Giving as a Powerful Act of Worship
Ignition: Worship as Fuel For a Life of Power • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 48:19
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Giving is an act of Worship that adds power to life.
I. Giving as an act of worship
1. Magnifies God’s character: God is a giver
Life -
Genesis 2:7
Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
New Life: Salvation
John 3:16
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All good things
James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
When we give we are living according to the Imago Dei When we fail to give, we are living according to the Imago Hominum
2. Obedience to God’s command to give
Proverbs 3:9
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops...”
3. Demonstrates Trust and dependence on God
Proverbs 3:10
...then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
4. An offering of Gratitude
Psalm 116:12
How can I repay the Lord for all the good he has done for me?
5. Giving is itself a form of worship
18 But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
II. How giving provides power for living
17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, 19 storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.
Grounds your faith in God rather than yourself
1 Timothy 6:17a
17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God…
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God,...
Empowers you to enjoy the good things in life without the good things owning you.
1 Timothy 6:17b
17 …who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.
...who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.
Keeps things in perspective
17 You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ 18 but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth…
You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ **18** but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth
Empowers you to become a conduit through which God’s provision flows.
18 Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, 19 storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.
Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, **19** storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.
8 And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.
And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.
Result: JOY
Acts 20:35
Paul to Ephesian Elders: In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
III. Principles for giving
A. Where to give
To the Church
For the funding of ministry, the care of the staff and upkeep of the house.
Biblical Foundation:
10 Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,” says the Lord of Armies. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.
Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,” says the Lord of Armies. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.
17 The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, The worker is worthy of his wages.
The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”
13 Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar?
Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.
6 Let the one who is taught the word share all his good things with the teacher.
Let the one who is taught the word share all his good things with the teacher.
Staff turns right around and gives our offering to the “storehouse” as well.
I don't tell you to do what I'm unwilling to do.
To the Brothers
1 John 3:17,
If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer[I] in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him?
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is
dead by itself.
To the poor
B. How to give
1. Willingly and joyfully
8 And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.
Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.
2. Regularly
2 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.
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.
3. Proportionately
2 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.
17 Everyone must appear with a gift suited to his means, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you.
_“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.”
4. Generously
7 Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.
The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.
5. Sacrificially
Mark 12:41-44
Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. 43 Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. **44** For they all gave out of
their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had —all she had to live on.”
2 During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord,
During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord
6. Kingdom-mindedly
19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.
“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures[I] on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
