Proverbs 3: 9,10 Mr. Make Change in the Offering Plate Guy

THE TREASURE PRINCIPLE “15 percent of everything Christ said relates to this topic- more than His teachings on heaven and hell combined.” Randy Alcorn “God speaks about baptism in 40 verses in the Bible, prayer in 275 verses, love in 650 verses, and finances, and material possessions, and wealth in 2,350 verses. He speaks about wealth 88 times in Matthew, 54 times in Mark, and 92 time in Luke. Jesus knew that there is a fundamental connection between our spiritual lives and our giving. The word “give” is found in the Bible 1,500 times.” David Jeremiah

THE BOOK OF WISDOM ADDRESSES GIVING “The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.” Proverbs 10:22 (ESV) “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your product; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” Proverbs 3:9,10 (ESV)

I. WHO SHOULD GIVE?

A. YOU PERSONALLY SHOULD GIVE “your wealth… your product… your barns… your vats.” Repeated 4 times This is a second person plural possessive pronoun. Who should give? YOU – all of you! – give your wealth! When you take it personally, God sends a blessing to you.

B. A GENEROUS PERSON SHOULD GIVE “Blessed is he who is generous…” Proverbs 14:21b “Blessed” translated “happy” Generous people are happy people. Money-giving is a good criterion of a person’s mental health. Generous people are rarely mentally ill people.

II. WHAT SHOULD I GIVE? “…your wealth”

A. I SHOULD GIVE OF MY WEALTH “wealth” You have enough goods-enough stuff-to make your life seem easy when you compare your life to the lives of the poor and the helpless. “product” Refers to crops, grain, and fruit in Proverbs. Proverbs was written for people in an agricultural economy.

B. I SHOULD GIVE A TITHE OF MY INCOME “Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.” Deuteronomy 14:22 (NIV) A tenth of your product goes to God. The tenth is to provide for the ministry leaders, and Levites. “A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.” Leviticus 27:30 (NLT)

III. WHY SHOULD I GIVE?

A. I GIVE TO HONOR GOD When I give, I am treating God as my top priority. Honoring God is about applause, cheering Him, and growing His reputation and His fame. Old Testament – “honor” = Kabowd = glory Means - “heavy” or “weighty” God is the most important person in the universe.

HOW CAN I SHOW GOD I HONOR HIM THE MOST? “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.” Proverbs 14:31 (ESV) God wants to show us what is in our hearts. What do we desire most? What do we honor most? You know where your heart is by where your treasure is.

B. I GIVE TO PROVE TO MYSELF AND TO OTHERS WHO IS FIRST IN MY LIFE When we give, we prove to ourselves and to our world, that God is worth more to us than TV’s, clothes, houses, cars, than anything! It is one thing to say God is first. It’s another thing to treat Him as first. Giving is a way for us to get our values and priorities in order. When I give, I honor God. When I give, God honors me.

C. I GIVE AS A WAY TO GET MY VALUES AND PRIORITIES IN ORDER Giving is not only the way God provides for His work, but it’s the way He also provides for His workers. “There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.” Proverbs 11:24,25 (NASB)

IV. WHERE SHOULD I GIVE?

A. I GIVE IN THE CHURCH I ATTEND “…with the firstfruits…” It’s the fruit that comes first. Deuteronomy 26:2, 4 The place for giving in the O.T. was the tabernacle, and later it was the temple. Today it is in the church. The church you attend has to be the center of your spiritual life, and that is where you give.

B. I GIVE IT TO THE CHURCH TO BE USED AS GOD SO DESIRES The priest took the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord. Deut. 26:4 Once the money is given to the leadership of the church they are to consecrate the money to the Lord. Once you give the tithe and offering you relinquish control, because those funds are being consecrated to the Lord. We don’t give so we can control what God does. We give to His church because we believe in what He is already doing and going to do through our giving.

V. WHEN SHOULD I GIVE?

A. I SHOULD GIVE MY FIRSTFRUITS NOT MY LEFTOVERS “firstfruits” You give God the first of everything. The most common kind of giving in church is leftover giving. Leftover giving upsets God’s stomach. God is thinking, “Is that all I’m worth to you?”

B. I SHOULD GIVE ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK “On the first day of every week each of you should put aside some of your money. Give a certain part of what you have earned.” I Corinthians 16:2a (NLV) The first thing you will do with your paycheck is give to God. Giving to God is part of your worship. You have to decide, you are going to obey the Word of God, and you are going to take NIKE show company at their word. “Just do it!”

VI. HOW SHOULD I GIVE?

A. I SHOULD GIVE EXPECTANTLY “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” Proverbs 19:17 (ESV) “…lends to the Lord…” God will give you a good interest rate-a good return on your money! He will repay you! “The righteous gives and does not hold back.” Proverbs 21:26b (ESV)

B. I SHOULD GIVE CHEERFULLY “God loves a cheerful giver.” II Cor. 9:7b (ESV) “cheerful” – “hilarious” Giving is not a duty, but a delight.

C. I SHOULD GIVE AS AN ACT OF WORSHIP TO GOD It’s a spill-over of gratitude from a heart that is stunned by a glorious, saving God. We need to ask ourselves, “Am I using this currency I have in a way that will impact the kingdom?” “I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven. Luke 16:9 (NLT)

You are either moving away from your treasure or you are moving toward it. We need to trust the Lord enough to test Him. “If you will bring the full tithe in, I will open the windows of heaven.” Giving includes our willingness to trust God with the money He has allowed us to have.

Being good stewards of all God has given to us is a test of our faith and trust in Him.

MISSIONS PROJECTS FOR OCTOBER 2014 OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD – (shoe boxes) ANNUAL FAITH PROMISES PARTNERSHIP PROJECT WITH INTERCULTURAL MISSIONS NYC Due Sunday November 9th

PARTNERSHIP WITH INTERCULTURAL MISSIONS PROJECT: Food for the Spirit, English translation to win Punjabi Indian communities in NYC. This book will be a tool that will cover topics such as… Equipping disciples Soul winning 16 fundamental doctrines of our faith Baptism in the Holy Spirit Fruits of the Holy Spirit

PARTNERSHIP WITH INTERCULTURAL MISSIONS PROPOSED PROJECT BUDGET: $8,000 Special offering for this project $ Goal $1,000