Sermon Tone Analysis

!   TEXT: 2 Corinthians 8 - 9

TOPIC:  LIVING AND GIVING ABUNDANTLY

Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Center Point, Alabama

November 12, 2006

 

(This great sermon about giving comes from Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church.)

 

2 Corinthians.

Two chapters -- 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9. 

 

As we prepare for what we hope will be a Great Day next Sunday, I want to share with you today along this topic:  Living and Giving Abundantly.

I think I'm on more mailing lists than anybody in the whole world.

I probably get four or five requests every day for financial support.

Everybody wants my money!

I have to admit I've been really reluctant to teach in our church about giving for the fact that I've seen so many people manipulated and pressured and hurt and burned by high powered sales pitches and sob stories and manipulation of your emotions and things like that, that I don't think God wants anything to do with.

Today I want to simply look at what the Bible says about giving.

It's a fact of life that the essence of Christianity is giving.

The Bible says that God is a giver.

The Bible says /"God so loved the world that He gave."/

When God wants us to give, all He wants us to do is become like Himself.

God is a giver.

He's given to us.

He wants us to learn to be givers.

The word "give" is used over 1500 times in the Bible.

But when we look at what Jesus has to say and what Paul has to say, we discover that Jesus was much more interested in our attitude for giving than the amount of our giving.

In other words, He was much more interested in why we give, not how much.

He's much more interested in the quality of the giver instead of the quantity of the gift.

Jesus looks at our motive for giving.

Giving is a responsibility.

But more than that, it's an opportunity.

I want to share with you three reasons why the Bible says we're to give.

Then I think you'll see how things like manipulation and pressure and guilt motivation don't really have any place in the concept of Christian stewardship.

The Bible teaches that our giving is to be a response to God three ways: 

 

            It's to be a response for what God has done for me in the past.

It's to be a response for what God is doing for me in the present.

It's to be a response for what God will do for me in the prospect or the future.

That's it.

Not for other reasons, not for gain, not for building up my ego, not to get my name on a little plaque, not because I feel guilty if I don't give, but for those reasons.

2 Corinthians 8:7.

Paul is talking about giving.

He says, /"Just as you excel in everything else, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in your love for us, see that you also excel in this grace of giving."/

God wants us to grow in giving, as much as you grow in faith, in love, in knowledge.

He wants us to grow in giving, too.

* *

*I.

GIVING ALLOWS US TO EXPRESS APPRECIATION FOR PAST BLESSINGS*

 

That's the first reason and it's the greatest reason to give.

God says giving is gratitude for yesterday's blessings.

It's the highest motive.

Thankfulness.  2 Corinthians 9:7 /"Each man is to give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

/ [He says you shouldn't give because you're pressured to give or because you feel guilty.]

/ For God loves a cheerful giver.

...

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but it's also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God."/

The number one reason we give is out of gratitude for past blessings.

We know that God is the source of all that we have.

He's the source of our life.

He's the source of our abilities.

He's the source of all the natural resources.

He's the source of everything.

We give because God first gave to us.

 

2 Corthians 8:9 /"For through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor so that you through His poverty might become rich."/

God says we give because God first gave to us.

Jesus said /"Freely have ye received, now freely give."/

This past week, my little girl turned 21.  November 7 was her birthday.

What did we do to express to her our love and appreciation?

We sent her a gift.

Why did we do that?

Because giving a gift is the most practical way to express our love and appreciation.

When we give to God, we express our appreciation to God.

We're saying, "God, I love You.

I care about You.

I'm grateful for all You've done." 

 

2 Corthians 8:8 Paul says, /"For I'm not commanding you.

But I want you to test the sincerity of your love."/

God says our giving proves our love.

No matter what we say, what we do with our money tells what we really value in life.

God says, put your money where your mouth is.

The first reason we give is not because we're under pressure but simply because we want to express appreciation for God's goodness to us.

*II.

GIVING ALLOWS ME TO EXAMINE MY MOTIVATION IN THE PRESENT *

 

Giving allows me to examine my motivation in the present.

It helps me to look beyond my own needs, my own self.

By nature, man is basically self-centered.

We have a tendency to only think, "What's in it for me?"

What giving does is help us examine our motivation.

Periodically, I need a values check up.

I need to look at my motives and my values and my priorities and see, “Am I just living for myself?” or “Is there somebody else that I'm living for, something else?”

When I sit down and I write out my giving check, that is a reminder to me.

It is a reminder to me that, one, God is the source of it all.

And two, I'm just a manager of it.

It's a constant reminder.

Giving helps me express appreciation for my past but more than that, it helps me clarify my priorities and values in the present.

It helps me examine my motivations.

The Bible says the second reason we give is to prevent selfishness.

It helps us to keep our priorities in balance.

That's what Deuteronomy 14:23 says the purpose of tithing is to teach us to put God first.

Matthew 6:33 says /"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you."/

Put your priorities in place.

When Penny and I got married, one of the first things we decided was that no matter what else happened, God would get paid first.

Because He's number one in our lives.

Some people struggle with the concept of tithing -- tithing is giving the first ten percent of our income back to God.

Some people pray to God and they say something like this, “God, are You sure You need this ten percent more than I need it?"

Listen, if you’re one of the people who pray that prayer, let me help you.

This is what God would say back to you.