Love God, not money
Living in God's Household (1 Timothy) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 38:16
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Notes
Transcript
Planning
Planning
Passage
Passage
These are the things you are to teach and insist on. 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.
Passage structure
Passage structure
Unhealthy teaching leads to unhealthy living and destruction (1 Tim 6:2b-10)
Sound teaching (v. 2b)
Bad teaching leads to bad living (vv. 3-5)
A focus on financial gain (v. 5)
Sound teaching about money (vv. 6-8)
The love of money leads to destruction (vv. 9-10)
Fight the good fight (1 Tim 6:11-16)
Fight the good fight (vv. 11-12)
Keep the command spotless (vv. 13-14)
Praise of God (vv. 15-16)
Command the rich to do good and be generous (1 Tim 6.17-19)
Commands to the rich (vv. 17-18)
The results of the good deeds (v. 19)
Conclusion (1 Tim 6.20-21)
Warnings (vv. 20-21a)
Grace (v. 21b)
Big stuff
Big stuff
Big idea: True life is found in Jesus, not money.
Fallen condition focus: People try to find fulfilment in money.
Good news statement: True life is found in Jesus.
Big question: How should we use our money?
Sermon structure
Sermon structure
Intro
Money is a taboo topic
[Pray]
Sermon structure
1, Loving money
Remembering that money fits into a broader framework:
Good teaching leads to good living / bad teaching leads to bad living (vv. 2b-5)
Zooming in to money (v. 5)
Good teaching leads to good living -> eternal perspective leads to contentment (vv. 6-8)
Challenge to have an eternal perspective and to be content
Personal anecdotes
Bad teaching leads to bad living -> believing that riches will give you a fulfilling life results in greed, harmful desires, and ruin and destruction (vv. 9-10)
Misquoting 1 Tim 6:10 - not ‘money is the root of all evil’
Money can be used for lots of good (generosity in point 3)
Generic stories of people who try to get rich and hurt themselves for it
Christians who have walked away from the faith because of money
Big challenge for us since we need money to survive and our society tells you that money will lead you to a satisfying life
$100 note and skipping church -> work pulling us away from church, home group, Bible reading and prayer
The danger -> abandoning the faith to gain a lot of money but end up in eternal death
A wake-up call to some people that their love of money is pulling you away
Transition: What should we love instead of money?
2, Loving God
Love God
Identity: man of God (v. 11)
We belong to God
If you’re a Christian, you are a man or woman of God. Remember who you are helps you to live out your identity.
Four commands (not two sides of the same coin but four sides of a tetrahedron)
11 But you, man of God,
flee from all this,
and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
12 Fight the good fight of the faith.
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
All different aspects of the same thing: loving God
Flee - things that pull us away from God
Pursue - things of God
Fight - temptations that pull us away from loving God
Take hold - eternal life with God
A very important commandment (vv. 13-14)
Very important: before God, before Jesus, with the good confession in mind
John 18:37 “37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.””
Why it’s so important: eternal life when Jesus returns (v. 14)
Not a work that earns us eternal life
But about holding on to the faith
Faith in Jesus who earns us eternal life
The greatness of God means we attribute all honour and might to him (vv. 15-16)
Transition: That includes our money
3, Loving God with your money
“rich”
Lots of Canberrans don’t think of themselves as rich because they compare themselves to people around them.
https://ourworldindata.org/poverty-growth-needed - “85% of the world live on less than $30 per day”
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/personal-income-australia/latest-release - 2022-23 “The Australian Capital Territory recorded the highest median total income ($75,643)”
(Don’t use) https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/snapshot-act-2021 - “In the ACT, the median weekly income was $1,203 for individuals (INCP) and $2,872 for families (FINF) in 2021.”
Basic privileges like going to Coles or Woollies to buy food; people away on holiday
Pointing this out not because it’s a bad thing, but so that we know how to apply this and not to discount it
It’s not a bad thing; it’s even applied to God
God’s love towards us and its implications
1 Timothy 6:17b “… God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
v. 17 - not to be arrogant
v. 17 - not to put their hope in wealth but in God
v. 18 - generosity
Be generous
Caveat about giving to church not affecting my pay
Tim wants to add to what he said last week since some people were concerned
M&M guidelines
CoM budget and ACM and stepping out
Increasing in church giving doesn’t increase how much I get paid
Saying this because it’s in this passage
This is a real challenge in today’s culture of materialism
Are you generous? Bank account, church stats (70 households gave in Nov out of 126 households; average giving compared to average income)
Bible overview
To church - last week in 1 Timothy 5 and last year in 1 Corinthians 9
To others as well - hampers, Emma’s MTS, Alex at FOCUS
2 Corinthians 8:11-12 - “according to what one has”
Privately: Matthew 6:3–4 “3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
OT tithe
What to do
Commit to being generous
Budget
Give to church (info in the weekly email or website)
Give to others when the opportunity arise
Why - gospel generosity (1 Tim 6.19)
Not the prosperity gospel
Not about the outcomes for the church, but about expressing faith
Salvation is only through faith in Jesus
1 Timothy 1:15 “15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”
Call to non-Christians to repent, not to give
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross - Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
If you are a Christian who is able to be generous, then generosity is a natural expression of that faith.
In other words, the greedy person lays up treasure on earth (investment properties, stocks, etc.) because they think true life is found in wealth. But the Christian lays up treasure in heaven (faith in Jesus, leading to good works and generosity), because they know that true life is found in Jesus.
The end of the 1 Timothy series (1 Tim 6.20-21)
Acknowledge the end of the series
v. 20a - we should guard what’s been entrusted to us, because good teaching leads to good living
vv. 20b-21 - we too need to be careful
Information about church giving
Information about church giving
From Chris Wansink, 02/12/2025
How many people are giving regularly?
There are 163 offerings per month, some are weekly, some are fortnight and some monthly. There are 45 offering (either weekly, fortnightly or monthly) that can be identified to a person/family, with the remainder having a generic description in the bank extract so they can't be attributed accurately
What is the percentage increase in giving compared to last year?
for the first 11 months of 2024 Offering was $333,819
for the first 11 months of 2025 Offering was $374,603
an increase of 12.22%
Where does most of our giving come from? (E.g., 40% of our giving comes from 10 families)
We determined not to share this and because of the number of anonymous donation would be hard to be clear
What is the median giving per giver?
Median is $120
Average is $208
Note, that offerings can be weekly, fortnightly or Monthly and there are also some offerings that have been a one off and include a single donation of $11k made in January . There are other one of donations
Here is a summary by month of the number of offerings
Month (2025) Number of Offerings
January 169
February 148
March 172
April 154
May 158
June 165
July 176
August 165
September 170
October 164
November 160
Average 164
From Chris Wansink, 08/12/2025
November:
# of offerings 160
Total given $ 30,445.62
Median $ 120.00
Average $ 190.29
Givers per month 70
Average $ 434.94
Number of households = 46 (Elvanto: primary contact) + 83 (Elvanto: no family) - 3 (adults still in the same household) = 126
Feedback with Tim
Feedback with Tim
12/12/2025 after first draft of points 1 and 2
Improve
Point 1: Add in verse 6 to show that it’s a corrective… use it as a transition to healthy teaching
Point 1: Longer application on repentance
Point 2: Longer application on what it looks like to love God
Point 2: Replace pokie machines with betting apps
Sermon
Sermon
Intro
Intro
[Hello and introduce self]
This morning, I’m going to be preaching about God and money.
Money is sometimes a taboo topic.
People have strong opinions about money.
Money is very personal.
But I’m going to spend a good portion of this morning talking about money because the passage talks about money.
It’s a passage I need to understand as I think about my own money.
It’s a passage we all need to understand as we think about our money.
So let’s ask God for his help as we dive into this tricky topic.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you that you are a God who loves us and is so generous to us.
Help us now to understand 1 Timothy 6.
Help us to see money as you see it, not as the world sees it.
And we pray that you would deepen our love for you, not money, and that we would use our money for your glory.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
We’ll learn from the passage this morning under three points.
1, Loving money
2, Loving God
3, Loving God with your money
Loving money
Loving God
Loving God with your money
Let’s start with point 1.
Loving money.
1, Loving money
1, Loving money
Well as we think about money, we need to remember that money fits into a broader framework.
Every issue fits into a broader framework.
Throughout 1 Timothy, Paul has been emphasising that healthy teaching (that’s teaching that is true and sound) - healthy teaching leads to healthy living.
That’s why he tells Timothy to teach and insist on these things.
[Don’t read]
2 … These are the things you are to teach and insist on.
Healthy teaching leads to healthy living.
The flipside is true as well.
Harmful teaching leads to harmful living.
[Don’t read]
3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
The harmful teaching that Paul mentions here is teaching that disagrees with the gospel.
Teaching that disagrees with what Jesus has said.
Teaching that values controversies and quarrels.
Harmful teaching leads to harmful living.
And here, that harmful teaching leads to various kinds of harmful living.
Envy, strife, malicious talk, and so on.
And Paul uses this to transition to a harmful perspective of money.
We’ve got the broader framework down and we’ll now zoom in to money.
That’s at the end of verse 5.
[Don’t read]
5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
There are people who think that “godliness is a means to financial gain”.
Well remember our broader framework?
It’s good to start off with the healthy teaching that leads to healthy living.
And that’s what Paul does in verses 6 and 7.
[Don’t read]
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
Paul shows us healthy living.
It’s the godly and content life.
And that healthy living is grounded in healthy teaching.
It’s the eternal perspective.
See, we can work really hard and earn a lot of money.
We can use that money to buy property, cars, whatever...
But none of that can be taken with us when we die.
That’s how Paul can be content.
He doesn’t need more things because he can’t keep any of it.
And he doesn’t need more things because he’s certain that he will be with Jesus forever when he dies.
That’s why in verse 8, Paul is content when he has just the basics.
8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
I find this verse quite challenging.
There have been times in my life when I can say this verse out loud and really mean it.
Other times, I forget eternity and focus on the now.
I get worried about how much money I’ll need in the future.
I compare myself with those around me.
And I become dissatisfied.
What about you?
If you have food and clothing, are you content?
If you’re like me and you’re sometimes unhappy with what you have, then we must remember what the healthy teaching is.
No material possessions, no amount of money in our bank accounts will stay with us when we die.
When we understand that, then we focus on what’s truly important.
True life, which can be found only in Jesus.
If our dicontentment drives us to want more, then Paul gives us a warning as well.
It’s the harmful teaching that leads to harmful living.
The wrong way of viewing money.
What’s the wrong way of viewing money?
It’s believing that lots of money will lead to a fulfilling life.
The big, harmful lie is that riches bring about true happiness and fulfilment.
Don’t get me wrong.
Having a bit more money often does make life easier.
Buying more things does bring temporary happiness.
Living the rich life does make life comfortable in the short term.
But money never brings true, lasting fulfilment.
Only Jesus can.
When people believe the harmful lie that money brings true, lasting fulfilment, they chase it.
They want to get rich.
And harmful teaching leads to harmful living.
Let’s read verses 9 and 10.
9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Verse 10 is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible.
People say that “money is the root of all evil”.
That’s not what the Bible says.
Because it’s not money itself that’s evil.
We’ll see in point 3 that money can be used for good.
What does the Bible say?
It’s the love of money that’s the issue.
People who love money hurt those around them.
But it seems to me that the emphasis in these verses is that people who love money hurt themselves.
It’s the parent who has a decent income but wants even more, who spends all their time in the office, only to find out that their marriage has broken down and their family has left them.
It’s the person who is hooked on the poker machines and gambles all their money away.
It’s the person who no one wants to spend time with because they’re always unhappy.
Always unhappy because they never have enough.
Greed leads all kinds of people to ruin and destruction.
Even worse, there’s a particular danger for Christians.
True life can only be found in Jesus.
And the love of money has pulled people away from Jesus.
I have here a $100 note.
What if I said to you that I’ll give it to you on one condition?
What if I said to you that you can have it if you skip church next Sunday?
If someone gave me that offer, I would be tempted to take it.
Money is important.
Surely just one Sunday away from church isn’t that big a deal.
Some people do say yes to these sorts of offers.
They aren’t here with us because they’re at work.
They haven’t recently spent time in the Bible or in prayer because they’re spending time in the office.
The big danger for them is they might walk away from the faith.
Eventually, they might walk away from Jesus.
Perhaps they end up becoming rich.
But they have cut themselves off from the one who gives them true life.
As Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)
For some of you, this is a wake-up call.
You can see how your desire for more money is pulling you away from Jesus.
If that’s you, repent.
Give yourself a reality check about how money can never provide true fulfilment and happiness.
Remind yourself that only in Jesus is there true fulfilment and happiness.
Turn away from loving money and turn towards loving God instead.
In fact, all of us should be intentional about loving God.
That’s point 2.
2, Loving God
2, Loving God
Loving God.
In verses 11 to 16, Paul wants Timothy to love God.
And he helps Timothy to love God by reminding Timothy of who he is.
It’s at the start of verse 11.
[Don’t read]
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
Timothy is a man of God.
And as a man of God, he should love God.
It’s a reminder we all need as well.
If you are a Christian, you are a man or woman of God.
God is your heavenly Father and you belong to him.
He has created you.
He has saved your from your sin.
And so your whole life is now about loving him.
And we see this in the commands to Timothy as well.
In verses 11 and 12, there are four commands.
[Don’t read]
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
At first glance, these seem like four separate commands.
But they’re actually all just different aspects of the same thing.
They’re all different parts about loving God.
The first aspect of loving God is fleeing things that shift our love to other things.
The second is about pursuing the things of God.
The third is about working hard to love God.
Fighting the temptations that pull us away from God.
And the fourth is the result of loving God.
Loving God is the expression of faith in Jesus.
And it’s only through faith in Jesus that someone can have eternal life.
It’s all about a command to love God.
Now, is this just another command?
We’ve seen lots of commands in our 1 Timothy series.
Commands about false teachers.
Command about men and women.
Commands about elders.
And so on.
But I suspect that this command, the command to love God, is the most important command in the letter.
It’s not just that Jesus says that loving God is the greatest commandment.
No, it’s here in the passage.
In verses 13 and 14, that Paul calls upon the presence of God and Jesus.
And Paul recalls what Jesus told Pilate.
Jesus said that he was a king and he testifies to the truth.
(That’s John 18:37.)
And the command to love God is something to be kept for the entirety of Timothy’s life.
This command is the heaviest out of all the commands in the letter.
Let’s feel that weight as we read verses 13 and 14.
13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul is emphatic that Timothy must love God.
What about you?
How are you going at loving God?
In other words:
Are you fleeing from temptations that pull you away from God?
Are you pursuing instead the things of God?
Are you fighting the good fight?
Are you taking holding of eternal life?
God should be number one in your life.
Your love for God should be greater than your love for yourself.
Your love for God should be greater than your love for your spouse.
Your family.
Your work.
Your money.
If God isn’t number one in your life, if you’ve made something else number one, please take this as encouragement to come back to him.
God is our loving Father who continues to show us grace even when we turn away from him.
Part of that grace includes giving us these good commands so that we would know what’s important.
He is important.
And part of that grace is helping us know why God is so important.
Why is God the one who deserves our love the most?
Well it’s what Paul says in verses 15 and 16.
It’s about who God is.
Let’s read verses 15 and 16.
15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
Do you see what Paul’s saying?
God is the greatest ever.
God is the one who rules the whole universe.
He is sovereign over all authorities.
He is infinite.
And he loves us.
The start of verse 15 is talking about God bringing about the return of Jesus.
God will usher in the new age when all his people will be with him forever.
That’s the eternal life that Timothy and all of us are called to take hold of.
All of this makes God worthy of our love.
Worthy of everything.
And if God deserves our love in every part of our lives, then he deserves our love with our money as well.
So we’re at point 3.
3, Loving God with your money
3, Loving God with your money
Loving God with your money.
Verses 17 to 19 bring commands to the rich.
[Don’t read]
17 Command those who are rich ...
So this section isn’t as directly applicable to the poor.
So how do you know whether these commands apply to you?
Well lots of Canberrans don’t think of themselves as rich.
I suspect it’s because they compare themselves with people around them.
But what if we look at the bigger picture?
What if we look on the gobal scale?
From an organisation called ‘Our World in Data’:
“85% of the world live on less than $30 per day”
https://ourworldindata.org/poverty-growth-needed
Converting that to per month:
85% of the world live on less than $900 per month
Let’s compare that with the ACT.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the median total income of someone in the ACT is $75,643 a year.
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/personal-income-australia/latest-release
That’s $6303 per month.
The truth is… on a global scale, most of us are rich.
We’re very rich.
I’m not saying this as a bad thing.
It’s just so that we know that these commands in the passage do apply to us.
It’s not just for CEOs.
It’s for us.
There are lots of commands in this passage.
You could call them commands for healthy living.
And as you know, healthy living comes from healthy teaching.
It’s at the end of verse 17.
[Don’t read]
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
When we forget this, we can become arrogant.
We can think that our income is purely based on our own efforts.
So when we get paid well, when we’re rich, we think it’s because we’re great.
We become arrogant.
That’s why the end of verse 17 is so helpful.
When we know it’s God who provides, then it helps us to know our own role in making money.
We do work hard at their jobs and earn their pay.
And all of that fits under God’s provision.
God has provided us with this work and with the pay that we get.
When we forget God, we’re also tempted to put our hope in wealth.
Our world teaches us that wealth will make life better.
That life will be secure when we’re wealthy.
The reality is that wealth is uncertain.
The global financial situation is always changing.
And foolish financial decisions can result in huge losses as well.
We need something more certain.
God.
He is unchanging.
He always loves us.
He provides for us.
And he has ultimately provided for us in his son Jesus, by giving us eternal life.
Knowing God’s goodness also leads us to do good to others.
Knowing God’s generosity to us leads us to be generous to others.
I’m soon going to spend some time encouraging us to be generous.
But before I do that, I have to be clear that I’m not encouraging people to be generous so that I can get paid more.
Sadly that has happened in some churches.
Pastors have abused generosity to line their own pockets.
But in a Presbyterian church, a pastor’s stipend is constant regardless of how much people give.
Tim mentioned last week that the Presbyterian denomination puts out recommendations for a pastor’s stipend.
Tim told me later that he forgot to mention some allowances that we get as well.
And he’s asked me to include them today so that we can be fully transparent.
So here it is.
This is a pastor’s stipend in the Presbyterian denomination.
We also get allowances.
The travel allowance and the technology allowance are fixed.
The manse allowance is a housing allowance, and that’s calculated by appraising the cost of accommodation in the area.
I’m telling you all this because I want to be clear that my encouragement for all of us to be generous isn’t because I want to be paid more.
And if our church became extra generous, I wouldn’t get paid more.
I’m encouraging us to be generous because it’s in the passage.
[Don’t read]
Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
The rich must be generous and willing to share.
That’s a real challenge in today’s culture.
Our society tells us, “this is YOUR money that YOU worked for… YOU should spend it however YOU like.”
Our society is very materialistic.
It tells us, "Spend that money on yourself.”
"Buy those things that make you happy and fulfilled.”
But the Bible tells us that this money has been provided to us by GOD...
And we should use it to love GOD.
That includes being generous.
The Bible also gives us a few principles about how we should be generous.
Let me summarise those into five principles.
Firstly, we give to church.
We see that in passages like last week’s 1 Timothy 5 or last year’s 1 Corinthians 9.
Giving to church allows our church to make and grow disciples of Jesus Christ.
Secondly, we give to others, especially those in need.
Many people here have been generous with the Christmas hampers.
People are supporting Emma in her ministry apprenticeship and Alex with her ministry at the University of Canberra.
Thirdly, our giving is connected with how much we have.
2 Corinthians 8 instructs us to give according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
Even our 1 Timothy passage is commanding the rich to be generous, not the poor.
Fourthly, we can be guided but not restricted by the Old Testament tithe.
The Old Testament law required Israelites to give ten percent.
We aren’t under the Old Testament law.
The emphasis in the New Testament is to be generous according to what one has.
If we restrict ourselves to the Old Testament tithe, it actually limits our generosity.
That’s why many Christians use the Old Testament tithe as a guide.
They use ten percent as a minimum for their giving.
And fifthly, giving should be private.
Jesus says in Matthew 6 that our giving should be in secret.
With all that said, let me ask you a question.
Are you generous?
That can be hard to answer because it’s hard to quantify.
So let me give you some stats about our church that might help.
I asked Chris, our church treasurer, about giving to church.
And he gave me some information, with all the personal details removed.
Two things stood out to me.
One was how the proportion of people giving.
Chris estimated that 70 people or families gave to the church last month.
I estimate there are 126 family units who are regularly part of our church.
I’m using family unit because a family of two parents and two kids typically doesn’t give four times; they just give once.
And a person who’s single would count as one family unit.
According to these estimates, that’s around 56% of regulars who gave last month.
Perhaps some people aren’t in a position to give.
Perhaps some people don’t give every month but give once a year.
Perhaps some people moved church recently and want to give but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Lots of unknowns...
But around 56% of regulars gave last month.
The second thing that stood out to me was how much people were giving.
Chris estimates that the average giving for these 70 family units was around $435 in November.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that the median income for people in the ACT is $6303 per month.
Putting that together, those who gave last month gave around 6.9%.
Of course, giving to church isn’t the only measure of generosity.
There are other ways to be generous too.
But I think those things help us to see what many of us would’ve guessed in the first place.
That is, there are some people in our church who are very generous.
And there are people in our church who could be more generous.
If that’s you and you realise that you could be more generous, what should you do?
What concrete steps can you take?
The first step is to commit to being generous.
Commit means saying to yourself that you believe that this command in 1 Timothy 6 applies to you.
It means deciding that you will take the initiative to be generous.
A second step could be to budget.
You don’t have to budget to be generous.
But the reality is that lots of people don’t end up being generous because they haven’t been intentional with their money.
Those who budget to give often do give.
And finally, give.
Give to church.
Details are on the website and the weekly email.
And give to others.
In today’s materialistic society, the person who loves money lays up treasure on earth.
They choose a high-paying job, they buy investment properties and stocks, and so on...
Because they think that true life is found in wealth.
We as Christians are called to love God.
To lay up treasure in heaven.
That happens through faith in Jesus, a fiath that leads us to good works and generosity.
Because we know that true life is found in Jesus.
That’s how Paul concludes the commands to the rich.
Let’s read verse 19.
19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Paul isn’t preaching the prosperity gospel here.
He’s not saying that if generosity is a work that brings about oursalvation.
Thtat’s because he’s been clear already at the start of the letter on how we’re saved.
We’re only saved through Jesus.
It’s only through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross that we’re saved.
If you’re not a Christian yet, despite everything I’ve just said, please don’t focus on being generous.
What you need most is to trust in Jesus.
Salvation is found only in him.
But if you are a Christian, I hope the love of Christ has captured your soul.
It’s like the last line of the famous hym, When I Survey.
“Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
That love even demands how I use my wallet.
So for the Christian who is able to be generous, that generosity is a natural expression of faith in Jesus.
Generosity is proof of faith.
And faith is how we take hold of eternal life.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Well we’re at the end of our 1 Timothy series.
We’ve learnt about healthy teaching that leads to healthy living.
First and foremost is the gospel.
But there’s also truths about prayer, men and women, elders, and much more that must be lived out.
So Paul’s final words to Timothy are words to us as well.
[Don’t read]
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. ...
We too must guard what’s been entrusted to us.
We must cling to this healthy teaching in we must live it out.
We’ve also been warned of harmful teaching that leads to harmful living.
So Paul’s final words to Timothy speak to us too.
[Don’t read]
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.
False teaching must be avoided.
Because it has pulled people away from the faith.
Church, may we always hold on to the healthy teaching that we’ve been given.
That includes what we’ve been challenged by this morning.
May we love God and not money.
May we love God with our money.
May we love God always.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you that you know what’s best for us. Thank you that you have shown us your good and healthy ways in your word.
We’re sorry that we sometimes turn away from it. Sometimes we love money. Sometimes we’re selfish. And we forget about you.
So thank you that you continue to show us your grace. Thank you that we are saved through faith in Jesus.
Thank you that you continue to give us opportunities to love you, including with our money. So help us to use our money to love you. Help us to use every part of our lives to love you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
We are now going to sing together.
Let’s stand and sing, When I Survey.
