Let's pray.
Our gracious Heavenly Father, this morning as we come into Your presence, we come with a
of our dependency upon You, with a thankfulness that You have made Your will and Your wisdom
clear in the Scriptures, and that You have given to Your children the Holy Spirit who
indwells every believer and is actively at work transforming the heart and mind of the
believer to be more like Christ.
And this morning as we take up the matter of our faithfulness and stewardship and practical
instruction from the Scriptures, we are thankful that You who abide in heaven care about this
matter and are interested with the heart that we bring to this subject and interested in
our faithful submission to Your authority.
I ask for the enabling of the Spirit of God.
I ask for the faithful prayers of the people of God.
And I ask that You are the one that is exalted in what we do as we take the Scripture in hand
and explain it plainly and clearly.
To Christ be glory.
Amen.
I have to tell you that it was a distinct blessing for me to sit last week right over there and
listen to Pastor Scheer, our senior pastor elect, preach his first sermon on stewardship here.
I liked it.
I really did.
I took pleasure in listening to him handle Scriptures.
I've enjoyed listening to him preach.
I remember three, four years ago, Pastor Saul, who has been a gospel companion to me throughout
the ministry here, or most of it, he said,
Pastor, it will be very hard for a man to succeed here if you don't enjoy listening to him preach.
And I don't ever intend to bother anybody with that, but I've got to tell you,
I enjoyed listening to our pastor elect handle the Scriptures and preach on stewardship.
By the way, I do think that that is a basic thing that a person who is a shepherd of God's people should teach on.
I've got to tell you, this will probably be the last message I preach on stewardship here.
The reason being is that Pastor Scheer, you don't know this, but he's already more or less,
fair to say, in charge of our preaching schedule, right?
Yeah.
He's divided up John a lot differently than I would have done.
I would have been on this subject for another three years, but we're going to get it done.
He's whacking it off in mega chunks, and I am biting the bullet and trying to chew it and get it together.
Next week, you'll see me preach on far more verses than I ever imagined.
But when I say that it will be my last stewardship sermon, there is no sorrow in that.
There's joy.
Not that I have any hesitancy on preaching on the subject of stewardship.
But I think it is entirely appropriate that God's people, as they pray and look to the future,
anticipate God bringing Pastor Scheer to be the principal agent of the Word here in our fellowship.
And I look forward with ambition to him being the one that continues to teach you lessons on the subject of your giving.
And I have to tell you that knowing in advance that this will probably be my last sermon on stewardship,
guess what it was like to prepare to say the last time, the last things that need to be said.
Very hard.
And I made it easier on myself in part by having him go first, and then he kind of coached me a little bit.
And so, now don't blame him on what I say, but I do want you to understand that this has been thought through together as a collaborative effort.
Now, I want you to listen because there's something here at the very beginning that's pretty important.
Your stewardship is nothing other than a demonstration of what you really think about God.
Let me say it slowly.
Your stewardship is nothing other than a reflection of what you think about God.
An illustration of that would be in 2 Samuel chapter 24, and I want you to go there just for a moment.
And I'm going to kind of press the story together because it's not my primary text.
But it is a proof, and listen, listen, everybody.
When a pastor says something, at the heart of what he says should be a Bible truth.
We agreed?
I have opinions about how hot curry should be, but there's not a Bible text on that.
Do you follow me?
But when I stand up here and I speak as a messenger of the Lord of hosts,
there should be a Bible passage that corroborates the statement.
And so when I say that your giving is a reflection of what you think about God,
it's fair to say, and here's a passage that informs our thinking.
2 Samuel chapter 24, we have David who numbered the people,
and God gave David choice A, choice B, choice C.
And the choice that he actually decided upon as a punishment for his disobedience was a plague.
It came upon the nation of Israel, and after a period of time, God says, that's enough.
And God said, I want David to go and offer a sacrifice at a particular place.
There in verse 18,
And Gad came that day to David and said to him,
Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Arunah the Jebusite.
So David went up at Gad's word as the Lord commanded.
And he goes to offer a sacrifice, and when he gets there, by the way,
generally when you bring a sacrifice, what did you need to bring along with the sacrifice?
You needed to bring wood.
If you're going to make a sacrifice, you had to have a sacrifice.
You had to have wood.
David goes to the threshing floor of Arunah, and when he gets there,
he has neither sacrifice nor the fuel, the wood with which to make the sacrifice.
And to abbreviate the story, Arunah offers to David his oxen,
and he offers the implements of threshing, the wood that was used in threshing the grain.
And he says, Listen, you can have it for free.
David says, No, no.
Look at verse 24.
I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.
The point that I make as we look at this passage is that what we think about God reflects in our giving.
Here, David, instead of taking something someone else gave to him as a means of offering,
he decided, I want, because of who I know my God to be,
I want this to have an effect upon me and be a reflection of my own heart and giving.
And so when we come to the matter of stewardship,
one of the things that I want you to think through very carefully is this,
is your giving is a reflection of what you think about God.
With that said, I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 16.
1 Corinthians chapter 16.
And as we are making our way to that,
I want to tell you that stewardship is not one of those topics that kind of is high on the radar screen for a pastor.
It's not like most pastors at least sit in their office rubbing their hands thinking,
Wow, if there's anything, I really get cold chills about preaching about its giving.
I love doing that.
Actually, I like it.
And I'll tell you why.
Because I am interested in the spiritual well-being and growth of God's people.
And if God has a hold of your heart, He also has a hold of your wallet.
Does that make sense?
He's got a hold of your heart.
He has a hold of your wallet.
And there's no shame in bringing the matter to you from the Scriptures
because the Bible has a lot to say about our giving.
And when we really think about our giving,
I want you to understand that the way we handle money really sends a clear signal of where we are
and where we take our directions from.
Do you understand that point?
The Word of God should be the thing that informs the behavior of the believer.
And so when we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 16,
we find Paul towards the end of his letter to the church at Corinth, the first one,
he has some very explicit statements about the matter of giving.
Let me read just the verse 2, 1 and 2 here to you.
Now concerning the collection for the saints,
as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.
On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside
and store it up as he may prosper so that there will be no collecting when I come.
Now as we look at this passage,
I want you to recognize the first point I would make about the matter of biblical giving
is that it is part of body life.
It is part of body life.
I want you to think about that just for a moment.
And recognize that when you are listening to a sermon,
one of the things that you should be able to determine very soon
is where the authority comes in terms of the preaching.
What is it relying upon to make its points?
When a pastor is engaged in expositional preaching,
you should be able to follow along in the Bible and figure out,
oh, I see where that came from.
There is the passage, and that's the way the passage instructs
what is being said and frames it.
So as we look at this passage, and I use it as an illustration to prove the point
that that exposition of Scripture draws from the Scripture itself,
you look here at the words in verse 1, it says,
Now concerning the collection for the saints,
as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.
Here is Paul saying something to the church in Corinth,
and he says, listen, I have something to say to you about collecting for the saints.
And the words that he is engaged in are applicable or are of value to the church.
I wonder whether or not you think of yourself as part of a larger entity,
or you just think about, well, Maranatha is a place I show up at.
I mean, it doesn't make any difference where I show up at.
It's just I show up.
No.
In the thinking of the Scriptures and in the economy of God,
he puts us together into family units.
How many of you know your family unit?
Okay?
How many shearers are there?
Am I right?
There are...
Help me out.
I lost track.
There's so many.
Eight of us!
There we go.
Okay?
Actually, I happen to know that there are six Kenoyers,
and there are 13 grandchildren, right?
Yes!
You know, it's like, they're good.
We know our family unit,
and we are in a lasting relationship with that family unit.
Am I right or wrong?
How many of you admit that there are people in your family unit that every now and then kind of are a challenge?
But they're your family.
We are in a family of believers in Maranatha,
and being part of the body of Christ means that you're linked together into a unit that God has ordained
and put together for His glory.
And so I want you to recognize that here is Paul writing to the church,
and he is speaking to the church as an entity, not as individuals,
but he is speaking to the church as a larger gathering of people
that are fit together for the significant purposes of the gospel.
I want you to recognize here is Paul writing under the instruction of the Holy Spirit,
and as he writes these words,
they end up being authoritative to us as Bible believers.
Verse, the reason behind a believer's actions should always be a passage of Scripture.
Why am I doing what I'm doing?
How many of you go to work on an occasion,
don't feel like it's the best thing to do and the most enjoyable thing of the moment?
How many of you had that happen?
And you think about Walt Disney, you know, and you think about the little song,
Hi-ho, hi-ho, and you're thinking, that doesn't cut it.
But then you think to yourself, hold it,
the Scriptures tell me that I am to be a conscientious, hard-working individual,
and that the way I work should bring glory to Christ.
So our behavior as a believer should really rise out of biblical truth.
An illustration of that would be this.
In the past, we prayed for President Obama.
I prayed for him on a regular basis.
Now I pray for a different president.
I pray for President Trump.
And I will tell you, I don't think either of the men are less deserving or less needy of their prayer,
of the matter of prayer.
They both equally need prayer from godly people.
And it ought to be one of the things that you are engaged on in a regular basis.
Why?
Because the Scriptures command you to pray for those who are in authority over you.
And if you have any question about it, you go to 1 Timothy 2, verse 1 and 2,
or you could go to 1 Peter 2, verse 17.
We are to pray and to honor those that God puts over us.
Another illustration of the fact that our behavior is informed or instructed by the Scripture
would be that when we drive into the parking lot,
how many of you have noticed that as a general rule,
the parking spaces very, very close to the door are generally reserved and not taken?
Does anybody know why that is?
We do not have handicap signs right out here by the main entrance
because once you put a handicap sign there,
you permanently lock it down for that use and nobody can park in it.
And when someone drives in here Monday and drives in here Tuesday,
there's no need for it.
But on Sunday morning, why are those parking slots open?
Does anybody know?
Leviticus chapter 17 says that you are to rise up and stand before the hoary head.
Hoary head means great.
The Bible tells us that we are to give respect and honor to those who are elderly,
and so near parking places are for older people.
The Bible tells us that.
Now, the point that I'm making here is that when we, as God's people,
look for instruction on the matter of giving,
it's appropriate for us to seek out counsel from the Scriptures themselves.
And I say that because we live in a day and age where there are lots of voices crying out
for the subject of giving,
and we have a tendency not to pay attention to what the Bible actually has to say on the matter.
Here.
The believer's first giving should flow through the body God has linked them to.
I'll say that slowly and let you think about it.
The believer's first giving, I didn't say only, first giving,
should flow through the body that God has linked them to.
And I say this on the basis of the following passages.
That's not going to be an exhaustive string of the passages,
but one case would be Acts chapter 5.
Does anybody know what happened in Acts chapter 5?
It was one of the early consequences to poor stewardship.
Ananias and Sapphira brought their giving to the feet of the apostles,
and they lied about it, and what was the consequence?
They died.
In Acts chapter 6, we find that there was another problem in the matter of stewardship,
and we see that the illustration that you can glean from this
is that giving flowed through the church
and was distributed by the leadership of the church to meet the needs.
2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 6 through 12,
we find that the early church had developed quite a habit in the matter of benevolence,
so much so that it became kind of, it became,
how many of you know what I mean when I use the word entitlement?
Do you know people that have kind of an entitlement mentality?
Early church had problems with entitlement
because people would show up for the church dinner,
but they wouldn't go out to work.
They wouldn't do anything constructive.
And do you know what Paul said to them?
Does anybody know?
He said, if a man won't work, neither should he eat.
And I can tell you over the years,
Pastor Saul probably remember this,
we on a regular basis have people who call here and say,
listen, I need help with my rent,
or I need help with my air conditioning,
not in January, but you know,
I need help, I need help, I need help.
My standard statement to them is,
I'm glad you called.
We would be glad to help you
if you show up here and work for us for four hours.
We'll pay you.
Guess what happens to takers for that benevolence?
Does anybody want to guess?
We don't have many takers,
but the Bible says if a man is unwilling to work,
neither should he eat.
The early church was the conduit
for the matter of benevolence
in the early New Testament era.
In 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 3 through 16,
we find extended teaching by the apostle
on the matter of how families are to care for their own.
And it is interesting when you read that passage
that before the church is burdened with caring
for a situation,
the family should be burdened first.
Everybody said what?
That was one of the most enthusiastic amens
I've heard in a long, long line.
It just blew me away.
That was a Baptist amen to be amended in heaven.
Oh, well, I know.
I understand.
Don't go there, Tim.
It's all right.
Okay, so here is Paul saying to the church,
hey guys, before you step in as a congregation
to help in a needy situation,
you need to light family members up
to step into the deal.
And on more than one occasion,
I've had people come to me and say,
Pastor, the church is not doing this
and not doing that.
And I, I'm really sorry to hear that.
Let me get on that.
What they don't know is that by the instruction
of the Word of God,
I'm obligated to call family members and say,
you may not know this, but...
And when I explain that to the individuals
who are commiserating about something being done,
they decide, oh, maybe we ought to help.
The Bible has a lot to say about the matter of giving
through the local church.
2 Corinthians 8 and 9.
Philippians 4.
And I could work my way through other passages
where it becomes very clear
that the believer's giving
is to flow through the body
that Christ has linked them to.
I'm not saying that the local church
should be the only place that I give,
but it's to be the first.
Let me put it this way.
The local church is God's plan A.
Do you understand that?
I want you to fix that in your mind.
The local church is God's plan A.
When Jesus said,
I will build my church,
He was thinking of the body of believers
that would form in every local place
and would gather under the teaching of the Word of God
and be actively ministering one to another
and one to the community around them
for the testimony and glory of Christ.
When Luke wrote in Acts,
and the Lord added daily to their number
those that are being saved,
that word daily to their number
is talking about the local church.
And in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 22 and 23,
and I want you to look at that passage
because it is so profound.
Ephesians chapter 1, verse 22 and 23.
In verse 22, he says this,
And he put all things under his feet
and gave him his head over all things to the church.
Now, what is the church?
Which is his body,
the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Listen to me.
The church is significant far beyond the thinking
of many people today who profess to be believers.
The church is God's primary agent in this age.
And one of the things that needs to be framed
clearly in people's thinking
is that the local church has preeminence
and is significant.
It's so easy today to bypass the local church completely.
And the pattern shows up
in all different kinds of illustrations.
I'll give you a couple practical illustrations.
I remember when a young man
who grew up in our church here,
I'll mention him.
How's that?
Rollin Moeller.
Pastor, where is it?
Pennsylvania?
New Jersey?
Pennsylvania?
Where is it?
Virginia.
Thank you.
Rollin called me one day,
and he was just a little animated.
He was fired up
because he had had two missionaries,
one from Awana
and the other from Word of Life,
who had gone out from his church
to go to their training
for being future missionaries.
Rollin was stirred.
Rollin, if you're listening to this,
I'm talking about you.
Okay.
Hi, Rollin.
He was pretty agitated.
I said, what's bothering you?
He says, I can't believe it.
People are going to Word of Life,
and they're going to Awana,
and they're learning how to raise funds,
and they're not at all instructed
to call local churches.
Did anybody know that I was a little irritated
or kind of fired up?
I can't understand that.
Rollin was upset.
He was a young man,
and I said, back off.
You can't fight city hall,
something like that,
really important, significant.
Do you know why that's happening?
Do you know why?
It is the normal protocol
for people to ask individuals
rather than local churches
to raise money.
Of all the missionaries
that I have had the privilege
of working with,
there's only one that stands
at the other end of the fence.
It's Tom Wolfe.
Tom Wolfe said to me,
I will not ask individuals.
Only one.
Do I think it's wrong
to ask individuals?
No.
But I think it is wrong
to not ask churches.
Do I think it is wrong
for people to go on missions trips
without involving the local church
in any way, shape, or form?
I'm beginning to wonder
if that's wrong.
Why?
What does it say
about the local church
when you don't even bring them
into the circle
and ask them for an endorsement?
I have people going
on missions trips
and nobody has ever asked me
as a pastor,
so what is this person like?
Huh?
J.D. Greer
says this.
And by the way,
J.D. Greer is not the only person
I could recite on this,
but here we go.
J.D. Greer said,
I don't believe Christians
should give only
to the local church,
but I do believe
that Christians should give first
to the local church.
Your local church
should not be the only place you give,
but it should be the first.
And by the way,
I'm reminded of that little passage
where Paul says this in Galatians.
He says,
Do good to all.
How many of you know
the remainder of the verse?
Can you help me?
Particularly to those
who are of the household of faith.
God wants me
to be a benevolent person.
He wants my neighborhood
to know me
as a benevolent person.
He wants people
to enjoy the generosity
of my heart.
The first place
that that should be experienced
should be in my home.
The second place
should be in the body of Christ
and then around the circle
outside of that.
Well, we look at the issue
and I've got to say
that I took a little more time
on the matter of giving
to the local church
than I intended,
but it's my last time.
And it is far more important
and if you're sitting here
and your fur is going up,
you ask yourself the question,
What does the Bible say?
Will you do that for me?
What does the Bible say?
You can be irritated at me
because I don't have
the right tone of voice
or because I'm 68,
but at the end of the question
is this,
is what does the Bible say?
Okay.
Now, let's come to another
little thing.
Your giving should be planned.
It should be directed
through the local church.
It should be planned.
And you look there
at verse 2,
on the first day of every week.
I'm not going to belabor the point,
but the issue here
is that the statement
on the first day of every week
kind of presumes
that people had a pattern of giving.
How many of you do better
with patterns?
patterns.
I mean, you know,
when I feel like it,
maybe.
I don't know.
No.
I mean, I really rely heavily
on patterns.
In fact, I found myself
kind of reviewing
some of my patterns
the other day.
I had backed up.
Do you know where
I'm going with this one?
I had backed up
without showing
adequate attention
to all of my mirrors.
And I came about
a micro inch
from hitting somebody else's car.
And after that,
it's like,
oh,
Tim,
remember
driver's ed?
How many of you
remember driver's ed?
Check.
First thing you do
when you get in.
If you want to fail
your driver's ed examination,
when you get into the car
and the other guy
belts himself in,
what's the first thing
you should do?
Adjust your mirrors.
I mean,
go overboard
with that thing.
I mean,
he thinks you're
paying attention.
So here I am,
and I'm saying to myself
a little litany.
It's like,
look both ways.
Look.
I'm at the point
where I pray now.
Lord,
help me be careful
as I drive.
Okay?
Routine.
Plan.
Have a pattern.
And here we have
God giving instruction
to the saints.
He says,
at the first day
of every week.
Now,
the implication
behind that
is that the people
in the church
of Corinth
as a general rule
got paid on a daily basis,
but they gathered
once a week
in the congregation.
And so when they gathered,
they brought
the proportion
that God had blessed them with
and they brought it in
on a regular basis.
There are some of you here
that are paid
every other week.
There are some of you
that are paid
bonuses
at periodic times.
And as God
blesses and prospers you,
it's appropriate
during that time frame
to then respond proportionally
as God has blessed you.
Let me bring you
to another point.
Not only are we
to give on a planned basis,
what we're to give
personally.
Each of you,
Paul is giving instruction
that every individual
in the local congregation
was to give.
That instruction
was to all
who had received
something through the week.
Look forward a little bit
and it says here,
as he has prospered.
So who is expected
to be a regular giver
in the congregation
of God's people?
All those who are making
some kind of income.
That's who God
is speaking to.
You are involved
in earning a living
and you receive something
as a result
of your labor.
As that award
or that payment
is made,
a portion of that
is to go back
to the Lord
on a regular basis.
I do want you
to understand
that your giving
is to be of your own
free will
and it is not
to be manipulated
or coerced.
Your giving
is personal
and it is not
something that is
to be manipulated
or coerced.
I am reminded
of what we read
in the book of Exodus.
Towards the end
of the book of Exodus
when the offering
was taken up
for building
the tabernacle,
it said that God
wanted the giving
to come from
all whose hearts
were made willing.
I don't know
what you give.
I have never
ever paid attention
to what people
in this congregation
give.
If you want to see
Tim Knoyer
get just a little
irritated
when he is around
fellow pastors,
just let that
fellow pastor
talk about someone
in his congregation
that is a faithful
tither.
That is like nails
on the chalkboard
to me.
Do you follow me?
Because I don't
look at you
in that context.
You are not graded
according to your stewardship.
I don't know
what it is.
I want you to give
freely.
I want you to give
because it is a reflection
of what you think
about God.
End of discussion.
And I will preach
my heart out out here
to see that you love God
because I know this,
when there's room
in the heart,
there's room in the
wallet.
You guys awake today?
The last little word
that I was hoping for
was if there's room
in the heart,
there's room in the
wallet.
This thing right back
here.
Okay?
So I'm going to
preach my heart out
that you are faithful
in your stewardship
because you love God.
Now there's another
thing.
You're giving us
to be proportionate.
Proportionate.
Everybody gets
wrapped up in how much?
Well here we go
with statistics.
statistics.
The average person
in America gives
less than 4%.
Okay?
Very interesting
little statistic
and some of you
are Googling me
already.
It doesn't bother me
in the least.
Those who are not
overly wealthy
give far more
than those that are
proportionally.
That was not
God's plan.
As God
prospers you
the intention
that God has
in giving you
that prosperity
is not that you
just up your
standard of living
but that you
up your standard
of generosity.
And what Paul
means when he
says the statement
that he makes
there in 1 Corinthians
chapter 16
verse 2
as he may
prosper
the indication
is this
is that
proportionate
to your
prosperity
is to be
the generosity
of your heart.
So I want
to encourage you
as God
prospers you
to grow
in giving
more
than in
spending
more.
Make that a
point.
There's some
of you
sitting out
here this
morning
that are
at an
early stage
in your
life
you still
have those
school bills
hanging over
your head
and you're
living in
an apartment
you're maybe
even living
with your
parents
or who
knows
but you're
thinking to
yourself
oh I
don't know
how I'll
ever be
able to
give more
I've got to
tell you
the day
will come
you conscientiously
serve God
in the place
that he has
put you
he's going
to prosper
you
he's going
to bring
you up
and as
he
prospers
you
the thing
that should
increase
is your
proportion
of giving
let me
say one
other thing
people ask
me about
tithing
and
and I've
got to
tell you
that tithing
predates
the Old
Testament
law
Abraham
tithed
I think
in the New
Testament
the standard
exceeds the
matter of
tithing
and I am
not here
remember I
don't pay
attention to
who tithes
and who
doesn't
right
but I
got to
tell you
Judith
and I
will tell
you without
hesitation
that as
we have
grown in
the Lord
our joy
in giving
has amplified
itself
we find
pleasure
in it
does
anybody
wonder why
I preach
about giving
right here
in January
I'll tell
you why
because right
now is when
there are
people out
in the
lobby that
are handing
out what
does anybody
know what
they're handing
out
pastor
Saul
what are
you handing
out
pardon
giving
statements
and the
reason we
hand out
giving
statements
in January
is does
anybody
have an
idea why
we do
that
because
between
now and
April 15th
Brian when do
people have
taxes that need
to be done
who yes
and see what
happens is there
is this
juxtaposition
that's a big
what it means
is there's a
blending of
the giving
statement that
you get from
the church
with your
tax statement
and and we
want you to
have an
opportunity
to kind of
evaluate
hey how
am I
doing
fair
right
nod your
heads
yes
preach it
you know
get on it
I need to be
convicted of
that
okay
one more
point I'll
let you
go
as you
look at
this passage
I want
you to
understand that
this is
prescriptive
what I mean
by that
is God
is giving
explicit
instructions
to believers
who know
him
it's for
every
believer
your
stewardship
your
faithful
giving
to the
Lord
is part
of a
normal
Christian
life
and it
is an
indicator
of where
you are
in your
journey
if you
are sitting
here this
morning and
stewardship is
something that
as you listen
to it you're
thinking can
he stop
soon
I got to
tell you it
may be that
you don't
know him
or it may
be that you've
lost your
first love
or it may
be that you
have been
sucked into
the swamp
of covetousness
and I got to
tell you it's
hard to get
out of there
without giving
but let me
say one other
thing
this passage
is only
prescriptive
for those
who are
believers
the scripture
makes no
call on the
unbeliever
to be faithful
in stewardship
and if you're
here this
morning listening
to the preaching
of the word of
God
that has to
do particularly
with the matter
of faithfulness
and giving
and you're
sitting there
and don't
know the
Lord Jesus
yet I got to
tell you the
first interest
that I have
and the first
interest that
Christ has is
not in your
wallet
his desire is
that you would
come to
recognize the
dark bankruptcy
of your own
soul and to
recognize that
the day of
accounting is
coming when you
will stand
before a
holy God
and he
will judge
you for
your sin
and because
of that fact
of judgment
coming someday
he sent
Jesus Christ
into the
world to be
your savior
I love what
it says
talk about
giving
2nd Corinthians
it says
this
though he
were rich
yet he
was made
poor
for your
sakes
Paul takes
two chapters
in 2nd
Corinthians
to hammer
the subject
of giving
and at the
center of his
argument
is Christ
who was
willing
to die
for your
sins
he was
willing to
give it all
for you
and if
you're sitting
here this
morning and
you do not
know Christ
I gotta tell
you let
the matter
of stewardship
and giving
kind of go
away to the
side and think
about this
where do I
stand in my
relationship with
the Lord Jesus
Christ
don't walk
out of here
if you don't
know Christ
thinking that
the primary
focus of this
message and
its application
to you is the
matter of your
wallet it's your
heart Christ
Jesus came
to save you
let's pray
Father God
this morning
as we take
up this
subject of
stewardship
we are
thankful that
your word
speaks clearly
to believers
and gives
practical
instructions
and Father
we ask that
you would
help us to
be formed
in our
thinking and
to be convicted
by the
authority of
your word
and to
trust your
wisdom rather
than our
own
I pray for
those who
are in our
congregation
this morning
that are
believers that
know Christ
but the
truth of the
matter is
is their
stewardship is
frail and
undeveloped that
this morning
they would walk
out of here
saying God
you being my
helper this is
going to be
something that
changes this
year
I pray for
those that are
here that don't
know Christ
that this
morning your
spirit would
bring them to
conviction to
see the
bankruptcy of
their soul and
to recognize
there is no
salvation apart
from the Lord
Jesus
that they would
cry out and
confess their
sins and believe
in Christ alone
we ask this in
Jesus name
amen
you