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Sermons for Stewardship Month

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January is typically the beloved stewardship month for all churches. It’s the month where all the building projects and dreams are laid out on the table, and drooled over. This is also the month where tithing sermons are preached on the most. I can prove this because I see a spike in my statistics letting me know that more people are searching for stewardship or tithing sermons on google.

The majority of all tithing sermons are given during this month alone. I can understand the influence that greed has on everyone’s life, but considering stewardship goes far past the aspect of giving, let’s get into something a little more appropriate during our economy. Here are four sermon topics besides giving, that you can preach on each Sunday during Stewardship month.

Sermons on Saving

I think there are some out there that are against saving for the long term like retirement. That’s simply because they feel that Christ could return at any moment, and that whole time you have had money sitting in an account somewhere. I’m not gonna get into that because I think it’s just foolish thinking.

Saving is so important today more than ever. You can’t rely on your job tomorrow, and you can’t rely on social security and your pension when you retire. You may never get a pension, and social security in some way will be revised or broke by that time. The Bible says that the parents are in charge of laying up for their children. This is an earthly task with spiritual authority. Your children need you to be wise with your money. It gets tougher and tougher in this world to make it, and our children need our help.

Sermons on Debt

I don’t think that i need to explain why this is an important topic. Really what can I say here? We all know how crucial debt has been in destroying our homes and economy. During this month start a stewardship class. Dave Ramsey, and Crown Financial have some very good materials and courses that will jump start your church into financial freedom. After all, the less debt they have the more they can offer God.

If you are a pastor in unsecured debt and you would struggle with preaching this topic to your congregation, well, admit your struggles, don’t pretend that you have no vices, and preach on debt anyways. If your church is in major debt, then this would be a perfect opportunity for you to take serious looks at your church budget, and find out how you can cut back.

Sermons on Budgeting

This is usually the root of the problem of the above two points. I’m sure you’ve heard the statement: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. I have to admit, I hate budgeting. I am not a numbers guy. They do not excite me. I received a “D” in accounting when I took it way back in highschool. I have to admit also that I know budgeting gets even worse when you are in debt, or have no money because it is depressing to open up your books and see your situation over and over and over. No one wants to remind themselves about the pennies that they have left in their account. We just want to close our eyes and hope that we make it from paycheck to paycheck. Become disciplined with this challenge, and force yourself to do it.

Sermons on Faith and Trust

To me this is the most important of all the topics. We need to trust God. We need to ask him to help us. We need help if we have an abundance, and we need help if we have a lack. I know many of us are “living on a prayer”. We don’t know how we are going to make it, and yet we look back, and here we are. I sincerely don’t know how my family has made it this far. I tell you what, if I could explain how I’ve made it this far, then that means God had nothing to do with it. It is important to build your faith and your trust in God in regards to finances.

I guarantee that if you preach on these four topics and God’s people righteously act upon them; you won’t have to preach on giving. Giving will automatically flow – not that money in the Church bank account is the motivation to preach on these sermons. As a church, be wise with your money. Be free to give, and share. God blessed your church to bless others. I just wrote a post about some giving statistics the other day that reveals how ungenerous churches really are. Don’t be a selfish church that spends 85% of their resources on themselves.

Does anyone have any other topics that they think would be good sermons? If not, what are your thoughts on the points above?

What’s the Difference Between Spirit-led, Freewill, & Grace Giving?

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I hate being picky about terminology, but I feel this issue is important enough to be picky about. Many non-tithers use the terms “freewill giving”, “Spirit led giving”, and “grace giving” to describe how they give. The only problem is that the use of some of these terms to describe their philosophy of giving send out mixed messages. In this post I am going to describe the difference between spirit-led, freewill, & grace giving. I will tell you why grace & freewill giving is not a term that clearly describes our opposing view about tithing. In the end I will tell you why “Spirit led” giving is the correct terminology that does illuminate the differentiating properties between tithing and new covenant giving.

Here’s the issue, people who enforce tithing tend to say, “i believe in grace giving and I believe in freewill giving, it’s just that i believe 10% is the starting point.” I would venture to say, that they are probably right – they do believe in grace and freewill giving. Their motivation to tithe may not be as if it were a law; their motivation is because they are under God’s grace and love. The issue is that they are led by a law, not by the Spirit.

What is Freewill Giving?

I’m not going to pull up dictionary definitions, but generally, I believe that everyone has freewill. Whether you believe tithing is commanded or not, you believe that God doesn’t force you to do something. So freewill giving is a very broad definition. By nature, the term “freewill” doesn’t describe attributes that are against tithing. Tithing can be freewill also.

What is Grace Giving?

Ok, so grace giving sounds much more definitive right? After all, the Old Testament was under the law and we are under grace, so anyone who tithes is still under the law, right? Well, many tithers claim that they are under grace as well, simply for the fact that they are free from the curse. Typically these are the ones that tell you that the tithe is not a law that you will be punished for, and yet in the same sentence convince you how the tithe is the minimum, and God expects you to give it. Hence they somehow morph an old testament concept to fit under the new covenant relationship. Regardless, yes, we are all under grace whether we believe in tithing or not. So, the term, “grace giving” doesn’t exactly describe the attributes that are against tithing either.

What is Spirit Led Giving?

Here it is: Spirit led giving. What’s significant about this term? Simply the fact that the Holy Spirit is the sole distinguishing factor between the saints of the Old Testament and those of us under the New Testament. You see, neither Abraham, Moses, Noah, Jacob, King David, or Isaac had the gift of the Spirit. Their communication with God was between them and an earthly priest. They did not have personal communication with God. Only the priest, who entered the Holy of Holies had that privilege.

The most bizarre concept to me about tithing, is that God can’t trust his Spirit to help you make the right decision as to where you can give the first 10%, but he can trust his Spirit to guide you with offerings? Spirit led giving puts the Holy Spirit in control of what you do with every single penny. Don’t confuse, “spirit led” with “spirit filled”. Both terms are totally different concepts. Spirit-led is receiving instructions from the Holy Spirit as your source as opposed to using scripture to dictate your actions. Spirit filled is more or less obtaining character attributes of God.

I guess another term that would be safe to use is “new covenant giving“. When you debate others about tithing, this terminology stuff can get nit-picky, and sometimes frustrating. Next time you talk with someone about tithing, i challenge you to use the term “spirit-led giving”.

What do you think about all this terminology? Do you think it matters? Do you call your giving something different? If you do, I’d like to hear it.

Giving Statistics

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I fished through some articles and some statistics and compiled the most interesting statistics in one post. These statistics will make you think, question, and doubt the responsibility of your leaders. I will admit, these giving statistics are not pretty, but I hope they make you rethink some things about stewardship in the Church today.

“in its 2008 report found 33.4% of estimated total giving, $103.32 billion, went to houses of worship and denominational organizations in 2007” (source).

Right off the bat, the first question is what is the Church doing with the money we have already? This is 103 billion were talking about here? Are we conquering world hunger? Do all the hidden tribes in Africa have printed bibles in their language? Are we taking care of the widows? Sure, there is pressure to give more and more, but are we fiscally responsible and efficient with the resources we are receiving already?

“85 percent of all church activity and funds is directed toward the internal operations of the congregation”. Add in another 2% going to overseas missions to support their budget costs. (1) (quote)

In the end, this leaves 13% that possibly might be used for practical purposes. Figuratively speaking, this also means that 85 billion dollars is used primarily to keep the lights on!

WOW! 85 billion dollars, that’s a lot of money, especially when you look at the new testament and see how money was used. From Acts through Revelation, you won’t find a single example where money was given or asked to meet anything besides basic needs, such as food, shelter, and health.

Granted, ministers’ salaries/needs are included in the 85 billion we spend internally, but as you can see there’s very little sacrifice for churches to give outside of their own needs. I see it as, “selfish”, but I’m sure others define it as, “sacrificial”

I think we need to separate churches from the term “ministry” because 13% of the church’s resources actually go towards administering needs.

“”Americans who earn less than $10,000 gave 2.3 percent of their income to religious organizations,” Smith, Emerson, and Snell write, “whereas those who earn $70,000 or more gave only 1.2 percent.” While the actual percentages are slightly higher for Christians who regularly attend church, the pattern is similar. Households of committed Christians making less than $12,500 per year give away roughly 7 percent of their income, a figure no other income bracket beats until incomes rise above $90,000 (they give away 8.8 percent).

In fact, in absolute terms, the poorest Christians give away more dollars than all but the wealthiest Christians.” (source)

Some things never change. The story of the widow and her mite still lives today.

“If members of historically Christian churches in the United States had raised their giving to the Old Testament’s minimum standard of giving (10% of income) in 2000, an additional $139,000,000,000 a year would become available assist in Christian based mission work.” (source)

Well let’s see after all the overhead is paid, and we have enough to run the machine, that leaves about 18 billion out of the 139 billion going towards practical needs. If you think that 139 billion is a lot of money, and we could use the tithe to do greater good, just hold your thoughts and listen to this next statistic.

In 2007, total charitable giving topped 300 billion (source)

Please . . . OH PLEASE! Tell me what a meager extra 139 billion would do. Christian stewards have received 370 BILLION dollars to do missions, spread the gospel, clothe the poor, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and provide ministry; and all we can do is cry about everyone tithing an extra 139 billion. Is 370 billion not enough?

“”Relatively little donated money actually moves much of a distance away from the contributors,” Smith, Emerson, and Snell write. The money given by the people in the pews, it turns out, is largely spent on the people in the pews. Only about 3 percent of money donated to churches and ministries went to aiding or ministering to non-Christians.” (source)

I have said this long before these statistics came out. Do you wonder why people struggle with selfishness? It’s because they are following their church’s example of giving. As a matter of fact, I said that we were “selfish” just above. I said that before I even read this giving statistic. Of course, I thought our external giving came to about 13%, but it looks as if I was off by 10%. We only use 3% towards practical ways of reaching the unsaved! Once again we spend only 3% of our budget to show the unsaved how generous our God is!

These giving statistics are sobering, saddening, and sickening. My giving is nothing to be proud of. What about you? How has your giving been? How does your church give? How much do you spend on your own church for yourselves, and how much do you spend on others? What do you think about these giving statistics?

Footnotes

  1. John L. Ronsvalle and Sylvia Ronsvalle, The State of Church Giving through 2000(Champaign, Ill.: Empty Tomb, 2002), 13

Thanksgiving and Greed

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October through November is my website design business’s busiest time of the year. Second, my wife and I just had our first – A beautiful little girl. Next, I contracted the flu. Finally, after all that, I got food poisoning. I hope I am now able to get back into the groove slowly.

I’ve been wanting to write about this since the first time I heard about the black Friday massacre at Walmart. Yes, as most of you know, someone was trampled to death in a stampede of people. Although, I sincerely doubt people are up at 4 a.m. buying gifts for someone else. I’m sorry but if I’m shopping that early in those crowds, I’m not shopping for aunt sally. I think it’s safe to say that most people are shopping for themselves first.

With that said, here is something ironic. Why is it that the greediest day of the year is the day after the most thankful day of the year? It’s absolutely true. Black Friday should be renamed “Greed Friday”. I’m not saying that if you go shopping on Black Friday that you are greedy. I went shopping on Black Friday, so I guess it’s OK for you too.

It’s just a shame that our time of thankfulness only lasts for 24 hours. It also makes you wonder about the Spiritual powers involved in this evil world system. Do you think it’s a coincidence that Black Friday is right after Thanksgiving? Maybe our spiritual enemy had something to do with its timing? It’s like we are praying to God thanking him for our blessings but at the same time we have our riches still grasped tight in our folded hands.

Spirit Led Giving Defined

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Here is an audio clip of a clear explanation of Spirit Led giving. A transcript is listed below if you wish to read it instead.

I believe that we are free from the tithing command, but instead are commanded by the Holy Spirit in regards to giving. The religious system once used rituals that dictated mankind’s sanctification; but with the Spirit in control of our lives, we are free to receive instructions from Him. Our liberty is not a license to overlook the command to obey the Spirit, so we are not at liberty to do what we please. The responsibility to sacrificially give cannot be overlooked.

The New Covenant introduced a relationship with God that was not available in the Old Covenant system. We now have the opportunity to hear from God, and communicate directly with Him.  Communication with God is immediate and spontaneous; so we do not need a pre-existing assignment to outline what and when to give. At the moment God speaks to us, we have the ability to hear, and the opportunity and decision to obey. God did not tear the veil to the holy of holies, so that a communal relationship with Him could continue to be administered through non-interactive rituals, such as tithing. New Covenant tithing is a way of restoring the veil that was once used when man had no direct access to God. Tear the veil away and encounter God inside the holy of holies with Spirit-led giving.

The dysfunction within tithing is that, anyone can do it without having to worry about encountering God. All across the board this is true with all of God’s laws, because anyone can perform them without even truly knowing God. But one cannot be Spirit-led unless they know God. Personal interaction with God is the fundamental difference between the Old Covenant and New Covenant giving.

Do you want a Church that is willing to encounter God? There’s no question that God wants to elicit a sacrificial response from us when we give, but the question is, what type of response is God looking for? Is it the response that is spawned through our personal and intimate relationship with Him, or is it a response that is considered a Xerox from Abraham’s actions? Through our relationship with God, each and every person has a responsibility to pursue when and where our Father is calling us to give. I implore you to study the aspects of Spirit-led giving, and consider the spiritual ramifications between instructing people to tithe, or instructing them to be Spirit-led.