Join us this week as we focus on generosity in our Financial Gifts. The more I look at our what true discipleship looks like in the way of Jesus the more I am convinced that we will only grow when we learn how to financially give generously.
There are over 50 scriptures in the Bible that talk about generosity and 2,000 plus that talk about our finances and money. It was obviously an important issue for Jesus and his teachings. The inescapable conclusion is that how we deal with finances in general, and what we give in particular, is a big deal to God.
In Luke 21 Jesus tells us and his disciples here that giving is a measure of our spiritual growth as he describes the offering of this widow. There are other worshipers there that day. There are richer worshipers there. But while He sees what everyone else is doing – He focuses on this one woman.
So in his last week of life and teaching, I began asking myself this question: What is so important about this widow that Jesus would spend his last moments to show us? Join us for The Generous Life: Financial Gifts.
DYK?: In Luke 21 Jesus tells us and his disciples here that giving is a measure of our spiritual growth as he describes the offering of this widow. Jesus is now in Jerusalem for His final Passover and the final week of his life. And many scholars believe this was the last full day of teaching and questions that Jesus shared with disciples.
1 Looking up, Jesus saw rich people throwing their gifts into the collection box for the temple treasury.
Luke 21:1
PJ Point: God notices what we give or don’t give. When I put my donation in the plate, God knows exactly how much it is. God knows WHAT I’ve given but God also knows WHY I gave it.
The 10% or tithe or more we strive to give is the great equalizer no matter what we have according to Jesus’ math. The call is for equal sacrifice, not equal gifts.
DYK?: The Temple area was divided into 4 sections. It was in the “women’s court” that the Temple treasury was housed. Along the wall were 13 treasure boxes with mouths shaped like trumpets. And each of these treasure boxes had a specific function.
Scholars say several of the boxes were for mandatory temple offerings. Others for the ½ shekel Temple tax. There were a couple of boxes to help purchase wood and incense. And there was a box dedicated to offerings used to teach the children of poor families. It is thought that it was into this last box that the poor woman gave her gift.
PJ Point: She has been blessed with enough food for the day and now she wants to express her appreciation to God. She is a woman who is desperately and extravagantly in love with God and she wants to give a gift that shows God the depth of her love.And there is Jesus… watching her.
2 He also saw a poor widow throw in two small copper coins worth a penny.
Luke 21:2
PJ Point: God wasn’t interested in the size of the gift. Now, I want you to realize Jesus never questioned the motivation of the rich in their giving. He’s not belittling them for what they put in these boxes. He simply compared their gift to the gift of this poor widow. They gave out of the abundance of their wealth, they had a whole lot more where that came from but she gave all she had!
3 He said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than them all.
Luke 21:3
PJ Point: She gave because she loved God and was thankful. This woman did not have to give those two coins. I’d have understood if she had chosen not to do so. I think Jesus would have understood is she had not given them. It wasn’t required of her…she didn’t have to do it. Instead, she held on tightly to those coins and she rushed to the Temple and put them in the treasure box. She wanted to give the money to God because she loved Him and loved others.
You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.
~ Robert Louis Stevenson
PJ Pondering: God wants worshipers that deeply love, and give of their treasures, their time and their talents because they love. So this morning the question I want you to ask yourself is –what is the size of your heart? Could you give your last two coins? What do you give financially to God a why do you give it?
4 All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had to live on.”
Luke 21:4
PJ Point: God expects His people to be givers. Dr. McCord said I cannot think of a better definition of Christianity than that: give, give, give.I am convinced that unless you learn to give you can never learn to be fully human let alone fully Christian.
PJ Point:Give out of your Poverty Or a better word would be sacrificially. People who give sacrificially know where their money came from. People who give sacrificially know that they worked hard for what they take home, but they also know that God blessed them and provided for them. When you give sacrificially you are saying “Lord I want you to be God of my whole life, and my giving needs to reflect that.”
9 Happy are generous people,because they give some of their food to the poor.
Proverbs 22:9
PJ Point: Luke 6:38 tells us to Give Plentifully.
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good portion—packed down, firmly shaken, and overflowing—will fall into your lap. The portion you give will determine the portion you receive in return.”
Luke 6:38
24 Those who give generously receive more,but those who are stingy with what is appropriate will grow needy. 25 Generous persons will prosper;those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
Proverbs 11:24-25
PJ Point: But you shouldn’t give because you think you have to or God needs your money. Because that will always be true. Instead, you should give because you love God and you want to invest in God and the kingdom God has created.
7 Everyone should give whatever they have decided in their heart. They shouldn’t give with hesitation or because of pressure. God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
6 What I mean is this: the one who sows a small number of seeds will also reap a small crop, and the one who sows a generous amount of seeds will also reap a generous crop.
2 Corinthians 9:6
Final Point: Do you know how much more ministry we could do if we could make that increase? But more importantly, it is how generosity changes our lives and the lives of others.
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