ABC’s of Giving: Belief

A story is told of a man who was down on his luck. One day he sat in church praying for God to help him and decided that the right thing to do was put his last two dollars in the collection plate because he believed God to take care of him. Wouldn’t you know it, shortly after church he ran into a business opportunity that made him a millionaire? A few months later he was sitting next to a young man and he relayed his story of faith and how God had blessed him by making him a millionaire, the young man looked at him and said, “I dare you do that again!”

What would you do in that situation? Would you give as you believe when it’s a million verses 2 dollars? Would you have the faith of the widow and her mite? She was a real version of this story as far as giving everything because she believed God would take care of her.

When we boil everything down to the essential. We all give as we believe.

PRAYER

I. We Need to Believe in What We Are Giving To

A. David and the temple

1. David believed that God deserved a temple.

2. He believed so deeply that even though God said he couldn’t build it, he pledged a great amount of his wealth for his son to use to build the temple.

3. David had a vision.

a) He had a vision of a House for God that was worthy of him.

b) He felt badly that his own home was greater than God’s earthly home.

c) He shared his vision with the people of Israel and they too believed in it.

d) In vs 1-5 David shares his vision for the temple with the people of Israel. Listen to how the Israelite leaders responded to his vision.

e) ⁶Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. NIV

B. The works of the church

1. Our elders and myself will be setting a vision for the church in 2005 next month.

2. We’ll share our vision for evangelism, benevolence, missions and the building across the alley.

3. This church has been here for 48 years. It has grown steadily since the Mentone congregation helped start the plant here. We have purchased more property, built a building, then built a bigger building as we grew and now are looking to provide more support facilities to go along with that growth. We bought a new parsonage so we could use the old parsonage for more classroom space, and we have done all of this with a nominal amount of debt because you have believed in these efforts.

4. But this isn’t just about a building; it’s about growing the kingdom of God.

a) Because you have believed we have more than doubled our missions and benevolence programs.

b) Because you have believed we have started and supported the preschool and other evangelistic outreaches.

c) Because you have believed we have given the money needed to take care of all of these endeavors.

5. We cannot continue to grow that kingdom without your willingness to give.

6. Flip Wilson was a popular comic back in the 70’s. He had a great routine about a preacher and his sermon on giving. At the beginning of his sermon he say, IF THIS CHURCH IS GOING TO SERVE GOD IT’S GOT TO GET DOWN ON ITS KNEES AND CRAWL. The church responds, make it crawl preach make it crawl. AND ONCE THIS CHURCH HAS LEARNED TO CRAWL, IT’S GOT TO GET UP ON ITS FEET AND WALK. Make it walk preacher make it walk. AND ONCE THIS CHURCH HIAS LEARNED TO WALK IT’S GOT TO BE GINE TO LEARN TO RUN. Make it run preacher make it run. AND IN ORDER TO RUN, IT’S GOT TO REACH DEEP DWN INTO IT’S POCKETS AND LEARN TO GIVE! After a pause. Make it crawl preacher make it crawl!

7. Brothers and sisters, a church doesn’t grow if it doesn’t give. Are we going to run or crawl as a church?

8. Share in the vision of this church.

9. Help it become a reality.

10. If you are unsure of the vision talk to the elders and learn why they believe this is the direction we should go.

11. That vision needs to be though over, prayed over, believed in … and then worked.

II. We Need to Set The Example

A. David set the example in giving by committing his personal wealth

1. READ vs 3-5

2. When the leaders of the nation hear this they also committed themselves to the building of the temple. READ vs. 6-8

B. So should the elders and myself.

1. The works of this congregation is my first commitment of time and money and heart.

2. I have chosen to give the money I have committed to building the kingdom of God through this congregation regardless of where we are at financially.

3. It’s been very hard at times. Sometimes I have been tempted to cut my giving for a few weeks. Yet, we’ve always managed to pay the bills. We aren’t starving.

4. I believe our elders have set that same level of commitment, but they will have to speak for themselves on that.

C. Response

1. When the Israelites saw the commitment given by David and the leaders, they responded.

2. READ vs. 9

3. Will you follow our example?

4. Will you open your hearts, watches and bank accounts to share in the building of the kingdom of God?

III. Remember Where It All Came From

A. David understood

1. READ vs. 14

2. He knew the source of his wealth and blessings.

B. David felt compelled to remind the people

1. READ vs. 17

2. The people responded to the passion, but passion lasts only so long.

3. David prayed they would keep their commitment out of love for God, not just a moment of passion

4. READ vs 18

C. The people worshipped God

1. READ vs 20

2. They understood the vision and whom it glorified.

D. I hope we do the same for you today and into next year.

1. This isn’t about fancy buildings and looking good to our religious neighbors.