Refreshed

 

Wednesday night Refresh service, Pastor Luke dug a little deeper into last Sunday’s message. We have been talking about who we are as a church in the series “We”. Each week the Pastors have discussed a different aspect of our church culture and the direction of our trajectory.

We Give

This week as been “We Give”. Our church does not shy away from talking about tithing and generosity. Pastor Luke reiterated the truth that if you are not tithing you can’t be generous. $3 your of your $1000 check is not your tithe nor is it generous. This is a biblical truth backed up by dozens upon dozens of scriptures.

How often do you hear people talk about Pastors being greedy after the offertory? Look I was one of them for many years, but the activities of my church were not transparent either. My tithe does not pad my Pastors’ pockets. It keeps the lights on, provides coffee on Sunday morning, pays for youth camp scholarships, supports missions, and most importantly it helps equip my church to reach the lost.

Make no mistake there is another type of giving and generosity that is overlooked by many believers. Think of it this way…a tithe of your time. An offering of your time. I am not talking about abandoning tithing of our finances, this is additional. We have 168 hours each week. If you attend Sunday service, Wednesday service and a bible study or connect group you probably have about 5 hours invested. If we attach ourselves to the idea of tithing our time we should have about 16.8 hours invested. So add one hour a day of reading the bible and prayer. You are at 13 hours. Are you willing to give a tithe of your time as well as your finances?

You have heard it, Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Tithing money is not about church greed, it is obedience to God. It is giving your best and keeping God center. The same is true of our time. Those who are not clinging to their money, tend to cling to their time and vice versa. I know I have been guilty of being greedy with my time in the past, just as much, if not more than my money. We are to be generous with ALL that we have.

Last Words

One of the points that stuck with me from last night’s service…last words. Pastor pointed out that when Paul left Ephesus his final words to these people he loved so well were the recounted words of Christ, “It is more blessed to give than receive.” That is the last message they heard from Paul. Of all the things he could have stressed…witnessing, miracles, etc…he stressed the mandate and blessing of giving.

 

The last words of Jesus noted in Mark 16:15-18 and Matthew 28:16-20 reference the Great Commission. Jesus final push before going to the right hand of the Father “¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore^[a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” What is the mission of the church? To spread the Gospel and do everything outlined in those couple of verses of scripture. Final words make an impact.

I remember the last coherent words of my Granny Wheeler. She told me to trust God in regards to my son, who was in all sorts of trouble then. She told me she loved me and thanked me for helping her out. I am still trusting God for all my sons. (Although doing a better job trusting these days.) Her final words to me directly have stuck with me. They always will.

Final words, whether you know they are final or not, have impact. I put my son on a bus to go south a few days ago. My last words to him were sharing my faith and challenging him to literally try it. Not some halfhearted thing, I challenged him to read certain books, to engage with a church, and pray. I challenged him to actually work on connecting with God. He has told me, “I’m on the verge of believing.” (That presents its own set of frustrations.) My point is my final words to him were an expression of my love for him and my faith in God.

As my life continues to unfold, I become more aware of what people know me for. I want you to know I am a Christian, that I love God and that I want you to love him too. Those are my final words tonight.