9Benefits eBook

7/28/2019 9Benefits eBook

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Phil Hopersberger


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2013 by Mvelopes. All rights reserved.

April 3013 edition


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Contents

9 Benefts o Preaching on Finances

They become true stewards. They become spiritually healthy.

They become more mature.

They become more involved in the gospel.

They become more generous and yourchurch less needy.

They become nancially ree.

They become conscious o their mortality.

They become richer in Heaven. They become nancially sound andspiritually sharp.

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Topic Stewardship & Ownership

KEY POINTS

As you know, stewardship is not just about money(Matthew 25:14-30).

The rich young ruler typi es most Americanstoday (Matthew 19:24).

Lets ace it; in our American culture we love money and whatwe possess. Compared to the rest of the world, we are all veryrich (http://bit.ly/ZG2gvx) . Does our a uent society in uence

Christians, and speci cally Christians in your church?

I you weigh the time and e ort Christians put into gainingmoney and how they spend it (look at how many hours theywork for their home, their cars, and their toys), you can see howmuch it dominates their lives. Be honestdoes your churchreally get the di erence between stewardship and ownership?Or have they fallen into the ownership trap?

Stewardship is simply this:

God owns it allour money, houses, cars, land, bank accounts, and ourselves!

Hes temporarily entrusted us to take care of what belongs

to Him.

1BENEFIT ONE

They Become True Stewards

9 Bene ts o Preaching on Financial Fitness 1


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There will be an audit (so we had better invest whatbelongs to Him wisely).

Too often believers are deluded into thinking they own whatthey haveuntil death reafrms that none o it goes with them.Most likely, the majority of your congregation does not live thisprinciple in the same way we observe the believers in the Book of Acts. They are rich by the worlds standards, and they holdtheir money and stu too dearly.

As their pastor, one of your important jobs is to move your con -gregation to the point that when a tree limb crushes their newcar they say, Oh, God! Look what has happened to Your car!

One o the dangers o having a lot o money is that youmay be quite satis ed with the kinds o happiness money can give, and so ail to realize your need or God. I every-thing seems to come simply by signing checks, you may

orget that you are at every moment totally dependent on God. C.S. Lewis

2 9 Bene ts o Preaching on Financial Fitness


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Topic Gods Thermometer

KEY POINTS

Jesus spoke a lot about the topics of money and

possessions, so it must be important. Ask your church this heart-temperature question:

Who owns your money?

Sixteen o His 38 parables deal with the topic o money andpossessions, so we can see its important to God. Yet. He doesntvalue it in the same way we do. Its important to Him because

how we relate to our stu reveals our heart, a spiritual ther -mometer o sorts. Where your treasure is, theres your heart too (Luke 12:34).

But most American believers miss this crucial pointGod hasa di erent monetary system. He doesnt value what we value,and like this Twilight Zone episode, money is worthless to Him

(http://bit.ly /YMFaA3). (Trust me, the ending is worth it.)

So, if His values are not of this world and He doesnt care aboutour money or our stu , what does He treasure? He cares aboutsouls (1 Timothy 2:3-4), so much so that He gave up what Heloved most (His only Son) or what He loves most (His Church).In short, He cares about your heart staying united with His


2BENEFIT TWO

They Become Spiritually Healthy


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heartloving people. God doesnt truly have your heart untilHe has your money.

A persons answer to that ownership question reveals a lotabout a him or her, and probably shows something about yourchurchs overall health too. Jesus said you cant serve God andmoney (Matthew 6:22-24), but He prefaced that with a healthobservation (a sick eye means a sick body).

I someone is living or eternity and has a vision or ul lling theGreat Commission, then their schedule and budget are goingto re ect Gods value system. Its evident in their weekly giving,their evangelism e orts, and how they serve others with theirtime and possessions. Only one god is getting their worshipGod Almightyand that re ects a spiritually healthy heart.

Would you say that your church members are aligned with Hismonetary standard? Are they storing up treasure for them -selves, or are they being rich toward God (Luke 12:13-21)?



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Topic The Love of Money

KEY POINTS

Jesus said you cant love money and God. Simple.

But do some people in your church still lovemoney more?

Put this phrase in your avorite Bible search site: the love o money. Three New Testament re erences come up.

One says a mature Christian, an elder or pastor, should be free

rom the love o money (1 Timothy 3:3). The next is a avoriteof the world and is almost always misquoted by them, the loveo money is the root o all sorts o evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Finally,make sure your character is ree rom the love o money, beingcontent with what you have (Hebrews 13:5).

In other words, if people do not love money, they are mature, will

avoid evil and grief, and have godly character and contentment.Imagine the impact a church full of people like this would makein your community, and for eternity! But how many are caughtin this trap of loving money?

It is imperative that you clearly communicate Gods values sothat theirs will mesh with their Lord and Masters system. Itll


3BENEFIT THREE

They Become More Mature


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take a while for this to sink in, and it wont happen overnightwith one sermon, but He promises that if they seek rst HisKingdom and His righteousness, their needs will be taken careo (Matthew 6:33). Their temporal wants may not always betaken care of in the way they would choose, but their invest -ments or the uture are sa e (Matthew 6:19-20).

In addition to money, possessions and talents, people must alsobe stewards of their time: time with family, time with the Lord,time in fellowship, time in witnessing to the lost, directly orindirectly. You have one life to invest for perhaps 70 years, andyour investment must last you for 750,000 lifetimes times 70million millenniums! Your ock must learn to look ahead, pasttheir 70 years, toward eternity. As Paul said, making the most o your time, or the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).

Suppose I gave you $3,000,000 to invest for me over the next 10years, what would you do and how carefully would you weighevery option to spend it? Most believers dont think this waywith their time resource of 70 years as well as their lifetime of earnings that can total several million dollars. As their pastor, it isyour solemn responsibility to teach your church howto make these choices wisely.



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Topic Reaching the World with the GospelTakes Generosity

KEY POINTS

His generosity: We love because He rst loved us(1 John 4:9-10).

Our generosity: We give because He rst gave tous (1 Chronicles 29:14).

If God treasures souls, and the marching orders of the Churchare to go therefore and make disciples, then investing in thegospels expansion is the best investment believers can makefor their future. If they are living with tomorrow in mind, thatis. So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You aheart o wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

So how do you get that to be real for them, to make an impacton your congregation practically?

Well, you could ask them how many Saturdays do they have left,and how many of those will count in eternity? Have them ll a jar with marbles for each Saturday left in their life and put it ontheir dresser. Thatll make it real.

I your church is serious about ul lling the Great Commission

then they will have to be generous, which usually means sacri -


4BENEFIT FOUR

They Become More Involved with

the Gospel


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ce. Thats a word we tend to shun today, but it was once verycommon in Old Testament times. It involved giving up some-thing that would otherwise be valuable to keep (goats, sheep,etc.). Instead, they gave it to God and killed it. It cost them. They had to go without. It was a sacri ce.

What can your parishioners sacri ce for the gospel today? May -be a dinner/movie date, a vacation, a cell phone plan, satellite TV for the summer, putting o a new car purchase, or skippinglunch for a month? There are many ideas areas where they cancut out expenses rom their li estyle in order to save or thesaved investment of a mission trip, to sponsor a campus min -istry sta member, or whatever. But is that truly sacri ce? Doesthat cut it?

Each person has to answer that prayerfully for themselves, butheres how C.S. Lewis saw it:

I do not believe one can settle how much we ought togive. I am a raid the only sa e rule is to give more than wecan spare. In other words, i our expenditure on com orts,luxuries, amusement, etc., is up to the standard commonamong those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. I our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say it is too small. There

ought to be things we should like to do and cannot be-cause our commitment to giving excludes them.

The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himsel be watered (Proverbs 11:25).



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Topic A Generous Church Is aHealthy Church

KEY POINTS

Dont bring blind and crippled sacri cesbringyour best.

Do your church members know what sacri cialgiving is exactly?

Funny how we trust God for eternity and our salvation, butstruggle to release a ew coins into His care. Or we o er a pit-tance when we can a ord it, but how many give sacri cially tothe gospel, or even know what it means to sacri ce?

One evidence that a church understands stewardship and own-ership, as well as Gods view of money and whats really valu -able, is its nancial needs (mortgage, salaries, ministries, bills,etc.) are being met. Their priorities are aligning with His values.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may beood in My house, and test Me now in this, says the LORD o Hosts,

i I will not open or you the windows o heaven and pour out or you a blessing until it overfows (Malachi 3:10).

Not that this should be your primary goal, but when your con -

gregation truly understands eternity and money, and as you


5BENEFIT FIVE

They Become More Generous and

Your Church Less Needy


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teach them about nances, grace, and giving, tithes and gifts willincrease. Imagine the bene ts that could result rom a churchthat is giving and generous, and the practical needs that couldbe met for those in your city when God pours out His blessing!



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Topic The Borrower Becomes theLenders Slave

KEY POINTS

Money Rule # 1 is the nancial rulestay out of debt at all costs!

Break Money Rule # 1, then obey Money Rule # 2pay o your debt rst!

Americans make a lot of money, but sadly we are not very goodsaving it and avoiding debt. We are very shortsighted and dontgrasp what is in our uture until we slide into debt and lose our

reedom. The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomesthe lenders slave (Proverbs 22:7).

Truthfully, most Christians are not very good with money ei -therusing a budget, spending less than they earn, saving, oreven being generous. Remember the old joke about the $1 billand the $50 bill talking about their life experiences? The $50 billhad been all over the world in some of the best places, but the$1 bill had only been in a lot of churches. After a long pause,the $50 bill asks, Whats a church?

Debt usually begins as a manageable bump in your li e. Some-thing happens and you borrow or some want or need. Then


6BENEFIT SIX

They Become Financially Free


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interest adds to it and it becomes a hill, but its still a pretty easyclimb so we ignore it. Over time, little by little, it grows into atall mountain, gets higher and becomes covered with snow andice. Eventually, it is massive and too slippery to even attempt toconquer. Thats bondage.

As you teach them about wise money choices, you can leadthem out of bondage, removing a heavy weight that is pressingthem down every day. The Salvation Army was ounded on theprinciple that a man with an empty stomach doesnt care aboutthe gospel until hes ed (http://bit.ly/15MsxZ R). Can a nancial-ly drowning member in your church really hear anything elseyou teach? They must rst be rescued.



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Topic Limited & Unlimited

KEY POINTS

We are only passing throughthis is a temporary

stop. You are partners with God, but to what end?

Somehow, we start to think that we are unlimited, that time hasno ending for us. We get busy living. King Solomon put it quitesuccinctly, Its better to go to funerals than parties, for death isthe end of every man and the living take it to heart (Ecclesiastes

7:2).

In light of eternity, we are on a very limited leash a merebreath that appears or a little while and then vanishes away (James 4:14).

Think of it this way. Your rich Uncle Leopold died and left you

his entire estate in Miami, Florida. You just need to y downthere to sign some papers and you are a multi-millionaire, butyour ight has a stopover in Chicago.

Would you buy a home near OHare Airport and settle down?Perhaps, if you are a fool!


7BENEFIT SEVEN

They Become Conscious o

Their Mortality


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So o ten we lose sight o the act that we are moving through this world. It is not our nal destination. It is just a stopover.Dont get sidetracked into living in Chicago when a mansionawaits you in Miami.



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Topic Where Your Treasure Is

KEY POINTS

We have twenty- ve centsand all the promises

of God! Hudson Taylor All this and Jesus too? George Mueller (withonly a bread crust or dinner).

But store up or yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal (Matthew 6:20).

Brian Kluth, former president of the Christian Stewardship Asso -ciation, said, There are 2,350 passages in the Bible dealing withmoney and material possessionsmore than on any other sub- jectbut its the least talked-about subject in the church. Thechurch has been silent or so long that people dont understandthe responsibilities that undergird a generous li estyle.

Whose life had more treasures, Henry Ford or Dwight Moody?Of course, Ford was wildly rich. He had massive factories, beau -tiful mansions, cars, and billions of dollars (valued in todayscurrency). You can go to his museum in Dearborn, Michiganand see all that he hadand le t behind. And what matters


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They Become Richer in Heaven


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more today in Gods economy in eternity, Henry Fords riches orMoodys evangelism e orts?

Having Christ Jesus, and investing in His economy, is all thatwill matter in 100 years. Putting our treasure in an eternal sa ewhere the Lord o Hosts guards it is the only sa e investment.

It does not take long to tell where a mans treasure is.In 15 minutes of conversation with most men you cantell whether their treasures are on earth or in Heaven. D.L. Moody

You dont even need to speak to your church. Just show themthis and have a seat: http://bit.ly/10b7BKn .

16 9 Benefts o Preaching on Financial Fitness


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Topic An Opportunity for You

KEY POINTS

Avoid their guilt, and your self-interest. Just

preach the truth as usual. Dont talk about money when you need it, so no

one judges your motives.

Maybe you dont preach on money very much because yourenot a good example in this area. Great! What an opportunityto be real, change, and meet most of your congregation where

they are at today! Struggle right along with them. They willlove your humility.

Maybe you dont preach on money because youre a paragonof duciary excellence. Great! Share your example with thosewho are oundering! They need your advice, tips, example, andhelp. Your church will be healthier as a result of your practical

sermons.

Your goal should be to assist them in an area that for manycan be too overwhelming to even discuss, not a guilt trip or apreface for a fund appeal for the new childrens wing. Just helpthem get their own house in order be ore the Groom arrives totake them to the reception. They need to adopt His value sys -


9BENEFIT NINE

They Become Financial Sound

and Spiritually Sharp


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tem because its for their best long-term bene t, and for the lostsouls all around them who need to hear the gospel that theycan und.

Some of them are like a bicycle tire that is overin ated andabout to blow from the building pressure. You can tap that airvalve and help release some o the pressure with some timelysermons.

So i you communicate to your church the di erence betweenstewardship and ownership, Gods monetary system that val -ues people and not money, investing in their future by fundingthe gospel generously (which results in a healthy church), thenyoull do more than you ever thought you could for them, thelost in your community, and your church.

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to amere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizationstheseare mortal, and their li e is to ours as the li e o a gnat.But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry,snub and exploitimmortal horrors or everlasting splen-dors. C.S. Lewis



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