LONG HOLLOW BAPTIST CHURCH THE BIG QUESTION TITHING DISCUSSION PLAN PREPARATION > SPEND THE WEEK READING THROUGH AND STUDYING MALACHI 3:6-12 AND 1 CORINTHIANS 16:1-4. Consult the commentary provided and any additional study tools (such as a concordance or Bible dictionary) to enhance your preparation. > DETERMINE which discussion points and questions will work best with your group. > PRAY for our pastors and the sermon series, the upcoming group meeting, your teaching, your group members, and their receptivity to the lesson. HIGHLIGHTS > BIBLICAL EMPHASIS: Malachi stated that by withholding their tithes and offerings, the Israelites were robbing God and missing His blessings. In an answer to a question the Corinthian church had asked Paul, he instructed the Christians in Corinth to participate in a relief offering for the Christians in Jerusalem to bless others in their giving. > LIFE APPLICATION: God expects His people to be disciplined in all areas of life, including tithing. INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to help get the conversation going. Why is money so sought after? Why do you think most people experience some measure of stress over money? Why do many adults lack discipline in the area of money management? Most Americans take all they can get. Few give all they can give. Fewer still give money to God. While some Christians give regularly, joyfully, and even sacrificially to the Lord and His work, the majority of Christians give meagerly and sporadically. Some have so mismanaged their financial affairs that they are convinced they cannot afford to give. A minority of believers practice the discipline of tithing that God expects from all His people. UNDERSTANDING Unpack the biblical text to discover what Scripture says or means about a particular topic. In this passage from Malachi, God had been most gracious to Israel, but the nation continued to disregard His will and His ways. The people had been allowed to return from exile, but they generally lived according to their own values rather than God s principles. The temple had been rebuilt, but worship had become primarily a matter of going through the motions. People regularly offered worthless and unsuitable animals to the Lord, and they did even that reluctantly (Mal. 1:6-14). Priests misled the people 1 THE BIG QUESTION LONG HOLLOW BAPTIST CHURCH
DISCUSSION PLAN with false teachings (2:1-9). Infidelity in worship and marriage was common (2:10-16). The people suffered the consequences of their own choices. Apparently, drought and crop failures had brought great distress throughout the land (3:10-11). Cynicism and depression were prevalent. The people needed a fresh word from the Lord. > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ MALACHI 3:6-9. This passage contains a sobering message. God spoke through Malachi to tell the Israelites that they deserved total destruction. Why had the end not come for them? They deserved to be destroyed for their failure to love and follow the Lord, but God spared them because they were the descendants of Jacob, and He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bless all nations through their descendants. Instead, God once more was offering the Israelites an opportunity to repent and to receive His blessings. The Lord pointed to a particular way the people should return to Him. In what ways is failing to give a tithe robbing God? Why did God point out failure to practice the discipline of tithing as evidence that His people had turned away from Him? Why would tithing be a way to return to God? Do you think there is a curse associated with failure to tithe today? Why or why not? The Hebrew word translated tithe literally means a tenth. The practice of tithing demonstrates several important aspects of God s people s relationship with Him. (1) It is an act of obedience, an expression of devotion to the Lord. (2) It acknowledges that God owns everything; we are merely stewards of what He has entrusted to us. (3) It expresses faith in God as Provider, trusting Him to enable us to meet our needs with what remains. The Lord did not command tithing to harm or hinder His people. He loves us and always wants the best for us. One major lesson He teaches us through the discipline of giving is that He is the Owner of all things. To fail to tithe is to miss His blessing of the joy of giving. He may use varied means to discipline us and to teach us the importance of acknowledging through tithing that He owns all we have. > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ MALACHI 3:10-12. The Lord instructed the people what to give, where to give, and why they should give. They were not merely to bring a nominal offering but to bring the whole tenth. Tithing is the biblical standard for believers giving. What is the implication of His demand for the whole tenth? Where was the tithe to be given? Why? Why are these standards still the standards for Christians today? 2 THE BIG QUESTION LONG HOLLOW BAPTIST CHURCH
DISCUSSION PLAN How is the tithe used today? What can Christians expect as a result of giving the whole tithe to the church today? Tithing is neither legalistic nor pre-gospel, pre-christian, or sub-christian. Rather, giving the whole tithe is a measure of a believer s obedience to God, faith in God, and love for God. Jesus gave His all for us, and He asks us to give all we have and are to Him. The purpose of tithing is twofold. Today, the tithes and offerings of God s people provide support for the churches ministers and its ministries. Another purpose of tithing is to bring the giver into a closer relationship with God. Some people have assumed that this Scripture is a guarantee that everyone who tithes will be rewarded financially. That is an assumption that makes two serious errors. First, giving to get is investing, not giving. The second error is a failure to realize that the promised blessings may or may not be material in nature. Yes, verse 11 indicates that the Lord promised material blessings to the Israelites of Malachi s day. Nevertheless, financial prosperity may not be the kind of blessing each person most needs. We can trust our Heavenly Father s love and wisdom. As we are faithful to Him, He will provide for us exactly the blessing we need. > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ 1 CORINTHIANS 16:1-4. The Christians in Jerusalem had been experiencing the hardship of severe persecution and perhaps a famine. Some of them had been killed because of their faith. Others had been arrested. Many faced the loss of jobs. Therefore, as Paul visited churches he had helped establish, which predominately had Gentile members, he encouraged them to take an offering to help the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Paul gives five principles for the Corinthians to follow. Identify those as a group. How do you think the Corinthians would have understood the instruction to set aside a sum of money in keeping with their income? What do Paul s plans that he gave for handling the money suggest about the handling of money given through churches today? We can find timeless principles that apply to Christian giving in this passage. The first principle is that of giving regularly on the first day of every week. Churches worshiped then and typically worship now on that day because that is the day Jesus was resurrected. The second principle is inferred giving is to be an expression of our love for God, our concern for others, our faith, and our obedience. The third principle is that each believer should participate in Christian giving. Fourth, giving of is to be proportional. Each person is to give to the extent that he prospers. Giving a proportion of our income is consistent with the concept of tithing. Giving according to one s income results in some giving more, others less; but all give with equal commitment. The fifth principle is to deliberately and prayerfully plan our giving. We are not to give impulsively but are to set something aside and save it so it will be available to give when we assemble for worship. 3 THE BIG QUESTION LONG HOLLOW BAPTIST CHURCH
DISCUSSION PLAN APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. How is discipline in tithing similar to other disciplines in life? How can you discipline yourself in order to give to God? How does our attitude in giving reveal our relationship with God to others? What do you think your attitude is communicating to those around you? How might our attitude in giving serve as a witness to those who do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ? PRAY The closer you are to someone, the more you gladly give to that person. Pray that your group members would walk in close relationship with God so they may give to Him graciously and joyfully in all areas of their lives, including tithes and offerings. FOLLOW UP Midway through this week, send a follow-up e-mail to your group with some or all of the following information: Questions to consider as they continue to reflect on what they learned this week: Does your giving show a lack of acceptance that God owns everything? Does your giving show a lack of faith in God? How closely does your giving match this pattern outlined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4? What changes would make your giving more consistent with these instructions? A note of encouragement, following up on any specific prayer requests mentioned during your group gathering. The challenge to memorize 2 Corinthians 9:7-8. 4 THE BIG QUESTION LONG HOLLOW BAPTIST CHURCH
LONG HOLLOW BAPTIST CHURCH MY OWN WORST ENEMY RUNNING FROM GOD JONAH FEBRUARY 3, 2013 COMMENTARY MALACHI 3:6-12 3:6. The LORD spoke through His prophet to tell the Israelites that they deserved total destruction. The word translated perished has the root meaning of end. Why had the end not come for them? Not because the Israelites had done anything to deserve God s mercy. On the contrary, they deserved to be destroyed for their failure to love and follow the Lord. They had been spared because they were the descendants of Jacob, and God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bless all nations through their descendants. 3:7. The Lord consistently had been faithful to the people through whom He had chosen to send His Messiah into the world. Nevertheless they habitually had turned away from His statutes (laws) generation after generation since the days of your fathers. God entreated the people to return to Him. If they would repent of their stubborn rebellion, He promised to return to them. The unchanging God of their fathers had not changed in His love for His people. They had turned away from Him. He invited them to come back to the receptive arms of the One Who loved them and would forgive them. 3:8. The Lord pointed to a particular way the people should return to Him. They needed to stop robbing Him. In what way do we rob You? Indeed, how can a human being rob God? Beware of taking lightly the Lord s answer. He declared the Israelites were robbing Him in the tenth. 3:9. Withholding tithes and offerings was not isolated to a few individuals but was characteristic of the whole nation. The people as a whole were suffering under a curse. In their case, those effects evidently were drought, crop failures, and famine (3:10-11) as God s disciplinary punishment for their sins. The Lord did not command tithing to harm or hinder His people. He loves us and always wants the best for us. 3:10. The Lord instructed the people what to give, where to give, and why they should give. They were not merely to bring a nominal offering but to bring the whole tenth. Tithing is the biblical standard for believers giving. While believers may fall short of biblical standards, the biblical standards remain. 3:11. The Lord not only would ensure the growth of crops but also the harvest I will rebuke the devourer for you, pests that would consume the crops before the harvest. In addition, the vine in the field will not be barren. No blight would ruin the harvest. The curse under which the people were living would be lifted and they would experience anew the blessings of God. 3:12. As God abundantly would meet the needs of the faithful Israelites, they would gain a reputation among all the nations as being fortunate. No longer would they be seen as a weak and pitiful remnant who had returned to huddle in their ruined and ravaged homeland. The entire world would see their nation as a delightful land. God s promised blessings were not only for His people s sake but also for the sake of other nations. He wants all peoples to know Him as the true Lord God Almighty. 1 CORINTHIANS 16:1-4 16:1. Paul already had given instructions to the churches in the province of Galatia 5 THE BIG QUESTION LONG HOLLOW BAPTIST CHURCH
COMMENTARY about taking the collection for the saints in Jerusalem. In this letter, he gave the same instructions to the believers at Corinth in the province of Macedonia. While this obviously was a special offering, Paul s instructions are indicative of the way believers gave when they gathered to worship. In these verses we can find timeless principles that apply to Christian giving. 16:2. The first principle is that of giving regularly on the first day of every week. Churches worshiped then and typically worship now on that day because that is the day Jesus was resurrected. The second principle is inferred giving is to be an expression of our love for God, our concern for others, our faith, and our obedience. Giving in the early churches was a regular part of worship. The third principle is that each believer should participate in Christian giving. Fourth, giving of is to be proportional. Each person is to give to the extent that he prospers. Giving a proportion of our income is consistent with the concept of tithing. Giving according to one s income results in some giving more, others less; but all give with equal commitment. The fifth principle is to deliberately and prayerfully plan our giving. We are not to give impulsively but are to set something aside and save it so it will be available to give when we assemble for worship. If the Corinthian Christians regularly gave when they gathered for worship, they would need to take no collections when Paul came to pick up their offering and send it to Jerusalem. The money would be on hand when it was needed, and no emotional appeal would be necessary to motivate the people to give on the spur of the moment. 16:3-4. Paul would not presume to take the money to Jerusalem by himself but would send it with those the church chose to recommend by letter. These men would take the gift to Jerusalem. If the church thought Paul s going also was suitable, then the men would travel with him to Jerusalem. Verse 3 also can be translated to say Paul would send letters of recommendation with those who took the gift to Jerusalem. Either translation embodies a final principle: Funds given by Christians in worship are to be administered wisely and according to stated purposes. Paul acknowledged the principle of accountability in financial stewardship. 6 THE BIG QUESTION LONG HOLLOW BAPTIST CHURCH