whether it is an eat or drink, what?

Come on, say it with me.

All to the glory of God, right?

So the way in which we give, truthfully, is a reflection of our view of God.

God.

That's a fact.

How many of you know that Valentine's is already over?

It's gone.

And I bring that up because I remember deciding that I should do something for Valentine's,

which I normally do.

And I thought that I would go look for cards.

Don't raise your hand.

Don't do that.

But, you know, when I went to look for cards, I found myself laboring over the right kind

of card to give my wife of 43 years.

How many of you understand that process?

You know, I was like, well, should I get it?

No, you read those sappy things.

I don't know.

There must be little people that sit in cubicles, you know, that, all right, let's see.

I have to have four Valentine's cards done by noon.

And then they crank these absolutely inane things out.

And then I'm there reading them.

Their lack of creativity was very stifling for my card-picking process.

But you know what?

I was pretty determined that I was going to find a card that was appropriate for my bride.

You follow that?

Because, you know what?

I love her.

And so just any card won't do.

Well, what actually happened is I ended up picking a card that was a relatively simple,

unadorned card that didn't have much to say on the outside.

And guess what I did?

I penned her one of my own little notes.

You know, I said, hey, I let her know how much I appreciate her.

You're reading into that more than you probably should, but, you know, it's a fact.

I have to tell you, it would have been so inappropriate.

Everybody smile.

It would have been so inappropriate for me just to give her one of those off-the-cuff 10-cent cards, right?

Would you agree with that?

That would have been really tacky.

The reason I bring this up is because your giving is a reflection of what you think of God.

That's the way it is.

Your giving is a reflection of what you think of God.

Now, last week we talked about why the believer should give, but this week we want to talk about how.

We want to fill it out a little bit more.

And I do want to take the time to explain to you that giving is one of those things that the Scripture is quite clear on.

The Scripture brings up often.

And surprisingly, you will find the subject of giving to be one of the early lessons that the apostles evidently taught to the church.

That suggests that it is more important than some of us might think it is.

And so what I want you to do this morning is turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9.

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

And we're going to spend most of our time in this passage listening to the apostle as he addresses the matter of giving in the church at Corinth.

And by the way, the church at Corinth would really not be all that different from the church in Columbus.

So we look at the passage.

And we begin there in chapter 8, verse 1.

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.

Now, so that we understand what Paul is saying from the very beginning, understand that in most of our thinking, when we think about the grace of God,

we think about something we have received from God, in particular our salvation.

Isn't that right?

The grace of God has brought salvation to us.

And we have been blessed by His grace in our relationship with Him.

And I have to tell you, this morning as we were singing, my heart was just into it.

I love singing songs that remind me of the glory of Christ and His salvation.

It's my joy and it's satisfying.

And by the way, I like listening to you sing behind me.

And here, this is a sidebar.

I hope you just blast it out every time.

And here's the reason I ask that of you.

It's this, those people who are Spirit-filled sing enthusiastically.

It's just the way it is.

And so, here we are.

We're reminding ourselves of the glory of Christ in salvation.

And we're reminding ourselves of His goodness to us.

And we sing enthusiastically.

And our giving should be the same.

And here, the grace of God is actually spoken of in this passage to be a matter of giving.

And so, here you sit this morning and you're thinking,

Well, I really am not interested in listening to a sermon about giving.

I'm not into that.

I want to tell you something.

Truthfully, it might be that you don't know Christ.

Because here's one of the things that I know about salvation.

Salvation changes the way you think.

Would you agree with that?

Salvation changes your value structure.

Salvation changes the certainty of your destiny.

And if He has your heart, He has your wallet.

Would you agree with that?

If He has your heart, say it with me.

He has your wallet.

I want you to recognize this morning that God honoring giving is joyful.

That's something I want you to recognize.

Now, we're in 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 8.

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

But I want you also to go a little further and go to 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 7.

2 Corinthians 9:7

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I want you to follow the flow of the text here.

Giving is a biblical duty that shows in practical terms what our interest is in His glory.

And at the same time, I want you to recognize that the passage of Scripture makes it clear that our giving is to be a personal decision that each individual believer makes without coercion.

I'll never forget at one point in pastoral ministry, actually stopping in to visit in a home of individuals that had been visiting in the church.

And in the flow of conversation, I discovered that they were members of another church.

And a little bit of a surprise.

And so we actually got to talking about their experience.

And they said, oh, well, you're not the first pastor who has visited here lately.

Our pastor stopped by and also one of our deacons.

And they came by to talk to us about the faithfulness of our giving and how much we should be doing.

And I was a little curious.

It was a new thought to me.

And I said, what does that mean?

And he said, well, our church, if you're a member, the stewardship committee,

figures out what your proportion is, and then they go around to all the homes and they talk to each member about what their input is supposed to be.

Do you follow that?

Now, I decided that it was inappropriate for me to launch at that moment.

And so I just kind of stood there and nodded.

And really, that's rather it.

Is that what they do?

Yeah, yeah.

You know, so that's not the way it is here.

But the way it is here is not governed just by the fact that deacons and pastors sat around and arbitrarily decided on,

well, let's try it a different way and see if that works.

That's not how it ended.

The reason our giving is the way it is here is because we are informed by Scripture

and we want to be faithful to what the Word of God dictates.

And so recognize in this passage, there you're looking, 2 Corinthians 9, verse 7,

2 Corinthians 9:7

each one must give as he has decided in his heart.

There's not a single one of you here that can say I have ever talked to you personally about what you should give.

Furthermore, probably you know that I'm a little perverse about touching money.

How many of you know that about Pastor Knoyer?

Try to give me a check.

If I know what it is for, I don't take it as a general rule.

Do you know what I do?

How many of you know what I do?

Come on.

I say, give it to...

We have deacons.

We have Pastor Saul.

And listen, it's just me.

That's just the way I am.

I don't want ever to have any kind of attachment to what your particular frame is.

And you recognize in the passage there, it says, hey, listen, as he decides in his heart,

there is no place in the Scripture for manipulation or pressure regarding giving.

Probably the best illustration of this would be over in the book of Exodus.

And so I want you to turn back just for a moment.

And in Exodus chapter 25, and then we're going to look at 35 as well.

Exodus 25 · chapter mention

But in Exodus chapter 25, the nation of Israel is taking up an offering for the building of the tabernacle.

Exodus 25 · chapter mention

This was big time.

How many of you here have been through building programs in other churches?

Raise your hands.

Building programs in other churches.

Building programs can become major fundraisers, right?

A lot of pressure, a lot of attention put on it.

And so here's how the nation of Israel went about fundraising for the tabernacle.

Exodus chapter 25, looking at verse 2.

Exodus 25 · chapter mention

Speak to the people of Israel that they take for me a contribution.

In other words, hey, we need money.

From every man whose heart moves him, you shall receive the contribution for me.

In other words, who was to give?

Give those who wanted to.

Now, turn forward, if you will, to Exodus chapter 35.

Exodus 35 · chapter mention

One of the things that I've done in my Bible, you may not want to do in yours,

but it's helped me to kind of pick up on the thread.

In Exodus chapter 35, you look at verse 5.

Exodus 35 · chapter mention

Take from among you a contribution to the Lord.

Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution.

And then we look also in verse 21, 22, 24, 26, and 29.

And the recurring theme in each one of these verses is that the matter of giving is left to the individual

and to the willingness of that person's heart.

The reason that I have never pressured this congregation and their giving isn't because I'm indifferent to the matter of stewardship.

But it is because I am sensitive to the authority and the sufficiency of the model of Scripture,

and I want to follow the example that we find in the text.

So let me say how neat it is that Scripture has this organic unity.

And what I mean by that is that when you find a theme displayed and worked through in the Old Testament,

there's a high probability you're going to find it somewhere else.

Things fit together.

And they stay together because they come from the mind of God and the wisdom of God.

And what He presents at one point is going to match up consistently with something else we find elsewhere in the text.

And we're going to see that as we work our way in particular through the passage in 2 Corinthians.

So turn back there if you will now and understand that our giving is not only just to be something that is not manipulated,

but it is also to be something that is joyful to us.

Our giving is to be marked by a personal joy and satisfaction.

Look at verse 7 again in 2 Corinthians chapter 9.

2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

And it says,

In other words, do not give reluctantly.

What does that mean?

If you are reluctant, what?

Try this.

So, you bring flowers to your wife, but you have an obvious reluctance.

How would you communicate reluctance?

I'll give you an illustration.

One of the biggest challenges I have in my marriage is moving furniture.

Okay?

I just got to admit it.

I'm working on it.

And I'm not home yet.

Right?

Do you follow that?

You know that at one point in my life, I decided that I would help my wife understand this by putting dates on the bottom of couches and chairs.

I stopped.

It wasn't helping her at all.

It was just irritating me.

So, you know, probably early in my prayer life in the morning, the Lord helped me if I have to move furniture.

No, that's not that bad.

But she knows when I'm reluctant.

You follow that?

And the sad thing is, and I'm working on this, the sad thing is, because she knows I'm reluctant, guess how it makes her feel when she can't lift that couch and she needs my help.

What do you think?

Now, my wife doesn't hyperventilate about anything, but if you know her, it's like, okay, we'll get there.

Tim, move it.

You know, it's like, you see, reluctance is something God doesn't want us to have.

And he says, hey, if you have a reluctant heart, don't give.

By the way, the rest of the text is change your attitude, right?

Because this is about God's glory.

But let's go back at the passage here.

It says, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

The word cheerful actually is the word hilarion.

What's that sound like?

Hilarious, yeah.

I mean, here's the deal.

When you give, giggling is not a bad thing.

I'll give you an illustration of that, too.

Two weeks ago, my wife called me and she says, honey, you bought me a birthday present.

Now, her birthday is on this Friday.

I know that date is coming.

It's in my calendar, et cetera.

But, you know, she let me know she bought me a gift ahead of time.

Or she bought herself a gift ahead of time.

Do you follow that?

It's not that she didn't trust me, I think.

It's that she had discovered just the incredible bargain that couldn't be passed on.

And so she went ahead and bought it.

And then she advised me, you're going to love it.

I actually laughed.

Yeah, right.

So who needs Swarovski crystals in their bathroom, right?

You understand that?

Okay.

You know why I chuckled when I started into this conversation with her?

It's like, because I do love her.

I love her.

I love her.

And I just, I got the biggest kick out of it.

Well, if it makes her happy, that's good.

So, you know, when God receives your free will contribution,

He wants you to enjoy doing it.

I want to recognize a second thing.

God honoring giving is quietly generous.

Quietly generous.

Turn back in your Bible.

We're going to go to Matthew chapter 6 just for a moment.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

And Matthew chapter 6, verse 1 through 4, it says,

Matthew 6:1–4

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.

For then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you,

as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,

that they may be praised by others.

Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

so that your giving may be seen in secret,

and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

You know what it's saying?

It's saying that the giving of believers is to be different from the giving of the world.

I chuckled the other day when I read the news

and found out that there are a number of senators who are opposed to the Keystone Pipeline.

And I'm not getting into a political issue here.

But it was discovered that a number of the people who are opposing the Keystone Pipeline

actually had investments that would tank if the Keystone Pipeline went through.

They're directly connected.

And so what they were doing in their voting was representing their self-interest.

I don't think it's just senators that do that.

You see, all over the world, people's giving and people's efforts are always directed to,

so what am I getting out of this?

One of the questions in the back of people's minds is,

so what's my return for the investment that I am engaging in?

The world gives with an eye on return,

either financial or some kind of public credit.

That's what Jesus is talking about here in Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

And Jesus instructs that our giving is to be done quietly and without men's reward.

That's the reason that you're giving here.

We don't post on the bulletin board what you're giving is,

and there's only a select number of individuals that know what that is,

and they're the ones who give you that annual report,

so you can handle it in with the tax people.

I want you to go back, if you will, again to 2 Corinthians chapter 8,

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

and we want to mark something else that is noted here.

2 Corinthians chapter 8,

2 Corinthians 8:2

verse 2 and 3,

says that biblical giving is marked by personal, personal generosity.

He talks about the grace of God in giving,

and he says,

For in a severe test of affliction,

their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty

have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

For they gave according to their means,

and as I can testify,

beyond their means of their own accord.

It was very interesting to do some research on the matter of generous giving

on the part of our culture,

and recognize that the largest amount of giving

actually comes from people that are not wealthy.

That's interesting, isn't it?

You would think that the more you have,

the more you can afford to give.

Isn't that right?

Right?

Ironically, the truth of the matter is,

is that as a general rule,

the more people have,

the more self-focused they become,

and the less they're inclined to give.

And in the Bible,

we find here that the matter of giving

is to be something that is marked by personal generosity,

and a generosity that finds satisfaction

in what that generosity represents.

There's another point that I want you to recognize

as we think about the matter of giving,

and mark the fact that in this passage,

in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9,

where the apostle is laying out in broad terms

for two whole chapters,

the matter of giving to instruct the church at Corinth,

he makes this point that God-honoring giving

is a matter of confidence.

Godly giving not only affirms our desire for God's glory,

but it also says that we are confident in his provision.

Here's what I mean.

I want you to look at 2 Corinthians 9,

2 Corinthians 9:8–11

verse 8 through 11,

and let's just track the passage just for a moment.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you,

so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times,

you may abound in every good work.

As it is written,

he has distributed freely,

he has given to the poor,

his righteousness endures forever.

He who supplies seed to the sower

and bread for food will supply

and multiply your seed for sowing

and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

You'll be enriched in every way

to be generous in every way,

which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

Now, what this passage explains to us

is that our giving actually gives an opportunity

for God to show his sufficiency and his provision.

Now, we're not all gifted at math,

but we can do simple numbers

without taking our shoes off.

And so, I want you to imagine here

that if you have five apples

and you give someone else three of them,

how many are you left?

Now, another question, a very complex one,

but are five apples generally better than two?

If you like apples, that's very true, right?

I mean, I would rather have five nice honey crisp apples

that have been picked in the prime of life

and maybe refrigerated just for a couple hours

so they're really at the top end of flavor and,

you know what I'm saying?

And even if I can't, being a diabetic,

eat all five of them in one sitting,

I like to think about them in the refrigerator.

I can't eat them when I want to, right?

And five is better than two.

And so, when you give three apples away,

what goes through your little pea brain?

Loss, loss, loss, loss.

And some people get caught in that mindset

when they think about giving to God.

If I am faithful in my stewardship,

I will have less money for pizza

or for whatever else that it is

that I am inclined to involve myself in

that I've just got to have

if I'm going to be happy in life.

God honoring giving always says,

I trust Him to provide what I need

even as I give.

How many of you think about that with me?

I trust Him to provide what I need

even as I give.

I shared with you last week

the experience that Judith and I went through

when we, for the first time in our married life,

began to become faithful in the matter of stewardship.

I grew up in a wonderful Christian home.

But for whatever reason,

it really never connected me,

connected with me,

that stewardship was really something

that was a hard attitude.

And I can remember hearing Randy Patton

teach on the matter of stewardship

for the first time.

And Judith and I,

I remember going home

and talking about it and deciding,

all right,

we're going to be faithful in our giving

from this time forward.

And as I said last week,

we did not get any checks in the mail

or a raise or any windfall.

No aunt in Tucson died

and left me a chunk of money.

In fact, what we noticed

is for about six months,

our giving consistent,

our reserves going down.

It was like,

do you know what we learned?

We learned that we had to change

our spending patterns.

How many of you realize

that you ultimately can outspend

whatever income you have?

Trick statement, I know,

but it's true.

And so we began to change our giving,

our giving first,

and then we began to change our spending.

But here's what giving does.

Giving says,

I trust God to provide

what I need

as I give.

Paul reminds the believers,

we're in 2 Corinthians 9,

2 Corinthians 9:8–11

verse 8 through 11,

Paul reminds the believer

that God can be trusted

to meet our needs.

When we give away what we have,

think with me,

it's a challenge to our selfish heart

for it cuts into what we think

is going to provide our own pleasure

and our own satisfaction.

And over and over again in Scripture,

we find that God insists

on being first.

I think about the illustration

of the widow.

Remember,

the prophet comes out of nowhere,

walks up to her house,

Elijah,

and the prophet says,

hey,

why don't you make me

something little to eat?

You know what she says to him?

She says,

hey,

all I have is enough

to make one little cake

for my son and I,

and then after we're finished eating that,

we're going to starve to death.

What does he say?

Oh,

I am sorry to ask.

You guys go ahead

and eat it and die.

No,

that's not what he says.

He says,

feed me first,

and God will take care of the rest.

And what happens?

Faith.

She bakes him that little old

eensy-weensy cake,

and do you know what happens?

This is amazing.

She has enough the day after,

the day after that,

and just God cares for her

throughout the entire famine.

God wants to be first.

And so,

here in this passage,

in 2 Corinthians 9,

the apostle is explaining,

hey,

listen,

God is able

to help you

with this matter of grace as well,

so that having sufficiency

in all things,

in other words,

what you have,

you have received from God.

How many of you recognize that?

The income that you have,

the provisions that you have,

the place that you live,

all these things

actually belong

to God

and are from His hand.

Isn't that right?

That's God's.

And he says,

God's given it to you,

and so in your faithfulness

of giving back to Him,

what you are doing

is saying,

God,

I trust you

to continue

providing for me.

The promise of God

is that He will provide

what we need

as long as He sees fit

to keep us on this earth.

Let me say that slowly.

The promise of God

is that He will provide

what we need

as long as He sees fit

to keep us on this earth.

And sometimes we do get caught up

in telling God

exactly what we need.

God,

I need steak.

And God says,

no,

you're going to have beans.

How many of you know

that there's a lot of protein

in beans, right?

Beans and rice.

There you go.

And we get in an argument.

I got,

well, God,

I really,

if you love me,

you'll let me have steak.

I'm going to take care of you.

Eat beans.

And so,

God is committed

to care for you

until the time

that He decides

to take you home.

And He has not promised

to give us basements

and garages

that are so full of stuff

that our children

are hoping that

a dumpster

is the thing

after the burial.

Okay?

You see,

I like the imagery

of the Old Testament

with the wave offering

called first fruits.

One of the things

that happened

in the Old Testament

when the,

and by the way,

in the Old Testament,

everybody was a farmer,

pretty much,

almost everybody

was a farmer.

And towards harvest time,

guess what they were

supposed to do

with their first

couple sickles

of grain

or their first

couple baskets

of olives?

What did they do

with it?

It went into the storehouse

and it was actually

called the wave offering.

Do you know why

it was called the wave?

Because they would

literally take it

and wave it

before the Lord

and say,

hey Lord,

this is yours

and there's more

to come.

They would always

put God first.

So here's the question.

Is God first

in your giving?

Or is God

the one who gets

the leftover

after the government

and your mortgage

and all the other things

that you're engaged in?

Is he kind of the,

well, you know,

after I take my wife

out for supper

and I go to the movies,

there's probably

going to be about

$20 left for the month

and you know what,

God can have that.

Is that where

he fits in your picture?

If that's the case,

what you're saying

is that the other things

are more important

than God.

I remind you

that Scripture

Scripture wants

you to think

of God

as first

in your giving.

There's one other thing

that I want you to look at

and see in the passage

and that God-honoring

giving is kingdom-driven.

It's amazing

how many people

want to be part

of your giving.

Do you follow that?

Everybody.

I have to tell you

that every now and then

I see those absolutely

tear-jerking advertisements

for the Society

for the Prevention

of Cruelty to Animals.

I mean,

the saddest song

as it tears me up

and I see these animals

that have been abused

and it's like my heart

goes out to them.

How can anybody do that?

And then after that,

you know,

you get everybody else

that loves you

wants your money too,

right?

I signed up for the NRA

several years ago

and I got to tell you

they still,

they call me regularly.

Thankfully,

it's an 800 number

and my phone picks that up

and helps me.

But my wife,

my wife and I

are sitting there

supper,

after supper,

just sitting there

in the family room

and she gets a call

from High Point College

in North Carolina.

We lived in North Carolina

back when,

was that Judith?

74.

That was a long time ago,

okay?

And she actually went

to High Point

for about one semester.

They still have her

on their call list.

You know?

Hope springs eternal

in the human breast.

They're hoping that

Judith someday,

I mean,

you just call regularly.

I get a call

from all the different people

that I went to school with

and they're not calling

to tell me how much

they appreciated

that I graduated.

They're just,

they want me to give.

UNICEF,

Girl Scouts,

whoever it is,

they all want your money.

And I want you to know

that the believer

is encouraged by Scripture

to direct his giving

through the local church.

See,

Scripture sees the local church

and its vision

as the primary channel

of giving.

I have to tell you

that we live in a day

of Winnebago believers.

Do you know

what Winnebago believers are?

They're people

that are always setting up

camp temporarily here

or there

and they're on the move.

They dabble in a pew here,

they dabble in a pew there.

But they're also involved

in a host of other activities

and it really just doesn't work

for them to settle in

and pitch in

and be part of what's happening

in a particular family.

And they struggle

with being more committed

to their personal agenda

than with Christ's agenda.

And really,

that's not the picture

we find in the New Testament church

of what God wants

for the body of Christ to be.

Jesus sees the church

as His most important instrument

in this age.

I want to say that carefully.

Jesus sees the church

as the most important instrument

in this age.

Over in Matthew chapter 16,

Matthew 16:18

verse 18,

Jesus said this,

I will build my church

and the gates of hell

will not prevail against it.

What He's saying is that

the church is His instrument of grace.

It is the principal organism,

organization that He intends

to be used to bring blessing to people.

Another passage

that really confirms that truth

is over in Ephesians.

And I want you to go there

just for a moment.

Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1:22

verse 22 and 23.

The passage just makes

a profound statement

about the supremacy

and the significance of the church.

22 and 23.

And He put all things under His feet

and gave Him as head

over all things to the church.

Verse 23.

Which is His body,

the fullness of Him

who fills all in all.

The church is Christ's present body.

Now, are we a little put off

on occasion by what the church

is in reality?

Yeah, we bump into each other

and find some uglies.

Isn't that right?

But here's the truth.

We're all part of the church

by His grace,

by salvation,

and we are the manifestation

of Christ in the world.

And being involved in the church

and what the church is doing

is God's plan

and intention for the believer.

Christ intends for every believer

to be connected to a local church

and to be serving and giving

through the local church.

It's very interesting

that you will find

in the New Testament

that the giving of the believer

flowed predominantly

through the local church

and God was honored in that.

That's what we find

in that passage

in 2 Corinthians.

Very interesting also

to find that apostolic counsel

on the use of spiritual gifts,

just like the matter of giving,

was directed towards

the local church

and it was in the local church

that both giving and giftedness

were to be played out

and we see this very clearly

in 1 and 2 Corinthians.

The model that we find

in Acts chapter 5

Acts 5 · chapter mention

and Acts chapter 6

Acts 6 · chapter mention

point to the church

rather than individuals

as being the principal vehicle

through which giving is to come.

And guess why most people avoid

giving through the local church?

A couple reasons.

Number one is because

often the local church

does not do as good a job

as they should.

And that's appropriate

to be challenged by that.

But secondly,

and here's another thing,

I want to vote with my own money

and you're not going to mess with it.

Hmm.

I want to be in control

and I want to have a say.

See, when I put my money

into the offering plate,

guess what I do?

I relinquish my own right

to control how it's given.

I release it

to the responsibility

of the corporate body

and to their vision collectively.

I am not in charge.

I want you to see that again

in Acts chapter 11

Acts 11:27–30

verse 27 through 30.

And turn there just for a moment.

Acts chapter 11

Acts 11:27–30

verse 27 through 30.

Now in these days

prophets came down

from Jerusalem to Antioch

and one of them named Abagas

stood up and foretold

by the Spirit

that there would be

a great famine over the world.

This took place

in the days of Claudius.

So the disciples determined

according,

everyone according to his ability

to send relief

to the brothers

living in Judea

and they did so

sending it by the elders

or sending it to the elders

by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

And who were Barnabas and Saul?

They were members of leadership

that were responsible

to carry it

from one congregation

to another.

Interesting when Haiti

had that horrible disaster

and the Philippines

horrible disaster.

This congregation sent money.

Do you know where we sent it to?

We sent it to responsible believers

in the Philippines

or in Haiti

and we said

we want you to use this

for the furtherance

of the gospel

and the meeting

of the needs of people

that are suffering

in the Philippines

that are suffering

in Haiti

that are suffering

and there is a wonderful

gospel opportunity.

Believers

through the congregation

of God's people

ministering

on behalf of people

in that local community.

Finally

biblical giving

is to flow

towards gospel

proclamation

and gospel living.

Biblical giving

is to flow

towards gospel

proclamation

and gospel living.

So as we put this together

let me summarize

by saying that

our giving

as believers

is first of all

to be joyful.

Isn't that right?

And I wouldn't be put off

at all

in fact some of you

I know

are perverse enough

that you'll do it

next Sunday.

I wouldn't be put off

if you giggled

next time you put

your offering in.

You know

kind of have this

joyful grin

and your wife

probably looks

hey I'm having fun

doing this.

Giving should be

joyful

giving should be

liberal

giving should be

confident of God's

continuing provision

and giving should be

gospel focused

through the local

church.

Let's close in prayer.

Our Father God

this morning

as we take

your word in hand

and we are reminded

that you have spoken

clearly

we also understand

that it is for our

benefit

and our blessing.

you who have

graced us

with salvation

and delivered us

from the curse

of sin

have made us

to be part

of your family

and drawn us

together to be

effective for the

testimony and the

glory of Christ

and we want to be

a people that are

generous

not because of

manipulation

but because of

our high

and holy view

of a God

that someday

we will enjoy

forever in

eternity.

Lord this life

is brief

and we want

to spend it

and be spent

for the testimony

and the power

of Christ

and we ask

that you would

take your word

and drive it

firmly into our

heart that we

would be a people

from this day

forward that are

generous and

faithful and do

not turn back

because the spirit

of God has

touched our heart

and the word of

God is our

authority and we

have confidence

in your provision.

We ask this in

your precious name.

Amen.

Amen.