Leadership Meeting
Leadership Meeting
1 Chronicles 29
September 23rd
Innsbrook Lodge
1 Chronicles 28
1 ¶ David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the brave warriors.
2 King David rose to his feet and said: "Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it.
3 But God said to me, `You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.'
4 "Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel for ever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah he chose my family, and from my father's sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel.
5 Of all my sons--and the LORD has given me many--he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.
6 He said to me, `Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.
7 I will establish his kingdom for ever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.'
8 "So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants for ever.
9 "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you for ever.
10 Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work."
11 ¶ Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement.
12 He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the LORD and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things.
13 He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the LORD, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service.
14 He designated the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service:
15 the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand;
16 the weight of gold for each table for consecrated bread; the weight of silver for the silver tables;
17 the weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers; the weight of gold for each gold dish; the weight of silver for each silver dish;
18 and the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense. He also gave him the plan for the chariot, that is, the cherubim of gold that spread their wings and shelter the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
19 "All this," David said, "I have in writing from the hand of the LORD upon me, and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan."
20 David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.
21 The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing man skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command."
(NIV)
-We see in this passage of Scripture that David is ready to die soon and he has assembled the leaders of Israel together to tell them about the challenge before them, as he gets ready to go home to be with the Lord and leave Solomon in charge of Israel as king. Solomon is to oversee the building of the temple but David gives him a running start with the plans and the money to do it.
-David lays out the how and the why. Then we pick it up in chapter 29.
1 Chronicles 29
1 ¶ Then King David said to the whole assembly: "My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the LORD God.
2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God--gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colours, and all kinds of fine stone and marble--all of these in large quantities.
3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple:
4 three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings,
5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD?"
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king's work gave willingly.
7 They gave towards the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron.
8 Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the LORD in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.
9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
10 ¶ David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honour come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
14 "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
(Dutch translation of verse 14-“All that we have comes from Him and we give it out of His hand.”)
15 We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
16 O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.
18 O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people for ever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.
19 And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, requirements and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided."
20 Then David said to the whole assembly, "Praise the LORD your God." So they all praised the LORD, the God of their fathers; they bowed low and fell prostrate before the LORD and the king.
21 The next day they made sacrifices to the LORD and presented burnt offerings to him: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.
22 They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the LORD that day. Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the LORD to be ruler and Zadok to be priest.
-We see in Exodus 35 and 36 that the Israelites give offerings for the tabernacle so much that they had to be restrained.
-Here we see the first temple being built in Israel’s history.
-Offerings were the method used to pay for construction in the Bible.
-I remember that when we built the last time someone who attends had a relative who said our dues must have really gone up.
-First of all, David had been looting and storing stuff from his enemies for years, about 40. He had a great store of stuff to use for the temple.
-In verse 3 David gets very personal and tells the assembly what he is planning to do.
-Shouldn’t all giving be in secret?
-Jesus said we should give alms (money to the poor) in secret. (Matthew 6).
-The point is that any giving should be as to the Lord and not for show.
-David is giving as a testimony and a challenge to the leaders.
-He personally gave towards the building project.
-I have heard different figures on how much this was but it was well in excess of $100,000 from David personally.
-In verse 5 he issues a challenge: “WHO IS WILLING TO CONSECRATE HIMESELF TODAY TO THE LORD?”
-That means: follow my example and be a leader. Step up to the plate.
-Verses 6-8 show the leaders giving and they counted it.
-Then in verse 9 the people rejoiced at the example of the leaders and everyone worshiped God.
Guess why we are here tonight!
-Don’t worry, we aren’t going to ask you to make a public declaration and we aren’t going to pressure you, now or ever.
-If you don’t participate you just got a free meal. You aren’t on the hook.
-I am going to challenge you to be a leader and an example to the rest of the congregation.
-We are going to ask you to fill out the commitment card and leave it on the table or give it to your host and hostess.
-As we obey God together, we will be able to see and experience His plan and direction for this local body.
Personal Commitment from the Roberts Family
I am very reluctant to share my personal commitment because it opens me to criticism, second guessing and speculation that I don’t really like. At the same time I recognize the need to be an example and leader. It is very important for me that the leadership in this church know that I and the staff don’t benefit personally in any way from the FTD money. Everything is placed in a separate category from the general fund and it is used exclusively for the building. The church is a 501 c 3 not for profit corporation and nobody can profit from the assets of the church. When I leave the church nothing goes with me except what is mine like books and such.
In the last stewardship campaign Becky and I committed $15,600 plus we also helped buy chairs and my pastor’s desk personally. Over and above our tithe we gave $20,000. Our commitment was $100 per week.
This time we felt we should look at it like purchasing a nice car. Thursday I priced a new Sienna van like the 2000 we own. The salesman said it would sell for about $31,000.
Our commitment is $200 per week over and above our tithe or $31,200. That is double last time.
I trust this is a blessing to you and not a hindrance. You need to know that Becky and I would never ask you to sacrifice anything we wouldn’t do ourselves. We have to buy insurance, food, and braces just like everyone else here. We are trusting the Lord for seed to sow and bread for eating.