Mission I:8 Lesson. Giving to God - Part I October 19, 2014

Transcription

1 Mission I:8 Lesson Giving to God - Part I October 19, 2014 I. Introduction A. When you re a child you begin to learn about giving 1. Once you give, you can t take back II. 2. You can only give what s yours to give, not what is someone elses 3. You should always give to someone, something that is their in the first place B. What do you have to give? 1. Assets 2. Time 3. Energy, skills and knowhow 4. Commitment 5. Devotion and loyalty C. When it comes to god what should you give to Him? D. What does the Scripture teach? Scriptural foundation for giving to God A. What belongs to whom? 1. Deuteronomy 6: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 "You shall bind them as a Page 1 of 8

2 sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 "Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, 12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 2. Who gave them what they had? a. There came a time when the people forgot from whom they had received what they had b. Not forgetting the source of our material blessings leads us to thanksgiving and gratitude (1) Gratitude being more inward (2) Thanksgiving being more demonstrative c. Why is this? d. Prosperity can dull one s spiritual vision and appetite (1) Vision is long term (2) Appetite is our motivation in the present e. If we allow this result of properity to set in, we become: (1) self-sufficient Page 2 of 8

3 (2) and always want to spend our time and energies acquiring more f. God eventually used poverty in the lives of His peole to cause them to recognize where what they had, came from 3. Now let s personalize the question a. Who gave you what you have? b. Who allows you to keep it? B. Luke 9:23-25 And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? 1. Discipleship is not the same as sonship a. We are not saved by taking up our cross and following the Lord b. But that is the path for His disciples 2. What we need to do is to be about investing in eternity 3. Most people are willing to pay a rather high price for things in which they perceive to be of great value 4. Consider for a moment what god Asked Abraham to give to Him 5. 2 Samuel 24:18-25 So Gad came to David that day and said to him, "Go up, erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite." 19 David went up according to the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded. 20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his Page 3 of 8

4 servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. 21 Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" And David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be held back from the people." 22 Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 "Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the LORD your God accept you." 24 However, the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the LORD was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel. 6. Giving to God should be an act of worship 7. Consider again Genesis 22:4-5 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5 Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you." 8. Worship involves giving of yourself and what is yours to God Page 4 of 8

5 9. 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, 2 that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. 3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, 4 begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, 5 and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God 10. The question that comes to our mind but which we do not verbalize a. But if I give in that manner, whot happens to me? C. Matthew 6: "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Page 5 of 8

6 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' 32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 1. Most people in our society believe that given enough money, all of their problems would be solved for the rest of their lives that of course is false 2. When it says to seek His kingdom and His righteousness this is an instruction to desire God s righteous rule on this earth 3. But this passage tells us not to worry about what God promises to supply a. Worry merimna,w merimnao {mer-imnah'-o} (1) Meaning: 1) to be anxious 1a) to be troubled with cares 2) to care for, look out for (a thing) 2a) to seek to promote one's interests 2b) caring or providing for (2) Origin: from meri,zw merizo {merid'-zo} Meaning: 1) to divide 1a) to separate into parts, cut into pieces 1a1) to divide into parties, i.e. be split into factions 1b) to distribute 1b1) a thing among people 1b2) bestow, impart (3) Worry is to be drawn in different Page 6 of 8

7 III. directions b. Planning for tomorrow is time well spent, but worrying about tomorrow is time wasted (1) Worry is the absence of faith (2) It damages your health (3) It causes the object of your worry to consume your thoughts (4) It disrupts your productivity (5) It negatively effects the way you treat others, and (6) It reduces your ability to trust in your God c. We respond: I m not worrying I m just concerned (1) Worry immobilizes us (2) Concern moves us to action Final Questions A. Review today what you spent or paid out last month 1. What were the top five things you spent your treasure on? a. Housing b. Transportation c. Food d. Clothing e. Entertainment f. Giving to God? 2. Then ask yourself, do those top five things represent your real priorities B. Can giving to God help Him in His process of transforming you into a man or woman of God [Rom. 12:2] C. Can giving to God, keep you centered on God and Page 7 of 8

8 what He wants from you? Check us out! Listen to this lesson again Believer s Bible Class, & Douglas W. Brady Page 8 of 8