GIVING
GIVING - TIME
Each week has 168 hours. How much of that time do we dedicate to God? Focus now on only the time we spend meeting with other Christians in scheduled services. Of course, we have to see this as only the “beginning point” of how much time we spend or SHOULD spend serving God.
If we attend Sunday morning Bible study, Sunday worship service and Wednesday night Bible study, 3 hours total, we dedicate a “whopping” 1.8% of our time to God. At best, a very skimpy and meager minimum. If that’s the total time we have for God, it’s pretty pathetic.
If we attend both services on Sunday but skip Wednesday Bible study, we’re only offering about 1.2% of our time to God. If THAT’S our total time allocated to serving God, it’s even more pathetic.
But, if the worship service on Sunday is the only time we have available for God, that amounts to about .5% - one half of one percent of the time we have each week. If THAT’S all the time we have for God, it’s ABYSMAL !!.
Attending services (only) clearly isn’t enough time for us to give to God and His work but it provides an indicator of how important God is to us - an indicator every one can see. We’re all examples one way or another so this is something we should give thought to.
Each of us will stand before God someday and be judged. With the time we’ve found for Him during this life can we expect God to see us as worthy to spend eternity with Him? Will we be able to convince Him that the time we were willing to give to Him each week demonstrated a love for God?
GIVING - MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS
Giving is a commandment just as confessing, repenting and being baptized are commandments. When we give, we’re obeying a commandment and making an offering to God. We’re not giving to the church - we’re giving to God.
Individuals giving of their means is the ONLY source of income for supporting God’s work found in the New Testament. God is interested in what is in a person’s heart. He doesn’t need money because everything in the world is already His. Thus, we don’t raise funds by having raffles or bingo games or car washes or yard sales, or by badgering people to drop in a few more coins by repeatedly passing the collection plate. Funding comes from our giving and that is something each of us does as a part of worship in a willing, purposeful manner.
Contributed funds are used by the church to advance the cause of God - to spread the Gospel. As we use these funds we adhere strictly to methods and patterns found in God's word.