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A bingdon Community Church Sunday 21 st Oct 2012. Generous giving to a generous god. God is our Provider ... We can live in faith not fear Stepping out trusting his provision All we have is actually His ... Attitude of gratitude! We need to spend it His way We can serve only one master!
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AbingdonCommunity Church Sunday 21st Oct 2012 Generous giving to a generous god
God is our Provider ...We can live in faith not fear Stepping out trusting his provision All we have is actually His ... Attitude of gratitude! We need to spend it His way We can serve only one master! God is VERY generous ... So we should be too! Recap: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...
“The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the right-eousgive generously... They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.” Psalm 37:21,26 “Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.” Psalm 112:5 “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25 “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.” Proverbs 22:9 Generosity is A KINGDOM ATTITUDE!
Walk through 2 passage in NT about giving My (our) own practice & testimony Is this Biblical? Is God challenging you? PLAN FOR THIS MORNING
1 ‘Be careful not to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 ‘So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:1-4
Generous giving ... is by the grace of God ... is not just for the well-off ... starts with FIRST giving ourselves to the Lord ... is perfectly exemplified by Christ himself ... is something that can easily slip! ... is about willingness to give, not the amount ... means sharing and equality ... happens when good stewardship is evident 2 Corinthians 8-9
Generous giving ... does not consist of empty promises! ... requires planning ahead to keep attitude right Generous sowing, generous reaping Giving is from the heart God loves a cheerful giver God in abundantly able to provide all we need to be extravagantly generous! Generous giving has huge spiritual impact! 2 Corinthians 8-9
Give back 10% of all God blesses us with (i.e. gross income) Give this to local church as place of spiritual feeding & nurture Give as much as we can in offerings over and above this to support those in need, spread the gospel and build God’s kingdom Alongside this, we take responsibility for our own support & that of our family – so giving is in faith not presumption. Our practice
‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’ Malachi 3:10
Bible overview... First giving: Cain & Abel Gen 4 Offerings to God (sacrifices etc) e.g. Gen 8 Abraham & Jacob: spontaneous 10% Gen 14, 28 Mosaic Law Prophets calling Israelites back to this Neh 13Mal 3 But is this really biblical?
Mosaic Law... Multiple offerings, firstfruits AND tithe = 10% of all you harvested/recievedLev 27:30-33 Firstfruits brought to temple, part offered on altar, rest went to priests Num 18:12-15 Tithes went to Levites, and their tithe to priests Num 18:21-29 Tithes usually at temple, some eaten in celebration & rest to Levites Deut 12:17-19, 14:22-27 After every 3 years, tithe kept locally to feed Levites, foreigners, fatherless & widows Deut 14:28-29 But is this really biblical?
Why tithe in the OT? To honour God Deut 14:23, Mal 3 The support God’s ministries Num 18:21,Neh 13:10-11 To ensure care for the poor & needy Deut 14:28-29 To secure God’s blessing! Deut 14:29, Mal 3:10-12 But is this really biblical?
23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. Gal 3:23-25 PLUS Rom 7:4, 8:1-4 & many others... Christians are free from law...
We respond to God by giving in proportion to our income 1 Cor 16:1-2 Minsters of the gospel get their support from the gospel 1 Cor 9:11-14 We are commanded to remember the poor e.g. Gal 2:9-10 Promise is still there that those who give will receive e.g. 2 Cor 9:6, Luke 6:38 ...But NT confirms some principles...
No law on giving Generosity is the rule God’s people have always given 10%, “generous” must mean more than this! This is just the start ... Offerings, time, love, hospitality, shared lives... conclusion
Our God is able to bless us abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that we need, we will abound in every good work ... we will be made rich in every way SO THAT we can be generous on every occasion, and through others our generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. AMEN! conclusion