ir a principal |
Ir a lateral
Yesterday was a big day at Central Church. With the remodel & Grand Opening of the new Student Center we are on our way to reaching a tithe of our city. With 356 people in attendance yesterday we are inching closer & closer to our initial goal of facilitating 1,000 people through multiple services at our current location. Our new Student Center will help us make an eternal impact on the lives of children & youth.
Thank You! Without the faithful support of those who call Central Church their home, none of this would have been possible. Your financial faithfulness to your Next Steps commitment, tireless ministry service, and unwillingness to quit have produce a victory we can all be proud of.
Let's take a few weeks to relish this success.....then let's keep moving forward to the even bigger & better things God has in store. We aren't done yet. We've only made it to the first way point on the journey God has set us on. Let's keep moving toward God's dreams together and enjoy it along the way.
"Bring the whole tithe (10%) into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." - Malachi 3:10 (niv)
Some people get really angry with this verse in scripture and others get nervous. It's amazing how we perceive this as God's intrusion into our finances when in fact everything we have belongs to him. I have always been amazed by the 4 words we find in the middle of this verse, "Test me in this!" No where else in scripture do we see God saying this to us; only here in Malachi 3.
I believe the reason we find this challenge as it relates to money is because God himself knew that one of the greatest tests of our faith would be what we do with money. If we can't trust God by obediently giving him 10% of the blessing he originally gave to us in the first place, then how can we proclaim that we trust him for our salvation? How can he save us from our sins, but not be able to take care of us financially? How can we trust him with our lives but not with $40 bucks from our $400 paycheck?
He knew it would be tough. He knew we would struggle with this command. So he extended even greater understanding & grace. He says, "Test me in this! You can trust me! I'm not robbing you, I blessed you in the first place." And he even gives us a guarantee (promise), that if we do this, he will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that we won't even be able to contain it. That is an AWESOME promise!!!
I encourage you today, trust God. Obey his commands to be faithful with the tithe (10%). He will not fail you and he will not let you down; guaranteed!
One of the things I am most grateful for is the opportunity to live in a free country. We are truly blessed and I am thankful for each of the liberties we have and appreciative of every person who has fought to defend them for me as well as future generations. But I have a concern. I am concerned that more and more people regard the privileges we have as rights they are entitled to which takes us from sincere gratitude to selfish demands.
As we've been talking about paying off the debt tab for the past few weeks in service, I think this idea has filtered into our thinking about material things & wants. We've stopped looking at things like cell phones, cable TV, internet, eating out, boat/cabin/cars as privileges and instead begun to look at them as a right. A right we are willing to demand even when we cannot afford it. We are willing to put them on credit when we can't afford them and ultimately we leverage ourselves years into the future. We justify debt because we look around and see everyone else doing it, so if they are doing it then it must be our right to have those things as well.
We serve a gracious and giving God. We are tremendously blessed to live in the USA with it's many practical freedoms, including the freedom to worship God. But God doesn't guarantee in scripture that you have a the right to a large house, overflowing bank accounts, or anything else. Is it OK to have those things? Yes! But they aren't rights, they are privileges God blesses us with. Our rights died on the cross when we gave our lives to Christ. Does God want to bless us? Yes! But we can't develop an attitude where we believe it's our rights or that someone or God owes us.
When we recognize that God is the giver of each blessing and that it's His privileged blessing that pours out in our lives, we will become content in his plan and thankful for everything both big & small.
