Stewardship of Your Grace Giving.

The Offering Plate Guy

Show Video “The Makes Change in the Offering Plate Guy”

Thankfully our practice here is the offering boxes so no one is tempted to do this, but I do wonder if that guy really exists. I would hope not.

However, I do think there are believers in every church who don’t have the foggiest idea of what God says about giving to the church.

Some do know and don’t care.

Sadly, some believers use their money as tools of manipulation in the church.

Others want to give but are afraid to give. Money is very tight and usually the first thing to go when making cuts is giving to the church.

If this is your first Sunday with us, we have been talking about Stewardship the last 3 Sundays. And now we are at the end of this series and need to endure the “dreaded” message regarding stewardship of our giving.

By the way, we do have under-cover security guards strategically placed within this audience so please don’t attempt to leave! (Just kidding!)

We’ve come to understand that Stewardship is not just about managing our finances well. Stewardship applies to all areas of life.

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Biblical Stewardship — God-given Responsibility with Accountability

From the beginning of our study we sought to understand that a steward was someone put in charge of something…in biblical times, owners of property would travel for long periods of time and needed to have someone take care of their property or business…so they would entrust all of it or part of it to someone else…they were called stewards.

The most important aspect of a steward is faithfulness, trustworthiness...

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1 Corinthians 4:2 NASB95

In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

From a biblical perspective, God has made everyone of us stewards…whether we like it or not…WE ARE STEWARDS!

The point is you can be a good one or a bad one!

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Principles of Stewardship

God owns everything you own nothing.

God has entrusted you with everything you have.

You can increase or diminish what God has given you, He wants you to increase it.

God can call you into account at any time, it could be today.

Today we want to land this stewardship plane by examining the Scriptures regarding the stewardship of our grace giving…worded that very specifically…

With all this in mind, please open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 8 - 9.

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Biblical Stewards Faithfully Practice Grace Giving!

We want to answer the question here this morning “how do we know if we are practicing grace giving?”

We don’t typically consider a section this large, but remember, the original text was not divided into chapters…so in our Bibles chapters 8 and 9 go together...

Let’s examine these two chapters and consider eight characteristics of grace giving…don’t worry, you will still get home before the roast burns...

Historical Context

The mother church has a great need…the church started in Jerusalem…they are suffering greatly because of famine and persecution...Remember that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Bible was written by real people, in real time, with real problems that needed real solutions.

The real church of Jerusalem was struggling financially…so the daughter churches devised a plan to help…they decided to take up a collection for them. The church of Corinth was one of those daughter churches.

And these two chapters provide instruction to the church about how this giving should occur…although this was for a very specific need, the principles laid out for us are timeless.

The church of Corinth had made a promise to help, but they failed to keep it…Paul is using the example of the generosity of the churches in Macedonia to encourage them…this was a year long endeavor and the time had come to collect…listen to what Paul said in his first letter to them...

1 Cor 16:1-3 “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come. When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem;”

So Paul appeals to them from the highest spiritual level possible…GRACE!…why does he appeal from GRACE?

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The grace of God is the passion of God to share all His goodness with others.

God passionately wanted to save us…but because of His holiness, he couldn’t forgive us until he judged our sin…GOSPEL…God is in the business of giving, not receiving...

So Paul appeals to grace and teaches them that giving is an act of grace…

Paul actually used nine different words to refer to the offering, but the one he used most was grace...

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Giving is a ministry and fellowship that does help others, but the motivation for giving is in appreciation of the grace of God in our lives.

When believers understand it is more blessed to give than receive, it is a wonderfully powerful testimony of God’s grace.

What does grace giving look like?

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Grace Giving Ignores Circumstances (8:1-2).

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You can still be generous in spite of your difficulties.

Paul uses the Macedonian churches as examples of people who gave generously…notice how Paul describes them…Phillipi, Thessalonica, Berea…these churches experienced great persecution because of their faith, yet they were faithful…the church of Philippi even contributed to Paul himself.

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Philippians 4:15 NASB95

You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone;

“great ordeal of affliction” — “deep poverty” — rock bottom destitution…this word describes a beggar who has absolutely nothing and has no hope of getting anything.

They gave out of their poverty, not their abundance, and enjoyed doing it!

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Those who are motivated by the grace of God will not use difficult circumstances as an excuse for not giving.

These churches did not have an abundance of wealth…they gave out of their poverty, not their abundance....though they had nothing, they possessed everything that really matters…God’s grace is sufficient to take their weakness and display His grace through them…

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Grace Giving is Enthusiastic (8:3-4)

These churches were eager to give…their actions revealed their love and devotion to God and others...

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Give because you want to, not because you have to!

They gave of their own accord…entirely of their own initiative, these churches became involved in the collection…when they should have been recipients of the collection…they begged to be included...

Paul never forced them to give and wasn’t laying a guilt trip on this church...

The word favor in verse 4…is the word for grace! They understood God’s grace...

The word support = service = word we get deacon from…it was a ministry to them!

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Grace Giving Considers Christ’s Gift (8:5-9).

Jesus is always the preeminent example to follow…the church of Corinth was in a wealthy economical hub and was a wealthy church…they were also benefiting richly from God’s grace...

notice 2 Cor 8 7 “But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also.” = abound in everything…faith…utterance…knowledge..earnestness…love…now Paul appeals to them to abound in grace!

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Give yourself to God first!

If we give ourselves to God, we will have little problem giving our substance to God…if we are giving ourselves to God, we are also giving ourselves to others...

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2 Corinthians 5:15 NASB95

and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Be motivated by Love.

This church was bountifully blessed but they were ignoring grace…they were so focused on their abundance of spiritual gifts and dividing themselves over which gift was most important, they had become lax in keeping their promise to share in the collection for others.

V 8 — Paul appeals to them by not commanding they give, instead he wanted them to be motivated by their love for Christ and him…sincerity of your love…grace giving is an evidence of love…for Christ, for God’s people who minister to us and to those who have needs.

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Your giving should be sacrificial.

v. 9 — Remember the One who was rich became poor so that we who were poor could become rich…when Jesus took on flesh He united Himself to mankind and took on a human body…He left his throne to become a servant…his ultimate experience of poverty was being made sin for us…on the cross Jesus became the poorest of poor…

Jesus took on our debt and paid for it with His life. Is a material offering to Him too much to ask?

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Grace Giving Gives Willingly (8:10-12)

The church of Corinth promised to Titus a year before that they would share in the special collection, they had started it, but now they were not keeping that promise...

Paul emphasizes here that grace giving must come from a willing heart…not coerced or forced...

Sadly this seems to be the experience of many people when it comes to giving to the church…some churches (preachers) will scold, shame, and even threaten people into giving…

It is said that Mark Twain was so disgusted by this approach that he not only refused to give what he planned to give, but he took a bill out of the plate!

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Being willing to give is not the same as giving!

Read 1 Cor 8:11…finish what you have begun…this is the only command in this text…for whatever reasons they had stopped...desire and eagerness are no substitute for the doing…

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Your giving should be proportional to what you have.

What a person has = parallels v 3 = according to their ability...

In other words, let your giving flow from your heart, not your hands...If your heart wants to give more, but you are unable to give more, God knows that and in His record book, He records what was in the heart, regardless of the amount of your offering...God is more concerned about the heart of the giver than the amount of the gift…remember the widow’s mite...

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1 Corinthians 16:2 NASB95

On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.

you often hear the word tithe…why? = tithe = 10% and is the same for everyone = give 10% of what you have…it is fair to both the rich and the poor…it can be a starting point or a goal…God does not send more blessings on the person who gives 10% of $1000 than he does the person who gives 10% of $100 if that is all they could give…

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What matters to God is what comes from your heart, not your hands!

when we give willingly, according to what we have, we are practicing grace giving.

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Grace Giving is an Act of Faith (8:13-24).

In this section, Paul is not suggesting the rich become poor so that the poor become rich…remember, the church of Jerusalem was the mother church and there ought to be a sense of gratitude to this church for sending out missionaries…so Paul appeals to them...

v 14 — Paul is not talking about the purpose of the giving is to create equality in the churches, but rather out of equality.

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Give while you can, because you may need the help of others later!

Paul saw that the Gentile believers of this church were enriched spiritually by the Jews, so now it is time for the Jews to be enriched by the Gentiles materially…for the very simple reason that there may come a time when the situation was reversed and they would need the help of the Jersualem church…The church of Corinth was experiencing a measure of material wealth, while the Jews in Jerusalem were suffering...

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Believe that God will sufficiently supply your need!

Paul uses the example of the manna as an illustration of this principle…now matter how much manna the Jews gathered each day, they always had what was needed…those who tried to hoard the manna discovered that was impossible, because it would decay and stink…Gather what you need, share what you can, don’t hoard God’s blessing…

Just as God provided equally for his people then, the Corinthians should look to provide equally among believers now...God can bless us how ever He wants to bless us…there is no guarantee that God will always bless with more material blessings…but God has promised to meet the needs…His desire is to overflow his grace in our lives...

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Philippians 4:19 NASB95

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

2 Cor. 8:16-24 is a letter of recommendation for Titus and two other unnamed men who will deliver this letter and receive their gift…he wants them to show these three men proof of their love and validate Paul’s boasting of them.

We take stewardship of finances seriously here…so thankful for Don Salters, Tammy, JoAnn, Elders for how well the monies are managed…if you want to see where the money goes there is a report posted out by the mail boxes regularly...

Let me also commend you as a church…a body that is willing to give…keep doing it!

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Grace Giving Is Planned Giving (9:1-5)

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It recognizes the purpose for giving is for ministry of the local church.

Please listen carefully here…Paul already told them in his first letter they were to bring their gifts to the church…some people don’t give to the church because their view is it only goes to line the preacher’s pocket…(share thankfulness and some practices of the giving to the ministry here)

The believers first responsibility is to his own local church…

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“If Christians do not bring tithes and offerings to the local church, then their hearts are not in the ministry of the local church.” Warren Wiersbe

That doesn’t mean you cannot give to other charitable organizations, but our first obligation is to the church where we fellowship and serve…and the reason why is that the local church is God’s primary entity for ministry...

He makes a point to remind them that their gift is for the ministry to the saints…diakonias…they had originally planned enthusiastically to do this and were eager to help…because of that, the Macedonians were spurred on to give as well.

This is why we have a budget…it is planned ministry…there are many fixed costs in our budget…these are the necessary parts of ministry because we have a building and equipment etc.…as God provides, this is what we have planned to do…That is why we need everyone to make it a priority to support the ministry here with planned giving…here are some basic thoughts about planned grace giving...

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Grace giving is to be systematic, not legalistic.

Not limited by a tithe (10%)…can be either a starting place or a goal…

Not satisfied with only the minimum, whatever that might be.

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Planned giving helps to avoid covetousness and is a blessing to others.

Paul was very careful not to put any pressure on them…he wanted it to be a matter of generosity and not of covetousness (something squeezed out of them.)

Paul did not want them or him to be ashamed if they came and they were not prepared…they had planned to give and Paul did not want them to go back on their promise.

If you have planned to give a certain amount to the ministry, then when a temptation to purchase something negatively impacts that plan, you can choose to be a blessing to others first...

God graciously planned for our salvation, can we not plan to give out of the bountiful grace bestowed upon us?

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Grace Giving is Generous Giving (9:6-11)

To the Christian who understands grace, giving is a way of life, not just with our finances, but with all of who we are...our motive for giving is not in getting back, but because we appreciate God’s grace in our life.

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Generous giving remembers the law of the harvest.

We reap in measure to what we sow...2 Cor. 9:6 — you want a bigger harvest, sow more seed…the more we invest in God’s work, the more fruit abounds to our account…God gave unsparingly…God is a generous giver and the faithful steward follows His example.

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Generous giving comes from a heart of gladness.

Don’t be a sad giver who gives grudgingly.

Don’t be a mad giver who gives out of necessity.

Be a glad giver who cheerfully shares what you have because you have experienced the grace of God.

cheerful = where we get the English word hilarious…

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God is more concerned about your attitude in giving, than he is the amount you are giving!

God can certainly bless the gift that is given out of duty, but how much more will God bless the gift given with the heart that is overwhelmed by grace.

Generous giving recognizes the abundance of God’s grace.

2 Cor 9:8

all grace, always, all sufficiency; every good work.

sufficiency = adequate resources within…our dependence should be on Christ, not other people...

This does not mean that God makes every Christian wealthy in material things; but it does mean that the Christian who practices grace giving will always have what he needs when he needs it.

You may not have all the money you want, but you will have all you need.

Generous giving builds Christian character.

2 Cor. 9:9 — believers share His righteousness…Paul quotes Psalm 112:9 to prove that the righteous man has no fears because his heart is sincere and obedient to the Lord.

We don’t earn righteousness by giving, however, if our hearts are right our giving will be used by God to produce righteousness…builds character.

Generous giving doesn’t worry about how much to give.

2 Cor 9:10 — sometimes the farmer has to decide how much seed to keep for food and how much to plant…if the harvest was lean, there is less seed available for both...

the believer who practices grace giving never has to worry about this decision…God supplies all that is needed…there is always spiritual and material bread for the eating and spiritual and material seed for the sowing.

Paul refers to Isaiah 55:10-11 that uses “seed” and “bread” to refer to both the Word of God and to the literal harvest in the field…

for the believer, giving financially to the church is just as spiritual an act as the singing of songs, or witnessing…money is the seed…if we give generously, because we have been impacted by grace, it will multiply to the glory of God and meet many needs…if we don’t give for God’s glory, the harvest will be poor.

Generous giving seeks to enrich the lives of others.

2 Cor 9:11 — God enriches us so that we may give even more bountifully…remember that God owns everything you have…it belongs to God, needs to be given to God so that He can use it to accomplish His work.

Grace giving means that we really believe God is the great giver and we use all the resources He entrusts to us to increase what He has given for His glory in the life of others.

You cannot out-give God!

Grace Giving is Thankful Giving (9:12-15)

Not only does our giving help others, it results in bringing God glory…and the giver is enriched as well...When God’s people are generous, that spirit of generosity towards others results in more and more people giving thanks to God.

Notice that Paul attaches their offering to an act of service…the Corinthian participation in this offering would demonstrate the reality of their faith...

Thanks = charis = grace, favor = we come full circle...The greatest gift of grace is eternal salvation...

Those who appreciate God’s grace in their life understand their gifts to God ought to come from a heart that is joyfully willing to sacrifice.

wrap up/pray