Selfless Generosity

Introduction

Welcome

Continuing in our study, Back to Basics - recap

The Mission Matters Most

Rooted in Scripture

So what we know so far is that everything we do is Rooted in Scripture for the purpose of participating in God’s mission

We didn’t just make these up - we found them in Acts 2:42-47

Acts 2:42–47 CSB

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Today we will be talking about “Selfless Generosity” - specifically in regards to giving

We’ll be answering two questions:

What does the Bible say about individual giving?

What does the Bible say about church stewardship?

Prayer

What is Biblical giving?

Now… maybe you’re sitting here today and you’ve been a part of a church for a long time and you’re thinking, “Ok, here we go… another message trying to convince me to give more.”

Or perhaps this is your first week and you’re thinking, “I knew it! Churches just want your money!”

Or maybe you’re just indifferent

Regardless of what your thoughts are, I want to make one thing clear… the goal of today isn’t to know what I think about giving or what our church thinks about giving… but what the Bible says about giving

That’s why we ask our first question the way we ask it, “what is Biblical giving?”

But what about other topics you might ask! Aren’t there other things the Bible talks more about? Well… yes. And remember… the goal of the Bible isn’t to give… it’s to know God and make Him known. And giving with selfless generosity serves this purpose.

And Jesus actually talks about money often. In 11 of His 39 parables to be exact. As well as numerous other places

So… all this to say, if we are to be truly rooted in Scripture - and not just part of it, all of it - we must know what the Bible says about giving.

There are at least three questions the Bible answers:

Why do we give?

How do we give?

Where do we give?

Why we give...

First and foremost, we give because God gave first

Let’s look at just a few verses

Titus 2:14 says, “He gave himself for us...”

Ephesians 5:2 says, “...Christ... ...loved us and gave himself for us...”

John 3:16 says, “...He gave his one and only Son...”

Galatians 2:20 “...the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.”

What does “love” mean in this verse - expound

Matthew 10:8 “...Freely you received, freely give.”

1 Corinthians 16:3 says, “When I arrive, I will send with letters those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem.”

Paul took a collection through the church of Corinth to missionally support the church in Jerusalem

The Greek word for “gift” is charis which means, “grace”

When we give, it’s a declaration of what Christ has done for us

It’s an act of worship to our King

Secondly, it a chosen method by God to further His Kingdom

Let me be clear… I didn’t say, God needs our giving - but that God has chosen to use our giving to further His Kingdom

Even though our giving is primarily a declaration of worship, it isn’t one without tangible purpose

In the New Testament, missionaries were supported, churches were founded, discipleship programs created - all funded by the faithful, worshipful giving of the church people

We’ll dive more into these examples a little later

How we give...

When it comes to how we give, there is one glaring question that I think most people have… How much do I have to give?

Now I am going to answer this question, but first I want to talk about how its really the wrong question to be asking. It falls into the same category as...

How much can I drink before its sinful?

How far is too far with my girlfriend or boyfriend?

How much time do I have spend in the Word?

How often do I have to go to church?

First, I want to talk about the posture of our heart before we talk about amount

2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.”

cheerful giver - why?

Proverbs 18:16 says, “A person’s gift opens doors for him and brings him before the great.”

giving connects us with our heavenly Father

2 Corinthians 8:7 says, “Now as you excel in everything—in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us—excel also in this act of grace.”

the word grace here is the same Greek word charis which Paul uses to mean gift or giving

we give as a spiritual discipline, with the desire to grow in it

So… what is the posture of our heart when we give?

Cheerful

Focused on relationship with the Father

A disciplined desire to grow

Now… let’s look at what the Bible says about amount

Many of you have probable heard the term tithe - so lets start there

It’s a term founded in the Old Testament that means a tenth

Israel was a little different than the local church - they weren’t just a spiritual community, but a political nation - so there tithe was almost more similar to a tax

God actually commanded three tithes

A tithe of all the produce of their land and flocks - to support the priests and Levites (Lev. 27)

A tithe to support the festivals and celebrations among God’s people (Deut. 14)

A tithe every third year to be given to the poor, orphans, and widows (Deut. 14)

That comes out to 23 percent on average and… that’s not all

First-fruit offerings (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers)

Freewill offerings (Deuteronomy 12)

Listen to this story… in Exodus 36, during the construction of the temple

Exodus 36:3–6 CSB

They took from Moses’s presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. Then all the artisans who were doing all the work for the sanctuary came one by one from the work they were doing and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed for the construction of the work the Lord commanded to be done.” After Moses gave an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people stopped.

They had to be told to stop giving!

So the Old Testament standard of giving wasn’t really a tithe but 2 and a third tithes plus freewill and firstfruit offerings

But that’s just the Old Testament you say… the New Testament doesn’t say anything about a tithe… well you are correct, but let’s look at what it does say

Luke 12:33 says, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.”

Luke 18:22 says, “When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Luke 19:8 says, “But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.”

Acts 2:45 says, “They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

Acts 4:34-35 “For there was not a needy person among them because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed to each person as any had need.”

The New Testament doesn’t command a tithe… but it does give examples and a clear standard of an even greater giving.

A tithe is not the ceiling for giving, but the floor

So… the first practical application is to posture your heart correctly

give cheerfully

give to connect to the Father

seek to grow in the discipline of giving

start with a tithe

Now… we’ve answered, why to give and how to give… which leaves us with just one more - where do we give?

Where we give...

I am going to answer this question quickly because we are going to spend a few minutes looking at what is Biblical church stewardship? And if the Bible gives instructions on how the church ought to steward, then it makes sense that the church ought to be the primary answer to our question, “where do we give?”

1 Corinthians 16:1–5 CSB

Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches. On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collections will need to be made when I come. When I arrive, I will send with letters those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me. I will come to you after I pass through Macedonia—for I will be traveling through Macedonia—

Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church

He is instructing the same thing as he did to the churches in Galatia

Give regularly to the local church

Why does Paul say?

“An important aspect of the church is the pooling of resources to accomplish more together than possible apart.”

Now… hopefully you have a Biblical understanding of why to give, how to give, and where to give

We’re going to pivot now, and look at what the church is supposed to do with this giving

What is Biblical church stewardship?

Stuff

Missions Giving...

A portion of the church’s giving ought to be delegated to missions - the sending and caring for missionaries

Acts 13:3 says, “Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.”

3 John 6-8 “...You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, since they set out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from pagans. Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be coworkers with the truth.”

2 Corinthians 8:1-5 “We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia: During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord, they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints, and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God’s will.”

Ministry Giving...

A portion of the church’s giving ought to be for local church ministry

Romans 12:13 says, “Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.”

2 Corinthians 9:12 says, “For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.”

Worker Giving...

A portion of the church’s giving ought to be for compensating its’ workers

Titus 1:5-6 says, “...to appoint elders in every town.”

1 Timothy 5:17-18 says, “The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, The worker is worthy of his wages.”

Isn’t just true for pastor/ministry staff but anyone who is doing work for the ministry...

Resource Giving...

This one a little less straight forward, but heavily implied - let’s look at a few verses

Acts 2:46 says, “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house.”

how was the temple upkept?

how was the bread bought?

Acts 18:11 “He stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them.”

Were notes taken? How were they taken?

Did Paul form some sort of “curriculum” or was he winging it?

Acts 28:30 says, “Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him...”

who payed for the house?

Now… I don’t want to pretend to know the exact answers to these questions, but clearly, things cost money… and the giving of the people to the church paid for such things

And so… in a few moments, we are going to go through our church budget - and know that everything points to these biblical categories for church spending.

And without your personal investment into this church body, it wouldn’t be possible.

Closing Thoughts/Invitation

I want to go ahead and invite the worship team up as we get ready to close

And to summarize quickly, we’ve looked at what the Bible says about individual giving - why we do it, how we do it, and where we do it

We’ve also looked at how the local church is supposed to biblically steward those gifts through missions, ministry, workers, and resources...

But here is the things - all of this is built on a relationship with Jesus

So if you don’t know Jesus… share gospel

Let’s pray