12 Truths About Stewardship and Giving to Church

12 Truths About Giving, Serving and Worshiping God Through Your Church

 

• Giving, serving and worshiping are first about acknowledging that God created us, saved us and sustains/provides for us. From this should flow our desire to worship, give money and serve. How well does our financial giving, time in worship and serving in and through church reflect our trust in Him as well as our gratitude to God for all that He has done for us?

 

• Connect that we have received an “indescribable gift of salvation (2 Corinthians 9)” and our response to that gift must influence and impact every part of our lives – especially the worldliest parts – including money and time.

 

• Connect the truth that everything we have has come from God’s hand – therefore it’s not ours to “keep” but use what we need and give it back to Him (Deuteronomy 8).

 

• Connect that worship, serving and giving money are all part of this thanking God and giving back to Him. A faithful response to God includes all of these – not just one or two.

 

• Giving to God should be sacrificial. In other words we should be choosing to give money, worship and serve at church instead of other activities and opportunities. The model for this of course is God sacrificing His only Son Jesus on the cross to save us – and Jesus obediently sacrificing himself. Giving sacrificially glorifies God; it causes us to rely on God for giving, worshiping and serving – to trust that He will provide enough for us to live and give;  and is a powerful witness to our children and others.

 

• Every church has a calling and mission. At First Reformed, we are “Joyfully sharing and serving Christ with our friends and community.” Within our congregation there are people hurting and in need; there are young people in our congregation and in the community that need Christ and need ministry and mentors. There are thousands of people in Saddle Brook, individuals and families that need Christ. There are many in Saddle Brook and surrounding communities that are hungry, struggling and need help. God is calling our church to be the body of Christ for them. By giving, worshiping and serving – together we fulfill this call from God; there is no “plan B” – He’s asking us to do this job.  

 

• God has designed a church to work for His Kingdom based on members supplying the gifts, money and time (Acts 2, 4). Not fundraisers, not relying on endowments and surpluses – but on the faithful giving, worship and service of members. For those of you that are faithfully worshiping, serving and giving to the mission and work of First Reformed – thank you!! And a special thank you to the members who committed to increase their giving this year!! And, by this design, when a church is behind financially, and ministries are suffering because of lack of people and worship attendance is not at its full potential – all of this is on us – not the economy, or anything else.

 

• When we join church and are members of a church, we vow to give, support, worship and serve at the church. Members have to find ways to ensure their offering is received by the church weekly and/or monthly. Offerings can be put in the plate at worship, dropping off in person during the week, mailed to church from the home, banks now allow their clients to set-up mailed automatic payments. Members of a church should be held accountable for not giving on a regular basis – even during these difficult times – starting with small amounts and moving to larger amounts over time is fine. Giving nothing, not attending worship and not serving is unhealthy for our spiritual lives and for the health of the church.

 

• Believers and churches should be praying regularly about stewardship and God’s abundance. The basis of this kind of prayer starts with, “Father, please bless me (us) to be a blessing” as well as “change our hearts to reflect Your priorities.”

 

• We are spiritually enriched by worshiping, giving and serving (2 Corinthians 9:11). First, because we are trusting that God will provide. But also, in worldly terms – we are fulfilled spiritually by giving, worshiping and serving. Sometimes we think that we are “losing” when we are giving, worshiping and serving because it is costing us time and/or money. That’s how the world thinks. But what we think is a debit, God sees it as a credit. What we think is subtraction, God sees as addition. What we think is a loss, God sees as a gain.

 

• According to research, most Christians give about 3 percent or less of their income to their churches. Imagine what churches, what our church could do when more members are giving 3, 4 or 7 or more percent – (tithing is 10 percent). Remember the stories in the Bible when Jesus takes fish and loaves of bread (all that they had to give) and feeds thousands – when we give God our money, worship and service, He will use it mightily! There is so much that is possible when a church’s giving is healthy.

 

• If the members of a church, to which God called them to be a part, give, worship and serve as they should, there will be so much money, ministry and grace (“great grace was upon them all (Acts 4)” that we would have to have special meetings to decide how to use it all. God is a God of abundance and He provides so that our cups overflow as a blessing for us but also to share with others!
  

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

Christopher B. Wolf is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You: Every Step of the Way (2011).

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

 

Read Full Post »

Worthy Worship

One night this man had a dream. He dreamed that an angel brought him to church one Sunday. And as he and the angel watched, the pianist was playing furiously, the choir and praise teams were singing passionately and the pastor gave an impassioned sermon. It looked picture perfect! But there was one problem. He and the angel could hear no sound. It was as if it was all on mute…So the man asked the angel to explain what it meant. With some sorrow, the angel explained, “This is how much of worship on Sunday morning sounds to us in heaven.” The angel continued, “You’re hearing nothing because there is nothing to hear. As the Bible says, “These people are engaged in the form (or routine) of worship, but their thoughts are on other things and their hearts are far away (Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8).”

 

If you go to a church and you attend worship, take a look around. Do you see people with their thoughts and hearts on God?

 

Sadly, worship in many places has become a source of division, or it’s become entertainment and performance,  or just an exercise to go through.

 

Of course this is not what God intended. Here is just a sample of what the Bible says about worship:

 

            “I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, I will show forth thy marvelous works (Psalm 9:1).”

 

            “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord, our maker (Psalm 95:6).”

 

“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever (Revelation 5:13)!”

 

In these and other passages, worship is sacrificial, active, fueled by the Holy Spirit, thankful, joyful and all about giving ourselves to God.

 

See, somewhere along the way, worship became about…us. The main thing that comes to mind is that the church has been poisoned by consumerism. Consumerism is fine in its place – car companies, restaurants, grocery stores – they should be giving people what they want. But that same idea has infiltrated church and that is the heart of the trouble. Too often worship is designed and presented to please, appease or entertain – not God – but people – or even a combination of the two. Can pastors and worship leaders value, appreciate and be sensitive to the “voice” of the congregation (the whole – not just the loudest ones) and still honor God? Absolutely.  

 

At the same time though, many worshippers are coming on Sunday morning to “get” something. Many people think, “I want to hear the songs or hymns I like” or “the sermon better not challenge me” or “I hope this doesn’t go over an hour” and so on. If we took the church elements out of those statements – they could apply to television shows, restaurants and other events. The instant we start dwelling on what we want – we switch from worshipper to consumer. As well, all of the division that flows from individuals or groups “fighting” for what they want dishonors God (the opposite of worship), breaks down covenant and unity, and so minimizes our witness to the community and world.  

 

As you can see, this is the furthest thing from true worship. And with this approach, there is very little room for the source of true worship – the Holy Spirit. So it’s no wonder that like the story above says, “there is nothing to hear.”

 

But do not despair! There are three shifts we can take to move worship closer to its intention and design.

 

The first is that we have to shift from thinking of worship as only a ritual to thinking of it as an encounter or meeting with God. Could we come to worship prepared to meet God? How, you say? You’ll find Him through hearing His Word read and proclaimed, through loving fellowship of other believers, through prayer, through praising – music or otherwise – God is there ready to meet us through the Holy Spirit. And when more and more people show up expecting, believing that God will meet us as we worship Him – not ourselves, not music or musical groups, not pastors, not a building – just worshiping the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – they will vividly and tangibly meet us there.

 

Second, and related, is that we have to shift our thinking of worship as a once a week activity to everyday. Anytime we thank, think of, devote time to, serve, sacrifice for God – this is worship. Of course for a congregation, having a set gathering time to worship together is essential! But that should not be our only worship for the entire week! If we only walked or exercised once a week, our health and fitness would not improve much. Same thing with worship. Sunday morning should be both the climax and kickoff to more worship for the week.

 

Third, our approach as worshippers has to experience a paradigm shift. We have to go from “getting something” to “giving something.” We have to start coming to worship because we want to thank God for creating us, saving us and sustaining us. God is worthy of our worship in His own right, but then we also reflect on His marvelous works in our lives – and suddenly worship is more than an just an hour on Sunday. An offering should not just be some money in an envelope – it’s our whole self praising and thanking God! I know for me, there aren’t enough hours, days or years to thank God for all He has done for me. But I will show up on Sunday, as a leader and worshipper, ready to give God something.

 

What can we give? How can we give? We can give God our voices, our focused attention, yes our first fruits (money), our open hearts and minds – remember we are commanded to love God with all our strength, soul, mind – everything we have. How can we give? Joyfully, thankfully, passionately! Not dependent on what song or what sermon or which pastor. Would any of us have the nerve to say to God, “I didn’t sing that song that praised You because I didn’t like that kind of music” or because “I don’t sing well?” Or could we face God and honestly say, “That Scripture and sermon didn’t apply to me?”

 

And if anyone is still concerned about “getting” something out of worship, here is some hope. I have listened to many testimonies from people who have gone on mission trips. And one common theme is that while they were sharing the Gospel or building something or providing medical care – people always say that even though they were there to give they got so much more out of it – almost to the point of feeling self-conscious. Same thing with worship. When we “lose” ourselves focusing on God and/or our neighbors or those in need – that is worship! So instead of coming to “get” – come to “give” and give abundantly and we will find that we get so much more than we ever expected.

 

You know, each time God’s people in the Old Testament returned to God, it always started with tearing down idols (that had become distractions from worshiping God) and restoring their worship to be more focused on God.

 

Let this be the Sunday that it is true for all of us, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship and it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus. I am sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it when it’s all about You, it’s all about you Jesus (The Heart of Worship).”

 

Let this be the Sunday that we focus more, sing our hearts and voices out, are more thankful, give more, love and share more, and truly thank and worship God. “Let the “Amens” sound from His people again” – and that He hears them and is pleased!

 

Amen.

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook, New Jersey. He is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You Every Step of the Way (2011).

 

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

Read Full Post »

Power, Life and Grace

Please listen to/download our Easter service from this morning. On this page, go to sermon audio and click on Power, Life and Grace. The message was from Isaiah 25 and Mark 16. The Lord be with you…

http://www.firstgrandville.org/content.cfm?id=213

Read Full Post »

Leaving it all on the field

Romans 12:1

Leaving it all on the field(Remix of Sunday’s sermon – audio at www.firstgrandville.org – Resources/Dowloads/Sermons/A Personal Mission, Sept. 30)

“I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Romans 12:1 

There is this idea of “leaving it all on the field,” from sports, but I want us to think about it today in terms of our spiritual life in Christ.  When we “leave it all on the field” it means that we have exhausted all energy, all effort, all strategy, everything has been used in the given mission or endeavor – nothing is held back.  

And that is where this idea of present ourselves as living sacrifices comes in. Prior to Jesus, the idea of sacrifices to God meant that the sacrifice was destroyed. When Jesus went to the cross, died and was resurrected – it changed everything but also changed the definition of a sacrifice for God. It became possible to be a living sacrifice. 

There is a song by Pearl Jam called Wishlist and there is a line in it, “I wish I was a sacrifice and somehow still lived on.” By Jesus’ example and Paul’s reference to being a living sacrifice, we have a call to live our lives, our worship, our service, to give it everything we have – to somehow give of ourselves to the point of sacrifice, and often pain and loss, but still live on. And not only live on but be more like Christ because of how much we sacrificed. Part of the faith journey is to have less and less of ourselves and more and more of Christ visible and reigning in our lives.  

Jesus said, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it (Mark 8:35).” So often as Christians we take the safe way – in worship, in serving, in our time and money that we give. We are trying “save” ourselves while still trying do “something” for the Lord.” Even with the best of intentions, when we hold back from God, we lose. When we give everything to him and sacrifice all of our desires and things for His sake, we win. I know, I know, it is the opposite of what the world says.  As Jesus’ and Paul’s words testify, we can’t do both – hold back and win.

To be a living sacrifice means that something (a lot of things really) have to be lost. When we follow Christ and leave it all on the field – there is nothing safe about that – it is about risking it all, stretching and reaching beyond what we have and what we believe we need to save or protect. To actually be a living sacrifice also means to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to provide what we need to accomplish the sacrifice and/or mission.  

Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice on our behalf for our sins – lost himself to death on the cross – literally left it all on the field and gained eternal life for us. With this in mind, we are called to leave it all on the field in Christ’s name when we – pray, study the Word, love, reach out, heal, encourage, parent, mentor, serve, give, and hope. 

Amen. 

Discussion Questions

1. What are some parts of your life through which you could leave it all on the field in a way you haven’t done before?
2. What are you holding back from God? What are you holding back from others – especially those with obvious needs?
3.  What would it look like if you left it all on the field for your church or your family? What would be different than now?
4. Recall a time when you left it all on the field. What did that feel like? What was the impact?

Read Full Post »