Why Give Offerings
There is an old story I heard about a pastor who was trying to encourage
his flock to give generously, so he decided to give them an analogy
to make his point. He said to them....
This
church, or any church, is like a child. After it's born; as it
develops; first it's got to crawl. This church has got to crawl”
And
being a Pentecostal church the congregation yelled back, “Let
it crawl Rev. Let it crawl!“
The
pastor continued. “After it's crawled this church has got to
walk. This church has to walk.
And
the congregation yelled back, “Let it walk Rev. Let it walk!“
Thinking
it was all going well the Pastor said, “And after it's walked
this church has to run. This church has got to run!”
And the congregation yelled back. “Let it run Rev. Let it run!”
And
the pastor said, “For this church to run it's going to take
money!”
And
the congregation yelled back. “Let it crawl Rev. Let it crawl!”
That's
worldly, carnal, thinking! God's church though has to be swift in
bringing the good news of salvation to the world. It also has to run
to bring aid to our congregations and others in the world who may be
facing hardships, trials and persecution.
Now
there is a gnostic idea that piety means poverty and that God's
people shouldn't have money. But if that were so we could not help
others in far flung parts of the world who need the provision of
material things as they recover from disaster.
We
as a church support our brethren in other parts of the world. We
provide help for others not in the church also, where relief is
needed. Jesus did not just help Jews and we do not selfishly only
look after our own or look just to ourselves and say “I'm all
right!” No, we believe we are blessed to be a blessing.
2
Cor 9:8 And God is able to make all grace (divine
favour)
abound to you, so that having all sufficiency, in all things, at all
times, you may abound in every good work.
It's
not just in material things of course. It's in spiritual things as
well. The Lord's model prayer says, “Thy kingdom come”.
but, in
Roman's 14:17 we are told that the kingdom of God is righteousness,
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Holy
Spirit is the most precious blessing or gift that God has given us;
Himself. And if you have received Holy Spirit then righteousness,
peace and joy are gifts which come with Him.
Thus,
for us the kingdom of God has come, and we are to pass it on to
others through preaching the gospel and doing the other good works
that God has called us to do.
Every day we may find opportunities to give of these spiritual gifts to
people and of course the Church is able to help people in need through
the tithes and offerings that Church members give to it.
Because of these funds we collectively can be
like Joseph and put by something in store to help others out in times
of physical need.
I
started on a humorous note so I'll end on one also!
The
scriptures tell us that God loves a cheerful giver, so we want God to see big
smiles whenever you put your offering in the basket at any Church.
Do
you know that in some churches the congregation sings as they give
their offering?
And as you live to please God, may the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you always.
Amen.
Attlee.
|