Committed to Christ – Financial
Sycamore Creek Church
March 30/31, 2014
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

We’re three weeks away from Easter.  Are you excited?  Did you hear that we’ll be 1 church celebrating Easter on 2 days in 3 locations and 4 services?  1 – 2 – 3 – 4!  We’re striving to reach a goal of touching more people with the power of the resurrection than we ever have before.  We’ve prayerfully set a goal of 350 people in worship this Easter.

This past week I was asked why we’re trying to reach 350 people in Easter.  Here’s my answer: Because our mission is to ignite authentic life in Christ.  Because hearts that are made up of fertile soil multiply (see last week’s message).  Because Jesus gave us the great commission (see Matthew 28:19-20).  Because people are hurting and need Jesus’ healing.  Because people are far from God and need Jesus.  Because following Jesus means not keeping it to yourself.  That’s why we’re seeking to reach 350 people this Easter.  It’s our mission!

Next week we’re going to go even deeper into the question of Why as we explore a commitment to witness.  This week as we continue this series, Committed to Christ, we’re looking at our commitments to give financially.

There are a lot of different people in the room when it comes to giving:

1. Those who are not ready to give.
2. Those who would like to give but are so deep in debt that they can’t see a way to give.
3. Those who give occasionally from what’s in their wallet or purse.
4. Those who give regularly when they’re in worship.
5. Those who give regularly whether they’re in worship or not.
6. Those who give the full tithe.
7. Those who give extravagantly.

In February we took an anonymous survey about your giving.  We had seventy surveys turned in.  Here are the results.  Five people answered that they do not give financially.

Forty-one answered about the amount that they give weekly to the General Fund and the average amount of the forty-one people was $56/week.  Twelve people answered that they give to the Building Fund and the average was $39/week.  Seven people answered that they give to missions and the average was $17/week.  Twenty people answered the question about what percentage of their income they gave and the average was 11%.  That’s really intriguing, isn’t it?  We’ll talk more about that in a moment.

Today I want to explore four commitments to giving, and I want to encourage you to take a further step of commitment in your giving.

1. Give

 It may seem too obvious to say, but the first commitment of giving is to…well, give.  Paul, the first missionary of the church and the author of the most books in the Bible said this about giving in a letter to a church he founded at Corinth:

You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT

Each person must decide how much to give.  It’s part of following Jesus.  Someone else can’t do it for you.  You must decide yourself to take the initial step and give.  Some of you do not give financially to the church, and God may be calling you today to take an initial step of commitment today to simply give.

Why don’t people give to the church?  The Barna Group is a religious research group and several years ago they put out a study titled “Why People Do Not Give More” (Source). While the study was about giving more, I think it is also applicable to why people don’t give in the first place.  There were four reasons.  Two were the responsibility of the church.  One was a shared responsibility between the church and the individual.  The fourth reason was the responsibility of each individual.  Let’s look at these four reasons.

1. “The church has failed to provide a compelling vision for how the money will make a difference in the world…They withhold money from the church because they do not see a sufficient return on their investment.”

This is the responsibility of the church leadership, especially the pastor.  So since it’s our, even my, responsibility, let me tell you what difference your giving makes.  It makes a difference in missions to our community and world.  Your giving makes all these things possible.  On a regular basis we have 5-10 people/month who serve dinner and make friends at Maplewood women and children’s center.  5-10 people/quarter serve coffee and make friends at Open Door Ministries downtown.  Last year 3887 personal items were collected for Compassion Closet.  5-10 people/quarter socialize and make friends at Holt Senior Care.  20-30 people help out with the North Elementary community garden twice a year.  3-5 people volunteer at Recycle Rama two times a year.  We tithed 10%  of our capital campaign funds to foreign and local missions which has amounted to $33,000 over three years or $11,000/year.  Since the birth of our church we have given to missions a total of $153,478.52 or $11,806/year.  Wow!  Because you give we are making a huge dent in the needs of our community and world and sharing God’s compassion with many many people.

So what about our church?  What difference does your giving make in our own church.  Once a month I host Pizza with the Pastor for new people in our church.  Last week we had five people on Sunday and six people on Monday.  That’s just one month.  I’m currently teaching Christianity 101, a baptism preparation small group, and we have four people attending on Sundays and five on Mondays.  Last year at Baptism @ The Beach we baptized six people, three adults and three kids as well as had four adults reaffirm their faith.  Authentic life in Christ is being ignited in new people and they are connecting with God and others, growing the character of Christ, and serving the church, community, and world.  Your giving makes this possible.

What about the people we’re reaching weekly in worship?  Last year at this time we had an average weekend attendance of 194 which included thirty-four kids and eight youth.  This year (if you throw out the one really bad weekend we had the first week of January when the snowpocalypse shut everything down in Lansing) we have an average weekend attendance of 199 which includes thirty-seven kids and twelve youth.  That’s an increase of 2%.  Four times this year our Monday night Church in a Diner has been our biggest service.  In 2013 we saw a 22% growth in average weekend attendance because of our Monday night Church in a Diner.  This creative worship service has had a bigger impact than just in Lansing.  Jeremy, Gretchen, and I recently led a worship with 150 leaders in Saginaw about Church in a Diner.  Our model for ministry is influencing dozens of other churches.  Our big vision is to have seven satellites in seven venues on seven days of the week.  7 – 7 – 7.  This Easter we’re seeking to be one church on two days in three locations and four services.  1 – 2 – 3 – 4.  We are doing more and reaching more people than we’ve ever done or reached on a shoestring budget.  Your giving makes all this happen!

I find our reach compelling.  I find our ministry compelling.  I hope it is compelling to you too.  I hope you see that what you give has a huge return in people touched and lives changed!

2.  “[Some] people … do not realize the church needs their money to be effective. Their church has done an      inadequate job of asking for money, so people remain oblivious to the church’s expectations and potential.

Just as a baseline let me share with you that the critical items (payroll and rent and utilities) in our budget to reach the people we reach and do the ministry that we do  requires that we receive $4400/week in the offering.  The survey that I shared with you earlier represents $2200/week.  Our critical items in the budget to keep doing what we’re doing requires two times the amount represented in that survey.

One thing worth noting about our giving and our growth.  We are reaching many new people, and it takes time for new people to raise their commitments to giving.  That’s because it takes time to build trust and for new people to see what those who have been around for a long time already know, giving to Sycamore Creek Church is a worthwhile and trustworthy investment.

3.  “[Others] are ignorant of what the Bible teaches about our responsibility to apply God’s resources in ways that affect lives.”

This reason for not giving is a joint responsibility.  It’s both the leadership’s responsibility to teach what the Bible says about giving, and it’s each person’s responsibility to study the Bible on their own and in small groups.  It’s my hope that today we’ll increase your knowledge about what the Bible teaches on money and giving.

4.  “The final category contains those who are just selfish. They figure they worked hard for their money and it’s theirs to use as they please. Their priorities revolve around their personal needs and desires.”

 The first three reasons about not giving had some responsibility of the church leadership.  This reason must be owned by each one of us.  If we’re to grow in our discipleship we must realize that our money is not our own and act in a way that is consistent with that truth.  But more on that in a moment.  So the first commitment to giving is simply to give.

 2.     Give cheerfully

 The second commitment to give is to give cheerfully.  Back to Paul:

You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT

I’ve got to admit that I have a hard time with this.  I know I’m the pastor, and I’m supposed to be happy to give money away, but sometimes I have to check my own attitude.  This past Christmas season we were walking into Kroger when Micah saw and heard the Salvation Army bell ringer.  Apparently Micah had seen my wife, Sarah, give to the Salvation Army at some other trip to the grocery, and he asked me if we were going to give.  I had not planned on giving anything, but I thought, “I’m the pastor.  I’m his dad.  I’m supposed to help him learn to give.  So I guess I’ll give a little just to make the point.”  So we went over to the bell ringer and I gave Micah a quarter to put in the bucket.  As we were standing there and I was fumbling to get the quarter out and give it to Micah, someone else came by and handed Micah a $5 bill to put in the bucket.  Oh, come on!  Seriously?  I’m reluctantly and half-heartedly giving my son a quarter to teach him something about giving and someone else comes by and hands him a $5 bill to put in the bucket?  OK, God.  I give up.  So I gave Micah some hard cash and let him cheerfully give with a big smile.  At least one of us was giving cheerfully that day.

Do we give only when we feel like it?  Is that what Paul is saying?  Are we only to give when we can give cheerfully?  No.  We’re to always give and to seek to have a cheerful heart when we do.  The second commitment to giving is to give cheerfully.

3.     Give Generously

The third commitment to give is to give generously.

Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head.  Some of those at the table were indignant. “Why waste such expensive perfume?” they asked.
Mark 14:3-4 NLT

The woman in this story gave “expensive perfume” that the people who were with Jesus thought was wasteful.  They had better business plans for how to use that asset.  But Jesus was impressed with her generosity.

The Bible has a basic standard of giving set at 10%.  It is the baseline commitment to giving.  This 10% is called a tithe which literally means 10%.  The basic idea here is that God gives you 100% of what you have and asks you to give back 10%.  10% may seem like a lot to most of you, but it all depends on how you frame it.  Consider this video:

 

That puts it all in a different perspective, right? God gives you 100% and lets you keep 90%.  10% seems like a pretty good deal, doesn’t it?  But remember, 10% is the baseline.  It’s the minimum biblical standard.  I think most of the Bible actually encourages us to give even more by living simply and giving generously, even radically.  That means more than 10%.  Back to our survey results.

Twenty people answered the question about what percentage of their income they gave and the average was 11%.  That’s because of those twenty, seven people who took the survey give over 10%.  The highest percentage was 15%.  And these seven extravagant givers weren’t all at the top of the salary scale.  I was humbled to read the amounts they were giving that made up 10-15%.  We have several who are “widows” giving “mites” (see Mark 12:41-44).  Most of us think we need to be making a lot of money before we can tithe.  But that’s not really how it works.  It is unlikely that you will be faithful with much if you have not been faithful with little.  By many accounts, John D. Rockefeller is the richest man who ever walked the face of the earth.  He was also a devout Christian.  He liked to say, “I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.”

The third commitment to give is to give generously.

4.     Give regularly

The fourth commitment to give is to give regularly.  Let’s look at some more instruction that Paul gave to the church at Corinth:

On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.
1 Corinthians 6:2 NLT

Paul’s basic idea here is that at the beginning of the week when you get paid, set aside your tithe for God.  Every week.  Whether you’re able to make it to worship or not.  Whether you’re in town or not.  Whether you’re on vacation or not.  You pay your mortgage payment whether you’re on vacation or not.  Why do you skip giving to God?  The IRS understands human nature.  At first they allowed you to save up your tax and pay it at the end of the year, but in 1943 they got smart.  They realized that no one had the self-discipline to save their money and give it all at the end of the year.  So they began withholding your taxes from your paycheck.  While you don’t have to give to the IRS cheerfully, you do have to give regularly.  Is the IRS greater than God?

So here’s what I’d suggest you do.  Give when you get paid, whenever that is.  The best way to do this is to automate the whole process.  I have automated almost everything in my financial life.  I pay very little attention to it.  I pay my mortgage and most other bills with my online bill pay.  Many of you pay your bills with electronic fund transfer.  I recently read a book titled The Automatic Millionaire.  The basic thesis of the book was this: if you want to grow your wealth, have money automatically deducted from your paycheck and put into a retirement investment.  That’s all there was to the book.  Automate it.  If it works with becoming a millionaire, then it will also work with your giving to God.  Sarah and I have automated our giving through our online bill pay so that immediately after I get paid, a check is sent to the church.  Many of you give through electronic fund transfer (EFT).  This winter has been pretty tough at times on attendance.  It would have been even harder on the church if we didn’t have people faithfully giving through EFT.  Give regularly and the easiest way to give regularly is to automate it.

John Wesley, a mentor of mine from afar through his writings, said this about money: “Money never stays with me.  It would burn me if it did.  I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it should find its way into my heart.”  He knew that where your money is, there your heart will be also.  Give regularly so that your heart is regularly with God.

You’ve heard me talk about giving today, but I’d like you to hear from Susan Kelley and her husband, Jason.  Susan works with the money behind the scenes at SCC.  She does our books, sends out financial statements, and is the office manager.  She not only organizes our money, but she and Jason also give, give cheerfully, give generously, and give regularly.  Here is Susan and Jason:

 

 

Commitment

I don’t know what level your commitment has been, but I know what level my commitment has been.  Today we are all invited to take one step in a new commitment.

Are you ready to grow one or more steps in your giving?

No, I am (we are) not ready to commit at this time.
Yes, I am (we are) ready to give for the first time.
Yes, I am (we are) ready to give regularly.
Yes, I am (we are) ready to give regularly from the “first fruits.”
Yes, I am (we are) ready to take the four-month tithe (10%) challenge.
Yes, I am (we are) ready to commit to tithing (10%) from this point on.
Yes, I am (we are) ready to be extravagant givers (over 10%).
Yes, I am (we are) ready to give automatically through Electronic Fund Transfer
Giving will be a priority in my (our) life, growing to include the following:

Giving will be the greatest joy in life. If I miss a week, I (we) will give twice as much the next week to keep faith with this commitment. I (we) will move closer to tithing (giving 10%) each year. The check to the church will be the first one I (we) write each month.

$ ____________ every week/month/quarter/year for an annual total of $ ____________ to the General Fund.

$ ____________ every week/month/quarter/year for an annual total of $ ____________ to Dr. Mir in Nicaragua.

$ ____________ every week/month/quarter/year for an annual total of $ ____________ to the Capital Campaign.

Name: __________________________________________ Date___________________