Luke 6:38 NRSV

[38] give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 NRSV

[6] The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

[7] Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

[8] And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

INTRODUCTION:

Do you remember how Mark Winter, our Evangelist, challenged each of us to pray for and invite someone to Church? He does that at all of his revivals. I got an e-mail from him the other day that told what happened in one church. Harvey Fandlebanger and Ferd Gergenberger were best friends. They had been since High School. Harvey and his family had always been Christians and active in their Church. Ferd and his family had never even set foot in a church. So, Harvey thought Ferd was a pretty good prospect and he invited him to the revival.

It just so happens that Ferd wound up going on the night they had a Praise Band and the music was pretty upbeat. After the service Harvey and Ferd were the last to go through the reception line. Harvey introduced Ferd to Mark and told Mark that this was Ferd's first time ever in Church. So Mark asked, "Well, what did you think?"

Ferd thought for a second and said, "Well, I kind of liked the music, even though I didn't know the words. I thought the commercial was OK but it was way too long. But what I really liked was when those men went around passing out money in those gold plates. I needed an extra $20.00 this week."

I hope none of you did that when the Offering Plates went around this morning. Though I've often thought that it would be great to pass the plates up and down the pews three or four times with the challenge to those who have had a great week to put in as much as they possibly can as a way of saying "Thank You" to God for all the blessings.

And then make an offer to those who have been struggling financially to take out what they need. The rest would go into the budget. I've never had the nerve to do that but I think those folks in need would be doubly blessed. Our gifts of "Thanks" would already be a blessing and God would use that blessing to bless those in need. And I think there would be more than enough for whatever our budget needs are because we can't out give God.

Interesting idea isn't it? Maybe one of these days.

As you guessed, today is that "Sermon On The Amount." That sermon about money and giving.

The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions. There are a lot of hot topics in the Bible but Money and Giving are probably the hottest topic of all.

Use Flaming Bible Magic Trick Here. (After laughter dies down, go on.)

Jesus talked a lot about money. Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables were concerned with how to handle money and possessions. In the Gospels, an amazing one out of ten verses (288 in all) deal directly with the subject of money. (1) Since Jesus and the Bible talk so much about money, it must be an important matter. Money, possessions and giving are important issues in the Kingdom of God. Why?

How we use our money, what we do with it, how we spend it, what we spend it on and who we give it to, reflects the true feelings about our faith and about God.

Let's look at the passage and at some of the basic Biblical Teachings about giving and money.

I. SOW BOUNTIFULLY:

A. In the passage from 2 Corinthians 9 Paul says this about giving. [6] The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

What does that mean? How many of you grew up on a farm or ranch? I didn't grow up on a farm but I did do some farming before I went into the ministry. One thing Grandpa taught me was just how true this passage is. We mainly raised cattle and a big garden but we also raised wheat, barley and triticale. Though we did use the wheat, barley and triticale for bread and cereal, most of the grain was used to supplement our store bought cattle feed. They just seemed to do better with that extra grain.

We always set aside some of the grain as seed grain. And Grandpa taught me not to be stingy with the seed grain. To pick the best harvest as your seed, and to save plenty to sow. That way, if the soil were prepared correctly and there was the right amount of fertilizer, etc., you would get a great crop. More than you needed, more than you could use.

But if you were stingy with the seed grain and the fertilizer, you would get a miserly crop.

The same is true in giving to God and the work of the Church.

B. When they tried to trap Jesus into saying something incriminating about taxes, remember what He said? He said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give God what is God's." Believe me, the IRS will calculate how much you owe Caesar. They don't let you keep an extra penny, do they?

But when it comes to giving to God, how much belongs to God? The answer is easy, EVERYTHING. God is the Author and Creator of all that is and all that ever will be. everything belongs to God. What we have has been given to us by God. We are called to be Stewards, caretakers of what God has given us. So, how much are we supposed to give to God?

Scripture says that we are called to tithe. God blesses us in so many ways. They're too numerous to list. And all God asks in return for those blessings is one tenth of what God has given to us. God leaves the remaining nine tenths in our keeping for our use.

C. The Tithe is the standard but some people aren't there yet. That's OK as long as you plan to get there and put that plan into motion. Start someplace. If all you can give right now, if all you can pledge right now is 5%, then give that 5%. But give that 5% and then plan to increase it to 7% in three months. And then 8% in six months and 9% in nine months and next year give a full tithe of 10%.

Start off giving proportionally but plan to grow into the tithe. And then don't stop there. If you are already tithing, if you've been giving 10% for years, then maybe it's time for you to increase your giving level to 15%. Make a sacrificial gift. Don't give until it hurts. Give until feels good.

Remember what Paul said: "the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." Sow Bountifully.

II. GIVE CHEERFULLY:

A. Paul also says to GIVE CHEERFULLY. There are basically three kinds of giving. There's Grudge Giving, Duty Giving and Thanks Giving.

Grudge Giving is that giving that takes place out of a sense of guilt. You know what talking about the preacher and the sermon that berates everyone until they give what the preacher expects everyone to give. Grudge Giving is the most negative form of giving there is. It builds resentment and resentment keeps us from experiencing the depth of God's love.

Then there's Duty Giving. This is the Have To sort of giving. It's not filled with resentment but it's not filled with life and joy either. It's that giving that comes out of a sense of obligation, a sense of duty. This is the kind of giving that says, "Well, I'm a member, so I ought to at least give something." And that's all that gets given, something.

Then there's Thanks Giving. This is the giving that comes from a grateful heart. This is the giving that is given our of joy, the giving that is full of life because it the gift is given cheerfully..

B. I read about one long winded pastor who tried to convince his congregation to give cheerfully by challenging them to reach a certain financial goal. If they reached that goal, if they underwrote the budget completely with pledges, he said he would allow them to place a clock on the pulpit. Then he said if they exceeded their goal by $5,000, he'd let them plug the clock in. And if they exceeded the goal by $10,000 he'd actually look at the clock and go by it.

I guess that's one way to raise money. But if there's one thing I've learned in the ministry, it's not to make promises I can't keep.

Paul writes: [7] "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

In other words, God wants our hearts to be in first. God doesn't want us to give Grudgingly or out of a sense of Duty. God wants us to give out of a sense of love and joy. God want us to give Cheerfully.

USE "MY TITHE" TRICK

And when we do, when we GIVE CHEERFULLY to God's work, God will use that gift and grow that gift. It may only be a dollar but will grow that dollar into so much more.

Give Cheerfully so God can grow your gifts.

III. EXPERIENCE GOD'S BLESSINGS ABUNDANTLY:

A. When we Sow Bountifully and Give Cheerfully then we will be able to Experience God's Blessings Abundantly.

When we are faithful in our giving, God provides. Now don't get me wrong, I'm talking preaching a prosperity theology. I'm not going to tell you that the more you give, more you're going to receive. That's using God and God's blessing like some kind of magic slot machine. Put in a dollar get back ten. Put in ten dollars get back a hundred. There are those who will tell you that's what the Bible says. But I think they're wrong. That's attempting to use your giving to get something from God.

But Scripture does say that when we give unselfishly, when we give simply to give, when we give out of gratitude for our salvation; when we give to serve God and in response to the blessings God has given us, then God will multiply those gifts.

USE CHANGING BAG TRICK

Without Jesus, our lives are empty and incomplete. We may have a few pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters but we're not rich by any means.

But when we put Jesus at the center of our lives. When He rules in our hearts and rules our lives. When we wrap everything we own, all of our pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters in His love. God blesses us and suddenly our hearts and our lives are filled to overflowing.

God blesses us and we have enough money for the work and mission of the Church.

We have enough money for those needed things like food, shelter, clothing school, and all the bills we have.

And we even have enough money for some of the extras in life.

We have plenty of money. Why? Because Jesus is the center of our life. Because Jesus is the center of our Stewardship.

B. The The Good News is that you can't out give God. You can try. But God will always give us more than we can ever imagine. It may not come in the form of money, but then all treasure doesn't glitter or crinkle.

Bob Embry Emailed me a story this past week, titled "The Miracle." It's supposed to be a true story.

Tess was a precocious eight year old when she heard her Mom and Dad talking about her little brother, Andrew. All she knew was that Andrew was very sick and they were completely out of money. They were moving to an apartment complex next month because Daddy didn't have the money for the doctor bills and the house. Only a very costly surgery could save Andrew and it looked like there was no one to loan them the money. She heard Daddy tell her Mother, "Only a miracle can save him now."

Tess went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. She counted it three times. The total had to be exactly perfect. She carefully placed the coins back in the jar. Twisted on the lid and she slipped out the back door. She made her way 6 blocks to Rexall Drug Store. Once inside, she waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention. But he was to busy at this moment.

Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!

"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. "I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply.

"Well, I want to talk to you about MY brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really, really sick ... and I want to buy a miracle."

"I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist.

"His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?"

The pharmacist softened and said, "We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you."

"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs."

The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of a miracle does you brother need?"

"I don't know," said Tess, her eyes filling with tears. "I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money."

"How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago.

"One dollar and eleven cents," Tess quietly answered. "And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to."

"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents is the exact price of a miracle for little brothers."

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need."

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well. Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.

"That surgery," Mom whispered, "was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost. One dollar and eleven cents. Plus the faith of a little child.

You see, you can't out give God. And that's the Miracle Of Giving. When we Sow Bountifully and Give Cheerfully then we will Experience God's Blessings Abundantly.

CONCLUSION:

Look at how much God has blessed us through our giving, through our faithfulness and service. God will continue to bless us. God will continue to give us the strength to fulfill the Vision and carry out God's plan for us.

As your Pastor, all I ask is that you prayerfully consider what God is calling you to give. This isn't between you and I. It's not even between you and the budget. It's between you God.

Let me close by reading the first passage I read at the beginning of the sermon. Luke 6:38 "give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

Sow Bountifully, Give Cheerfully and Experience God's Blessings Abundantly.

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Bibliography

1. Howard L. Dayton, Jr. Leadership-Vol. 2, #2.

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