Mar 24 2010
Pastor’s notes
Tithes, Offerings and the Collection
What does the Lord require of me ?
1. Tithing – a tenth of my income
Leviticus 27:30 – “A tithe of everything belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.” (Holy = separated to God’s purpose)
Tithing = the seed of the harvest; the seed for the next crop
2 Corinthians 9:10 – “He (GOD!) who supplies seed to the sower (US!) will also increase your store of seed (THAT WHICH IS GIVEN TO BE THE SEED OF THE NEXT HARVEST) and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”
2 Corinthians 9:6 – “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
The seed is for the next harvest; just as we are the harvest of someone else’s giving so our giving will yield a different crop.
In our church we have envelopes available for the giving of our Tithes. They are available at the door.
But isn’t tithing an Old Testament requirement and therefore not for us? eg 2 Corinthians 9:7 – “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion.”
Paul is actually referring voluntary giving ie that which is over the tithe, specifically this voluntary giving can be divided into Offerings and the Collection
2. Offerings and The Collection
An offering is the “secret” part of our giving – it is what we choose to give of our own freewill over and above our tithe. The offering includes our giving to charity and other forms of alms giving.
The Collection, in Biblical terms, is our response to a specific appeal eg the collection for the Church in Jerusalem which was suffering the consequence of a severe drought (1 Corinthians 16). Other examples of Biblical Collection-taking include the donations by the people towards the construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 35) and also the Temple (1 Chronicles 29).
We have had collection for the Bush Fire Appeal, Haiti, the Toodyay Fires, the Christmas Shoebox Appeal, airconditioning and so on.
Offerings and the collection are expected to be sacrificial; the tithe is our obedient response to God’s command and for our blessing (Leviticus 27:30 & Malachi 3:8-12).
The Lord loves us to give – He loves a cheerful (or hilarious) giver. (2 Cor 9:7) and He always rewards the giver’s obedience – Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over … For with the measure you use, it will be measured unto you. (Luke 6:38)
Rev David de Kock
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