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INTRODUCTION: Are you a giver or a taker?
Now we already looked at Community in our earlier message “Called to Community,” but today’s message addresses a different aspect of Community. As Christians in community we are not only called to be together, we are called to work together. Part of Christian community is working together to achieve God’s plan.
As we continue to look a the early church and what allowede them to be successful in the furthering of the Gospel. I think it is important fro us to see that they were givers.
first of all we can see that they gave of their time and talents . We have a hard time giving of our time. Its my time I earned that time, there is not enough time. As Christians in community we are not only called to be together, we are called to work together. Part of Christian community is working together to achieve God’s plan.
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
continually devoting, they gave of their time in order to be together and devote themselves to these things.
Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
once again we see the time that they were giving to these things. Can you imagine day by day continue to gather to learn, to fellowship, to share, to praise God, to pray. the early church gave of their time but they also gave of their talents.
says this:
from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
We see from this passage that the whole body moves forward and makes progress only as each one contributes, as each part does its work. We are each called to contribute (we are to be givers), and every person in the church should contribute to the whole.
I would like to look at three areas in particular this morning where we each need to contribute if we are going to do God’s work together here in Giddings. We each need to give of our time and talents. We each need to give of our finances. And we each need to give of our love.
I. Give of your time and talents. ()
We are called to contribute first of all with our time and our talents. Look at with me:
“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
Notice the two words at the beginning of verse 7: “each one.” “To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” God has given each one of us gifts and abilities to serve him and each other.
Each one of you has certain talents, skills and abilities which you can use to serve God and the church or that you can bury in the ground and not not make the proper use of them.
do you remember the one talent man?
“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
“Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matt. 25:
each one of us has been given a talent, what are you doing with yours
If the church is going to grow and prosper than everybody is going to have to give of their talents. Many people have the mistaken idea that the elders and preachners of the church are supposed to do all the work of the church while everyone else just shows up.
goes on to talk about apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We are probably most familiar today with the final category in the list of pastor and teacher. Many people have the mistaken idea that the pastors and teachers of the church are supposed to do all the work of the church while everyone else just shows up.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Look at the passage again. Why did God give pastors and teachers to the church? “In order to prepare God’s people for works of service.” The pastor’s job is not to do the work of the ministry, but to prepare God’s people to do the work of the ministry. The pastor-teacher is called to equip God’s people for works of service. So in our church we have one preacher, and we have three elders, but we have many ministers. Every one is called to minister or serve in the church. “To each one grace has been given as Christ has apportioned it.”
You might say, “Well, I can’t teach the Bible, I can’t sing, I don’t like getting up in front of people. How am I supposed to serve the church?” God has given you gifts for service. Everyone can do something. What are you contributing, what talent are using for the Lord right now her in Giddings Texas.
The point is this. Everyone can do something. God has given you gifts for service, and he expects you to use them in the service of the church.
Remember, the body of Christ only works the way it’s supposed to when each part does its work. We are called to contribute. And the first way you can contribute to the body of Christ is through the giving of your time and talents.
II. Give of your finances. (; )
A second way we are called to contribute is through the giving of our finances. Once again, this only works if each part does its work. A church cannot move forward when only a few give or when only a few give according to Biblical principles. Everyone needs to participate.
Look at :
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.
Did you notice those words “each one” again? God expects each one of us to give something for the work of the church. This is part of our worship before God.
What matters to God is that each one gives from the heart, that each person brings an offering before him. Children, if you receive an allowance from your parents, you should give a portion of that allowance as an offering to God. Teens, if you have a part-time job, or if you do babysitting on the side, you should give a portion of what you earn as an offering. When it comes to giving, each one should contribute – children, teens and adults.
Notice also that each one should give regularly. says, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money.” The first day of the week was Sunday. As the church gathered for worship each Sunday, Paul instructed each one to set aside a sum of money. Our giving to the church should not be haphazard or random. If we are to give as God directs us to give, our giving must be purposeful, intentional, regular.
We can see God’s wisdom in this when we look at our other financial practices. When you are trying to save money for something, whether college or retirement or a new car, what is the best way to save? You set something aside every week. It may not even be a whole lot, but when you discipline yourself to set it aside regularly, that something begins to grow.
It’s the same thing with giving to the church. When you give regularly to the church, even a small amount adds up over the year, and your contribution will have an important effect on the church’s finances. And when each one of us gives regularly to the church, then we are all working together to fund the church’s ministry. Regular giving also helps the church to be a better steward of its funds, as the church can budget and plan and prioritize more effectively when there is a regular stream of income.
I want to be honest with you this morning, last year was not good contributing year. We did not bring in what we needed support and build up the church from a financial standpoint. There was only three Sundays maybe four that we actually met our budget and because of it we were forced to make some major cuts in what we are able to do this year. I don’t say that to scare you or chastise you in any way. I say that to you because we all need to consider what we can do to change that around each one of us has to do our part and be purposeful, intentional, and regular
How much should you give? says that each one should give “as you have prospered.” The phrase means that you should give in proportion to the income that you have received. So biblically, not only should each one give, and each one give regularly, but each one should give a regular portion of their income for the work of the church. If we are going to be obedient to God’s word in this area of giving, we should give regularly and proportionately to God’s work.
Of course the question then comes up, what proportion of my income should I give to the church? Should I give 2%? 5%? 10? 20? In the Old Testament the Jewish people under the law were required to bring a tithe, or ten percent of their income to the Lord. As Christians we are no longer under the Jewish law, so people sometimes wonder, “How does the tithe apply today?”
As Christians we do not give God the first portion because the law demands it. We give God the first portion because it belongs to him, and it is part of our worship. We begin with the tithe, but then we also give in keeping with our income. That means that many people are able to give God far more than a tithe. For a person on a low or limited income, giving God 10% is a huge sacrifice financially, whereas another person with greater financial means wouldn’t even miss it if they gave it away. That’s one of the problems when you approach giving from the legal standpoint of the tithe. The tithe can actually become a limiting factor in our giving to God.
Christian giving is not about the tithe. It is about giving to God generously and even sacrificially because we have a heart for God and we desire to see our resources used for his kingdom. There are Christians who give anywhere from 20-90% of their income back to God, in keeping with their income They recognize that it all came from God anyways, and so they give back to God, praying that God will use what they give to further the gospel and advance his kingdom here on earth.
that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord,
begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints,
and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.
2 Cor.
So, back to our original question, what proportion of your income should you give back to God? says that “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” In other words, no one can tell you what you should give. That is between you and the Lord. It is something that you need to pray about, and then you should give as God directs you to give. I believe you should begin with a tithe. But God may lead you to give well above that in keeping with your income.
Whatever God directs you to give, you are called to contribute to the body of Christ, not only with your time and talents, but also with your finances.
III. Give of your love. (; )
And then finally, you are called to contribute to the body of Christ with your love. Jesus said, There’s that phrase “each other” or “one another” again.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus’ command is pretty powerful here. It is not just a command to love each other, but to love one other the way Jesus loved you. How did Jesus love you? He died for you when you were still God’s enemy. He gave his all for you, and he commands us to give our all for each other.
Without love all of our giving is worthless anyway. says: “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” () So unless we are giving of our time and talents and finances out of love for Christ and each other, our giving is worthless. We gain nothing. We must love one another deeply as Christ loved us.
We cannot function as a healthy body of Christ if we do not love one another. And once again, this is something we all need to do. Going back to where we started the message today, Paul says: “The whole body … grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
CONCLUSION: As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to be givers. There is no such thing as spectator Christianity. The body of Christ can only move forward as each person participates. We can only fulfill God’s plans for us here at Giddings as each one of you does your part.
I believe God has called us to do and to be something very special. Giddings is a place of love and grace and acceptance where people can come to know God through a relationship with Jesus Christ and then grow in that relationship together. But that will only happen as we all work together to make it happen.
You are called to give of your time and talents to the Lord. You are called to give of your finances to God’s work. And you are called to give of your love to each other. Let us work together to fulfill God’s purpose for his church.