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We encourage you to jot down what you hear God speaking to you about today as you listen to the teaching. Plan on diving deeper into the message by downloading the study guide on Sunday night so you can compare your notes with the guide as a path for deeper spiritual commitment. Once posted, the teaching video and study guide can be found under the Media tab.
Welcome to Week 3 of RIGHT ON THE MONEY…
If you want to receive God’s blessing, you must live according to God’s Plan…
When it comes to giving…
Before Christ… Key word is PHILANTHROPY
With Christ… Key word is STEWARDSHIP
One of those principles God longs for us to learn on the pathway to the blessed life… is to live generously.
Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. —Proverbs 11:24-25 (NLT)
God invites us to enter into a life of generous living… at the core, a life of giving and serving… and the foundation is Tithes and Offerings.
Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered. —NLT Genesis 14:19–20
OT Law
No murder
No adultery
Eye for eye
NT Love
Don’t be angry
Don’t look lustfully
Pray for enemies
Sacrifice
Lamb will work Son of God
Three reasons why Serena and I … Tithe plus
1. We want the blessed life God wants for us
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. —NLT John 10:10
FIVE - IF…THEN Statements
My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine. —NLT Proverbs 3:1–10
2. The Exchange Rate is Ridiculous
Settle ownership…
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths. —NLT Psalm 24:1–2
He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. —NLT 2 Corinthians 5:15
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. —NLT Romans 6:23
Two exchanges:
I will die so you may live
I will bless you in all ways… if you honor me with first fruits
3. When we give, lives are changing, and so is eternity
“I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’ “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. —NLT Malachi 3:6–12
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