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SHARING OUR FAITH: Part 1 - BY GIVING The church in Corinth is a giving church. In chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians Paul is writing to them about a promise they have made to give to the needy in Jerusalem. The promise is so fantastic, so generous that Paul has been boasting to other churches, particularly to the Macedonian church about this Church in Corinth. He states, “There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints," – that is the service of giving to those fellow believers in Jerusalem. He doesn’t need to write to them about it because they are aware of the need and have responded with a promise. Paul continues: “For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians telling them that since last year you in Achaia [that’s the province in which Corinth is situated] were ready to give.” This morning I want to speak to you about giving your material offerings to God, based on faith in God, to further the work of missions here at home and around the world. Some of you are unfamiliar with the faith promise system we use here at Markham Baptist to support mission work and I want to introduce it to you. For others who are familiar with the idea, I hope this will spark you on to trust God even further. E.V. Hill makes the point that “give” has become a dirty word in many of our North American churches. People don’t want to hear the pastor preach about giving. They don’t want the management board to stand up and encourage people to give. They don’t want the church to send letters asking them to give. No one wants to hear about giving. E.V. Hill tells of one member of his church. It didn’t matter what happened - earthquakes, water, storm, fire, missionaries in urgent need in Africa, the church hit by lightning and burned to the ground - it didn’t matter what happened, this man would always and only give one dollar. And he would leave church every Sunday saying, “That’s all that preacher knows about is giving. Giving, giving.” And Hill states, “The only reason that he didn’t know about giving is that it he didn’t read his Bible.” The Bible constantly speaks of giving. Scripture makes it plain that what God desires most is that we give our lives to Him. “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices.” (Romans 12:1) And the Macedonian Christians are commended because before they gave their material gifts to God they “gave themselves first to the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 8:5) Give yourself to God – that is the priority. Do you know the Bible speaks more about giving than it does about heaven? Our God gave his one and only Son. And He is our example for He gave His life so that you and I can know forgiveness and life to the full. One of the things that Christians ought to hear and be anxious to hear, Sunday after Sunday, Lord’s day after Lord’s day is Give. Give. Give - it’s not a dirty word; it’s a Biblical word. 1 So as we consider how we can give to missions - consider the need. The Corinthians made a promise to give to their fellow Christians in Jerusalem who were in great need. Through your giving to missions this past year we were able to respond quickly through the Sharing Way, our relief and development agency, to earthquake victims in Iran. We were able to train young people for the pastorate in Kenya through our partners in mission, the Crains. We were able to help Joyce Hancock minister to street kids in Brazil. We were able to encourage a fledgling work among the Oromos – a native group from Ethiopia here in downtown Toronto. That’s what we have been able to do, and yet the need is still great. There is much work yet to be done. And we look forward to seeing how God will enable us to give to this work. And we can play a key role in getting it done by giving. This year we want to increase the amount we give to our partners in mission. We have added CBMI, and you have already heard of the work of Interserve, and African Enterprise. 2 That is the need. Now consider the response. The Corinthians make a financial promise so fantastic, so generous that Paul was boasting of their readiness to give. Do you know I have been boasting about you. During the last three and half years, our mission giving has increased 49.2% . That is quite significant. And this year we are hoping to increase that amount again so that the total mission budget for this year would be $45,000.00. I know that sounds like a lot but it is possible. Not in our own strength but in dependence upon God. And I’ve been boasting to other churches about the fact that our missions budget is and always has been separate from our operations budget. That is significant, because in some churches that is not the case. In some churches the operation budget takes precedence over missions and if the operation budget isn’t met well they just take it out of what is given to missions. And the missionaries end up getting a little bit less, while the church at home is looked after first. That is not the case here. Every cent that is given to missions is given directly to missions we don’t hold it to see if we need to pay our own bills first. Paul has been boasting of the church in Corinth and do you see the result of their promised generosity? It has spurred others (verse 2) on to give sacrificially also. Paul mentions the church in Macedonia in particular about whom we read in chapter 8 gave generously out of extreme poverty. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our generous giving to missions stirred others to do likewise? We think of all the things we can stir people towards – we can stir them to anger, we can stir them to rebellion, we can stir them to jealousy – how much more wonderful it is to stir people to generosity. We have an opportunity during the next four weeks to stir people to generosity. 3 So we see here the need, the response, and now Paul speaks of the plan he has to collect the money to meet the need. And he says in verse 3 that he is sending the brothers. In previous verses we learn this is a group of three men, one of whom is Titus. He is sending them so that the church in Corinth may be ready for the offering. They have this enthusiasm to help others, to share the gospel, and they want to do it, so Paul sends this group and says, "I want you to be prepared," he says in verse 4. He says if he brings some of the Macedonians with him and they aren’t ready to give as they have promised then – well Paul and the Corinthian church will be very embarrassed. He says in verse 5, "I want you to be ready, so that when I show up you can give it readily and it doesn’t look like I’ve twisted your arm." This is where we find ourselves this morning. Imagine me to be Titus and I’m asking you to consider now what you will give NOT today, not at the end of this mission conference, but during the coming year to the work of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. What can you depend on God to provide you to help support the world wide missionary task. This is essentially the definition of a faith promise. Broadly speaking the faith promise offering is an act of faith where you in dependence upon God promise to give “x” number of dollars to the work of missions through the coming year. The faith promise has its roots in our text. The Corinthians made a promise and that is what we are asking you to consider. It is a promise, not a pledge. A pledge is an agreement between you and the church or the missions committee. No, this is a promise that you make to God – if you can’t keep your promise, no one from this church will come banging on your door. You will receive no material from us, except for the original acknowledgement of your participation. If you cannot keep your promise, that is between you and God alone. Now it is called a Faith Promise - Verse 6 underlines the idea of faith behind this offering. "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” There are two principles involved with this – it is first an act of faith. I am asking you to step out in faith – in dependence upon God to supply this offering during the coming year. We are not asking you to give what you have right now, we are asking you consider what God can and will provide you with during the coming year. A faith promise involves trusting God for an amount that we do not have, cannot see, and therefore must depend upon God to enable us to give. Now hear that again, because it is very important. A faith promise involves trusting God for an amount that we do not have, cannot see and therefore must depend upon God to enable us to give. This is important because I have a feeling that some of you who are now familiar with the faith promise system are simply filling out the cards after you have calculated your yearly income and you think about how much you gave to missions last year and decide to increase it or keep it the same because that’s what you can afford. That’s okay - to an extent. I don’t want you to be foolish about this. But… but, if that’s all you do – you are missing the point of this exercise. We are asking you to consult not your books, not your accountant, but our Lord. We are asking you to go into your prayer closet, and shut the door and ask God what you can depend on Him to provide so that you can give to missions this year. And I know that some of you don’t even fill out a card. You say, “We’ll just give as the money comes available.” My friends we are asking you to take a step of faith to depend on God for this offering. So many of you ask me to pray that God will increase your faith, that He will strengthen your faith. Do you know how you get a stronger faith? By stepping out in obedience to Him. By trusting Him to provide, to fulfill His promises in you. It’s no good for me to pray that God will increase your faith if you are unwilling to step out in faith in God. The faith promise is a tool for you to strengthen your faith And please, please, don’t cut what you give to our church and give half to missions. We are asking what can you trust God to provide over and above what you give already to give to the work of missions? It is not only an act of faith, it also requires something of us. Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will reap generously. This is a promise with a condition. In order to reap generously – that’s the promise – you must sow generously – that’s the condition. The first act is sow generously, I don’t care what kind of gardener you are, I don’t care what colour your thumb is, if you do not sow a generous amount of seed on the ground, you will not reap a generous harvest. You have to sow generously to reap generously. Verse 7 underlines the idea that the faith promise is a spiritual exercise. We don’t want anyone to give reluctantly or under compulsion but to give cheerfully. And in order for you to give cheerfully you must be able to say, this is what God says I am able to give for world missions. We are cheerful as we look forward to how God is going to provide the gift. Also, do you know who cheerful givers are? They are people who give away other people’s money. We need to realize that we are not giving our money, we are giving God’s money for God’s purposes. We are simply stewards of all that we have – we are stewards of God’s money. And it IS His money since we have given our lives to Him - it is His money. Not our own. So we are asking each one of you - each child, each teenager, each adult - to be in prayer about this – asking for His leadership in this endeavour. Now you may be asking, How can God make a faith promise offering possible? How does God provide it? Sometimes when you make a faith promise God will provide it right out of nowhere. It just kind of happens. Sometimes God will provide that amount right out of nowhere. He does an incredible miraculous thing. And sometimes that happens. But most times that is not how He does it. Most times when God provides a faith promise offering, He does it through your life. God goes beyond the dollar issue and does a work in a life. And you and I begin to reprioritize our lives. And suddenly things we thought were important, some luxuries that we think are important, become very unimportant when we compare them to the needs of Indonesia, to the needs of Kenya, to the needs of Brazil. So what God does sometimes is to begin to teach us more about Himself, and the needs of those around the world and we begin to cut back here or cut back there. And through that sacrifice God begins to provide that faith promise. I heard of one family who sat down and discussed together what they thought they could give to the faith promise offering for missions. As they prayed and talked they came to the conclusion that they could give up cable television for the year - $30 a month – and together they said that would form the basis of their giving. Imagine if 20 families in our church were to do the same thing – we’d meet our mission target in no time! There are other ways that God provides the faith promise. Another way is through additional sources of income. There are all kinds of stories of people who have done this – women who have raised hundreds of dollars for missions by making pies, men who have used a hobby to generate funds for missions, boys and girls who have washed cars, delivered papers, all sorts of ways God has given to raise the faith promise. Everyone get a card. You will be given one of these every Sunday during mission month. Take a moment to look at the wording at the side. It is personalized. "MY Faith Promise". There is a place there for your name and address. We ask you sign them – so that we can verify any outlandish promises that may be made. Also, we realize that people take the promise more seriously if they put their signature to it. And a blank – for what you believe you can trust God to give every month. Look what it says – "Through dependence upon God I… " When you begin to pay your faith promise, you can pay it through your offering envelope. One last thing. I have said this is not a cash offering. But this year and this only – someone has come forward and said that they would be willing to match the cash offerings that are received for missions during the month of May dollar for dollar up to the amount of $10,000. Interestingly the target for our mission’s faith promise offering this year is $10,000 more this year than last. We are looking to raise $45,000 dollars for missions this year. My friends, during the next three remaining weeks, four worship services, we will be receiving the faith promise cards. Please be in prayer and ask God for his leading in this area. Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - April 2004 |
