The Pastor's Pen
April, 2009
There are many reasons why people stay away from church. One reason is that there are too many hypocrites and/or the pastor always talks about money. If this type of person found our church, they would ruin our “perfect” image by bringing their hypocrisy! Money is very seldom talked about in our church. Maybe too seldom. We do not have a push every fall to get enough pledges to meet the budget for the coming year. We trust God to work through each of us to fund His church as he leads us by His Spirit. That phrase “by His Spirit” is key. How does the Spirit lead us in giving?
If we search the Scriptures, we will see that God does deal with money. Going back to Abraham in Genesis 14, he paid a tithe to Melchizedek (Verse 20). Melchizedek was a type of Christ. To whom do we give our money? How much do we give? As we have been studying Exodus, we were reminded of God claiming the firstborn as His own. We give to God our best.
In Malachi 3, God not only commands the tithe, but promises to bless us if we do! He owes us nothing but promises to throw open heaven’s windows for us!
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount tells us to lay our treasures where they will be most secure. He ends by telling us to examine our hearts (Matthew 6:19-23). In Acts 20, Paul told the Ephesian elders that Jesus said “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Verse 35).
In Second Corinthians, Paul encourages the congregation to give to the needy church in Jerusalem. In this context he reminds them of how much Jesus gave to us (8:9).
In I Timothy 6, the apostle Paul again deals with money. He reminds us “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out of it” (Verse 7).
Tithing our money to God is an act of obedience and worship. An offering to God is an act of worship.
God has richly blessed us in so many ways. He tells us in Romans 12:1 to present our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice. That is all of us and what we have. He tells us this to trust Him to care for us. When we see the reality of our lives, then trusting God is a joy. I don’t harp on money, but it does us good to be reminded of what God says.
Dick Davies
There are many reasons why people stay away from church. One reason is that there are too many hypocrites and/or the pastor always talks about money. If this type of person found our church, they would ruin our “perfect” image by bringing their hypocrisy! Money is very seldom talked about in our church. Maybe too seldom. We do not have a push every fall to get enough pledges to meet the budget for the coming year. We trust God to work through each of us to fund His church as he leads us by His Spirit. That phrase “by His Spirit” is key. How does the Spirit lead us in giving?
If we search the Scriptures, we will see that God does deal with money. Going back to Abraham in Genesis 14, he paid a tithe to Melchizedek (Verse 20). Melchizedek was a type of Christ. To whom do we give our money? How much do we give? As we have been studying Exodus, we were reminded of God claiming the firstborn as His own. We give to God our best.
In Malachi 3, God not only commands the tithe, but promises to bless us if we do! He owes us nothing but promises to throw open heaven’s windows for us!
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount tells us to lay our treasures where they will be most secure. He ends by telling us to examine our hearts (Matthew 6:19-23). In Acts 20, Paul told the Ephesian elders that Jesus said “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Verse 35).
In Second Corinthians, Paul encourages the congregation to give to the needy church in Jerusalem. In this context he reminds them of how much Jesus gave to us (8:9).
In I Timothy 6, the apostle Paul again deals with money. He reminds us “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out of it” (Verse 7).
Tithing our money to God is an act of obedience and worship. An offering to God is an act of worship.
God has richly blessed us in so many ways. He tells us in Romans 12:1 to present our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice. That is all of us and what we have. He tells us this to trust Him to care for us. When we see the reality of our lives, then trusting God is a joy. I don’t harp on money, but it does us good to be reminded of what God says.
Dick Davies
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