Legacy Week 1

THANK ZACH FOR THE WORD LAST WEEK

THANK YOU FOR APPRECIATING YOUR PASTOR LAST WEEK

PROMOTE WING NIGHT!

BABY DEDICATIONS NEXT SUNDAY!!!!

PROMOTE PARTY WITH THE PASTORS

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BUT IT’S MINE - When I gave it to you in the first place.

We bought our kids a playstation last year for Christmas

Every once and while I commander the Playstation

Inevitably they will end up saying something along the lines..”BUT IT’S MINE”

I paid for it…I gave it to you…I’m gonna let you play with it way more than I am…all I’m asking is a day or two of you returning the gift that I’ve given you.

Today we are beginning a series called Legacy, We live to give.

Many of us withhold the tithe because it’s my money...

God is the source of every good and perfect gift…including our vocation.

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We are beginning a series to day entitled: Legacy; We Live to Give.

We are entering year two as a church; year one was about surviving

Year 2 is going to be about 2 things…growing and blessing.

God has brought us to Bartow County to be a blessing

BUT IN ORDER TO BE A BLESSING…WE HAVE TO BE BLESSED.

I want you blessed.

As your pastor I want you wealthy

GOD HAS GIVEN US CLEAR PRINCIPLES THAT LEAD TO A BLESSED LIFE - Read the book by Pastor Robert Morris.

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Malachi 3:8–12 (NKJV)

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts; And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the Lord of hosts.

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I want to report some robberies.

We are robbing God.

It’s easy to look at this verse and understand it to mean that we are taking money from God.

THIS PASSAGE AND TITHING IN GENERAL IS NOT GOD’S PYRAMID SCHEME TO FUND THE CHURCH.

God will fund His Work in creative ways if we don’t participate in partnership

Coin in a fishes Mouth

Elijah fed by ravens

Moses brings water from a rock

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Opportunity Theft

So if I am not robbing finances from God…what am I robbing from him?

When we withhold our tithes and offerings we are robbing from God an opportunity to bless us.

God’s blessing has always been tied to covenant.

Covenant is dependent upon both parties entering into partnership with one another.

Many blessings God has for you are contingent upon some act of initiation.

Jesus heals the blind man…but first he must go was in the pool of siloam

Giving to the kingdom through the initial act of tithing is a blessing initiator.

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Blessing = Improvement

I want you to change the word blessing in your vocabulary with the word improvement.

When we say God wants to bless you, we are saying God wants to improve you.

God wants to improve your finances...

God wants to improve your marriage...

You cannot make improvements on what you do not own.

We didn’t start the renovation of this space until we had entered into a covenant with the owners.

We gave them money…they gave us a key.

God’s blessing is an improvement. But He will not improve what He does not own.

So we are robbing God....but it’s of opportunity more than it is of money.

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Others are robbing you.

This is my home church

God has called me to support this home church with tithes and offerings.

I don’t believe that God wants me to come and eat the food from here and put the tithe in the storehouse elsewhere.

There have been months that we would have been short on making our bills during this first year of our church.

A church that we have developed relationship with - Has given us $6500 and has $6000 more on the way

A couple from Kansas City - Has given us $7500

A couple from Arkansas - Has given us $6000

The church in was just given a $4,000,000 facility

The couple in Kansas City has had grand babies and experienced raises and retirement.

The couple in Arkansas has been given promotions.

I’m grateful for their blessings…but I’m jealous for you

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We have been given free access to a free gift.

When we withhold our tithe we are leaving blessing on the table.

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TR: WELL PASTOR I DON’T KNOW IF I BELIEVE IN TITHING

Common Arguments for why tithing isn’t biblical

Often people will argue that tithing was a principle that was a part of the Mosaic law.

Jesus came to fulfill the law and so now that Jesus came we no longer have to abide by.

Every other area of the law was elevated - Adultery to lust - Murder to hate - 10% to ????

The problem with this view that tithing ended with the law is that it assumes tithing started with the Mosaic law.

The tithe did not end when the law ended - Because it started before the law started

Tithing predated the law of Moses…it was practiced by Abraham.

Genesis 14:17–20 (NKJV)

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.

Back story: Abraham is living in a season of victory and blessing.

Handing out L’s left and right.

In this season he has developed relationship with a king name Melchizidek

Melchizidek is the king of Salem and is commonly seen as a type of Jesus

HE FUNCTIONS AS A KING - He rules over people

HE FUNCTIONS AS A PRIEST - He facilitates proper relationship between people and God.

Melchizedek blesses Abraham immensely in their encounters…and Abrahams’s response is to give back 10% of what he owns.

When the concept of tithing shows up in scripture it was in response to the goodness of the king and priest

The most incredibly freeing posture you can take is to see giving into the kingdom as a response rather than a requirement.

The tithe is not a law it’s a lifestyle.

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The law gives clarity of practice to the principle

Deuteronomy 14:22–29 (NKJV)

“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

“At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

1. The tithe is fixed.

Tithe means 10

The principle of tithing is that I give the first 10% of my income back to God

The beauty of the principle of tithing is that percentages are achievable.

I’m thankful that God didn’t roll out a subscription plan…I couldn’t afford it.

When we first got into ministry I made $150 a week. (We tithed $15)

No amount is too small to start honoring God by returning the tithe.

Students this is for you

Kids this is for you

SIDE NOTE THIS APPLIES TO CHRISTMAS BONUSES, STOCK SHARES, TAX REFUNDS, Anything that increases my worth is worth investing 10% in the kingdom of God.

2. The tithe is first.

I don’t pay all my bills and then give my 10%

My finances are prioritized by the things I subconsciously believe the most I can’t live with out.

What you do first determines what happens with the rest.

Proverbs 3:9–10 (NKJV)

Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

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I can’t afford to tithe.

but I can afford Cable, Netflix, a car payment, Starbucks on the daily, and eating out four times a week.

In many cases in our American society the lack that keeps us from tithing is caused by priorities not our paycheck.

Giving God the first fruit of your increase is a principle that will make your entire Christian experience better.

It creates a pattern wherein you can give God the first fruit of everything.

Give Him the first fruit of your week (COME TO CHURCH)

Coming to church on Sunday is a Friday and Saturday decision.

Give Him the first fruit of your day (START THE DAY WITH PRAYER AND WORSHIP)

Give Him the first fruit of your talent (FIND A WAY TO SERVE HIM WITH THE BEST OF WHAT YOU HAVE.)

Honor Jared for sowing into our house with His gift.

You will not be able to afford to tithe until you start tithing.

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So what’s in it for me?

Malachi 3:8–12 (NKJV)

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts; And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi is writing to a group of God’s people…and He doesn’t pull any punches.

He is asking a group of people who have been withholding their giving from the house of the Lord.

He doesn’t approach it as an issue to be considered…He says you are literally stealing opportunity from God.

You and I are called to bring in tithes and offerings to the house of God...

But we need to understand that we give offerings…we return the tithe.

As a citizen of the United States…there are percentages of my take home pay that I return to the United States and the state of Georgia.

I don’t do this out of a sense of generosity, I do this because I am living in the benefits of being a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state of Georgia.

I bring my tithe to the kingdom because I am a citizen of the kingdom of heaven!

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Being a citizen has it’s priveleges

We live in a prosperous kingdom.

When I surrender my resources to the kingdom of heaven, I become a catalyst through which those resources can flow.

The outcome of the practice of tithing is the outpouring of a blessing from heaven.

Very Practical Steps

This passage is direction to God for His people.

Bring 1/10 of your grain (crops)

This is culturally translate-able to livelihood.

If you make 1000 a week - Give $100 to the church - GIVE THE TITHE FIRST!

It doesn’t take faith to give the last ten percent.

Tithing is trusting

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Our Illinois House Experience

We had to miss a payment - We were about to have to enter into a short sale

WE KEPT TITHING.

GOD TOLD ME TO TRUST HIM WITH THE TITHE AND ONE MORE PAYMENT

We sold the house.

That moment of trusting availed the opportunity to plant this church.