Open Hand Giving
Me, Myself, and I • Sermon • Submitted
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Me, Myself, and I: Moving from selfishness to significance.
People act funny when you start to talk about money.
Giving financially to Gods work is a spiritual matter.
Set up verses: Collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
Paul is using farming and planting seeds.
Open hand vs. closed hand
Open hand can give freely and receive freely
Closed hand can’t give freely and can’t receive
7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Each of you should give / good starting point 10%
Old Test vs. New Test giving / Tithe 10%-20% / You should decide
What Tammy and I do. First 10% we make goes to the church we attend, The next 15% savings, then bills, then whatever is left over we save, fund other ministry opportunities (world vision, missionaries, special needs etc.) or we go have fun.
If you are giving 5% of you income to Gods work, I would like to challenge you to raise it a few percentage points.
If you haven't started you will see you are missing out on a great blessing.
Not reluctantly: God does not want reluctant giving. If you don’t want to give to His work, that is between you and Him.
If you are feeling reluctant to investing in God’s work I would encourage you to pray and seek God on why.
Remember giving is a spiritual issue.
Under Compulsion: Not guilted or pressured.
If you ever feel guilt or pressure when I invite you to invest in Gods work don’t give. But seek after God on why you feel that way.
God loves a cheerful (Happy) giver.
If you can’t give cheerfully, God does not want you to give.
8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
God is able to bless you abundantly: In large quantities.
8 And God can give you more blessings than you need. Then you will always have plenty of everything—enough to give to every good work.
I have never met anyone that has gone broke investing and giving to the Lord’s work.
I have never met anyone that regretted investing into Kingdom work.
I believe God will bless you… Sometimes it’s financially sometimes in other ways as well.
Kitchen remodel / Church face lift project. $3k / $6k
I have a friend that God has financially blessed over and over again. He is super generous with his wealth.
Purchase of a home that he could afford to pay cash for 20x over. Got the home for less than what the owner was selling it for. He said I don’t understand why this keeps happening to me. I shared with him it was because he was open handed in giving to God’s work so God is able to give more to him with open hands.
Why does God bless the faithful giver? Because He knows they will give.
Let’s test how generous our church is right now.
$100 to take Pastor Joe and Diana out for lunch next week.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
What is mine is not mine and I am going to manage it.
Remember everything you have is not yours
Do you give to Gods work here at the Hill?
If yes, then you know all the blessing that have come your way because of your generosity.
If no, and you are a Christ follower, I encourage you to take a step to begin. You will be beyond blessed.
Your generosity controls the pace in which we move ministry forward here at the Hill.
Open hands are free to give and receive.
Open hands is a sign of generosity
Even dogs understand open hands.
Did you know your generosity controls the pace in which we move ministry forward here at the Hill.
Ill: Daddy tax
Giving financially to Gods work is spiritual issue.
Show me your bank statement and I will show you where your priorities are.
Tom’s shoes craze: When Toms launched in 2006, it popularized the one-for-one business model by giving away a free pair of shoes for every pair sold.
Anne Frank - No one has ever become poor by giving.
The word blessed actually means “happy.” It will make you happier to give than to receive. How does it affect you when you give?
Potential slide?
You can not out give God.