SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody messes up a beautiful worship moment like the pastor.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, choir and orchestra.
SPEAKER_01: That was beautiful.
SPEAKER_01: Turn with me, if you will, in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 4.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to continue in our study of Philippians, and our theme has been a life worthy of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And the root word of worthy and worship comes from the same concept, and we've been really doing a beautiful job today of focusing on worship with the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And so today we're going to talk about another form of worship.
SPEAKER_01: And hopefully you'll see from Scripture that it is literally worship as we talk about.
SPEAKER_01: Now let me remind you as we uh before we get started and read in Philippians 4.
SPEAKER_01: Our theme verse from the book of Philippians is found in chapter 1, and we began and unpacked that early on in the study.
SPEAKER_01: And here's that verse, just to remind you again on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: Just one thing, Paul says, one thing.
SPEAKER_01: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the faith that comes from the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: One thing, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Well, here's what we'd like to talk about today.
SPEAKER_01: Since we're doing our church business meeting tonight, we've handed out the budget, we're taking care of all that.
SPEAKER_01: It begs the question, why do we do that?
SPEAKER_01: That's more than just uh we always did it that way.
SPEAKER_01: It's more than just uh the governance documents legally require us to have a budget or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: This is literally part and parcel of who we are.
SPEAKER_01: Giving to advance the gospel is living worthy of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Let me have one of those.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Dave.
SPEAKER_01: Just one.
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Giving to advance the gospel, which is why we give, that's what our budget is about, that's what tithing is about, and everything else, is living worthy of the gospel, as the theme was stated in this letter.
SPEAKER_01: Turn with me, if you will, to Philippians chapter 4 now.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive me for that.
SPEAKER_01: Philippians chapter 4, verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is working towards the conclusion of his letter here, and as he often does with a number of these churches, he thanks them for how they have given financially to his mission's work.
SPEAKER_01: So here's what the Bible says beginning in verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that once again you renewed your care for me.
SPEAKER_01: You were, in fact, concerned about me, but lacked the opportunity to show it.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: Well, we understand from Scripture that this church, as you unpack the book of Acts and everything else, when Paul showed up in the city of Philippi and he started planting this church, that this church began to give to his ministry and support him as a missionary.
SPEAKER_01: And historians tell us that this is well over ten years down the road now, and they are continuing to consistently give to his ministry.
SPEAKER_01: We also know from the book of Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, that they gave sacrificially to an offering that was sent back to Jerusalem to help the churches and the brothers and sisters in Christ back in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is a giving church.
SPEAKER_01: Now, they don't live in the days of PayPal and here, let me Venmo you that money, and you know, I can't keep track of Paul on Instagram and all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: So what he's saying is, because of the logistics of how the world worked back then, it was hard sometimes for them to find out where he was or what her needs were.
SPEAKER_01: Or it would take weeks, sometimes months, even for a letter to get from one place to another.
SPEAKER_01: And so they would send messengers back and forth, and Paul would move and somebody would chase him and have to find him and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: But over the course of that time, even at times when they could not necessarily find him or have a way to get him a gift, this church was consistently committed to giving to him as a missionary.
SPEAKER_01: You were in fact concerned about me, but lacked the opportunity to show it.
SPEAKER_01: I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I, Paul, am.
SPEAKER_01: I, Paul, know both how to have a little and I know how to have a lot.
SPEAKER_01: In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content, whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.
SPEAKER_01: I am able to do all things through Jesus, who strengthens me.
SPEAKER_01: Still, you, church at Philippi, did well by sharing with me in my hardship.
SPEAKER_01: And you, Philippians, know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.
SPEAKER_01: For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times.
SPEAKER_01: Not that I, Paul, seek the gift, but I, Paul, seek the prophet that is increasing to your account, speaking to the church.
SPEAKER_01: But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance.
SPEAKER_01: I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, he was the messenger that brought the gift to them.
SPEAKER_01: And that gift he describes as a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_01: And then he gives in them this encouragement, and my God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So there Paul talks very plainly about the giving and describes the level and nature and the manner of their giving.
SPEAKER_01: Paul did this often in a number of letters.
SPEAKER_01: In the book of Acts, it often describes offerings that came and men like Epaphroditus who brought those offerings, or offerings they took, like the one that the churches in a number of cities took and gave back to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: So what you see from these passages that just as we are challenged in every part of life to live a life worthy of the gospel, our giving to the church or through the church to advance the gospel is living worthy of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Now let me just show you a few truths that you pull from this part of the book of Philippians, of this letter right here.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, truth number one, gospel giving is honorable and it is worthy of appreciation.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is thanking the church in Philippi for their giving.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that once again you renewed your care for me.
SPEAKER_01: He says in verse 14, Still you did well by sharing with me in my hardship.
SPEAKER_01: He brags on them again and builds them up in verse 15 that they were the only church that shared with him in the matter of giving and receiving.
SPEAKER_01: And so he is saying thank you to the church.
SPEAKER_01: When we give, it is an honorable matter and it is worthy of appreciation.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you think about it, in the world out there, if you give to the University of Arkansas or to Arkansas State or wherever it is that you went, or you give to the hospital or whatever, you get all these thank you letters and you get all this stuff and they know who you are and they send you all these letters and they do all this stuff.
SPEAKER_01: In church life, we've created this situation where we're not allowed to know what anybody gives, and we have this whole big shroud of secrecy and all that happens around there.
SPEAKER_01: So I can't really step out and say thank you to you the way the hospital or the University of Arkansas or somebody else would when they're doing that, because that's just how we've created that.
SPEAKER_01: If I started sending letters and saying thank you and thank you, thank you, y'all would freak out and go, the pastor's checking all my tithing records and all that kind of stuff, right?
SPEAKER_01: I know how that works.
SPEAKER_01: There is one way that I do know how people give.
SPEAKER_01: I've preached on tithing many times, carried churches through that stewardship training, and usually here's what happens: somebody will come up and they'll buttonhole me in the hall and they'll start arguing with me about, well, how dare you know what everybody gives and all that kind of stuff?
SPEAKER_01: How dare you do that?
SPEAKER_01: How you do all you preachers care about, you know, you kind of do kind of do that stuff, and I'll say, listen, I don't know how much anybody else gives in the church, but I know how much you give now.
SPEAKER_01: You just you just voluntarily told me that uh you're trying to save money in your house and you don't think, you know, and all that.
SPEAKER_01: So we don't do that in church life for whatever reason, and that's the convention that we have.
SPEAKER_01: So this is a setting where I can stop, and right here, I can tell you as a church family, thank you for your faithful giving.
SPEAKER_01: There are many people in our church, we have an incredible core of people in our church, and many of them have been doing it for decades.
SPEAKER_01: You are giving sacrificially, and you show up every week, rain, sleet, snow, or shine.
SPEAKER_01: You are giving to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Your heart is to give to the Lord, and you show up and give scholarships for kids to go to camp and people to go on mission trips and everything else.
SPEAKER_01: We have an incredible core of people in our church who are faithful givers.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me as your pastor, as a brother in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I want to model what Paul did when he said thank you to the church, and I want to say thank you for giving.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for what you do.
SPEAKER_01: One of the reasons that we've done those things that we've started doing passing the plate, and we're sharing those ministries, is it's another way to say thank you for how you are making those ministries happen.
SPEAKER_01: Ministry does not happen without hands serving.
SPEAKER_01: It's not ministry if it's not covered in prayer.
SPEAKER_01: It may be good work, but prayer is what makes it ministry from the heart of God, empowered by Him.
SPEAKER_01: And ministry does not happen without giving and without giving sacrificially.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to say thank you, church family, for doing that.
SPEAKER_01: You do incredibly well.
SPEAKER_01: You are a blessing to the kingdom and the advance of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: You guys show up and you give faithfully.
SPEAKER_01: And there are a number of you who are in the core, you know who you are, Jesus knows who you are.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for your sacrificial giving.
SPEAKER_01: It is an honorable and worthy thing, and you deserve for us to say thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Just to our television folks and those watching online, uh, folks may not realize this, but but pretty much every month we get a number of checks and gifts that come in.
SPEAKER_01: We don't ask for those gifts.
SPEAKER_01: It is our privilege to give this broadcast out on the internet and on television.
SPEAKER_01: It is something that our church has given as a gift to the River Valley since the early 50s.
SPEAKER_01: We are one of the longest running churches broadcasting on television in the entire country.
SPEAKER_01: It is an incredible ministry that our church is given.
SPEAKER_01: So, our television audience, we love you.
SPEAKER_01: We do this for you, but I also want to say to you, thank you for when you send those gifts.
SPEAKER_01: We're not asking you to do that, but thank you for doing that.
SPEAKER_01: And we want to say thank you to do.
SPEAKER_01: It is our joy and our privilege to provide this to you, and we pray it is a blessing and an encouragement to you and to your family.
SPEAKER_01: And I know we have a lot of our homebound folks that watch us online or they watch us on the television broadcast.
SPEAKER_01: You are a faithful part of our church, and we love you, and we thank you for who you are.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to take a minute to say that.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible models it, Paul models it.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Truth number two.
SPEAKER_01: Truth number two, gospel giving is a never-ending long-term commitment.
SPEAKER_01: It's a never-ending long-term commitment.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we have moments in life where we give to something, like a building project or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: And we have started our faith forward giving, and we give once a year to that.
SPEAKER_01: But here's what happens: people are dying and going to hell every day.
SPEAKER_01: Our country desperately needs Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, again, whatever you thought about the elections and how all those things work, we live in a country today where people are fighting to destroy the lives of innocent babies.
SPEAKER_01: They are working to do that unfettered.
SPEAKER_01: They are working to do that by taking tax dollars to do it.
SPEAKER_01: They are, in effect, neutering children.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's things like that going on.
SPEAKER_01: We desperately need Jesus in our country.
SPEAKER_01: I love our country.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not being critical, but listen, we got to be clear, we desperately need Jesus in our country.
SPEAKER_01: And so the gospel mission never stops.
SPEAKER_01: It never stops.
SPEAKER_01: There are over five billion with a bee people on the planet that need Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And we have got to be involved as committedly as missions as we can.
SPEAKER_01: And so it is a never-ending long-term commitment.
SPEAKER_01: And so Paul makes it very clear to this church from the early days of the gospel when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 10, he says, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that once again you renewed your care for me.
SPEAKER_01: He is thanking them for the longevity of their commitment in giving.
SPEAKER_01: That since he has been a missionary, he has been supported by churches, and that giving has given the gospel advance so that he could spend his life doing that.
SPEAKER_01: And after he planted this church and went out as new believers, this church began to give.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, we will be doing this unapologetically until Jesus comes back.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, as we eagerly anticipate the return of Jesus, as it says in chapter 3, we need to keep doing more and more and more and as much as we can advance so that we can advance the gospel so more people go to heaven and less people go to hell.
SPEAKER_01: And so here he describes this as an ongoing, never-ending commitment.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Janet and I, just to share a testimony, you need to know that I'm not standing up here telling you something that we don't do.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: We are proud to tell you that from the time we were children, our parents were tithers and gave beyond the tithe, and they taught us to do that.
SPEAKER_01: I grew up going to church with those little white envelopes and quarters and dimes in there, and they they I never understood.
SPEAKER_01: If you get that envelope and it's got that little flat half circle on the back side, you know, and the nickels and dimes fall out of that.
SPEAKER_01: Why do you teach kids to tithe with a hole in the envelope?
SPEAKER_01: I don't understand that, right?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, I mean, that's how long we've been tithing that I remember all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01: We'd go to church and we'd have special times if the church was taking an offering, and they'd do things like give us a little bank that has a church house and it has a store and it has a bank.
SPEAKER_01: And our parents were teaching us biblical stewardship.
SPEAKER_01: Son, the first dime of every dollar goes in the church.
SPEAKER_01: The second dime of every dollar goes in the bank where you're saving what he later named the Addison Corporation.
SPEAKER_01: That's just your saving for retirement in the future and all that.
SPEAKER_01: And then he would put, you know, then the rest of it goes in the store, and that's where you can shop from and all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And then you got older, he said, you can't afford that car, son.
SPEAKER_01: You got to buy this kind of car because you don't have enough money in the store part of your bank.
SPEAKER_01: And he would teach us all the way through.
SPEAKER_01: They would teach us all those things.
SPEAKER_01: And in college, when I was working, I started learning to tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Janet and I made a commitment when we began our young married life that we were tithing.
SPEAKER_01: When I we got married on a Saturday, we moved to Knoxville, Tennessee on a Wednesday.
SPEAKER_01: I started law school ten days later.
SPEAKER_01: She was working for just a little over minimum wage.
SPEAKER_01: We were living in married student housing in a building that was built in the 40s.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we had cinder block walls and white hospital tile floors, and we were young married, and you know, Paul talking about uh I've learned when I'm hungry and when I'm being fed, I've learned whatever circumstances I am of being content.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you what, we were not content in that apartment.
SPEAKER_01: It was awful.
SPEAKER_01: But it's one of those young married stories we tell when we were young, right?
SPEAKER_01: But even from the beginning, we made a commitment to tithe.
SPEAKER_01: We tithe regularly, we've always tithed, and when we give sacrificially, when we do things like the Faith Forward offering, I want you to know we give offerings that are the size of multiples of our tithes on that as well.
SPEAKER_01: We do that because people are dying and going to hell every day.
SPEAKER_01: And our role as the church, not because I'm the pastor, but because we are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, is an ongoing commitment to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's what we do.
SPEAKER_01: We give, we go, we share, we pray, we serve.
SPEAKER_01: It's all part of it.
SPEAKER_01: It also, this is an interesting point here, it requires an understanding of commitment that is unique, especially in today's culture.
SPEAKER_01: He makes note of the fact this was not the first church that he planted in Philippi.
SPEAKER_01: But here's what he says: no other church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.
SPEAKER_01: Then when you get to 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and chapter 9, and they're discussing the need of the church in Corinth to meet their requirement to give, which they're not prepared to do, he praises this church.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, Listen, as one church gives, it encourages the other.
SPEAKER_01: And as one believer gives, it encourages the other.
SPEAKER_01: And he's bragging on this church, and what he's describing is a unique understanding of the importance of giving to the gospel, to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And we live in a culture today where it's kind of interesting, only about 15% of the people active in church actually tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what we mean by tithe is we use that word in a way that sometimes is used to describe consistent giving.
SPEAKER_01: The tithe, and I've preached on that before back in the spring, it means one tenth.
SPEAKER_01: And so when I say that Janet and I tithe, we give a tenth of our gross income, and then we start giving offerings above that.
SPEAKER_01: And we've done that from the time that we were making minimum wage as young married with me in school.
SPEAKER_01: Our parents taught us to do that, and we get that heritage from them.
SPEAKER_01: And so what I'm talking about is when I use the word tithe, 15% of the people in an average Bible-believing church tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what's also interesting.
SPEAKER_01: All the statisticians who study these things tell us between 35 and 40% of the people claim they tithe.
SPEAKER_01: I'd rather not give and not say I gave than to not give and say I gave, right?
SPEAKER_01: There's a verse in Ecclesiastes that describes the danger of that.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what it what it what you get is this church, Paul is saying, has a very unique understanding and commitment to sacrificial giving to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And in today's world, it is a unique understanding.
SPEAKER_01: Now we have a lot of people in our church, as I said in the first point, who tithe and give faithfully, and they are giving beyond the tithe and sacrificially.
SPEAKER_01: And again, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: We also have a lot of new believers.
SPEAKER_01: We have people that have been out of church coming back to church.
SPEAKER_01: We have people new in our church, and we have people that did not have the heritage or parents teaching them to do that.
SPEAKER_01: We have younger folks that are learning how to do that in real life now that they're figuring out all this adulting stuff and everything else.
SPEAKER_01: And that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: That is okay to learn.
SPEAKER_01: It's a growth process, it's a learning process.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what I want you to see, though.
SPEAKER_01: This is the call of Scripture and what is modeled by believers in Scripture to give faithfully and consistently throughout the entire experience of your life.
SPEAKER_01: And it is a unique thing to do that.
SPEAKER_01: People tell me all the time as a pastor, Pastor, we started tithing, and our family, they think we're crazy.
SPEAKER_01: Well, you are a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible calls us a peculiar people, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because we do things differently.
SPEAKER_01: But if you're saved by grace, if you understand that I was a sinner and I was on my way to hell, and there was nothing I could do about going to hell, and Jesus came down out of heaven and he lived a sinless life and he went to the cross, and there he took my sin on the cross and he died in my place so that his death could pay the price for my sins as a substitute for me.
SPEAKER_01: And then he rose again conquering death and sin to offer me salvation.
SPEAKER_01: How in the world can I not give him out of everything that I have because of what he gave for me?
SPEAKER_01: And then when I realize that my kids are going to die and go to hell and they need Jesus, and now my little grandbaby, he needs Jesus, and we've already started praying for him.
SPEAKER_01: And he's going to be raised in church.
SPEAKER_01: And that church needs to do everything it can do to make that the greatest children's ministry on the planet for my grandson who needs Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And I sure do not want my kids.
SPEAKER_01: Now, praise the Lord, they're in a good church.
SPEAKER_01: But I don't want my kids raising my grandson in some church where people don't care whether kids learn about Jesus or not.
SPEAKER_01: Or they go to a place where it's a dirty building or some other kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01: Man, if you want to know the heritage of our church and how much our church loves kids, you go down and look at our preschool area.
SPEAKER_01: It's incredible.
SPEAKER_01: Because people had a unique understanding and commitment of advancing the gospel, and they invested in our church in that fashion.
SPEAKER_01: But the rest of us have to have that unique understanding and commitment.
SPEAKER_01: And we've got to understand it is different.
SPEAKER_01: It is a different style of life when you are giving to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You grow into it and you learn it, but it is the direction that we are called to that is modeled in Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's the third tree.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the third tree.
SPEAKER_01: First, let me, I didn't, I'm glad that no, no, no, go back.
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad you reminded me of that screen.
SPEAKER_01: I missed it.
SPEAKER_01: I need to do that.
SPEAKER_01: How do we do this as a church?
SPEAKER_01: What is the structure of our giving?
SPEAKER_01: Because again, we've got new people.
SPEAKER_01: We're learning how to do this.
SPEAKER_01: So there's three ways that we give in our church primarily.
SPEAKER_01: The first is the tithes and the offerings.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the budget is tonight that operates the church.
SPEAKER_01: We set a budget, it sets the basic direction, the core functions, it funds those things on an ongoing basis.
SPEAKER_01: All of the tithes and offerings of our church are monitored by our finance committee, who is deeply involved in everything that goes on.
SPEAKER_01: They look at all the funds, they look at all the lines, they ask all the questions.
SPEAKER_01: I am grateful for our finance committee.
SPEAKER_01: They're incredible, they are engaged.
SPEAKER_01: I know some people have asked about the business administrator position and what are we doing as we're sorting through the end of the year to get through that.
SPEAKER_01: Our finance committee has stepped up their involvement with us.
SPEAKER_01: The chairman of the finance committee, we're very grateful for him.
SPEAKER_01: He comes in two or three times a week and helps us look over those things and works through those things with us.
SPEAKER_01: So all of those things are accountable, they're manageable, and they are process driven.
SPEAKER_01: Tonight, that's what the budget is, and it helps affirm that process.
SPEAKER_01: Tonight you'll also vote on the next round of committees.
SPEAKER_01: And our committees are working committees.
SPEAKER_01: They are highly involved, they are engaged in everything we do, and they are encouraged to do that.
SPEAKER_01: So that's the process of what this is about.
SPEAKER_01: But we operate the church.
SPEAKER_01: If we don't give, it makes it difficult to operate the church.
SPEAKER_01: When churches don't have a unique understanding and ongoing commitment like we talked about in the last time, what happens is it looks like this.
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of what it feels like doing ministry.
SPEAKER_01: Can I can I go out there or not?
SPEAKER_01: Is it gonna rain next week?
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna get behind, so I can't do that.
SPEAKER_01: That's the importance of the tithes.
SPEAKER_01: The tithes operate the church and they keep us flowing and they build the mechanisms that allow us to do mission trips and everything else, to do children and students and all of those things.
SPEAKER_01: And when that is a herky-jerky process, it creates herky-jerky ministry.
SPEAKER_01: We pull back from things, we remove things, we step back because we can't go.
SPEAKER_01: I heard a phrase this week.
SPEAKER_01: We will operate that at the speed of your generosity.
SPEAKER_01: I thought, that's pretty good.
SPEAKER_01: I'm stealing that.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all gonna hear that some more.
SPEAKER_01: After you function the church, then we have two times that we give very specific, planned, purposeful offerings.
SPEAKER_01: One are our missions offerings.
SPEAKER_01: Annie Armstrong at Easter, that goes to the North American Mission Board to plant churches, Dixie Jackson that we just took in September, that works with Arkansas Baptists to plant churches, disaster relief, those things we do here.
SPEAKER_01: And Christmas is the Lottie Moon Christmas offering.
SPEAKER_01: And so we are, those are very planned.
SPEAKER_01: They happen the same time every year.
SPEAKER_01: We try not to nickel and dime you with other stuff and always be begging for stuff and doing that.
SPEAKER_01: We try to structure it that allows your family to plan and allows you to teach your kids and your grandkids how we give in that.
SPEAKER_01: Lottie Moon this year, we're very excited about.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna do two things.
SPEAKER_01: The first is we have a family in our church, the Turner's.
SPEAKER_01: They have kids who are IMB missionaries, International Mission Board missionaries in Germany.
SPEAKER_01: And what Lottie Moon does is it goes to support people like them on the field.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're gonna introduce you to them and have a little bit of time where we're gonna get to know them and what they do to help us understand in a specific way Lotti Moon, but also so we understand that this is our church doing that.
SPEAKER_01: The second thing we're going to do is we have a longstanding relationship with an evangelist, Pastor Fred in Nigeria.
SPEAKER_01: He was here in the beginning of the year, and I interviewed him on stage and he prayed with us.
SPEAKER_01: We have a number of people involved to help connect the dots, what missions offering does, we're also going to give you the opportunity to participate in that ministry as well.
SPEAKER_01: What happens is, as Pastor Fred leads people to Christ and they plant churches, there is a discipleship program for new believers that they use called Mentoring Men for the Master.
SPEAKER_01: That was written by former pastor of our church, Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Bennett.
SPEAKER_01: And that ministry is around the world.
SPEAKER_01: It's in 28 countries.
SPEAKER_01: In Nigeria, where Pastor Fred is, we have people that support him and they go help, and we've sent trips before and things like that.
SPEAKER_01: They have had an explosion of that mentoring men for the master discipleship program.
SPEAKER_01: They have almost 24,000 men who are in that discipleship program.
SPEAKER_01: They're already saved, already committed, already attending, and they don't have Bibles.
SPEAKER_01: The only scripture they're able to get is from the preaching or from the sheet that they have that they're doing their discipleship homework, the scripture that's on there.
SPEAKER_01: They are 5,600 Bibles short.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're going to give you the opportunity to help buy some Bibles as you give your Lottie Moon.
SPEAKER_01: We'll talk some more about that, and it's very clear we're not going to damage Lottie.
SPEAKER_01: We did this last year with the Jesus film and the Dixie Jackson deal, and both those offerings went up.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's what we're going to do this year, and we'll talk more about as we move forward.
SPEAKER_01: And then finally, our Faith Forward offering, which as we move forward next year, will begin to help us do work at our Chaffee land and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: We'll talk some more about that tonight.
SPEAKER_01: We'll update you on the categories of those.
SPEAKER_01: But I wanted to make sure that we're all on the same page on how we structure our giving.
SPEAKER_01: Truth number three.
SPEAKER_01: Truth number three, giving is a matter of worship and it's a matter of faith.
SPEAKER_01: It's a matter of worship and a matter of faith.
SPEAKER_01: Look at what Paul says here in verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided, a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_01: What he says is very clearly that God received that offering as an act of worship.
SPEAKER_01: When we sing we're worshiping, when we obey a call on our lives that he places on us, we are worshiping.
SPEAKER_01: And when you give your tithe and your offering, you are worshiping.
SPEAKER_01: You are worshiping.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes that ought to give us a little pause.
SPEAKER_01: Is that good worship?
SPEAKER_01: If a tithe is there for me to say, thank you, Lord, for what you've provided in our lives and thank you for salvation, and I'm participating in the advance of the gospel, sometimes we have to evaluate did what I give was in an act of worship based on the status of my life and where we are as a family.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen, everybody gives differently.
SPEAKER_01: It's not the same amounts.
SPEAKER_01: There's not dues, you're not paying fees, it's not some kind of a deal like that.
SPEAKER_01: Every family's different, and everybody goes through situations and stages of life.
SPEAKER_01: And so the question is where you are in your family and where you are in your life, are you giving as an act of worship?
SPEAKER_01: And are you giving a worship gift to the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: That's what it is.
SPEAKER_01: Is our gifts, are they a fragrant offering pleasing to God?
SPEAKER_01: It's also a matter of faith.
SPEAKER_01: It is a matter of stepping out and giving, especially if this is new to you.
SPEAKER_01: Now it wasn't that hard for us to start tithing because our parents had taught us to tithe, and we had lived in a church that had a culture of tithing and giving.
SPEAKER_01: We'd been taught all that.
SPEAKER_01: And when we started giving, we had that minimum wage salary when Janet had her first job in Knoxville.
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it was 10%.
SPEAKER_01: It was so small, you couldn't even tell it was gone, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so what happens when we started?
SPEAKER_01: So then she got another job and got a good job, and we were already tithing, and uh, we got a raise.
SPEAKER_01: God blessed, and he gave us that, and so 10% of that, man, it felt like a blessing because we had a lot more money because she got a job that paid more.
SPEAKER_01: And then when I got out and got a job in law school, and we had two jobs, and we're tithing on that, it was great.
SPEAKER_01: There was no paradigm shift for us in life.
SPEAKER_01: We started that way, and it always continued that way, and we've always done it that way.
SPEAKER_01: And so it was just natural for us.
SPEAKER_01: If you're changing it, this is new for you.
SPEAKER_01: It's a step of faith, and we understand that.
SPEAKER_01: So nobody's arm twisting you or telling you you have to do this or that.
SPEAKER_01: What I'm going to encourage you to do is step out in faith.
SPEAKER_01: Realize if I'm going to give, he says in a moment that God will supply all my needs.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm going to step out in faith.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to do more than I'm giving now.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what that means.
SPEAKER_01: Pray about it.
SPEAKER_01: Ask the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: For most people, it's a journey.
SPEAKER_01: I step out and I give this, and God blessed, and I see a testimony, and he provides, and this happens.
SPEAKER_01: And then I give more.
SPEAKER_01: And so then I'm going to step out in faith and extend myself more.
SPEAKER_01: And God blesses that faith and he leaves that journey open for you.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't need our money, okay?
SPEAKER_01: He's growing us as believers.
SPEAKER_01: Look at what Paul says very clearly in verse 17.
SPEAKER_01: Not that I seek the gift.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's already said, look, if we're flush with cash, man, I'm content.
SPEAKER_01: If we're hungry, we're struggling, I'm content.
SPEAKER_01: I know God's going to provide.
SPEAKER_01: I can do all things through Christ, strengthens me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm good.
SPEAKER_01: So he says, listen, I'm not seeking your gift.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not a fundraiser.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a pastor.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to know the Lord and his blessings.
SPEAKER_01: And I want your faith to grow.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the ways that happens is when you step out in faith and you give a faith gift as an act of worship and not something that's just easy or you think is easy in your budget.
SPEAKER_01: Because Paul says, not that I seek the gift, but I, Paul, seek the prophet that is increasing to your account.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Listen, I want you to know God's favor and blessing.
SPEAKER_01: I want your faith to grow.
SPEAKER_01: And so Paul is bringing this up.
SPEAKER_01: He's talking about it.
SPEAKER_01: He's not backing away from it.
SPEAKER_01: He's clear in what it is.
SPEAKER_01: And he teaches it as a spiritual principle.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, Listen, I want you to do this because I want God to bless you for your faith journey.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to understand that God will supply.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to understand that you can do all things He puts in front of you through Christ who strengthens you.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, Listen, as a pastor, this is what I want for you as our people.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, I want you to know.
SPEAKER_01: I've had people over the last few months come up and say, Man, Pastor blesses, God bless us with this.
SPEAKER_01: Here, and they're excited and they're moved, and you can tell God's doing something in their life.
SPEAKER_01: I want everybody to have that.
SPEAKER_01: I want everybody to have that moment.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody to have that excitement in the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I want that to your account.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's why we talk about this and we don't hide from it and we put it out there because it's a spiritual matter.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to know God's favor and blessing.
SPEAKER_01: I want your faith to grow as you step out in faith.
SPEAKER_01: And just as he says it's a matter of faith, verse 19, my God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to see the final point.
SPEAKER_01: If giving is a matter of worship and a matter of faith, that's what God is trying to do in our lives, then God is going to bless you for that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to raise money like some guy on television or whatever kind of a deal, right?
SPEAKER_01: We've already just told everybody on television, you won't expect them to do anything.
SPEAKER_01: If I'm a fundraiser, I'm really bad at it, right?
SPEAKER_01: But here, Scripture makes clear, Paul says directly, it was pleasing to God when you gave.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, My God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory.
SPEAKER_01: God will bless you and God will provide for you.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says so.
SPEAKER_01: I remember one night I was watching television at home, and I think Grant was watching with me, and one of those guys on television, man, he does that thing, come put your hand on the television, and I'm gonna pray God's and this is gonna, you know.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, that's not what we're doing.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what Paul's doing.
SPEAKER_01: What he's saying is when you worship the Lord, if it's pleasing to the Lord, he's gonna bless you for it.
SPEAKER_01: You cannot write that out of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Malachi 3.10.
SPEAKER_01: He convicts the church in Israel in the Old Testament in the book of Malachi for all of their sins.
SPEAKER_01: And one of those, he says, You are robbing God.
SPEAKER_01: And they say, How are we robbing you?
SPEAKER_01: He says, Because you're withholding your tithes and offerings.
SPEAKER_01: And then God says, This bring all your tithes into the storehouse that there may be me in my house, and test me in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that you don't have room enough to receive.
SPEAKER_01: That is scripture, Malachi 3.10.
SPEAKER_01: Write the reverence down and go read it.
SPEAKER_01: If God is pleased, he will bless you, and if you step out in faith, he will provide.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the thing I want to close with.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to see that these are stated in superlatives.
SPEAKER_01: These are stated in superlatives.
SPEAKER_01: I am fully supplied, verse 18, for what you've received from Paphroditus.
SPEAKER_01: A fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Listen, when you give, it is a blessing to the Lord because he has seen your faith and he has felt your worship and he understands your passion to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: He understands your love for the church and your love for him.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is a missionary, and he says, Listen, God blesses.
SPEAKER_01: That is so pleasing to him, he will bless you.
SPEAKER_01: In 2 Corinthians, he says, God loves a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_01: You cannot write out of Scripture that God blesses you in all of who he is as a merciful, gracious, loving father.
SPEAKER_01: Because you have focused on him.
SPEAKER_01: You see, if we're just raising money, God's not going to bless that.
SPEAKER_01: If there's no faith involved, why is God going to bother with that?
SPEAKER_01: He's trying to help us grow in our faith, walk with him.
SPEAKER_01: But when we step out and worship him and worship him sacrificially, that's what he's trying to do in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Why is he not going to bless you for that?
SPEAKER_01: And then this step of faith, Pastor, I just don't know if I can do that.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I can, yeah, you can.
SPEAKER_01: How do you know that?
SPEAKER_01: You don't know my finances.
SPEAKER_01: I know what Scripture says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
SPEAKER_01: And then I can see the superlatives that God says, my God will, that's a promise, will supply all your needs.
SPEAKER_01: All your needs.
SPEAKER_01: According to his riches in glory.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've spent my life in church watching Southern Baptists try to save God money like he's going to run out somehow.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_01: Step out in faith and let God provide.
SPEAKER_01: Take a step and see what God does.
SPEAKER_01: It is God who said, Test me in this.
SPEAKER_01: That I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing room enough to receive it.
SPEAKER_01: Sit down with your budget.
SPEAKER_01: Find out what you can sacrifice for the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Find out what you can teach your kids so they learn this right.
SPEAKER_01: Find out what you can do in a worship setting to put yourself in a position, not foolish and risky.
SPEAKER_01: We're not talking about that.
SPEAKER_01: But we're talking about your faith journey and God speaking to you.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I can't do this and I can't do that.
SPEAKER_01: Well, you sure go buy that bass boat or that big old truck or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's a matter of priorities.
SPEAKER_01: You have nine different apps that you watch television on that are costing you 200 bucks a month.
SPEAKER_01: Really?
SPEAKER_01: But I can't.
SPEAKER_01: I can't.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna encourage you because I want you to know the all and the riches and the pleasing in your account.
SPEAKER_01: God will bless you.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we do this.
SPEAKER_01: So your faith can grow and God can work in your life.
SPEAKER_01: As we close this morning, I just want to reiterate this is all about the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus stepped out of heaven and died for you so that he could save you and transform you to be like him.
SPEAKER_01: If you know Christ as your Savior, I'm encouraging you, live worthy of the gospel, whatever that means in your situation.
SPEAKER_01: If you've never been saved, I want you to know that we all do all of this so that you can know that Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: And if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, in just a moment, I'm gonna pray.
SPEAKER_01: And then we're gonna stand and sing a testimony that Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: And if you need Jesus, I'm gonna invite you to come.
SPEAKER_01: I know we went a little bit over because of the prayer time, but we needed to do that, and we need to do this.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we thank you for salvation.
SPEAKER_01: And I thank you for Paul teaching us that lesson.
SPEAKER_01: I thank you again for the people in our church and the heritage of faithful giving.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to thank you in advance, Lord, for the people who are trying to learn this.
SPEAKER_01: Who are gonna listen to your word and they're gonna step out in faith, and they're gonna think about worship, and they're gonna they're gonna take this journey with you.
SPEAKER_01: And I am asking you as pastor, as Paul did for the pastor of the Philippians, God, uh put that to their account.
SPEAKER_01: Bless them with a sense of your guidance, of your speaking into their lives, and of your favor.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, use it as a faith classroom to work through what they're working through in life so they can deepen their trust in you and they can learn the truth of your supply and your strengthening.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that for them in that journey.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever that means, and in whatever person's life, you know, Lord, what you're doing for them and in their lives, and we trust you to that, and we leave that to your guidance and your pacing and your work.
SPEAKER_01: But I ask that you do that in their lives.
SPEAKER_01: And then, Lord, I ask there's someone this morning who needs to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe in some way that in the middle of this tithing and stuff, they see a reality and authenticity to people who really know that Jesus saves.
SPEAKER_01: And it'll draw them to you.
SPEAKER_01: Give us the freedom to respond today in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: And everybody said.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith First Baptist Church.