Principles for Giving - PowerPoint Presentation

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Principles for Giving

Studies in 1 Corinthians Series

[41]

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

May 17, 2015

Pastor Paul K. KimSlide3

1 CORINTHIANS:

A LETTER

TO THE

TROUBLED CHURCH CONCERNING TRUE SPIRITUALITY

1

Corinthians 1-6:

Replies to the reports of Chloe’s

household.

Divisions in the church (1:10-13) & Worldly

wisdom (1:17-2:16

)

Spiritual immaturity (3:1-4

) & Doubts of Paul’s apostleship (4:1-7)

Incest in the church (5:1-13

)

Lawsuits

between believers (6:1-8)

Sexual immorality (6:15-

20)

1

Corinthians 7-16:

Replies to the letter from the church

.

Singleness,

marriage & divorce

(7:1-40)

Meat offered to

Idols (

8:1-13

)

Head coverings in worship (

11:1-17

) & The

Lord’s Supper (11:20-

34)

Spiritual gifts (12:1-14:40)

Resurrection

of the dead (15:1-58)

Collection for the Jerusalem church in need (16:1-3

)Slide4

THE CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE

OF

THE COLLECTION [1 COR. 16:1-14]

THE NEED: Because of the famine, and persecution, many Jewish Christians in Jerusalem became devastatingly poor; one of Paul’s goals in his missionary journeys was to urge the Gentiles churches to give to their need

.

THE SIGNIFICANCE:

Paul’s reasons

for this collection were...

To

encourage

giving to help other

churches/believers

in

need.

To bring

greater

unity among the Jewish and Gentile churches

(i.e., legitimacy

of Gentile believers

as ONE

family of

God in Christ

)

.

To urge the Gentile churches

to share generously for a spiritual

debt owed to their “mother church” in Jerusalem (Rom. 15:27)

.

To

make a testimony to the unsaved world—especially to the unbelieving

Jews (Isaiah 66:18-21).Slide5

WHAT PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES FOR G

IVING

CAN

WE DRAW FROM THIS PASSAGE?

1)

Giving is to be

done by EVERY believer in Christ.

1

 Now concerning the collection for the saints:

as I directed the churches of Galatia, so

you also

are to do.

2

 On the first day of every week,

each of you

is to put

something aside and store it up. (vs. 1-2a)

Giving is a crucial element of acknowledging God as the owner and giver of everything we have.

A

ll

Christ’s local

churches—

in

Galatia, Corinth, and

also California—ought

to

give.

Every believer—including older kids, the retired, the unemployed, and the poor as well as the rich—should give to the Lord. Slide6

WHAT PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES FOR G

IVING

CAN

WE DRAW FROM THIS PASSAGE?

2

)

Giving is to be

done regularly.

1

 Now concerning the collection for the saints:

as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.

2

On the first day of every week

, each of you is to put

something aside and store it up. (vs. 1-2a)

“

The

first day of every

week"

is the

New Testament’s

expression for Lord’s Day (Sunday) when

E

arly Christians

gathered to worship weekly.

The

biblical pattern

is to give REGULARLY as a rhythm of life.

Giving is a part of worship to

God—

not just with lips but also with hearts

because

where our treasure is,

there our hearts will be

as

well (Luke 12:34).Slide7

WHAT PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES FOR G

IVING

CAN

WE DRAW FROM THIS PASSAGE?

3)

Giving is to be

done deliberately and willingly.

2

On the first day of every week, each

of you is to

put something aside

and store it up, 

as he may prosper, so that there will be

no collecting when I come

.  (v. 2

)

9

 Honor the Lord with your wealth

 and with the firstfruits of all your produce.

Proverbs 3:9

Giving is to be done NOT as a reaction to an emotional plea or external pressure.

Rather,

we are to give

willingly

and voluntarily.

Willingness moves us to be deliberate—i.e., p

reparedness and

thoughtful plan

are required

for giving.Slide8

WHAT PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES FOR G

IVING

CAN

WE DRAW FROM THIS PASSAGE?

4

)

Giving is to be

done proportionally and

cheerfully.

2

On the first day of every week, each of you is to

put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper

, 

so that there will be no collecting when I come.  (v. 2)

6

 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly

will

also

reap

sparingly, and whoever sows

bountifully

 will also reap bountifully. 

7

 Each one must give as he has

decided

in his heart, not reluctantly

or

under compulsion

,

for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:

6-7

To put something aside regularly is to give proportionally.

The OT prescribes 10% of all

income (tithe);

the NT is silent

about tithing but

urges to give

generously

and

cheerfully

.

Hence, tithing is a good place to start

to begin and practice “grace giving”

of the

New Testament teaching.Slide9

The

tithe is a way to get us started on the

path

of Christian giving

. It is not the finish line of giving,

but only the starting blocks.

Tithing is the training wheels

of giving. 

Steady bicyclists no longer need training

wheels,

but

wobbly bicyclists do. If they don’t have training wheels

they won’t learn to ride. Likewise, most people

who

never learn to tithe

never

really learn to give.

Obviously

, we need those training wheels!

Randy

AlcornSlide10

WHAT PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES FOR G

IVING

CAN

WE DRAW FROM THIS PASSAGE?

5)

Giving is to be

handled with

accountability and

integrity.

 3

 And when I arrive, I will send

 those whom

you accredit by letter

to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

4

 If it seems advisable that

I should go also,

they will accompany me. (vs. 3-4)

Paul was intentionally releasing the delivery duty for the collection. Why?

It was for

integrity.

To handle all giving with integrity requires an

intentional/preventive plan

and accountability.

Hence, we are to also follow the critical principle of accountability and integrity in all financial

matters

as a local church.Slide11

THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS

FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

In what ways are you more convinced of the truth that giving is a tangible part of true spirituality?

What would it mean for you to live out the principle of giving deliberately and willingly?

What would it mean for you to live out the

principle

of giving

proportionally and cheerfully

? Slide12