tithes and love offering

8/6/2019 Tithes and Love Offering

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Christian Giving BS Lesson on Tithes and Love Offering Compiled by Ate Nessie



Bible Study Lesson for Cell Groups : Christian Giving * Compiled by Ate Nessie *

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TITHES & OFFERINGS

(Christian Giving)

PRAY

INTRO The major parts of a worship celebration:

1. Adoration. Singing praises, dancing and lifting of holy hands.2. Message. Listening (and obeying) God‟s words / message. 3. Tithes and Offerings.

Understanding the Doctrine of Stewardship:

We are stewards of God’s resources. 1. Christian stewardship. It is the believer‟s responsibility to manage that which

God has entrusted to his/her care.2. Understanding “Stewardship” .

a) God is the owner and man is just a steward.Psalm 24:1 – “The earth is the Lord‟s, and everything in it, the world, and allwho live in it.”

Genesis 1:28 – “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful andincrease in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the seaand birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

b) Man shall give an account to God on everything he has done.

We as stewards, should return (bring back) our tithes to God.1. What is tithing? It means returning to God the tenth of our produce. (It is

not a gift or an offering, in the strictest sense of the word.)

Leviticus 27:30 – “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from

the soil or fruit from the trees, belong to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.”

2. When did the concept of tithing began? (Old Testament)

a) Abraham. Genesis 14:20b – Abraham, after delivering Lot, give thepriest Melchizedek a tenth of the spoil. “Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

b) Jacob. Genesis 28:22 – Jacob promised God, “and this stone that Ihave set up as a pillar will be God‟s house, and all that You give me, I will

give You a tenth.”




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(1) Note the last statement: “… and all that You give me … I will give Youa tenth.” This is the biblical concept of returning or bring back. (2) Tithing was an exercise of apportioning a part of a man‟s produce foroffering to God even before the Law of Moses was established.

Does the Old Testament law of tithing apply to modern-day Christians?If we impose the “10% rule” on everyone, we will become legalistic. Ephesians 2:8 – “For it is by grace you have been saved… “Romans 6:14 – “… you are not under law, but under grace.” If we “are not under law, but under grace,” then how much should we

give?John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that

whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal lif e.” God gave His best!We should also give our best!

Did Christ abolish tithing? (New Testament)Luke 21:3-4 – “I tell you the truth, he said, „this poor widow has put in more

than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she outof her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Does the Lord Jesus still watch people today in the manner He lookedat the widow and her mite?Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

What in the Law should we not be subjected to?

The holiness code – feasts, sacrifices; ceremonial law – which pertains to thedictates on how to be clean before God. The Moral and Ethical Law remains.

What did Jesus say about tithing?Matthew 23:23 - “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you

hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cummin. But you haveneglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness.

You should have practice the latter, without neglecting the former.” Luke 19:8. Zacchaeus immediately gave 50% (not only 10%) and pledged to

give back 400% to anybody he might have cheated. He said, “Look, Lord! Here andnow I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” What did Jesus say about him? In v.9, Jesus said to him, “Today salvation

has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.” Why was Abraham mentioned?

He exemplified the act of tithing (Genesis 14:20b) Acts 4:36-37 – “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas(which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owns and brought the moneyand put it at the apostle‟s feet.” This perspective is of vital importance. Here, we learned that we must

constantly realize that we are presenting to the Lord and not to men.




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Acts 5:1-11. In trying to emulate Barnabas, the couple Ananias and Sapphira madeone fatal mistake! They pretended to give all. There was no necessity for them to dowhat they did. If they were not burdened by the Lord to give everything, they should have

given what they were moved to give. But in telling a lie, they were not so

much lying to their fellowmen but they were lying to the Lord.Since giving is an act of worship, they were wantonly false in their worship.

And they paid the penalty for the sins – death.3. What is an offering? An offering is a gift over and above the stipulated

one-tenth. It must come from a joyful and thankful heart.2 Samuel 24:23-24 (Bible scholars dubbed this verse as the “Cost of TrueWorship.”) “O king, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Note King David‟s reply inv.24 “I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burntoffering that cost me nothing.” Mark 12:17 – “Then Jesus said to them, „Give to Caesar what is Caesar‟s and to

God what is God‟s.‟” Relatedly, when we pay our income tax, we are not giving a gift to the

government. It is our due or obligation as citizens of the country. In the same way,our tithes are not considered as offerings; there is only an offering when we presentbeyond the ten percent.

Purposes of Tithing1. To honor and revere God.

Proverbs 3:9 – “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of allyour crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over

with new wine.” Deuteronomy 14:23. The purpose of tithing is to teach us to put God firstand foremost in our lives always. Note carefully the reason given: “ … so that youmay learn to revere the Lord your God always.

2. For building faith. To reinforce our trust that God is the originator of ourblessings.Psalm 24:1. (a) We should realize that our tithes are not offerings. When

we tithe, we are simply returning or bringing back to God that which rightfullybelongs to Him. (b) By bringing back to God a part of our income, we – first of all – acknowledge that everything we have comes from Him.

3. For the material support of the temple ministers.Numbers 18:24 – “Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the

tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I saidconcerning them: „They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.‟” Levites = church workers

4. For the financial needs of the Church

(Food in the “House of God”)




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Malachi 3:10 – “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that theremay be food in My house.”

When we find that church projects are not met in good time, His especiallyappointed servants are not cared for and supported properly, and/or a big crusadeor seminar expenses are not met … who is to blame? It is His children!

Why do some believers withhold their tithes?1) Ignorance 2) Distrust 3) Unbelief 4) Priority

What results from withholding tithes? How did God characterize those whowithhold their tithes? Malachi 3:10 – Robbers

Conversely, what are God’s promises to those who tithe? 1. An abundance of blessing (Malachi 3:10 / Proverbs 3:9 / 2 Cor 9:6) 2. Divine protection (Malachi 3:10)

God’s Storehouse

Where do we present our tithes? Storehouse . The local church where youget spiritual nourishment.

CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS1. A tithe is holy to the Lord. In tithing, we put God first and foremost in our

lives always.2. An offering is a gift that serves as an act of worship. In giving, we honor and

worship God. (Done personally)3. We are not really giving away our money when we give to God because all

that we have belongs to Him. Giving becomes a joy when we recognize that

God is the source of all we have. 4. We must realize that no matter how much we give, we can never pay inanyway what God has done for us. (John 3:16)

5. We can never outgive God! (Malachi 3:10 / Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it willbe given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together andrunning over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, itwill be measured to you.”

6. Giving is an eternal investment. (Matthew 6:20-21) 7. We must be prompted by love. Once we have learned to give sacrificially and

experience God‟s blessings as a result, the 10% will no longer be an issue.We will want to give more!

tithes and love offering

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