WEReveal

Sunday’s ser­mon focused on 2 Corinthians 8–9 [show]2 Corinthians 8–9 We want you to know, broth­ers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, [2]for in a severe test of afflic­tion, their abun­dance of joy and their extreme poverty have over­flowed in a wealth of gen­eros­ity on their part. [3]For they gave accord­ing to their means, as I can tes­tify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, [4]begging us earnestly for the favor of tak­ing part in the relief of the saints– [5]and this, not as we expected, but they gave them­selves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. [6]Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should com­plete among you this act of grace. [7]But as you excel in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowl­edge, in all earnest­ness, and in our love for you–see that you excel in this act of grace also. [8]I say this not as a com­mand, but to prove by the earnest­ness of oth­ers that your love also is gen­uine. [9]For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. [10]And in this mat­ter I give my judg­ment: this ben­e­fits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. [11]So now fin­ish doing it as well, so that your readi­ness in desir­ing it may be matched by your com­plet­ing it out of what you have. [12]For if the readi­ness is there, it is accept­able accord­ing to what a per­son has, not accord­ing to what he does not have. [13]For I do not mean that oth­ers should be eased and you bur­dened, but that as a mat­ter of fair­ness [14]your abun­dance at the present time should sup­ply their need, so that their abun­dance may sup­ply your need, that there may be fair­ness. [15]As it is writ­ten, “Whoever gath­ered much had noth­ing left over, and who­ever gath­ered lit­tle had no lack.“ [16]But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. [17]For he not only accepted our appeal, but being him­self very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. [18]With him we are send­ing the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preach­ing of the gospel. [19]And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being min­is­tered by us, for the glory of the Lord him­self and to show our good will. [20]We take this course so that no one should blame us about this gen­er­ous gift that is being admin­is­tered by us, [21]for we aim at what is hon­or­able not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. [22]And with them we are send­ing our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many mat­ters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great con­fi­dence in you. [23]As for Titus, he is my part­ner and fel­low worker for your ben­e­fit. And as for our broth­ers, they are mes­sen­gers of the churches, the glory of Christ. [24]So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boast­ing about you to these men. Now it is super­flu­ous for me to write to you about the min­istry for the saints, [2]for I know your readi­ness, of which I boast about you to the peo­ple of Macedonia, say­ing that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. [3]But I am send­ing the broth­ers so that our boast­ing about you may not prove empty in this mat­ter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. [4]Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated–to say noth­ing of you–for being so con­fi­dent. [5]So I thought it nec­es­sary to urge the broth­ers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a will­ing gift, not as an exac­tion. [6]The point is this: who­ever sows spar­ingly will also reap spar­ingly, and who­ever sows boun­ti­fully will also reap boun­ti­fully. [7]Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluc­tantly or under com­pul­sion, for God loves a cheer­ful giver. [8]And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that hav­ing all suf­fi­ciency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. [9]As it is writ­ten, “He has dis­trib­uted freely, he has given to the poor; his right­eous­ness endures for­ever.“ [10]He who sup­plies seed to the sower and bread for food will sup­ply and mul­ti­ply your seed for sow­ing and increase the har­vest of your right­eous­ness. [11]You will be enriched in every way to be gen­er­ous in every way, which through us will pro­duce thanks­giv­ing to God. [12]For the min­istry of this ser­vice is not only sup­ply­ing the needs of the saints but is also over­flow­ing in many thanks­giv­ings to God. [13]By their approval of this ser­vice, they will glo­rify God because of your sub­mis­sion flow­ing from your con­fes­sion of the gospel of Christ, and the gen­eros­ity of your con­tri­bu­tion for them and for all oth­ers, [14]while they long for you and pray for you, because of the sur­pass­ing grace of God upon you. [15]Thanks be to God for his inex­press­ible gift! (ESV)
which looks at our finances and giv­ing to God. We were chal­lenged to trust God with our finances and excel in giv­ing. This is one of the most dif­fi­cult chal­lenges many Christians face. It is eas­ier to give up a lot of dif­fer­ent sins as opposed to trust­ing God through giv­ing of our finances back to Him.

Sundays Sermon Highlights:

Worldly view points:

• My money is mine
• My money is for me
• If I had more I might donate.
• Give only when I see a real need.

The aver­age American gives only 2% in donations.

• Where did all your money go?
• Are we liv­ing accord­ing to the world or accord­ing to God’s principles?
• Is money slip­ping through our fin­gers like sand?
• We care most for those things in which we have invested.
• God’s dream requires our finances. Money is only bad when it begins to drive us instead of God’s dream dri­ving us which require funds.

Main ser­mon points:

1. 2 Cor 8:5 [show]2 Corinthians 8:5 [5]and this, not as we expected, but they gave them­selves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. (ESV)
   God wants us to trust Him first. It is from Him that we receive all things. We must put God first with our finances.
2. God wants us to excel in our giv­ing just as we attempt to excel in all of our other areas of life. Listen to God and obey! Trust Him. :It is bet­ter to give than to receive” is more than just a saying.
3. God wants us to give out of what we have not what we don’t have. No brownie points for giv­ing. Don’t over give, give what God has asked us to give. There should be some sort of equality-tithing is God’s mechanism.
4. By tithing we all share equally in the min­istry of the church. We can not afford not to tithe.

Tithing is a way of life. When we trust God, we can freely give Him back a por­tion of that which He has given us.  I would chal­lenge you to read Proverbs 3:5–12 [show]Proverbs 3:5–12 [5]Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own under­stand­ing. [6]In all your ways acknowl­edge him, and he will make straight your paths. [7]Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. [8]It will be heal­ing to your flesh and refresh­ment to your bones. [9]Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first­fruits of all your pro­duce; [10]then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be burst­ing with wine. [11]My son, do not despise the LORD’s dis­ci­pline or be weary of his reproof, [12]for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
. This is a pas­sage all about trust. We are chal­lenged in it to trust God with our lives, our plans, our work, our health, our finances, and even in dis­ci­pline. Ask your­self “In what ways is God ask­ing me to trust Him?”