Do you remember last week when I told you that there have been times in our life when we’ve had lots of money and times when we’ve been broke? I’m now going to tell you about a time when we were broke. The business we operated was in bad shape and we couldn’t understand why. Personally things were bad financially and we were down to $325 in our checking account. There was no savings account or extra money put away somewhere else. $325 was all we had to our name. As I was desperately seeking God over what we needed to do, I felt strongly that God was telling me to sow a financial gift to a ministry that we had been learning from. The amount I felt God telling me to give was $300. I knew I had to do it, but almost immediately the thought came to my mind that we had a credit card and we could live off of that for a while if God didn’t come through. Now as quickly as that thought came, God gave me a counter thought. I have to cut up the credit card. The offering I was supposed to give in faith, wouldn’t be given in faith, if I was still trusting in the card. I would be putting my faith in Visa and not God. That settled it, I’d determined what we needed to do.
Now for the hard part. I have to go downstairs and tell my wife that we need to give our last $300 to a church. So that’s what I did. When I told Laura, she didn’t react the way I thought she might. It took a minute for her to process that information, but she said she was good with it...because we had a credit card we could live on for a while. It was then, that I told her in addition to giving the money, we also had to cut up the card. She agreed and got out the checkbook. She wrote the check and we cried as we prayed over the offering and the small pieces of plastic that were unusable. It was in God’s hands now. We had done what He had asked. You see, it wasn’t about money...it was about answering the question: Do we trust God enough to be motivated into an act of crazy faith. I know that God put the thought in my mind to give that offering, because it runs contrary to the worlds system. The world says that the more you save and keep for yourself the more secure you will be. But God’s word says that the more you give away, the more He’ll give you. So where do you think the idea of using the credit card came from? That’s right, the enemy. He saw one last chance to derail what God wanted to do through us. But we chose obedience, despite how crazy it looked. The enemy will give you lot’s of very practical thoughts as to why you shouldn’t give. They will all seem like a reasonable justification to not obey what God has said. In our case, he tried to get us to only half obey God. Give the money, but put your faith in the card. So tonight, the choice is yours. You may be thinking, “the church has plenty of money, I don’t need to give anything.” Or, “I need
this money more than the church does.” Where did that thought come from? Does it seem reasonable according to the worlds system? Yes, it does. Does it agree with the word of God? No, it doesn’t. So, where did that thought come from? Are you going to come into agreement with a thought that disagrees with the word of God? As you are deciding what you will do, I want you to keep in mind who God said you are robbing when you withhold His resources. It’s not the church...it’s God Himself. God takes it personally when we withhold His resources and begin acting like we are in ownership instead of just rulership. This has been true from the very beginning. The first time we see this principal at work in scripture, is in Genesis. Cain and Able are the first two people we have a record of who brought an offering to God. Let’s see what happened. Genesis 4:3-8 “3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” 8 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” And there you go. The first ever recorded offering ended in jealousy and murder. But why did God not regard Cain’s
offering? He brought an offering...but it was not like his brother’s offering. You see Able brought the first born of his flock. That was the best he had, and he brought it to God as an offering. But Cain brought vegetables from the ground. One translation says he brought “some” vegetables. There is a big difference between the “first and best” and “some.” Cain brought what was left and what he thought he could part with, but Able brought the first portion which was the best. Able acted in rulership, but Cain was acting like he was in ownership. 1 John 3:12 “12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.” What you bring to God as an offering matters. Are you offering the first and best or are you bringing some of what’s left over. Here’s what I mean. When you get paid, do you pay your bills, put money into savings, spend your fun money...And then bring God some of what’s left? Or do you bring God his portion as an offering first, and then figure out how much is left for you? Clearly, we are taught what our order of priority should be from the illustration of Cain and Able. Do you want God to be pleased with your offering? A little later in the book of Exodus God speaks to Moses about an offering He wants from Israel. Exodus 25:1-3 “25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution. 3 This is
the contribution which you are to raise from them: gold, silver and bronze,” In Exodus God called for every man “whose heart moves him” to give. There was no mandatory collection by force. That Is why I always say to give what God has laid on your heart to give. As we think about offerings today, I want you to consider the concept of a seed, because that is what an offering represents. You may have heard of a seed offering. Let’s break down what that means and how it fits into the spiritual laws of finance. In Genesis 1:11 God establishes the law of seed. Genesis 1:11 “11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. God commanded the earth to bring forth grass, herbs and fruit trees that will produce fruit...that has seed in itself. God began by creating the earth with seeds already in it. God just commanded them to start growing. Do you realize that the tomatoes you ate this summer came from the first tomato seed God put in the earth during creation? As we read on in Genesis we come to verse 28, where God blesses man and says to be “fruitful”. But what does it mean to be fruitful? Being fruitful means to have the ability to multiply by using what's already inside. The seed principle is based on the fact that every fruit has seed inside if it. The ability to multiply many times is already built into
the fruit. A single fruit can have many seeds and each of those seeds can produce many fruit. A watermelon has a lot of seeds inside of it, and each of those seeds have the potential to produce lots of watermelons. The potential is only limited by what you do with the seeds. You see, that’s the thing about seeds, they only provide the potential for harvest. In order for a seed to actually produce anything, it must be planted. You may be in need of a financial harvest, but I’ve found that if we pray for a harvest, God provides seeds. And our harvest is dependent on our seed planting. If we ask Him for an oak tree, He provides an acorn. It’s up to us to understand that there is the potential for an entire forest of oak trees, inside that single acorn. The harvest is in the seed...and the seed is in the harvest. Are you willing to sow the seed in order to unlock its potential? The Jerusalem believers gift example in 2 Corinthians 9 teaches that our harvest (or provision) is based on our planting. The Apostle Paul talks about this principle of Seed giving. 2 Corinthians 9:1-2 “I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem. 2 For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving...
In these scriptures, Paul was talking to the Christians in Corinth about giving a financial gift to the church in Jerusalem. Further down in verse 7 is where we get the concept of being a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7 “7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” There it is again. Did you see it? First it was in Exodus from the old contract, and now here it is again in 2 Corinthians from the new contract. It said each of you must decide in your heart how much to give. A lot of times you will hear people say, “give till it hurts”, but I like to say “go past that and give till it feels good.” What is a seed offering? A seed offering is an offering of time, talent or money that is sowed into a ministry. Look at what Genesis 1:12 says about seeds. Genesis 1:12 “And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind.” A seed will only reproduce more of its own kind. You can’t get an orange from a watermelon seed. And for the same reason you have to plant a seed offering according to its kind. If you would like a harvest of more time, you should give more of your time. If you would like a harvest financial resources, you should give more generously.
It’s not a zero sum game. Meaning you don’t just have a finite amount of seed and if you give it away, it has left your life. Would you say that a farmer who was planting seeds, was throwing them away? No. The seeds you sow haven’t left your life, they have gone into your future. Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days. In bible times, Hebrew cities were built along rivers, and every year it flooded right up to their doors. When this happened the people would throw seeds out onto the water and then, as the water “receded” it carried the seed down river. Later in the year as the people were traveling, they didn’t have to burden themselves to take provisions along, because the seeds had grown all along the river. So as the people traveled, their food was already there waiting for them. The seed they sowed hadn’t left their life, it had turned into their future provision. If you want your seed to produce a harvest, it must be sowed on good ground and not just tossed anywhere. Seed can be sowed into your church, a different ministry or even a single person who has a ministry you want to partner with. But before you give to any ministry, do some research and be sure that what you give is going to work for the Kingdom. The boy scouts are not doing Kingdom work. When you find a ministry doing something you want to be a part of, then a seed offering is how to give. A non church example of a seed offering would be a gift to Miracle Hill or other ministry/missionary/teacher you want to partner with. Let’s look a little closer at what the bible says about seed offerings.
The more you sow, the greater your harvest 2 Corinthians 9:6 “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.” This principle is the same in the natural as it is in the spiritual. A farmer won’t have a large harvest if he only plants a few seeds. If you plant one seed, you’ll get one seed’s worth of harvest, but if you plant 50 seeds, you’l have 50 times the amount of harvest. You have to understand it from a Kingdom perspective. Paul is being very clear here, by saying that if you don’t give much you shouldn’t expect much in return, but if you give generously, you can expect a generous return. Look what verse 8 says: 2 Corinthians 9:8 “8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. Your generosity causes God’s generosity to be unlocked in your life. To the point that you will not only have everything you need, but also have plenty to share with others. The promise is that if we are generous with what God provides us, we can expect even more to be given to us. Why? For us to be even more generous to others. And that’s the key to remember. We are not given resources for our benefit only, but for the benefit of others. And this brings me to the last area of giving. Alms. Alms are given to other men, not as an offering to God. It’s when you help a brother by taking care of his need...privately.
Matthew 6:1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. You should never tell others about your Alms giving. Because if you do, you have received your reward from the person you told. Always keep it secret, for the dignity of those who receive it. So the Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you openly. Proverbs 19:17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord,And He will pay back what he has given. Here’s how we are going to help you do this. There is a bulletin board in the welcome center and it has prayer requests as well as financial requests posted to it. When you pass it, I want you to ask God what He wants you to do. When He tells you, just take the card down, contact the person listed on it, and partner with God to meet their request or need. Also, we want to put together blessing bags for people we see at intersections asking for money. The bag will have water, a snack, and contact numbers and addresses for local shelters. If you’d like to give toward that project, just list that on your offering envelope. What if I can’t afford to give? Paul gave us encouragement if we think we can’t afford to give offerings. He tells us about the Christians in Macedonia who gave, even though they were extremely poor.
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 “And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.” Look at verse 5. They gave first to the Lord, which could be considered a tithe to care for the local church and then they gave to Paul, which would have been a seed offering. And they were prepared and even pleading to continue giving even more to be used by the church in Jerusalem. How were they able to do all of that giving while being in a condition of extreme poverty? Because God doesn’t expect us to come up with a seed offering on our own. God provides our seed and our harvest 2 Corinthians 9:10 “For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.” It’s pretty amazing that God according to verse 10 provides our seed and our harvest! He says that our “harvest” is that He will increase our resources (seed) and that we will become even more generous!
Remember last week when we talked about tithing and how God promises to rebuke the devourer if we bring Him the tithe? Devourer means seed eater. When we spend every penny that God provides without bringing back his tithe, we have to understand who the actual seed eater is...and who God is going to rebuke. Is it the enemy, or is it us? What are you going to do with the seed God has given you? Will you eat it and survive for today, or sow it and rely on God to provide a harvest to sustain you for life?
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