New Believers Class

Sacrifice

Areas of Sacrifice:

Personal dedication

Time

Tithes and offerings

Outreach and missions

Fasting

Introduction: Why is Sacrifice necessary for Christian living? (To explain the why, I would like to look at two of my favorite verses)

The Bible is clear, Jesus sacrificially gave His life for us

Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service”.

Reflecting on Gods redeeming work in our life, should stir us to be a living sacrifice, which is reasonable

Reflect on the mercies of God (Thankful that I am saved and a new creation in Christ)

Chapter 1 of Ephesians lays out all that God has done for us (Blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places)

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me”.

Following Christ must involve sacrifice (The NLT says, you must be willing to give up your own way)

Deny yourself (The fleshly desires)

Die to self (New creation)

Follow Me or follow the example of Christ (Daily, no time off or cheat day:)

I was a Christian for many years and I struggled to become the New Creation that God calls us to become

I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my own way to follow Christ.

The moment I surrendered to the Lord, He radically changed my life

1. Personal Dedication: Daily devotions, prayer, fellowship, and serving

a) Daily Devotions: (Spirituals Growth)

Systematic reading of the N.T & O.T help us to understand God’s character, plan, and purpose for our lives

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NLT “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

Reading and meditating on the Word:

Meditation: Pondering the word in our hearts, preaching it to our souls and personally applying to our lives and circumstances

**We are all preachers to an audience of one (Preach the word to yourself throughout the day)

A time of reflection and hearing from the Lord

Our marching orders for the day

b) Prayer:

Is our opportunity to praise God and communicate with Him

Prayer doesn’t change the mind of God, but rather aligns our heart with His will

The model prayer (Matt 6:5-14)

Praise God with a thankful heart

Pray the Lords will be done

Ask for daily provisions

Ask for forgiveness, as we

forgive others

Deliverance from temptation

Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.”

**Christian duty to intercede on behalf of others, such as; The universal church, our leaders, and for Israel

Men’s prayer Sunday night and intercessory prayer Sunday morning

c) Fellowship: Confess our sin, accountability, pray for and strengthen one another

Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”

Proverbs 17:17 “A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.”

Join a home Bible study, men come to men’s breakfast, women can get involved with women’s ministry

Christianity is not to be done alone, God designed us for fellowship with Him and with others

d) Servanthood:

To know God and make Him known

We are called to sacrifice our time, to serve Christ with the gifts He has given us

Remember we’re called to be a living sacrifice

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”.

Zechariah 4:6 “It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

The Christian must remember their “Eternal purpose”

2. Tithes and offerings:

a) Tithing is an O.T concept and was a requirement of the law in which the Israelites were to give 10 percent of the crops they grew and the livestock they raised, according to, Lev 27:30; Num 18:26; Deut 14:22-24; 2 Chronicles 31:5).

The O.T required multiple tithes, one for the Levites, one for the temple and the feasts, and one for the poor, which pushed the total to 23.3%

However, Christ fulfilled the law / Not under the law

b) An offering is that which is freely given by Christians to the work of the Lord, the local church, and/or ministries and missions

Called to be a living sacrifice in every way (Time, money, and property)

c) N.T Examples of giving (Give with pure motives)

1 Corinthians 16:2 “On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.”

2 Corinthians 9:7 “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

c) For me, tithing is act of sacrifice and obedience

**I can remember my first time tithing and it was difficult

My wife and I use the 10 percent model, plus random offerings as led

There was a period of life where we didn’t make enough money to pay our bills, but we continued to tithe

God was faithful and we never went without

3. Outreach & Missions: (Know God and make Him known)

a) Outreach: Is going outside the church to minister to the unsaved or bringing the unsaved into the church

Outreach to Children, Vacation Bible School (VBS)

Prison Ministry

Military Ministry

Youth Ministry (Wednesdays night youth group is somewhat of an outreach for us)

Fun in the sun

Bible study at work place

Youth Sports ( My son plays football and it has become somewhat of an outreach)

b) Missions: “The Great Commission”

Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

-The point of missions and missionaries is to make disciples of all nations

Jesus sends us to all people groups, to every ethnic culture without a gospel witness

Short term / long term missions

Different ways to support international missions, such as, being a missionary, providing financially, supporting through prayer

We are all called to Missions:

Christian missions, however, is not limited to international ministry. While believers should faithfully support those who go to the unreached on foreign soil, all Christians have the mission to share Christ on the home field with family, friends, coworkers, and the community

-My mission field at one time was my neighborhood.

-We were living in SoCal in a mobile home park, which the houses were on top of each other

-During Covid, God really used us to minister to the neighbors

4. Fasting:

The purpose of fasting should be to take our eyes off the things of this world to focus completely on God

Fasting helps us gain a new perspective and a new reliance upon God

Fasting changes us, not God. Fasting is not a way to appear more spiritual than others. Fasting is to be done in a spirit of humility and a joyful attitude

Biblical examples:

Fasting before important decision (Acts 13:2;14:23)

Often times fasting and prayer are linked together (Luke 2:37,5:33)

Fasting is done in secret and is not used to drawl attention to yourself (Matt 6:16-18)

Different ways to fast:

If your diabetic, may not be wise to go without food, try going without t.v, cell phone or something meaningful to you