Sermon Tone Analysis

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We are continuing our series called Holy Things and we have 3 weeks left.

Last week we talked about the first practice of holy people which was prayer.

Today we are going to be talking about giving.

The questions are: Should you do it?

How much should you give?

In what circumstances shouldn’t you give?

We’re also going to talk about giving to others.

When is it right or wrong to give to those in need?

Should we just help those in need in the church or out in the world too?

And we’re even going to talk about giving to the government, which we call paying taxes.

But, before we get there, we just need to talk about money in general.

As humans, especially us living in the particular place and time in history that we do, I would wager to say that we all have a misunderstanding of what money even is about.

At worst you might believe that your money is your own and you have no obligation to use your money in any way other than pleases you.

Or on the other side of the spectrum, you might live by a biblical perspective on money handling by giving to the church and being a good steward of the rest.

And that’s a good start, but there’s more to it than that.

Let me give you the punch line of this message upfront.

The story of the Bible is a story about generosity.

No words capture the essence of the Bible’s story better than ,

(CSB) — For God loved the world in this way: He gave…

Let me give you the punch line of this chapter first and then unpack it in some detail.

The biblical story is a generosity story.

No words capture the essence of this story better than these: “For God so loved the world, that he gave . .

.” ().

Having money in the proper place in your heart and life is not just about good budgeting and freedom from debt; the biblical standard is much higher.

You know you have money in the right place in your heart when the culture of acquisition has been replaced in your heart with a culture of generosity, where joy in giving overwhelms joy in getting.

Could it be that the primary purpose for money in your life is not that you would live but that, as God has lavishly done in your life, you would give?

Could it be that we need something fundamentally deeper than a commitment to a good budget and reasonable spending?

Could it be that what we really need is a brand-new understanding of the purpose for money, one driven by the gospel story?

Could it be that reducing generosity to a commitment to tithe completely misses the point of money in God’s gospel economy?

Could it be that true transformation of our money lifestyles will only ever begin with the gospel of Jesus Christ setting the agenda for our spending and not a few isolated money passages taken out of their wider gospel context?

Paul David Tripp, Redeeming Money: How God Reveals and Reorients Our Hearts (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018).

Having money in the proper place in your heart and life is not just about good budgeting and freedom from debt.

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You actually know you have money in the right place in your heart when the desire to gain money has been replaced with a desire to give.

As love for God and man grows in your heart, your desire to be a giver increases.

in your heart with a culture of generosity, where joy in giving overwhelms joy in getting.

Could it be that the primary purpose for money in your life is not that you would live but that, as God has lavishly done in your life, you would give?

Could it be that we need something fundamentally deeper than a commitment to a good budget and reasonable spending?

Could it be that what we really need is a brand-new understanding of the purpose for money, one driven by the gospel story?

Could it be that reducing generosity to a commitment to tithe completely misses the point of money in God’s gospel economy?

Could it be that true transformation of our money lifestyles will only ever begin with the gospel of Jesus Christ setting the agenda for our spending and not a few isolated money passages taken out of their wider gospel context?

; the biblical standard is much higher.

You know you have money in the right place in your heart when the culture of acquisition has been replaced in your heart with a culture of generosity, where joy in giving overwhelms joy in getting.

Could it be that the primary purpose for money in your life is not that you would live but that, as God has lavishly done in your life, you would give?

Could it be that we need something fundamentally deeper than a commitment to a good budget and reasonable spending?

Could it be that what we really need is a brand-new understanding of the purpose for money, one driven by the gospel story?

Could it be that reducing generosity to a commitment to tithe completely misses the point of money in God’s gospel economy?

Could it be that true transformation of our money lifestyles will only ever begin with the gospel of Jesus Christ setting the agenda for our spending and not a few isolated money passages taken out of their wider gospel context?

Could it be that the primary purpose for money in your life is not that you would live but that you would give?

Could it be that we need something richer than a commitment to a good budget and reasonable spending?

Could it be that true transformation of our view of money begins with the gospel of Jesus Christ who is the ultimate giver and not with a few isolated money passages taken out of the wider gospel context of :16?

Could it be that reducing generosity to a commitment to tithe completely misses the point of money in God’s gospel economy?

Could it be that true transformation of our money lifestyles will only ever begin with the gospel of Jesus Christ setting the agenda for our spending and not a few isolated money passages taken out of their wider gospel context?

We need to understand the purpose of …

Need to understand money if we’re going to understand giving.

MONEY

… within the wider Gospel story if we are ever going to understand giving and generosity.

So, I have 3 principles about money that are informed by the story of God, the Gospel.

The first is that…

Money Can’t Do What You Think It Can

Just think with me for a moment.

Why do you even want money?

We want to have money for a number of different reasons.

We want money to spend on needs of life—food, shelter, clean water, clothing and things of that sort.

We want money to spend on common luxuries—cars, televisions, landscaping, things that are not basic human needs, but so common to most people in the United States that you treat them like needs.

We want money to spend on pleasures—vacations, eating out, going to the movies, and stuff like that.

And a big one: we want money to save and invest so we have a sense of security for the future.

Now, none of these reasons for having money are intrinsically evil all on their own.

But, what all of these things have in common is a trust that money can provide these things—that money meets needs, that money produces pleasure, that money produces security.

The first way is to consider your money your own.

But, nowhere does the Bible teach that the pursuit of wealth is the means to fulfilling the needs of life.

Nowhere does the Bible teach that you get the blessing of common luxurious or the pleasures of life from the pursuit of money.

And nowhere does the Bible teach that you get safety and security from the pursuit of money.

In fact the scriptures teach the opposite.

Let’s look at three verses regarding needs, luxuries or pleasures, and security.

In , the Apostle Paul made this famous statement about our needs.

He wrote,

(CSB) — And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

The principle is this: God intends to supply every one of our needs, as Christians, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

[Money Can’t Do What You Think It Can]