“Govern Yourself in Tithes and
Offerings” By Brother Kenneth Ray February 19th,
2012 Today we are going to cover tithes and offerings. What do we mean by a tithe? It is a tenth. What do we mean by an offering? [8641] Sacrifice, or, as tribute, gift. Also, something offered specifically. If you have been blessed by this ministry or another that you have been a part of, it is because of people who tithe and give offerings. If the building is open—if you sat and heard God’s Word; ever had help with food, or bills, or if you were able to provide help to another—it was because of people who tithe and give offerings. The church is called anon-profit organization. We get tithes and operate on that; we don’t get government funding. Offerings come in on top of that, and we are able to do more. This is basically how most churches work. That doesn’t mean that the church doesn’t have money set aside for a rainy day—sometimes we do—but that money eventually gets spent for God’s work. Giving is easy to do—just go to the church’s website (www.myChristianFellowship.org) and click on the button that says “DONATE.” We also have boxes in the back to support local events for the local ministry (NOTE: those are not tax-deductible). I want to remind you of two things (to get rid of “the man;” we aren’t doing this for “the man”): A little history: So, now we see where the tithe came from and that the church didn’t just make it up. A tithe is the minimum God expects, and an offering is something that you give God over and above that. But, this is not a one-way street. Do you know the difference between being able to get what you want when you get some extra money and having to pay for a major repair (say a car battery) is? I’ll tell you it just might be tithes and offerings. There is also the question of quality versus quantity. More important than the amount of money, time, effort, work, etc. is the attitude that you do it with and the quality of the gift. For example, let’s look at Jesus on the cross: Let’s say He decides to call the ten thousand to get Him off the cross. Yes, he would have proved who He was, and that He was able to do what the scoffers challenged Him to do, but, the attitude and the quality of that act would not have been enough to bring the salvation we all so very much need (without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin—Hebrews 9:22). The attitude in which something is given will decide whether God will bless the offering or not. NOTE: Although offerings are most often considered to be money, we should consider our whole self when making offerings—our time, our talents, and our money. I’m going to end with a problem and a solution: The problem is that tithes and offerings have been greatly abused by many modern day preachers (most notably the ones on TV). Some people are reluctant to give because they think it goes straight to the preacher’s wallet. This concern is understandable when one looks at the physical aspects. The solution is that we must understand that there is a difference if one is truly giving to God. Once we freely give our offering, it belongs to God, not man, and we receive our reward from God. Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd |
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