Reasons for Giving

Stewardship Series: Reasons for Giving

Reasons for Giving

Matthew 6:19-21

Theme: God gives us two reasons for giving.

Welcome again to Stewardship Days! As we go Back to Basics, we are learning the basics of everyday life principles. If you are first time guest, welcome to our church. We are thrilled to have you attending today. It would be our honor to connect with you if you would be so kind as to fill out a connection card.

The very first lesson we learned about stewardship is we are to surrender everything we have to the Lord. This means our possessions, our children, and even our personal lives to Him. He owns everything and our hearts are to surrender to Him.

The lesson we will learn today and this evening is the reason we are to surrender all these things to Him. Why would God want us to give it all back to Him?

This morning, we will look at two reasons what we should give and tonight we will see two more reasons.

God has one supreme and main concern for your life. It is found in the Old Testament:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5)

God wants us to love Him first and foremost. He wants you to love Him before your job, before your possessions, before your family, before your hobbies, before your career. He is to be supreme, first and foremost. Every minute and every day in our lives belong to Him. He wants to be first place in our thoughts, in our desires, and in our decisions.

We are to love Him completely, unreservedly, and absolutely. God is more concerned about this than the car we drive, the job we have, or the bank account we own. Our relationship with God should be our most important concern. What is your relationship with Him?

If you have never personally put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, that is the starting place. That is the beginning place with God. The Bible is abundantly clear that our relationship begins when we realize we are sinners and our relationship with God needs reconciliation. The only way we can be right with God is accepting Jesus Christ who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again.

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (John 1:12)

As a believer in Jesus Christ, He is our Savior and orders our lives according to His will. He teaches us the values and desires of this world is counter to the God’s will and God’s desire.

In this world, the driving force is to “get” all you can get. However, in the Christian life the opposite is true. It means we surrender all to Him. When we surrender, He teaches us to give.

The first reason we are to give:

1. The example of Christ

The Bible teaches us Jesus came to not only die for us but to be an example on how to live the Christian life.

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:” (1 Peter 2:21)

This is in the context of living a holy, God-honoring life. Jesus give us an example on living.

It is easy to admire a person we can physically see. We may look at an artist, or a musician and admire their ability to play or sing music. In fact, we would have a tendency to want to follow their example and be like them. However, human examples fail because we are sinners and we don’t always make right choices.

Jesus is the Perfect Son of God. He is perfect in every aspect of His life. The Bible teaches us that Jesus was the ultimate Giver

“I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:8–9)

He left heaven to come to earth as a poor carpenter. He gave everything so that we can be rich. Our riches is not in this world but in the world to come. God enables us as believers in Christ to be joint heirs with Christ.

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8:16–17)

Wonder how your life would be if you were added to Elon Musk’s bank account? What if you were to be added as a joint owner of His account? He is currently worth: 194.8 billion dollars. You would be given the privileges of using this bank account as you want.

Jesus says all of His people are rich because through His poverty we were made rich. We are rich in God’s blessings, God’s forgiveness, God’s mercy, God’s goodness, and God’s peace. The richest people in the world are not those who have money but those who have Christ as their personal Savior.

A believer has something money cannot buy. Benjamin Franklin “Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.”

Money can buy medicine, but it cannot buy health. Money can buy a house but it cannot buy a home. Money can buy companionship but not love. Money can buy a bed but it cannot buy sleep. Money can buy expensive watches but it cannot buy time. Money can buy knowledge, but it cannot buy wisdom. Money can buy food but not an appetite.

It is interesting that God gave me an African Grey parrot thirty two years ago and I still have her. Birds have natural instincts I had to learn. You would buy food for her, fill her bowl, and she would always eat some of it and throw the rest on the cage floor. I studied it out to find that birds will eat fruit and nuts in tree and drop food on the ground. The ground animals woul be able to eat the food the birds dropped. God’s provision.

Think about all the things we are given by Christ because of what He did for us by dying on the cross. When He asks us to give, we are giving out of His resources and not our resources.

In just a few days our building banquet will be coming this Friday March 8 at 6:30 PM located at the Bear Valley Country Club. There will be great food buffet, there will be great music, and a great time of giving to the Lord.

If you cannot attend due to finances, see Bryan or one of the deacons. They will give you a ticket. On that night we are asking God to give us enough to break ground for the start of the parking lot on the south side of the building. We are in immediate need of parking spaces and as we refocus our attention to these needs, we are asking God to direct us. Our focus is narrowing down to a much smaller portion than we originally started with.

Here is a picture of the plot and the area in which we are focusing on this year.

We also have a video for you to get a visual on the area.

As the city approves the start of this area, we will start the improvement.

There are three ways to give:

One time offering, 90-day commitment, and a one-year commitment.

You may give by cash, check, or online giving. You may give items of value like stocks, bonds, or coins. Some may give a portion of a tax return or you may have something of value you can give to God. This is no pressure on my part, this is simply making suggestions as God directs.

Jesus taught much on giving throughout His ministry because He is the perfect example of giving.

The second reason for giving

2. The investment in eternity

As Jesus was teaching the basics of life to His listeners, his lesson focused on the internal heart and values of the individual. Have you checked your heart and its values?

We are not to build our lives for earthly treasures. They can be alluring and they can be deceiving. Things and money can rob you of your relationship with Christ. There is certainly nothing wrong with having nice things provided they are in their proper place.

Believers struggle to learn that giving to God and to His work is not a burden, it is an investment. We are to give 10% of our income to God. When you give to God, you are placing your values in eternal things. Giving of our tithe is the bottom floor of our giving. This should not be the end but the minimum we give. We may have to adjust our lifestyle so we can give our tithe to God. Many people who get saved later in life struggle because they have been taught to build treasures here. So they have focused their attention, heart, and energy on present. However, God is teaching here our focus should be on the eternal.

Jesus was teaching to put our values in the proper place. It is amazing when the world builds a football stadium, the money they sink into it. SoFi stadium in LA is one of the most amazing sports stadiums in the world. Absolutely gorgeous and the video and audio technology is second to none. The cost for this facility is more than $5.5 billion.

It is funny how people will say, “well it is worth it or the Rams sure needed it.” In fact, one of the reasons the Oakland Raiders weren’t happy in Oakland was because they would not build them a new stadium. When you build a church, we think it should be cheap. I don’t believe it should be opulent or over-priced or beyond the means of the congregation, but it should be the best it can be for the Lord.

Whether we give to a church building, a missionary project, or a Bible college to train preachers for the gospel, it is certainly an investment for eternity.

Jesus had more in mind than money, He was talking about our hearts. How are we managing our time or are we wasting our time? Where are we placing our values? The world may value things or money, whereas the Christian should value getting the gospel to the souls of men. Or personal discipleship or helping our children get to church or working on the bus ministry.

There is nothing wrong with sports and recreation but our value should be on the eternal. You would be surprised to realize how many wealthy people gave to God first.

LeTourneau who was the early founder of earth moving machines gave 90% of his salary to the work of God and lived on 10%. JL Kraft head of the Kraft cheese corporation gave about 25% of his income to the Lord. “The only investment I ever made which has paid consistently increasing dividends is the money I have given to the Lord.”

John D. Rockefeller was work $340 billion which is four times the net worth of Jeff Bezos. He was a dedicated Christian and he said, “tithing is a must for me. . . God over everything for me.”

Jesus is teaching God over everything. Why should I give?

Because Jesus showed us the example of giving and because it is an investment in eternity.

If you are here today and have never accepted Christ, will you receive Him today as your personal Savior? Since Jesus gave His life for you by dying on the cross, will you give your life to Him by accepting Him as your Savior?

If you are a Christian, where are your treasures? Jesus taught here where our treasures are, that is where our heart will go. Perhaps your desires have led to place all your trust in this world. Will you say today, “Dear God, I want to stop seeking the wrong treasures and focus my treasure on heavenly things? When I give my money to God, I am placing my value on heavenly things.