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Now we’re on a series called I believe, and you guys who are here visiting for the first time today, consider yourself so fortunate, because today we’re talking about giving you come to church the first time and all we want is your money, right? And at least that’s the way it’s going to sound today. Amen. What are you doing? But there’s a reason we’re talking about giving today. And the reason is if you just look to your left and right, you’re probably elbowing someone today. And. And the reality is, is, as a church family, we we need a bigger space at the end of October. I just want to say thank you for enduring the squishiness today, if that’s a word. Um, but at the end of October, we’re going to be knocking down this wall and expanding our main auditorium. And and the children who are crammed in there today more than we are as adults will be taking the the space beside us. We’re just waiting for the tenant next to us to move out. We’ll be taking that space that’s right next to our facility. And so we’re going to expand our space. But it takes money. And today, as people, what’s significant for us to note is we’ve gone through this I believe series is that the purpose of this I believe series is to cause within us a response. It’s one thing to understand God’s truth, but it’s another thing to apply it to our lives.
We didn’t go through a series called, I believe, just to make ourselves super smart in Scripture. We did it because we want to know God more deeply in our lives. And just as God has given everything to us, by even coming to this world and dying for us, we ourselves in a loving response when I give ourselves to him, and that means all of us. If I were to ask this morning, what are the things that you really value in this world? I’m sure that we would start with maybe we’re thinking super spiritual today, our relationship with God. Hopefully we start with that because from that the Bible tells us, love the Lord your God with all your heart and then love others. And as we learn to love God and we understand what love is about, we learn to better love people. And so probably the second most important thing that we would say to ourselves that we love is, is others, our family and our friends. You know, in America, if I had to say what would be the third most important thing on that list, it would probably be money. Money makes the world go round, right? Cash rules everything around me. I don’t know if you remember that, but money is important to us and we do not like to let it go. Matter of fact, we like to spend it on our own pleasures.
Everything that we want to achieve, find, find happiness in ourselves through the money that we accumulate and the stuff that we buy through that money. But money is an important topic because when God talks about he wants all of you. That includes money. There’s nothing that God desires to hold back from you in your life. I want to be honest and say we have existed here as a church for over three years, and we have never had a sermon on Monday or on Monday. Excuse me. We never had a sermon on Monday either, but we’ve never had one on Monday. So if you’re here with us for the for the first time, know this is the first time that we’ve ever talked about this. And, you know, part of the reason that we’ve not done so is because it’s an area of life that is abused. And I don’t enjoy talking about things in front of other people. And I know some people have taken advantage of that. But I also understand that what God has called us to do in this world is so important that in order to achieve it, it takes money. We need a place to meet. We need resources to reach out to people. We need to even minister to our own families. And many times as a pastor, I feel like I spend my day sitting on a nickel trying to squeeze out a quarter.
And we offer to our children and all our ministries just the minimum of what we want to give. Because money, to be honest, is our God. And the reason we don’t oftentimes like to talk about money is because money is a good way for us to look at our lives, examine our checkbooks, and see really what is important to us. Bible warns about money. Money isn’t an ungodly thing, so I’m not telling you to be poor today. Money is an item which God has given us to bless our lives with. But as all good things in which God gives, we as people can take that thing in which God intends for good and turn it into bad. And when Paul wrote to Timothy, he said, money is the root of all evil. And he’s talking about people with false beliefs. And believe this or not, this passage of Scripture is saying, there are these people going to this world and teaching truth. And because they want to have a large group of people following after them, they’ll forsake truth just to make everyone happy, tickle their ears, get a lot of people come, and then they have a large church and they get money. That’s what this passage is talking about. And that’s not us. We’ve gone through this whole series of, I believe, to take a stand on what we believe. I believe, and I think Scripture dictates to us that what you believe is important.
And to be honest, the root of what you believe dictates how you live your life. It says in First Timothy chapter six and verse five, in the latter half of the verse, that’s what that B means. People have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. This is if you turn on your televangelist TVs and watch. Every once in a while, you’ll see someone get on TV and say, if you give me five bajillion dollars, your life will be blessed. You will be so good looking. Driving a Porsche in the fancy house on top of the mountain that you’ve always longed for. This verse says otherwise in verse six, but godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich, fall into temptation and a trap, and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. I think it’s saying to us in verse nine that stop complaining. Stop thinking about everything else that you need in this world for just a minute, and take a notice of what God wants to achieve in this world.
In America, we say that so often. But. But do you realize if you live in a house and you drive a car, you are in the top 2% of the wealthiest people in the world? America is the most blessed country to exist on the face of this earth. And yet, how many times in our lives do we hear people say, man, I am broke? You are not broke. You just got done coming to church, taking a shower and running water. In which villages in this world don’t have, and a nice car and a home in which people don’t possess eating food, not worrying about where your food is coming from, having turned off your cable television for just a few minutes to come to church and give God a little bit of praise. You are blessed. You aren’t broke. I wish we had the opportunity that when that statement comes out of our mouths, I’m oftentimes can be guilty of that. Just God would just lift us up and drop us somewhere like India and say, now make that statement here. We fall into that trap. Now I drive a 2003 Hyundai Elantra. It’s a massive car. You know, it’s what brought Stacy to me. She was so attracted to that. And the temptation for me is rather than being content with what God has given me. Just saying, man, look at that car go by.
I think I need that car. And then my pursuit comes, becomes about money so I can find pleasure and wealth by taking things that I think that I need, rather than recognizing what God might be doing in this world. I think verse nine should be like, everyone receive a tattoo when you leave of America and what we want to achieve. Verse nine is exactly where we’re finding our pitfall. Money is our love here. You know, if we were to just survey in America, I’ve never seen this study done, but I would even go so far as to bet that if you live on welfare in America, you live better than nearly all of the world. We’re not broken people. We are blessed people. Hebrews 13 five says, keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, never will I leave you and never will I forsake you. And here I am today, a minister talking about money. Am I growing horns? You know, there’s seven reasons I was thinking this morning of what would be important and why it’s important for us to be okay with talking about money. And I was reading some laws that were passed out west in the mid 1850s. And, and at one point in one of these laws, it took the liberty to just talk about ministers are only in ministry for filthy lucre. I didn’t appreciate that representation of me without having known me.
They had known me. They would also know I’m in it for power and fame, right? I’m just kidding. If I am in this for money, if I’m in this for money, I have been losing for a long time, for six years. And this is one of the reasons why it’s okay for us to talk about money today, and especially in my position. For six years I have done ministry in Utah and and not one opportunity have I taken to take any sort of paycheck from a church. I work extra jobs just to be able to come up here and share God’s Word with you. My passion is for God and my desire for you. This morning when we leave here isn’t to tell you to give lots of money. That is not what we’re after. My desire this morning when we leave here is just to ask the question. Are you giving all of yourself to God? Have you given your heart to God? Because that does include money. Everything that you are. Have you given it and turned it over to him? That is the desire in which we are achieving and seeking for this morning. Second reason I drive a 2003 Hyundai Elantra 100,000 miles and still going. Third is we’ve never talked about money in the existence of our church. A few months ago, probably closer to a year ago now, we considered the possibility of purchasing a facility for us as a church family rather than continuing to rent.
We had some different organizations that were going to get behind us and financially contribute. We sent all our financial statements. We sent our church attendance just so they could have some comfort in us and being able to receive a building, and they came back to us and said, we see your attendance. Your attendance is healthy. But honestly, compared to the church size that you have and the amount that you’re giving that that is not healthy. You guys need to be somewhere between the 5 to $7000 a month range in order to get a building, and based on your size, that’s honestly where you should be right now. So you need to examine yourself as a church to make sure your people are healthy. And that was just on an average basis of churches across the country. And that said to me, man, at some point we’ve got to bite the bullet and talk about money because we’re not healthy. Money is an indicator to us of where our love and priorities really are. We’ve never spoken about money here, and number four is we don’t hide our giving. If you want to know what our church gives, all you have to do is open up your bulletin. Just so happened for six years. I’ve never received a paycheck here at church in September.
The church took on a new budget, and they actually included in that $500 a month to go to Stacy and I for ministry expenses, which is good because we’ve spent so much on gas and phone bills and all that, that it would be. It would be nice to help out in the future. It’s biblical to pay leadership in the church. The point is, though, all you have to do, if you look in your bulletin, you can see what our giving is. Each month you can see what our projected giving is. If you look, last month we received, I think, 85%. In your bulletin it says of our budget, which is about $2,800 a month. Our budget is for $3,300 a month. We are exactly $500 short, which is exactly the amount that the church decided to take us on. Which means if we give $2,000 a month, you don’t have to worry about ever giving me any anything at all. That’s okay. And then we could just continue to do that. But we don’t do any of this in secret. Our giving is not done in secret. It’s out in the open. Everyone can take a look at it. It’s done with integrity and goodness. The next reason is we have no idea. I have no idea personally what anybody gives. So when I come up and talk about giving today, I don’t know if you’re given $0.10 or $10,000 a month. No one’s given $10,000 a month.
But. But I have no idea what the giving is, so I can. I can share this with you. And if the Lord convicts you in an area of your life has nothing to do with me because I don’t know what God’s doing in the hearts of people anyway. Second is Jesus talked about money. You know, if you were to read the Gospels, you would see one fourth of Jesus’s message that he shared in the Gospels, talked about money. That means every month that you come to church, one month out of that Sunday is dedicated to money. That’s how often Jesus talked about it. That’s how much of a God people made money in their lives rather than dedicate it to God himself. Seventh reason is Jesus says giving is a spiritual issue. Jesus believed, and I believed. Money is a way of measuring our dedication to him. When we say that we love Christ and we want to give God our best, that includes everything that we have, whether we’re rich or poor, whatever we possess. And so if you’re interested beyond today, to go back and make sure that what I’m telling you, everything that I’m telling you is biblical, at the very top of your notes, you’ll see three places in Scripture that you can go to to to understand what wealth, the way the Bible talks about wealth, the way the Bible talks about stewardship, and the way the Bible talks about worship, all geared towards money.
Today I’m going to look at two points for us. I want to gather some principles about money given to us in a story that exists in Scripture. And last, I’m just going to answer the question, so how can we as people give cheerfully? You turn in your Bibles to mark chapter 12. You’ll find an interesting story there existing for us about a widow. We read the story of the. The premise that we gather from the life of this lady is that this life of this woman was dedicated to Christ. Jesus talked about money because money was a spiritual issue. Money is a spiritual issue, and giving is a spiritual issue because it is a lordship issue by lordship. Where have you put your trust? What are you hoping in? Do you wake up every day and you’re concerned about going to work and just making that dollar bill to pay and meet all the needs of your life? Or are you trusting and hoping in God to meet the needs of your life, the things that are important to you in this world? You give to first the things that rule your life in this world. You give to first. Mark chapter 12 and verse 38. It says this in his teaching he was saying, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and like respectful greetings in the marketplaces and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor and banquets.
I would say today we don’t really walk around in robes, but this would be somebody wearing the Armani suits, right? Walking around in long robes. And if you’re wearing an Armani suit today, I apologize. Respectful greetings in the marketplace and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. It says in verse 40, who devour widows houses and for appearance sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation. The Bible verse goes on to say, and he sat down opposite the treasury. This is referring to Jesus, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury, and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Scripturally, the way that the amount that we know this woman gives what this is often referred to as the widow’s mind. I’m sure you’ve heard of the widow’s mite was the equivalent one. Widow’s mite was the equivalent of six minutes of work on the average daily salary. So this lady took 12 minutes of work and she deposited it into the Treasury, says in verse 43, calling his disciples to him, he said to them, truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the Treasury. For they all put in out of their surplus.
But she out of her poverty, put in all that she owned, all she had to live on. We give to the things that are most important to us in life. The first thing that we notice about the life of this widow and her giving is that she gave out a sacrifice, not a surplus. Maybe if I were to be blunt this morning, and what I have to say about this passage, I would say if all you’re doing is tipping your God, just quit giving. Jesus is looking at these Pharisees who are coming to this treasury, and they’re going through all their money, and they’re paying for all the bills and all the cars and all the homes and all the cable television that they possess that they think are really needs. And at the end of the month, whatever is left, they say, ah, what do we do with this? It’s a surplus. Let’s just give it to God. As a matter of fact, when we do it, let’s make a big deal about it. Everyone thinks that we’re like Moses walking the earth today. So we’ll put on our long robes and we’ll walk in all rich and just tip our God. And Jesus looks at this widow, and he tells us that she didn’t give out of her surplus. She gave out of her sacrifice. Why? Because God was Lord of her life. When these men walked from the temple, there was question in the minds of the people of whether or not they truly loved God, if all they wanted to do was tip their God.
But with the widow, when she left, they knew she was in love. Could you imagine Jesus sitting here for a moment? He sits down and he sees these gentlemen walking to the presence of the temple, and everyone just bowing at the knees of these people as if they’re the spiritual giants that exist during this time. And Jesus just sits down and just watches everyone giving. And he says, these people, these are your spiritual giants. Yeah. Jesus, these are our spiritual giants. Look at the way they dress everyone. They pray so well in public, right? And all of a sudden, this older widow lady comes in and everything that she has, she just lays it down, trusting in God. And Jesus says, do you think these guys are your spiritual giants? Here is my kingdom mover. Here is the person that’s after my heart. You got to love about the way that God works. It’s never who you expect. The lowly, lonely old widow. Still hoping. Trusting in God. Giving is a spiritual issue because giving is a lordship issue. You know, our giving reflects the character of God in our lives. God is all about giving. For God so loved the world that he. What? Gave. God demonstrates his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for you.
God is a giving God. God has opened heaven and earth to bless your lives. God loves you. When we understand that love is about giving itself away, it tells us in first Corinthians 13 and if you, being made in the image of God, should reflect the goodness of God by giving yourself away, giving is a lordship issue. Good question to ask us this morning as to whether or not we truly understand how to love God and give to him, and whether or not money rules our life rather than God. Let me ask, how much money would I have to give to you for you to stop coming to church on Sunday? How much money would it take for me to have to give you, for you to stop reading God’s Word. $100. $1 million. If it’s any amount at all. You love money more than you love God. When we say we love God and we’re dedicating himself or herself to us, it doesn’t matter the amount, it doesn’t matter what takes place in our life. We give everything to God because he is good and he is worthy. Point number two. Giving to God indicates where we’ve placed our hope. Could you imagine it said in the very beginning of this verse that these Pharisees come into the temple and they steal from these widows. They take their homes, but yet they tip their God, and they look so spiritual to people.
And yet we see in this lady that that all she has is two widow’s mites. That’s not enough to make her house payment. These spiritual Pharisees are about to rob this widow’s house, and she still comes into the temple and she gives everything that she has. If you were to ask this lady, I could see the people gathering around. What in the world are you giving to God for? What? Look, think of all the things that you have to worry about. All the bills that you have. These guys are about to take your home. Why are you giving to God? Answer. It’s because he is my hope. You ask the Pharisees, where is your hope? Everything’s okay with us. We’ve got all the things that we need. We have all the money in the world, so we’re good. We don’t have anything to worry about. You know, the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 12 dealing with money. Just previous to these verses, Jesus is saying to people, you are foolish if your hope is in money. And he says in verse 12, and Jesus says to his disciples, therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or about your body, what you’ll wear. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Do not set your heart on what you will eat or what you will drink.
For the pagan world runs after all these things, and your father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and all these things will be given unto you. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. God is telling us, give to him first, and he will look after our needs. Give everything that you are to God and he will look after your needs. Giving to God indicates to us as people where our hope truly is. Honestly, if we as people expect to give at the end of the month out of what God has blessed ourselves with that month, when it gets to the end of the month, guess what? We’re going to give the surplus. The $0.10, right. Giving to God is a spiritual issue. Giving to God suggests where our hope is. In Matthew six it says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Giving suggests where our hope is. But giving also suggests excuse me. Giving is also not for rich people. It’s for God’s people. Many people live a life of giving, thinking. Giving is for the rich people, right? Well, God hasn’t given me a whole lot, so I’ll just let those who make more do it.
And I’ll do something else for God’s kingdom. No, God says he wants all of us. God also doesn’t care about the amount that you give. God cares about the heart of giving. You think about the Treasury this day? Jesus standing in the temple when the woman shows up. Jesus is going crazy. Over 12 minutes of work. Jesus is more excited than of the of the $0.02 he got than the thousands of dollars they got. And this morning, I’m not after a church making $10,000 in their budget. I don’t care about that. What I care about is whatever God has blessed our lives with is that we just are willing to surrender to him. If we’re a church of widows with mites, then we will be a church that loves Jesus with widows and mites. Does God have your heart? Giving isn’t for rich people, it’s for God’s people. In acts 2025 it says, in everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work, we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord himself and saying, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Fourth point I just want to make about this widow is that God uses people who are faithful in giving small things to accomplish great things. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard in my life. You know, when I get rich, then I’m going to give back east.
When I lived where there was a lottery. When I win the lottery, I’m going to give so much at that time. But not now. If you’re faithful in the small things, you will be faithful in the big things. If you’re not faithful in the small things, you’re not going to be faithful in the big things. I’m not holding my breath for you to win the lottery. I don’t care if you ever win the lottery. If you do, invite me to your house for the party. All I care about is the condition of our heart before God. This lady was a kingdom mover for Christ. Not because she gave thousands of dollars, but just because she was willing to submit to the Lord. The Bible says in Luke 19, well done, my good servant. His master replied, because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter. Take charge of ten cities. The challenge to us this morning is just to ask ourselves the question, are you taking care of the church? Are you planning for the future that God has for us? When you come to church, maybe rather than giving, thinking about just meeting the needs of what your family is taking from the church, maybe think to yourself, you know, God, I want to give to bless the church and give back to the way that has blessed my family.
But also I’m thinking about these empty seats beside me. And so I want to give to the church to reach out to these empty seats. We want to see these filled with people to come and know you. I want to take my financial burden away from the church. I want to help and give in a way that helps others grow in Jesus. I want to give in a way that says I desire to communicate my message to this world. I want to give in a way that helps those in need. I want to give in such a way that says, I love Jesus. Here’s the truth. We don’t sacrificially give like this widow because we don’t really believe that God can satisfy our life. If a widow can give two mites, everybody can give something. If you say that you love God, but you don’t give. Stop saying you love God because love gives. The way I choose to use my money is a reflection of my heart. Jesus says this in Matthew six no one can serve two masters either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Let me say this this morning. I need to clarify this. If you are on a journey in your relationship with God, and you’re not even sure whether or not you want to believe in God, but you’re here just learning about God.
I’m not asking you to give, but if you have a relationship with God and you say that you love God, I’m saying consider showing your love for God by giving, right? So the question is, we’ve looked at this beautiful widow and this is an incredible story, isn’t it? Thousands of years later, we’re still talking about this old lady. People may have looked at her life and just thought, what can this lady give? Well, what can she really do for God? And here we are. Jesus tells the story. It gets in your Bible. In thousands of years later. We’re saying this is the example of what God’s people should really be like. How can I be like this widow? How can I love God in such a degree that I just want to give everything to him and just trust God? You are going to supply all that I need in this world. How can I give joyfully? The Bible says this in Corinthians. Second Corinthians nine seven. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give. When we leave today, I know what’s going to happen. Husband wives might fight. Don’t fight. Okay? Don’t fight over this issue. That’s not what we’re after. What we’re after is that you take the time as a family to discuss what would be a godly amount to give. Not reluctantly. We don’t want you to do that.
We’re under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. We want you to give to Jesus with joy. How in the world are we going to get there? I love my money. First is God must be your first love. If God’s not your first love, something else is. And you’re not going to want to give to God first. Bible tells us in Matthew 1344, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again, and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Listen. Focus on God and the goodness he has. Don’t worry about everything that you might lose by giving to God. Think about what you gain by giving to God. Think about the families who could come and worship the Lord. If our churches had a better budget to reach out to people. Think about the way that we could fill this place up in celebration of Jesus. You know what I love is just when we sing music and the music stops and we just hear the voice of the people, and when our attendance is low on Sunday and I hate it, I get up here and I’m playing like, where is that person? We need one more voice out there saying it. It would sound so good, but we want to give in a way that says, Jesus, you have first priority of my life.
God, you are my first love. God, I thought about everything in this world that I thought was important, but I looked at your kingdom and the goodness of your kingdom, and I decided to sell all of it and just run for you, trusting in you. I want to give joyfully. It’s got to start by allowing God to be my first love. Second is this get a vision for what God is doing. You’re not going to give until you get a vision for what God is doing in this world. Meaning think about this. Let’s stop and consider this for a minute. Do you know what incredible opportunity God has placed you in by living in Lehi, Utah? There is no church building that has ever existed in Eagle Mountain. Not a church building that has ever existed in Saratoga Springs, Lehi, Cedar Hills. Highland. Alpine. Nowhere. But God has brought you to this place to celebrate and worship him, and to proclaim his name throughout this world and different than any other city in America. You have the opportunity to build the first freestanding church in a city that is a vision. For whatever reason, God has brought you to this place. That’s the desire of this church. And we have a vision for what God wants to achieve through us. We have the opportunity to think about all the giving that we can bring, to see that happen.
Get a vision for what God is doing when you come to church on Sunday. Stop thinking about your kingdom. Stop thinking about everything that you want to achieve and all the things that you want to possess and all the happiness that you want to seek by owning items. Stop thinking about your kingdom and start thinking about God’s Kingdom. Take a step back and say, God, what are you doing in this world? I just want to be a part of that. I want to help whatever it is that you’ve called this church to do without Jesus being your first love and without really having a vision for what God wants to achieve, you’re not going to give. But the way that you give joyfully is to love God with everything you are and get a vision for what God is doing in the world around you, and then you’ll begin to give. I’m not saying this morning that you have to give 10%. Matter of fact, if we looked at the New Testament and the Old Testament act of giving 10% was the lowest amount anyone gave. 10% was the average giving that Israel gave in the Old Testament. Then they gave a percentage on top of that during holidays and special festivals. And then they gave even more to the poor out of their fields when they grew crops. Israel was more than a 10% giver. And the New Testament, they gave everything.
And I’m not telling you 10% this morning. I’m just saying ask God. God, if you were Lord of my heart, what number do you have for me? How can I show to you Jesus, just like this widow, that I love you with everything that I am? Third, consider the lesson everyone learns through giving. Don’t focus on what you lose. Focus on what you’re gaining. Um, okay. Says in first Timothy 618, first Timothy chapter six, verse 18. Command them to do good. Here’s the command. Do good to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasures for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Consider the faith lesson everyone’s learning. When you’re giving to God, consider what you’re saying to your children the importance of God. When you’re giving out of your own life, consider what you’re saying about your own faith and trust in the Lord. When you’re giving to God, consider what we’re saying to the importance of this church to our church family. Consider the faith lesson that’s involved for everyone here. And finally, I would say this. Give me another quick mark. View yourself as a steward of God’s money. This might blow your mind for a minute, but do you know everything that you own and all the money that you possess in this world, and all the wealth that you have isn’t really yours, it’s God’s.
For whatever time you were on this earth. God, for whatever sovereign reason, has just simply allowed you to have it. And he’s going to hold you accountable for it. It says in Haggai chapter two, verse eight, the silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty. The nation of Israel at this time were rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem that had been destroyed, and they were poor. They were coming back from captivity. God, we don’t have anything. Or in the South we ain’t got nothing, right? What are we going to do? And God is just simply telling the children of Israel, listen, this is what I’ve called you to do. This is how poor you are. But just do it. Trust in me and just do it. Because all the money in the world belongs to me. Listen to this for a minute as we consider that we are just stewards of God’s money in Malachi. I think this is wrong. In your notes, I think it says Micah, but it’s in Malachi chapter three and verse eight, the poor children of Israel have built their temple, and it says, Will a mere mortal. This is what God’s saying. Will a mere mortal rob God? How in the world do we rob God? Yet you rob me? But you ask, how are you robbing me? Look what he says in tithes and offerings.
You are under a curse, your whole nation, because you are robbing me. 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 not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. So God saying to the people, the reason that I’m allowing you to be poor people is because you’re giving to me like a bunch of poor people. God tells the nation of Israel, if you want to experience my goodness, then give to me the way that you should. I don’t care how poor you are. I’m after your faithfulness and your heart. And God says, as we give, you know, this is the only place in the Bible God says, test me is in our giving. God is saying, test me and see in testing me, if the storehouses of heaven just don’t blow up and I and I flood your life with the blessings of me. I’m not saying it’s nice hair or fancy car and all that. You know, if you’re going gray or losing it, it’s gone. I’m funny. I’m just kidding. What? What I’m saying is that God is going to bring the peace that only comes through him in a right relationship with him. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.
Jesus said he came to this world, that your joy may be in him and through him, and that your joy may be made full. And maybe part of the reason that your joy isn’t fooling God is because you really haven’t given yourself to God. Maybe you’ve tricked yourself into thinking that you’ve given everything to God, but you really haven’t given everything to God. And the great way to test that this morning is just to ask, where does all my money go? Does it suggest I love God with all my heart? We believe that what we believe is important as a church family, because what we believe dictates how we live. Every area of your life should be affected by the goodness and the truthfulness of God. This is the first message I’m giving we have ever had. It may be the last for a while, but here’s what I want to encourage you to do this morning. We’re thinking about giving, but we’re also thinking about everything that we’ve learned together through this I believe series. In your notes you’ve received, hopefully everyone has a copy of a letter at the top. It says, I believe if you didn’t get a bulletin, you can grab one on your way out. It’s everything that we’ve learned together throughout this series. Stated in a In a one page summary on the front, you’ll find all the statements to what we have taught about believing here as a church.
And if you don’t enjoy what it’s stated, you can also flip to the back and see the references to all of those statements on beliefs of God. For you to take the opportunity to go over those and read and examine what it is the Bible teaches. In addition to that, within your bulletin, you also have a copy that says My Commitment to Christ. Here’s what we’re after as a church family. It looks like this. My commitment to Christ as we want to encourage your lives to be committed to Christ. This is a declaration of an I believe statement. I understand not everyone’s going to want to do this. And that’s that’s okay. But I’m going to ask you this morning if if you’ve gone through this I believe series with us and you’ve agreed with us and what we’ve taught and what we believe as a church, and you just want to take the opportunity to take that as a declaration before your church family and just say, yes, I believe this. And not only do I believe this, I’m giving my life to Christ for this. I encourage you to read over this paragraph and give your life to Christ, and what we’d like to see you to do is to take this sheet and on the entry table, when you walk in, there is a offering box on the table. Just fold this up and put it inside the offering box.
But here’s what it says. Because I believe God has loved me and given himself for me. I print your name, want to love him, and give myself to him. The way I choose to respond to God and love is by connecting to God through my relationship with him. The first thing I must do is take the opportunity to trust in him with my life. Nothing in this world can save me, no matter how many good works I do or how good I think I am, it cannot save me. Only God can save me. Therefore, I trust in God as my Savior. I believe he died for my sins by paying for my sin penalty. His reason for dying for me is me, so that I may experience a grace filled eternity with him. That’s heaven. My desire is to continue to trust God and grow in my relationship with him. If I’ve not been baptized, I will seek to be baptized like all other Jesus followers, as the way God has chosen for me to show my devotion and love to him. I will daily strive to talk to God through prayer, just as close friends talk to each other. I want to learn about God through the Bible, just as loved ones care to learn about each other. In love, I will serve him and trust him as a spouse serves and trusts their mate in order to grow closer in their relationship.
I want to be involved in what God is doing in this world. I want to bless God by blessing the lives of others through the use of my gifts, talents, opportunities and wealth he has given me. I also want to encourage Jesus’s other followers to do the same. I’m giving God control of my life every day. I want to love Jesus, and I want to stay away from a life that compromises the purity of my love for Jesus. As I. Love Jesus, I will continue to grow to love what Jesus loves. This devotion to God will lead me in a life that will forever love God and love others. And I know that if you had the opportunity to word it a little different, you might do so. We went through this whole series for really one big purpose, that is, for you to take the opportunity to learn about the truth of God and in so doing, give your life to God. I hope as we reach the end, you guys understand how much God loves and cares for you and a way of showing that love. I want to take the time right now just to close us in a word of prayer. When I do, I’m going to invite Richie to come up and lead us in communion. God, we just want to say thank you so much that even we can talk about hard issues like giving here as a church. God, thank you that you’re concerned with our relationship with.