Class Lesson March 16, 2014

Work and rest. What’s the biblical balance?

Balance: Many of us work too much, fueled by a workaholic drive. Others barely make an effort, doing the minimum to stay employed and get paycheck. Both groups need balance. Many of us earn more than we personally need and fill our lives with experiences and stuff. Others among us struggle to get by. Both groups need balance.





This study lifts up the biblical mandates to work and to rest. It points us to actions that achieve balance. As we apply biblical principles, we move from living and earning for ourselves to discovering that our jobs and paychecks are resources we can invest for the kingdom of God.






Our third lesson in this series is called, "What We Work For."

 

Do you support God’s kingdom work with your income?

 

Just how do you look at the purpose of your income?

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Ways we tend to look at our income: Spend - Save - Give

To Spend: What do you enjoy spending your money on? Spending money on certain things does bring enjoyment. What do you work for? A new car? Clothes? Paying off debt? According to the National Retail Association, in 2011, Americans spent 10.7 trillion dollars. God has given us work and income to take care of our needs, but He does not give us money to use only for ourselves. In 1968, American Christians gave only 3.11 percent of their income to the church. By 2009, 41 years later, that percentage dropped to 2.38 percent! Some might blame the economy, the country, or circumstances beyond their control. But money spent on entertainment, pets, toys, technology, alcohol, and tobacco continues to escalate. Billions of dollars are wasted annually that have no eternal value. Spend less, save more.


To Save: Most of us were taught at a young age about the virtue of saving money. During uncertain economic times, this notion moves from being more than a virtue – it is a necessity. The virtuous nature of saving, though, dissipates when we hold on to our money and assets at the expense of others. We do not earn money just to have money; we earn money to meet our needs and the needs of others. Spend less, give more.


To Give Away: As Christ-followers, we work so we can have resources to share with others. Stories of generosity should be of no surprise to Christians. Almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus declared this wonderful truth about life and giving: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35 ESV). More happiness comes from giving than in getting. The joyful people on earth are givers. You’ve heard the statement: Give until it hurts. That’s a lie. People don’t give because it hurts. They give because it feels good. In Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, we discover how God has entrusted money and resources to us, so that we can support His work in the world today. 

The purpose of our income is to meet our needs and the needs of others.

God has entrusted us with money resources.

Today we are going to examine why.

We should give thanks that God has given us work and money and we should pray for the wisdom to know what to do with both of them. Session 3 is called “What We Work For.” The Point of the session is “Support God’s Kingdom work with your income.” The money we receive for our labor can be used for great good. It’s not about the money, it’s about the heart.

The Setting: Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth. The church in Jerusalem had fallen on hard times. Everywhere Paul went, he took up a collection to help the Jerusalem church. The churches of northern Greece—an area called Macedonia had responded in a tremendous fashion. At Paul’s urging, the churches in Macedonia had been collecting an offering to help the needs of the poverty-stricken believers in Jerusalem. The church at Corinth had committed to participate in this offering, but they had not done so. Paul needed to encourage them to follow through with their gift. He used the example of the Macedonian churches, who gave out of their poverty, to challenge the Corinthians to excel in the grace of giving.





I. GENEROSITY AND THE GRACE OF GOD – 2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-2

8 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God granted to the churches of Macedonia: 2 During a severe testing by affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed into the wealth of their generosity.





Who is the most generous person you’ve known and why?

• Whom did Jesus consider the most generous person in the Bible? The honor belongs to the poor widow Jesus saw dropping two small copper coins into the treasury boxes at the Temple. These were the smallest coins in circulation, worth less than a penny, and yet they were the last things she owned. Therefore Jesus said she gave, “all she had to live on” (Mark 12:44)

What was the driving force behind the generosity of the Macedonians? What is the driving force behind your generosity?

• The Macedonians were known for generosity, not because they had limitless resources but because they had the grace of God. God’s grace is the driving force behind our generosity, as it was for the Macedonians. The apostle Paul called believers in Corinth to excel in all areas. He used churches in Macedonia as an example. Severe testing and trials pressed the Macedonians in ways unknown to the Corinthians. Their poverty was severe and they operated from rock-bottom destitution. Even through these problems, the Macedonians were known for their generosity. These Christ-followers in Macedonia personally experienced the grace of God. They had come to a point of repenting of their sins and confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior. As they grew in faith, they learned that the same grace that saved them from the penalty of sin empowered them to live the Christian life. They discovered God’s grace is so powerful it results in generosity to others and support for God’s kingdom. The believers in Macedonia gave from their spiritual wealth because of Jesus. They did not forget what He had done for them. As they experienced God’s grace, they shared the grace of generosity with others. They were zealous to participate in giving opportunities. Grace was the power that ignited generosity.

1. Generosity is an act of grace (8:1, 9). All we believe about generosity must begin with the truth that giving is an act of grace. When Paul spoke of the “grace” given to the Macedonians, he meant that as they had received the grace of God, so now that same grace motivated them to give to the poor saints in Jerusalem. Christians are generous not because they have been manipulated, coerced, cajoled. We give not because of guilt, but because of grace—God’s riches at Christ expense lavished on us. We give because of what Jesus has done for us. Let me reverse it and look at generosity another way. If God has not done anything for you, don’t give Him a dime.
2. Generosity is not necessarily related to income (8:2). Paul brings four things together that we wouldn’t normally join together: afflictions, poverty, joy, and generosity. But it wasn’t just any kind of affliction; it was severe affliction. And it wasn’t just at the poverty level; it was extreme poverty. The Macedonian Christians were not rich folks. Now think about it: affliction and poverty don’t seem to go with joy and generosity, do they? These people were dirt poor. Most of us would say to a person without much money, “Don’t spend anything else. Hold on to everything. And don’t give any either. Save your money. You can always give later.” We like to hold on to our money when we’re going broke. Not the Macedonians. They said, “We’re going broke. We’d better give it away now before it’s all gone.”
3. Generosity is not necessarily related to positive circumstances (8:2). Paul speaks of a “severe test” in verse two that had come to the Macedonians—perhaps a wave of persecution from unbelievers. But that did not hinder them at all. Since their generosity was not dependent on good circumstances, it was not deterred by bad circumstances. They gave because their hearts were fully committed to Christ. Generosity is a matter of the heart. When our hearts are right with God, we will practice generosity.

Paul began chapter 8 and ended chapter 9 with God’s grace being a central theme underlying the collection for the poor. A bedrock principle of Paul’s writings revolves around God’s grace being manifested in the lives of believers.

In 8:2 Paul spoke of the deep poverty of the Macedonian churches. It is because of this deep poverty that the churches in Macedonia had a special empathy with the poor in the Jerusalem church (Rom. 15:26). In spite of their deep poverty, the churches in Macedonia gave sacrificially out of their joy in Christ.



Contrasting the deep poverty of the Macedonian churches, Paul used wealth to describe the nature of the Macedonians’ willing generosity. The noun described a generosity that was lavish or abundant. But notice that Paul wasn’t talking about material wealth because the Macedonian church had none. Rather, the wealth Paul talked about was spiritual blessings. Throughout Paul’s letters we can see that a Christian may experience joy in the midst of great persecution or poverty. Material wealth can and often does mask spiritual poverty (Rev. 3:14-22). The depth of the Macedonians’ walk with Christ, led to the depth of their generosity toward the Jerusalem believers.



Sacrificial generosity is amply illustrated by the second verse, where Paul says, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed into the wealth of their generosity. Paul made it clear that through severe testing by affliction, their generosity flowed. The persecution and economic poverty produced in the Macedonians an abundance of joy that brimmed over into the wealth of their generosity. We might think that this particular set of circumstances would produce despair. Yet, in the kingdom life of a Christian, Christ has stated that those who would be first will be last (Mark 10:31). In God’s kingdom even the very poor may give sacrificially and be blessed for doing so with a full heart!




How does your giving affirm that you acknowledge the grace of God in your life?



II. GENEROSITY BEGINS BY SURRENDERING TO CHRIST – 2 CORINTHIANS 8:3-7

3 I testify that, on their own, according to their ability and beyond their ability, 4 they begged us insistently for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints, 5 and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves especially to the Lord, then to us by God’s will. 6 So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete this grace to you. 7 Now as you excel in everything—faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us—excel also in this grace.

1. Generosity is not related to the amount (8:3). The Macedonians were poor, but they gave as much as they could, and then they gave some more. That is, they gave more than they should have given. They gave “beyond their means.” This sort of thing can only happen when the heart is transformed and set free from the stranglehold of materialism.
2. Generosity looks for opportunities to give even more (8:4). The Macedonians begged Paul for an opportunity to give even more. Paul didn’t have to beg for money. The people begged him to let them give. When the heart is free, we no longer feel like we have to hold on so tightly, and we actually start looking for ways to give even more.
3. Generosity surprises ourselves and others by how much we are free to give (8:5). Paul knew of their poverty and their trial, so he didn’t want to burden them, he expected them to give a certain amount and no more. And if they had given that amount, Paul would have been satisfied, and the Lord would have been glorified, and the poor Christians in Jerusalem would have been helped. All would be well. They “blew the roof off” in their generosity. That’s what happens when we are free, and filled with joy, and when giving becoming a blessing, not a burden. Free grace leads to free giving, and since grace is abundant, giving is also abundant. That’s how grace works. It produces far more than the law could have demanded.
4. Generosity is the result of hearts given fully to the Lord (8:5). The Macedonians didn’t give out of guilt or in response to pressure. They gave because they wanted to. And they wanted to because they had willingly surrendered everything to the Lord. They understood that generosity has nothing to do with how much money you have. Generosity is about a heart set free from the love of money and therefore so filled with joy that giving is a blessing, not a burden. Some people are still stuck on the money. It’s not about money at all. It’s about your heart, which is where all true generosity begins.

Where is your heart?

(Connection between giving our hearts to God and giving to help people)

Where is your heart in relation to 2 Corinthians 8:5? This verse shows the heart of the Macedonian Christians and churches: “Instead, they gave themselves especially to the Lord, then to us by God’s will.” On their own accord, they gave themselves to God and to God’s people. A right heart results in open hands. Giving to others, including supporting God’s kingdom with your income, is a matter of the heart. Since generosity is a lifestyle in which you give freely and live openhandedly, this cannot be done without first giving yourself to the Lord. Notice the transition in verse 5. After giving their hearts first to God, they gave themselves to the people by God’s will. 



Genuine Christian generosity comes first from a relationship with Jesus Christ. If one is truly walking with Christ in a personal relationship, that person will feel what Christ’s heart feels. When we give ourselves to Christ, we are giving Him permission to direct our thoughts, feelings, and yes, our finances to further His kingdom. The measuring rod for giving sacrificially, according to Paul, is none other than the giving displayed on the cross by Jesus Christ.



Which is easier to excel in: speech, knowledge, love, or financial generosity? 





What convinced you that giving faithfully and generously was something you must do as an act of grace, compelled not by command but by love?

“Generosity is impossible apart from our love of God and of His people. But with such love, generosity not only is possible but inevitable.” – John MacArthur

III. GENEROSITY IS A RESPONSE – 2 CORINTHIANS 8:8-9

8 I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.



Beyond what we say we believe, our actions ultimately tell what we believe about God and about giving. The opportunity to help the Jerusalem Christians would reveal the genuineness of the Corinthian Christians’ love for God.



The Macedonian Christians gave out of their poverty. Those in Corinth were blessed with more resources, but they had failed to finish the task of supporting the needs of the relief needed in Jerusalem. Paul called them to love God supremely and to show their love by giving supremely. The ultimate example of giving, though, was not the Macedonians. The highest example of giving was Jesus Christ, who gave up the riches of heaven so that we, who were poor and lost in sin, could become rich in Christ’s forgiveness and love! Because Jesus loved us generously through His death on the cross, we should give generously.

My Giving Supports 
 

All ministries in the church are needed, but which ones especially motivate you to give?

• Evangelism
• ‡Student ministry
• ‡Ministry to the needy
• ‡Children’s ministry
• ‡Facilities and supplies (buildings, Bible study books, heat, AC, lights)
• ‡Adult ministry
• ‡Discipleship / Bible study / Small groups
• ‡Women’s ministry
• ‡Single’s ministry

What can we change in our community if we, as a group, give generously?



What would you say to others who were struggling with faithfulness and generosity in giving?

• The ultimate model of grace, service, and love is the Lord Jesus Christ.
• A genuine attitude of love expresses itself in intentional acts of love.

William Carey was an eighteen-century Englishman known as the Baptists’ first missionary. He was a major influence on the missionary movement among American Baptists. He was convinced the gospel must be taken to the far corners of the world. Others were not so convinced. One story says that in an effort to discredit Carey, who in addition to being a pastor was a shoe cobbler by trade, someone asked, “Carey, what is your business?” To which he replied, “My business is serving the Lord. However, I cobble shoes to pay the expenses.” Carey’s life confirmed the commitment represented by this statement. He eventually traveled to India for a 40-year ministry. His business was serving the Lord. What resources he had, earned, or collected were given in service to the Lord and to spreading the gospel.



Live It Out

In light of this session, how can we support God’s kingdom?

1. Acknowledge that you’re not the center of the universe. Let your spending and giving be used for God’s kingdom purpose, not for your own.
2. Re-prioritize your spending. As part of the process of using your money for God’s purposes some budget lines may need to move further up the priority list, and some move further down. For example, give up buying a new shirt so you can give that same money to support God’s kingdom.
3. Tithe on Sunday. Make this week’s offering ten percent of this week’s income.

God has given so much to you. He has entrusted resources to you. Get caught up in the joy of spending for God’s kingdom.

Prayer of Commitment

Lord, thank you for the blessings that make my life rich in so many ways. As You fill my life with grace, so help me to act graciously toward others that they may see Your love in me. Amen.

Purpose-Driven Generosity

By Rick Warren

There are very few things that I would rather talk about than generosity and giving. Through learning to give by faith, I have increased my faith, grown closer to Jesus Christ, and my heart has been changed more than any other discipline in my life has accomplished. Giving is the fundamental issue of life. Everything is God’s, and we are simply stewards of what he gives us.

One of the most misunderstood areas of life is the area of giving, particularly the question of how God wants us to handle our money. The Bible is very clear about this: Tell people to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven—it is the only safe investment for eternity! And they will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well” (1 Timothy 6:18-19).



These verses make it clear that money is to be used, not loved. You are to use money, and you are to love people. If you get that reversed, you are in trouble because if you start loving money, you will start using people to get more money. Money has a tremendous potential for good if you use it as God intended. It is a tool that the Bible tells us to use for good in order to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives.



God’s Five Purposes for our Lives

I am going to share with you a radical approach to giving. God has five purposes for your life on earth: worship, fellowship, discipleship, service and outreach. This life is preparation for eternity. One day your heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of your body, but it certainly won’t be the end of you. You were created in God’s image, which means that you were made to last forever. You are going to spend more time on the other side of eternity than on this side. On this side of eternity you get 60, 80, 90 at the most 100 years. That really isn’t very much time compared to the trillions and trillions and trillions of years you will spend in eternity. The question then becomes, what on earth am I here for? The Bible answers that question: This life is preparation for the next. This is the practice time. This is the dress rehearsal before the real act starts. This is the warm-up lap around the track before the real race begins. The purpose of life on earth is for you to learn and practice what you are going to do forever in eternity.


The Bible says you are going to do four things in eternity: worship God, fellowship with believers, become more like Christ, and serve God.

1. Worship God for eternity. God want you to practice while you are here on earth so that when you get to heaven you know what you are doing. He doesn’t want you to look like a dufus.

2. Fellowship with other believers. This means to love other believers. If you don’t learn to like other believers here on earth, you are not going to like heaven. God wants you to learn to love real people, not just ideal people. Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself; these are the greatest commandments. Worship and fellowship are more important than anything else.

3. Grow spiritually. You are not going to stay the same in heaven throughout eternity. You are going to continue to grow and expand for the better. God wants you to practice growing spiritually while you are here on earth. He wants you to become like Christ.

4. Serve God. God wants you to practice serving him while you’re on earth so that you know how to do it when you get to heaven. Now, it is impossible to serve God directly while you are here on earth. How can you serve someone you can’t even see? The answer is simple: The only way you can serve God on earth is by serving other people.


The fifth purpose of our lives is to tell other people about God through witness. This is the only purpose we’ll no longer have when we get to heaven, simply for the reason that there aren’t any unbelievers there. There are only two things you can’t do in heaven: One of them is sin, and the other is tell unbelievers about the good news of Jesus Christ.


Have you ever thought about this: Why doesn’t God just kill you and take you on to heaven the moment you become a Christian? Once you are already in the family, why doesn’t he just say, “OK, good, you are in. I will kill you, take you to heaven, and save you all the suffering, the hassles, the problems, the pain, the pressure, the trials, the troubles, the tribulation.” Why does he leave you here on earth? He doesn’t leave you here to sin; he leaves you here to pass on the good news to others.


God wants you to use your money to fulfill all five of these life purposes. For some, this is going to be a radically new concept for giving. God says he wants you to use your money to do good, and when you do this, you will be storing up real treasure for yourself in heaven. You can’t take your money with you, but you can send it on ahead by investing in people who are going there.


I will only get to use money I have here on earth for 60 or 80 years. On the other hand, I will get to use money that I store up in heaven for all of eternity. There is no greater investment strategy than to invest what I have now in a place that I know is going to last forever, instead of a place where I only get to use it for 100 years at the most. Let’s look at God’s investment strategy, the only safe investment for eternity. God’s investments are proven and protected. They yield eternal dividends, there are no risks, and they are guaranteed by God and Son. The way to follow God’s investment strategy is very practical.



If you go to any financial advisor, he is going to tell you not to put all your eggs in the same basket. Any stockbroker or mutual fund advisor will tell you to spread your investments out and to invest your money in different funds so that you have spread out the risk and maximized the investment potential by investing in different funds. In fact, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes that you should invest in multiple areas. Now let’s take that same concept and apply it in a spiritual way to giving.



God’s Five Investment Funds for our Giving

God has five investment funds. They parallel the five purposes God has for your life. He not only wants you to use your time on purpose; he wants you to use your money on purpose by investing in his five eternal investment funds, which are the five purposes of life. Let me tell you about purpose-driven giving.

1. First, God wants you to invest in his treasury fund. Jesus said: “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” (Matthew 6:19-20a). In Job, the Bible tells us, “Give up your lust for money [...] Then the Almighty himself will be your treasure” (Job 22:24-26). You store up treasure in heaven and invest in the treasury fund by using some of your money to express worship. Worship means bringing pleasure to God, and when you give back to God a part of what he has given to you, it honors him. It brings him pleasure and it puts your treasure in heaven. Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income.” God wants not the leftovers, but the first part of all your income. Obviously, God doesn’t need your money. If this is the case, why does the Bible tell you over and over to honor God with the first part of your income? He wants you to give the first part of your income because doing so reveals the state of your heart. The rest of Matthew 6:20 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus said that wherever your treasure is, your heart is going to be there. Would you like to get interested in, say, Microsoft? I will tell you how to do it very quickly: buy Microsoft stock. All of a sudden you will become very interested in articles about Microsoft. Do you want to be interested in an insurance company? Then buy some stock in that company. The Bible says that wherever you put your treasure, your heart is going to go there. This is why God says, I want the first part of your money because your heart will follow and come to me. Thus, where I put my money shows my values and my priorities. I may say that God is number one in my life, but the way I spend my time and spend my money show what truly is my first priority. Where I put my money shows where my treasure is and where my values are. If I put my money in my house, my treasure is in my house. If I put my money in entertainment, my treasure is in entertainment. The question is, where is your heart today? Without even knowing you, I can tell you exactly where your heart is by looking at where your treasure is. How do you get your heart in the right place? Put your money there. Every time I start feeling distant from God and don’t feel he is close, I go give a worship offering because it draws me closer to God. Why? Because wherever I put my treasure, my heart will follow. Giving a worship gift means investing in God’s treasury fund. Not everything you give is a worship gift, however. There are other types of giving, but worship giving has two characteristics. Number one, worship giving is undesignated. In worship giving, you just bring your gift before God and say, “God, here it is. Use it any way you want.” Acts 4:34-35 says that Christians laid their offerings at the apostles’ feet. You see, the heart of worship is surrender. You surrender and say, “Do what you want with it, Lord.” In other words, you don’t direct it, strategize about it, or plan it. You just bring it to God and say, “God, I am bringing this to you as an act of worship.” The second characteristic of worship giving is that the gift is given when and where you worship. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16:2, “On every Lord’s Day, each of you should put aside some amount of money in relation to what you have earned and save it for this offering.” This verse teaches us a lot about giving. First, it says to give every Sunday. Why is that? You give the first part of your money on the first day of the week to remind yourself that you want God first in your life. It is just a reminder. You give the first part of your money on the first day of the week and say, “God you are number one.” It is an act of worship. Notice that Paul says to give every Sunday, meaning that worship is the weekly giving of what we have put aside from our earnings. That means the worship gift is planned. It is not just spontaneous. I used to think that the greatest kind of giving was spontaneous, like after suddenly being moved by a sermon or a video and finding myself pulling out my wallet and just giving everything I have. That type of giving, spontaneous giving, is actually not the best kind of giving. God says he wants you to plan your worship giving because he commands us, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Because God wants you to love him with your mind, not just your heart you should plan your worship giving. This point is very important: God expects you to give to this fund before you give to any of the other funds. He desires this because he wants your heart. He doesn’t need your money. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 14:23, “The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives.” In essence, God says, “I want not your money, but I want what it represents, your heart.” To summarize, this first kind of giving means giving your undesignated gift to the treasury fund, as an act of worship, when and where you worship.



2. Second, God wants you to invest in his mutual fund. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:10 to “love one another with brotherly affection and take delight in honoring each other.” Again, this is the second purpose of life: to live in love and fellowship with believers. God says, I want you to learn to love me, but I also want you to learn to love other people in my family, for you are not merely one who believes; You are also one who belongs. The moment you stepped across the line spiritually, you didn’t just give your life to Christ; you became a part of his family. The whole reason you are alive, the reason your heart is beating right now, is that God wanted a family. If God hadn’t wanted you in his family, you wouldn’t be living right now. God created the entire universe just so that the human race could exist, and you were created as an object of his love to be in his family. God is love and made you so that he could love you. In that love, just as earthly parents want their children to love each other, God wants his children to love each other. That is why God commands us to love one another with mutual affection. Now, I can love fellow believers with my time, but how do I do it with my money? I invest in God’s mutual fund by using some of my money to encourage fellowship. Hebrews 10:24 says, “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.” You can think to yourself, “How can I encourage the people in my life? How can I encourage other believers in my church, in my small group?” The Bible says in Romans 12 to share what you have with God’s people. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Giving is the essence of love. Giving to fellow believers produces the same result as giving to God. It draws you closer to them. If you want to draw closer to anybody, just give that person something. There are so many way to invest in God’s mutual fund, to give to fellow believers. You can provide a meal for somebody, or to buy a card or gift to encourage somebody. You can take somebody to lunch, or you pay for a babysitter so that a couple can go to a seminar. You can give some cash to someone needy in your church, or you can open up your home to someone who needs a place to stay. Any time you invest in other believers, you are investing in God’s mutual fund. There are several reasons why we should use our money to encourage fellowship. 2 Corinthians 9 mentions a few: “So two good things will happen—the needs of the Christians will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanksgiving to God. You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ.” 3 John 1:5, says, “Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible.” “How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when God’s people live in harmony!” (Psalm 133:1). Investing in God’s mutual fund builds unity among believers.

3. Third, God wants you to invest in his growth fund. God’s third purpose for your life is for you to become like Christ. Most people know how to use their time to grow spiritually but don’t know how to use their money to grow. The way to invest in the growth fund is by using some of your money to enhance your character and become more like Christ. Proverbs 10:16 tells us, “The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin.” We all know that Satan has a zillion ways to get us to squander our money instead of investing for eternity. You are not going to take your car to heaven or your clothes, your china or your condo. However, you will take your character to heaven. For this reason, you should spend some of your money on your character. Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy the truth and do not sell it.” What does this mean? Using your money to buy a Christian book, to order some teaching tapes, to take a class, to attend a conference, or to attend a retreat, will help you grow spiritually. Doing these such things means you are investing in your spiritual growth fund. I will never forget buying my first Bible. When I really committed my life to Christ as a teenager, I went out and I bought the most expensive Bible I could find. It was a beautiful top-grain leather Thompson Chain reference study Bible. It cost nearly $60. I remember $60 was two months of my allowance. I decided I would go without movies and snacks that month because I was buying the truth. At 51 years old, I still have that Bible. I think was that a good long-term investment in God’s growth fund. Isaiah 55:2 says, “Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul!” The author is saying that it is wiser spend your money on something that is going last. Rather than hoarding your money, take some of it and use it to make yourself a better person. Become wiser and more Christlike by investing in the growth fund. In light of eternity, our character is far more important than fleeting earthly things.



4. Fourth, God wants you to invest in his equity service fund. This means that God wants you to use some of your money to serve other people in their needs. Paul commended the Christians at Macedonia because “they gave not only what they could afford but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing in the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem” (2 Corinthians 8:3-4). By giving even more than they could afford, these Christians exemplified sacrificial giving. A couple of years ago, I was at a Korean church in Los Angeles that owned nearly an entire block, and I asked them how in the world they got an entire block of downtown property. They said, “We sold our blood.” They were all poor and didn’t have anything, so they started selling their own blood, and all of the profit helped build their church. They literally gave their blood for that church. By investing in God’s service fund and giving more than they could afford, the members of this Korean church were storing up treasures in heaven. You invest in God’s service fund by using some of your money to expand your ministry. Ministry is meeting needs in the name of Jesus Christ. Anytime you help anybody else in the name of Jesus Christ, whether it’s financial, physical or emotional needs, you are ministering to them. By using your talents, your gifts, your background, your assets, your resources or whatever God has given you to help other people, you are ministering. When you get to heaven one day, God is going to ask you what you did with what you were given. We are stewards of everything God has given us in this life. Influence, money, talent and even your energy are all stewardships. Your health and body are stewardships. Your family and relationships are stewardships. Even your intelligence and your creativity are stewardships. God will ask you what you did with all of these gifts. Don’t use them all on yourself. God put you on earth to practice learning to be unselfish so that you could become more like him because he is a generous God. Remember that God so loved the world that he gave (John 3:16). You can’t become like God until you become extravagantly generous. That is why giving is so important. The Bible says, “We must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” The word “miser” and “miserable” come from the same root word; thus, the easiest way to become miserable is to become a miser. The more generous you are with your time, your life, your talent and your resources, the happier you will be. Jesus said that it is more happy—that is, blessed—to give than to receive. The more you give to others, the more your ministry expands. The Bible is a book about giving. In fact, the Bible talks more about giving than it does heaven and hell, and there are more promises in the Bible about giving than any other subject. Why? It is because God wants us to be generous like him. God gave us literally everything we have. Everything you have is yours only because of God’s generosity. Therefore, giving should be the fundamental center of your life and the essence of the Christian lifestyle. Jesus said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many”, and that phrase reveals what it means to be Christ-like: to serve and to give. There is one group in the world that God especially wants us to give to, the poor. There are over 2,000 verses in the Bible about the poor, and some are accompanied by promises. “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses” (Proverbs 28:27). Proverbs 19:17 tells us, “If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD—and he will repay you!.” Lastly James 2:15-17 says, “Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, ‘Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well’—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all— it is dead and useless.” Investing in God’s service fund means using your money to help the practical needs of people, especially the poor.



5. Finally, God wants you to invest in his global fund. Investing in this fund means using your money to take the good news of the gospel around the whole world. If you want to know how much God loves the world, look at the cross. With arms outstretched and nail pierced hands, Jesus says, I love the world this much. I would rather die than live without them. God says that if you are going to be like him, you must care about the whole world. You must not be solely concerned with your community and your family. You must also care about the global glory of God. God said to Isaiah, “I will make you a light to the nations of the world to bring my salvation to them” (Isaiah 49:6). By making you successful in many areas throughout your life, God has been setting you up for a bigger vision, a global vision of care for the whole world. He has been setting you up for years because he wants you to invest in the global fund. You invest in the global fund by using some of your money to extend your mission to the world. Luke 16:9 is probably one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. It says, “Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” This means that God wants you to invest your money in bringing the good news of Jesus to people, and then those who become Christians will be eternally grateful to you. When you get to heaven, they will be there to welcome you and say, “Thank you, I am in heaven because of you.” You will be friends for all of eternity. The most important thing you will ever do with you lives is join the church and get involved in ministry and mission to the world, because bringing people the gospel is far more important than anything else. What you do for Jesus Christ with your time and your money is going to far outlast your career and your hobbies. It will far outlast everything else, including your own family, because the only family that is eternal is God’s eternal family. If your treasure is on earth, then every day you are getting further and further away from it. You are not staying on this planet. If your treasure is in heaven and that is where you are investing, then every day you are getting closer and closer to it. Do you want to be moving away from your treasure, or do you want to be moving toward it? It is up to you. The Bible says, “If you are untrustworthy about handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” (Luke 16:11). You can’t afford not to invest in eternity. Not doing so is foolish and shortsighted. Also, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Corinthians 9:10). In your lives God will increase the things you do that have his approval. God says he will multiply whatever you give away.


Ask yourself, in which of these funds do you need to increase your investments? I encourage you to remember the prayer of Ager, who in Proverbs 30:8-9 asks, “Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name.” This is what I call a healthy, balanced prospective. You must keep in mind that either extreme can cause you to forget God.



You may ask, when do I start on making these investments? The biggest mistake people make is that they start investing too late. The Bible says that if you wait for the perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. Start giving now. The key to purpose-driven giving, is found in 2 Corinthians 8:5, “They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.” The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. Purpose-driven giving starts with purpose-driven living, and if you start living for God’s purposes, you are going to start giving to God’s purposes.


This is my prayer: God, you have told us what to do. Just help us to do it now. I ask that you bless us financially, not for own benefit, not to be wealth builders, but so that we can be kingdom builders. Help us do the best we can with what we have for Jesus Christ today so that we can begin to live in light of eternity and live on purpose instead of by pressure of possession, position, pleasure, power or popularity. May we live for you, serve you and give to you in Jesus name. Amen.


Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.

In His Love,

David & Susan