SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Family Church's Sermon of the Week.
SPEAKER_00: We're so glad you're here.
SPEAKER_00: Each week we share a message from God's Word to encourage your heart, strengthen your faith, and help you grow in your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We hope this time blesses you and draws you closer to the heart of God.
SPEAKER_01: I promise you a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're we're talking about those things this month.
SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, we though there are four specific things.
SPEAKER_01: The first one was honor your parents.
SPEAKER_01: We talked about that last week on Mother's Day, and we we looked at Deuteronomy 5.16.
SPEAKER_01: It says, honor your father and mother as the Lord God commanded you.
SPEAKER_01: Then you will live a long, full life in the land and the Lord uh that the Lord your God is giving you.
SPEAKER_01: So there's a specific promise that comes with honoring your parents.
SPEAKER_01: All right?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we're the rest of this month, we're gonna talk about keeping the Sabbath.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna talk about fasting, and today we're gonna talk about tithing.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: And I know this is nobody's favorite topic.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody likes to hear a sermon on tithing.
SPEAKER_01: And and I got news for you.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know a single pastor that likes preaching on tithing.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And when I was in Florida, I was an assistant pastor in Florida.
SPEAKER_01: You know, we go to our our uh staff meeting and and uh we talk about what the service was gonna be about this, you know, the coming Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, if the pastor would say, Yeah, this week I'm preaching on tithing, the bookkeeper would always go, please don't.
SPEAKER_01: Please don't preach on tithing, because every time you talk about tithing, our giving goes down for weeks.
SPEAKER_01: You know, so so I don't know if it's like that in other churches.
SPEAKER_01: It's not like that here.
SPEAKER_01: I've preached on tithing before, and our offering does not go down.
SPEAKER_01: You are a generous church and we appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but but uh it's nobody's favorite topic.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody likes talking about this.
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I want to preface this by saying I have no idea what anybody gives in this church.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody, you know, and I don't ever want to know.
SPEAKER_01: I will never, I will never take the time to look at those records or never never ask for access to those records.
SPEAKER_01: I have no clue what anybody gives.
SPEAKER_01: And the only people that do are the people that count the money in our finance office.
SPEAKER_01: They, you know, they see it on a regular basis, but they've been told if you tell anybody what anybody gives, you'll be finding a new job.
SPEAKER_01: So that's we're very careful about that.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, so I'm just gonna explain to you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what the Bible says about tithing, and then what you do with this beyond that, it's between you and God.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you take it and and you you you decide what you're gonna do with this.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and if but if you choose to practice tithing, the scripture is very clear that God will bless you.
SPEAKER_01: There is a blessing that comes with tithing.
SPEAKER_01: And really, in general, just being generous is a blessing to the person who's being generous.
SPEAKER_01: You know, it is as much a blessing to the giver as it is to the receiver.
SPEAKER_01: Like, listen to these research findings about generosity.
SPEAKER_01: It says people who spend money on others are consistently happier than people who spend the same amount on themselves.
SPEAKER_01: They're happier because they're spending it on others.
SPEAKER_01: Um, financial generosity activates the pleasure and reward centers of your brain when you're generous.
SPEAKER_01: Charitable giving has been linked to lower stress, lower depression, and improved life satisfaction.
SPEAKER_01: And then researchers have even connected generosity to lower blood pressure.
SPEAKER_01: You got high blood pressure, be more generous, live a generous life.
SPEAKER_01: And and really, what it's saying is that modern psychology is just discovering through research what the Bible promised thousands of years ago.
SPEAKER_01: What God's Word has always said.
SPEAKER_01: They're finding that to be true.
SPEAKER_01: So generosity doesn't just merely help the receiver, it shapes the giver.
SPEAKER_01: It profoundly shapes the giver.
SPEAKER_01: There are more, you know, it's more than just about having the warm fuzzies.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I feel so good I was generous and I helped somebody out.
SPEAKER_01: It's more about it's more about that.
SPEAKER_01: Generosity can actually shape who you are, it can change who you are, change the way that you think.
SPEAKER_01: And this is why it's important that you teach your kids to be generous.
SPEAKER_01: You know, kids are not naturally generous.
SPEAKER_01: Have you noticed?
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: No, they're not naturally generous.
SPEAKER_01: You teach your kids to be generous.
SPEAKER_01: And when you do that, even teach them at a young age to tithe.
SPEAKER_01: You know, when I was a kid, my dad, and Melinda's dad did the same thing, taught us to tithe.
SPEAKER_01: You know, we had our the we went to similar churches, and uh, somebody, you know, somehow those churches were connected and they were selling these uh uh piggy banks, and they had three slots.
SPEAKER_01: One for saving, one for spending, and one for tithing.
SPEAKER_01: And so as I'd get my little bit of allowance, I'd I'd fill those slots and I'd have my tithe every week that I could take to church.
SPEAKER_01: You know, it was just it was you know a few dimes or something, but I throw it in the offering plate.
SPEAKER_01: But but that that didn't just teach me to give, that taught me what it meant to live a blessed life, because God promises a blessing with tithing.
SPEAKER_01: So teach your kids to be generous, even teach them the principle of tithing.
SPEAKER_01: And when you do that, you're teaching them to be blessed.
SPEAKER_01: You're teaching your kids this is what it looks like to be blessed.
SPEAKER_01: And when the Bible speaks of money and generosity, it reminds us over and over again that God blesses us when we're generous.
SPEAKER_01: You've probably heard verses like this.
SPEAKER_01: Acts 20, 35.
SPEAKER_01: It is more blessed to give than to receive.
SPEAKER_01: Proverbs 11, 25.
SPEAKER_01: The generous will prosper.
SPEAKER_01: 2 Corinthians 9, 7.
SPEAKER_01: God loves a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: We've heard that, we've heard verses like that our whole lives, that there is a blessing that comes with being generous.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you walk away with anything today, if you understand anything, understand this.
SPEAKER_01: Tithing is not about what God wants from you.
SPEAKER_01: It's not about what God wants from you, it's about what God has for you.
SPEAKER_01: Tithing is about what God has for you.
SPEAKER_01: It's not about giving enough money so that the church, you know, can pay its bills and make payroll.
SPEAKER_01: You know, that's all that's important.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: But that's not what tithing is about.
SPEAKER_01: Tithing is about the fact that God says, if you tithe, I promise you a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: And so I don't want you to, I don't want you to feel like I'm standing up here today saying, hey, I need you to increase your tithing or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: You know, that's that's awesome if you do, but that's not why I'm saying this.
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying it because God commands it and God promises a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: So this is a sermon that is more about obedience and trusting God and receiving a blessing for that obedience.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to look today at probably the most uh uh familiar passage on tithing, and it's uh from the book of Malachi.
SPEAKER_01: And really, these these verses, these verses communicate the heart of God when it comes to tithing.
SPEAKER_01: And Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: It's the last book in the Old Testament, and it was it was written.
SPEAKER_01: The prophet Malachi is speaking, saying, This is what God said, and then at the end of this book, God does not speak to any more prophets, he doesn't talk to anybody.
SPEAKER_01: For 400 years, he's silent.
SPEAKER_01: For 400 years.
SPEAKER_01: The next time he speaks is when he is talking uh about the birth of the Messiah, 400 years later.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So for 400 years, God is silent, and this is the last book uh of the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: And so, if you know, it if you know that you're not gonna see your kids for a long time, you know, or maybe this is the last time you're gonna see your kids, you're gonna say something that is very important.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna say things to them that that are the most important, that are gonna guide them through the rest of their life.
SPEAKER_01: That's what you're gonna say.
SPEAKER_01: And you're gonna say things that they're never gonna forget.
SPEAKER_01: I will never forget the last conversation I had with my mom before she passed.
SPEAKER_01: I will never forget it.
SPEAKER_01: She was in an assisted living, um, her health was rapidly declining.
SPEAKER_01: We knew you know it was only a matter of time.
SPEAKER_01: Hospice had been called in, and so I was sitting in this room, just my mom and me, we were sitting there and uh um we're talking, and and she goes, Now, John, I only have a few days left on this earth.
SPEAKER_01: So I want you to be honest with me.
SPEAKER_01: Do you color your hair?
SPEAKER_01: Like, no, I don't color my hair.
SPEAKER_01: You know, this is the last conversation I have with my mom.
SPEAKER_01: I don't color my hair.
SPEAKER_01: She goes, Well, your brother is only 19 months older than you and his hair is white.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Well, if I colored my hair, I'd color my beard too.
SPEAKER_01: I'd go for the whole thing.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't color my hair.
SPEAKER_01: And she goes, Well, I just needed to know before I die.
SPEAKER_01: So that was the last conversation I had with, that was the last conversation I had with my mom.
SPEAKER_01: I have another brother that's eight years older than me.
SPEAKER_01: He still has a full head of brown hair.
SPEAKER_01: And I told him that one time, he goes, Yeah, she told me the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: You know, so she just wanted to know, do you color your hair?
SPEAKER_01: So it's not a very important conversation, not a life-changing conversation, but I will never forget that conversation.
SPEAKER_01: And the last thing that God said to the children of Israel, it was it there were four things in that conversation.
SPEAKER_01: He talked about worship, he talked about marriage, he talked about the coming Messiah, and he talked about tithing.
SPEAKER_01: So that's that's how important this conversation is.
SPEAKER_01: It was the last thing God talked about.
SPEAKER_01: It was among the last things God talked about with the nation of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: And and it wasn't it wasn't a list of things that you know were in the law or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: It was it was a list of things that were important, a list of things that that demonstrates a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: Things that honor God.
SPEAKER_01: And he included tithing in that list.
SPEAKER_01: So look at Malachi 3, starting in verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: It says this I am the Lord and I do not change.
SPEAKER_01: That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, God reminded them a thousand years before, said if you don't obey me, if you if you turn to idols, if you stop worshiping me, other countries are gonna come in, they're gonna invade, they're gonna take over, they're gonna carry you off to another land.
SPEAKER_01: All of that happened, and God still restored them.
SPEAKER_01: God was merciful and God restored them as a nation.
SPEAKER_01: And and but but here they are again after all that, after God restored them and they're disobeying, they're worshiping idols again.
SPEAKER_01: And says, ever since, verse 7, ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them.
SPEAKER_01: Now return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of heaven's armies.
SPEAKER_01: If you repent, I'll be there for you.
SPEAKER_01: Just repent, return to me, and I'll return to you.
SPEAKER_01: But you ask, how can we return to you if you've never if we've never gone away?
SPEAKER_01: So they're like little kids that just got caught doing something.
SPEAKER_01: Like, well, what did I do?
SPEAKER_01: So so so God tells them what they did.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Should people cheat God?
SPEAKER_01: Because you've cheated me.
SPEAKER_01: But you ask, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: When did we ever cheat you?
SPEAKER_01: You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.
SPEAKER_01: You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.
SPEAKER_01: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple.
SPEAKER_01: If you do, says the Lord of Heaven's armies, I will open the windows of heaven for you.
SPEAKER_01: I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in.
SPEAKER_01: Try it, put me to the test.
SPEAKER_01: Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard uh guard them from insects and disease.
SPEAKER_01: Your grapes will not uh fall from the vine before they are ripe, says the Lord of Heaven's armies.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So let's kind of pick this apart.
SPEAKER_01: The first thing it says is tithe.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't talk, it doesn't just say be generous, it doesn't just say give, it says tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Tithe is a tenth.
SPEAKER_01: It's a tenth.
SPEAKER_01: The word, the Hebrew word is uh ma'asir, and it means uh a tenth part.
SPEAKER_01: So when God is talking about tithing, it is literally a tenth.
SPEAKER_01: And and it's the it that word is only used in the Bible when it's talking about money or or profit or product.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so so if you make money, you give a tenth of that back to God.
SPEAKER_01: If you grow 10 bushels of corn, you give one bushel back to God.
SPEAKER_01: If your herd of cows produces a hundred more cows, you give ten cows back to God.
SPEAKER_01: Now, obviously, that's that's a reflection of the culture of that day, so please don't put any cows in our offering box.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Our culture obviously is, you know, we we all get paid with with money, money in the bank or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Um so that's what it's that's that's what it reflects.
SPEAKER_01: Even if you raise cows, you sell those cows, and so it's talking about a tenth of our income.
SPEAKER_01: Um and over the years I have heard people say, well, you know, I don't I don't tithe for my money.
SPEAKER_01: I I give God a tenth of my time.
SPEAKER_01: I tithe on my time.
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's fine.
SPEAKER_01: You know, that that's great.
SPEAKER_01: And I appreciate anyone who says that, I appreciate their their willingness to tithe a tenth of their time, but in reality, God wants a hundred percent of your time.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't want a tenth of your time.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't ask for a tenth of your time, he asks for 100% of your time.
SPEAKER_01: He asks for 100% of your effort.
SPEAKER_01: Look at 1 Corinthians 10.31.
SPEAKER_01: Don't look at it, it's not in your notes and it's not on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: But 1 Corinthians 10.31 says, Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01: Everything you do, every moment of every day, everything you do is to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01: So God's not saying I want 10% of your effort.
SPEAKER_01: He's not saying I want 10% of your time.
SPEAKER_01: He wants 100% of those.
SPEAKER_01: And it's also important to remember that it's not your money anyway.
SPEAKER_01: You know, whatever you've got in your bank account, whatever, you know, what's in your wallet, whatever's in there, it doesn't, it doesn't belong to you anyway.
SPEAKER_01: King David said this in a prayer in 1 Chronicles 29, 14.
SPEAKER_01: Also, this is not in your notes or on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: But who am I?
SPEAKER_01: You can tell I was doing this last minute.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but who am I, and but who am I and who are my people that we could give anything to you.
SPEAKER_01: Everything uh we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us.
SPEAKER_01: Everything we have belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: So this is not a bad deal when you think about it.
SPEAKER_01: You know?
SPEAKER_01: God is saying, I'm gonna let you, I'm I'm gonna give you what I want you to have.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give that to you.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna let you have total control over 90% of everything that I give you.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just gonna ask you, as an act of worship, to give 10% back to me.
SPEAKER_01: That's not a bad deal.
SPEAKER_01: And it's the only thing that he asks for that kind of a portion.
SPEAKER_01: You know, everything else, it's 100%.
SPEAKER_01: I want 100% of your life, I want 100% of your attention, I want 100% of your your uh uh effort, I want 100% of your time.
SPEAKER_01: And when it comes to uh money, it's because it all belongs to God, it's important that we think of stewardship instead of ownership.
SPEAKER_01: We are we are stewards of God's money that he has allowed us to have.
SPEAKER_01: It's stewardship, not ownership.
SPEAKER_01: Next, tithing teaches.
SPEAKER_01: Tithing is a tenth, and tithing teaches.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Deuteronomy 14, 23.
SPEAKER_01: It says, bring this tithe to the designated place of worship, the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored, and eat it there in his presence.
SPEAKER_01: This applies to your tithes of uh grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds.
SPEAKER_01: Doing this teaches you to always fear your God.
SPEAKER_01: Tithing teaches, that's part of God's intention, is that God teaches us through the act of tithing.
SPEAKER_01: Anytime uh you act in obedience to God, it teaches you to trust God.
SPEAKER_01: And when you trust God, it strengthens your faith.
SPEAKER_01: So tithing teaches you to have a stronger faith.
SPEAKER_01: And specifically, it says you will learn to fear the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Now, fear of God, fearing the Lord, is not living in terror because at any moment God might strike you down because you made a mistake.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what the fear of the Lord is.
SPEAKER_01: Fear of the Lord is uh uh knowing that we are so completely loved and cared for and redeemed that the thought of disappointing God causes us to fear, knowing there's consequences to our actions.
SPEAKER_01: And we don't want to disappoint.
SPEAKER_01: We don't want to disappoint God.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the fear of God looks like.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like with your father, you know, you you you you're you're not afraid of your father.
SPEAKER_01: I was never afraid of my father, but I didn't want to disappoint my father.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and I knew there were consequences for my actions, but that didn't cause me to fear him.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what the fear of the Lord looks like.
SPEAKER_01: And and you're going to fear something in your life.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna fear something in your life.
SPEAKER_01: So let me ask you, would you would you rather fear bill collectors or fear God?
SPEAKER_01: You know, you're gonna fear something, and only one of those two choices, and I'm not saying ignore your bills and ignore bill collectors.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, you need to pay your bills, but if you're gonna fear something, I would choose to fear God, and only one of those comes with eternal consequences.
SPEAKER_01: Fearing God is the only one of those two that comes with eternal consequences, and those those consequences are a right relationship with God for eternity.
SPEAKER_01: So you can choose, are you gonna fear man or are you gonna fear God?
SPEAKER_01: And if you tithe, you're gonna learn to fear God.
SPEAKER_01: Third thing, tithing is timeless.
SPEAKER_01: Tithing is timeless.
SPEAKER_01: There's a reason that that passage we just read, starting with verse 6, starts the conversation with the words, I never change.
SPEAKER_01: God never changes, nothing about him changes.
SPEAKER_01: And there is a common perception uh uh concerning tithing that the Old Testament, the that tithing in the Old Testament was a tax that was part of the Levitical law.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Some people would refer to tithing as a tax, but but that doesn't measure up to the biblical standard for these reasons.
SPEAKER_01: First, tithing predates the law.
SPEAKER_01: Before the law ever existed, tithing was talked about.
SPEAKER_01: In Genesis 14, Abraham meets this guy named Melchizedek.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and Melchizedek is described as first a priest of the most high God, the king of Salem.
SPEAKER_01: Salem is Hebrew for peace, so he is the king of peace.
SPEAKER_01: Who else do we know by that name?
SPEAKER_01: Uh it says he gave Abraham bread and wine.
SPEAKER_01: Bread and wine are representations of Jesus' broken body and his shed blood.
SPEAKER_01: The name Melchizedek means king of justice.
SPEAKER_01: And Hebrews 7, 3 says that there is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors, that Melchizedek has no beginning or end, as in Alpha and Omega.
SPEAKER_01: It says that he remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01: Resembling the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01: And that word resembling means to make a facsimile, to create a facsimile of something.
SPEAKER_01: The word so obviously, this is more than just just some dude, some normal dude.
SPEAKER_01: There's something special about him.
SPEAKER_01: And most conservative scholars believe that Melchizedek is actually a pre-incarnate visitation of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That Christ came to earth to bless Abraham, to very specifically bless Abraham.
SPEAKER_01: And it's right after that that God delivers the covenant to Abraham that promises the coming of the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: And so, so look at what Abraham did.
SPEAKER_01: Genesis 14, uh 20.
SPEAKER_01: It says, And blessed be the God most high, who has defeated your enemies for you.
SPEAKER_01: Then Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had received.
SPEAKER_01: Abraham blessed the preincarnate Christ with a tithe.
SPEAKER_01: 430 years before Moses received the law of God, Abraham was offering a tithe to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So it predates the law.
SPEAKER_01: And Deuteronomy 14 describes a very specific tithe that was collected at a specific time of year.
SPEAKER_01: And the tithes, you know, the tithes were collected, uh, and it says that they were taken to the storehouse of the tabernacle, and that the the Levites, the priests, lived off of that.
SPEAKER_01: They lived off of what was in the storehouses because they were not alone, allowed to own land, they were not allowed to possess wealth, they were just committed to serving God, so they lived off of what was in the storehouses, and also the needs of people were met through what was in the storehouses.
SPEAKER_01: But but one time each year, the tithe was was used for a special purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_01: When the Lord your God blesses you, this is uh Deuteronomy 14, 20, 24 through 26, when the Lord your God blesses you with a good harvest, a place at the place of worship he chooses for his name uh to be honored might be too far for you to bring the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: So if you if you may sell you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds, put the money in a pouch, and go to the place where the Lord your God has chosen.
SPEAKER_01: When you arrive, you may use the money, you may use the tithe to buy any kind of food you want, cattle, sheep, goats, wine, or other alcoholic drink, then then feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and celebrate with your household.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Does anybody's tax dollars work like that, where you get to take your tax dollars to the IRS and show the IRS and they say, great, go buy yourself a nice meal.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody?
SPEAKER_01: I want I want to know what form you're filling out, if that's what your taxes look like.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so obviously, this is not a tax.
SPEAKER_01: The tithe was not exclusively used just to keep the lights on at the tabernacle.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, the tithe, the tithe was used as a blessing to the people, and they there was a certain time each year where they could use their tithe money to bless themselves, to celebrate what God had done at the harvest.
SPEAKER_01: So this is not a tax, obviously, not a tax.
SPEAKER_01: Um and Jesus spoke.
SPEAKER_01: Well, we already read in Malachi 3 that tithing was among the last things that God said to the children of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: He did not list it with a bunch of laws, he listed it with things that honor God.
SPEAKER_01: And then uh then Jesus also talked about tithing very briefly, but he mentions tithing.
SPEAKER_01: He was chiding the Pharisees pretending for pretending to.
SPEAKER_01: Love God and going through the motions of loving God, but not actually loving loving people.
SPEAKER_01: You know, they didn't they didn't demonstrate the mercy and justice that the scripture demands.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 23, 23, Jesus is talking, he says, What sorrow awaits you teachers of the religious uh law and you Pharisees, hypocrites?
SPEAKER_01: For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb garden.
SPEAKER_01: So, like they walk out and they're cooking dinner, and they walk out and they grab they grab five little basil leaves to add to their thing, and they tear one basil leaf in half and put that in the offer plate.
SPEAKER_01: That's what that's what that's saying.
SPEAKER_01: So you're careful to do that, but you're forgetting everything else.
SPEAKER_01: You're uh you're but I but you ignore the more important aspects of the law, justice, mercy, faith.
SPEAKER_01: You should tithe, yes, Jesus says, but do not neglect the more important things.
SPEAKER_01: So even Jesus said recognizes tithing as more than just part of the law.
SPEAKER_01: So to say that tithing was a tax commanded by the law really falls short of the biblical description of tithing.
SPEAKER_01: And and of everything we are told to do in scripture, tithing is the only thing God says, put me to the test.
SPEAKER_01: Put me to the test.
SPEAKER_01: Tithing is a test.
SPEAKER_01: Look again in uh Malachi 3.10.
SPEAKER_01: We read this a minute ago.
SPEAKER_01: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple if you do, says the Lord of heaven's armies.
SPEAKER_01: I will open the windows of heaven for you, I will pour out a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: So great, you won't have enough room to take it in.
SPEAKER_01: Try it, put me to the test.
SPEAKER_01: That's the only time God uses those words.
SPEAKER_01: Try it, put me to the test.
SPEAKER_01: The only time he says that.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and it's because tithing isn't about giving, it's about obedience and trusting God and putting God first.
SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna put God first in your life, you have to put him first with your finances, too.
SPEAKER_01: So here's the challenge this morning.
SPEAKER_01: The challenge comes straight from scripture.
SPEAKER_01: We just read it.
SPEAKER_01: Put God to the test.
SPEAKER_01: Try it.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and and again, I'm not doing this because we're desperate for money.
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm not doing this because you know, we don't know if we're gonna pay our bills.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's a comfortable.
SPEAKER_01: We're good.
SPEAKER_01: You're a generous church, we're good.
SPEAKER_01: But if you're not in the practice of tithing, I want to challenge you to do that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna challenge you to do that so that you understand what it means to be blessed by God.
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, and let me just say, this is not a sermon about sowing seeds of faith or prosperity gospel or anything like that.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I I've been in churches where pastors will say, if you don't give, God's not gonna bless you.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't, if you don't give to this ministry and you've seen it on TV and you've seen, you've heard it, if you don't give to this ministry, God's not gonna bless you.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't work like that.
SPEAKER_01: God's gonna bless you if he wants to bless you.
SPEAKER_01: You know, he blesses a lot of people that don't deserve it.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, who really deserves God's blessing?
SPEAKER_01: But he blesses us whether we're whether we're generous or not.
SPEAKER_01: He blesses us for being obedient, he blesses us for for for growing and having a strong faith.
SPEAKER_01: God's gonna bless who he's gonna bless.
SPEAKER_01: That's just the truth of the matter.
SPEAKER_01: But with this, he promises you will be blessed.
SPEAKER_01: Put me to the test.
SPEAKER_01: So this is not about, you know, I'm not telling you if you don't give, God's not gonna bless you.
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna bless you.
SPEAKER_01: He just does.
SPEAKER_01: But he promises an extra blessing if you take that step any time.
SPEAKER_01: So here's here's my challenge for you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: First pray about it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, talk to God.
SPEAKER_01: Go back and read these scriptures, talk to God about it and pray.
SPEAKER_01: If you're married, pray together about it.
SPEAKER_01: Include your kids.
SPEAKER_01: If you have kids, include your kids in that conversation.
SPEAKER_01: Now, they don't they don't get to vote on this and say, no, I don't think we should tithe or yes, I think we should tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Because your your family is not a democracy, your family's a benevolent dictatorship.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, mom and dad, you are in charge.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, but but include your kids on this because as you walk down this road and you take your kids with you, your kids are gonna see, wow, God, God made good on his promise.
SPEAKER_01: He blessed us.
SPEAKER_01: You know, teach your kids to do this in the process.
SPEAKER_01: While you're learning to do it, teach your kids to do it as well.
SPEAKER_01: Then choose a length of time.
unknown: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Don't just say we're gonna try this and see what happens.
SPEAKER_01: You know, just go ahead and say, okay, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it one time.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna give a tenth one time, or we're gonna give it for a month, or we're gonna give it for three months, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Just choose a time and say, we're gonna try this.
SPEAKER_01: And then at the end of that time, I want you to look back and see if God made good on his promise.
SPEAKER_01: And and and I shouldn't even say if.
SPEAKER_01: I should say look back and see that God made good on his promise.
SPEAKER_01: Because he already promised that he would.
SPEAKER_01: He already promised that he would bless you.
SPEAKER_01: So choose a length of time.
SPEAKER_01: Be accountable to someone.
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, if you're if you're uh uh married, you can be accountable to each other.
SPEAKER_01: Um but but be accountable to someone else, someone else that you trust and say, hey, we're we're gonna we're gonna try this and we just need you to pray for us.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and and you're welcome to kind of encourage us if we need it.
SPEAKER_01: You know, but be accountable to somebody.
SPEAKER_01: Um, write it down as you're going through that process.
SPEAKER_01: Every time God blesses you, write it down.
SPEAKER_01: Make a record of it.
SPEAKER_01: Every time God blesses you.
SPEAKER_01: And afterwards, be ready to share your story.
SPEAKER_01: You know, let let your let friends, let family know, let your church know.
SPEAKER_01: You know, God made good on his promise.
SPEAKER_01: God said he would bless us, and he did.
SPEAKER_01: God blessed us.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and I and and it's easy to stand up here and tell you this is what God's word says, but you know what, what is what is the the the evidence of this is changed lives.
SPEAKER_01: You know, it was one of the greatest evidence of everything God says is transformed lives.
SPEAKER_01: And when you share your story about how your life was changed through through testing God, putting him to the test when it comes to tithing, you share that story.
SPEAKER_01: And so you might ask, John, does this really work?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: I told you, Melan and I were both brought up in homes that taught tithing.
SPEAKER_01: We both had the little bank, we you know, we learned to do that at a very young age, and God has always been faithful to us.
SPEAKER_01: And I could tell you story after story after story of how when when our finances were not what we needed to for whatever reason, God came through.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I think I've said before, between the two of us, we've owned 19 cars.
SPEAKER_01: We've owned 19 cars.
SPEAKER_01: We've only had to pay out of pocket for five of those.
SPEAKER_01: God blessed us with the rest of them.
SPEAKER_01: I remember we had been married uh two years, um, Melinda was pregnant with Haley, and uh we had decided we're going to have Melinda stay at home, and we were both Christian school teachers, so so it was hard enough with one with two salaries, one salary as a Christian school teacher, it would be like impossible to live on.
SPEAKER_01: And so the year before uh Haley came, um the last year that Melinda was teaching, uh, the church that I was attending, that eventually I became one of the pastors of that church years later, but the church we were attending came to me and said, John, our our youth, youth, our student pastor just resigned.
SPEAKER_01: Um, would you be willing to fill in for him maybe up to a year until we can find someone to take his place?
SPEAKER_01: I said, Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: Thinking I'm volunteering for doing this.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, yeah, I'll help out, whatever you needed me to do.
SPEAKER_01: So they they invited me to lunch, said, okay, here's the requirements of this job, and then they slid the piece of paper across the table and said, Here's what we're gonna pay you.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, pay you?
SPEAKER_01: So you know, I didn't pick the paper up.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, okay, you know, I didn't I didn't expect that.
SPEAKER_01: And so they paid me for the time that I put in for one year.
SPEAKER_01: I committed to one year.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of that year, Melinda stopped working and we went back and did the math.
SPEAKER_01: What they paid us that year paid our mortgage almost to the dollar the next year, the first year that Melinda was staying at home.
SPEAKER_01: God blessed us.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and it and it's not, you know, it's not that every time, you know, we we put our tithe in the offering plate, I know we don't pass offering plates, but it's not that every time we we do our tithe, that an extra special blessing comes.
SPEAKER_01: And he's not making us wealthy, but we've never been without.
SPEAKER_01: And God has always blessed us above and beyond.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you one more story.
SPEAKER_01: Um this was when I was in college, and it was my fourth, no, my third year at the college in Atlanta.
SPEAKER_01: That year, at the end of that year, the college closed down right before my senior year.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: That was very helpful.
SPEAKER_01: But uh I got a letter from the college the summer before that.
SPEAKER_01: It said, all tuition has to be paid in full.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't have it, I didn't know they were gonna do that.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I was on a payment plan before that, and I had enough money to pay you know what was required for a down payment, and and they said, No, you you have to pay in full or you can't enroll for the semester.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, well, I'm going anyway, because I know this is where God wants me, so I'm just gonna go anyway.
SPEAKER_01: So the day of registration, I I uh get up and I just stop and I say, God, I you know, I kind of need a miracle right now if I'm gonna go to school here, because I don't have the money, and they're I'm gonna get up to the thing.
SPEAKER_01: If they say if I don't have the money, they're gonna say, sorry, you can't you can't be enrolled.
SPEAKER_01: So I prayed, I walked out of the dorm, and and I'll I I was on a partial scholarship at that point, I'll say that.
SPEAKER_01: So so half my tuition was paid through a scholarship that had just been started that summer after I got that letter, found out that I got that scholarship.
SPEAKER_01: I was the student body vice president, and that year they said we're gonna scholarship, partial scholarship, the student body officers.
SPEAKER_01: So half my half of the cost was covered.
SPEAKER_01: So I walk out of the dorm, I go and I get in line, and as as I'm as I'm walking over there, one of the professors who was head of the uh uh work study program came up to me and says, Hey, I have a I have a manager position I need filled.
SPEAKER_01: I was wondering if you'd be interested.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: What do I have to do?
SPEAKER_01: He said, All you have to do is walk around every night about about uh quarter to 12 and uh make sure the cleaning teams did their job.
SPEAKER_01: Take about 15 minutes a night.
SPEAKER_01: What's it pay?
SPEAKER_01: Half your tuition or a fourth of your tuition.
SPEAKER_01: So now I'm like at three-fourths covered.
SPEAKER_01: All I had to do is walk around every night for 15 minutes.
SPEAKER_01: Then I get in line and uh I'm I'm going through the line, getting ready to get up to the front, trying to think of, you know, what am I gonna say to make them, you know, just turn on the charm.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they'll let me in even though I don't have the money.
SPEAKER_01: But uh a new professor walks over, he's actually the head of the music department, I was a music major, introduces himself and we start talking, and he goes, hey, you know, I have a I have a concert ministry on the side.
SPEAKER_01: I go to churches and play, uh do concerts.
SPEAKER_01: Would would you be interested in like helping me book those concerts?
SPEAKER_01: I said, Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: And he goes, he goes, yeah, I'll I'll pay you this much to uh to book those concerts, and it was it was enough to cover the rest.
SPEAKER_01: And then he goes, I'll also give you 10% of what I make on on cassette tape sales.
SPEAKER_01: That's somewhere between LPs and CDs.
SPEAKER_01: So so so uh that was my spending money too.
SPEAKER_01: Everything was covered in a matter of 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_01: Everything was covered, and and it's not because I did anything to deserve it, it's not because it's not because God had some special blessing on my life.
SPEAKER_01: I was just faithful.
SPEAKER_01: And I look back and think, it's because it's because God said, I'm gonna bless you if you tithe.
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, if you ask me, does it really work from my perspective?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: And then some.
SPEAKER_01: So the challenge is just give it a try.
SPEAKER_01: And and I'm not gonna know if you try.
SPEAKER_01: You know, we used to do a 90-day tithe challenge, and you know, I would know who signed up for it, but you know, and but we're not gonna do that now.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying we'll never do that again, but we're not gonna do it now.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just challenging you, try it, just give it a shot.
SPEAKER_01: And and if if you you know, you decide we're gonna do this for a month, we're gonna do this for two months, and at the end of those months, you know, you look back and go, wow, God did not bless me.
SPEAKER_01: God didn't keep his promise, fine.
SPEAKER_01: But if you look back and see, wow, God, God is faithful, God kept that promise.
SPEAKER_01: What's that gonna do to your faith in him?
SPEAKER_01: What is that gonna do to your ability to trust him in every other area?
SPEAKER_01: If you could trust him with 10% of your income, that's a that's a lot, you know.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I'll be you know, fit you know, putting that in the computer, you know, or used to be writing a check or whatever, now you're filling in the computer.
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking at that thinking, that's a car payment.
SPEAKER_01: You know, that's a car payment.
SPEAKER_01: That's a lot of money.
SPEAKER_01: But if you take that step, God is gonna prove Himself faithful over and over again.
SPEAKER_01: Let me have every head bowed and every eye closed.
SPEAKER_01: This is kind of an odd sermon to give an invitation on, so I'm not gonna ask anybody to raise their hand and commit to taking this challenge or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna pray for you and and and God knows your heart, you know, you know, uh you've heard the truth, you've heard the testimony, and and I'm just gonna leave you with that challenge.
SPEAKER_01: But if you are here today and and you know, maybe you're visiting or whatever, and you've never accepted Jesus as your Savior, you've never started a relationship with him, it's gotta begin there.
SPEAKER_01: Has to start there.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and and you can you you you you might be here thinking, you know, I don't know if I'm gonna go to heaven, I don't know if I'm good enough, I don't know if I deserve it.
SPEAKER_01: Well, the answer is you don't, neither do I, nobody does.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why Jesus had to come.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus hung on a cross, died a brutal death, was buried, and rose again on the third day, so that you can have eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: And if you accept him as your savior, you you are guaranteed nothing will change that that you have that eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: And you will spend eternity in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're here today and you've never accepted Jesus as your savior, it's just a matter of telling him that you put your trust in him and just say, God, thank you for sending Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, thank you for uh his death, burial, and resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: And today I put my faith in him for my salvation, and I put my trust in his shed blood on the cross for the forgiveness of my sin.
SPEAKER_01: And today I ask you to forgive me of my sin.
SPEAKER_01: And I ask you to save me.
SPEAKER_01: And if you just prayed that, again, it's that simple.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus did the hard part.
SPEAKER_01: We just have to acknowledge and accept.
SPEAKER_01: So if you just prayed that, you just asked Christ in your heart, would you lift your hand for me?
SPEAKER_01: Let me see, because I want to pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: All right, God, thank you so much for your love for us.
SPEAKER_01: God, thank you for everyone in this room that has accepted you as their Savior.
SPEAKER_01: God, I pray that you would just continue to be very real to us.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, reveal yourself to us through your Holy Spirit that we will experience your love.
SPEAKER_01: God, Ephesians 3 says we should, you know, Paul's praying, I want you to experience the love of Christ, the unmeasurable love of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The matchless love of Christ, the endless love of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We want you to experience that.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray that you would help us to grow every day so that we know what it means to be that loved.
SPEAKER_01: And God, I pray for anyone in here that that needs to take that step to just test you, like, like you've said, put you to the test when it comes to tithing.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray that you'd give them courage, I pray that you'd give them wisdom, and Lord, we just thank you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not even going to pray that you would bless them because you already said you would.
SPEAKER_01: So, Lord, I just pray that they would walk away from this knowing I serve a God that keeps his promises and I can trust him, and I can grow to be more like his son.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we ask all this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to Family Church's Sermon of the Week.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message encouraged you and helped you grow in your faith.
SPEAKER_00: If it blessed you, share it with a friend and follow so you never miss a new episode.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more about Family Church at myfamilychurch.com.
SPEAKER_00: If you are in the area, join us on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: We meet at Patriot High School 10504 Kittle Run Drive.