|
Glenville New Life Community Church PCUSA Home Page Worship Services 8:30 am and 11:15 am
(Click Address For Directions--Click Picture For Church Photo Directory & Church Addresses) |
|
|
|
Excellence In Giving: How It Touches God Gracious God, we thank you for the preaching of Your word, and for the thoughts that we will have about it together. We pray that you open the eyes of our hearts so that we might understand what Christ is saying to Your church, this day, for we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 is the greatest discourse in the whole of the bible on giving. In it, Paul commends the Macedonian churches for their extravagant giving and Paul emphasizes the fact that we give firstly to God. For example, in chapter 8 verse 5 Paul says, 'They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will'. Saints, When we have given something that is precious to us, to the Lord, and for the furtherance of God Kingdom, consequently it blesses the Lord. Most of us work very hard for our money - God is surely not unaware of this and when we give God part of our hard earned money it surely brings great delight to God. If you and I are going to express our love for God it is not enough to sing, dance, and get some nice feelings in our church services, and gatherings, but we also need to give financially unto God. So, Let it be emphasized today, in which our Theme is: Excellence In Giving, How It Touches God, that the greatest reason to give, is that it is an act of worship and adoration, which declares our love unto the Lord. There are many ways that we can honor God - through worship, prayer, actions and obedience but certainly the giving of our money is one of the greatest ways in which we can honor God. The book of Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament which has a lot to say about money, and in it we find that God wants God’s people to honor God with our sacrifices and our giving. The back ground here in Malachi, is that the Priests had been offering blemished sacrifices, and were refusing to give God the best. In chapter 3 we see that the people had not been tithing and therefore were robbing God. Consequently, in verse 6, God asks a very searching question, 'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due to me? If I am a master, where is the respect due to me?' Therefore, is it not the case, that we Christians, who refuse to give, are dishonoring God? As Malachi shows, God desires our respect, God is touched by reverence and honor, and God has ordained that one of the major ways we express this to the Lord, is through our money.(Everybody say) If God is special to you, and you wish to honor and revere God, then our wallets are a good mechanism through which to do this. This same thought is spoken of in the Book of proverbs and the scriptures below both speak of honoring God in the context of using our money. Proverbs 3:9 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops;
Our main Motive
For Giving:
Ya Know, Friends, So Often
Now let’s look at ways to make God happy. If we are created in God’s image, then God wants to have our focus and attention and we need to fulfill God’s desires. God feels love, joy, peace, happiness, jealousy, hurt, grief, and disappointment. We need to satisfy God’s desire.
This is a
true sign of maturity when we look at our “parent” which is God our father and
try to meet God’s desire not just meeting our own needs. If our focus is
on God, our whole life will change. Always attempting to make God’s day better
will give our life meaning and purpose. How many of these love languages
have you used to satisfy God’s desire for love and attention? 1. Words of Affirmation for God a. Thanksgiving- gratefulness for God’s generosity and kindness
b.
Praise- for God’s wonderful, perfect character 2. Ways to spend Quality Time with God a. Study time in the Bible b. Quiet time – giving God the opportunity to speak c. Prayer Time
d.
Praise/Worship Time 3. Acts of Service for God a. Obedience- complete and instant obedience. God does not always ask us to do for others. God sometimes wants us to do something just for God.
b.
Respect and Fear
of God 4. The Gifts that God would like to receive from us a. Our life b. Our family c. Our possessions d. Our ambitions or goals e. Our Jobs God deserves to be the center of our whole world. God should have the final say in everything that we do and say. We should all be willing to give ourselves to the Lord and God’s will. 5. How do we Physically Touch God a. Lifting our hands to God in the Spirit Ultimately we are taught to speak these languages by communicating them in our daily living. This is a good reminder that we are not to be just hearers of the Word, but doers. The result is a more profound worship. Learning to speak the various love languages of God, to God, will grow us into more mature Christians.
Taking Action
God pursues a love relationship with each one of us. God knows us and God wants us to know him. This is all over the scriptures. This is the first point that I want to make; is that God pursues this love relationship with us and its everywhere in scripture. In the Book of John, 17th Chapter, Jesus is praying for people who will believe in him. Jesus is praying for us. And this is what he prays, Chapter 17, Verse 3: "Now this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent." This is eternal life that they may know you; relationship language. When Paul prays for the new Christians in the churches in Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verse 17, the same kind of language comes up again. "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better." Relationship. (Say that with me) God has given the spirit, and the spirit gives wisdom and power; for what? Not first for service, not first for works, but so that we may know God better, because that's where life is. What God always wants are hearts in love with God; a heart that passionately cried out to God to know him better. And so now in these moments of silence, we need to ask ourselves a question; is that the cry of our heart? Let's take a few moments of silent confession, silent reflection and silent commitment. God's Greatest Desire
What is God's greatest desire for you ? God sees you as a precious treasure, and God longs to have a close relationship with you. More than anything God wants you to have an intimate love relationship and friendship with God. God wants you to spend time with God and intimately communicate with God, to enjoy fellowship with God, to trust and follow God, and to give your life meaning and purpose. Do you desire a deeper and closer relationship and friendship with God ? Is your desire to know Him and to please Him growing ? Do you know that hearing God's voice is by far the most important part of your prayer & fellowship time with God? God needs to touch our hearts so that Jesus is our 1st Love, and so that we will faithfully and passionately seek Christ and follow Him, however and wherever He may lead us. Amen and Amen.
|
Send mail to
kaciearmstrong@yahoo.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
