5 Of 5: Why Do I Need To Give Money To The Church? Series

Series Title: Questions About the Church

Sermon Title: Why Do I Need to Give Money to the Church?

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 29: 10-19

10 David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. 14 "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. 15 We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 O Lord our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18 O Lord, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.

Introduction

In the past few weeks, we’ve been trying to answer some questions about the church.

What exactly is the church?

Why do people in the church think differently from me?

How to get along better with people in the church?

How can the church help me WIN in life?

And today, we’re going to talk about the question: Why Do I Need to Give Money to the Church?

You know, there are some people who complain that every time they come to church, all the preacher ever talks about is money. Well, if there’s anybody here today that thinks that, that tells me at least two things about your spiritual life. 1) You must not come to church a lot, because I know what the sermons have been, so I know how often I’ve talked about money. 2) If all you ever hear about is money when you go to church, then money must be causing a problem for you spiritually, and God is trying to get your attention, and get through to you.

This passage from 1 Chronicles talks about money and other valuables that are given for the construction of the Temple. David wanted to build the Temple, but God did not allow him to do so. Instead, his son, Solomon, would build it. So, David has called the people to give money and things for Solomon to have what is needed for it.

Now, you’re sitting there thinking, “Here it comes. He just told us that David called all the people to give their money and stuff, so the Temple could be built. Now, he’s gonna tell us that we need to give our money because God needs it, so He can do His work in the world.

Well, I’m not going to tell you that. Instead, I’m going to tell you that...

1. God doesn’t NEED your money because everything belongs to Him already.

11a Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours...

He says it again in verse 12, Wealth and honor come from you...

Verse 16, O Lord our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.

Folks, God doesn’t need your money or my money because EVERYTHING already belongs to Him.

When we buy ice cream at the grocery store, sometimes we get possessive of a particular carton. One of the girls will claim one flavor, and the other will claim a different flavor. So when I want to get some ice cream, I will get some from a carton that has been claimed by someone else. Now, when the girls feel generous, they will sometimes offer to let me have some of their ice cream. What they don’t understand is that all of the ice cream belongs to me. And if I want some ice cream, I’m going to get it.