AMKMC

CWS

PAUL TAN- IN POWER AND GLORY

REVELATION OF END TIMES

GARY-HAMRICK

PROPHETS

WITNESS OF THE STARS

Instruction In Righteousness

THE LORD SUPPER

Vision

CROWN -GODLY WISDOM ON MONEY

CWS NJEC 2009

Vision

Sermons

Home/Life Groups

Prayers

Camp

Scriptures

Living Quotes

End Times

Chinese

 

 Week 6 - Generous Giving-

-What is your attitude

Generosity is demonstrating the nature of God

by wisely reinvesting the resources

that He has entrusted to us

Because “God loves a person who gives cheerfully”,

giving should never be guilt-based or pressured (2 Cor. 9:7).

But when we give freely and generously,

we find that it is truly more blessed to give than to receive. -

Tim Gustafson

 

Read Word of God  

CROWN BIBLICAL FINANCIAL STUDIES

 

Christ BeFore Self

Week 1Introduction Week 2 God's part Week 3 Debt Week 4- Counsel Week 5 - Honesty
 Week 6 Giving Week 7 Work Week 8 Investing Week 9 Perspective Week 10 Eternity
         
         
         
         
         
         
Week 6

 

Acts 20:35

35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

 

 

Hear

God

 Speaks

 

 Lesson Notes  
Homework  
Your Money Counts  
Practical Applications  
 Sharing  
 Scriptures  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lesson Notes                                                                  

Definition

Loving

Several Biblical words describe the concepts that make up generosity. First and most important is that of love. The Biblical word for love is charity, which embodies giving to the poor and needy. John points out that love without giving is hypocrisy. "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (I John 3:17).

It is not possible to have love without generosity, but it is possible to have generosity without love. "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing" (I Corinthians 13:3).

Sowing

The second Biblical word is sowing, because generosity follows the laws of the harvest. The more generous we are in sowing, the greater will be our harvest in true riches. "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully" (II Corinthians 9:6).

Honoring

A further word describing generosity is honor. One Greek word translated honor is timao - it depicts placing a value upon someone or something. We are instructed: "Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise" (Ephesians 6:2). We honor aging parents by giving to their needs. We honor civil authorities by paying taxes. When we give to the poor, we honor the Lord and He promises to repay. "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again" (Proverbs 19:17). Generosity is not just giving, it is giving abundantly and joyfully.

Distributing

Another word describing generosity is distributing. One  Greek word for distribute is koinoneo, which has the rich meaning of fellowship among believers. We are to give (koinoneo) to the needs of the saints. (See Romans 12:13.) All believers are members of one Body. Therefore, when we give to other members we are actually benefiting ourselves. Paul explains that as we meet their needs now, our needs will be met in the future. "By an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality" (II Corinthians 8:14).

Grace

The word grace is also related to generosity. Paul used this word in praising the Gentile believers for their liberal distribution of gifts to the saints in Jerusalem and to all men. He went on to explain that it was through God's grace that they had the means to give and that their giving was an expression of that grace.

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (II Corinthians 9:8). Those who received the gifts praised God for the grace that prompted them. They prayed for the givers and desired "the exceeding grace of God" which the givers possessed. (See II Corinthians 9:14.)

Stewardship

The concept of stewardship is also involved in generosity. A steward is one who is entrusted with the assets of the master and is responsible to make wise investments with them. A wise steward understands that the assets under his control do not belong to him and should be returned to the master with increase.

Jesus gave a parable of stewards who doubled the resources entrusted to them. They were praised. A third steward returned only what he was given and was condemned.

The Rewards of Generosity

Many people refuse to be generous because they falsely believe that what they give, they lose. Yet the opposite is true. Those who are generous receive far more than they give and in a wide range of areas.

1.      A bright countenance

Generosity is at the very heart of the nature of God, and because God is light, those who are generous share in His brightness.

When Jesus spoke of giving, he related it to the eyes. A good eye is a generous eye, and a stingy eye is an evil eye. "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness" (Matthew 6:22-23). A further reference to light and giving is in Matthew 5:16: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

2.      The love of the Lord

"God loveth a cheerful giver" (II Corinthians 9:7). The qualities and motivations of a cheerful giver are described in this passage: one who purposes in his heart to give, not "grudgingly, or of necessity."

The love that God has for a generous giver is an agapao love, which is a giving love. Thus, when we give to others cheer-fully, God gives back to us. The Greek word for cheerful is hilaros and means "joyous, merry, will-ing, prompt to do anything."

3.      The fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the continual awareness that we are in His presence and that He watches over all that we think, say, and do.

There are three aspects of the fear of the Lord. The first aspect is a fear of punishment for wrong-doing in His presence. The second aspect is a fear of damaging His reputation. The third and highest aspect is a fear of endangering an intimate relationship with Him.

The great reward of this third aspect is described in Proverbs 22:4: "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life."

The fear of the Lord is learned by generosity. "Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed. . . . That thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always" (Deuteronomy 14:22-23).

4.      Treasures in Heaven

We are not to lay up treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break through and steal, but rather we are to lay up for ourselves "treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal" (Matthew 6:20).

The promise of treasures in Heaven was given to the rich young ruler if he would exercise generosity. "Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me" (Mark 10:21).

5.      Victory over the "root of evil"

Generosity breaks the bondage of greed and overcomes the love and worship of money. The love of money gives us the illusion that our life is made up of the things that we possess. It also makes us idolaters when we expect from money what only God can provide, I such as security, peace, and joy.

6.      Escape from lusts and sorrows

Those who desire to be rich "fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (I Timothy 6:9-10).

The Motivation of Generosity

In addition to the rewards of generosity, we should be motivated by the realization that whatever wealth we have is not the result of our ingenuity but of God's generosity. We are not to say in our hearts, "My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth" (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

Because God gives us our wealth, He also has the authority and power to take it back. Job acknowledged this when he stated, "The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).

If we are generous in giving back to God, He protects and increases our wealth. However, if we do not honor God with our increase, we are actually taking what rightfully belongs to God, thus robbing Him. He then allows our wealth to be devoured by situations and circumstances beyond our control. "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts" (Malachi 3:8-11).

An even greater motivation for generosity should be to gain more of Jesus Christ and to experience more of His power. It was for these goals that Paul "suffered the loss of all things" (Philippians 3:8).

Spare or share?

Generosity is God's highway to prosperity. Stinginess is our pathway to poverty.

 Generosity is the result of focusing on God's riches rather than our resources.

I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare." C.S. Lewis

The test of generosity is not how much we give, but how much we have left.

Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold." -Frances Ridley Havergal

In this world, it is not what we take up, but what we give up that makes us rich.

We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." -Sir Winston Churchill

 Learn from White Pelican

With its large bill, the pelican generously provides fish for its young as well as for other pelicans unable to feed themselves

CLICK TO TOP

  Homework

Compassion for the poor

When John the Baptist roamed the Judean wilderness, he had a stern warning for the crowd that came to hear him. “You brood of vipers!” he said. “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:7-8). Startled, they asked him, “What should we do then?” He responded with this advice: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same” (vv. 10-11). True repentance produces a generous heart.

God reveals His compassion for the poor throughout the Scriptures.

In Psalm 72:13, we read, “He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.” The people were to join with God in bringing His compassion to the poor.

In the New Testament, Jesus repeatedly expresses the Father’s concern for the poor by portraying them as accepted by the Father (Mark 12:42; Luke 16:20) and stating that His messianic mission, in part, was confirmed by His ministry to the poor (Matt. 11:4-5).

Paul picks up the baton of this challenge by commending the churches of Macedonia and Achaia for their financial support of the poor in Jerusalem (Rom. 15:26), while James warns that the poor must not be disregarded because of their socioeconomic status (James 2:2-6).

If our God and His Son are this concerned for the poor, how can we represent that love by caring for those in need? Bill Crowder

CLICK TO TOP

Your Money Counts  

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK TO TOP

 

Practical Applications

Steps for Generosity

Dedicate all resources to God.

The first step toward generos­ity is to dedicate all our resources to God, including our money, time, possessions, and strength.

Practice personal frugality.

Based on the requirements of stewardship, we must spend as little as possible on ourselves so that we can have as much as possible to reinvest in ways that will bring multiplied returns.

Give as God directs.

The goal of generosity is to demonstrate the love of God so that others will be drawn to Him. When a person in need receives an anonymous gift that meets the need, God is  glorified and the giver is in line for eternal rewards. If we give with the motivation of public praise, 4e receive thoz praise of people, but lose out on the greater rewards that come from God.

"But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:3-4).

Personal Evaluation - How generous are you?

Do you see God as the Provider of all wealth?

Do you view yourself as a steward of God's resources?

Have you dedicated all your resources to God?

Do you honor God with a generous portion of all your (His) increase?

Are you living as frugally as you can so you have more to reinvest?

Do you distribute to the needs of fellow believers when you know about them?

When you give, do you base it on what you can afford or on what God can provide through you?

Have you rejected the goal of being rich in money, but made it your goal to be rich in good works?

How often have you sacrificed things you wanted in order to give to the needs of others

 

CLICK TO TOP

Sharing

More Important Than Tithing

Rev Alvin Chan

Scripture Passage: Deuteronomy 15:7-11

Summary:

 How did tithing begin and why do we give 10 percent?

In fact, Jesus talked a lot on this subject too, with 16 out of His 29 parables mentioning money and one out of six verses in the three Synoptic Gospels addressing this topic!

In the Old Testament we learn five things:

1.    The giving of 10 percent as a tithe predates Mosaic Law and was not peculiar to the Hebrews! We find this in Genesis 14:20 when Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe.

2.    It was normal to return to God 10 percent as a Gratitude Tithe as Jacob did in Genesis 28: 22.

3.    Under Mosaic Law the tithe belonged to God as recorded in Leviticus 27:30-32

4.    The tithe was to go to the Levites in return for their service to the Lord as they had no inheritance as found in Numbers 18:21

5.    Men were put in charge of collecting and distributing the tithes... see 2 Chronicles 31: 12.

 In the New Testament we learn that God wants more than the tithe. Everything we have belongs to Him anyway. In Luke 14:33 Jesus tells the crowds "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple". For a time the early church did indeed practice this as they shared all that they had with each other.

 Let us go back to Deuteronomy 15 and look at three points, which teach that we give out of obedience to God

1.    There is no excuse for not being generous. In the time of Moses, God intended that every seven years there would be a year of release and everything would go back to the original owner and all debts would be cancelled. This way there would be no poverty. We are exhorted to be uncalculative in our giving.

 2.    We are duty bound to meet the needs of the poor or God will find us guilty. As a church we have ways of helping the needy without breeding dependence. So if anyone has a financial need they can approach Christian Outreach and Social Concerns Ministry.

 3.    God tells us to be open handed towards the poor and the Lord our God will bless us. The question we struggle with is how we can be more generous. We need to simplify our lives and spend less on our own "wants" in order to meet the "needs" of others. The ultimate act of giving is laying down our lives and this Jesus did in order to reconcile Mankind to God. Something special happens when we give. John Wesley gave almost all he ever earned for the sake of Christ and His kingdom.

For Where Your Treasure Is...

Rev Wendy Watson

Scripture Passage: Matthew 6:19-24.

Summary:

The day will come when each of us has to stand before God to give an account of how we chose to use the time and money entrusted to us during our life time.

Giving 10% of our income to the church is not a popular choice. We rationalize that the church doesn't need the money, that there are plenty of other richer people to pay tithes and we don't even know where the money will go. Some argue that tithing is an Old Testament command which was out dated when Jesus came to establish His new covenant. However Jesus endorsed tithing in Matt 23:23 so we know this is not the case.

For some people it is genuinely hard to make ends meet and there is real concern how to pay the bills let alone giving to the church and this is very understandable.

However, let us stand on the promise of God in Matthew 6:33. "But seek first His kingdom, and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."

Choose to do things God's way and He WILL take care of you!

The principle behind tithing is that we bring the first fruits of our labour to God in recognition that He is Sovereign and we return to Him something that is His anyway. By definition, it is not a discretionary amount. It is the 10% of our income which belongs to the Lord and is Holy to the Lord (Leviticus 27:30). We may think that we can choose how much to give and to whom. However this is not the case. The whole 10% belongs to God so giving some of it to other worthy causes of our own choosing is tantamount to giving away someone else's cash.

If we give less than 10% of our income we are in fact robbing God (Malachi 3:8-10). In this verse God challenges us to test Him in this and see whether he doesn’t pour out his blessings in response to our giving.

We should not give our tithes out of fear that God will punish us. Nor should we give because we want to get more money back or to impress others. We should give out of a heart of obedience and love for God. We should not give if we do not have any income or if we have to borrow in order to give.

Let us resolve to have no half measures here. God doesn't give us half measures. Is our treasure indeed the Kingdom of God or is our treasure actually our spouse, children, career, possessions or dreams and aspirations?

WE are God's treasure! He gave His all for each of us. His desire is that we would enthrone Him in our hearts as OUR treasure!

 

Recognising Our Need To Give

Rev Daniel C Tan

Scripture Passage: 1 Chronicles 29:1-9

Summary: The overwhelming motivation for giving is a response to the love of God.

Jesus spoke about giving and forgiving in the same breath, as a response to the love of God in Luke 6:37-38 “...forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.”

When we give the gift of forgiveness to others, we are changed because we get a heart free of anger and hostility.

This overwhelming motivation to give is a recognition of God’s love towards us, and for us it can result in decreasing self-centredness, and detachment from fears and anxieties of material world. At the same time, it is about placing our trust in God alone.

Mark 10 has another lesson in giving. Jesus told young man to do the 3 things to receive treasure in heaven:

1.            Go

2.            Sell (all you have)

3.            Give (to the poor, and come to follow me)

Jesus is not against rich people, but wants for the rich to express their security in God by their generosity.

Jesus is pointing out to commit ourselves to giving as a way of life, and the privilege of being a giver. It is the simple theology of discipleship. The more we give, the more we discover the abundant life that seems to elude the tight-fisted. Giving is symbolic, reveals the priorities in our hearts and life.

There’s a story a millionaire who shared in church about the turning point in his faith when he gave the first and only dollar he had earned to church. He believes that God blessed that decision, and made him a wealthy man after that. When he sat down, a little old lady in the same pew said to him: “I dare you to do it again.”

In 1 Chron 29, King David was an example of giving, he gave “over and above everything I have provided...” (v 3)

Verse 2 “So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able,” can be alternatively be phrased: “I have done my best with all my might, with all my resources.”

God does not demand a set amount, He did not say exactly how much or how exactly we are to give. He commanded that our giving be in proportion to our ability.

Buddy Post, won US$16m in the Pennsylvania state lottery in 1996. The 58-year-old former carnival worker and cook subsequently was convicted for assault, his (sixth) wife left him, his brother tried to murder him, his landlady successfully sued for one-third of his winnings.

"Money didn't change me. It just changed people around me that I know, that I thought cared a little about me, but they only care about the money," he said.

Whether we are rich or not, it is important to be contented. It is important to be obedient and place our trust in God and God alone.

Are we willing to rise to the challenge and give according to our ability with all our might, as far as we are able?

 

 

 

CLICK TO TOP

 

Scriptures

If we give grudgingly, wondering how much we can spare, we will never have the joy of discovering how much we can share. (See II Corinthians 9:7.)

Generosity is paying on the debt of love that every believer owes to the Lord. (See Romans 13:8.)

Who gave more than everyone yet less than anyone? (See Mark 12:42-44.)Text Box: "
 

Lack of money is God's "school" to teach us the importance of being generous when we abound. (See II Corinthians 8:14.)

"For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." Psalm 50:10

"There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches." Proverbs 13:7

 

 

CLICK TO TOP

 

Adapted from : The Power for True Success: How to Build Character in Your Life