Why does the Church want my money?

Series - Doubting your Doubts

Topic - Money

Title - Why does the church want my money?

Text -

Welcome

Good Morning! It is so great to back with you guys this Sunday. I missed you guys like crazy. It was awesome though to participate in the pulpit swap and I had amazing time at Havelock Wesleyan Church just outside of Weymouth.

So last week we pushed pause on our sermon series and for some of you that missed out on the sermon about Jesus you can go on to Yarmouth Wesleyan Churches Website and watch the sermon AJ preached. I preached a sermon on the person of Jesus about a month ago right before the series started as well and you can check that out on our Facebook page.

If you haven’t liked our Facebook page go ahead and do that and if you have a chance to share the sermons or other content I encourage you to do that.

Reset the Series

And so this morning I want to re-set the sermon series. We have been talking about Doubting our Doubts. All of us have doubts at one time or another that we wrestle with. Doubts about God, about Jesus, about the Bible and about the church. Doubts are a natural part of the process of going deeper in our faith but we don’t want to stay in our doubts. As a matter of fact we want to challenge our doubts and actually doubt the doubts we have.

See what happens is as we challenge our doubts we actually get a richer, deeper faith in the process.

Hook

Hook

Introduce Subject

So the question I want to answer is “Why does the church want my money?”

This is the second time I’ve talked about money since I started pastoring here and if I can be honest it’s not easy for me to talk about. I think it’s difficult for me to talk about because

1. It makes people feel uncomfortable

2. Steps on people's toes

And so to start off the sermon today let’s just acknowledge the elephant in the room. Your uncomfortable and I’m uncomfortable and you know what, it’s ok. We can embrace that discomfort.

Listen, I don’t ever want to be a leader that is unwilling to have the conversations we need to have as a church.

Like for instance, this might be a perfect time for me to touch briefly on the Marijuana issue.

Let me just say as a Pastor, I have no problem with something being regulated to bring down crime and keep products out of the hands of youth. But as a former addict I do have a problem with something like Marijuana being made available to the product for the sake of government making a profit. If that is the real motive then we haven’t thought well about the well being of our society and that is regardless of what political stripe you wear. I’m not advocating and will never advocate from the pulpit one political party or another but I won’t hold back on speaking out from a Christian perspective practices that I feel are detrimental to our culture.

But have you ever stopped and thought about it; why is it that when we talk about money and giving it makes us feel uncomfortable. 1. Money is something that we value

I want to tell you that I’m not afraid to talk about what needs to be spoken because culture needs to hear the voice of Jesus and they need to hear it from us.

Back to money;

But have you ever stopped and thought about it; why is it that when we talk about money and giving it makes us feel uncomfortable. 1. Money is something that we value

2. We value because “We work hard for your money.”

3. Money helps us obtain things that are of value

As a person I am thankful for money because money helps me provide for my family, pay bills, pay for University, drive my car, play sports, support the church and other initiatives.

As a pastor I am thankful for money because money helps advance God’s mission by providing for the needs of the church, opening opportunity for ministry, investing in ministries and ultimately seeing the witness of Jesus increase in Woods Harbour, Barrington and Pubnico.

But as I said before I am reluctant to talk about money. I want to take the opportunity to say to each one of you who are here that I pray a lot about the financial situation of our church. I pray a lot about our obedience in the area of giving. My desire and God’s desire is that we would be a generous people and my hope is that today you would see “Why does the church want my money?”

I think one of the challenges for people who don’t go to church is they have this idea that the church wants to take all of my money. Maybe they have heard, seen or witnessed abuses with finances and think the church is out to take advantage of people.

I think one of the challenges for people who don’t go to church is they have this idea that the church wants to take all of my money. Maybe they have heard, seen or witnessed abuses with finances and think the church is out to take advantage of people.

One of the things we intentionally do as hosts when we are leading the service is to tell people who are new to the church or visiting to not feel the need to give. We say this because the reason we exist as a church is to reach out to those outside of the walls of the church. When we say that we really mean it. If you are new or visiting we don’t want you to feel any obligation to give. We want you to just belong and become part of our church family and experience the love and generosity we have for you. We don’t want you to feel that expectation.

We want you to just belong and become part of our church family and experience the love and generosity we have for you. We don’t want you to feel that expectation.

But as someone grows and becomes part of our family and starts to BELIEVE in who we are as a church and wants to become a committed member of our church I think it is good thing for them to give to the church.

You see I think there is a progression that happens in our walk with Jesus as it relates to the church and I want to describe this in three ways.

Believe - This is the point where we put our faith in Jesus and make a decision to follow him publicly through baptism

Belonging - The moment we accept Jesus we become part of the family of God

Behave - As we live in relationship with Jesus and in relationship with the Church God begins to change us into the people he is calling us to be so we can live the kind of way God wants us to live.

We invest in what we value.

Once we become a member we are saying.

I believe in this local congregation

I believe I’m called to be part of this

I want to invest my time, resources and energy in advancing God’s mission through this local congregation

That’s what church membership is all about.

So at that juncture we invite people to respond to God’s generosity by giving back to Jesus for what he has given to us.

In our church context we believe in the concept of storehouse tithing or giving 10 percent of your income to the local church God has called you to.

For some of us here today that seems like a lot. For some of us we grew up in church context where the practice of 10 percent tithing wasn’t something that was practiced or preached. I really want to get into this and wrestle with some of the objections associated with the 10 percent concept.

I know for me personally growing up, throwing in a few coins every Sunday was all I thought was expected. 10 percent was never even talked about. I didn’t grow up in church and so I had to learn what tithing was after I became a Christian. I wanted to be obedient in every of my life so I began to tithe as a 19 year old. Mind you, back then, I wasn’t making next to nothing. I was working as a full time volunteer at a homeless shelter so you can imagine the cash I was raking in. lol. But God taught me there to give at least my 10 percent to the church.

So if you have got a beef with the 10 percent rule hopefully I can help answer some of the questions we have?

The other thing I wrestle with is guilting people into obedience. I don’t want to guilt anyone into obedience. I want us to respond to God’s prompting to be the people he called you to be.

What I love about today though is I’m not giving this message on money because we have a desperate need.

I heard I guy recently tell me about a church here in the Maritimes that said on their sign, Please come to church because if you don’t are doors are going to close. I am so thankful we are not there today.

No, we are likely going to reach our budget this year so I am not talking about giving because we are struggling.

I am partly talking about giving because AJ picked the topics and also because I want us as a individuals and as a church to walk in the fullness of God’s blessing in every area of our lives and financials is a major aspect of our lifestyle.

So today I want to work through some of the objections we come up against as we wrestle with the question - Why does the church want my money?

1st Objection - The Church has not communicated where my money would go

You are probably right

It is difficult to have confidence in your investments if you don’t know where your resources are going

We like to see the progress or the product of our investments

The Hockey game sponsor I was sitting beside

Taking that responsibility seriously

I am here to tell you today that I pray regularly about our church finances and I want to honour God with how we manage and use the resources God gives us

We prayerfully go through the process of setting a budget that will help us move the mission of God forward

If the Church exists for the mission of God our financial resources should help be the fuel to advance God’s mission. If I were to give you the main, primary reason for Why does the church want my money it would be this?

Our financial resources help provide the fuel to advance the unique mission of Woods Harbour Wesleyan - To increase the witness of Jesus in Woods Harbour, Barrington and Pubnico by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Graph about tithing - ??

I don’t want to just pay for the utilities - If all a church is doing is keeping the facility going and there is no engagement with their unique mission I don’t blame you

That might seem strong but if a church is just staying open for the sake of being open they have left and forgotten why they exist - for God’s mission.

I want to invest in the mission God has. I want to add fuel to the fire of what God is uniquely doing and see this movement multiply. I want to see my return on investment come back with transformed lives by the power of Jesus.

Why do you think the early church in Acts were so inspired to not just tithe but to sell fields and homes? Because they wanted to advance the unique mission God had given them. They were captivated by advancing God’s mission after Pentecost and were inspired by Jesus to see his mission go forward in full force.

This morning, I don’t want you to be obligated to give; I want you to be inspired to give

Attempt to do that today

Attempt to do that today

Where are my resources going now?

Where are they going to go in the future?

My conversation with AJ

Beat over the head about tithing

Inspire instead of Inflict guilt

You see I think giving is not as much of an obligation as it is an opportunity

When we honour God with our giving we actually worship him

Giving is an act of worship

Black Caribbean church in New York City

They got it

For the Christian

YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS; WHEN WE GIVE FROM A HEART OF WORSHIP WE BLESS THE HEART OF THE FATHER

And when God inspires you to give because you see what God is doing and you want to add some gas to the fire you get blessed because you know your return on investment is lives changed.

When you have a vision for who we are as a church and what God is uniquely doing in our church you feel inspired to give.

So the desire to give does not come from outside in the form of a have to the inspiration comes from within and because I desire to, I long to. You see it. God’s Spirit wants to inspire us that way.

Let me tell you here today; these are the dreams God has put into my heart regarding some of the things God wants us to do.

AJ encouraged me to inspire you by saying some specific things we would do as God provides the finances.

More staff - Administrator & Worship Director

More money for ministry

- Celebrate Recovery

Sunday School

Empower leaders to be able to do more

Modernize our sanctuary

Paint

Stage Designs

Blinds

We want to make it look awesome in here so guest feel like they want to be here

Upgrade our sound systems

Keyboard

Mics

Speakers

Technology

Eventually we are going to need a brand new building if we continue to grow

Havelock Wesleyan - Praying for the fire of God instead of a physical fire

People give for a number of different reasons

People give when they trust the Leadership

I take that responsibility very serious

I pray a lot about our finances as a church

People give when they catch a vision, not as much when they see a need

I don’t know about you but bills don’t inspire me to give - You?

Again, the vision should inspire us

People give to experience the joy of generosity

The Bible says, give and it will come back to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more.

The Bible says, freely you have received, freely give

People give when they are inspired by models

The Livewell Challenge

People give when they are involved

When you engage with something it makes you want to contribute to something

People give when you ask them to give

People give when you make it possible for them to give

People give when you make it possible for them to give

My barber Bill - How many of you know Bill cuts hair? You know what there have been a lot of times I don’t pay the man…at least not right away. Why, because I don’t carry cash. The Church has got to realize we are in the 21st Century and we need to find ways for people to give. People have a perception that Millenials or people in their 20’s and 30’s aren’t as generous.

Based on a survey, 83% of Millenials born from 1979-1994 they said they gave to a non-profit

%84 said they prefer to give online vs. in person

52% of Millenial responded to say they’d be interested in monthly giving.

That’s why we give the direct deposit option and have to be open to exlpore more options

People give when their gifts are appreciated

I was reading an article last week and it helped me as it picked out some of the objections people have to giving. One those and objection 2 was

2nd Objection - Tithing is an Old Testament Practice

2nd Objection - Tithing is an Old Testament Practice

Malachi 3:10 NIV

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

1st Objection - The Church has not communicated where my money would go

Graph about tithing

This is the classic text that preachers will use to tell people about tithing.

I don’t want to just pay for the utilities

This was a promise the Prophet Malachi gave to the Old Testament community that if they would bring in their 10 percent/first fruits that God would bless them.

Begs an explanation

One of the things you do when interpreting the Old Testament is find the principle and use that to apply to our unique context.

Sermon on the Mount extreme moral code

Attempt to do that today

The principle here is that if you honour God with your first fruits he will open the heavens with blessing.

Motive

God does still bless and it is not all material but it can be

Matthew 19:29 NIV

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

So, the principle of giving up and receiving from God still carries over to the New Testament.

I think 100 times as much = throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

I want God to bless us that way and I honestly believe he will if we will respond to his call.

Now, a lot of us still wrestle with the whole 10 percent thing and wrestle with that just being an Old Testament thing

Jesus took the Sermon on the Mount which took Old Testament expectations and took them to extreme

Where are my resources going now?

Murder

Where are they going to go in the future?

Adultery

Revenge

My conversation with AJ

Love for enemies

Jesus took the Old Testament Law in the Sermon on the mount and brought it to the extreme so that it made it near impossible to fulfill so they would come to the point where they realized they needed God to fulfill what was expected

Beat over the head about tithing

Inspire instead of Inflict guilt

When you have a vision for who we are as a church and what God is uniquely doing in our church we want get behind it with our finances

Similar thing happened with giving in the New Testament.

More staff

More money for ministry

Modernize our sanctuary

I think it is really important to understand, all of the New Testament community would likely have carried over their practice of giving their 10 percent. So I think the idea that tithing was just an old testament thing I think is false. Again, I think the New Testament community as a minimum would have likely carried over that practice and done it on a regular basis.

Eventually we are going to need a brand new building if we continue to grow

Furthermore, the New Testament community, like Jesus did in the Sermon on the mount blew the 10 percent out of the water.

Acts 2:45 NIV

They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

Acts 4:30–37 NIV

Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 2:45 NIV

They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

Havelock Wesleyan - Praying for the fire of God instead of a physical fire

Acts 4:37 NIV

sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 4:30

And so we see in the New Testament that they didn’t just practice the 10 percent they were selling property and bringing ALL of the proceeds to Spiritual leadership to help advance God’s misson.

It is interesting that both of these accounts happen after the Spirit was poured out.

The Spirit inspires generosity

The Spirit inspires generosity

See the Old Testament was all about outward laws obligating you to do something

The New Testament and the Gospel is about God pouring out his Spirit, changing our hearts and desires and giving us an inward passion, longing and desire to obey him.

The “Have to” shifts to a “get to”, “long to”, “want to”.

What I want to get it at with this point is

“There’s a problem if what we give out of thankfulness is dramatically below what God’s people used to give out of obligation.”

God wants us to manage our resources in such a way that we give way above and beyond our 10 percent to God’s mission.

“While we don’t want to give ourselves over to legalism, %10 seems like a safe, entry-level place to begin the journey into discovering what it’s like to be benevolent.”

Tithing isn’t the goal; We will have arrived at the true New Testament view of stewardship when we see that all of the resources available to us are there for us to manage and invest in the kingdom of God and not just tools to increase our standard of living.

throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

As a believe in Jesus, we believe that everything we have belongs to God anyways right.

3rd Objection - I can’t afford to tithe

Understandable

It’s scary

I can get out debt earlier

I can get those skates or those golf clubs

I can get that new stuff if I don’t

10 percent or nothing pastors -

5% next step

4th Objection - I have too much debt

I feel your pain

Paying for school

Vehicles

Ezra - grieved because they were living in luxury and the place where they worshipped was in shambles

Nehemiah

5th - My finances are too much of a mess

One of the biggest challenges as it relates to giving

I’m no expert

Budgets help

Dave Ramsey

Mint.com

Counselling

6th Objection - My spouse doesn’t agree with tithing

“There’s a problem if what we give out of thankfulness is dramatically below what God’s people used to give out of obligation.”

Let me be clear here, it is not right for me to instruct one spouse to go against the wishes of others, whether overtly or in secret.

I think marriage is complex and depending on whether that person is a believer or not can add to the complexity. If you are in this situation you give what you feel released and blessed to give.

Tithing isn’t the goal; We will have arrived at the true New Testament view of stewardship when we see that all of the resources available to us are there for us to manage and invest in the kingdom of God and not just tools to increase our standard of living.

My wife and I felt like we need to do more

I’m thankful that I can preach this when the church is likely going to meet budget instead of being in a situation where we are in desperate need. I’m not preaching this message because we can’t afford to put oil in the tank.

I’m preaching this message because I want you to experience the blessing of walking in obedience to God

Amazing stories of people who are obedient in this area of their life where God has blessed them in return for them being obedient in the area of tithing. God has blessed their family or their business.

Now the key is this, you don’t do those things to get the blessings; you do it to honor God. But when we are obedient in this area of our lives with the right heart you will experience God’s blessing and God will be able to use your resources to move his mission forward in the context his has called you to.

Define Subject

Fallen Condition Focus

Hope of Hearing - Christ Solution

Transition to Text

Old Testament coming together and pooling resources for God ordained projects like EZRA & NEHEMIAH

Nehemiah

Each section of the wall

We all have a ministry to contribute to that helps contribute to the overall mission

Like your part of the wall ties into the overall project

We need you to contribute not just your money, but your time and effort into the section of the wall God has called you to

We are progressing but we have got a ways to go to become all that God has called us to be

But we have made progress

Small groups

Sunday morning

So here are some practical steps to respond

Contextual Background

Reading of Text

Raise Question - Why does the church want my money?

Reason

2

3

3

So here are some practical steps to respond

Visitor or guest - continue to genuinely feel no expectation to give. We just want you to receive and be ministered to.

Becoming a member

Continue to be faithful

Repent and

Move up a percent or 2 towards a tithe - John Symonds

Give to something specific above and beyond your tithe

Sign up for Direct Deposit

Sum Up

Suggestion Spin Around

Stop