WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Well, as you know, we are studying the great topic of the gifts of the Spirit in our evening services at the moment, 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:17.000 which is a wonderful topic to look at because it's talking all about how we can serve and how we can contribute to the great work of the Gospel 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:25.000 through the Holy Spirit working in and through us. As I said today is our Giving Sunday, so tonight we're going to be looking at the 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:40.000 spiritual gift of giving and generosity. And that's a really important topic to look at. And it's interesting because quite often it's a topic that doesn't get spoken about enough. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:47.000 And that's maybe true in our own context. As Derek said this morning, it's not a topic that any of us are really that comfortable talking about. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:55.000 And so, like typical Scottish people, we don't talk about stuff we're uncomfortable about. So it tends to get left to one side. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:08.000 But of course in other parts of the church, it can be something that gets spoken about too much. And it is true that there are some parts of the Christian church that distort the Gospel 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:18.000 so that it becomes all about giving and all about enriching the church and enriching the individuals in the church. That's something that's happened throughout all of history. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:35.000 And it still happens today. People take the whole topic of giving and abuse it for their own benefit, which is a horrible, horrible misuse of the Gospel message. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:45.000 So we want to talk about giving in a God-honoring and an appropriate way. And it is one of the gifts of the Spirit. And as we are looking at these topics, there's four things that we want to keep in mind. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:54.000 And in many ways we start every service in this series looking at this because these are the four key things that we want you to write in your hearts. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:02.000 That the gifts of the Spirit are given by God, therefore His glory, and there are many and diverse. There are many, many different gifts. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:08.000 Therefore, the building up of the church as we all work together. And we're going to say a little bit more about that later on. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:18.000 Number three, the gifts have common elements for all believers, but unique aspects for some. And by saying that, we're highlighting the fact that all of the gifts of the Spirit reflect 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:28.000 imperatives, commandments, that we should all seek to obey. But yet there are some gifts that are uniquely found in certain people. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:42.000 I think when it comes to the gift of giving and generosity, the common element of that is particularly important because giving is something that we can all do and that we should all do. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:52.000 But as number four tells us, we must never forget that the gifts of the Spirit are worthless and useless without love. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:05.000 Now, instead of looking at giving in a kind of general sense tonight, I want us to actually look at a real life example of the kind of giving that God is looking for. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:13.000 And that real life example was read to us by Ivor in Exodus chapter 35. And that's what I want us to turn back to and study together tonight. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:20.000 We'll look at really the whole chapter, but I'll just read a couple of verses again to remind us of a key principle being said before us. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:30.000 They came, everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him and brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garment. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:45.000 So they came, both men and women, all who were of a willing heart, brought broaches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:56.000 Now, the whole book of Exodus records a key moment in the history of God's people, because that's the narrative of how God redeems his people out of slavery. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:09.000 You'll remember that back in Genesis, God made a covenant with one man, with Abraham, and made a promise that Abraham and his descendants would have a special role in God's work among humanity. 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:19.000 So that promise came to Abraham and to his descendants, and as time went on, those descendants grew and grew and grew so that his family was a whole nation. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:27.000 That family nation of Israel ended up as slaves in Egypt, where they were oppressed and exploited. 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:34.000 But now, God is delivering them out of slavery and bringing them into the promised land. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:36.000 And Exodus tells us all about that. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:39.000 The book divides into two neat parts. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:46.000 The first part, chapter 1 to 19, talks about the people coming out of slavery. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:54.000 And then the second part, chapter 20 to chapter 40, is about getting ready to go in to the land of promise. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:02.000 And in order to be God's people in God's land, which is what the nation of Israel was meant to be in the Old Testament, they're going to need two things. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:06.000 First of all, they need God's instructions. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.000 In other words, they need God's law. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:14.000 And in Exodus, that's a key theme where Moses gives the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:18.000 That's one thing they're going to need, so they'll know how to live as God's people. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:22.000 But the second thing that they need is God's presence. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:30.000 And in order to have God's presence with them as a nation, they're going to need a tabernacle. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:35.000 And a command is given in Exodus 25 where God says, 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:41.000 Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst, exactly as I show you, 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:48.000 concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:53.000 Now, the tabernacle was a really important part of the life of the people of Israel. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:59.000 It was basically a big tent that they could move about as they tabled through the wilderness. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:06.000 And the purpose of that tent was to be the place where God himself dwelt among the people. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:14.000 And it was the central point of their spiritual life and of their worship. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:18.000 It was a forerunner to the temple which was going to be built in Jerusalem. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:22.000 So whenever you're reading in the Bible, when you see the word tabernacle or temple, 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.000 it's exactly the same principle that lies behind both. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.000 They're basically the same thing. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:31.000 The only difference is the tabernacle is movable. The temple was stuck where it was. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:39.000 It was the focal point of all Testament worship and the sacrificial system centered on this location. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:44.000 It was going to be at the center of the camp. Everything else was based around this. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:50.000 And this was the point where the Ten Commandments were kept in the ark of the covenant. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:58.000 It was the place where God himself would dwell in the midst of his people. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:03.000 So it was really important. It was absolutely essential. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:08.000 If Israel were going to be the people of God who worshiped him, they needed this tabernacle. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:14.000 If God is going to be among his people, they need this tabernacle. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:22.000 And so this construction of this tabernacle is a massively important thing, 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:33.000 which is why pretty much a huge chunk of Exodus is taken up describing the process in which this tabernacle was built. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:39.000 I want you to notice something really important in verse 8 there of chapter 25 of Exodus. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:44.000 We've got this incredibly important building, hugely significant. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:52.000 God is going to dwell close to his people in a way that he has never done before since the Garden of Eden. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:08:02.000 And he commands Moses for this to be built, but the task is given to the people. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:09.000 He says, let them, let all of the people make me a sanctuary. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:15.000 And from that moment, the people of Israel have got a great building project that they have to do. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:19.000 And Exodus 35 tells us how they did it. 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:21.000 And that's what I want us to look at together. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:28.000 And we're going to just briefly go through it and notice three key things that are highlighted in the narrative that I've read to us. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:33.000 First thing, the people were generous with their resources. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:43.000 So as we were reading through the verses there, we see that God gave Moses a great list of materials that are going to be needed for various parts of the tabernacle. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:48.000 There's yarn and wood and spices and stones, oil, all sorts of other things. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:53.000 There's things that are needed for the frames, for the coverings, for the hooks, for the pillars, for the lampstands. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:09:00.000 There's all these different things that are going to be needed for the tabernacle. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:05.000 And in verses 21 to 24, we read this brilliant response. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:08.000 All of this stuff is needed. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.000 And everyone came. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:19.000 The people came, those whose spirits moved them, those who are willing heart, brought brooches, earrings, signet rings, armaments, all sorts of gold objects. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:24.000 Every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.000 Now, there's two really important things to notice there. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:31.000 First of all, God wanted the people to give what they could. 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:36.000 And that's a really important principle around biblical giving. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.000 God wanted them to give what they could. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:42.000 So some gave gold because they had gold. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:53.000 But some only gave bronze, some just gave goats hair, some gave a piece of wood. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:57.000 And God never expected the people to give what they couldn't. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:05.000 So whether it was beautiful gold from a wealthy family or simply a bundle of goats hair from an ordinary Easter light, it was all needed. 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:07.000 And they gave what they could. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:11.000 And secondly, God wanted the people to give willingly. 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:16.000 You see that wonderful phrase, all who were of a willing heart. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:24.000 There on the middle of the screen in verse 22, God had no desire to bully the Israelites into giving. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:30.000 He wanted their offerings to be a voluntary, free will offering. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:38.000 And so that's reminding us of a really, really important principle that when it comes to this tabernacle and all this stuff that God needs, 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:44.000 the gathering of resources was not an act of taxation. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:53.000 It was an act of devotion that people gave willingly in order to help God's great building project. 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.000 So they were generous with their resources. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:01.000 They were also generous with their time and their energy as they worked together. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:07.000 And so the command to build the tabernacle was given to Moses, but the actual task was given to the people. 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:13.000 And at one level, there were some key gifted individuals who held a position of responsibility. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:20.000 So we read about Bezalel, who was gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, with all craftsmanship. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:25.000 And alongside of him, there was Aholiab, who equally had remarkable skills. 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:30.000 So yeah, these two great men, but they didn't work on their own. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.000 They had other craftsmen with them. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:34.000 We just have to jump into chapter 36 to see that. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:40.000 Bezalel and Aholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord had put skill and intelligence 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:47.000 to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall come, shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded. 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:52.000 So they all, not just Bezalel and Aholiab, but others with them joined in. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:57.000 Alongside that, the women played a key role. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:02.000 The skillful women spun with their hands and all brought what they had spun. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:11.000 Blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twindling and all the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats here. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:20.000 And the key point that all of this is reminding us of is that God's great building project was not for the select few. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:23.000 It wasn't for the elite. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:28.000 It was something that everybody could get involved in. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:34.000 People who were from all sorts of different circumstances helped. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:37.000 The qualification was what? 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:40.000 It was a willing heart. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.000 People were generous with their time and energy as they worked together. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:49.000 And then the third thing that we see, the third great principle exemplified in Exodus 35, 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:56.000 is that the people were generous with their knowledge and their skills as they learned from one another. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:02.000 As we were just saying, there was two key workers in this whole project, Bezalel and Aholiab. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:07.000 And I must say, we often say, you know, which Bible characters would you like to meet? 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:11.000 So people will ask that question. Who would you love to meet from the Bible? 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:18.000 As a former engineer, I think I would love to meet Bezalel and Aholiab. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:26.000 I just think it must have been amazing what these men would have been able to do. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:33.000 It's something amazing about seeing a skilled tradesman at work. 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:38.000 I don't know if you ever get to go into a building site or something. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:43.000 When you see a tradesman who just makes a difficult task look so easy. 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:49.000 It's amazing. Even at a simple level, I remember a few years ago doing a wee bit of bricklaying at my house. 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:55.000 I wasn't very good at it. So I had to mix the cement. The cement was too soft. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:14:00.000 You put the cement, the line of cement, and I put the block down and it all spludges out the side. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:03.000 I picked it up and my hands are filthy and I'm trying to do it all. 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.000 The whole thing squinted and you put another one on and it all goes squint. It's terrible. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:09.000 A couple of weeks later, I was watching a bricklayer. 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:13.000 He had the block and he took the tile and he scooped up the cement and he went... 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.000 Then he picked up the block and he went... 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:19.000 That was it. That was it. Perfect. 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:23.000 He made it look so easy. I knew from two weeks ago that was really hard. 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:25.000 But yet the skill he showed was amazing. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:32.000 Always remember, never ever forget that being skilled at a trade is greatly honouring to God. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.000 The joiners and the sparkies and the tradesmen in here, 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:40.000 your work is something that God values 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:45.000 and it's something that we can do in a way that really honours our Creator. 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:52.000 So you have these two great men, Bezalel and Aholiab, two heroes of craftsmanship. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.000 They were immensely gifted and immensely important, 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:59.000 but it says something really interesting in verse 44. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:08.000 It says, he's inspired him to teach both him and Aholiab. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:13.000 Now isn't that amazing? Not only did God give Bezalel and Aholiab these outstanding gifts, 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:16.000 they inspired them to teach others. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:21.000 And so in other words, the gifts that they had were not just for them. 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:26.000 They were to be shared with others so that other people would gain the knowledge 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.000 and the abilities that they had as well. 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:34.000 And even if the people weren't as gifted as Bezalel and Aholiab, they could learn from them 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:38.000 and thus gain some of the skills that they had. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:41.000 People were generous with the skills that they had. 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:45.000 They learned from one another and they were able to work together. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.000 So in God's great building project of a tabernacle, 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:52.000 the people were generous with their resources, 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:55.000 the people were generous with their time and energy as they worked together. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.000 The people were generous with their knowledge and skills. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:05.000 And the end result was a great success. 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:10.000 The end of Exodus, you have this wonderful, wonderful conclusion. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:13.000 According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:16.000 so the people of Israel had done all the work. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:20.000 And God and Moses saw all the work and behold, they'd done it. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:26.000 As the Lord had commanded, so had they done it, then Moses blessed them. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:31.000 Now, it's really interesting to note that because if you look through the Old Testament, 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:34.000 and if you were able to read through the Old Testament in a one-out 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.000 or read through the history of Israel really, really quickly, 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.000 you would see a recurring theme arising again and again and again. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.000 And that would be the theme of failure. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.000 Because most of the time the Israelites mucked up. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:51.000 But the Tabernacle is a great exception. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:57.000 They did a brilliant job, and the whole thing was a resounding success. 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:03.000 The people made the Tabernacle, and God himself came to dwell there. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:06.000 Now, you might all be asking yourselves, 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.000 well, that's great Thomas, and really interesting, 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:13.000 but what on earth has that got to do with any of us here in 2018? 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:16.000 Well, I want to say that it's incredibly relevant to all of us 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:19.000 because God has got a new building project, 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:22.000 and that great project has the same purpose. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:28.000 It's to build a place where God himself will dwell. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.000 Back in Exodus 35, that project was to build a Tabernacle. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:38.000 Today, God's great building project is to build His church. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:43.000 And the church, of course, serves exactly the same purpose as the Tabernacle, 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:46.000 because it's the place where God dwells. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:50.000 It's the focal point of the worship and service of God. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.000 But there's one big difference, 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:59.000 and that is that the church is not a physical building like the Tabernacle was. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:04.000 The church is you, the people of God who are trusting in Jesus 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.000 and who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.000 That was what we read at the very beginning. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.000 You are fellow citizens of the saints, 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.000 members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:18.000 Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:22.000 being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:28.000 In Him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.000 You could paraphrase verse 22 and say, 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:35.000 you are being built together as a Tabernacle, as the Tabernacle, 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:38.000 the place where God dwells. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.000 So God is building His dwelling place, His church, 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:44.000 and we are all part of that project. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.000 You are all part of that project. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.000 And so we need to ask ourselves the question, how can we help? 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:58.000 And the answer is that the lessons from Exodus 35 are utterly relevant to us all today. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:01.000 And so that means that to help build the church, 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:06.000 we need to be generous with our resources. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:10.000 In order to build that Tabernacle, the people gave what they could. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:12.000 Some could give a lot, some could only give a little, 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:17.000 but they gave what they could, and each contribution was essential. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:21.000 And exactly, exactly the same is true of the church. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:31.000 God wants us to give in order to supply the church with the resources that it needs. 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:39.000 It's clear, even common sense tells you that without giving, the church can't survive. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:43.000 The church will struggle, building will slow down, 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:47.000 and in some places it stops altogether. 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:51.000 And in terms of giving, we have to remember the two great principles 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.000 that this chapter highlights for us. 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:57.000 Firstly, that people are to give what they can. 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:04.000 Never forget, that's all that God asks of you, to give what you can. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:09.000 And that's why tithing, the biblical principle of giving a tenth, 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:12.000 is such a wise, wise principle to follow, 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:17.000 because it's entirely based on our means. 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:23.000 So people with few resources will only give a small tithe. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.000 People with great resources will give a great one. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:33.000 But each is just as valuable, because in each case you are giving what you can. 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:38.000 And the whole principle of giving what you can, guards us against two extremes. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.000 Guards us against the extreme of selfishness, 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:47.000 because sometimes people don't give what they could, what they really could give. 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:50.000 And that's an unhealthy mindset, and it's dishonouring to God. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:58.000 But sometimes you get the other problem where people give more than is perhaps appropriate or sensible. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:01.000 Sometimes people feel so guilty that they just think, 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:03.000 I must give more and more and more and more, 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:08.000 and it leads to a level of complete unsustainability. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.000 God doesn't ask us to do that either. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:13.000 God says, give what you can. 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:18.000 And it's a great reminder that God's expectations are never unfair. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.000 And if you have given what you can, 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:28.000 then whatever it is, great or small, is precious to God. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.000 And so the people gave what they could. 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:38.000 The second great principle in regard to giving from Exodus 35 was the fact that people gave willingly. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:44.000 And that's a fundamental biblical principle of giving. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:53.000 God does not want a gift that's offered grudgingly, 00:21:53.000 --> 00:22:00.000 or even one that's offered simply out of guilt. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:06.000 And if we're honest, often giving is maybe motivated by guilt more than anything. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:10.000 Certainly for me, you think of it as a duty. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.000 But God doesn't ask for that. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.000 God wants a willing heart. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:20.000 He wants a joyful contribution. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.000 The New Testament echoes that. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.000 Each one must give as he's decided in his heart, 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:26.000 not reluctantly or under compulsion, 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:31.000 for God loves a cheerful giver. 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:39.000 And the best way to nourish that willingness is just to remember who you're giving it to. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:42.000 Giving it to God. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:46.000 It's an act of devotion, of thanksgiving and worship. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:55.000 You only need to spend 10 seconds thinking about how kind God has been to you 00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:02.000 to realize that giving back to God is just an amazing privilege. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:07.000 It's an amazing privilege for us. 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:11.000 There's a really important point I want to mention here. 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:19.000 We are sharing our resources in order to help God's building project. 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:28.000 But we must remember that that is not about maintaining our church building. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:33.000 It's about maintaining the building of the church. 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:38.000 What I mean by that is that our priority is not the stuff all around us here. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:42.000 That's not saying that's not important, but I'm saying that's not the priority. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:44.000 The priority is the building of the church. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:49.000 That's why if you go to the Book of Acts and you see the model of the New Testament church, 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:52.000 you'll see that regularly contributions were made. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:56.000 But these contributions were not used to build up buildings. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:00.000 They were used to build up people. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.000 And that's why people shared for those who were in need. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.000 That's why they distributed daily to the widows. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:12.000 The New Testament church shared their resources to support the apostles in their missionary work. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:16.000 And congregations gave to help their brothers and sisters in different areas 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:19.000 who were struggling and who were particularly poor. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.000 The priority is not the church building. 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:23.000 The priority is building the church. 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:26.000 The priority is building up people. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:32.000 And that's why when we give our contribution to the church, 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:38.000 when we see at our annual general meeting that a big chunk of that goes to central funds, 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:42.000 you must not think that that's some bureaucratic black hole. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:48.000 Because central funds is actually a means whereby we plant new churches, 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:54.000 whereby we help struggling ones who can't afford to survive without our support, 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.000 where we support the work of ETS, 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.000 where we help missionaries who are serving in Scotland or overseas. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:07.000 In other words, you are funding the extension of God's great building project. 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:12.000 And that's our great goal, to help build up the people of God. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:15.000 And that's something that we want to do locally as well. 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.000 We want to build up the people in their faith. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:22.000 And that's actually where our church building comes in. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:26.000 That's where this great building comes in. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:29.000 Because it is important, but we must always remember, 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:31.000 the people are not here to build up the building. 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:36.000 The building is here to build up the people. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:41.000 In other words, the church building is not the project. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:45.000 The church building is part of the toolkit. 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:47.000 It's the place where we come together. 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:49.000 It's the place where we worship. 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:50.000 It's the place where we serve. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.000 It's the place where we spend time together. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:54.000 And the investment that we make in our building, 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.000 or that any other congregation makes in their building, 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:00.000 is in order to build up you as the people of God, 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.000 and to reach out into the community. 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:08.000 So, for example, at the moment, we are working on our kitchen, as you all know. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:12.000 And the reason we're working on our kitchen is because we want to solve some problems. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.000 And at one level, there are problems that need to be solved. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:19.000 We want to have something that complies with health and safety. 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:23.000 We want to have something that meets food hygiene standards. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:26.000 We want to have something that's got good energy efficiency. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:27.000 We want something that's reliable. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:30.000 We want a kitchen that doesn't have a rotten floor. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:33.000 But, you know, none of those things are the real problems 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:37.000 that we want to address with our kitchen. 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:45.000 Because the problem that we really want to address with our kitchen is loneliness. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:50.000 We want to have a place where people can come together and eat. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:52.000 We want to have a place where we can spend time together, 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:56.000 with tea and coffee or food or lunch or whatever it may be. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:59.000 We want to have a resource that other bodies can come, 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:03.000 if they're going to provide for people who are homeless or people who are in need. 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:06.000 We want to be able to put on events, cater for events, 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:10.000 for the building up of the church, like the church planting conference, 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.000 at the end of the month. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:15.000 That's the stuff we really care about. 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:20.000 Not that we don't care at all about food hygiene. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:22.000 We do care about food hygiene a little bit. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:24.000 But all of that's secondary. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:26.000 And it's just an example. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:31.000 It's part of the toolkit so that we can build up the church. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:35.000 So we want to give our resources to help with these great things. 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.000 To build up the church up, we also need to be generous 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:43.000 with our energy and our skills as we work together. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:48.000 Exodus 35 is a model for how our church should be. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:51.000 It really is a model for how our church should function. 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:52.000 Everyone is serving. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:56.000 Everyone is involved and God is using everyone. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:01.000 Because the building up of the church of Jesus Christ is not for the select few. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:03.000 It's not for the elite. 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:05.000 It's not for the outstandingly gifted. 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:06.000 It's for everyone. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:11.000 That's the whole point, the whole point of the gifts of the Spirit. 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:13.000 That we are all gifted. 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:15.000 We've all got different gifts. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:18.000 There's a great list of them there in Romans 12. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:22.000 But we are all to use these for the building up of the church. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.000 That's the great emphasis that the New Testament makes. 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:31.000 With these gifts strive to excel in building up the church. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:34.000 The same thing is echoed in Ephesians chapter 4. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:36.000 Nobody has all the gifts. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.000 No one has every gift, but nobody has no gift. 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:44.000 And in God's great building project, we are all needed. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:47.000 That's what the great image of the body tells us there. 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:52.000 The hand can't say to the food, I don't need you. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:57.000 None of you can say, or none of you can be told, 00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:00.000 we don't need you as a church. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.000 That's a theological impossibility. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:11.000 You are all, all so needed and so important, and everyone contributes. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:14.000 Some things that we're good at, some things that we're not too good at, 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:18.000 but we want to use our gifts to the glory of God. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:24.000 And that's where we must remember that we must be generous with our giftedness. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:27.000 And I hope that makes sense what I'm saying there. 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:34.000 You all have gifts, but it's easy to kind of, 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:38.000 maybe you want to hold that back or to think, oh, well, I'd better not. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:43.000 We are to be generous, not just without our money or resources, 00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:48.000 but with our giftedness, generous with our skills, generous what we can contribute. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:54.000 So whatever you're good at, throw yourself into the life of the church 00:29:54.000 --> 00:30:00.000 and be generous with that skill for the serving of your brothers and sisters 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:03.000 and for the building of the church. 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:07.000 Every single one of us has a contribution that we can make. 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:11.000 We must be generous with our skills. 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:16.000 But another thing that we're shown in Exodus 35 that's really important 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:23.000 is that an awful lot of this work is hidden. 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:26.000 And an awful lot of it goes unnoticed. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:31.000 And often we can fall into the trap of thinking that unless we're making a big name for ourselves, 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:36.000 then we're not really contributing much to the building up of God's church. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:42.000 That is not true, because our work is not done to impress others. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:43.000 It's not done to be well known. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:45.000 It is done in the sight of God. 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.000 And even if no one else sees it, that doesn't matter, because God does. 00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:52.000 And we do it all for Him. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:58.000 If you go back to Exodus 35, you will read the description of the gathering of the materials 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:01.000 for the most important piece of fabric ever made. 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:10.000 So the most important piece of fabric ever made was the curtain in the tabernacle. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:19.000 It hung at the center of that tabernacle and it marked the entrance into the most holy place where God himself dwelt. 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:27.000 It was the most important piece of fabric ever made. 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:32.000 Who spun the thread for that fabric? 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:33.000 Who did it? 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:42.000 Who was the person who spun the most important piece of thread for the most important piece of material ever made? 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:45.000 Who did that job? 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:50.000 We have no idea. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:53.000 Absolutely no idea whatsoever. 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:58.000 It was an ordinary lady in the Israelite camp. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:04.000 And that's the amazing thing about serving God. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.000 Never ever think that your efforts are futile. 00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:12.000 Whatever you're doing is contributing to that work. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:20.000 And then last of all, and very, very briefly, to help build the church, we need to be generous with our knowledge and our skill as we learn from one another. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:26.000 As we said, Bezalel and Aholiab had this amazing gift, not just to work, but also to teach. 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:38.000 And that raises a really important point because it's very easy to be selfish and un-generous with our knowledge and our skills and our status. 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:46.000 Sometimes we get a real sense of importance from the fact that we can do something that no one else does, that we have a position that nobody else does. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:56.000 So you might find that at work, you might go to work and you might try to do something or you might try to get involved in something and you're pushed away because your colleague wants to guard that for themselves. 00:32:56.000 --> 00:33:02.000 And they don't want to be threatened and they don't want someone else to take the status that they have. 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:09.000 Because having that status, that ability, that role, it makes us feel special and it makes us feel important. 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:14.000 But it's a very un-God-like way of behaving. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:20.000 Because if you think about God, He doesn't need anyone. 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:31.000 He can do whatever He needs to do, and yet He is amazingly unselfish about all His capabilities because He allows us and empowers us 00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:34.000 to share in that work. 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:40.000 So the rest of the world might be a place where knowledge is protected, where people are defensive, where position is maintained. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.000 The Church of Jesus Christ is not like that. 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:56.000 The Church of Jesus Christ is where we share what we know and we help each other become even better than we are at what we do. 00:33:56.000 --> 00:34:03.000 And that leads into the second important point, not just that we mustn't be un-generous with our knowledge, 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:06.000 but the fact that we are to learn from each other. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:09.000 That's the key basic definition of a disciple. 00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:14.000 A disciple is a learner, and God wants us to learn. 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:17.000 So sometimes we have skills as a gift. 00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:20.000 Sometimes people are naturally gifted at stuff. 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:25.000 Other times people have skills through learning and teaching. 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:31.000 And so never think that just because you don't naturally have that ability that you cannot learn. 00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:38.000 You may very well be very gifted in an area and you just need a bit of learning and a bit of teaching. 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:46.000 That's why it's so important to spend time together, where we learn from one another, where we're encouraged by each other, where we're helped by one another. 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:57.000 It's reminding us that the Church should always, always, always be a safe place to learn. 00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:05.000 Church should be a safe place to learn, not just about theology, but safe place to learn about technology, 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:16.000 safe place to learn about how to pray, a safe place to learn about how to support people who are ill or who are grieving. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:25.000 The Church is a safe place to learn because God loves it when we learn from one another. 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:31.000 In verse 34 when it talks about Bethelel, it says that God put it on his heart to teach. 00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:35.000 I'm not sure if I put that on the screen, maybe I did. 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:38.000 That inspired him to teach, it says there. 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:44.000 But that literally says, the literal translation of that is that it put it on his heart to teach. 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:49.000 And it's a great reminder that in God's eyes teaching is a matter of the heart. 00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:54.000 It's something that we do out of love for one another. 00:35:54.000 --> 00:36:03.000 And so in all of this we are being given great guidance, great encouragement, 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:11.000 and also in many ways a great challenge because God is showing us how we want to be, how He wants us to be as a church. 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:13.000 He wants us to be generous with our resources. 00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:16.000 He wants to be generous with our energy and time. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:20.000 He wants us to be generous with our knowledge and our skill. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:31.000 And all of this reminds us of a really basic point, but I think it's a really amazing point. 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:36.000 God allows us to do stuff for Him. 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:43.000 And I know that that sounds really basic, but it's actually unbelievably extraordinary 00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:57.000 because in Exodus you had the God of heaven and earth, the mighty sovereign holy God wanting a dwelling place. 00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:01.000 And He got ordinary people to do it for Him. 00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:08.000 And now the mighty sovereign holy God of heaven and earth, of all eternity and of all the universe 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:17.000 is building a dwelling place in His church and He is doing it through ordinary people like you. 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:22.000 He's not doing it through elite people, He's doing it through people just like you. 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:30.000 You are His workforce, you are His team, you are not just His building, you are also His builders. 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:37.000 And together we are working on His great building project. 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:45.000 And I just want to close by saying that if you are not yet a Christian, then you may be sitting here thinking, 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:54.000 well, that was all great, but it's got nothing to do with me. 00:37:54.000 --> 00:38:00.000 But the truth is, it's actually all about you. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:09.000 Because the great purpose of this building project is to tell you that Jesus loves you 00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:16.000 and that He died for you and that He wants you on His team as well. 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:25.000 So God's got a great building project, let's go for it. Amen. 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:35.000 Father, we thank you for the work that you're doing and we thank you for the extraordinary privilege of being part of that work. 00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:44.000 Please give us the generosity of heart that we need to share of our resources, to share of our time and energy, 00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:52.000 and to share of our knowledge and skills so that we can pull together as a brilliant God-honoring team 00:38:52.000 --> 00:39:10.000 for everyone serves and where we go on together as a joyful and as an efficient building force reaching out to the world around us. 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:27.000 And we pray, oh God, that any who are maybe yet to put their faith in you, that they would see that there's a gap in this team that we're waiting for them to fill. 00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:42.000 We pray that you be at work in your midst. Amen.