Jim Putman – Lead Pastor of Real Life Ministries leads a discussion on finances with Gabe Cleave – Hayden Campus Pastor, and Santha Yinger – Mental Health Ministry Lead. You can watch the sermon that goes along with this podcast here: https://realliferesources.org/sermon/first-week-2/
Some of the things they cover in this podcast are:
– Can I tithe my time instead of my money?
– Does it have to be 10%? Can I tithe less?
– What if I am a single mom with a very low income?
– What if my spouse isn’t a believer and doesn’t want to tithe?
First fruits/tithing makes us God centered in the beginning –it is the antidote
• We must work –but it can also become an idol –we must relate with others but people must not be loved more than Jesus – we must deal with money but we cannot serve both God and money
• A way for us to work with it without it becoming our master
•Tithing sets the terms for how I use His money in every way Genesis 14:18–20 (NIV) Exodus 23:16 (NIV) Leviticus 27:30 (NIV) Deuteronomy 14:22 (NIV) Deuteronomy 14:28–29 (NIV)
Tithing’s purposes:
Malachi 3:6–13 (NIV) — 6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.
A. Tithing is an antidote for greed but also a means to bring God glory • The temple built by the Jews revealed how important God was to His people
B. God tells us to bring the whole tithe to the storehouse (food in my house)- • Old Testament – temple, New Testament – household of God • Every part of the life of a believer was centered around loving God by loving others • God built a system that ministered to others – the leaders and the poor Ephesians 2:19 (NIV) — 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 1 Peter 2:5 (NIV) — 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
C. God tells us that He desires there to be food in His house • Spiritual food is taught through the leadership He designed the church to have • Food for the hurting –widow and orphan Leviticus 19:10 (NIV).
D. Being obedient to God and His purposes brings blessing –in this life and the next 1 Timothy 6:17–19
