The Need for Christians to have More Money is Not a Bad Thing
DATE: 10 Apr, 2005 PM PLACE: BBC Ballincollig
I. Introduction (1Tim 6:17-19)
A. It is not wrong to be rich
B. It is not wrong to even be filthy rich
C. It is not right to be poor – Jesus did NOT say, “Blessed are the poor” as if to say God is pleased with poverty!
D. It is wrong when a Christian is at either extreme
1. So poor they can’t even pay attention
2. So rich they can’t be bothered with the simple Christian life
E. Too many Christians never see the need for money as actually a good thing – a God-given motivation to GET more money so that they can meet more needs
F. Getting more money than you currently get is not an easy task – but the process is worth going through, and the benefits are eternal – that is, if you want more money for the right things!
II. Message
A. Turn Everything Over To God (Acts 17:23-25)
1. Everything you have came from God - It already belonged to God
a. The cows on a thousand hills
b. And the hills themselves
2. And then YOU came along, and claimed that YOU were some great one – right! Humans have a way of seeing something and naming it after themselves!
a. Mt Everest – named after Sir George Everest in 1865 ,the British surveyor-general of India. Had only been known as Peak 15
b. The “Nagle” mountains
c. Etc.
3. Take the time, even right now, to write down all the things and people that you consider belong to YOU, and one-by-one, turn them back over to God
a. Your money
b. Your children
c. Your husband
d. Your wife
e. Your health
f. Your mind
g. Your hands
h. Your abilities
i. Your time
j. Your job
k. Your possessions
l. Your future
4. Give it all back to God – completely, and totally
B. Accept Stewardship of all those items now (Ex 7:1)
1. Moses needed to accept the task of leading and caring for this nation of slaves – he would become steward of a million and a half people!
2. When you lose ownership, and become steward, you are deciding to not amass an empire anymore, but simply to glorify your Lord with whatever He gives you – however small or great!
3. Accept your real calling – no longer the owner of everything and everyone in your life, but as manager, caretaker, overseer, steward of all of those things
4. Tell God you accept:
a. The task of raising the children God has lent you – all for HIM
b. The responsibility of using your money for HIS kingdom (Mt 6:33)
c. Your new role as careful administrator of all the tools at your disposal: your time, your abilities, your job, your health, and so on!
5. NOW God can give you as much as HE wants and as much as you can be responsible for.
C. Tithe the First Ten Percent (Mal 3:10) – it is called, putting God first!
1. Always tithe – period!
2. Even when you don’t have a job!
3. People are given money all the time – birthdays, Christmas, pocket-money, etc. Honour the Lord with tithing from that money
4. It Shows Obedience – God commanded it, so that settles it
5. It Shows Respect – we yield to God’s ways of doing things, even when it doesn’t make sense
6. It Allows for God’s Blessings – promised by God.
7. If you withhold from God what belongs to Him, it indicates that ownership hasn’t been transferred. Give Him the freedom to work unobstructed on behalf of your finances – you want Him to FIX them don’t you?
8. What is the tithe? (Prov 3:9,10)
a. Every increase is every time you are paid or get money
b. It is the firstfruits your pay with – i.e., the first bill you pay
c. No other way to do it! If you wait to tithe you’ll run out of money
D. Work (Eph 4:28; Acts 18:1-3)
1. Study hard at your school-work so that you CAN get a good job
2. Then get a job – doesn’t matter how hard the job may be, or how low paying – just get to WORK! And stay at it!
3. Work hard to earn respect by your boss, and your fellow employees
4. Focus on doing something that will:
a. Allow you to be off on Sundays for church
b. Allow you to spend adequate time with your family
c. Enable you to pay your bills AND save for the future
d. Be worthwhile learning from, so you can change to a better job later
e. There is nothing wrong with wanting to move up, and expand your abilities – learn new ways of doing things! Just never at the expense of your Lord, or your testimony
5. There are many Careers/Trades in the Bible
a. Paul the apostle was a tent-maker by trade
b. Jesus was a carpenter
c. Peter a fisherman
d. Luke was a doctor
6. So, God hates laziness.
7. And, you won’t have more money to use for God if you ain’t working!
E. Control Your Spending (Rom 13:8)
1. No one who is financially bound can be spiritually free. Generally speaking, if these steps are faithfully followed, the average family can usually be debt free in about five years.
2. So, Pray for three things:
a. Wisdom – to do this right
b. Humility – to stay at it even when everybody else is racing ahead
c. Won’t power – not will-power, but won’t power, to NOT buy what you want
3. Stop debt-buying – Allow no more debt. Credit card and overdraft buying is killing Christian’s ability to give to needs
a. Don’t use any more credit or credit cards until all existing debt has been paid. Pay with cash, check, or debit card at the time of purchase. Don’t borrow any more money from institutions, family, or friends until all indebtedness (home mortgage excepted) has been satisfied.
4. Develop a realistic budget
a. Write out a realistic budget and stick to it
b. You’ll need a written budget that allocates percentages of your income into living expense categories – including repayment of creditors.
c. If you need to generate extra funds by working overtime or on an extra job, all money generated by the extra work must go to eliminate the debt for this to be effective.
d. Start-out by using envelopes to allocate money to each expense, and ONLY use the money in the envelopes – when the money runs out – that’s it!
5. Retire any debt you have
a. Debts drain away your ability to meet other people’s needs
b. Pay extra on the debts that have highest interest rates.
c. Every time you pay off a credit card debt, you will be freer to give to missions, and to the needs the Lord has you steward over
6. Save something! Don’t spend every thing you get – Force yourself to save back some of every gift, and every paycheck.
F. Give As Much Money Away as You Need (Pr 11:24) – our secret weapon!
1. After you have tithed, you can now GIVE (Luke 6:38)
2. We always give away as much money as we have
3. God says, when you have a need, give to meet another person’s need, and God will supply YOUR need! (Philp 4:15-19)
4. Give money away for the following causes:
a. For souls to be saved – supporting missionaries
b. To just be a blessing to someone – meet their need - maybe just lunch
c. To take care of the poor – it is a Christian thing to care for the poor
d. Just to give God the glory
5. The liberal soul shall be blessed (Pr 11:25) the stingy will dry up like dust
6. This is when the Christian really starts getting blessed (Acts 20:35) both materially here, but also with sure rewards in heaven!
7. You never really get to keep anything until it is given away!
III. Conclusion
A. Turn Everything Over To God (Acts 17:23-25). Everything. Give it all back to God – completely, and totally
B. Accept Stewardship of all those items now (Ex 7:1). Tell God you accept:
1. The task of raising the children God has lent you
2. The responsibility of using your money for His kingdom
3. Your role as careful administrator of all the tools at your disposal: your time, your abilities, your job, your health, and so on!
C. Tithe the First Ten Percent (Mal 3:10). Always tithe
D. Work (Eph 4:28; Acts 18:1-3)
E. Control Your Spending (Rom 13:8) No one who is financially bound can be spiritually free.
F. Give As Much Money Away as You Need (Pr 11:24) – our secret weapon!
G. THAT will put more money in your pocket, because God can trust you enough to know that you won’t spend it all on yourself