Rhythm of Giving

Caveat: Just like every message in our Life in Rhythm series, this message on giving is not meant to build the church as an institution, it is intended to offer a LIFE_GIVING rhythm to YOU.

Luke 16:13 (ESV)

13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Two options:

serve God

serve money

serve = slave

Which do you think is a better master?

you can either be dependent on Someone who owns literally EVERYTHING and loves you so much that he would give what is most dear to Him for you.

you can be dependent on THINGS that you must manufacture by luck or hard work.

ILLUST - finding money at Hershey Park that fell from someone’s pocket that rode a roller coaster. The ups and downs made them poor and by dumb luck, I was “rich!”

How do we shift ourselves from being a slave to money - from the weight of feeling the need to provide for ourselves to the freedom of knowing God will provide for us?

God gave us a way - through the rhythm of giving.

2 Corinthians 9:6–15 (ESV)

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 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. 9 As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

10 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. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

First, give God His tithe.

Fully commit your money for God’s glory.

Freely give as God directs.

Give for God’s glory.

First, give God His tithe.

What is the tithe?

Tithe = “tenth”

Leviticus 27:30 ESV

30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.

Examples of giving in the Old Testament:

· Tithes (Leviticus 27:30, Number 18:21 – 24, Deuteronomy 14:22 – 23, and 14:28 – 29)

· Firstfruit offerings (Leviticus 19, Exodus 23 & 34, and Numbers 15)

· Freewill offerings (Exodus 35 & 36 and Deuteronomy 12)

Are we required to tithe?

The requirement of the tithe is part of the OT Law. In Christ, all of the OT Law is fulfilled and now none of the OT Law is binding for the NT believer.

Concept of tithing is Pre-Law

Genesis 14:18–20 (ESV)

18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Jacob... In Genesis 28:18-22, God blessed Jacob with a dream in which He assured Jacob that the Covenant promises given to Abraham would now flow through him. In response to this assurance, Jacob promised God “of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Oftentimes the question is asked as a justification for giving LESS than what was prescribed in the Law rather than more.

The Law was given to 1) convict of sin by revealing our heart, 2) give an external standard for us to be able to relate to God.

With the Holy Spirit, we have internally what the Law did externally.

What if we made public or giving records? I don’t say this to shame you but to cause you to think.

For the NT believer, 10% is the floor, not the ceiling in our first giving to God.

Hard for us because the more we make the harder it is to give:

- $10 x 10% = $1

- $1000 X 10% = $100

- $100,000 x 10% = $10,000

REASONS WE TITHE:

Tithing reminds me all I have comes from God.

“HIS” tithe.

Psalm 24:1 (ESV)

1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,

the world and those who dwell therein,

ILLUST - heard in our house - It’s mine! I control it because I made it.

Tithe.

it’s already the Lord’s.

ILLUST - taking the best piece of pie or taking a friend on vacation (that you’re paying for) and they take the best room, food, seat, etc

It is all God’s (even while we “possess” it!) and we are only stewards.

Tithing places God first in my life.

Give to God your first fruits, not your table scraps

ILLUST - the giving pie - we tend to give to God last - leftovers.

This reveals the priorities of our lives

If we give to God our leftover money, what does this say about God’s place in our lives? Jesus-first or Jesus-leftover?

Tithing is an act of worship - no matter how you tithe - make it an act of worship.

Tithing teaches my heart to trust.

When I give to God first, I am forcing myself to prioritize, organize and steward well the money that is left.

If I say I’ll give God His tithe at the end of the week or the end of the month once I make sure I have money left over, then I am revealing my trust in myself rather than my trust in God to provide through the 90% as I honor Him with the first 10%.

Craig Groeschel - 90% goes further with God’s blessing than 100% without.

The tithe was given:

locally

regularly

sacrificially

The issue of tithing and giving in general is really less an issue of the thickness of our wallet and more an issue of the softness of our heart toward God.

*Your heart follows your money.

The spending of your money is a compass for your heart. It shows the direction your heart is pointed and where it will ultimately lead you.

Matthew 6:21 ESV

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Which is why you need to:

Fully commit your money for His glory.

Not hold anything back

Story of Ananias and Saphira

Peter: “Why has Satan so filled your heart” (not checkbook)

Why DON’T we give fully?

We have low funds

Take care of your family

Don’t neglect God - work your way up to the tithe as quickly as possible

We have a low view of the church and money

We have seen the message abused

The church is not dependent on you for your money. It’s hypocritical to call you to depend on God to supply your needs while also calling on you to give freely to the church because the church needs you to give.

We have a limited mindset

Limited - only have a limited amount and should guard it.

Abundant - He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. . . - I don’t lose in giving - I am blessed.

Not always materially - if that is what we are wanting we don’t understand giving.

We have an idol

Greed

We believe money will give us all that God is meant to give us - provision, protection, pleasure, and joy. v

ILLUST - What if the Church Tithed?

Christians are only giving at 2.5 percent per capita, while during the Great Depression they gave at a 3.3 percent rate.

what would happen if believers were to increase their giving to a minimum of, let’s say, 10 percent. There would be an additional $165 billion for churches to use and distribute. The global impact would be phenomenal. Here’s just a few things the Church could do with the kind of money:

– $25 billion could relieve global hunger, starvation and deaths from preventable diseases in five years. – $12 billion could eliminate illiteracy in five years. – $15 billion could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues, specifically at places in the world where 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day. – $1 billion could fully fund all overseas mission work. – $100 – $110 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion.

https://relevantmagazine.com/love-and-money/what-would-happen-if-church-tithed/ILLUST - What if the Church Tithed?

Fully devoted follower of Christ fully devotes the money and possessions.

So we’ve given God first tithe but that doesn’t mean ‘hands off the 90%’

It means with the right perspective of our money and possessions, we hold everything loosely for God to use as He wills.

True picture of fully committing or money:

Acts 2:44–45 (ESV)

44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

This is a beautiful picture of the church

Have you prayed about your 401K? When to use it? How to use it?

Have you ever prayed about what the limit of your lifestyle might be?

We generally increase our standard of living as our income increases. All this does is perpetuate consumerism. It has us chasing materialism. Maintaining our current standard of living and increasing it as much as possible.

We put a ceiling on what we give to God and believe the lie that we need a baseline of income to be happy. We have it all backwards.

1 Timothy 6:6 (ESV)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain,

Do we really need IT? Do we really need the STUFF?

Are the Jones’ REALLY happier or are they simply hoping to keep up with the Smiths?

We already have so much more than the majority of the world — have so much more than the majority of world history yet are we satisfied?

Re: John Wesley

“Okay, I’m going to live at a level of contentment.” And whenever he made more than that during a year—and that level of contentment involved basic giving—but beyond that, anything that went beyond that level of contentment, he gave away. The end of his life, he’s making the equivalent of about $160,000 a year and he’s living on a $20,000 lifestyle. He was freed up to give $140,000 away. What if we believe that? What if we said, “A $50,000 lifestyle, $75–100,000, $200,000, whatever it is, it doesn’t necessitate that kind of lifestyle.” This is a very different way to live in this world. You will not get encouragement anywhere in this culture to live like this. God give us grace. Change our hearts.

We are meant to be stewards of God’s grace so that we might:

Freely give as He directs.

2 Corinthians 9:6–7 ESV

Reminder: whose seed are we sowing? Does the farmer make the seed? Who makes the bountiful harvest grow? GOD

Blessed to be a blessing.

There is a blessing in the giving.

You are blessed to be rich . . . to be a blessing.

Acts 20:35 (ESV)

35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Malachi 3:10 (ESV)

10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

The blessing may not be financial or material. It will be with a freedom from the anxiety of money

To think freedom from worrying about money can only be achieved by having “enough” money is small-minded and shows we are still a slave to the “cattle” and not the One who “owns the cattle on a thousand hills”

Psalm 50:8–11 (ESV)

8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. 9 I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.

Give everything for God’s glory.

I originally did not have the word “everything” in this point. I was concerned one might understand the point to be exhaustive and not descriptive - that we should give everything down to our last penny to God for His glory.

I left it in because what IF God did want you to give everything? If we say He wouldn’t or we couldn’t, then haven’t we missed the whole point?

The Fully Devoted Christian life is not about caveating our faith until it is palatable to the American Dream or about taming the boundless God until he fits on the leash of our plans.

2 Corinthians 9:12 ESV

12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

2 Corinthians 9:11–12 (ESV)

11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

9:10 “The promise that God will increase the harvest should not be understood in material terms but in terms of increasing your righteousness. Thus the quoted OT texts (Isa. 55:10; Hos. 10:12) refer specifically to the provision of God’s word for the redemption of his people. God’s promise is that he will use his people and their resources as instruments of his grace for the salvation of others.”

9:11 “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way. God will provide for the Corinthians’ needs so that they can continue generously meeting others’ needs and giving resources to advance the gospel.” (both from ESV Study Bible)

When we give it is a reflection of the gospel

God held nothing and NO ONE back for you - how can you hold anything back from Him?

and an advancement of the Kingdom.

Giving is a gospel virtue - meaning, it is not natural to be generous - This is why large acts of generosity generate hits on social media.

boring acts of buying things for myself would not generate hits - its natural.

generosity is a hint of the supernatural.

When we are generous it invites questions and allows us to invoke the gospel

Conclusion

Take a 30-day challenge

Give to God FIRST this month and test him. Watch Him:

Provide your needs

Teach your heart to trust

Increase your faith

Give you peace (Not worry about money)

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