“The benefits of Tithing.”
This Morning we are going to be highlighting our 60-day challenge.
We are almost ending our 60-day challenge.
Our desire is that some of you who stepped out to be new tithers or consistent tithers would continue to do so, even after the 60-day challenge.
This morning, I would like to highlight the benefits of tithing and then I will be done.
Malachi 3:10
[Mal 3:10 NIV] 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.
Before I share with you the benefits of tithing, I would like to give the definition of tithing and what it means.
The word tithe means a tenth.
The Bible talks about the tithe in Leviticus chapter 27:30
[Lev 27:30 NIV] 30 ” ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.
Let me give you an example of how tithing works.
If I desire to be a consistent tither, that means I give to the Lord 10% of my income.
Example: If I get paid R1, 000 then R100 would be my tithe.
If I get paid R500, then R50 would be my tithe.
When should I tithe?
The tithe should be the first thing that I pay before anything else.
The bible talks about honoring God with our first fruits. Proverbs 3:9
[Pro 3:9 NIV] 9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;
Where should I tithe?
I should tithe to my local church. The place where I am getting fed.
Malachi 3:10 says Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
We should bring our tithe to the House of God, the place where we are getting fed spiritually.
Let me clarify something really quick.
Our service to God is not our tithe. Using our abilities for God is not our tithe.
Example: I can’t say I serve in the basket weaving ministry and that is my tithe.
To get to the basket weaving fellowship I used my own petrol so that is my tithe.
To get to church to be in the basket weaving ministry I used my own money for taxi, so that is my tithe.
No that is not a tithe.
Just because we are in a ministry, we don’t get a tithing discount.
That is like going to McDonalds and saying can I get a number 1 super-sized please, but since I used my own money for the petrol to get here, can you give me R25 off?
Our tithe is not us using our talents or abilities for God.
Nope: We don’t tithe by using our gifts or talents, that comes from gratefulness.
Our tithe is 10% of our income.
Ok let’s look at the benefits of tithing.
1. Tithing helps us to keep God first in our lives.
The bible says in [Mat 6:21 NIV]
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
One of the ways that you and I show that God is first in our lives is by honoring Him with our finances.
When we put God first in our finances it speaks a lot about where our heart is at.
The goal of you and I as Christians should be to put God first in our lives.
Our claps don’t say where our heart is at.
Our shouts don’t say where our heart is at.
Our dance doesn’t show where our heart is at.
The bible says where a man’s treasure is, there his heart is.
They say if you want to know what someone values just look at where they spend their money.
Back in the day, they would say “Show me your checkbook and it will show me where you heart is at.”
Not too many people write checks anymore.
I guess now it will be show me your receipts, direct debits, or card purchases, and it will show me where your heart is at.
When you and I put God first in our finances, it shows that we want to put God first in our lives.
2. Tithing helps us to spread the gospel.
Not only can tithing show us where our heart is at, but it also helps us to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
How many are grateful for Victory Outreach Cape Town Church?
How many are grateful for the G.A.N.G. ministry?
How many are grateful for the Recovery Home?
How many are grateful for our church building?
Now if we didn’t have any finances, then we wouldn’t have any of the things that I mentioned.
It is because of someone being faithful to God in their giving that you and I are here.
You and I heard about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Imagine if the church was not required to tithe, where would we get the finances to spread the gospel?
Where would we get the finances to have a church building?
Where would we get the finances to pay for the electricity?
I know we are blessed to have our own church, with our own offices, with our own kidz G.A.N.G., with our own sanctuary, with our own foyer, with our own phone lines and with our own classrooms, but can you imagine how much the electricity bill is?
Let’s put it like this, it is not cheap.
Where would we get the finances to pay the bill, if the church didn’t tithe and we only operated on offerings?
Ok let me bring it home.
Let’s say I am on my way to pick up the check I get from my job. Now when I go to pick up my check from work, they tell me instead of giving you a fixed amount this month we have decided to give you an offering.
Now I was counting on getting my full check so I can pay my bills and one of those bills was my electricity.
How can I plan my spending if I only get an offering?
I wouldn’t be able to plan anything because I don’t know how much they are going to give me every month.
Now to top it off. Imagine if they said Another thing we need to mention is, depending on how we feel will depend on the offering we give you.
The reason you and I can make plans and do direct debits is because of the consistency of our pay check.
Well, so it is with tithing.
When God's People are consistent in tithing, it allows the church to plan, keep the operation of the church moving forward and impact lives with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Some may say, can’t we pay for it with offerings? Well, I guess my response would be, if we have a hard time paying our tithes, I wonder how many of us would even give in the offering and if so how much would our offerings would be?
Tithing allows us to spread the gospel and impact a hurting world.
If there were no tithers, there would be no church here on 123 Voortrekker rd. and if there was no church, many of us wouldn’t be here.
But because there are tithers, we have a church building, and lives are being reached.
If there were no tithers, there would be no victory home, and if there was no victory home, many of us wouldn’t be here.
But because we have tithers, we have a victory home and lives and families are being saved and restored.
If there were no tithers, there would be no G.A.N.G. nights and if there were no G.A.N.G. nights, some of us wouldn’t be here.
But because we have tithers, there is a G.A.N.G. night and students and young adults are being reached with the gospel.
If there were no tithers, there would be no support groups, and if there were no support group some of us wouldn’t be here.
But because we have tithers, we have a support group and lives are being changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I think we get the point.
As a church, our vision is to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is made possible by the giving of God’s people.
Tell your neighbor “We have a vision.”
Reaching the lost is a win for us.
Reaching the lost is what we have been anointed to do.
Reaching the world is the great commission.
Now some people may say, all you do is talk about vision.
Yes, we talk about vision because everything we do is based on that vision coming to pass.
We shouldn’t ever get tired of hearing about the vision and reaching souls.
I have a question.
Has a soccer coach ever been accused of talking too much about scoring goals.
Has anyone ever told a soccer coach, all you do is talk about scoring goals and winning games.
I don’t think that happens too often because everyone on the team knows the reason we practice and do what we do is to win games and to win games we need to score goals.
So, all the strategies, practices, plays and everything else we put in place is to help us score goals.
Well, it is the same thing with the church. Our goal is to reach the lost and the hurting, and everything we have in place is to take us toward that goal.
So, if you hear someone say all that church talks about is vision, vision, vision it may be because they are on a different team.
That is like telling a soccer coach to stop telling us how we can score goals and talk about something else.
3. Tithing opens the windows of heaven.
The bible says in Malachi 3:10
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.
When we bring our tithe into the House of God.
God says He will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.
God even goes as far as saying test me and see if I will not do what I said I will do.
God is faithful to His word.
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We can see our giving not only opens doors and windows for financial blessings, but it opens doors for all kinds of blessings.
If you find yourself in a tight financial situation, you can start tithing and put God to the test. He will come through.
Maybe you have been retrenched and you need a financial miracle. You can put God to the test He will come through.
Maybe you are in university and don’t have enough for your tuition. You can put God first and He will come through.
Maybe you don’t have enough finances for your next meal. You can put God first and He will come through.
The bible says we can put God to the test, and He will open the windows of heaven.
God says He will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.
God even goes as far as saying test me and see if I will not do what I said I will do.
God is faithful to His word.