Pastor Mark
August 6, 2006
“WHO’S RUNNING THE SHOW?”
Church Under Construction – Behavioral Phase #2
Intro … Last Sunday we transitioned into phase two of our spiritual
construction project – the one being handled by Trinity Construction –
the one intended to produce a gloriously beautiful body of people right
here at Sonlife Community Church.
Phase One was the doctrinal phase and we spent some twelve weeks
examining and hopefully understanding and embracing the major doctrines
of the Christian Faith – Doctrine is the Foundation upon with we
stand. Phase Two which we entered just last week is the behavioral
phase and we will be examining and discussing the standards of behavior
laid out in our Sonlife Covenant – Our Covenant defines the Framework
within which we live our lives.
Last week we saw that we are to live our lives as genuine worshippers
of God immersed in the study of God’s Word. Today we come to the second
set of dual commitments expressed in our Sonlife Covenant. Here’s how
they read …
Our Sonlife Covenant …
Believing in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and desiring to live in
a manner that will bring glory to Him, and having associated myself
with this local body of believers called Sonlife Community Church, I do
now covenant together with them that …
I will make my time, energy, and personal resources available for God’s
use knowing that all I am and have is simply a trust from Him and
I will invest my finances cheerfully and sacrificially in the work of
the Lord, taking the Biblical “tithe” as my guideline for giving.
(Psalm 24:1; Matthew 25:14-18; 1 Corinthians 4:1; Malachi 3:10; Matthew
6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 4:7)
Those are some incredibly important statements – statements that (once
we embrace them knowingly and intentionally) will absolutely transform
our lives.
From those two statements arise Two Key Concepts that I would share
with you briefly in this Communion Mediation.
Key Concept #1 … EVERY BELIEVER IS A STEWARD – Handling
RESOURCES that have been ENTRUSTED.
Psalm 24:1 – 1 Corinthians 4:1 – 1 Corinthians 4:7 – Matthew 25:14-15
Let’s just let the Scripture speak for itself …
The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it – the world, and all who
live in it. (Psalm 24:1)
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those
entrusted with the secret things of God. (1 Corinthians 4:1)
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you
did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though
you did not?
(1 Corinthians 4:7)
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his
servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five
talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent,
each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. (Matthew
25:14-15)
It’s pretty hard to miss what the Scripture is saying here …
Everything ultimately belongs to the Lord and thus everything we have
in our possession we hold as stewards or trustees. That’s the position
fervently denied by the unbeliever but passionately accepted by all
genuine followers of Christ. My house, my car, my bank account, my
talents, my education, my life experiences, my perspectives on life …
they’re all His. As Rush Limbaugh says nearly every day on his radio
show … he possesses “talent on loan from God”.
Recognizing that truth should, of course, make us humble and grateful.
God Himself has designed this world in such a way that human beings are
suited for it … He has given to every human being certain necessary
things for existence in this fallen world … to some human beings it
would seem He has given more than others but all living creatures owe
what little or much they have to Him.
Now “redeemed human beings” have received so much more – we have
received the knowledge and the gift of eternal life – we have become
aware of the glorious plan of God to express His Love to the world
through the sacrifice of His One and Only Son. We have been made sons
and daughters of God through our expressed faith in Jesus Christ – we
have been included in God’s Covenant People – we are heir to all the
blessings of Christ – we have been given the Holy Spirit to live in our
hearts and to guide us into a fuller and fuller understanding of the
Truth of God and to equip us for greater and greater service for God.
As John the Apostle would say … “How great is the love the Father
has lavished upon us that we should be called Children of God!” (1 Jn.
3:1)
The only valid response to such generosity from our Heavenly Father is
that expressed in our Sonlife Covenant …
“I will make my time, energy, and personal resources available for
God’s use knowing that all I am and have is simply a trust from Him.”
Tell me … if Jesus came to the front door of your home this afternoon
and said, “I need to use your car this week” – what would you say?
The quickness of your answer will indicate to what degree you recognize
that all that you have is simply held in trust for the One to whom it
actually belongs.
Now that first concept … that “every believer is a steward handling
resources that have been entrusted” leads to second …
Key Concept #2 … EVERY BELIEVER IS AN INVESTOR
– Seeking a WORTHY RETURN.
1 Corinthians 4:2 – Matt. 25:16-18 – Matt. 6:19-20 – Malachi 3:10
Once again let’s hear what the Scripture says …
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove
faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2)
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his
servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five
talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent,
each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who
had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work
and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two
more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole
in the ground and hid his master’s money. (Matthew 25:14-18)
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and
where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:19-20)
Bring the whole tithe 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)
God expects his stewards to be actively engaged in seeking a worthy
return on the resources He has entrusted to them.
“Invest in Kingdom Work … in worthwhile work … in work that will
please the Father … in work that will bring a good return.”
And in this “work”, it’s imperative that we follow the instructions
that we have been given … Begin your investment with the “Tithe” …
it’s a directive from the Father Himself … “Use the first part of my
resources in this way” He says.
And so our Sonlife Covenant includes this commitment statement …
“I will invest my finances cheerfully and sacrificially in the work of
the Lord, taking the Biblical “tithe” as my guideline for giving.”
Actually, Biblically speaking, you cannot “give anything to God until
you are tithing” … if you are not tithing, you are actually
“withholding” from God that which He requires.
Now that might sound harsh but that’s what the Bible says and I would
be less than faithful to you as your Pastor if I did not point that out
to you.
“GIVING” … to the work of the Lord – to the needs of others is “above
the tithe”.
Now giving is a wonderful biblical option … in Old Testament Days the
people gave what the Bible called “free-will offerings” at several key
points – when Moses was assembling the materials for the Tabernacle –
when David was gathering resources for the Temple and even when the
people gave gifts for the repair of the temple in the days of Joash.
Free Will Offerings have a long and wonderful history in the life of
the People of God. It’s a wonderful use of the resources that God has
put at His People’s disposal.
There is a wonderful older lady in this fellowship whose tithe is $80
dollars a month – she has faithfully given that tithe every firstfruits
Sunday since she has been here. Imagine my surprise a few years ago
when she asked me to stop by her home after church one Sunday and
presented me with a free-will offering check for $100,000. That was
over and above her tithe – it was an action she felt led of the Lord to
take and it has, of course, benefited our church tremendously. And the
next month … there was her $80 tithe once again in the firstfruits
offering basket.
There are others in our congregation who regularly give “beyond their
tithe” … it’s not required but it certainly noted not only by me but
by the Father Himself who I’m confident counts it a worthy investment.
In New Testament Days, the early believers took up a great collection
to meet the needs of the saints in Jerusalem who were experiencing a
time of great need. That’s called Benevolence Giving and is also above
the tithe. This too is a wonderful use of the resources that God has
entrusted to us.
Here at Sonlife for the past 11 years, I have taught and stressed
tithing … I have even gone so far as to say that …
“If the tithes of our people are not adequate to accomplish the task,
then it’s not a task that we are going to get involved with.”
You see, God is blessed by a congregation that honors Him in the tithe.
We are not a fully tithing church yet but we are closer than any church
that I have ever been a part of … the evidence of God’s pleasure is
upon us … “There is food in His House”.
The tithes of this church provide for a full time pastor when in many
churches this size the pastor must be bi-vocational … The tithes of
this church are building a building that few churches this size could
even dream of … and the tithes of this church have supported several
missionary endeavors beyond our own congregation and the tithes of this
church have on numerous occasions over the years been used to help
members of our fellowship through difficult times.
Stewardship … it’s the term that means somebody is handling somebody
else’s stuff. It’s the term that means that the top dog has placed His
Affairs in someone else’s hands. It’s a scary thing to do and a weighty
thing to be given. May God find us faithful!
Final Thot … God “runs the show” through those He left in
CHARGE and He allows Himself to be “JUDGED” by how well they manage
things.