The Art of Money

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:37–38

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41–44

Money needs to be talked about in church. Giving needs to be talked about in church. But, like a lot of things that need to be talked about in church, the talking about money needs to be redeemed or reclaimed. You see, there is a lot of baggage that goes along with the talking about money in church, much of it deserved.

So then, why do we need to talk about it at all? The short answer is because Jesus did. Jesus spoke about money more often than anything except the Kingdom of God. Money, He said, is directly related to the likelihood of our discovering the Kingdom of God – and not in a good way. And so, we need to talk about it. Check that, we get to talk about it. We should never shy away from talking about things that are hard to talk about, or things that are unpleasant or could be misunderstood. My job as your pastor is to never shy away from talking about the hard stuff.

This week’s Next Step could get long if I am not careful, so I will simply provide you with a few bullet points and ask a couple of questions for you to ponder. If you did not get a chance to hear last Sunday’s sermon, I encourage you to do so here.

God promises to bless us (to give back to us in overflowing proportion) if we give.

- Jesus recognized that giving past the point of comfort showed a trust in Him that giving within our means does not.
- God wants followers of His to give, and to give more than they initially are comfortable giving.
- Giving is not “required” by God.
- Giving goes beyond simply meeting needs (it is as much for the giver as the receiver).

So, two questions:

- Do you agree with the above statements about giving?
If not, why?
- If so, how do they change your view of giving and what are you going to do about it?

In closing, I introduced the Planned Giving Cards on Sunday. If you are a regular attender, you should have received one in the mail either today or will get one tomorrow. I request that you and your family pray about your giving – to Creekside or elsewhere and to make a deliberate plan on how you intend to give. We will have envelopes at church on Sunday so you can send in your Planned Giving Card in a couple of weeks. We will also have a box so that you can put them into if you would rather. Again, giving is not required, nor is the turning in of a Planned Giving Card. That said, I encourage you to do both. I am convinced that giving is a huge part of our transformation process and that the Planned Giving Cards and surrounding process is a good tool to help us all get there.

Peace, hope and love


Doug