ReNew Our Generosity
ReNEW Us
February 2, 2025
Make Room Campaign - $582,000
Bless Pottstown and Beyond- $97,000
Regular giving increased by 15%
We gave away $368,477 in 2024
Renew Our Generosity?
31% of Evangelical Christians gave nothing in 2023 —Grey Matter Research
The average Evangelical Christian gave 3.2% of their household income. —Grey Matter Research
A Roadmap to a Generous Life
1.) EVERYTHING BELONGS TO GOD
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it… —Psalm 24:1
Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine. —Job 41:11
Before there was anything, there was God.
2.) MONEY IS A HEART ISSUE
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…” —Matthew 6:19-21
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” —Matthew 6:24
Your heart follows your money
What you do with your money is like an MRI for your heart.
3.) TITHING IS A DOORWAY (NOT A DESTINATION)
Tithe = tenth
Where does tithing come from?
“One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy… —Leviticus 27:30
Count off every tenth animal from your herds and flocks and set them apart for the Lord as holy. You may not pick and choose between good and bad animals, and you may not substitute one for another.” —Leviticus 27:32-33
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. —Proverbs 3:9-10
Do Christians have to tithe?
God doesn’t love you more if you give 10%
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. —Matthew 23:23
How did Jesus treat the law?
Jesus elevates the requirements of the law by showing us the heart behind the law.
Our conclusion must be that if a tenth was the minimal amount under the law, how can Christians do any less? Perhaps we should consider not how little but how much we can give, seeing how richly blessed we are in Christ. —Walter C. Kaiser
The Law informs how to give but Jesus transforms why we give.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. —2 Corinthians 8:9
4.) TRUST HIS PROMISE
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. —2 Corinthians 9:6-8
We reap in proportion to what we sow
God promises to provide for the generous!
Giving is directly related to what you believe about God.
God is first, God loved you first, and God gave first.
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? —Romans 8:32