Time, Talent, & Tithe: The Truth About Giving
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Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Talent
Talent
So far we’re been talking about the spirit of giving and how we were called to give sacrificially.
A big part of being a Christian and a true believer in Christ, is the idea of giving up ownership.
I used to work in the collections department for the Credit Union, a place where the idea of ownership gets quite confused by some.
Not everyone realizes that when you take out an auto loan, what you’re really doing is asking your financially institution permission to drive their vehicle until you’ve fully paid for it.
You’re entering a contract that says, “Mr./Mrs. Bank, I promise to pay you back for the privilege of borrowing this vehicle that you bought. or this house that you bought.”
It legally belongs to the bank until you actually pay for it!
So when you stop paying for it, we kindly come get our property back in the form of a repo or foreclosure.
When I talk about giving up ownership as a Christian, I’m saying that we are to be good stewards of all that God has gifted us with.
Including yourself.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Stewardship: the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property.
God created and orchestrated everything we see and know to be true in this world.
from the beginning He has given us instruction on how to steward this gift that He has given us.
Adam had a job.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
He wasn’t created to sit and look pretty all day every day. d
Everyone has been gifted
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.
We Are One Body!
We Are One Body!
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Macro: The Church
Macro: The Church
We, as the church, are one body in the totality of Christ
Hope Hill is not an Island of itself.
Just as Hawaii is far away, but still a part of these united states, so is each church open in Jesus name a part of the body of Christ.
The Catholic
The Primitive Baptist
The Free Will Baptist
The Missionary Baptist
The African American Epistle
The Church of God in Christ
The Methodist
The Presbyterian
The Non-Denominational
It doesn’t matter,
As long as we all believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior son of God, we are all brothers and sisters.
As long as we all agree that He was sent from heaven to live a perfect life and that He then died crucified on an old rugged cross to then resurrected three days later with all power in His hands, then we are all a part of the same family!
We may not all agree on ritual or ceremony or specific minutia of certain scripture, but these elemental truths, that God lives in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) bind us all together as one.
I don’t want you to misinterpret what I’m saying though.
Division based on denomination is not the evil that is plaguing the Church. Diversity of thought and expression can be a beautiful thing if manifested correctly.
Hope Hill’s worship experience is not the same as E3s worship experience, and we may not sing the same songs as Bethel AME but we come here every Sunday to worship and praise and pray and learn and grow in our love and knowledge of Christ just like (hopefully) they do.
Micro: The Individual
Micro: The Individual
A man was rebuilding the engine to his lawn mower, and when he finished, he had one small part left over, and he couldn’t remember where it went. He started the engine and it ran great, so he figured that the part was useless – until he tried to stop the lawn mower, and it wouldn’t stop! Even the smallest, seemingly least important part of the body of Christ is important.
Whether we are looking at the Macro (The church as a whole) or the Micro (you as an individual member of the body) we must remember that God is always the head.
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
He directs all!
Use your Gift!
Use your Gift!
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Though we are individual pieces, our unique functions are beautifully constructed to work in harmony with each other for a common purpose.
That’s why I always tell you that you were made by God on purpose and for a purpose!
In other words, God wants you to use your unique role in the body of Christ to glorify Him.
Your gift may not be my gift, but we are all important to the work of the ministry.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.
Just because you don’t have a gift or a talent for public speaking, doesn’t mean that you don’t have a place in God’s church.
Just because you can’t play an instrument or sing like an angel or work the media, doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you to do.
See, There are two ways that God wants us to use our talents:
To bless others
To bless the Kingdom
If you love accounting, glorify God in the finance ministry
If you love helping people, serve as part of the Hope Hill Cares outreach ministry
If you love working with kids, volunteer for the Kids ministry.
If you want to do announcements, that’s just fine with me.
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Jesus gives us two commandments: to love the Lord and to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37–40). And when we steward our talents to honor Him and to bless others, we’re doing just that.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.