I Need To Give

We need to be in a giving mindset

There’s two big faulty perspectives about church:

First is the

It’s All About Me

The idea that church exists to please us. That it has to match our ideals, our preferences, our exact concepts of what makes it a right church and what makes it a wrong church.

And that it’s not church unless i’m feeling like i’m the big guy at the table, and that i’m being taken care of.

Mark 10:45 NIV

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So Jesus himself says, even I didn’t come here to be waited on - I came here to serve, and to give up my life.

And it goes without saying - Jesus wants this same approach for us.

Second is the

I’m Here to Feel It

Mindset. This isn’t the same as above.

In this mindset, church, our connections with the body - it’s all about feeling that amazing rush.

When a worship service goes great, and you can just cut through the Spirit with a knife it’s so thick.

But in those every other times - maybe you don’t feel that emotional high quite so strong, or someone does something that seems disruptive and it ‘ruins the mood’ - we disconnect and we move on to another place that can replicate that emotion for us.

We call this ‘spiritual high seeking’.

Romans 12:1 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Look at stories in the new testament. What brought the early church joy. Peter and the other apostles get arrested for preaching.

The Sanhedrin debates what to do with them, deciding to let them go - but not without a figurative (and literal) lashing.

Acts 5:40–41 (NIV)

They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

And it goes without saying - Jesus wants this same approach for us.

How wild is that? Imagine if that was our concept of church attendance? I rejoice the more i’m able to suffer.

I feel like we’d have a lot more people in the front rows if that were the case.

But did we notice something here - that the foil in both cases is that

In the body of Christ, it’s better to give than to receive

And this is what powerfully motivated the early church. And we know this, because they straight up told us.

Acts 20:35 NIV

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

So this is our second conviction as THE church.

I need to give.

There are three primary areas that we need to be taking a giving mindset:

Our Time, Our Talents, and Our Treasures

The first thing is our time.

Jesus wants us to take the right priorities in regards to our time

This is a loaded statement, and there’s a lot to it.

When it comes to our time,

We make time for what we value most

Luke 12:34 NIV

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

See, we would teach that opposite. Whatever you decide - that’s what you value. Where you want your heart to be, that’s where we’d put our treasures right?

But jesus says - we chase after the things we value.

You may not feel like you have 15 minutes to get out of your house and just go outside and take a walk, but you’d sure find the time if your house was on fire.

The phrase ‘I don’t have time’ really translates to ‘I have a list of priorities, and this isn’t high enough’.

So if we have a giving mindset, when it comes to our time, if we find ourselves constantly saying, ‘oh I just don’t have enough time to do anything’, then what we REALLY need to ask ourselves is

How can we shift our priorities?

Now don’t get me wrong - this is about the person who doesn’t have enough time to do anything. We also need to resist that feeling that we have to do EVERYTHING.

God made the world in 6 days, then HE took a break. Do we really think that God thought, oh ya, I only need to take 6 days to make the entire cosmos, but joe over here, I really need HIM to do all 7.

But how do we shift our priorities if we think that we don’t have enough time to give to God’s mission on earth?

Ephesians 5:15–17 NIV

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

The big question to ask ourselves is this - with each thing we do, what kingdom are we working towards? What thing are we looking to build up?

Do we not have enough time for serving, but we can blast through an entire season of our favourite TV show each week? Do we not have enough time to read the bible, but we have enough to read our favourite fiction books? Has it been a while since we’ve opened the doors of the church, but count the days until we can open the doors of our camp?

What things do we do that are just for us? And how much do we do those things? Rest is good - nothing but rest is bad. Entertainment is good - nothing but entertainment is bad.

The second thing is our talents.

Every one of us is called to serve a ministry

This doesn’t automatically mean that everyone is called to be a pastor, or to lead kids ministry, or to sing on worship.

But every one of us has a function that we have been called by God to play in terms of serving His kingdom.

1 Peter 4:10 NIV

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Jesus wants us to focus on what we CAN do - not what we CAN’T do

Sometimes, we count ourselves out because we may not see in ourselves ‘the greater gifts’. Preaching may be miles away from your gifting. You can’t carry a note to save your life. You’re just not a person that can shake every person’s hand and remember every person’s name.

But what can you do? Can you bake? We serve treats every single week here at the church, and they’re generally always store bought. (STORY - I made bacon cookies for my youth group once) Do you know how much of an impact your gift could have on our church?

1 Corinthians 12:15–19 NIV

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?

Are you a hospitable person? Invite someone out for lunch. Do you know how to crochet? We have a few adorable babies in the church, and a women’s shelter just down the road. Do you love to just run around with kids? Our tuesday night kids program is absolutely swamped with them, and we need more people.

But every time you walk through these doors, say to yourself,

I have something I can do - and I need to do it

This is an essential part of our experience of being the body of Christ. The deep conviction that we all have something we CAN do - so we NEED to.

The third thing is our treasures

Worship that costs us nothing isn’t worship

There’s not an easy way to say that.

STORY - the Lord wants David to build an altar o the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Araunah offers him everything - the floor, the wood, the oxen to slaughter, everything.

2 Samuel 24:24 NIV

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

And to be clear, yes, this is partially about tithing.

We believe in tithing

Tithing = 10%.

But this doesn’t come from a legalistic perspective.

Jesus blasted the pharisees about their legalistic approach to giving.

Matthew 23:23 NIV

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Jesus for sure said, the point of this - things like justice, mercy, faithfulness, they’re all more important than tithing. But still - do both.

And tithing comes with a challenge from God.

Malachi 3:10 NIV

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.

We believe that’s part of our job as the church - to give money to the work of the church. You see this in the NT - Paul going around, multiple times, collecting money to help out other people.

But beyond just tithing, we believe that

We are meant to use our possessions to take care of the people around us

Acts 4:32–35 NIV

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

Could you imagine that? If you genuinely thought your stuff was not your own - it was God’s, and the body’s? What would the world look like?

Somebody needs a car - well, I’m happy walking to work for a few weeks, borrow mine. Someone else in the church can’t afford groceries - a few people gather and bless their socks off. Someone doesn’t have enough money - I can spare some.

There are so many different examples. But here’s the thing - we ALL want to see the Lord provide for someone in need. How many of us are willing to sacrifice to make sure it happens?

You think that’s a little too bold? Talk to James.

James 2:15–16 NIV

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

James literally says, what good are your words if you won’t act?

And here’s the key to all of this, and I mentioned it earlier, so I hope you really appreciate the depth of this statement:

It is more blessed to give than to receive

Whatever blessing you have felt coming to receive - and I don’t knock people who are in need. God gives much more to us than we could EVER manage to give out, so we’re definitely on the receiving end of this relationship.

But whatever kind of awesome experience you’ve had from a posture of receiving - you will get more out of giving.

Whatever way a worship service has blessed you, you will receive even more blessing through sacrifice. Whatever way God has blessed you with treasures, you’ll see an even greater blessing as you use them for his kingdom.

Even something as simple as tithing - God says, try me. You give and see how much more I can give.

But this is the kind of blessed life that God really wanted us to live. Not one that’s been blessed with lots of stuff for ourselves.

But one that’s been blessed with lots of opportunities to use our time, our talents, and our treasures, towards His kingdom.

If we really want to take our faith, our walk with God seriously, we’ll cherish this statement and take it home with us - ‘We need to give’.

So, I’ll ask you:

What do you need to give?

I don’t want people leaving here nodding their heads and going, oh ya, great sermon, very well thought out. Nice powerpoint.

This is what I want us to reflect on - how can we give? What has the Lord given us that He wants us to use for Him? What need could we fill?