Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20010812.htm

2 CORINTHIANS: OVERCOMING WHEN GOD'S SERVANT FACES RESISTANCE
Part XII: Gracious Discipling On Giving
(2 Corinthians 8:1-6)
  1. Introduction
    1. Making contributions to God's work is a very private activity, and the giver can be very sensitive about any pressures placed upon him by the Church or its leaders about it! Abuses abound in this area in many religious organizations, making this subject doubly delicate to handle in a Bible lesson!
    2. However, everyone knows it takes money for a Church ministry or missionary agency to function, so it is important for people to be informed on the Biblical ministry of giving! The question then rises: "How can the ministry of Biblical giving in support of the Lord's work be done without legalistic pressure?"
    3. Paul exampled for us how to disciple others correctly on this ministry in 2 Corinthians 8:1-6 as follows:
  2. Gracious Discipling On Giving, 2 Corinthians 8:1-6.
    1. Paul encouraged the Corinthians on giving by using a testimony of how Macedonian brethren had given to his ministry in the past, 2 Corinthians 8:1-2.
    2. Using this testimony as a frame of reference, Paul then itemized central elements of the giving ministry:
      1. He revealed God's grace was needed to elicit the desire to give in the believer, 2 Cor. 8:1. God is the One Who motivates His own to give -- not Christian leaders, cf. 2 Cor. 9:6-7 with Revelation 3:14 where Jesus is the One responsible to elicit the "Amen" response in the congregation to the speaker!
      2. Paul showed how even poverty in the party doing the giving is not the boundary of giving liberality -- people give in accord with how God moves them regardless of their relative income levels, 2 Cor. 8:2.
      3. Paul revealed how trials in a believer's walk can lead to a close rapport with the Lord, and that in turn often produces heightened giving even in cases where the giving party is of limited means, 2 Cor. 8:2a.
      4. He revealed love for other believers is a basic motivation in this giving, 2 Corinthians 8:4.
      5. Paul reported a key step was in order prior to a believer's giving graciously and acceptably to the Lord: he first had to give himself to God and then he could properly financially support others, 2 Cor. 8:5.
    3. Having dwelt on the testimony of the giving Thessalonian believers, Paul declared his interest in telling the Corinthian believers of this ministry of giving so they might not miss out on its blessings, 2 Cor. 8:6.
Lesson: The way graciously to disciple on giving is to emphasize God's work in the heart and then focus on HOW this ministry WORKS to BLESS by supplying instructive TESTIMONIES on giving.

Application: (1) In teaching another on giving, we should emphasize God's role in the heart and take OURSELVES OUT of the picture to avoid being a legalistic stumblingblock. (2) In teaching on giving, we should offer testimonies of the experiences of other believers. (3) If being discipled on giving, we should RESIST teaching that PRESSURES us to give and heed those emphasizing God's work in us.

Illustrations: To APPLY our lesson, here are some TESTIMONIES on God's grace in giving from people I know: (1) A dairy farmer learned of the gift of giving (Rom. 12:8) at a Christian seminar, and came away convinced he had the gift! Much to his wife's anxiety, he pledged to ADD $7,000.00 per year MORE than he originally gave to his church offerings to add to its building fund! A few weeks later, the company milk truck driver informed the farmer his milk's bacteria count was so low, he could upgrade from Grade B to Grade A with a few adjustments to earn more money! The farmer made the adjustment, and his income increased $7,000.00 that YEAR! He then joyfully met his pledge! (2) A cattle rancher entered a program where he could brand "LL" on a calf to give it to the Lord's work once the calf matured! He has excitedly shared with me that EVERY calf he has thus branded, even if scrawny when young, has ALWAYS grown up to be the beefiest animal in his feedlot! (3) A machine operator in our Church chose to give his time and use his machine at our Church missions project on a given Saturday instead of traveling around to make his necessary contract bids. While at the Church, a secular party hired for work at the Church site met with this contractor and offered him a $20,000 job!