Summary of Hear and give
Preamble
As Brent begins his message a while board is carried up on stage. He doesn’t explain the purpose of the board and it is a very interesting start to the message.
Brent also gives a 4-point disclaimer about the content of the message today. Today’s message is about giving money to the church. Brent also admits that this message was a tricky to put together and he has no idea why.
2 Corinthians 8:7
Brent reads a passage from 2 Corinthians and highlights this passage:
But since you excel in everything —in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you a —see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
Brent makes the great observation that if a church becomes known as a place of loving the homeless, it is because there are individuals in the church actually loving the homeless. The church becomes effective because there are individuals actually acting and doing!
5 lies people believe about giving money to the church
Lie number 1: the bible doesn’t say anything about money
When you examine what topics Jesus spoke about money was the hot topic. He spoke about money more that salvation!
Lie Number 2: God doesn’t care if I give to the modern day church
Brent goes on to explain the concept of the word “tithe”. In the old testament (OT) the Israelites had to give 10% of their crops to the tabernacle so that the tribe of Levi didn’t have to farm. This allowed that tribe to focus on the priestly duties.
The second tithe introduced in the OT, was a requirement that the tribes had to donate to the community fund that would find the various festivals of worship.
There was a third tithe based on land ownership.
In Malachi 3:8 God says to the nation of Israel,“Hey you aren’t giving what I asked you to give.” Things changed by the time of King David. David was a generous king and gave abundantly to all the required tithes. The nation saw this and also became generous. And King David realized it wasn’t even his money to give! He knew it was firstly given to him from God. It was God’s first, and still was God’s money.
We are a church in the New Testament so what about the tithe?
Jesus came and made all those requirements obsolete. So now what?
SouthRidge’s collection “buckets”
Brent explains the four “buckets” that donated money are funneled into that serve various purposes. There is a general fund, a benevolent fund, a building fund, and a missions fund. Brent talks about the concept of 10% and how that number can lead to legalistic approaches to giving. God wants us to give with joy. It is about our attitude towards giving that makes God happy. Are we doing it out of obligation? If so, then we need to re-evaluate our intentions.
Lie Number 3: I can be generous without giving money (I’ll volunteer instead), or I can be generous without giving my time (I won’t volunteer I’ll just give money.)
Brent goes on to explain that it isn’t about the number 10% taken from the first tithe outlined in the OT. Brent points out that it is more about your heart’s motivation. A stat says only 9% of people in an evangelical church give 10% of their earnings.
Lie number 4: I can’t afford to give
2 Corinthians 9:6 – “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” How can we be stingy with God and expect him to be generous with us? It comes down to trust. We easily trust him with our salvation because that is in the future. But regarding money, we are so nervous to trust God. Money helps satisfy our present situation.
God will provide. God will care for us.
Lie Number 5: if I give I won’t have enough left over for me!
The truth is, every dollar we earn will be invested somewhere. The average 9-to-5 worker invested $1,100 a month on coffee. Women will invest $25,000 on shoes over their lifetime. These stats are meant to show that we foolishly waste our money on comfort items….many many comfort items. Matthew 6:21 – For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
How come we never have enough money left over to give?
In our society we move our “wants” into the “needs”. We must realign our “needs” into true “needs” and not splurge on ourselves.
2 Corinthians 9:11 – You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Investing in God’s Kingdom
When we give we are worshipping God and we are investing in God’s kingdom. It is hard for us to understand what God is up to, but that is where trust comes into giving.
About this Message Series
This is a message in a series called Hear & Obey. This series was started in January 2017.
About the Speaker
Brent is the lead pastor here at SouthRidge. He and his wife Pam were part of the original church plant.