Giving, Applause and a Challenge

Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. … For the ministry of this service (giving) is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God. They will glorify God for your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with others through the proof provided by this service. 2 Corinthians 9:7-8, 13-14 (HCSB, parenthesis mine)I was going to preach on giving this Sunday, but I changed my mind. The reason I did is because I am blessed to be part of a giving church. In fact I am amazed how faithfully you give your tithes to operate the church financially and then go beyond that to support missionary work around the world, fund the Food Basket, contribute to the Deacons’ Fund, support children through World Vision and Compassion International, participate in the Hunger relief offering, and respond to various needs. We cannot even begin to calculate all the good this generosity has done, but even more importantly it has honored God, given our church a good testimony, and has produced much thanksgiving. As your pastor I just want to applaud you.For Susie and me our journey of giving began before we were married. We were blessed with pastors who taught us what the Bible said about giving and managing money. So began our marriage being on the same page when it came to our attitudes about money, about spending, and about honoring God with our money and possessions. We never thought twice about supporting our church with our tithe and offering even though we did not earn or have much.For many years our financial situation was one of need, we were poor, but we did not think that exempted us from tithing and giving. We gave in spite, or out of our need. We just figured and believed that God would enable us to live on whatever was left after we tithed. And God did, he supplied, and we learned awesome lessons of God’s faithfulness, just as He promised.Today our financial situation is different, we are no longer in constant need and instead we are blessed with a surplus. I believe that surplus is a result of God’s blessing and our willingness to trust in God’s ways of giving and handling money. Now our challenge is not to squander our surplus, not to let it entice us to spend more and more on ourselves, but to grow even more generous, and to give more and more. I am confident that God will show us incredible blessings here too, because Jesus did say, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).When it comes to the ministry of giving my prayer for you and me and for our church is to “excel still more” (1 Thessalonians 4:10).To god be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans