As many of you know, I am a kindergarten teacher. As many of you don't know, I'm preaching at my church next Sunday. There is definitely a difference between the way I teach and the way some people preach, but I have a feeling my preaching will look and feel a lot like my teaching. Next Sunday I will be preaching on stewardship, which is something I could really go off on, but that's not really my style. My pastor asked me to limit it to 20 minutes which could be difficult, seeing as how I could probably go for 3 hours on the subject no problem. It has been one of my passions for a very long time, I've done a lot of reading and thinking on that particular subject, so I could go on for hours about it. 20 minutes is all I get though.
So, lucky you, you're going to hear my thought process as I try and think about what I'm going to preach on specifically for next week's sermon. We're doing a sermon series on generosity that will last for 3 weeks total, next week being the last week and focusing on stewardship as the topic. We're preaching out of 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. I have yet to narrow down specifically which verses I'll be focusing on, but I know I want to at least use chapter 9 verse 7 "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." The reason I want to focus on this verse is that I once had a friend tell me that she didn't give much because when she did it wasn't with a cheerful heart. To this, my immediate reaction was, "Well, then, maybe your heart's not in the right place. Have you ever considered that?" For instance, in Matthew 6:19-21, it states, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So, let's extend that a little bit and dissect it. First off, it doesn't say, "For where your heart is, there will your treasure be also." That's often how we interpret it though, isn't it? The fact is, if you want to gain a heart for something, start giving money towards it. If you want to care more about missions and mission trips, start giving towards those things. If you care about local missions, give to local missions. If you care about global missions, give to global missions. Both are needed. Now, some people are turned off by missions and missionaries and I get that. But I also realize it's usually a cop out for not giving anything at all. If you're not wanting a heart for missionaries, then give directly to the poor yourself in your neighborhood. A local radio station has been doing an ad for a feeding campaign they're going to do. Someone in our church shared a link from their page with me so I decided to check it out. They start off with a video stating that 14 million children go hungry every night in the USA. In the second video, they make enough meals with these food campaigns that they can give 50,000 meals per day. So, you make a meal, you get to feel good about yourself, you never actually meet the children you're going to feed, and 13,550,000 children still don't get fed that night. There's got to be a more sustainable solution than that, right? Anyways, my suggestion is if you care about hungry people, than feed a hungry person, buy them a meal and sit and eat it with them. Anyways, I digress from my main point, which is the whole reason for writing this, to try and keep my mind focused, good luck hahaha
Back to the subject of giving and how your heart follows your treasure. What is the biggest expense in most Americans' lives? Their house, of course. So what do they spend countless hours remodeling and maintaining? Again, their house, of course. If you buy a really nice boat, are you just going to lend it to anyone without first considering if they have a boating license and if they're sober? Of course not! The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. In my opinion, one of the most concrete ways to do that is to give 50% of your income away. Now, I"m not there yet, but that is my ultimate goal in giving. If you love someone else as much as yourself, doesn't it follow that you would give 50% to that person and 50% to yourself? Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's, right? What is God's then, after all? God owns it all, period. He gets 100% of you and everything you own. That's where the idea of stewardship must start. Everything you 'own' is actually God's, He's the actual owner of your property. Unless we first realize that, money is bound to be a curse instead of a blessing.
I listen to Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial Ministries podcasts and have read several things put out by both ministries. They both do a wonderful job at helping people get on a budget and get out of debt and manage money God's way, so to speak. I dare say they fall short though, at least in my opinion. It seems like they say the tithe is how you should give. I could not disagree more. While the tithe is mentioned in the New Testament by Jesus Himself and that's a great starting point, I by no means think it is the ceiling of our giving. Rather, it should be the basement, our foundation on which to build on. A tax collector encounters Jesus and sells half his possessions and gives to the poor. The rich young ruler encounters Jesus and Christ tells him to give it all away. The poor widow gives her last mite (penny, basically) and is praised by Jesus for her generosity as opposed to the rich Pharisees giving out of their abundance. So, while I listen to both those podcasts and would highly recommend some of their resources, I would challenge Christians to go further and to pray for more passion for what to do with their money.
One of the things that the Crown guy talks quite a bit about is offensive and defensive strategy with your money. Offensive is making money, defensive is cutting spending. I like to challenge people on the defensive side of things in particular. The offensive side of things is important as well, but defense wins championships, right? Dave Ramsey has his 7 baby steps, which I agree with for the most part, except that I would put the giving part in baby step 1 instead of 7 and not have 'build wealth' as one of the baby steps necessarily. As far as the defensive strategy goes, though, what could you cut out of your spending? I can think of some things that apply to just about anyone. One, your car payment. Get rid of it. Buy a used car. Or pay off the one you have and don't go out and buy a new one right away. Two, cut your cable TV and home phone. Do you really need 1,000 channels on TV? Do your kids really need it? If you must have it, then do a google search on roku tv and check that out. You basically pay $50 for a streaming box that connects to your wireless internet and they give you free channels and the option to subscribe to hulu plus or netflix, but the nice thing is you don't have to subscribe, you can just get the free channels and that be enough. A friend of mine told me recently I didn't have kids and didn't know that they needed it. Really? Obviously kids just weren't raised right for however many millenia there were before TV came about? Third, your cell phone bill. Do you really need a smart phone? Is it really worth the extra $35 a month that the data package costs? Four, how many times a week are you eating out? Eating out may seem cheaper at times, but it's really not. Now, a couple of those are directed at myself if you couldn't tell. There are also some basic principles to keep in mind when buying different big ticket items. Dave Ramsey and Crown both say about the same thing for buying a house. Put at least 20% down and only a 15 year mortgage and only 25% of your take home pay as a monthly payment. It's very conservative I know, but it would also cause a lot less stress in a lot of people's lives. When buying a car, I would say go with one that's at least 4 years old since cars lose 70% of their value the first 4 years of their life. Is the warranty really worth it if it loses 25% of its value when you drive it off the lot? At the very least, don't ever buy a brand new car, even if you have the money to. It's a colossal waste of money for a new car smell that you can actually get in a spray can at a car wash. I used to work at Eager Beaver in Sarasota and we had a few sprays you could get in your car when you got it detailed, one of them being "New Car."
Alright, that's enough for one night. I'll probably try and tackle this another time this weekend but for now I'm too tired to continue.
So, lucky you, you're going to hear my thought process as I try and think about what I'm going to preach on specifically for next week's sermon. We're doing a sermon series on generosity that will last for 3 weeks total, next week being the last week and focusing on stewardship as the topic. We're preaching out of 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. I have yet to narrow down specifically which verses I'll be focusing on, but I know I want to at least use chapter 9 verse 7 "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." The reason I want to focus on this verse is that I once had a friend tell me that she didn't give much because when she did it wasn't with a cheerful heart. To this, my immediate reaction was, "Well, then, maybe your heart's not in the right place. Have you ever considered that?" For instance, in Matthew 6:19-21, it states, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So, let's extend that a little bit and dissect it. First off, it doesn't say, "For where your heart is, there will your treasure be also." That's often how we interpret it though, isn't it? The fact is, if you want to gain a heart for something, start giving money towards it. If you want to care more about missions and mission trips, start giving towards those things. If you care about local missions, give to local missions. If you care about global missions, give to global missions. Both are needed. Now, some people are turned off by missions and missionaries and I get that. But I also realize it's usually a cop out for not giving anything at all. If you're not wanting a heart for missionaries, then give directly to the poor yourself in your neighborhood. A local radio station has been doing an ad for a feeding campaign they're going to do. Someone in our church shared a link from their page with me so I decided to check it out. They start off with a video stating that 14 million children go hungry every night in the USA. In the second video, they make enough meals with these food campaigns that they can give 50,000 meals per day. So, you make a meal, you get to feel good about yourself, you never actually meet the children you're going to feed, and 13,550,000 children still don't get fed that night. There's got to be a more sustainable solution than that, right? Anyways, my suggestion is if you care about hungry people, than feed a hungry person, buy them a meal and sit and eat it with them. Anyways, I digress from my main point, which is the whole reason for writing this, to try and keep my mind focused, good luck hahaha
Back to the subject of giving and how your heart follows your treasure. What is the biggest expense in most Americans' lives? Their house, of course. So what do they spend countless hours remodeling and maintaining? Again, their house, of course. If you buy a really nice boat, are you just going to lend it to anyone without first considering if they have a boating license and if they're sober? Of course not! The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. In my opinion, one of the most concrete ways to do that is to give 50% of your income away. Now, I"m not there yet, but that is my ultimate goal in giving. If you love someone else as much as yourself, doesn't it follow that you would give 50% to that person and 50% to yourself? Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's, right? What is God's then, after all? God owns it all, period. He gets 100% of you and everything you own. That's where the idea of stewardship must start. Everything you 'own' is actually God's, He's the actual owner of your property. Unless we first realize that, money is bound to be a curse instead of a blessing.
I listen to Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial Ministries podcasts and have read several things put out by both ministries. They both do a wonderful job at helping people get on a budget and get out of debt and manage money God's way, so to speak. I dare say they fall short though, at least in my opinion. It seems like they say the tithe is how you should give. I could not disagree more. While the tithe is mentioned in the New Testament by Jesus Himself and that's a great starting point, I by no means think it is the ceiling of our giving. Rather, it should be the basement, our foundation on which to build on. A tax collector encounters Jesus and sells half his possessions and gives to the poor. The rich young ruler encounters Jesus and Christ tells him to give it all away. The poor widow gives her last mite (penny, basically) and is praised by Jesus for her generosity as opposed to the rich Pharisees giving out of their abundance. So, while I listen to both those podcasts and would highly recommend some of their resources, I would challenge Christians to go further and to pray for more passion for what to do with their money.
One of the things that the Crown guy talks quite a bit about is offensive and defensive strategy with your money. Offensive is making money, defensive is cutting spending. I like to challenge people on the defensive side of things in particular. The offensive side of things is important as well, but defense wins championships, right? Dave Ramsey has his 7 baby steps, which I agree with for the most part, except that I would put the giving part in baby step 1 instead of 7 and not have 'build wealth' as one of the baby steps necessarily. As far as the defensive strategy goes, though, what could you cut out of your spending? I can think of some things that apply to just about anyone. One, your car payment. Get rid of it. Buy a used car. Or pay off the one you have and don't go out and buy a new one right away. Two, cut your cable TV and home phone. Do you really need 1,000 channels on TV? Do your kids really need it? If you must have it, then do a google search on roku tv and check that out. You basically pay $50 for a streaming box that connects to your wireless internet and they give you free channels and the option to subscribe to hulu plus or netflix, but the nice thing is you don't have to subscribe, you can just get the free channels and that be enough. A friend of mine told me recently I didn't have kids and didn't know that they needed it. Really? Obviously kids just weren't raised right for however many millenia there were before TV came about? Third, your cell phone bill. Do you really need a smart phone? Is it really worth the extra $35 a month that the data package costs? Four, how many times a week are you eating out? Eating out may seem cheaper at times, but it's really not. Now, a couple of those are directed at myself if you couldn't tell. There are also some basic principles to keep in mind when buying different big ticket items. Dave Ramsey and Crown both say about the same thing for buying a house. Put at least 20% down and only a 15 year mortgage and only 25% of your take home pay as a monthly payment. It's very conservative I know, but it would also cause a lot less stress in a lot of people's lives. When buying a car, I would say go with one that's at least 4 years old since cars lose 70% of their value the first 4 years of their life. Is the warranty really worth it if it loses 25% of its value when you drive it off the lot? At the very least, don't ever buy a brand new car, even if you have the money to. It's a colossal waste of money for a new car smell that you can actually get in a spray can at a car wash. I used to work at Eager Beaver in Sarasota and we had a few sprays you could get in your car when you got it detailed, one of them being "New Car."
Alright, that's enough for one night. I'll probably try and tackle this another time this weekend but for now I'm too tired to continue.
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