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In today’s episode I would like for us to see these things:

  • A good Biblical definition of what “offerings” are.
  • The Biblical basis of why we are to include offerings in our monthly budget.
  • The blessings of offerings, which comes and goes in two different ways.

So, let’s start out looking at a good solid Biblical definition of “offerings”.

 

BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF OFFERINGS (5 Biblical Sequential Priorities)

  • A defined amount of your monthly budget set aside to meet the needs of others and be a blessing to them! This is NOT tithing, this is above and beyond that! Tithing/Grace giving is priority #1, this is priority #4.
  • It is important to know/understand the difference between Giving and Offerings…
    • Giving is to your local church’s general budget to meet the needs of daily operations, discipleship and outreach.
    • Offerings is above and beyond your regular giving to the local church.  This is can be offerings to missions, special church projects/outreaches, missionaries, local and/or national Christian ministries, Christian education/schools and blessing those in need within the church.

What does the Bible say about our giving of offerings to others?

 

BIBLICAL BASIS OF OFFERINGS

  • In the Old Testament there were 3 tithes:
    • 1. The Levitical, or sacred tithe (Num. 18: 21, 24). 
    • 2. The tithe of the feasts (Deut. 14:22-27). 
    • 3. The tithe for the poor (Deut. 14:28, 29).
    • Deuteronomy 14:28–29 “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do. (ESV)
  • Acts 20:35: “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.’”
    • “Must help the weak”
      • The word “must” in the Greek has the sense of “obligation”…
      • What is the obligation?  We don’t know specifically in this passage, but I would deduct that it is because of the BLESSING that you have received from your hard work, that not just took care of your and your families needs, but also has given you an abundance so that you can be a blessing to others that are “weak” and in need.
      • The word “help” in the Greek has the sense of “taking someone by the hand to lead or assist them” (Lexham Bible Sense Lexicon).
      • This is not just giving a gift card. It goes beyond that to, in my thinking, even taking the person to the store, taking them back home, even assisting in making the meal and/or project repair/replacement.
    • “More blessed to give than receive”
      • “The words of the Lord, It is more blessed to give than to receive, are not found in the four Gospels. They represent an oral tradition passed on to the early church.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
  • Hebrews 13:16:  “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
    • Mindfulness…keep in the forefront of one’s mind to be generous in giving offerings to others
      • This is a heart attitude that may need to be cultivated through continued generosity of offerings to others in need
    • Here we see, along with in quite a few other passages, that our giving, our offerings to others in need PLEASES God!
  • Proverbs 21:13:  “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor,  will himself call out and not be answered.”
    • “The cry of the poor” expresses that there is some form of need that an individual or group, and they are reaching out for help in one form or another.  
    • This verse speaks to the one that IGNORES this cry for help that they could assist with, and if they choose to do so, when they cry out for assistance, THEY WILL NOT BE HEARD! Powerful words of admonition!
  • 1 John 3:17-18: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
    • This passage speaks directly to what one owns and not their financial assets.  Blessing someone with either a loan, a gift, or even our own “material blessings” is a firm way of speaking loud with our actions.
  • Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
    • “Give, and it will be given to you”
      • Through our subtraction, our giving of our finances and resources, in the end there will not be a subtraction, but an addition.
      • And not just an equal of the gift given, but an abundance, exceeding the value of the gift given!
    • “For the measure you use, it will be measured to you”
      • To put it in it’s simplistic form, giving will lead to giving (and that giving it back to you, ”poured into your lap”)

 

BLESS OTHERS BY GIVING AN OFFERING

  • Material blessings of your gift:
    • Your gift is meeting their financial need
    • Your gift is meeting their material need
  • Spiritual Blessings of your gift: WORSHIP
    • Your gift causes them to give thanksgiving to God (2 Cor. 9:11)
      • “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:11, NIV84) 
      • Our offerings, as seen in this passage, causes the receiver of the gift to give thanks to God for meeting that need!
    • Your gift causes them to give praise to God (2 Cor. 9:13)
      • “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” (2 Corinthians 9:13, NIV84)  
      • Our offerings speak to our confession of the Gospel and it will provoke men to give praise to God!
  • We bless others physically, financially, and spiritually when we live in a generous way with our offerings above our regular giving unto the Lord.

 

BLESSED BY GIVING AN OFFERING

  • We are rewarded by God for our generosity toward the poor and needy. 
  • Now, we should not to give an offering/blessing to someone just for the sake of getting a blessing or reward. This is just a by-product of our Lord’s generosity and I would recommend that it NOT be the focus of our heart! Focus on being a blessing, and if God so chooses to bring an increased blessing to you, that is His generosity back to you!

 

  • Prov. 19:17: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.“
    • Listen to what Jon Courson said about this verse in his commentary: “If you’re looking for a good investment, a wise loan to make, give to the poor; for, in so doing, you’re lending to the Lord. And He pays back with great dividends!”
    • I love what he is saying here pertaining to this proverb!  I have yet to know in my life that the Lord gives sparingly.
  • Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
    • I believe that a HEART attitude that brings this blessing back to us…not just the offering/gift.  It is a combination of the two together.
    • Though I cannot specifically see the heart in this passage, I believe that we can wholeheartedly say that it is part of the equation here.
  • Acts 20:35: “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.’”
    • Knowing that you can help someone in need, due to the blessings that the Lord has bestowed on you, well, there is just joy that comes to the heart of the one that gives generously.

 

Your gift causes them to pray for you (2 Cor. 9:14)

  • “And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.” (2 Corinthians 9:14, NIV84)  
    • Your generosity will bring about a blessing of prayer on your behalf!
    • Again, this should not be the premise of our generous offering!  This prayer back to you is just a blessing that comes back to you as you meet the needs of others through generous offerings to them. 

 

Stewardship Application

There is a two way blessing because of our offerings 

  1. We bless others by giving an offering…
  2. We are blessed by giving an offering…

This a command as seen multiple times in the Word of God for believers.  In thinking through the 5 Biblical Sequential Priorities we are to, in this order:

  • Give unto the Lord (tithing/grace giving)
  • Save to provide and protect our family
  • Spend to make sure we pay our obligations and in doing so it speaks to our testimony in the Lord
  • Offerings…where we give of our abundance to meet the needs of others.  

 

Next Steps

 

 

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