Sermon outline
Sermon outline
Sermon outline
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3. What are the essentials of his understanding<br />
a) God is creator of all and everything we are and possess is<br />
a gift held in trust for which we are asked to act as stewards.<br />
Discipleship is about how we live in God’s world, not how<br />
we escape from it.<br />
b) The “riches of Christ” change the way in which we think<br />
of our poverty/wealth. No-one is too poor to be generous<br />
nor too rich to give in proportion to their wealth.<br />
c) Giving to the work of the Kingdom is to be “thanks-giving”<br />
done willingly and cheerfully.<br />
d) God’s continued commitment to His world should trigger<br />
our response of regular and committed giving.<br />
Conclusion<br />
Christian giving is an act of thankfulness and belonging to<br />
God’s people. Value for money is not the language of the<br />
Kingdom and congregations should be anticipating the<br />
Kingdom by the way in which they administer their affairs.<br />
The vision is of members of congregations growing into<br />
loving and faithful discipleship who give thankfully and<br />
generously and who never refer to “balancing the books”.<br />
It is a vision of a church which has a lively sense of its place<br />
in its community whose mission is not inhibited because “we<br />
can’t afford it” and which struggles not to pay the bills but<br />
to decide how best to use all the money at its disposal.<br />
Would you like to belong to a church like that You can.<br />
If the church is people then overall we are not poor - it’s just<br />
that pockets and purses have yet to be converted.<br />
Illustration: Minister to congregation “This morning I<br />
have two pieces of bad news and one piece of good news.<br />
The first piece of bad news is that the church roof needs<br />
replacing. The good news is that we have the money.<br />
The second piece of bad news is that it’s still in your pockets<br />
and purses!”.<br />
A Christian Giving programme is not about persuading each<br />
of you to give a little more to “balance the books”.<br />
It is an invitation to take a step of faith in your discipleship -<br />
giving thankfully and cheerfully in proportion to your means<br />
and discovering what a liberating experience that is for you<br />
and for the church.<br />
When you get your letter please:<br />
Read it carefully and prayerfully.<br />
Receive your visitor graciously.<br />
Make your response thankfully.