#293 Impact Verbs We Value Series# 5, GIVE

#293 Impact Verbs We Value Series# 5, GIVE
By: Pastor Cheryl Thomas

Born to Give
Impact Values Series- Number 5 of our 6 Verbs Give

A Pastor said if you give a 1000 dollars today you can pick out the hymns … little old lady said I’ll take you up on that preacher … she came up gave the pastor a cheque for 1000 dollars then she turned to face the audience and pointed with her finger and said I’ll take Him and Him and Him.

Roger W. Babson shares an illustration that if:
$1.00 spent for lunch lasts five hours.
$1.00 spent for a neck-tie lasts five weeks.
$1.00 spent for a cap lasts five months.
$1.00 spent for an auto lasts five years.
$1.00 spent for a railroad lasts five decades.
$1.00 spent in God’s service lasts for eternity.—

A man told of a horrible dream. He said, “I dreamed that the Lord took my Sunday offering and multiplied it by ten, and this became my weekly income. In no time I lost my color TV, had to give up my new car and couldn’t make my house payment. After all, what can a fellow do on $10 a week?”

If the Lord took your offering, multiplied it by ten, and made that your weekly income, how much would you make?

Intro: Ilustration Run with the Horses — Eugene Peterson

Born to: to have the natural ability to do something

Conversely hanging on to what is in your hand, living a self-centered life sucks the joy out of your life. A clenched fist life is a life with a shriveled soul.

Ecclessiasties 5:13- there is another serious problem I have seen under the sun, hoarding riches harms the saver

Proverbs 11:26- people curse the man who hoards grain but blessing crown him who is willing to sell.

Hoarding to oneself goes against the natural order of creation… it is a denial of creation… Everything God created has in itself the ability to give to produce fruit and recreate.

Giving is an act of defiance against hoarding…

Ray Linder in his book, “Seven Secrets to Reduce Financial Worry, says that true financial freedom comes, “When I use my money to acquire freedom for others instead of myself.” Financial freedom is more of an attitude than an amount.

In the same way that flying is the characteristic action of birds and not until they are flying are they at their best, gracefully and beautifully. Giving is the characteristic of the children of God. We are born to give generously of our time, talents and finances.

NOT ONLY THAT, GIVING CAN BE HEALTHY FOR YOU

In an article written by Racheal Swalin in December 2014 on Health.com she writes:

It may lower blood pressure
Helping out friends and family could be one way to boost your cardiovascular health… A 2006 study in the International Journal of Psychophysiology found that participants who gave social support to people within their network had lower overall blood pressure and arterial pressure than those who didn’t.

It can help reduce stress
Hoarding money like Scrooge may be good for your wallet, but it’s not so great for your health. In a study from Queensland University of Technology published in PLOS One found that stingy behavior increases stress. Researchers asked 156 volunteers to play a bargaining game and decide how to divide a sum of money. Using heart rate monitors, they found players who made low offers (below 40% of the total) experienced increased heart rate and stress levels compared to those who made high offers. A study in the Journal of Health Psychology found that people who decided not to donate money to their partner in a bargaining game to felt more shame and had higher levels of stress hormone cortisol afterwards.

It could help you live longer
Lending a hand for small tasks may end up boosting your longevity. In a 2013 study of 846 people published in the American Journal of Public Health, people who helped others by running errands or doing chores seemed to be protected from the negative impact of stress.

It can boost your mood
Research shows that giving money away can feel just as good as receiving it. For a 2007 study in Science, researchers used brain imaging technology on 19 women to see how certain regions were activated when they either kept $100 or gave it to a local food bank. Turns out the same pleasure-related centers in the brain that lit up in those who took the money also went off in those who donated the money—even more so when the decision was voluntary and not required by researchers. By Rachel Swalin, December 02, 2014

Nevertheless talking about giving is usually a delicate topic to handle in the Church, and people can feel uneasy when we begin to talk about money in the church however both the giving and the business of the Church must be recognized as a Christian value, and a secular affair.

We have plenty of Bible that encourages us to give…
1 Timothy 6:17-19 English Standard Version (ESV)
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Matthew 10:42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Proverbs 11:24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

Deuteronomy 8:18 Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.

Proverbs 11:24-25 (NKJV)
There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Proverbs 11:24-25 (MSG)
The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

Generosity is a way of life (not just in an offering) …
Generosity is lacking pettiness or meanness in thought or behavior.

Though the results of your giving are not always immediately seen in your bank balance; if you are patient you will eventually see the increase.

Ecclesiastes 11:1-2
“Cast you bread upon the water for after many days you will find it again. Give to seven yes to eight for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.”

Julie Testimony
Giving is an impact value, one that is transforming lives to impact their world. We teach on the value of giving every single week.

Last year:
• 42,760 to Haiti to buy a property to house their many ministries
• 15280 to Jamaica to purchase a tent/this year over 7,000 to build a roof
• 25,550 to Charitable organizations inside Canada
• 3,000 to Aberdeen to purchase computer/tablets- annually for past 5- 6 years we sown into the school to help purchase needed supplies
• that is $86,590
• Further we sow into harvest vehicles like RRR/SSS
• Annually we host a Community Supper for Aberdeen Community/ and host the graduation by serving their meal and a generous use of our building
• We have done Christmas Hampers for over 25 years
• We did a community Meal for 20 years…

Why because we are born to give and giving is a characteristic action of believers.

Further we discover in Scripture that giving was a value to Paul as he dedicates two chapters in 2 Corinthians chapters 8-9 to talk about a collection for the Jews from an unexpected source, a poverty stricken Macedonian/Gentile church.

Today we want to look at the generosity of the Macedonian Church found in 2 Corinthians 8-9

Context

Paul Organized the Offering

Some of the many motives that impelled Paul to organize the offering may be:

• brotherly love
• making the offering a tangible expression of the interdependence of the members of the body
• effect equality of provision • symbolized the unity of Jew and Gentile in Christ and may have been designed to
• win over those Jewish Christians who were still suspicious of Paul’s Gentile mission
• bring honor to Christ

The Contributors

In Act 20 we learn of Paul’s traveling companions on his final visit to Jerusalem when he was delivering the collection. Sopater, Aristarchus, and Secundus represented the Macedonian Christians

Gaius and perhaps Timothy were delegates from Galatia

Tychicus and Trophimus traveled on behalf of the churches of Asia

The Recipients of the Offering

“The offering was destined for the Hebrew Christians at Jerusalem, who may have referred to themselves as “the poor” (those who were completely dependent on God’s provision. Several factors account for their continuing poverty:

(1) After their conversion to Christianity many Jews in Jerusalem would have been ostracized socially and economically.
(2) Persistent food shortages in Palestine because of overpopulation culminated in the famine of A.D. 46 in the time of Emperor Claudius (Acts 11:27-30).
(3) As the mother-church of Christendom, the Jerusalem church was obliged to support a proportionately large number of teachers and probably to provide hospitality for frequent Christian visitors to the holy city.
(4) Jews in Palestine were subject to a crippling twofold taxation–Jewish and Roman.”

The Offering of The Macedonian Church 2 Corinthians 8

“We want you to know, brothers,[a] 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[b] 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[c]—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.” ESV

Notice in verse 1 the phrase “grace of God.” God’s grace developed a spirit of giving and generosity in the churches of Macedonia.

The word “grace” is used 6 times in chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians and giving is viewed as a Christian “grace.”

In fact Paul said, believers should seek to excel in the grace of giving. Paul said in verse 7 to the Corinthian church you should excel in giving…

“He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor” (Prov 22:9).

Isaiah said: “But a generous man devises generous things, And by generosity he shall stand” (Isa 32:8).

Jesus was gracious when he felt compassion on the multitude of 5,000 and he fed them because they were His guests and He did not want to dismiss them when they were hungry (Mat. 14:13- 21).

Grace/Jesus prepares the way for the activity of grace to be manifest in our lives, enriching both the giver and the receiver.

What does excellent giving look like, 5 Things
1. It is not dependent on circumstances
2. It is not dependent on means
3. It is not because of compulsion
4. It is not done grudgingly
5. It is not just about money

I. THEY GAVE UNDER VERY UNFAVOURABLE CIRCUMSTANCES.

1. They were in much affliction. (Ver. 2.) The ESV version says “a severe test of affliction”. This might have suggested special care of themselves rather than of others. Suffering often produces selfishness. Our pain often prevents us from realizing the pains of others.
2. They were in deep poverty. (Ver. 2.) How could they give? How inconsiderate, and indeed absurd, to ask them to give! Was it not their duty to be provident? to hold some reserve in store against possibly worse times? Poverty often produces selfishness and hoarding, often our personal pain prevents us from realizing the suffering in others. But Macedonians saw the high calling of charity, and nobly performed that calling.

The Macedonian churches were not giving out of their abundance, rather, they were giving generously out of their poverty.

George Elliot is credited with the following quotation: “One must be poor to know the luxury of giving.”

Let look at the example of the widow who gave two mites. “Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. {42} Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. {43} So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; {44} “for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood”” (Mark 12:41-44).

Marquis de Lafayette was a French officer who provided invaluable assistance to George Washington and the struggling American army. After the war was over, he returned to France and resumed his life as a farmer of many estates. In 1783, the harvest was a terrible one, and there were many who suffered as a result. Lafayette’s farms were unaffected by the devastating crop failures. One of his workers offered what seemed to be good advice to Lafayette, “The bad harvest has raised the price of wheat. This is the time to sell.” After thinking about the hungry peasants in the surrounding villages, Lafayette disagreed and said, “No, this is the time to give.”

Outward circumstances and difficulties should not inhibit generosity in giving.

II. THEY GAVE BEYOND THEIR MEANS. (Ver. 3.)

They Gave “Beyond their power.” Affliction and poverty combined could not cramp their large heartedness.

Generous giving gives evidence of the sincerity of one’s love. In verse 8 paul says I want you to excel in giving testing how genuine the love is of the Corinthian church love by comparing it to the eagerness of other churches.

Often in our self-centered culture we ask ourselves what is the minimal amount I can get away with when it comes to giving; the Macedonian Christians asked how much. They excelled in the grace of giving.

III. THEY GAVE VOLUNTARILY. (Ver. 3.) Compulsory kindness is of little worth. They gave “of their own accord.” They did not need a “collection sermon.” They required only to know of the need; the charity was spontaneous.

IN FACT THEY BEGGED FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF GIVING. (Ver. 4.) “begging us earnestly for the favor[b] of taking part in the relief of the saints”.

Giving, to them, was a privilege – a gain, not a loss. Giving was not a thing to be avoided, but a thing to be sought.

The story is told that one day a beggar by the roadside asked for alms from Alexander the Great as he passed by. The man was poor and wretched and had no claim upon the ruler, no right even to lift a solicitous hand. Yet the Emperor threw him several gold coins. A courtier was astonished at his generosity and commented, “Sir, copper coins would adequately meet a beggar’s need. Why give him gold?” Alexander responded in royal fashion, “Cooper coins would suit the beggar’s need, but gold coins suit Alexander’s giving.”

They gave as King’s children…

IV. THEY GAVE OUT OF A PLACE OF JOY. (Ver.1, 2.) I 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.

There is great satisfaction in joyful giving.

The reason “God loves a cheerful giver” is because this kind of giving can only flow from grace, and such giving becomes a means of grace.

If generosity is a Christian grace, and giving is a means of grace, then we should feel as spiritual when we are giving as we do while singing and praying?

V. THEY GAVE THEMSELVES AS WELL AS THEIR MONEY. (Ver. 5.) “but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.”
1. To the Lord. They solemnly dedicated themselves and their belongings to God.

2. To the apostle. As to a servant of their Lord. For service. When they surrendered themselves to God they did not surrender themselves to idleness, but to activity.

The Macedonian conduct exceeded the apostolic expectation, not the Divine. This was what God expected, and what he expects from us. It was “by the will of God” (ver. 5).

3. To Others
We also must be willing to give to help others. “Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back” (Luke 6:30).

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Mat 7:12).

F. W. Woolworth, founder of Woolworth’s five and ten-cent stores and Milton S. Hershey, are stories of two men. One lived on the pathway of life with a clenched fist. The other lived with an open hand.

Woolworth devoted his life to building stores and amassing wealth and status. His greatest goal in life was to construct the Woolworth Building in New York City, a monument to his success. The building took 17 years to build, 1913 to 1930; it was the tallest building at that time in N.Y.

What did Woolworth do with his fortune? He left no money to charity. His stores did not keep us with the times and in 1997 the company closed 400 five-and-dime sores. 1998 the historic Woolworth building in New York was sold and the Woolworth name has been forgotten.

Milton S. Hershey lived his life and led his business with an open hand. Hershey measured his financial success in terms of what he could do for others. He and his wife could have no children so he left his entire estate he amassed from the Hershey Chocolate Company to a foundation that created a school for under privileged children, including orphans. He also built a medical center and Hershey Park, a family amusement park. Milton Hershey committed his life to others.

Hershey Foods Corporation has thrived over the years and in 1996 had 4 billion in revenues. Hershey’s focus was not on how much money he could get, but on how he could use his money for others.

Each of us has a choice in life. Will we choose the pathway with a clenched fist or the pathway with an open hand? What is in your hand? What will you do with what God provides? Keep it for yourself or give it away?

I believe as we grow in this grace of giving we can experience what Christ meant when he said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. 1 Thess 1:8

Give yourself to Follow, To Discovering, To Inviting, To Connecting, To Giving and open your heart and time to Serving…

For you were born to manifest the nature and characteristics of your Father who is generous inside and out.

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