THE BLESSING OF GIVING
2 Corinthians 9:1-12
We have just
celebrated the greatest gift of all times. That gift that was purposed
To bless all
mankind. The birth of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, the Savior of the world is that gift.
We cannot repay
God for this generous sacrificial gift. We
can show our
Gratefulness.
In general,
we tend to look after our own needs before we follow God’s
Command to
give to the Church. Our budget includes everything but the Church.
The Church
gets what is left over.
Church And
Religious Charitable Giving Statistics - Nonprofits ...
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online-giving-statistics
Christians are giving at 2.5% of income; during the Great
Depression, it was 3.3%Only 3-5% of Americans who give to their local church do so
through regular giving.
Giving back to God should
not be an afterthought,
But rather than a forethought.
For most of my life, I
thought I was doing the church a favor by giving a
Few dollars.
Actually, I was
breaking God’s command by not giving a tenth of my income. I always thought I
was a good person. But in the sight of God, I was displeasing Him with a tip
rather than the tenth of my income.
Here is the deal;
paying for a meal is a requirement. The tip is voluntary.
A tenth of your income
is a requirement to God. The offering is
Voluntary.
God had to shake me up with
some hardships before I began giving
A tithe and an
offering. I am a testimony to what God will do when
You are obedient in
giving.
In this text, the
Apostle Paul wrote to the Church a Corinth to give to
The poor saints in
Judea. At the start of the Church, The Apostle
Peter collected an
offering from the first Church congregation.
They sold all they had
and gave it to the Peter the leaders of the Church
To support the new
ministry of Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:32-36
32 All the believers
were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his
own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles
continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was
upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time
those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35
and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had
need.
Years later, they first
church fell on hard times. Notice the principle,
Your giving set you up
to be blessed in the future.
THE
EXCITEMENT OF GIVING
V:1 There is
no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints. 2 For I know
your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians,
telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your
enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.
David said
in Psalms 122:1
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go
into the house of the LORD.
A. You ought to be eager to give.
1. You ought to be excited to give.
2. You ought to have a plan to give.
3. You ought to set aside money to give.
4. Your giving stirs up others to give.
B. The Lord boasts about your giving.
1. You ought to always be ready to give.
2. Your giving provides for the needs of
others.
3. Your giving opens doors of blessing
for you.
C. God gives us examples of giving throughout
the Bible.
1. In the building of the temple of the
Lord, here is what David did.
1 Chronicle 29:3-4
Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my
God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my
God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple:
1 Chronicles 29:5
Now, who is willing to
consecrate himself today to the Lord?"
2. The Hebrew word for consecrate is to
make a promise or vow to
The Lord.
3. We ought to be in the habit of making
promises to the Lord in giving
And acting on those
promises.
4. When the need arises, we ought to be
willing to consecrate ourselves.
5. King David’s generosity stirred up
the giving of other leaders
1 Chronicles 29:6-7
Then the leaders of families, the officers of
the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds,
and the officials in charge of the king's work gave willingly.
THE
READINESS OF GIVING
V:3 But I am
sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should
not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 For if
any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we — not to say anything
about you — would be ashamed of having been so confident.
A. When you make a promise, people count
on you to keep that promise.
1. Consider the promise you make to a
child.
2. They become excited about your
promise.
3. They expect you to keep your promise.
4. They are very disappointed when the
promise is not kept.
5. The Lord is disappointed in us when
we fail to keep our promises
To Him.
6. According to the statistics, the
majority of Church folk don’t make
A promise to the Lord in
their giving.
B. When you make a promise to God, He
will remind you of that promise.
1. God will help you keep your promises.
I heard a preacher say, your promises to the Lord ought to be
So large, that only the Lord can help you keep them.
2. If you don’t keep your promises your
reputation for being reliable
Is destroyed.
3. God has made promises to us
throughout the Bible.
4. God has never failed to keep His
promises to us.
5. God promised us, Jesus, in the Garden
of Eden and He kept that
Promise.
THE VOW TO
GIVE
V:5 So I
thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish
the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready
as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.
A. When you are serious and devoted to
the Lord, you don’t mind making a vow
To the Lord.
1. The truth is a vow means you are
committed.
2. We trust the servants of God with the
money we promised to Him.
3. Unless you work in the finance rooms
of Churches, you have no idea
Where your offering is
going.
4. What the officers of the Church do
with your offering is not your problem.
5. God will take care of those who
misused your offering.
6. A great example in the Bible of
misuses of funds is Judas.
a. The Lord described him as a thief.
b. His punishment was self-destruction.
Judas Hung himself.
B. Your offering ought to be generous.
1. We give to ourselves generously from
what God has given us.
2. All we have is belongs to God.
3. He owns the cattle of a thousand
hills.
4. Your offering ought to be given with
a cheerful heart.
PRINCIPLE
OF GIVING THE
V:6 Remember
this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows
generously will also reap generously.
A. What goes around, comes around.
1. I remember my grandfather planting
corn seeds in the ground.
2. I also remember rows of corn doing
the harvest season.
3. I never asked how one corn seed
produced a corn stalk with five to
Six ears of corn.
4. All I know is that one seed planted
produces 100 to 1000 times
More seeds.
5. One seed planted provides meals for several
people.
B. The more seeds planted provided an abundance
of corn ears.
1. On my grandfather’s farm, I saw this
happen season after season.
2. The only way to not produce corn was
not to plant corn seeds.
3. Man did the planting, but God caused
the increase.
THE REQUIRED
ATTITUDE IN GIVING
V:7 Each man
should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under
compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
A. Out of the heart flows the issues of
life.
1. We have to decide to act on God’s
commands.
2. We have to wait with expectation for
God to bless our obedience
B. We must give without reluctance or
hesitation.
1. We should never feel we are compelled
to give.
2. When we give reluctantly, we doubt
God’s promise of reward.
3. Giving with doubt is no test of faith.
4. Giving with doubt denies God’s
abundance.
C. God rewards our giving with His love.
1. Since love is not a feeling, we can
expect God to something
For us out of the
ordinary.
2. Malachi 3:8-11
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How
do we rob you?'
"In tithes and
offerings. 9 You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are
robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be
food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see
if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing
that you will not have room enough for it.
3. Malachi 3:10 is a promise of an
unmeasurable abundance reward for our giving.
THE
GENEROSITY OF THE LORD IN GIVING
V:8 And God
is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is
written:
"He has
scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his
righteousness endures forever."
A. The God we serve can do exceedingly
abundantly more than you can ask or conceive.
1. Grace is God’s favor.
2. All grace is the favor in all
directions of our lives.
3. All things in all times cover all the
thoughts and desires of our minds.
B. As a result of our giving God
promises success in everything we do to
Serve Him.
1. All believers have been given the
ability to give.
2. The question is, “what is our want to”,
to serve God?
3. What are we willing to sacrifice for
God?
4. Will we trust God with our finances?
5. We are always asking God to bless us
with finances.
6. Can we turn around and bless Him with
what He has blessed us with.
THE GREAT
PROMISE OF GIVING
V:10 Now he
who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase
your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You
will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion,
and through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
A. God initiates all giving.
1. God supplies the source of giving
2. God supplies abundance for those who
give
3. God enlarges your reward when you
give for His righteousness
B. God makes you rich, so you can be
generous on every occasion.
1. Our giving shows our gratefulness.
2. We ought to be excited to give
because it will result in a life of satisfaction.
Rev. M.
Mitchell
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