A Giving Church
Giving Series #4
A Giving Church
By Bill Denton
Introduction
A. During November, we've been looking at the subject of giving
1. The importance of attitude
2. The grace of giving - good and bad examples of giving - the term "grace-giving"
3. Tithing - a good base standard, but Christian generosity is not legislated, it requires
spiritual maturity and a willingness to share what we have been blessed with
B. There is so much more on the subject of giving
1. Previously noted - God has more to say about money, possessions and giving than
almost any other subject
2. One clear lesson is that is that what we do with what we have demonstrates a lot
about the level of spiritual maturity we have reached
3. When it comes to giving, it is not (all by itself) the amount of your gift that measures
your generosity, it is the sacrifice you incur in giving it that determines your
generosity
C. This morning I want to cover a few points that I think we ought to consider
1. One could literally preach for a year on giving and never cover the same material
twice - but we're going to end this series today
2. Hopefully, these lessons will encourage some of you to become better givers
D. Let's read some verses and then consider some practical considerations affecting giving
1. 1 Tim 6:6-19
2. 2 Cor 9:6-15
I. This Is An Opportunity To Eliminate The "That'll Do" Attitude
A. "That'll do" is an attitude that a lot of Christians have about giving
1. It shows up in how we take care of the physical property
2. It shows up in how we invest in spiritual education and training for out children
3. It shows up in what we spend on evangelism, missions, and outreach in general
4. It shows up in countless ways, and unfortunately it is too often a matter of seeing
how little we can get by with spending
5. Our attitude about spending comes directly from our attitude about giving
B. Preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus, and educating people to understand and live by
God's word ought to the most important things in the world, but we betray the fact that they
are way down our list of priorities because we will put our money into other things before
we even think about things of eternal value
II. We Need To Reconsider The American Attitude Toward Money
A. I'm talking especially about the American tendency to live beyond our means
1. Debt in America is a financial plague eating away at a fake lifestyle, and it is debt
that is one of the reasons a lot of people cannot give more than they do
2. Illustration
If you find yourself drowning in credit card debt, take heart, you are not alone. Americans charge over one trillion dollars per year on Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. All these purchases "on plastic" would be fine if we all paid our balances in full each month -- but that's not the reality. There are roughly 1.2 billion credit cards in use in the United States with the average household balance of $9,000 according to Bankrate.com.
Christina Katz, "Get Out Of Debt For Good", BlueSuitMom.com
3. Illustration
Americans used to save, but no longer. Back in the 1950s, a generation of Americans who had survived the Depression and Second World War saved roughly 8 percent of their income. The savings rate rose and fell slightly over the decades — it went as high as 11 percent and as low as 7 percent during the "greed is good" 1980s — but now those days are only a memory.
In the charge-everything start of the new millennium, savings have plummeted: to just 1.8 percent last year, below 1 percent since January and at zero in the latest estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The lack of savings is mirrored by a rise in debt. In 2000, household debt broke 18 percent of disposable income for the first time in 20 years, meaning debt eats almost $1 in every $5 American families have to spend after they get past the bills that keep them fed and housed.
Robert Tanner, "Experts Warn Debt May Threaten Economy",
B. You can't give what you don't have, but you could have much more if you didn't have debt
1. Romans 13:8 -- 8Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who
loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. NASB95
2. Proverbs 22:7 -- 7The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the
lender’s slave. NASB95
3. Nehemiah 5:1-5 -- 1Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives
against their Jewish brothers. 2For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our
daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.” 3There were
others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we
might get grain because of the famine.” 4Also there were those who said, “We have
borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5“Now our flesh
is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are
forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced
into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to
others.” NASB95
III. It Takes Money To Do The Lord's Work
A. Church leaders have a responsibility to use money wisely
1. Frugality is not the same as the "that'll do" attitude I talked about earlier
2. We don't need to be extravagant just to say we can throw money around
3. But, there is a truth we need to be honest with - it takes money to do the Lord's work
B. It is not uncommon to hear people express a desire to see us do something in our community
or have something with which to do more or a better job
1. Those are all good things to want for our congregation
2. Are you willing to provide the money for it?
3. Over and again, the members of this church have demonstrated that they are willing
to give in order to make Southside a thriving congregation
4. Are you willing to keep on doing that?
C. You need to accept the personal challenge to help Southside serve this community
1. Long-time members need a renewed commitment - your generosity in the past is
well-noted and appreciated, but you can't take the attitude that your giving isn't
important any more
2. Newer members need to step up to the plate and accept your own responsibility for
the future of this church - recognize the blessing you have here because of the giving
of others before you, and rise to their level
3. We have so many opportunities, so many open doors right here in Grenada, and a lot
of those opportunities will be wasted without the money to help equip this church
with the right tools and materials
IV. An Application From One Of Jesus' Stories
A. Luke 14:25-30
25Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29“Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ NASB95
B. Now you can apply the point of this story to building a church
1. There is a cost involved - part of that cost is money
2. Have we really considered what it will cost to build this church?
3. If we're wise, we will consider the cost so we will finish the job right
Conclusion
A. Are you generous when it comes to your giving
1. If you are, then that's great and I mean it, but even generous people can grow in their
generosity - is it possible you could grow?
2. If you're not, then nobody wants to dump a guilt trip on you, make you feel bad,
or in any way suggest that you're a failure at being a Christian - but if generosity is
not a description of you, just accept the challenge to grow toward it
B. Invitation