Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Giving is an act of faith.

A. Your gift should be sacrificial.

Illus: Often when broaching the topic of tithing or giving the discussion I know the implication is that we are fundraising.

You may think, the pastor is preaching on giving because the church needs money.

yes, God provides for His church and His ministries through tithing, BUT, that is not God’s only purpose in giving.

God instituted giving as an act of faith.

God intended giving to be apart of your growth.

When you give, God wants you to give sacrificially.

Why?

It is through going with out that you learn to depend on him.

How can you embrace that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, if you have never been without.

Part of the life experience God uses to lead you to him is for you to depend and need Him.

You will never experience the fullness of God the provider if cannot sacrifice in giving.

B. Giving sacrificially teaches you to depend God.

Illus: I have notices a trend in every church that I have served.

In general the more impoverished a believer the more generous a lifestyle they live.

The more wealthy a believer, the more they pinch every penny.

I have witnessed time and again those with little gladly give away what they have to help and support others.

Whether it is their children’s hand me downs, the food off their own table, or the money out of their wallet, those with little are extremely generous.

On the opposite hand, the trend I notice is that the wealthier one is, the more likely they are to try to sell

I’ve noticed in my life that when I had little, I learned to depend on God.

When I was in seminary, I worked as a minimum wage janitor to pay my way through school.

My meals for the week was a single pizza cut into enough slices that I could eat one a day.

There were months where I did not see how the finances would work out.

I would tithe, pay my bills, and trust that God would see me through.

I remember on multiple occasions when the numbers did not add up… I would be short with a rent payment coming, and a member of the church I served in would tell me, “God put you on my heart and wanted me to give you this check.”

It was for the exact amount I was short on my rent.

It was easy to give when I had little because the provision of God was so easily seen.

As I have gotten older, and my paychecks have grown more stable, my faith has decreased.

The transition is slow, but gradually over time I started trusting my bank account for my security and not my God.

II.

Giving provides for both the church and it’s ministers.

A. God chooses to provide for His work and His workers through His people.

Illus: let’s talk church for a moment.

First Baptist Church exsists to connect people to God, to each other, and to the world.

No minister gets into ministry for the money.

THere is a careful ballence that must be held in every church.

Believe it or not, that takes money.

God calls the

Every Sunday we turn on the lights, make coffee, run air conditioning, provide discipleship materials.

We serve schools, feed kids, love first responders, take kids to camp, minister to people with hurts, habits, and hangups.

We send people around the world to share the gospel.

We support missionaries, church plants, Disaster Relief, BSMs, and so much more.

When you give to the church, you join the ministries of the church.

You support things as small as the coffee in the pots to things as great as sending missionaries around the world.

B. God calls pastors to depend on the giving of His people.

Illus:God has called pastors to this church to help equip it for the work of ministry.

No minister gets into ministry for the money.

THere is a careful ballence that must be held in every church.

God calls the pastor to be free from the love of money.

God calls the church to provide for the pastor at such a place where he doesn’t worry about money.

The church should provide for the pastor at such a place that he can remain focused on ministry.

There is the foolish old adage that many churches have held to “God keep our pastor Humble, and we will keep him poor.”

The biblical call for every church is to provide for the pastor where he might live fairly and not worry financially.

To provide at a level where he can remain focused on the ministry.

III.

Giving provides for the ministries of the church.

A. The church does not exist to grow it’s bank account, but instead to use what it is given in service of God’s kingdom.

Illus: I want to be sure that every dollar given to our church is used wisely.

Our church does not exists to make money.

Our church exists to use money for God’s ministry.

We are called to use every given wisely as stewards.

My prayer is that we as a church tithe sacrificially.

We do this by giving a tenth of all dollars given to plant churches across Louisiana and America, and to Support Missionaries throughout the world.

This is our joining with the Cooperative program where all southern baptist churches work together the gospel.

I pray that your giving might increase… but also that that our ability to support kids, youth, discipleship, missions, and addiction ministries would increase as well.

Today I am going to challenge you.

If you are tithing, giving ten percent, thank you.

If you are not there yet, that is the first goal.

Tithe.

Give sacrificially for the kingdom work of God.

I want to put a very practical challenge in front of you.

Give more.

Not just for our church’s benefit, but for yours.

Would you consider giving one percent of what you make more?

It is both for your good, and for this church.

Why does God require a sacrificial gift?

How does God use your sacrifice for your good?