We Worship // In Giving Pacific Coast Church Pastors JF & Ashley Wilkerson
Psalm 24:1 NIV
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
Psalm 50:10 NIV
10 For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
1. Our Giving Reveals Our Heart.
Matthew 6:19-24 NIV
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew 6:21 NIV 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
1 Samuel 16:7b NIV
7b The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Mark 12:30 NIV
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
2. Our Giving Reveals What We Already Have.
1 Kings 17:8-9 NIV 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.”
1 Kings 17:10-12 NIV
10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” 12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug.
3. Our Giving Reveals What We’re Holding Tightest.
1 Kings 17:12-14 NIV
12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
Proverbs 3:9-10 NIV
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
1 Kings 17:15-16 NIV
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
1 Kings 17:17-19;21-22 NIV
17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” 19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.
4. Our Giving Reveals God’s Heart to Others.
1 John 3:17-18 NIV
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Questions
1. How can following how you spend your time, energy and resources reveal your heart?
2. Describe a time in your life when you obeyed the leading of the Lord and it helped you see how much He has already blessed you.
3. What are areas of your life that you are holding to tightest? How would submitting them to the Lord help show others His heart?