--PRE-SERVICE PRAYER--

Focus: Hearing the Voice of God

Foundation Scripture: John 10: 1-5 NKJV

Prayer Points:
1. The Body of Christ Believes in Grace-Filled Generosity
2. The Body of Christ Walk in Unity
3. The Body of Christ Trust the Spirit of God
4. Pray for Sunday Service

--MESSAGE--

Introduction:
According to Church Trac Tithing Statistics:
· ~ 5% of churchgoers tithe (Church Development).
· ~ Out of the 247 million U.S. citizens identifying as Christians, 1.5 million people tithe (Sharefaith). That’s less than 1%.
~ 77% of tithers give more than 10% (Health Research Funding).

Tithe - Put simply, a “tithe” is the first tenth.That means the verb “tithing” is the process of giving one-tenth, or 10 percent, of all income to God before a single penny is spent.

Offering - In the Bible, the offering is an act of gratitude to God. A gift or present that demonstrates appreciation for all He has done for you.

4. Give according to your ability.

a. The desire to give must be there.

b. The desire should lead to the completion of your gift.

c. Give according to your ability.

5. The goal is equality.

Paul’s desire is evident in this text.

a. Your plenty will meet the needs of others. Other’s plenty will meet your future needs. (V.13-14)

b. Paul illustrated this point using the supply of manna in the desert. (V.15)

6. All giving must be carefully supervised.

2 Goals Paul strove to attain.

a. Seek to avoid criticism. (V.20)

b. Do what’s right before God and man. (V.21)

How did Paul accomplish these two goals?

1. He didn’t personally handle the money. He put Titus in charge. (V.16-17,23)

2. He still sent someone with Titus for further accountability. (V.18)

3. The church leadership chose trustworthy people to carry the gift with Paul. (V.19; 1Cor.16:3)

Three areas to pay attention to before joining or maintaining membership at a church.

1. Is the leadership transparent when money is collected for a specific purpose?

2. Does that ministry have a board to help oversee financial operations and decisions?

3. Does the church get yearly audits or reviews?

Next week we’ll pick up with number seven… “Motivated by others.”