Sermon: Giving Away What Isn’t Ours by Randy Roberts

Pastoral Welcome: Jacqueline Lynch

Child Dedication: Jacqueline Jay Cline - Randy Roberts

Children’s Feature: Jackie Bishop

Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 29:10–13, TNIV - Michael Boyko

Note: Child dedications are in the extras section of the DVD

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERMON These are tough economic times. The economy is besieged. Stimulus packages struggle to revive it. Home foreclosures are everyday news. People can’t find jobs. Retirement has been postponed—the money that was carefully saved has dwindled. And a large question mark looms over the future. In the midst of it all, I have a question for you: how healthy is your giving plan? It seems an odd question to ask at a time like this, doesn’t it? After all, when times are bad, you’d better hang on to what you have, right? Tighten the purse strings. Control your spending and your giving. Don’t be frivolous in your shopping. Protect your nest egg. Stay in control because who knows whether or not there’ll be something left when all this is over. How healthy is your giving plan? What a strange question to ask. And yet, the truth is, there may be no better time to ask it than at a time like this. When all is going well, when the economy purrs along, when the bank account is fat, when tomorrow is yours for taking—in times like that, we can afford to be generous, right? It would be expected. So when you are generous at a time like that, it may not be a fair indicator of the health of your generosity. But when you can’t afford to give, and yet you do—that may indicate more truthfully where your heart is and how healthy your giving plan is. This week we turn to an incident that occurred right at the end of King David’s reign and right at the beginning of King Solomon’s tenure. It is time to build the temple of God. We have no indication of whether or not the times were economically difficult. In fact, it seems quite the opposite. It seems that at that time the kingdom was characterized by stability. But we can also say one other thing with confidence. This experience of planning and building the temple—this experience of giving to the building of the house of the Lord—was an experience in the history of Israel when people gave from heart—willingly, joyfully, wholeheartedly. It’s no secret: whether the times are stable or troubled, that is the kind of giving God desires. So I ask you again, how healthy is your giving plan? After considering Israel’s example, you may conclude what I have: this is a good time to answer that question.

Randy Roberts

Senior Pastor

MEDITATION The world asks, “What does a man own?” Christ asks, “How does he use it?” – Andrew Murray Because it’s unpopular, the idea that giving is a theological matter and a major expression of your Christian faith has been, for the most part, lost. – Haddon Robinson

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