Lighthouse Baptist Church
and Christian Academy

The Bible says that God is a giver.

God gives to all generously and ungrudgingly.

James 1:5

If you're going to be like God you're going to have to learn to give. The Bible says that "God so loved the world that He gave..." If you want to learn to be a great lover, you've got to learn to be a great giver because love and giving go together.

You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving.

Everything we have has come from You, Lord and we can only give You what is Yours already.

1 Chronicles 29:14

Every time I'm generous I grow more godly. Every time you're generous, you grow more godly.

The Bible says where your heart is, is wherever your treasure is. Jesus said that. Where's your heart? It's wherever your treasure is - wherever you put your money.

If your money is in an investment, your house, a boat, a career, a hobby, or anything else, that's where your heart is.

The Bible says that money is like a magnet. Wherever we put it, it tends to pull our hearts. When I give money to God, it's like a magnet. It pulls me closer to God.

God doesn't need your money. What He wants is what it represents. It represents your heart.

Giving is spiritual aerobics.

• It's good for the heart.
• It enlarges your heart.
• It makes it stronger.

Those of you who are parents, do you enjoy watching your kids be unselfish? Sure. You like to see your kids be generous, share their toys. You like them to be giving and generous.

So does God. Giving pleases God because it is an act of worship. It brings God pleasure when you give because you're being like Him.

Would you agree that we live in a culture that's pretty materialistic? How do I keep from becoming so materialistic?

The only antidote to materialism is to give. And every time I give, I break the grip of materialism.

Jesus said in Matthew:

You cannot serve both God and money.

Matthew 6:24

In other words, I'm going to have to choose what's number one in my life. Whenever I give there's a spiritual victory. That's why Satan fights it so hard.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to be generous and willing to share. In this way they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

1 Timothy 6:17+19

That's what God wants you to do with your money. He wants you to enjoy it and He wants you to share it. He wants you to do both.

Sooner or later you've got to decide, "Can God be trusted with my finances? Can He be counted on to keep His promises?" I've told you many times that there are more promises in the Bible about giving than about any other subject. God says "If you do this then I will do that."

The Bible says:

Your giving proves the reality of your faith.

2 Corinthians 9:13

Giving, the Bible says, proves how much faith you really have.

In the Bible, it says there is only one way you can prove God. In Malachi 3:9-10, God says, here's how you can prove Me: Tithe.

It's the only way in the Bible where God puts out that kind of challenge. It's like the Pepsi challenge verse. He says, "I dare you! Tithe. Take the first ten percent of everything you make. Give it to Me and see if I won't care for your needs and bless your life. I dare you."

He kind of throws down the gauntlet and says, Test Me in this. The Bible says, "Prove Me sayeth the Lord." It's the only way you can prove that God exists. Take the challenge. Take the tithing challenge.

Giving strengthens my faith. "Give not with regret or out of a sense of duty for God loves the one who gives gladly. God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so that there will not only be enough for your own needs but plenty left over to give joyfully to others."

When I give it's not an obligation it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to stretch my faith.

One of the things that God tests here on earth is your maturity. One of the ways He tests your maturity is through finances.

Why through finances? Because we spend so much of our time:

• making money,
• saving money,
• spending money,
• thinking about money,
• using money,
• investing money.

We build our lives around it. It's at the core of our being so God says "We'll use it as an acid test of your responsibility."

The Bible says this in Luke 16 Jesus said, "If you are untrustworthy with worldly wealth [that means you don't manage it good] who's going to trust you with the true riches of heaven?"

Do you see the implication of that verse? Jesus said if I'm not faithful with my money on earth, God's not going to trust me with greater spiritual responsibility in Heaven. This is serious. How mature are you?

You heard me say many times you can't take it with you but you can send it on ahead. The way you send it on ahead is investing in people going there.

Jesus says store up treasure in heaven. He says you can store it up on earth and you can store it in heaven. How do you invest for eternity? "Use your money to do good," the Bible says. "... always being ready to share with others whatever God has given you. By doing this you will be storing up real treasure for yourselves in heaven. It is the only safe investment for eternity. And you will be living a fruitful life down here as well."

There is no greater investment than the kingdom of God. It is protected. It is proven. It pays great dividends and it has no risks. There's no greater investment. Giving is an investment for eternity.

This is stated over and over in the Bible. God blesses those who give to His work.

This is what the story says in 1 Kings:

Then the Lord said to Elijah, 'Go and live in the village of Zarephath and there is a woman there who will feed you. I've given her my instructions.' So he went to Zarephath and as he arrived at the gates of the city he saw a widow gathering sticks and he asked her, 'Would you please bring me a cup of water?' As she was going to get it he also called to her, 'Would you bring me a bite of bread, too?'

But she said, 'I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have a single piece of bread in my house and I only have a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug and I was just gathering a few sticks to cook our last meal and then my son and I are going to die.' [She's on her last legs. She's going to prepare her last meal.] Elijah said, 'Don't be afraid. Go ahead and cook that "last meal" but bake me a little loaf of bread first and afterwards there will still be enough food for you and your son.

For this is what the Lord says, "There will always be enough flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rains and the crops will grow again."' So she did as Elijah said and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat from her supply of flour and oil for many days. For no matter how much they used there was always just enough left in the containers just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

1 Kings 17:8-16

I love that story because it says these things.

First it says the best time to give is when I'm flat broke.

• Because I need God's help.
• I need God's help to get out of debt.
• I need God's help to get going.

The second thing it says is, I cannot out give God.

The third thing it says is, if I put God first He'll take care of my needs.

The fourth thing it says is, I'm going to reap always more than I sow. God will take care of my needs. God blesses those who bless Him.

Generous people will be blessed.

Proverbs 22:9

How does God bless me when I put Him first in my finances?

• He can bless me by increasing my income.
• He can bless me by decreasing my expenses in ways that I had never figured out.
• He can bless me by protecting my possessions or sustaining things like my old beat up car that's about to die.
• He makes it last two more years instead of letting it die as it could have last year. Or the appliances don't go on the blink. There's a lot of different ways He can do it.

Give generously and do so without a grudging heart then because of this the Lord God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Deuteronomy 15:10

That's a pretty all encompassing promise. God says, Put Me first and I will bless all and everything that you do.

It feels good to give. You know that if you're a giver. There are really only two kinds of people in life. There are givers and there are takers. You're going to be one or the other. You're going to be a giver or you're going to be a taker. You make the decision.

Jesus said it like this, "There is more happiness in giving than in receiving."

Do you know why Lighthouse is a happy church? It's full of givers. This is the most generous church I know.

During Building For Life we've focused on

• building a life of faith,
• building a life of purpose,
• building a life of service,
• building a life of sacrifice,
• building a life of commitment.

The best way to demonstrate it is through generosity. The Bible says (Paul) "You already excel in faith, knowledge, enthusiasm and love. Now add generosity to your virtues."

We've heard it for the last six weeks. Next week is the test. Next week is the final exam.

Are we going to be doers of the word? Are we going to take that step of faith?

"You may not understand Lighthouse church.

• This is no ordinary church. Lighthouse has a history of defying conventional wisdom.
• This is the church that breaks traditions.
• This is the church that does the impossible.
• This is the church that time after time when we've been called to step up to the plate, you have knocked it out of the park."

Next week we're going to prove the expects wrong again.