Tithing or Giving II

The church here in Langhorne, PA will be moving and building a new building over an existing structure within the next few years at the cost of multiple millions of dollars.

Today will be the third sermon of eight on Stewardship at the church.

At the begining of the sermon series the pastor joked (but was serious) that the reason the topic was being preached was to prepare the congregation to give as they should.

 

Everyone answering the poll said that their church encourages responsible stewardship.

Yet only slightly more than half of the people polled have regular sermons on stewardship, giving or tithing. It can't be for lack of scripture relating to money.

"Throughout the entire Bible there are roughly 2,350 verses concerning money. This is roughly twice as many as faith and prayer combined. Fifteen percent of everything Jesus said related to money and possessions. He spoke about money and possessions more than heaven and hell combined. The only subject Jesus spoke of more often is the Kingdom of God." From "The Treasure Principle", by Randy Alcorn

...and more than half of those responding reported that their church doesn't teach how to minimise their debt or how to get out of debt if they are troubled by it.

Households in 2003 racked up $412 billion in credit card charges, up 185% from five years ago. The average balance on open credit cards is over $4K. It's a #1 problem for consumers, a major cause in the breakup of marriages today.

Concerning the last question: I personally believe that a measure of committment to the heavenly kingdom is revealed in our committment to give to the kingdom.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19 NAS

"...it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy." 1 Corinthians 4:2 NAS

As mentioned in a post above, we are stewards of our time, our gifts, our life, and our money, in fact, everything is a gift from our God.

Rob

 

We live in a prosperous country here in the USA.
We have lots of things and always want more.

It is a rare church that offers financial counseling to the many that need it.
It probably would be a way to draw unbelievers to the church; "free financial counseling".
It would certainly help those in the church too.
The catch would be teaching them that all they have is the LORD's; instilling a kingdom outlook.

Over the last few years the deacon's in the church where I serve have come to realize that merely offering a needy family money rarely helps, they always come back for more.
We need to teach them how to make good financial decisions. That means sitting down and going over their books...and doing some hard work.

What's the saying...Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime. (Talk to a man about how they should fish they call you a consultant).

Rob