**We will be embarking on a 3 to 4 week series on this topic of Biblical Giving. I hope that you will make an effort to attend each week! I believe that you will find this topic to be encouraging as well as challenging.

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Giving is a part of a larger Biblical doctrine (teaching) known as Stewardship.

We will begin our journey In JAMES 1:17 (THERE IS NO VARIATION (CHANGE) OR SHADOW OF TURNING (APPEARANCE OF CHANGE)(God is light! And in Him there is no shadow!)

In contrast to the view that God sends evil, (Jer 32:35) 35 And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

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James points out here that:

1. God is the source of everything good

2. God’s good gifts are also perfect

**God is not only the source of good gifts, he is the very source of the giving impulse. The ability to give is one aspect of God’s image in the believer!

God is the creator, maker and giver of all things! So as believers we become stewards of everything we have been given! Such as:

1. The gift of our very life (time)

2. The gift of our abilities

3. The gift of our knowledge

4. Our spiritual gifts

5. The gift of our property

6. The gift of our career

7. The gift of our money

Today we will lay a foundation of 4 Basic Principles of Biblical Giving:

1. Giving is a measure of one’s love for God:

Matthew 6:19-21- believers should lay up treasures in Heaven, for where one’s treasure is, there is your heart. If we lay up treasures in heaven, our heart will be on heavenly things.

1 Timothy 6:17-19- Instructions to the rich

(If your family income is $10,000 a year, you are wealthier than 84 percent of the world. If it's $50,000 or more a year, you make more than 99 percent of the world.)

Verse 19 “to lay hold on eternal life” is to truly enjoy and seize the freedom of true life which is the eternal life found in Christ!

Titus 2:11-14- Believers must remember that our hope is in Christ NOT on wealth

1 John 3:17- **KEY POINT: If one does not give, then the question is, “does the love of God abide in that person?”

2. Giving is an expression of your faith:

James 2:15-17- WORKS DOES NOT SAVE! BUT IF YOU EXPRESS THAT YOU HAVE FAITH IN CHRIST AND DO NOT EXHIBIT WORKS, YOUR FAITH IS DEAD! (THIS IS A PERSON WHO HAS HEAD KNOWLEDGE ABOUT JESUS, BUT NOT FAITH THAT BELIEVES IN JESUS! This is the difference in one with saving faith and one who does not....

3. Giving more results in receiving more: *Please listen very closely! This is not the same thing that the prosperity gospel movement preaches! The name it, claim it message.

The Bible says this: Luke 6:38- For with the measure you use (points out that the believer’s behavior toward others will determine God’s behavior toward him or her)

Philippians 4:15-19 needs NOT wants

4. Giving should be done in secret.

Matthew 6:1-4 Don’t look for a pat on the back! If you do, then you have your reward......