Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] I also want to just mention there's some challenges in our church family. How many know in life there's always challenges and we had one of our, a couple of our dear saints go on to be with Jesus this past week. Wow. Isn't that great for them? But for the ones that are remaining behind, not quite as exciting. Obviously they got to walk through grief. And so for those of you that may not know, Sunny Bieber passed away here and her funeral will be this coming Friday here at the church at 1pm and then for those of you who know both Carrie and Myrna Mohlberg, Myrna passed away on Mother's Day in the evening and her Funeral is on the 30th of May at St Albert Alliance Church. That's where they move to and at 2pm and that'll be live streamed. So if you don't want to go there but you want to support their family, that's great.
[00:00:51] I'm going to have a stand this morning as we go to prayer for them. Also, we want to pray for Robichaux family. I know that Nick and Trish are here, but Val and Al, I don't know if Val is here this morning, but Al had a heart attack this week. He's doing okay? Yeah, he's doing okay.
[00:01:07] He's stable. And they're going to take him to Edmonton here at the beginning of the week. So let's pray for that family as they walk through that crisis. And then Patty and I traveled up on Friday to visit with an Iranian pastor and he said, pastor, would you guys pray for Iran right now?
[00:01:24] You know, I don't know if you guys know there's a lot going on there and they're praying that God will eventually have his way in that nation.
[00:01:31] Many people are coming to faith in Christ in Iran right now. It's the fastest growing part of the Church of Jesus Christ in the world right now. But many of them are losing their lives.
[00:01:40] It's a very challenging hour. So let's pray for them today. Pray for the peace of Israel, peace of Jerusalem. There's a lot of conflict in the Middle East. Let's ask God for mercies in our broken world today. Amen.
[00:01:54] So Father, we do come before you such needs, but you're more than capable of meeting every need in every situation. We think of the families, the Malberg families. We think of Omar, Nashna and Reneek and others that are connected to Sonny. We pray for a special comfort and grace to both those families. We pray for Al, a speedy, a quick Recovery, restoration of his body. Lord, we delight in them, Lord. We thank you. Al is always here, always serving, always greeting, ushering serv in any capacity he can find, Lord. And so we feel his loss of presence here today. And we pray for him that you would strengthen and help him, Lord. And then we think of these other requests. Nations in conflict, nations in crisis, people that love you, some of them are crying out to you for mercy and peace and grace in these parts of the world where there's continuous conflict, even though we're living in relative stability and security here, Lord, there's other parts that are running to bomb shelters, seeing their loved ones destroyed. And so we commit them to your grace, Father. We pray for speedy resolutions. We pray for peace in these realms of conflict, and we thank you for that. And now open our hearts. I pray that we may hear your voice speak to us and how we can manage our life even more effectively and more towards bringing glory to your name. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name and God's people said, amen. Amen. You may be seated.
[00:03:25] I'm going to continue our series from the book of Second Corinthians. We're in chapter 8, verse 16, and the title of this message is Learning how to Manage what God's Given Us. How many know the big thing in life is learning how to handle things. And you know, sometimes God doesn't always change things the way we want him to, but he does entrust things to us. And he's giving us an opportunity for us to demonstrate fidelity, which is faithfulness towards him.
[00:03:53] And God can use you and me as a channel of blessing to other people's lives. How many know that life is really all about stewardship or management? You know, if I could do, if I could help people understand this principle. You and I are not even in charge of our own, in a sense, our own bodies. We're all managing our bodies. We're stewarding our bodies. We're stewarding our time. We're stewarding the relationships God's bringing into our lives. We're stewarding the financial things that God brings into our lives. It's all a stewardship. And one day we're going to stand before God and give an account of how you and I stewarded our lives.
[00:04:32] That's a challenging thought, isn't it? And so my prayer today is that we will go to a new level of stewardship. We'll get a new understanding of what God is really requiring of us. I believe it's both a privilege and a responsibility And I've always said this in my talk to teenagers. And every privilege you have also entails responsibility.
[00:04:52] You know, driving is actually a privilege. How many know that's true, but it's also a responsibility. We need to understand that, you know, God blesses us, but then we're accountable for all that he entrusts to us.
[00:05:07] So how do we, how are we managing what God's given to us? And there are, I think, a number of areas that we're tested in. You know, first of all, how do we handle time?
[00:05:20] Okay, okay, here it is. How do we handle our time? How many know sometimes we waste time? Anybody know that's true? Now I don't think resting is waste. I think that's wisdom.
[00:05:31] So there's times to rest, but then there's times, you know, sometimes we're just, you know, wasting time. And maybe we have to look at how am I spending my time. Probably one of the greatest areas of stewardship, I think, is people. God gives people into our lives and he calls us to care for them, to nurture them, to serve them. You know, these are the people that God puts in our lives. Our siblings, our children, our parents, our co workers, our neighbors. And depending on your vocation, you could be caring for patients, customers, clients, prisoners, students, parishioners. I mean, you could just make the list. There's people that God is calling you and me towards and we have a responsibility and God's going to say, how did you steward what I gave you? Isn't that an amazing question? I think we have going to answer to God for who he's bringing into our lives. Another area of stewardship ties into caring for people is the finances that God entrusts to you and to me. One of the great concerns in Paul's life was to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the non Jewish world. He was actually the apostle to the Gentiles. Gentiles are non Jewish people. You and I, most of us are Gentiles here. Maybe there's a few Jewish people. I don't know all of your backgrounds. But you know, we need to realize that Paul was concerned that they would receive the gospel. And he was also concerned for his own people, the Jewish people. And so one of the realities that Paul wanted the church to understand was that in Christ the barrier between Jew and Gentile was now abolished and we're now all able to find God's grace through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that beautiful? So that, you know, in the Old Testament, the Jewish People were actually God's covenant people. But now through Christ, that barrier has been brought down. And both Jew and Gentile now have. We're all one and we have a relationship and a covenant with the true and the living God. It's such a beautiful thing.
[00:07:31] But he was also concerned to bring that barrier between Jew and Gentile in an experiential way, that God's grace could be not only found in Christ, but that it could be experienced through practical expressions of love.
[00:07:46] I think that's important. You know, you can say theologically or you can say theoretically, or you can see idealistically this is what we're doing. But, you know, God is so amazing. He always brings it down to reality.
[00:08:00] He brings it down to where the, you know, the grassroots. He always brings it down into the practical realms of life, you know, so we can. A lot of times people are so busy, you know, talking the talk, but they're not walking the walk, so to speak. And God is interested in us connecting with people in a very real and tangible ways, expressing. Expressing love to one another. And therefore he wanted those in the churches that were made up, primarily Gentiles, to assist their fellow believers in Judea who were experiencing extreme poverty because of a famine.
[00:08:35] And one of the reasons he wanted that to happen was because he wanted to show these people, these Jewish people, that these Gentile people really had an encounter with God and that they really wanted to do something to help other people. You know, that's part of, you know, a real reality, isn't it? You know, you. And I could say, well, I'm a follower of Jesus, but if there's nothing externally to demonstrate that in a practical way, you know, we're just, you know, basically making a lot of noise.
[00:09:01] And so Paul talks about that, about in describing what love is. Love is more than just saying you love somebody. Love has to be demonstrated in action. And this is what he's concerned about. And this is still our responsibility today to help those who are unable to help themselves. Isn't that true that we have a moral responsibility to care for others? And so how do we expend our financial resources, I think, reveals a lot about values.
[00:09:28] You know, I always tell people I can tell you where you're really living. Two things would tell me how you spend your time, how you spend your money. That would tell me everything I need to know about you. It would show me what you value.
[00:09:40] Does that make sense? Of course it does. All you got to do is look at that. That's the real heart of what we value in life. And so money is one of the great dangers, but also the great blessings in life. And the Bible warns us against the love of money. Did you know that? It's a warning. And I'll tell you why. Because you can't love God and you can't love money at the same time. And I'm not saying that Jesus says that.
[00:10:05] Listen to how Paul speaks about it and we'll go to what Jesus says. So Paul says in First Timothy, Chapter 6, if anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited.
[00:10:21] That's strong. And they understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies, quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk and evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind who've been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
[00:10:45] This is a strong language. In other words, if you think that because you have faith in God you're going to, you know, acquire more money, he said that's wrong. Thinking that's what he's saying there pretty point blank, I think.
[00:10:58] But godliness with contentment is what great gain. So what is God saying the most, the happiest people? The greatest gain you can have in life is to be a godly person and to be content with what you have.
[00:11:11] If you're there right now, you're living the best life.
[00:11:15] Isn't that great regardless of how much you got? It's not about how much you have. It's about being content with what you have and to be a godly person. He's saying, for we brought nothing into the world. Isn't that true? How many know you didn't come in with a Cadillac?
[00:11:32] You know, we can take nothing out of it. So in other words, the way we came in is the way we're leaving, folks. We brought nothing in. We're not taking anything with us.
[00:11:46] But we can invest ahead, you know, but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
[00:11:54] Okay, so then he goes on to say this, and this is the warning. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. I'm reading these words because I think sometimes we don't always read these words and think about them. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith.
[00:12:29] Some people have left God off because they've pursued the God of money. They've wandered from the faith, and they've pierced themselves with many griefs. I don't know about you. I want to avoid grief.
[00:12:41] You know, that's not what I want to do. I don't want to go in that direction. This is a warning. Okay? Now, I think there's times in our lives, though, that financial pressures impact us.
[00:12:54] It can be on our part, poor stewardship, but it can also be things beyond our control.
[00:13:00] We could lose our job.
[00:13:02] We could have the high cost of living. How many know what's happening right now is the fuel prices went up.
[00:13:07] Everything went up. Why is that? Because everything has to be shipped, and it costs us. It's done by trucks delivering things, and they add that cost, and guess who gets to pay it? We do. The consumers. And so a lot of people who were struggling before the war are now struggling at a higher level. And that's reality. We know that that's true. And so, you know, when we have these financial pressures, you know what? It creates anxiety.
[00:13:36] Now, I don't know if you've ever experienced financial anxiety. I have to confess, unfortunately, I've experienced that.
[00:13:43] I don't know if anybody else wants to admit that, but I have experienced that.
[00:13:47] And I know what that's like. You're losing sleep over it. You're concerned about it. You know, some people say, well, you know, Pastor, you've always had a good. Well, you don't know my story. So I know what it's like not to have a lot, and I know what it's like to have more.
[00:14:03] So I'm not speaking from a lack of experience here, so I'm empathetic and I'm understanding, and so I want to just. I was reading an article here from The May and June 2026 issue of Faith Today, and they're speaking to the growing financial pressure that many Canadians are now experiencing. Adam McManus, in an article, said based on a survey in 1925, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada reported that nearly half of Canadians have lost sleep because of financial stress.
[00:14:35] That was last year. I think it's gotten worse. He said a third of Canadians report being short of money at the end of each month, 33%.
[00:14:46] That's a lot, he says. Whenever we look at stresses and pressures that people are facing, finances come right at the top of that list, says William McLaughlin. He's the CEO of CAP, which is Christians Against Poverty.
[00:14:59] And when understood right, money is a tool that needs to be handled properly. And there is A sense that money brings a measure of security.
[00:15:09] That's true. But it can also be an idol that can be quickly looked to as a source of security rather than trusting God. There's a tension, isn't there? You see, because the book of Ecclesiastes says wisdom is a shelter, as money is a shelter. But the advantage of knowledge is this wisdom preserves those who have it. Now, I'm going to just say this. If you're trusting in money, you can always lose money.
[00:15:34] It can be taken from us.
[00:15:37] But if you're trusting in God, nobody can take God from you.
[00:15:42] That's a beautiful thing. You and I can be kept by God. You and I can have security in God. You and I have a source that's greater than just our financial background.
[00:15:53] Okay?
[00:15:55] Jesus certainly warned against this very subtle temptation in the Sermon on the Mount about making money a substitute for God. And let me just say something. Materialism is rampant in North America. How many say that's true?
[00:16:08] And it's a great temptation? You know, I know this because, you know, as a pastor, I was pastoring in the States for a while, and our church had a lot of Liberians attending our congregation. Probably, I'd say a tenth of our church was Liberians. And these guys told me they were just flat out honest because I had a Bible study with them. They said, you know, Pastor, we were doing so much better spiritually in Liberia when we had nothing than we are doing now in the United States, making a lot of money.
[00:16:35] They said, you know what? We're losing out with God. That's what they told me. And they were disturbed by that. And, you know, it can pull people away. They said, we used to meet every night and pray and seek God. We had nothing. But we enjoyed, you know, fellowship and connecting with God. Now all we do is work. And it's about the money. And it's. It's robbing. They could sense it. It was robbing something inside of their soul.
[00:16:59] This is what Jesus says. For where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be.
[00:17:05] So wherever you're investing, that's where your soul goes.
[00:17:08] So you just got to, you know, be careful what you're investing in. That's what he's saying. No one can serve two masters.
[00:17:14] Either he will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. And then he makes this incredible statement, you cannot serve both God and money.
[00:17:24] It's impossible. Jesus says, you have to make a choice.
[00:17:27] You know, I think Money should be a tool, not a master.
[00:17:32] And for some people, money is the master and we become the tool.
[00:17:36] And that's sad. So we want to reverse that in our lives. We don't want money to be our master. We want Christ to be the Lord and we want to walk in freedom. Amen. At least I do. Therefore, I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you're going to eat or drink, or about your body, what you wear is not life. More than food in the body, more than clothes. Look at the birds of the air.
[00:17:57] They don't sow and reap or stow away in barns. And yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they? And can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?
[00:18:10] Anybody say, yeah, my worrying really got me somewhere?
[00:18:15] No, it didn't get you anywhere. Right? So we're going to give all that stuff to God. You know, it's so good to just be able to say to God, okay, God, even if I'm the culprit, even if I've messed up, I can come to God and say, God, I am so sorry. I've totally messed it up.
[00:18:29] Could you please help me? And you know what God does? He goes, no, I'm not going to do that.
[00:18:33] No, he will help us. You know, it may take a little time, we may have to learn a little patience, we may have to learn a little self discipline, but God will get us out of the jam that we got ourselves into. He will do that for us. So then he goes on to say, here, so don't worry saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after these things and your heavenly Father knows you need them. Hey, isn't that great? So God says, I'm going to take care of you guys. I know you need these things. Then he goes on to say this, and I love this, this is my life verse, by the way. This is the verse that captured my heart and I've tried to live by it.
[00:19:11] Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these other things will be given to you as well. What's he saying? Right? Priority. What should be the priority? Kingdom of God always put the kingdom of God always put the will of God always do that first and the rest will take care of itself.
[00:19:32] So we're giving you a sense of direction here. Jesus is giving us a sense of direction here. Now, Paul, in challenging the church in Corinth to be generous of the handling of Finances gives careful instruction how to go about administrating it. In other words, this is almost a course on budgeting.
[00:19:50] Not quite, but, you know, he's basically telling us we need to learn how to manage it. Paul, in receiving the offering to the poor in Judea from the Greek speaking people of Corinth and the northern Macedonian churches, explains the care and precautions needed so that everything will be done with integrity, with accountability. And he's laying out three things that we need to be vigilant when dealing with finances in our life and within our ministry. So I'm going to look at these three things. Number one, the selection of trustworthy people responsible for finances.
[00:20:22] You know, the simple question is, can God trust me with money?
[00:20:27] Can God trust us with money?
[00:20:29] In the first century, you know, people were defrauding people just like they do today financially. And some were even doing it under the guise of faith. Oh, by the way, that's still happening in the 21st century. Right. Kent Hughes says the first thing we should observe is that Paul distanced himself from the actual gathering of the offerings from the Corinthians. In other words, he himself wasn't touching the money. He wasn't doing that. That was staying away from it. There should, you know, I think ministers should have a distance from what's happening in the financial part. I do have a distance. I don't know what's going on.
[00:21:03] Let me go retrace that. I know what's ultimately going on, but I don't know what everybody's giving. I have no idea what you guys are giving.
[00:21:11] How's that?
[00:21:13] And I don't need to know.
[00:21:16] But I'll tell you one thing, you know, we have somebody here is keeping track of all that stuff. They know what's going on, but I don't.
[00:21:22] And that's good that I don't know because I'm a numbers person. I remember numbers. So I don't want to do that. Okay?
[00:21:28] By doing this, their enemies could not accuse them of extortion through placing undue personal pressure on the Corinthians or through his force of personality. He wasn't using what he was doing to motivate people to do more financially. Neither could they accuse him of having his hand in the till. So in this section, Paul pens a letter of commendation for three brothers who are going to collect the offering from the Christians, all apart from him. So he's going to tell us who these leaders are. And he starts out, and the first one he mentioned is a person by the name of Titus and we've already know who he is. He's one of Paul's partners in ministry. Beginning in verse 16, he says, thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. In other words, to select Titus to be the key person responsible, we learn a couple of important things. Number one, this person has to be a person of good character, someone who was known among the people, Titus was known among them, who was both willing and had the well being of the people that were giving and the people that were receiving. Titus had that.
[00:22:42] Isn't that great to have the kind of people you can entrust these things to? So Titus was a good selection besides eagerly accepting the idea of a return visit to Corinth. Titus is coming on his own initiative.
[00:22:54] And there are certain Greek words here that bring that out.
[00:22:57] It refers to someone done of one's own accord by a free choice, the word used in chapter eight, verse three, to describe how the Macedonians contribute entirely on their own, without any prompting at all from Paul. The implication here is that Titus had been thinking along these lines even before Paul approached him. Isn't that great? In other words, God was putting it on his heart. Fundraising is not necessarily an enjoyable activity, even in the best of circumstances. The fact that Titus had seen the need for a visit to Corinth so soon after the last one says that the significance of the collection and Corinth's contribution to it goes beyond just economic relief.
[00:23:39] A Gentile offering of this sort is a concrete manifestation of unity in Christ that now exists between two different ethnic groups that literally had been enemies for hundreds of years.
[00:23:55] The second person, who's also this time is unnamed, but is well known among the churches. It says in verse 18 and verse 19 he said, and we are sending him along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service in the gospel. And a lot of people try to figure who that is, but nobody knows.
[00:24:14] And what is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.
[00:24:27] So Paul and Cruz says, the second matter Paul stresses in commanding this person is appointment by the churches. And he does not tell us which churches. He was their chosen representative for this gracious work. And it is clear that whoever this famous early Christian was, he and the churches who appointed him must have shared Paul's view. Concerning the importance of the collection, Ken Hughes says, But while the second brother's fame tells us little, the fact that he was appointed by the churches suggests that he was elected by a show of hands. And the reason he's saying this is because, you know, how many know, the Greeks were really democratic and they were basically saying, we're going to pick this guy. And they voted on it and sent him. So, you know, they sent somebody that they had they trusted as their elected representative. But no one then could say that Paul was handpicking these people. Titus was prompted by God. This person was sent by the Macedonian churches. And then I'm going to come back to something that was said in verse 19 in a moment. The final person they're sending is noted for their spiritual zeal and great confidence in the. In the Corinthians, verse 22. In addition, we're sending with them our brother, who has often proved to us in many ways that he's zealous and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. So what is he saying? There's three people going to you.
[00:25:43] It's not one person. In other words, there's accountability built into the system is what he's doing. Ken Hughes says, however, the thing that Paul wanted us to see was that this unnamed brother was earnest, that he had a God given zeal and energy to get the job done, especially to the completing of the collection and more. He was confident that the Corinthians would do it. He believed in them. Such a positive, energetic spirit would not help but cause the Corinthians to do the right thing. Now, why was this so critical? Well, let me just remind us of something. The Corinthian church, and this happens to all of us. One of the most dastardly ways to destroy the work of God is to destroy people's relationships with each other. How many know that's true?
[00:26:28] And one of the ways he does it, even in churches, is he tries to destroy his marriages. Why does he do that? Weak marriage is weak church. When people are fighting and then they divorce, they go their separate ways.
[00:26:39] Not only does that family suffer, so does the church. We all suffer. That's what happens. So when I was in Phoenix here, this two or three weeks ago, we came across a new equipping ministry to help strengthen marriages, which we're going to introduce to our church in the fall. How's that? Because I am so committed to seeing people's marriages get stronger. But I really like the approach of training laypeople to actually come along other lay people whose marriages are struggling. So you build this relationship, and they train people to do this. This is really exciting to me. Okay, let me move on here to the second key. And that's having accountable faith financial structures in place. Now, I know this. This when I was looking at these texts, I was going, oh, this doesn't sound like an exciting sermon. But just hang on, folks. I believe that this could change your life. It could help you financially, and it can help you when you get into eternity. So just pay close attention here. Do you know it's not only critical to have people of integrity and financial competency, but you also have to have systems in place to protect those people, Also the organization or the church. Paul now brings out the care and concern about handling financial offerings in a way that will avoid criticism and scandals in the area of finances. How many know there have been a lot of scandals in churches over finances?
[00:28:06] So he says here in verse 20, we want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift, for we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of man. In other words, you know, one of the things that a lot of people criticize the church about is, you know, the church is only interested in money. Anybody ever heard that complaint? Okay, how many have been in this church for a while now? Maybe over three months. You've been here over three months. Just how many go, I can't believe it. You guys hardly ever talk about money. Anybody have noticed that? How many have kind of noticed we don't talk about money?
[00:28:41] You know, how many have noticed that? You just kind of pick up on it.
[00:28:43] So now you're hearing a sermon on it. And why am I speaking on it? Because it's in the Bible. It's a text. And I want to talk about it because it's a key area in our lives. Because I think some people have made money their God.
[00:28:55] Isn't that true? So we have to be watching out for that now.
[00:29:01] Do you know William Booth of the Salvation was. Was once criticized that. He. They. They criticized him and people said that all of the property was in his name, and he might at any time realize on the property, in other words, he could sell it. And there was a criticism of the work, and he was very careful from the first to publish his accounts. And in the process, over the years, that criticism ceased entirely and is never heard. Now that the Salvation army officers are making money out of the work, we have a confidence in them because they've shown financial integrity over a long period of time.
[00:29:34] That's a great thing. I think that's important. There is a need for accountability, openness and transparency in the financial aspects of the work of God. Linda Belville, who's written a commentary, says this about this text the administration of an effort like the Jerusalem Collection could easily rise to allegations of mishandling funds.
[00:29:55] Today, a charitable organization can employ a group that independently assesses its financial fiscal accountability and applies objective standards to its handling of donations, such as public disclosures of the percentages going to meet stated goals compared to salaries and administrative costs. In this way, donors can be assured that all monies are being appropriately managed. But what about the first entry? How could a donor be certain that his charitable contribution would not end up merely lining the pockets of an administrator?
[00:30:29] And what kind of assurances did a fundraiser give prospective contributors that their donations would be handled in a responsible fashion? So Paul now is giving what he's doing so that people can see that he's open and honest and not taking advantage of people, but allowing people to give to meet the needs of people that are in need.
[00:30:52] Now, as a church family, let me just explain what we do. We actually have checks and balances in our church. We have best accounting practices. We have monthly and an annual report of what's transpiring in the area of finances. In our case, we have a full time financial person making presentations to our official board and to our membership. And when cash is handled, we have two people who count and sign off on the amounts. We also employ an accounting firm which then goes over our accounting practices every year and provides an accounting letter called a Notice to Reader annually which has scrutinized our practice. And this is continuously submitted at our annual meeting. How's that? In other words, we're saying, hey, we're an open book. Take a look at what we're doing. This is how we're spending money. It's available.
[00:31:44] Do you know what's really sad? I was at this conference in Phoenix. This person was not in our Fellowship of Churches, but he was a speaker they invited in. And he said when he was living in Phoenix earlier as a younger pastor, their church exploded in growth. It was huge. And he had a full time business administrator and he said all I wanted to do was preach the word of God. So I didn't pay attention what was happening over there. But unfortunately, that person defrauded the church out of millions.
[00:32:11] That made the front page paper of the Phoenix paper and this guy ended up the pastor. Now because he's responsible in some way, because he should know what's going on. He ended up in court.
[00:32:21] There was false accusations against him. It was a very distressing time. He ended up leaving the ministry. He was shamed in front of his whole community, even though he was innocent. But there was no way to prove that he was innocent. And eventually the whole story came out years later. The person that had absconded the funds was actually. They figured it out at the end, caught him. He admitted to it. The pastor was exonerated.
[00:32:47] But, you know, he'd now been out of ministry for seven years. He was totally crushed by that experience. His family was crushed by that experience. You can imagine how difficult that was. But then later, God, you know, prompted him to go back into ministry in the same community. That church, it was almost like a phoenix rising from the dead. And it's grown to be a huge church in Phoenix today. But I'll tell you one thing. I'm sure they have good accounting practices now in that church, and I think that's wisdom on their part. Okay, let me move to the third key.
[00:33:17] And that's to bring honor and glory to God through the fiscal aspects of our lives. Well, the reason why they were doing that was to bring.
[00:33:28] To do it before God and man. Let me move this. What is the purpose of life?
[00:33:34] I would just say simply please ourselves, question mark. Or are we living for a higher and greater purpose, which is to bring glory and honor to God? That's the question we all have to ask. Who are you living for?
[00:33:49] Some of you say, well, I'm living for my family. I say, well, that's great, but is that a high enough purpose? That's a good purpose, but is it high enough?
[00:33:57] See, I think we need to be living to bring glory and honor to God. And I think that's the highest purpose. And when we do that, we'll do a better job of taking care of our family. We'll do a better job of living a healthier and more contented and a more balanced life. I believe that's the aim should be in all of our lives.
[00:34:15] You know, Paul describes the offering, which he has spent time speaking of as an administration of this gift in order to honor the Lord himself.
[00:34:26] You know, we should be using our money to honor God.
[00:34:30] We should be. We should be thinking about it that way. Listen what he says back to verse 19. What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. We're doing this to honor God.
[00:34:47] The gift that we bring should be to bring honor to God.
[00:34:52] Do you believe your gifts honor God? Hopefully you do.
[00:34:56] Is this the motivation of our giving that I'm giving simply to bring honor to God?
[00:35:02] Now, obviously, Paul wanted to alleviate the poverty of people, and that's a great motive. But the ultimate motive was I want to honor God, and this is how I'm going to do it to help the poor. Colin Cruz explains that there needs to be this expression of unity between Gentiles and Jews. He said the collection taken up among the gentle converts and given to Jewish Christians was a tangible expression of the reconciliation which God had effected through Christ. By reconciling both Jew and Gentile to himself through the cross, God had at the same time reconciled the two groups to one another. So the collection as a tangible expression of this new relationship between general Gentile converts and Jewish Christians, reflected the grace of God in the lives of those concerned and therefore can be said to be for the glory of the Lord.
[00:35:53] However, the collection was not only for the glory of the Lord, but also to show our goodwill. Paul had fought long and hard to preserve the freedom of the gospel for his Gentile converts and had won the approval of the Jewish Mother Church for the gospel he preached among the Gentiles.
[00:36:10] Now, how many know money is a sensitive issue? David Garland says this and frequently sparks controversy. And Paul reminds him that this fund is a great grace and that it is to be ministered by us for the purpose of bringing glory to the Lord and to show our goodwill. Then he explains that he's taking every precaution to be above reproach. More important, these brothers are identified here as Doxa Christo, which means, you know, basically as an honor to Christ, they're going to bring glory to Christ by the quality of their lives. They're dedicated to the gospel of the glory of Christ. This exhortation intimates that the proof of their love is not shown by simply receiving these emissaries with open arms and by contributing liberally to help the saints. So in other words, he's saying, not only receive these guys, but give up a liberal offering help this church in Jerusalem that's going through a time of famine.
[00:37:05] So, you know, we cannot say to people when we have something within our means and someone comes to us who is impoverished, and we say to them, they're believers. This is a believer. We're saying to a believer, God bless you. May God provide for you. And then don't do anything. How many know? James has kind of a startling little comment about this. He says, what good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith, but no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sisters without clothes and daily food, if one of you says to them, go in peace, keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical need. What good is that?
[00:37:44] In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. So, you know, we can't just talk about this stuff. We've got to do it.
[00:37:53] Okay? You know, a lot of times as Christians, we just do a lot of talking. God goes, no, I want to see some action here. I want to see some doing. So Paul's appeal is to honor these workers.
[00:38:03] And so we see his conclusion here by challenging the Corinthians to show honor to these representatives who are there to receive. Their commitment. To give to the needs of the Judean believers in Christ is by helping others, we're actually reflecting God's love through us. Do you know that's what's happening every time you and I give to help somebody? We're actually reflecting the love of God to them.
[00:38:27] And when they're grateful, it goes up to God. And then God shows grace back down to us. It becomes a triangle. I don't know if you know that. It becomes a thanksgiving offering. Okay, so Paul now says to this, in verse 23 and 24, he says, as for Titus, he is my partner and co worker among you. As for our brothers, they are representative of the churches and an honor to Christ. Therefore, show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you so that the churches can see it. In other words, you know, you guys were bickering before.
[00:39:00] You had mentioned you wanted to help this church. Then you got bickering among yourself. There was division, division in the church. Now we've addressed the division. Now get back to what you first said you're going to do. And that was to help support this other church in Jerusalem that's in need. That's what Paul is talking about here.
[00:39:15] So I'm going to conclude, how many of us can admit that there have been times when we've been asked to do something that we were not excited about. Anybody ever been asked to do something you're not excited about? Let's be honest. I got my hand up. I'm not excited about this.
[00:39:31] How many could say, my wife does that to me once in a while, ask me to do stuff that I'm not excited about, but, you know, because I love my wife, I'm gonna go do it.
[00:39:40] But here's the kicker. Here's the kicker. Just followed me.
[00:39:43] I didn't really feel like I wanted to do it, but I did it regardless of how I felt. How many of you said, yeah, I went about it. I just did it no matter what I felt like, okay, I've done that. Okay, here's the part I like.
[00:39:55] Afterwards, we realized how blessed we were in the process of God doing it. How many said, man, I'm so glad I did this. I didn't want to do, but I did it. And now I feel blessed. And I realized how important and how critical that really was. Anybody had that experience. I have my hand up, you know, I'm just being honest. You know, how many know, being a pastor, you end up doing a whole bunch of stuff you didn't really want to do.
[00:40:19] I got my hand up. I'm being honest. I didn't really want to do this, but I did it. And afterwards, people were so grateful, and I felt so shamed in my soul, I said, oh, my goodness, you know, what's wrong with me? And then afterwards, you know, when I was younger, this happened. And then after a while, I started realizing this is what it's all about. And so now I'm more eager to do these things than I've ever been. I go, man, this is my privilege. Some people go, pastor, I can't believe you're willing to do that. Oh, it's my privilege. Because I feel a great joy from God doing the things that at one time I had no interest in doing. Now I delight in doing them. Isn't that amazing? God can change you.
[00:40:57] He can make you happy to do the things you once you didn't want to do, but now you're doing them. And now you're not only happy, you can see the benefit of doing those things.
[00:41:08] This is so true in the area of giving.
[00:41:12] You know, years ago, I worked with a very faithful pastor, and this guy would. He.
[00:41:17] He would receive offerings, I don't know, two, three, sometimes four offerings for different projects in the church. And I worked with him. And so, you know, one day, you know, he said to me, because he could tell I was a little, you know, annoyed by that.
[00:41:31] He said, you may not understand fully or appreciate it now, but one day when these people are standing before Jesus, they'll be so happy. They invested their resources in what now has eternal significance.
[00:41:43] He made me think, you know, sometimes when we don't Challenge people to give. We're not helping them because let me tell you, sometimes, you know, you don't want to. You want people to give will, not, not because of compulsion, but they're giving willingly. You want a free will, offering, willing, offering. Okay, people don't feel any compulsion. But here's what you need to understand. If we're not giving properly, we're cheating ourselves because we're not accountable. We're going to be accountable to God for what we had. And I don't want you to come up short in that area in your life as well. See, my goal is to have fully mature believers presented to Christ that you and I are maturing now. I think our church is maturing.
[00:42:24] But can we mature even more in this area? Oh yeah, we could. I'm just being honest, we probably could.
[00:42:29] So I want to close with a little story about John Wesley. How many know who John Wesley is? John Wesley was kind of the founder. Him and Charles and George Whitefield and all these guys.
[00:42:41] The Wesleyan became the Methodist movement. You know, they were Anglican ministers, but they got saved. Can you imagine all these priests in the Anglican Church getting saved? You know, and then they really got going. That's exactly what happened to the Wesleys. But I was reading a little article about them and basically said this. John Wesley had known grinding poverty as a child.
[00:43:06] His father, an Anglican priest in one of England's lowest paying parishes with nine children to feed, rarely saw his father out of debt and even once saw his father marched off to debtors prison.
[00:43:19] Back in those days you just couldn't file bankruptcy, they just threw you in the slammer. That's where he went.
[00:43:24] And when John followed his father into the ministry, he had no illusions about his financial rewards. He didn't expect to get rich, however, though John followed his father's vocation, but he did not end up sharing in his dad's poverty. Instead of being a parish priest, he felt directed to teach at Oxford University. That's where he was studying.
[00:43:43] His position usually paid him at least 30 pounds a year, more than enough money for a single man to live on. And one incident happened at Oxford that changed his perspective on money.
[00:43:56] He had just finished buying some pictures for his room and one of the chambermaids came to his door.
[00:44:01] It was a winter's day and he noticed that she had only a thin linen gown to wear for protection against the cold.
[00:44:10] And so he reached into his pocket to give her some money for a coat and found he had little left. And it struck him that the Lord was not pleased with how he had spent God's money.
[00:44:22] Perhaps as a result of this incident, in 1731, Wesley began to limit his expenses so that he could have more money to give to the poor.
[00:44:31] So he records that one year his income was 30 pounds and he gave away two and he lived on 28.
[00:44:40] The next year, his income doubled, but he still lived on the £28 and he gave 32 away. In the third year, his income jumped to £90. Again, he lived on the £28, giving away £62.
[00:44:57] The fourth year, he made £120 and he again lived on the £28 because he knew he could live on that. And he gave £92 to the poor. How many are seeing what's happening here? What is God doing?
[00:45:10] Oh, I've got somebody now. I can start funneling resources through.
[00:45:15] See, Wesley understood something and then he says this. Wesley preached that Christian should not merely tithe, but give away all extra income once the family and creditors were taken care of. He believed that with increasing income, the Christian standard of giving should increase, not the standard of living.
[00:45:36] By the way he practiced it. I'm not saying I'm Charles John Wesley, you know, this convicted me too. I'm going, wow, I need to start thinking about what do I really need to live on and how can I invest better for eternal things?
[00:45:52] He began this practice at Oxford and he continued it throughout his life, even though his income rose into the thousands of pounds.
[00:46:01] He became a very rich preacher because he, you know, preached to thousands, people got saved. He was a prolific writer, he sold his books. But all that income he gave away, it's really interesting.
[00:46:13] He lived simply and quickly gave away his surplus money.
[00:46:17] So the question I raised today is, how are we managing what God has entrusted to our lives?
[00:46:24] And may we reflect and pray and consider anew what God would have us do, that we would not allow money to become our God, nor to be shamed on that day of judgment. When we stand before Almighty God to give an answer and accountability of our stewardship, our lives, let's stand.
[00:46:49] Money is a great tool and a terrible master.
[00:46:54] How many say, amen?
[00:46:57] Some of you here today, you're struggling. You're under a great financial stress. I've been there, I've lived it.
[00:47:04] But we're going to ask God for help today.
[00:47:07] How many say, you know what? By God's grace, I can only ask God help by God's grace. That means by God's favor and help.
[00:47:16] I want to pray for you today. How many Here, just every head bowed right now and just say, pastor, could you pray for me right now? I want to be delivered from the anxiety that I feel over finances right now. Just raise your hand. I want to pray with you right now. I want to be delivered from the anxiety that I feel over my finances.
[00:47:35] Okay, great. It's good. I want to pray for you.
[00:47:39] How many here are saying, okay? Wow, this is really speaking to me, Pastor.
[00:47:43] I am being challenged today to reconsider the way I see money.
[00:47:52] I'm beginning to understand that I am a steward of what God is giving me. And I want to start becoming a more effective steward of.
[00:48:02] I want to make even greater investments in God's kingdom. I want to become a channel to which God can use my life to be a blessing to other people. That's you. Just raise your hand. I'm going to pray for you.
[00:48:13] I got my hand up.
[00:48:15] I feel like I'm doing it, but I want to do it better. I'm right there with you, my hands up.
[00:48:20] So let's just pray right now, Father. This is an important area in our life, and I just pray right now that we will not be lovers of money, but lovers of you, Father, that we will be an amazing steward of all that you are giving us with our time, the people that you've entrusted us to, and the resources that you're bringing to our attention. I pray today for those that feel like, you know what, I'm in a deficit position. I pray today that you'd release them. I pray that they would find ways, Lord, to restrict and live a more. Maybe a more frugal, more disciplined life. I pray that as well, Lord, that you would increase some of the resources that we have, Father, to help us out of those places. I pray, Father, that you would give us wisdom and understanding how we could budget and use funds properly and in the days to come, that we would be more effective stewards of your resources and that we would be able to come into your presence acknowledging that we have used these funds we wisely, that you entrusted to us, that we have become a channel of those funds, that we have become effective stewards of this grace.
[00:49:32] In Jesus name, amen. Amen. God bless you as you leave today.
