God's Standard of Giving

Lord, thank You for yesterday, when we came to worship You! You surely have blessed us in many ways and Your Word is heart-piercing and eternal! All I want to say, on behalf of the Fairfax Deaf Ministry, is that You are an Awesome God! How awesome are Your ways! How awesome is Your love!

God, bless those who came to worship God yesterday and bless those who worshipped God elsewhere! It was an awesome day and thank You, God! I must say that all of us were hit hard, as if by a freight train, when the lesson is about, "Giving". We're selfish from the day we're born! As a baby, you're always saying, "Mine! Mine!", even through our childhood, we say that. As a teen, we say, "More! Want!" and we crave for the things we need to fulfill our "selfish desires". We're nothing but hungry animals seeking to please ourselves. That's where we need God the most! Why? We ask Him to help us be humble, seek others when they are in need, instead of fulfilling self, we fulfill our Spirit by helping others in their need of fulfillment. Then in turn, those who have matured as a Christian will change to deny self and begin to fulfill others in their needs. Therefore, "giving" is the least talked about anywhere, especially in the church! However, it's the second greatest theme in the Bible next to salvation!

The word, "Believe" is used 272 times. Believe is pretty important, huh? 272.
The word, "Pray", (Hey, Christians should pray daily!) is used 371 times. Pray, 371.
The word, "Love". God is love as the Bible tells us. "Love" is used 714 times. Yes, important!

"Hand wave" everyone! (drumroll)

The word, "Give" is, ladies' and gentlemen, used 2,162 times! "Giving, gave, give, given" and Jesus used this more often!

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38 (NIV)

If I don't understand God's standard of giving, (here! pay attention), if I don't understand God's standard of giving, then I don't understand what it means to truly know Jesus Christ personally. God talked about it not once, twice but 2,162 times! If you're interested in a full version outline, please go to www.fxcc.org/deaf and click on sermon outlines/notes. It will be posted after 12/8/04. ;)

"The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to fear the LORD your God." Deuteronomy 14:23 (NLT) He doesn't need your money! He owns it all! He's the Creator and He created all things on earth! Everything is the Lord's! He is saying, "I want you, people that I love, people that matter to Me, I want you to give as a reminder that I am first place, that I am Lord in your life."

"On every Lord's day each of you should put aside something of what you have earned during the week." 1 Corinthians 16:2 (NIV) Every Christian has a responsibility. This shows that we're expected to be assembled to worship God and prepare for the "offering" showing that God is "first in my life."

"Remember this, whoever sows sparingly, will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will reap generously." 2 Corinthians 9:6 (NIV) If we come to God with a teacup offering, we will get a teacup blessing back. If we come to God with an eighteen-wheeler truckload of offering, whoooooom, what is going to happen? You will receive so much blessing that you won't be able to handle it.

"Give", it is the only safe investment for eternity (1 Timothy 6:18-19 (MSG)) You can't take it with you but you can send it on ahead. You invest your money in people who are going there (heaven). It is an eternal investment. No risks involved. That is basically why I should follow God's standard of giving, right from the Bible!