(this was preached to the whole congregation, but delivered especially with the many elementary age listeners in mind)
God Loves a Cheerful Giver
ILLLUS: How are you doing with your Smarties?
A preacher named Kevin Harmey tells this story about a little boy he knew:
[adapt the story telling part as it works for your message]
You remember Smarties, a row of multicolored, chalk-like, bite-size candies wrapped in clear plastic, about 15 pieces in a pack. They are perfect for sharing.
I am not a huge fan of Smarties, but when I saw Dustin come into church with a fresh roll, I just had to ask him if I could have one.
Dustin immediately became my Smarties hero. He peeled out a piece with a smile and handed it over gladly. This was surprising enough, but at that moment, something happened in this little boy’s heart. From that day on, for the next two years, every time Dustin got a pack of Smarties, he took out the first one and set it aside for me. Every Sunday, Dustin would track me down at church and generously offer me one or more Smarties. He did it gladly, with a smile, as if he enjoyed it.
Sometimes Dustin would open a pack of Smarties during the week, but he would still save me the first round, sugary, chalky tablet in his pocket. By the time Sunday came, the Smarty was a little mangy and would have lint and other pocket paraphernalia stuck to it, but he never forgot to bring it for me.
In those cases, I thanked him and put it in my pocket so I could "enjoy it later."
Dustin loved Smarties. He also loved his pastor. Every week before the worship service began, Dustin and I shared [together].
[The preacher realized that that little boy had the right attitude about giving. He gave the pastor Smarties like we are to give offerings to God.
Since that time, [the pastor] have asked himself many times, How am I doing with my Smarties? (Adapted from Kevin G. Harney, Seismic Shifts (Zondervan, 2005), p. 188-189; submitted by Marshall Shelley, Wheaton)
God wants us to be like that little boy with a pack of smarties. That little boy looooooooved giving away his smarties. You could say he was a “cheerful giver.”
What does cheerful mean? It means being very happy!
So, What does a “cheerful giver” mean? It means someone is VERY HAPPY when they give!
Dustin was a cheerful giver.
Paul, the Apostle, wrote a letter to a church he knew. He had asked the people to help with poor Christians in Jerusalem. They said they would help. We are going to read a part of his letter where he reminded them to give to the poor Christians, and to remember to be cheerful givers.
Let’s read what he said. You can read silently by looking at the screen above:
Planting Many Seeds
6 Here is something to remember. The one who plants only a little will gather only a little. And the one who plants a lot will gather a lot. 7 You should each give what you have decided in your heart to give. You shouldn’t give if you don’t want to. You shouldn’t give because you are forced to. God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to shower all kinds of blessings on you. In all things and at all times you will have everything you need. You will do more and more good works. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)
Remember one thing today:
Big Idea: God Loves a Cheerful Giver!
Remember to ask yourself one question:
Big Question: Am I a cheerful giver?
If God wants me and you to be cheerful givers, let’s talk about how we can BE cheerful givers.
I am a cheerful giver when:
1. I have things to give away! (like a farmer has seed to “sow”.)
What did Dustin have to give away? Sports cars? Kleenex? We all have something to give away.
Paul the Apostle tells us that being a giver is like being a gardener or farmer who plants things. Let’s read that part again:
6 Here is something to remember. The one who plants only a little will gather only a little. And the one who plants a lot will gather a lot.
To plant things, you have to have . . . something to plant. What do we call that? SEED!!
To give things, you have to have something to give!
• What do you think Paul was collecting to help the poor Christians that were far away in Jerusalem? Money! (they might say food . . . “good guess! But he didn’t own a lot of trucks and ships to take tons of food on a long trip. So instead, he probably collected . . . money! Yes!”)
Money is a good thing to give! Because you can do lots of things with it.
Last week we talked about how “rich” we all are. Every Christian is rich. It doesn’t mean we all drive race cars and Hummers and live in mansions, but
it DOES mean God has been good to us in many ways: he takes care of our needs, and he gave us Jesus.
When we remember all that God has given us, it makes us happy, or cheerful!
Whatever you have . . . you can give it away.
Transition: Not only am I cheerful when I remember all I have, but I am a cheerful giver when:
2. I know what people need!
It is kind of hard to be a cheerful giver until you know what people need!
If you remember, Paul, the Apostle, wrote this letter to a church he knew. He asked the people to help with poor Christians in Jerusalem. They said they would help.
v. 11 . . . We will take your many gifts to the people who need them. . .
They knew those Christians were poor and didn’t have much money or food. And they wanted to help!
Last week I told about a missionary of ours who is in Honduras. They are working hard to build a church building, and our money could help them.
This week, I want to let you know about Shannon. She works with Pioneer Bible Translators in a country across the ocean.
• Teaches English at a university
• She and some friends planned a special party for the girls they teach. The theme was “love” and they used a mime skit about God’s love, they talked about how to find a good husband, and had a message on true love.
• Helps a team of people who are translating the Bible in a language that doesn’t have a Bible.
• Being a Christian can be dangerous
• A girl was strangled by her father for becoming a Christian
• She needs a computer—her old one is about to break down.
• Oh yeah, and she needs food to eat, clothes to wear, etc. Our money goes to help her.
We have many missionaries that we support, from Honduras to the Ukraine. We support a few orphanages from America to Africa.
I hope you and your family learn about our missionaries. You can go to our website and find out more about them. You can talk to Miss Wendy who is on our missions team . . .
Here in Monroe, we do God’s work, too! Why do you think we have Sunday School and Kid’s club? (teach about Jesus) Some of your parents are involved in “small groups.” Small groups are fun, and a great way to learn how to live for God and love each other better.
Do you remember the Harvest Party? Was that fun? What do you think that was for? It was to bring friends to. We hope that our friends get to know us, and get to know and love God.
When we know about needs, it is easier to give . . . let me tell you about one family that didn’t have much, but they found a way to give more . . . because they wanted to!
ILLUS: Family Sacrifices Cable TV to Support Church
Pastor Bob Russell tells about one lady who told about how her family chose to give more to help out:
Jackie said, "I am a single mother of three teenagers. My ex-husband does not help. I barely get by. We really want to do our part in this three-year campaign so our new building can be built.
But when we discussed it as a family, we realized that we can’t give any more than a tithe. So we decided that our gift would be to pray every day for the success of this program.
"But in the middle of our discussion my oldest son said, ’Mom, we’ve got cable television. We don’t have to have that.’ So we’ve decided to give up our cable TV for three years so we can do our part." (www.preachingtoday.com,Bob Russell, Leadership (Fall 2002)
Nobody is to tell you how much to give. But when you know the need, God can help you find a way to give and be CHEERFUL about it!
I am a cheerful giver when:
3. . . . I actually give GENEROUSLY!
Remember the Farmer/Gardener?
Paul says the good farmer doesn’t just go out and toss one or two seeds in the field, is he/she? NO! They are going to take BIG HANDFULS of seed and spread them around
They are like givers, right? A generous giver, is one who gives a lot!
OBJECT LESSON ILLUS:
Have a little fun with that point. Have a bag of candy ready. Show how great that candy is, and how much there is. “would you like some? Yeah, I bet you would. . . maybe I will give you some.” Then, very haltingly and grudgingly, give away one piece. (maybe lick it before you "give" it out! Produces a lot of "ewwwws" from the kids . . . and adults)
• Was that cheerful?
• Was that generous?
Tell me if this lady is generous:
ILLUS: Giving the Worst to Church
Around Thanksgiving a few years ago, radio commentator Paul Harvey shared a true story of a woman and her frozen Thanksgiving turkey.
The Butterball Turkey Company set up a telephone hotline to answer consumer questions about preparing holiday turkeys. One woman called to inquire about cooking a turkey that had been in the bottom of her freezer for 23 years. That’s right—23 years. The Butterball representative told her the turkey would probably be safe to eat if the freezer had been kept below zero for the entire 23 years. But the Butterball representative warned her that even if the turkey was safe to eat, [it probably wouldn’t taste good].
The caller replied, "That’s what I thought. We’ll give the turkey to our church."
(www.preachingtoday.com. Paul Harvey daily radio broadcast (11-22-95); submitted by Charles Kimball, Allen, Texas)
NO!!! How about this giver:
ILLUS: 3 year old GIVER
Cathie Gebhart told about her three-year-old son helped me with the community toy drive.
First he cleaned out his toy box, then helped fix defective items, and collected donations for "kids that don’t have anything to play with." When Christmas Day came, Timmy received his much wanted Sesame Street Play House.
After playing with it all day, [she] found him trying to rewrap it. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "I want to give this to one of the kids that doesn’t have anything to play with ’cause if I didn’t have any toys, this is what I would want." Cathie Gebhart, Canton, S.D. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare."
Some people want to ask how much is “enough” (for this, I had ten apples with one a different color to represent a tenth/tithe. Just for illustration purposes. They were lined up on the communion table for all to see)
• If I have 10 apples and give one away, is that enough? Is that generous? Etc. (you can ham this up a bit by doing things like--similar to the smarties--take a bite and "offer" that. Or take several bites, explaining that each one is for some "purpose" like buying a new video game, or Cable tv, or new shoes, etc, and what is left--the core--is "given" to God)
Paul never gives people an amount. He just says two things:
1. You should each give what you have decided in your heart to give. . . and be cheerful!
2. Give generously
(Back to my sack of candy)
• Pretend to think: “How much did I decide to give?” . . . “Oh, yeah!”
• . . . then BE generous and gently toss out/hand out candy to the children.)
[I added to this part on the day of my sermon by giving heaping handfuls of smarties to four eager young rascals (!) who were instructed to get ready and toss/throw those smarties at me when I said this:)
"And the neat thing is, when I give my "seed" generously, ’something’ happens . . . (here is where the smarties come raining down on me. This illustrates in dramatic fashion that I give out, but God keep supplying me abundantly. I quip that He "probably doesn’t whip the blessings at me quite so hard . . . ")
And this leads us to our last point:
I am a cheerful giver when:
4. I remember God gives cheerful givers many riches!
God loves a . . . sad and angry giver, right? NO!!!!! . . . what kind of giver does He love? “Cheeeerfullllll!!!!” (That’s right!)
A cheerful giver never has to worry about running out of things to share or things to give away. Why?
God takes care of his people!
God takes really good care of his cheerful givers!
8 And God is able to shower all kinds of blessings on you. In all things and at all times you will have everything you need. . .
11 You will be made rich in every way. . .
When a farmer plants seed, and the seeds grow to big plants, after the plants are full grown with many fruit or vegetables on them . . . the farmer goes out and picks all that food to take home to eat and to use and to sell.
When all the fruit and vegetables and grain are ready to pick, we say
• “The Harvest is reaaaadddyyyyy!!!! The harvest is what you get for sowing seed!
• If you plant a little . . . you get little!
• If you plant a LOT . . . you GET a LOT!!
That is just like a giver!
• If you give a little . . . you get little!
• If you give a LOT . . . you GET a LOT!!
• You get a Harvest of RICHES
What kind of riches do we harvest?
• Is God going to give all cheerful givers 10 new Playstation 3’s, 5 laptops, 26 pets, a mansion and a private jet and a Ferrari (really cool, red hot car . . . ) and maids and butlers? NO . . . even though he can.
• But you can trust he will give you what you need . . . so you don’t have to worry. If you worry, you can’t be cheerful.
o Givers (moms and dads, friends . . . ) are you worrying? Don’t! God’s hand is on you, especially cheerful givers.
Debt-Ridden Couple Learns to Give First to God
In a sermon on giving, a former fellow college student, Dave Ferguson, pastor of Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois, read this letter from Jeff and Julie, who attend the church:
[They were in a bad situation. They had no money and owed everybody.
• We were behind
o in our rent and
o our car payments.
o We had back-IRS payments,
o 16 credit cards with more than $40,000 in debt,
• and not enough food in the fridge to keep our tummies full.
o on occasion Julie and I were so broke that we ended up going to a friend’s restaurant to ask for free food.
• And on top of all that, we decided to start a business.
[They were trying to figure out how they could give to the church]
After prayer and discussion, we decided that God would get the first portion of every check . . . We learned to make God the first priority in our lives, and we had no idea how we’d get by.
During the week after this decision, my brother and I were dropping off flyers at a construction site looking for work. We’d started a carpentry company. We met a builder, and he asked if we would be interested in doing their work. He had a house that was ready for us to start immediately and about twenty more to do during the next twelve months.
[They realized how good God was to them and decided to give even more.] No one told them they had to give more. They just wanted to (www.preachingtoday.com, Dave Ferguson, pastor of Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois, from sermon "Here Is My Investment Strategy")
SHOW the offering bags:
We “take an offering” every week because we are glad God has blessed us.
I can’t promise how God will bless you. I can’t say how much will be money, how much will be other needs. I do know that Paul IS reassuring the Corinthians that they will be blessed enough with money or things, but he is also saying they will be enriched in many ways:
• They will be enriched because they know that the people they help will be so happy that they will praise and thank God
• That the people they help will be so glad and thankful, they will pray for the givers. They will pray and pray and pray for the givers and ask God to bless them with their needs.
• There are many many many ways God will bless you and make you rich. Having Jesus and the hope of heaven is enough riches . . . but whatever you get, you are not to keep it.
Our Lord blesses us for a purpose (besides the fact that he loves blessing us and providing for us): He wants us to bless others as he does us!
See the rest of the following verses:
8 And God is able to shower all kinds of blessings on you. In all things and at all times you will have everything you need. . . You will do more and more good works.
11 You will be made rich in every way. . . Then you can always give freely.
ILLUS: mail man keeps the package . . .
Suppose you have an important package to send to someone who needs it. You take it to an overnight delivery service. What would you think if, instead of delivering the package, the driver took it home? Then, when you confront him, he says, "If you didn’t want me to keep it, why’d you give it to me in the first place?"
You’d say, "The package doesn’t belong to you. Your job is to deliver it to the person who needs it."
Just because God puts his money in our hands doesn’t mean he intends for us to keep it.
(Randy Alcorn, "God’s Money Managers: Letting go of what isn’t mine," Focus on the Family (December 2006), p. 13)
CONCLUSION
Every week we pass around our offering bags. Did you know this was part of how we worship God? This is how we give thanks to God! We are so happy—all of us—with the riches he gives us that we give to Him.
I heard of a church that REALLY loved to give offering. . .
ILLUS
The Happiest Part of the Church Service
A missionary in Ghana told an interesting thing about the church in Ghana.
At the offering . . . people dance! . . . They . . . dance as they bring their offerings forward.
They really get down. The music is going, and they individually turn it into a production as they bring that offering to the offering plate.
They take their time, too. The offering could go on for a long time because they are dancing all the way down the aisle. It’s the only time in the service when they smile. I thought, How interesting. The only time in the service when they smile is when they’re giving their money. (adapted from "Whom Do You Serve?" Preaching Today, Tape No. 110.)
. . . Does giving to God make YOU smile?
