January 14, 2018 | Bob Bartlett
Passage: Matthew 6:19
“The Heart of Giving”
According to Pew Research (2017) 37% of those who identify as evangelical Christians
“never’ give anything to the church.
Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not
let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Stats on tithers: (Pew) 80% have no credit card debt; 28% are debt free (incl. no mortgage)
The Heart of Giving
Vs 19-20 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
- Realize: There are but two t to acquire in this life – temporal or eternal.
- Jesus could not be more clear: “Do not store up…”
- To those who disregard a stern word…Luke 12:20-21
Vs 21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
- Realize: there are but two h to possess in this life – temporal or eternal.
- The heart will follow what we treasure…
- Psalm 50:4 “I have no need of a bull from your stall”
Common misconceptions about stewardship:
-Some think the church is really at stake!
-Some think the pastor is really at stake!
-Some think the gospel is really at stake!
- No, what’s really at stake is my h !
- Oswald Chambers “What God wants of us, God doesn’t need from us”
Vs 22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be
full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the
light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
- Realize: there are but two e from which to see from – temporal or eternal.
- Spiritual sight or better spiritual insight is overcome with spiritual blindness.
- Not a ‘deadly’ sin but it is ‘deadening’ sin when we lose spiritual insight.
Vs 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or
he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
- Realize: there are but two m to serve in this life – temporal or eternal.
- My f from the bondage of money. Matthew 6:24 “he will hate the one and love the other”
- My d to God. Matthew 6:24 “or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other”
- Don’t make the mistake and think you can defy God’s Word. Deuteronomy 14:22-23
Absolute devotion to God, the heart’s truest freedom, is just a penny away. John 8:32