ABC’s of Giving: Consecration

Mk 12:41-44

 

 

 

One of our members asked me last week if I am preaching this series of lessons on stewardship because we are giving badly as a church.  I am preaching this series because we will very soon be making our financial plans for next year.  Beyond that, I think we as a church need to think about what priority God has in our lives, our giving, and our time.  Everything we have belongs to God and we are stewards of his blessing while we are here on earth.  I do believe that we as a congregation sometimes forget that, but more importantly, I want us to focus on what our possibilities can be for the coming year and beyond because we have all stepped up to the plate in the best effort we can.  I want to challenge us to consecrate our time, our money, our effort, and our hearts to God’s kingdom.  If we really do that, we’ll be amazed at what he can do with those paltry gifts.   I DARE you to prove me wrong!

 

PRAYER

 

I.       What We Consecrate to God Should Be Our Best

A.   Cain and Abel

1.                 There is an interesting story about consecration in the very beginning of the Bible.

2.                 READ Gen 4:1-7

3.                 Did you notice what separated Cain and Abel?

a)                It wasn’t the difference between the grain and meat.

b)                It says Cain gave a grain offering and Abel gave the fat portions of the firstborn of his flock.

c)                 He gave God is best first off.

4.                 From the very start of mankind, God has desired our best to be given to him.

5.                 It’s the least we could do as He has given us His best.

B.   We need to change our mindset

1.                 Every church I have ever been in seems to have a mindset that if you can’t sell it in your garage sale then give it to the church to use.

2.                 Paul Harvey told a story about the Butter Ball Turkey hotline.  One day a lady called and asked if a turkey that she had kept in the freezer for 23 years could still be cooked and eaten.  The hotline person said yes if it had been kept below zero that entire time, but it would have lost its flavor and she wouldn’t recommend eating it.  The lady responded. “That’s what we thought.  We’ll just give it to the church.”

a)                We laugh at that, but think about what she did.

b)                She gave an offering to the Lord.

c)                 It was a useable offering.  It was still good.

d)                What we all understand is that while it was still good, it was a 2nd class gift to God.

3.                 How many of us are guilty of giving 2nd class gifts?

4.                 I don’t know what else to do with it, so I’ll give it to the church.

5.                 The preacher is really harping about people not being involved, so I’ll go cut the grass or clean a toilet or something so I can say I’ve done something next time he starts preaching.

6.                 I want to challenge us as a congregation to give of our first fruits not our leftovers.

II.     How to Make Our Consecrated Gift Our Best

A.   Realize God is watching you give

1.                 It’s interesting that Jesus was WATCHING everyone give.

2.                 Just because you fold your check, doesn’t mean no one sees what you are giving.

3.                 You might even give in cash, but it still doesn’t mean no one sees what you are giving.

4.                 People may not see you working for the church.

5.                 People may not see if you put up great effort or little effort in what you do, but it doesn’t mean no one sees what you are giving.

6.                 Just as Jesus saw what everyone was giving at the temple, He still sees what we are giving to God today.

B.   Make it a true sacrifice

1.                 Notice what the woman did in giving her little bit of change.

2.                 She was sacrificing while everyone else gave of his or her excess.

3.                 God was important to her.  He was so important to her she was willing to sacrifice her money for him.

4.                 Jesus didn’t condemn the rich for giving of their excess, but he praised this woman for her true sacrifice.

5.                 If you want your gift to be your best, make it a true sacrifice not just something from your excess.

6.                 If you consecrate your money to God, make it sacrificial giving.

a)                The amount isn’t the issue, it the reason behind the giving.

b)                If you give that dollar bill you happened to have in your wallet you are giving out of your excess.

c)                 If you have planned your giving, and it come before your other expenses, then you are offering a sacrifice to God.

7.                 If you consecrate your time to God, make is sacrificial giving.

a)                If you do a half-hearted effort it becomes giving from your excess.

b)                If you volunteer your time to do a work of the church, give it your best effort and make it a real sacrifice.

8.                 If you consecrate an item to God, make it sacrificial giving.

a)                If it’s junk that no one wants and you’re just pawning it off on the church, it’s giving from your excess.

b)                If it’s something that truly benefits the kingdom of God, then it is sacrificial giving.

9.                 If you really believe God is important to you, you will have no problem whatsoever sacrificing to him.

III.  Closing

A.   Story

1.                 At the turn of the century, a preacher found a little girl just sobbing her eyes out in front of his little church.  She had been turned away from the Sunday school because they were just too full to handle any more children.  The preacher saw why.  She was dirty, shabbily dressed and obviously dirt poor.  She didn’t matter.  The preacher took her by the hand and made room for her to attend Sunday school.  For two years, this little girl went to that small church for Sunday school; deeply impressed they had made room for a poor girl like her.  One day, she didn’t show up and the preacher went to see what was up.  She had died the night before.  Her mother asked the preacher if he would do her funeral and handed him a old beat up purse with a note inside it and 57 cents.  The preacher started crying as he read the note from the little girl.  “This is to help the little church build a bigger one so more children can go to Sunday school.”  For 2 years she had saved everything she could to give to the church.  The next Sunday, the preacher read her note to the church and put her 57 cents into a building fund to build a bigger building.  He challenged the church leaders to get busy raising funds to help her dream come true.  They did.  But the story doesn’t end there! A newspaper learned of the story and published it.  A realtor read the story and offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands of dollars.  The church told him they couldn’t afford to pay for that kind of plot.  He told them his asking price was 57 cents.  Within 5 years the church had raised $250,000 dollars.  A huge sum for that time.

2.                 If you ever visit Philadelphia, look up the Temple Baptist Church.  It seats 3300 people.  It also is responsible for Temple University, Good Samaritan Hospital, and a Sunday school building that teaches hundred of children about Christ.  In one of the rooms of that building you will see a picture of the little girl who saved her 57 cents and the minister who helped her.  Dr. Russell H. Conwell who wrote the book, “Acres of Diamonds”

B.   It’s not how much you consecrate to God; it’s about what kind of heart is behind your gift to God.

1.                 Is what you consecrate to God a sacrifice pleasing to him, or something of your excess?

2.                 God accepts both, but one has a much deeper expression of love towards Him.