From Duty to Delight

From Duty to Delight

1 Chronicles 29 January10, 2021

I. Introduction:

A. Did you know there are many Christians who when they put in their offering

either at church or online it is more like a duty they are supposed to do rather than

a delight. But 2 Corinthians 9 makes it very clear that God loves joyful, willing,

generous givers!

B. So the question I have been asking myself is how does someone move from the

duty of stewardship to the delight of generosity where giving is done willful,

joyfully and freely?

1. As I was praying 1 Chronicles 29 came to mind and it deeply connected with

where I am in life and the conversation that was going on in my heart about

generosity.

2. Please turn to 1 Chronicles 29

C. Context

1. David knew that he was in the fourth quarter of his service as king and could

see an end to it. He had a heart to prepare things for his son Solomon as the

next king so things could flow freely for him.

a) I connect with this story because I know I am in the fourth quarter and

have desire to make things as good as possible for God’s next senior

pastor, the next generation for MVC and the Lord’s church here.

2. So he called together all his leaders, many of his workers and his mighty men

of valor.

a) Sounds like the people I speak to on Sunday morning, the people who

regularly either attend here or follow us on line. You make up the key

people of MVC

3. Now listen to 1Chronicles 29:1

D. The big picture overview of what follows is this:

1. King David, then some of the key leaders, then everyone else there gave

joyfully and generously to the Lord’s work.

2. Then David prays acknowledging that the ability to give so generously is

because everything they have comes from God.

E. What we learn here is the answer to my question, “How does someone move from

the duty of stewardship to the delight of generosity?” It was because they gave to

a great work!

• Let’s start by looking at the fact that they

II. Gave to a great work!

A. Look back at verse 1. Read 1a-c (“work is great”)

1. Now let’s see the reason why this work is great “for,” Read v1d

It is great because it is not a work for man but a work for God

B. We all love to give to great works and know our giving is making a difference

rather than just give because I am supposed to give. They knew this great work

was for God so they saw their giving as giving to God and not just the project!

1. There are a lot of great causes out there but there is none greater than giving

to the Lord’s work because it is a great work

2. Note as we go through this passage the emphasis on giving to the Lord and

not just to the work. Read v2a, 3a, 9a-b,14

C. You know MVC’s work is a great work because for the Lord’s sake we are

seeking to carry out the mission He gave to His church to make disciples.

1. Our mission at MVC is simply: following Jesus, impacting others

2. Following – helping people become whole hearted followers of Jesus who

love Him with all their heart, soul and mind

3. Impacting others by bringing the gospel of Jesus to the lost and helping

believers grow on their journey with Jesus!

D. What most people see at MVC is the tip of the iceberg, the 10% of God’s great

work at MVC. That is Sunday morning as we seek to feed people with God’s

Word and lead them in worshipping Him.

1. But all during the week we are caring for people’s unique needs and

discipling people all in the name of Jesus Christ. That is the great work we

do here for the Lord

2. Bottom line we are not running events , programs and meetings but we are

seeking to see people transformed by the word and Spirit of God through

these events, programs and meetings

E. I could tell you about many ways people are cared for and the many up close and

personal discipleship relationships and groups that are going on here but today I

just to tell you about one story of transformation that has happened at MVC.

1. A few years back a couple, whose marriage was in great difficulty, came in to

visit with one of our pastors.

2. As the pastor visited with them it became clear that there was not only

addiction issues on the husband’s part that was troubling the marriage but the

husband who thought he was saved, was only a church goer at best and not a

believer in Jesus!

3. That compounded the wife’s troubled heart, but in that meeting the husband

understood the gospel for the first time and trusted Jesus.

4. Ministries and people in this church began to invest in this couple and by

God’s grace the addictions gradually came under control and the marriage

improved.

5. They started telling others, both believers and lost people, about the miracle

Jesus had worked in their lives and marriage!

6. Now wife serves in a very significant ministry here and the husband is

growing in his relationship with Jesus, as he is being discipled by one of our

pastors!

7. The transformation has been so big and deep that this couple who first came

here as a marriage ready to fall apart, now this Christmas they came to me

and gave me a large gift and asked me if I would find some families in need

at MVC this Christmas and get it to them.

F. That is just a taste of the kind of great work that God does at MVC!

• And that is the reason why I and so many others …

III. Give with joyful generosity to the work of MVC.

A. Note in 1 Chronicles 29 that they gave joyfully and willingly!

1. Read v3a v6, 9, 14, 17

B. Their gifts were generous gifts.

1. Read v2a (all my ability – resources he had available) v3b (out of his wealth

– savings and treasury – personal accumulations of wealth), v14

2. This reminds me a bit of Proverbs 3:9

a) Wealth are your personal accumulations like savings, investment and

retirement

b) First of your produce comes out of your ability/weekly income

C. My journey of generosity was one that went like this

1. When I first became a believer I was told I was supposed to give 10% of my

income to the Lord – that was my duty and it was called stewardship/tithing!

2. So I gave 10% of my net income (after taxes are taken out) to the Lord

because I was supposed to, it was my duty as a Christian

3. Then over time God challenged me to move from 10% of my net income to

10% of my gross income (before taxes are taken out). So again I did it

because I was supposed to as my duty as a believer and I did it for years like

that.

4. Then about 13 years ago when MVC did their stewardship campaign for the

building we are now in, God led Kim and I to give 10% of everything we

have – our accumulated wealth – all savings, all retirement and the value of

our home.

a) The surprising outcome of that gift was that it produced in me a new joy

and freedom in my giving that was not tied to our budget

b) You could imagine with someone with an accounting degree like me,

that blew all my financial plans out of the water and forced me to

transfer my trust for financial things in my life to the Lord in a deep

way!

c) I moved from duty to delight in our giving

5. Before I use to measure out what we gave to the Lord with a 10% measure,

down to the dollar now we give freely to the Lord and Kim and I give over

10% of our gross income to MVC and on top of that we support missionaries

and give to individuals and organizations we know who are in need.

6. If it was left up to just Kim we would be giving away even more!

IV. Conclusion

A. Listen to what David did after giving according to all of his ability and then going

beyond that by giving out of his wealth, his treasures and savings. Read v5c.

1. So to be fair to the text and to the great work god is doing at MVC I must

ask?” Who is willing to joyfully give generously to God’s work at MVC?”

B. In light of the world wide crisis of 2020 MVC last year experienced giving that

was 15% below our budgeted dreams for MVC. So

1. This year the church actually cut the budget by 7 ó % and is hoping that the

church’s giving would increase by 7 ó % this year.

2. This would put us right where we need to be this year with hopes that in the

future as more and more people grow in their generosity MVC will be able to

grow in its ability to be a greater blessing for the glory of God!

C. So Kim and I are going to do two things this year:

1. We are going to increase our giving to the weekly budget which we call our

general budget – maybe we should change the name of it to our

transformational budget!

2. We are going to give an equal amount of an increase, above and beyond that

to our transformational budget to the heart for the house fund as we watch

that mortgage decrease month by month.

a) The final number for the Christmas offering towards this was ________-

_______

b) We are going to keep this fund open with hopes that more and more

people will give to it above and beyond their giving to our

transformational fund –first priority!

D. As one elder said to me in a meeting when we were talking about that fund –

“Pastor, you never asked us to give to this fund, if you would have asked, I would

have given to it.”

1. So today I am asking like King David “who is willing to consecrate himself

this day to the Lord and begin or increase your giving to our transformational

fund. And begin or increase your giving to our heart for the house fund, a

fund we ask people to give to as a gift above and beyond your giving to the

transformational fund.

E. Finally, we know that many people took a serious hit to their financial life last

year so we want to serve you regarding your personal finances!

1. Next Sunday at 1pm will be the first of a series of seminars that will be

offered to help our people here at MVC and those online with their personal

finances.

2. This first one will totally be online because so many people are struggling

with sickness right now or feeling free to go out. We do not want that to hold

you back.

3. A number of people at MVC that work in or traffic in the area of finances

have gotten together to produce the material and teach it!

4. This first one will be a spending plan workshop to get us started in the right

direction.

5. I am planning to attend along with Kim as I have been in the process of

training Kim to take over our finances as I have handled it for years. Couples

this will be a very valuable resource for training you and getting you on the

same page about finances!

6. To sign up just

a) Click the link to the workshop in this week’s MVC bulletin which was

emailed to you

b) Or you can register on the MVC webpage

c) Text spw to 708-350-6610 (returns a message with link to the workshop

registration process)