Abraham:
God started with Abraham in the founding of the nation of Israel, which led to Judaism, and eventually to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the Christian faith.

In God’s Hall of Faith, (Hebrews 11), the Holy Spirit and Author of Hebrews, gives more space to Abraham than any other person. One of God’s self-identifying titles is “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Notably, Abraham is the only person referred to in Scripture specifically as the “friend of God” (Is. 41:8, James 2:23).

There are so many drop in pts we could examine in his life - but I want to look at a “first time” moment. Because it’s small but a weighty practice he engages in. It's found in Genesis 14

This practice of tithing - of generosity we see here for the 1st time in the Scriptures. It will shape the Law that is given, many OT writers will speak to it; Jesus will speak to it, highlight it; many NT writers will call us into this practice in our here and now…so generosity will be this ever growing virtue throughout the Scriptures and meant to permeate our lives as followers of God.

Israel did not have just one tithe; they actually had three different tithes.

The prophet Malachi highlights again the practice of tithing that was meant to be engaged in...

Malachi 3:6-10
6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

—Word from Jesus

God and possessions - Matthew 6
19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

—Word from Apostle Paul

2 Corinthians 9:6-7
"The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver."

Generosity matters!!! - that’s what Abraham demonstrated and what we see play out all over the pages of Scripture. It’s an honoring thing and keeps your heart fixed in growing your devotion toward God and the things He cares about.

Truth: Your heart will chase what you give your resources too.

Everybody has to make decisions about how we're going to deal with money.

Money can be a tool & it can also be a drug.
...or in biblical language: money is a servant and money is an idol.

God, in his goodness, actually instituted a great practice to free people from money as a drug: it's called tithing.

Growing in generosity toward honoring God - His Church - His Kingdom movement in our world. Generosity molds God’s generous heart deeper into us and it releases us from the draw of money as a drug that damages…

Abraham went first...
We're invited to go next...

-Start somewhere
-Start small and grow, if need be
-Grow each year

3 buckets analogy:
Kingdom mindset: Give, Save, Live (10,10, 80%)
Worldly mindset: LIVE, save (maybe), give (maybe)

In a land like ours…*truth: There is an ever-present gravity to greed.
It will have a on-going gravitational pull to the human heart - but generosity helps break it’s hold on our heart.

It’s continually remembering that we are all only stewards of the gifts, talents, resources we’ve been entrusted with - it’s ALL ON LOAN from God. So, we seek to honor him first in all areas: our time, our talent - AND our treasures…(we're managers, not owners)

Join us next weekend as we continue our series, Old School: Ancient Truth for Today.
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