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Nov 23, 2014

Giving that Grows Faith

Giving that Grows Faith

Passage: 1 Corinthians 16:1-4

Preacher: John Repsold

Series: Mosaic On the Move

Keywords: faith, giving, pledges, mosaic, expansion, relocation

Summary:

This message looks at the biblical teaching about faith pledges from I Corinthians 16.

Detail:

Giving That Grows Faith

Message #4 of Mosaic on Mission

November 23, 2014

 

I've always been amazed by what people will believe…or at least apparently spend good money to read about. If you’ve ever stood in a grocery store line, patiently waiting for the checker to scan the 19 items the person in front of you is buying in the “Express Lane” J…your eyes have probably scanned the taloid headlines. I think they just put them there to make customers less grumpy. Why else would you take prime shelf space and devote it to a product that proclaims…

  • “Mermaid found in Man’s Tuna Fish Sandwich”… complete with a picture of the fellow holding about a 2-inch mermaid up by its tail???
  • Or …”Cow Mattresses Help Cows Produce More Milk”
  • Or…”WWII Bomber Found…On The Moon!”

 

For many people, when we as Christians begin to talk about the subject of “faith”, they put us on the same intellectual shelf as the weekly tabloids. While it is true that faith is not a substitute for clear thinking and sound judgment, human reason and physical objectivity are also no substitutes for faith.

 

What do you think the answer might be if you asked some skeptic of religious faith, “How many different things did you do today based on faith?” Just think for a moment about how much faith is involved in our daily living:

  • Setting the alarm to wake you up earlier than you naturally would puts faith in the electrical company and the alarm manufacturer.
  • That first drink of water, cup of coffee or warm morning shower– we’re all exercising faith that whoever is in charge of the Spokane water system is doing their job and insuring nobody dropped cyanide in overnight.  
  • When we send our kids off to school or spouses off to work we’re exercising great faith in the bus drivers we’ve never met, school teachers we know very little, fellow students/coworkers we’ve never seen, and a host of unknown people.

It literally takes faith to do just about anything in life…

  • get a prescription filled
  • deposit money in a bank
  • drive on the highway
  • get in an elevator
  • fly in an airplane
  • sign a contract
  • start a marriage
  • do business

 

Faith isn’t some kind of religious-only experience for the spiritually elite. It’s the glue that helps hold people’s lives together on a daily basis, whether they’re religious or not. Truth is, a lot of things…have to be believed to be seen! Otherwise we would spend our life confined to our rooms with the curtains pulled and the door locked.

 

The reality that faith is only as good as the object of one’s faith is being felt all over the world today.

  • If we trust people, we get what people can do;
  • if we trust money, we get what money can do;
  • if we trust government, we get what government can do.
  • But if we trust God, we get all that God can do.

 

So when God calls us to start, carry on, live daily our faith in Him, he’s not asking us to step out in completely foreign territory, is he? He’s asking us to live in relationship to him on an expanded and more expansive playing field of faith.

      And why shouldn’t it be grander and bigger than any other faith we are called upon to exercise in life? The object of our faith, God himself, is so much grander than any other possible object of faith we will ever have.

 

      Today I’m going to asking you to do something I’ve never asked anyone at Mosaic to do in the nearly 8 years of our existence. I’m not asking you to do something the Apostle Paul might not ask you to do if he was standing here. The reason I say that is because he asked a whole church of people—the Corinthian Church—to do much the same thing. He asked them to engage in giving to their church in Corinth in such a way that not only would the needs of their own church be met but the needs of people beyond their church would be met.

 

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians ends with a brief reference to the offering he was asking them to make later on in 2 Corinthians 8-9. Here’s what he says as a sort of parting challenge in I Cor. 16:1-4.

Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

 

So Paul is here talking about a special offering. It wasn’t the regular tithes and offerings the church was used to giving for the advancement of the ministry there in Corinth. It was a special offering that was “a collection for the saints.”

      How much were the people of God to give? Paul says in vs. 2, “…put something aside and store it up….” Apparently everybody was to put something towards this special, “stored up” offering that was going to be sent to the church in Jerusalem.

      So Paul appeals to the brothers and sisters in Corinth, just like he apparently had to ALL the churches in the province of Galatia, to regularly, weekly, take a special offering that was to be held aside from the regular church giving to go towards a particular need in Jerusalem.

      I don’t think Paul was teaching that we must weekly take a “special offering” over and above regular tithing and offerings. Nor was he saying that every special church offering is to be sent to believers in Jerusalem still today. I don’t even think he was giving an exhaustive teaching on church finances and special offerings. But I do think he was showing all churches that we have freedom to take up offerings for special projects that God’s Spirit seems to be leading the church to pursue.Those might be one-time offerings or they may stretch out over many weeks, months or even years.

      Furthermore, when Paul tells them to “put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper…”, he’s asking every child of God to keep track of just how God IS prospering…and to give out of that.

      I have no doubt that God is providing money, resources, “prosperity” to every one of us here today. And I doubt seriously that every one of us have received from God exactly the same amount. I doubt our paychecks are all identical. We’ve all received at different levels.

      For some, that prosperity is the SSI or Disability Payments you receive every month. For another it is the loose change people give you in the course of the week. For others it is the thousands of dollars you may earn at your job in a month. For others it is the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars we may have earned, saved up or inherited.

      It’s NOT about how much you don’t have…or how much someone else has. It’s about how much God has prospered YOU…ME…individually…in comparison to…NO ONE! It’s about what I receive from God…through whatever sources…and then have the opportunity to either hoard, spend on myself or give away.

      Here’s one simple truth here: God is in the business of “prospering” each of us differently. But He does invite us to recognize what HE is doing…and to set something aside from that. Wherever God is giving to us, He’s inviting us to give some or at times perhaps even all to others.

 

So let’s talk some specifics about both the relocation we are in and this whole notion of “Faith Pledges.”

      Since our inception almost 8 years ago now, we’ve wanted to have a presence in the core of our city that adds value and brings blessing to this place. Just the presence of God’s people in a business or school or neighborhood changes what happens to that area and people in it. So the more churches vacate the downtown, the less the light of Christ shines and impacts people who live, work or play down here. That’s one reason why Mosaic is committed to staying here.

      Since our inception we’ve wanted to develop businesses and non-profits that allow God’s people to simply serve and love on people needing it in this city. We won’t need to share the whole Gospel message with them every time they order a cup of coffee. But we will be sharing the life of Christ every time they come in for a visit.

 

ILL: Visit to Bozeman, MT and the 2 Christian-owned coffee shops there. Story of barista who had worked in Billings in a similar shop with similar ministry vision and the comment he received from a new non-Chr. patron in this shop in Bozeman: “This place feels a lot like a coffee shop I loved in Billings. I don’t know what it is but it keeps me coming back.”

 

We believe it is time to bring the life and light of Christ to some downtown businesses. Not only will they enable us to help people get trained to work and actually have paying work; they will give us a presence and voice into the lives of people, an opportunity to provide service that without a word carries the fragrance of Christ. That’s what people in our post-Christian culture want today. They are tired of the talking-heads who claim to be Christ-followers but show now loving service, no genuine grace. But they are hungry for Christ-followers who do.

 

So as Eric said earlier, over the next few weeks, we’re going to be introducing you to some of the anchor businesses and non-profits that will be launching with us in this new location. You heard from Aspire and Ian Robertson last week. You heard from Ty & Tomi Roberts this week. (I think we’re on an Irish roll here! J) And you will hear from Charlie with the Mosaic Concerts venue and Doug with Mosaic Bikes and Candice with Unite Family Services in the coming weeks.

      Ministry in an urban center must look different. It must utilize facilities more than a few days a week. To be good stewards of what we are giving, I want it to be serving people and blessing them 18-7! (Explain “18”.)

      Now let me talk about some of the financial realities of this move. In case you’ve missed it, this is how we are approaching this together financially: roughly…

1/3- has been set aside from Mosaic’s cash RESERVES. Actually $75,000. We knew this day would come so we’ve tried to carefully guard this for such a need. By the way, on top of this we have, every year, “tithed” or given away another 10% of what you have donated for the operation of Mosaic. Thank you!

1/3- we are asking sources outside of Mosaic, business people and individuals with resources, to match up to $100,000. That means that for every dollar one of us gives to this relocation, someone outside Mosaic will give $1…up to $100,000.

1/3-we are asking God to use us, Mosaic Fellowship Faith Pledges, to be a conduit for another $100,000 through Faith Pledge giving.

      So, in essence, 2/3rds will come from Mosaic and 1/3 will come from outside sources.

     

So besides all of us asking God how much He would like to pour into our hands that He wants us to give directly to this project, there are other things we can all do to help.

1.)    You may have well-to-do friends who you know give to good charitable causes. Start praying about if God would have you approach them with this opportunity. If God nudges you to do so, call them and ask if they would go out to lunch with you and one of the leaders of Mosaic to hear about what we are trying to do to improve downtown Spokane and our whole city.   I or someone from our Finance Council will be happy to sit down and share the vision as well as the business plans. Then we just let God do the rest of the work.

2.)    You may have connections with businesses that can donate some of the materials we’ll need to remodel and outfit this building. As we get closer to renovation, we’ll post the list of items and be happy to talk with those who might be able to donate items.

3.)    You may have time you can give at some stage of the process to all this. We need people who know how to write business plans, how to write grants, how to install drywall, how to paint, how to do art, how to do lighting or plumbing or iron work. This project will take lots of skills and lots of volunteers. We need to know where you want to volunteer.

4.)    PRAY. Every step of this process will need God’s divine intervention, from the inking of a contract to lease and buy to city permits, selecting contractors and getting all the funding. James told us, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2). Jesus commanded us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). So let’s do it!

 

Now, let’s finish this series up this morning by talking about the tip of the pyramid that you have on the card in front of you today: FAITH PLEDGE. I want to explain what we mean by a “faith pledge.” And I want to challenge everyone to consider making one to this relocation project. Here’s why.

 

So often in the church we TALK a lot about faith. We preach on it. We sing about it. We read passages about it. But we rarely do something together as concrete of a step of faith as this. This is measurable andit’s specific. Faith pledges touch every one of those needs. So just what are they?

 

2 words—faith…and pledge.

#1. Faith Pledges are a step of faith. Profound, no? J

But what do we mean by faith. Hebrews 11, that great chapter of faith in Scripture, gives us a working definition of faith in vs. 1: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Three quick things to notice about faith:

1.) It is “being sure” of something. It’s active certainty.  

ILL: How many of you believe that the day will come when you will no longer be able to work/earn an income for one reason or another. How many of you are making preparations for that day called “retirement” (though you may never slow down)?

      Most of us have some sort of retirement plan – Social Security, 401-K, IRA, etc. If you don’t, you’re either planning on working a job until you drop dead or are trusting that your kids and neighbors are going to be very godly…and rich…when you need it.

      Your IRA, SS payments, 401 & 403 accounts are all the “being sure” or “substance” or “confirmation” of your belief in retirement of some sort. Anybody who isn’t preparing for retirement with some form of savings really doesn’t believe in retirement as it’s normally defined in America.

      So it is with faith: there is observable substance to it in either action, deed or attitude.

 

2.) “…sure of what we hope for…” Faith always has an element of the future involved. It’s future focused.

      Sticking with our retirement illustration, retirement plans are all about the future. They are a statement about your faith in a future you are expecting to have.

      ILL: If you had a terminal disease and the doctors had told you that you had 3 months to live, I doubt that you’re going to be pouring most of your money into your retirement plan, right? Faith believes that something is going to happen in the future.

 

3.) “Faith is being…certain of what we do not see.” Here is the element of the invisible/unseen. There are many things in life that are unseen but carry a very high degree of certainty:

  • (Gravity) – If I jump off the Monroe St. Bridge without a hang-glider strapped to my body, a very unseen force will take control of me.
  • (Love) – If you lived in our home for a few days and observed Sandy cooking great meals, cleaning the house, shuttling kids here and there, volunteering in their schools, helping with homework, hugging and kissing the rest of us, etc., etc., what would you conclude? She LOVES us. Can she hand you an ounce of love that you can put under an electron microscope and analyze? Love is an invisible quality of the heart that evidences its presence in very visible ways.

 

So with faith. It is something. It is an invisible quality-- assurance, evidence, certainty about some presently future or unseen realities. Real faith (which is invisible) nevertheless always shows itself off with some observable signs.

 

In the case of a “Faith Pledge”, the faith part that is observable is the amount of money you are trusting God to bring your way either from some unforeseen source OR through normal means.

Normal means?

  • Your salary—Maybe you make $2,000/month and God leads you to trust him to somehow take $100/mo above your regular tithe/giving and adjust your spending to be able to give an extra $1200 over the next 12 months. I’ve known of people who end up getting a raise they didn’t expect…or a bonus at the end of the year.

STORY: Eli’s tips

  • An extra/additional job
  • Cutting back on some discretionary expense like cable or internet or smart phone data plan or eating out or latte’s during the week which will enable you to do something you currently are not doing.

Unforeseen sources: this could be just about anything!

  • Extra commission/bonus: ILL: Chuck’s story of $2,000 unforeseen & unexpected commission.
  • Inheritance: rich Uncle Benny dies and leaves you $50,000…enough to cover your pledge.
  • Insurance settlement for an accident you’re going to have! J
  • A new or better job than you currently have.

 

The faith part of the pledge says, “I want to be the conduit, the pipeline, for God to do amazing things…and I’m going to be praying about it every day, I’m going to be looking for it, and I’m going to be expecting God to meet my faith with His faithfulness.

 

Then there is the PLEDGE part. That is simply your agreement between you and God saying, “WHEN You bring those resources my way, I won’t hoard or hang onto them, I won’t spend them on something else, I won’t even treat them as anything but Your money, God, that I’m responsible to deliver.” It’s a pledge to God, not to Mosaic, to carry through with your end of the faith bargain.

 

Let me put this in perspective.

(Schindler’s List closing scene at the munitions factory.)

      Mr. Schindler was an opportunistic German business man who took advantage as best he could of the opportunity to make money in the midst of WWII. In the process, he also became one of the brighter spots in this terribly dark period of history for the German people.

      Schindler bribed the German officials in exchange for permission to employ Jews…1,100 of them, as the story goes. They were employed as slave labor in his munitions factory. But such an arrangement saved the lives of 1,100 Jews who would otherwise have been sent to the death camps of places like Buchenwald, Dachau and Auschwitz.

      We pick up the closing moments of the film as Schindler and his wife are leaving the factory 5 minutes after midnight on the day the surrender of Germany took effect. Schindler stayed to the end in order to insure the safety of these 1,100 Jews. As he leaves, he is now the one running for his life since he could be tried along with the Nazis for war crimes. But he’s surrounded by the people he has saved. And as he goes, true reality of what he has and hasn’t done begins to take hold.

      [Insert 4 minute video clip.]

 

Corrie Ten Boom, imprisoned in a concentration camp along with her entire family for hiding Jews in their home in the Netherlands, lost her entire family in that death camp. She gave an excellent word-picture of faith, the kind of faith you and I need every day in this world, when she says, “Faith is like radar that sees through the fog—[sees] the reality of things at a distance that the human eye cannot see.” [Corrie Ten Boom, Tramp For the Lord.]

 

God has provided the radar – the clear and unequivocal truths of His Word that we have read this morning.

He has set us down in His radar room, the Church.

He has pointed to the screen and illuminated realities that can only be seen by faith.

 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have a “Schindler Moment” when I’m standing before God looking back on my life. I don’t want to see all the “stuff” I held onto in life when I could have used it to change people’s souls right here in Spokane and their eternities in the presence of God.

 

Just imagine how you’ll feel meeting some people you don’t even know today…and may never even meet in this life…people who will come to faith in Christ because we took this step of faith as a church and decided to give and work hard to make downtown one of the best places to meet Christ in this city! I don’t think I’ll regret giving a single dollar of what we’re planning on giving and seeing God provide. If anything I think I’ll wish my faith had been bigger.

 

For those of you who think that sounds just too risky, let me close by telling you about a study that was done in WWII.

ILL: During World War II, psychologist E. Paul Torrance made a study of United States aces flying in the Pacific theater of operations. He reported that the most noticeable and important characteristic of the ace was his risk-taking ability. Throughout life, those who were aces had kept testing the limits of their abilities.

      The surprising thing was that the life histories of these men actually showed that they were highly resistant to accidents. In fact, in combat they suffered fewer casualties than pilots who were inclined to play it safe.

      Dr. Torrance said, "Living itself is a risky business. If we spent half as much time learning how to take risks as we spend avoiding them, we wouldn't have nearly so much to fear in life."

 

And we have the God who says, “10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:10-11)