Toongabbie Anglican Church Blog

Weekly Blurb

Generous to a fault

Sunday 14 May, 2006 · Posted by Neil Atwood

In this week’s newsletter you will find a summary of Toongabbie Anglican Church’s financial state at this point in the year.

Few people seem to like raising this topic, but of course, it’s essential that we have a good grasp on our financial state, because our giving, in part, drives our ministries – and the ministry of the gospel is our core business!

If you were present at the AGM in March, you would be aware that we have an ambitious budget for this year. This is in part due to a significant increase in maintenance work required around our properties and the pushing ahead with our ministry training initiatives.

The details are over the page, but before you turn and look at them, lets pause for a moment and consider what God says to us about supporting gospel ministry with our money.
Sunday Night Church is looking at 2 Corinthians 8-9 tonight which has some very helpful principles when it comes to thinking through our giving to support the gospel.

Background. The backdrop to Paul’s words in these two chapters is that the Corinthian church had promised to give money to support the church back in Jerusalem.  But they had yet to come good on that promise.

Paul is wanting to encourage good and godly thinking about this issue as he encourages the church at Corinth to honour their commitment. In doing so there are three principles that emerge – all build around the premise that God wants us to be generous with our money:

1.You don’t have to give much to be generous.

Paul uses the example of the Macedonian church. They’re incredibly generous givers, these Macedonians. The fact is, they’re poor,  and they’re enduring hard times. But it didn’t stop them being generous, even though the amount may not have been large. Now we already know this, don’t we? Generosity isn’t something you can measure in dollars. Generosity is something you can’t put a number to. Because generosity is a matter of the heart. The rich man can give a hundred times more than the poor widow, but the poor widow might be a hundred times more generous.
But just as often it’s the reverse. We use the fact we’re doing it tough to excuse us from being generous. Not the Macedonians.  Read about it in 2 Cor 8:2-3.

2.  Model your giving on Christ - 2 Cor 8:9

The Macedonians were one example of generous giving. They didn’t have much, and they were happy to give it. But the ultimate example is that of Jesus, who Paul says here in v9 was rich, yet became poor for us.

It stretches our minds a bit to tangle with this. But the fact is, before he was born in that stable as a baby, Jesus was with the Father in heaven.

Now I gather before you and I were born, we were nowhere. I gave up nothing to be born. But Jesus was different. He gave up the throne room of the universe and got born in a cowshed. Paul says that sort of self giving is the model for our giving. That sort of grace, that sort of generosity that gives without asking anything in return, that gives when it’s not deserved. We need to strive to be like that.

3. Generous not grudging – 2 Cor 9:1-5

Paul concern in speaking to the Corinthians is not so they can get to work on raising the right amount of money. It’s so they can work on getting the right attitude. “Then it will be ready as a generous gift - not as one grudgingly given.” 2 Cor 9:5. Paul says: If you’re going to give grudgingly, if you’re going to complain, if you can’t give generously and gladly, then don’t give at all. Because God looks at your heart.

TAC needs an army of financial supporters if we are to push on with our mission of seeing the thousands of people living around us come under the influence of the gospel.

Nobody’s saying how much you should give. Just give what you’ve decided in your own heart. Nobody else needs to even know about it. Just make sure it’s a generous heart, and a cheerful heart. And a heart that learns from the example of Jesus.

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