Boundless Giving

Common Problems With Giving

Misunderstandings About Money

Money can save.

Our amount of money indicates our amount of faith.

Misgivings about Giving

Ignorance

Don’t know how to give.

Fear / Lack of faith

We are afraid to give.

Greed / Idol worship

We don’t want to give.

Matthew 6:19–21 ESV

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

matt 6:19-

Matthew 6:24 ESV

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

matt

That which you refuse to give up for God is your god.

- Idols

- We trust in them

- We sacrifice for them

- We guard them

**The issue(s) with money have less to do with the abundance or lack of it and more to do with our attitudes toward and our actions with it.

Biblical Perspective on Giving

We are able to give because God is the owner.

Genesis 1:26–28 ESV

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Gen 1:26-2

Haggai 2:8 ESV

The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.

Deut 24

We have an example to give because God is a giver.

James 1:17 ESV

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

All our money is from God; therefore, all our money is for God

Biblical Practices of Giving

The way we handle our money is a practical test of our godliness

It’s a test for leaders.

2 Corinthians 9:6–15 ESV

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

2 Cor 9:10

We give worshipfully. (9:15)

“tithe” = “tenth”

Leviticus 27:30–33 ESV

“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”

Tithe was part of Mosaic Law

We are no longer bound to Mosaic Law so we are no longer bound to the tithe described here.

We are no longer bound to the Mosaic Law, but we are still bound to the Lawgiver.

Purpose of the tithe was a practice of giving the first to God as an act of worship (ascribing worth to the Person to whom it belongs).

The more we have the harder it is to tithe. (Ex $100 / $1.  $10000 / $1000.  $100000 / $10000)

Deuteronomy 14:23 ESV

And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.

We give generously and missionally. (9:11-14)

We give generously. (9:11)

We give contentedly and expectantly. (9:8-11)

We give contentedly. (9:

We give sacrificially and cheerfully. (9:7)

2 Samuel 24:24 ESV

But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

We give boundlessly. (9:6)

Giving is more about our heart than it is is about our money.