In God We Trust, Pt5: A Big Mistake

February 10, 2019                     NOTES NOT EDITED
Giving Series, Pt 5:  “A Big Mistake”

Acts 5:1-11, et. al.

SIS – Holding back on God is a BIG mistake.

Anytime there is a discussion of “giving money to God through the church,” the inevitable question comes up:  “do I have to give my money to the church,” or “do I have to give 10% of my money to the church?”

Well the answer is “no,” or “yes.”  It depends on what one means by “have to.”  If “have to” one means that “God compels us to give money to the church or He will strike us dead,” then the answer is “no”—categorically no.  God says we should not give because we feel compelled. (2Cor. 9).

If by “have to” you mean, “will I receive God’s full blessing in my life I don’t give to the church,” then the answer is ABSOLUTELY YES!  “Yes,” you must give your money to the church (at least 10% and more) “willingly and cheerfully” if you want to experience God’s full blessing in your life. 

The issue is not one of “money,” but one of “Lordship.”  Is Jesus the Lord of my life, or is He not.  If He IS the Lord of my life then He is LORD of everything I am and everything I have. . . .PERIOD!

The reason you “have to give” to be fully blessed brings me to the first point of my message:

1.  God has EXPECTATIONS.

Christianity is a “free” ride to heaven, but it is not a cheap ride.  It is free for us because Jesus already paid the price, but it is also costly because it will require that we give “everything we have to the Lord.”

Jesus said,  LUKE 14:33   In the same way, therefore,

everyone of you who does not say good-bye to 

all his possessions  cannot be My disciple.

EVERYONE. . .EVERYTHING!

Forget the 10% thing—God wants EVERYTHING!

Most people have not even reached the STARTING LINE when it comes to meeting God’s expectations for holiness.

God does not force you to be saved.  God does not force you to acknowledge His Son Jesus Christ as the “Lord of All.”  But, once a person willingly accept the salvation God freely provides, then God has some expectations for our lives—and they are GREAT EXPECTATIONS.

Usually when a message comes up dealing with money, people will argue about the amount that should be given.  Should a person give 10% of their income, like in the O.T., or can one give less now that we are no longer under the O.T. Law?

First of all, tithing (giving 10%) was not part of the Mosaic Law that was fulfilled and set aside by the sacrifice of Jesus.

Second, the Jews of the O.T. did not give only 10% of their income regularly.  They gave as much as 23^1/3 of their income.  Plus, those who were considered more “pious” Jews gave additional “free-will” offerings above that.  So, get the idea of 10% out of your mind.  Even the Jews under the Law did better than that.

The average Christian gives less than 2.5% of their income to the church.  Non-Christians give slightly less than that to charity (for those who may be wondering).

When we read about “tithing” (giving 10% of one’s income regularly) the O.T. mentions three such “tithes.”

One, the Lord’s Tithe (Lev. 27:30; Num. 18:21).  This was the very first 10%.  This went to provide for God’s Temple Workers.  Today, it represents what we call the General Fund.  Second, the Israelites were commanded to put another 10% aside to pay for a special event held each year called, The Feast of Tabernacles (Deu. 14:22-27).  This is called the Festival Tithe.  Then, every three years the Israelites were to give an additional tithe for the poor (Deu. 14:28-29).  There is some difference of opinion as to whether this third tithe (tenth) was in addition to or a substitute for the Festival Tithe.   

So, this is 10 plus 10 plus 3^1/3 or 23^1/3 each year.  So, when people argue about whether Christians are required to give as much as the O.T. saints, we are not talking about 10% (which less than 20% of the church people give) but 23^1/3 per cent.

My point is not to give an economic lesson but to point out a clear teaching in the Word of God:  God has EXPECTATIONS for His people.  Part of those expectations are giving regularly, willfully, and cheerfully to the church.

Now, here’s what we see happening in our story with the disciples in Jerusalem.  We need to go back to chapter 4 to pick up the story.

²² Now the large group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common.  ³³ And the apostles were giving testimony with great power to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them.  ³⁴ For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,  ³⁵ and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed for each person’s basic needs.

Do you see their generosity naturally outpoured as a response to the love of God they had experienced?  They willfully, cheerfully, and sacrificially started giving to the church because they intuitively realized that was what God EXPECTED of them.  We give out of a grateful response to the GREATEST GIVER WHO GAVE THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL TIME.

Most of the disciples at this time were Jewish.  They knew about the religious practice of tithing and they took it to another level – a New Testament level.  FORGET 10%.  FORGET 23¹/3%!  They were selling their property and laying 100% at the Apostles feet.

Friends, that is what Jesus meant when He said (above), “If you are not ready to say good-bye to all your possessions, you cannot be my disciple.”

God expects our all.  A true believer will stop at NOTHING
in the quest to please God Almighty.

One preacher said, that when it came to giving in his church,

Exactly what a lot of his people did when it came to giving—

They stopped at NOTHING.

There was no sermon series on giving. There was no hyped-up stewardship campaign to beg for money.  There was a generous outpouring of material possessions in response to God’s love.

God EXPECTS that kind of response from His people and God is glorified by such a response.  Let me repeat God’s expectations once more lest any of us leave confused about the matter:

Jesus said,  LUKE 14:33   In the same way, therefore,

everyone of you who does not say good-bye to

all his possessions  cannot be My disciple.

Now, enter Ananias and Sapphira.  They gleefully and willingly signed up to be a part of the giving campaign.  God did not force them.  The Apostles did not compel them, but they volunteered.  Then, something went wrong—really wrong.  This brings me to my second point about trusting God enough to avoid making a “Big Mistake”  when it comes to giving.

2.  The world is full of TEMPTATIONS.

Look at verses 1.  Ananias (with his wife Sapphira) joined in enthusiastically – or at least they made it look that way.  They sold property (which meant they were not poor) and they brought the proceeds to the apostles and laid it at the apostles’ feet—just like everyone else was doing—BUT NOT QUITE.

Ananias was a fraud.  Here’s where the “Big Mistake” happens.  Ananias started listening  to the wrong voice.  Notice verse 2:  “He kept back part of the proceeds.”  He willingly and consciously set out to deceive the group to which he belonged.

The word translated “kept back” (nophizo) is much stronger in the Greek.  It literally means he “pilfered,” or more accurately “embezzled.” His act was no innocent mistake, but a Devil-inspired plan to defraud the community.

This shows that Ananias had a heart problem.  He didn’t make an “innocent” mistake, he set out to “embezzle” what belonged to someone else – in this case, he pilfered what belonged to God—knowingly and callously acting contrary to the moving of the Holy Spirit within the community of God.  THAT’S THE BIG MISTAKE!

Ananias’ mistake was not a simple accounting error, but was a Devil-inspired plan to defraud God – it was blasphemy against the powerful moving of the Holy Spirit. 

Now this is the part of the story everyone likes to ask, “Was Ananias saved?  Did he go to heaven?”  Well, the Bible does not say and so I have nothing to say about that, but I can tell you what I do know:

When Ananias heard the words of Peter the Bibles says,
“Ananias dropped dead!”

Friends, disobedience can kill you as surely as being shot by a gun.  If the Bible teaches us anything in this passage, it teaches us that.

Ananias gave into temptation and “dropped dead.”  Look at verse 3:  “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?”  The temptation to live a fraudulent Christian life is an ever-present problem for every believer. TEMPTATIONS ARE EVERYWHERE. 

Listen to this my friend and never forget it:  Satan cannot get into the heart of a believer, but he can get into the head!  We are in constant danger of listening to the “wrong voice” in our head.

Now, if you are a non-Christian, the only voice you have in your head is Satan’s.  You will blow it time and time again because you just don’t have God’s voice in your head until you have God’s Spirit in your heart.  A non-believer can no more be successful in overcoming temptation than a blind man can avoid an accident driving on the freeway.  A big crash is not a matter of “if,” but “when.”

Ananias knew better.  It was not just a moment of weakness, but it was a conscious plan to defraud the church, cheat the poor, and lie to God.  Look at the last part of Verse 4:  “Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart?”

You cannot avoid TEMPTATIONS.  They are everywhere.  But, you can avoid letting the TEMPTATIONS in your head from becoming an EVIL PLAN in your heart.  Listen to what James says:

¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires.  ¹⁵ Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

Temptation is an EVENT, but sin is PROCESS.  Sin is the process of allowing Satan’s suggestions to become your evil actions.  Notice that sinning is described as sort of a “courtship” between Satan’s Suggestion and Your Will.  First, there’s desire.  We all have desires and not all desires are Godly and not all desires that are Godly should be indulged.  This is the “first date phase.”  Then, the desire leads to a bad plan conceived.  This is the “dating phase that leads to marriage.”  Then, the marriage leads to the birth a bad thought or deed—SIN! 

The point is we cannot avoid temptations.  We cannot avoid Satan knocking on the door of our ear; but, we can avoid letting him rent an apartment in our head.

Temptations abound.  Ananias gave into temptations and he paid the price.  ANIANIAS DROPPED DEAD BECAUSE OF HIS SIN.

That ain’t too good in my book.  And, for the sake of equality I must mention SAPPHIRA DROPPED DEAD, TOO for her part in the scheme.

Now, follow me here:  God has expectations for the behavior of those who put their trust in Him.  Part of those expectations involves giving, but that certainly isn’t all God expects.  He expects other acts of holy living also.

But, Satan constantly tries to get us to ignore God’s expectations.  He brings temptations into our lives on a regular basis.  If you give in to the Devil’s whispering in your ear, the consequences could be more devastating than you could possibly imagine.  Don’t take the chance!

The key is:  don’t let Satan’s suggestions side-track you from meeting God’s expectations for holy living, whatever they might be.

Now, this whole story with Anianias and Sapphira boils down to my final point in this message on giving willfully and cheerfully and avoiding the mistake of living a fraudulent Christian life.  God has expectations.  Satan floods our lives with temptations and the conclusion of the matter is this:

3.  in regard to obedience, there are no SUBSTITUTIONS.

We must keep in mind that Ananias (along with Sapphira) gave “something.”  They did “a” good work.  “Some thing is never an adequate substitution for the “right” thing. 

The problem is they substituted what they wanted to do for what God expected them to do.

They substituted their “plan” (remember verse 4) for God’s plan as it was revealed through the Apostles. There’s only one plan that matters.

In a word, Ananias tried a SUBSTITUTE for obedience.  Ananias tried to substitute his plan for God’s plan.  Ananias’ plan failed miserably. There simply is no acceptable substitute for obeying what God has outlined in His word that you should do.

Ananias did what so many people do, they set boundaries on exactly how far they are willing to go for the Lord—this far and no further.  God expects (as we learned from Jesus a moment ago), for us to give Him our ALL—all our time, all our talents, all our treasures—to whatever degree He asks us to give them.

Ananias tried a “substitute.”

I’ve been trying all kinds of substitutes for sugar.  You name it, I’ve tried it.  The conclusion from my research is this:  only sugar tastes like sugar.

Now that may be good or bad or happy or sad, but that’s how it is.  There is no substitute for sugar.

There is no substitute for “full obedience.”  Either you are obedient or you are disobedient.  As a great preacher once said about the Christian life:  “It Ain’t Horseshoes.”  Close isn’t good enough.  God demands full obedience if we want to experience full blessing

Go ahead, ask me:  can I get to heaven if I’m not fully obedient?  My answer is this: “You sure can, and it may come sooner than you think!”  Let these words ring in your ears when you are tempted to “substitute” your way for God’s way:

“Ananias dropped dead and great fear came on all who heard.”

Cheating God out of what He expects will never get you the kind of bubbling up from deep within kind of blessing you seek.  The surest way to despair is to try to get a “full blessing on a partial obedience.”

Not long ago an aspiring magician landed a gig at a prestigious hotel. He was performing for a group of business men to provide a bit of relaxation.  As he began, he asked for a volunteer from the audience.  A little boy raised his hand and made it to the stage. The magician asked the little boy his name.  He said, “Tommy.”  Then the magician said, “Now, Tommy, you have never seen me before, have you?” The little boy replied confidently, “No, Daddy.”

We all make mistakes, and some mistakes are bigger than others. The BIGGEST MISTAKE anyone can ever make is holding back on God.

Give God everything, and you will gain more than you can imagine.

In God We Trust, Pt4: The Widow's Might

February 2, 2019           NOTES NOT EDITED
Giving Series, Pt. 4 “The Widow’s Mite Might

Luke 21:1-4; 2Cor. 9:1-15

SIS – The true measure of our giving is not how much we give away, but how much we keep.

You know, there’s a fine line between being “cheap,” and being frugal.  A few years ago, two men devised a contest to write a book.  They asked for people to send in their best, “cheapskate” stories.  Here’s one about a FRUGAL AUNT.

I have a dear old aunt. She experienced the Second World War and knows how to be frugal. It is second nature to her. At her latest birthday, she got a couple of boxes of chocolate. A week later I visited her. She had a bowl of hazelnuts sitting on the kitchen table. I enjoyed the hazelnuts as we visited. During my visit, we had a piece of chocolate. My aunt took one bite of the chocolate rolling it around in her mouth and then, she took out the hazelnut inside and placed it in the bowl. “I don’t like hazelnuts, but it would be a waste just to throw them out”

There is indeed a fine line between “frugal” and “cheap.”

This morning I want read a story about a Widow who was not a “cheapskate,” but in fact, one of the “mightiest” persons in the Bible.  This person did something so mighty that it impressed even Jesus Christ.  Let’s read that story (Lk. 21:1-4)

Scholars refer to this as the story of the Widow’s Mite – spelled m-i-t-e.  A mite was a tiny copper coin used by the Jews.  It was about 1/20^th of a penny.  The Greek word for “mite” was leptos.  It meant, “thin, like the peel of a piece of fruit, or the thin skin of a fish having been prepared for dinner.”  A mite represented almost the smallest possible offering that could be offered and one that was hardly noticeable or even valued by human standards.

Yet, this widow’s mite (m-i-t-e) shows just how much “might” (m-i-g-h-t) this woman possessed.  Though this gift was hardly noticed by those in the temple court that day, it was so mighty a gift that it caught the eye of Jesus.  That’s why I changed the spelling of the story from the Widow’s Mite, to the Widow’s Might.

What I want to show you through these series of messages on trusting God enough to give sacrificially is that the practice of giving regularly and sacrificially to the church is enormously powerful in bringing blessing into your life. 

This story highlights two different ways in which a person’s giving can be measured.  The background of this passage puts us in the Temple Treasury that was located in the Court of the Women.  It was as far as a Jewish Woman could go.  She was forbidden to go into the next level of the Temple, the Court of the Israelites (or men), or the next area the Court of the Priests, or the next two areas the Holy of Holies. 

In the Court of the women were 13 receptacles placed around the courtyard.  These receptacles were shaped like trumpets—narrow at the opening and wide at the bottom.  Each “trumpet” represented a different use for the offering.  The over-zealous, self-righteous, rich folk would go around to each one and drop in a sizable offering making kind of a “ringing or clanging” noise.  The plan was to impress those in the Temple at the time. The sound of the Widow’s two mites would have been noticeably light, if anyone noticed it at all.

By every human measure, the rich gave a lot and the poor widow gave almost nothing.  We know, however, that the human measure of things is usually lacking.  God will not judge you according to how you measure up to other people, but how you measure up to His standard of holiness—Jesus Christ; that is, are you covered by the blood of His Son.

I want you to discover the “true measure” of giving today.  It is one that may embarrass you, but it is one that will certainly challenge you.

SIS—The true measure of giving is not in how much we give away, but how much we keep.

There are three means by which we can get the true measure of our giving.

1.  Measure One:  The Savior. verse 1, “He looked up.”

Look at verse 1.  Jesus is sitting in the outer Court of the Women. People were bustling about putting their offerings in the appropriate box.  Some, like the rich ones, were making quite a display of the matter.  Coins were dropping and clanging as the rich moved from trumpet chest to trumpet chest depositing their offerings.

Then, Jesus hears a different tone.  He hears the almost imperceptible tingle of two tiny “lepta” (mites) sliding down the long tube of the treasury trumpet chest.   The Savior never misses even our smallest attempt at devotion—however insignificant that attempt might be according to the world’s measure.

As I said, by any human measure, the Widow’s offering compared to those of the rich was insignificant to the point of almost being laughable.  By a human measure, the Widow’s gift was next to useless.

But, human standards are not the “true measure of things.”  Jesus said in verse 3:  “I tell you the truth.”

Folks, that’s what I try to do – tell you the truth.  It is not always pleasant.  In fact, this passage is deeply troubling to me.  In some ways, when I consider what the Widow gave and what I give, I realize that I have not used the right measure to size up my giving.

How does my giving measure up to the Savior’s Gift?  You see, Jesus is the “True Measure” of righteousness, not the standards of man.  We become smug and comfortable when we can say, “Well, I’m sure a whole lot better that this man or that woman.”

But, the measure of our giving is not “this man or that woman.”  The measure of our trust and devotion to God is Jesus Christ.  He’s God’s Righteous Measure of Holiness.  He’s the Gold Standard of God’s Kingdom.

One of the principles we glean from this text is this:  we become smug in our self-righteousness when we compare ourselves by man’s standards, not God’s.  The Savior is our standard.  Here’s what the word says about that:  (Phil. 2)

Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. ⁷ Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, ⁸ He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.

This is referred to in theology as the “Kenois,” derived from

the Greek word, meaning “to empty, usually to the extreme of making completely empty.”  As the measure of our giving, Jesus gave it all!  He held back nothing.  On the cross Jesus completely surrendered all that He had a right to as God in order to make the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.  Until your giving reaches this measure, you have room for improvement and no cause whatsoever to wrap yourself in the smug clothing of self-righteousness.

It does not matter if you give more than this person or that person because the number one measure of “true giving” is the SAVIOR.

2.  Measure Two:  Our Spirit (Lk. 21:32; Cor. 9:1-15)

            We must “look in.”

Notice verse 3:  “This poor widow has put in more that all of them [ei. the rich people].

I told you earlier that two lepta (or mites) were the tiniest coins that the Jewish people used – even more worthless than our penny and not even as big in size.  They were paper thin and light.  But, the Savior does not measure our trust in Him by human standards, but by the standards of the “heart.”

So often we make the mistake of not seeing things as God sees them and we get into all kinds of trouble.  One case in point comes from the O.T.  The people wanted a king like all the other nations.  The result of their worldly desire was to put the mantle of the king upon a man named Saul.  Saul looked like a king.  He fought like a king.  He was “king material” by every measure of man.  He was an utter failure as king and God removed Saul in order to replace him with a king after the heart of God.  In 1Samuel 16 the prophet, Samuel, comes to the house of Jesse who was the father of 8 sons. 

When Samuel arrived at the house of Jesse to anoint the next king of Israel according to God’s instruction the first son to step forward was the eldest, Eliab.  He rivaled Saul in appearance and demeanor.  He looked like a king according to man’s measure and Samuel thought he could fulfill his mission to anoint the next king.  Then God spoke,

1Sam. 16:7: But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Samuel would go through all of Jesse’s sons until he would come to the last son – the one that definitely did NOT look like a king.  He was just a lad with a “beautiful eyes” (16:12).

David did not look like a king by any human measure, but by the one measure that really matters, this was God’s man. The Bible says of David,  “he was a man after God’s own heart” (1Sam. 13:14).

Here’s the source of true “might” in our lives – have a heart like God’s.  The true measure of our lives is not in our appearance or aptitudes but in our Spirit.  This is true of giving also.  It is the spirit of the Widow’s heart that impressed Jesus, not the size of her gift. 

Look at 2Cor 9.  This entire chapter talks about “giving.”  But, the key to understanding the true measure of giving is given in verse 7:

⁷ Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves  a cheerful giver.

This entire passage could be (and should be) mined for principles guiding Christian giving.  This one verse, however, has some particularly stunning word pictures that describe the “spirit” a person should have when they give to God through the church.

First, they should not do it out of “necessity.”  The KJV says, “not out of compulsion.”  The Greek term is, “ἀνάγκηs”.  This is a compound word with great philosophical significance for early Greek philosophers like Aristotle. 

The term, ἀνάγκηs, puts together the word, “ana” plus the word “agalē”.  The word, “ana” refers to an intense degree, and the word “agale” refers to a bend, such as a “bent arm.”  In modern parlance we could translate this word as, “bending the arm intensely or repeatedly.”   What the Word is teaching us is, “we should not need to have someone twist our arm to get us to give to God through the church.”  We do not have the spirit of Christ or the spirit of the Widow who was praised by Christ, if we are giving to the church “out of compulsion or necessity (or guilt).”

The second word in this passage about giving in 2Cor. 9 that has great significance is the word, “cheerful.”  Not only does God measure us in regard to whether we have a “willing spirit to give,” but whether we have a “cheerful spirit” in giving.

The Greek word for cheerful is, ἱλαρόn.  We get the word, “hilarious” from this word.  The word meant, “glad, merry, cheerful, full of daylight.” We might say the person’s spirit is “hilarious,” or happy to a great degree.

One of the measures of Christian giving is the “spirit” of the giver.  Are you both “willing and cheerful” when you give?  God measures your gift by your spirit.

3.  A third measure of true giving is the SACRIFICE involved.

         We must look “beyond.”

Turn back to Luke 21.  Look at verse 4:  ⁴ For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

So, when was the last time you “put in all that you had to live on” into the offering plate?  She “looked beyond” her present, earthly situation of desperation and looked to the promises that await those who love the Lord with all their heart.  We must always live with eternity in view, and not be consumed by our present state of affairs.

Now, here’s where we get to the key issue in this passage, which I summed up at the start:  The true measure of our giving is not how much we give away, but how much we keep.  In a word, this is called, “sacrifice.”

I’m simply making a point:  no matter how much we give away, the real measure of our giving is how much we keep—more specifically, what we do with what we keep.  All of us need to “up our sacrifice level.”  The widow “put in all she had to live on.”  So, many in church, hardly put any thing in the plate at all—let alone, put in all.  This is sad indeed.

Some of the rest of us, keep way more than we need.  We need to give more and live on less and less.  That is, if it matters to us what Jesus thinks about our giving.  Jesus measured this widow’s generosity, not by how much she tossed into the offering box, but how much she had left in her bread box at home.  She gave all she had.  Sacrifice is the measure of Christian service.  Remember the sacrifice of Jesus:

Phil 2:7:  He emptied Himself.  Jesus went on to teach His disciples:

³³ In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to  all his possessions  cannot be My disciple.  Lk. 14:33.

Some people really get what it means to sacrifice.  I read about a school project where students were collecting food for the desperately poor people of Appalachia.  Kids had brought numerous items that were sitting in the cupboards at home.  A volunteer was sorting and  packing the items so they could be shipped to Appalachia.  He was separating beans from powdered milk, and canned vegetables from canned meats. Reaching into a box filled with various cans, he pulled out a little brown paper sack. Apparently one of the pupils had brought something different from the items on the suggested list. Out of the paper bag fell a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a cookie. Crayoned in large letters was a little girl's name, 'Christy - Room 104'. She had given up her lunch for some hungry person.  That’s what it means to sacrifice—give all you have, leaving nothing for yourself.

Do you see why I call this story the Widow’s Might—M-I-G-H-T—instead of the Widow’s Mite—M-I-T-E? This Widow was “mighty” in a way I cannot claim to be mighty.  She didn’t give to gain fame—she is unnamed in Scripture.  She didn’t give because she was rich—she gave only two mites.  She gave because her heart burned with love for her Savior.  She gave because she trusted God to meet her needs.  She had a level of trust in God that I cannot claim to trust.  She had a power operating in her life I cannot claim is operating in my life. 

I want to experience the Widow’s Might.  I want to have that kind of trust and experience that kind of power in my life.  I want Jesus to be pleased with my giving.  Don’t you?  Sure you do.

My purpose (and my desire) is not to have you leave this service today feeling good.  My desire is to have you leave this service today doing good.  My desire, my heartfelt desire, is that each of us would look at our giving with a NEW WAY TO MEASURE it: measure it by the SAVIOR’S gift to us; measure by the SPIRIT of willingness and cheerfulness; and measure it by our level of SACRIFICE.

If we will all follow this Widow’s example, Jesus will take notice of us.  God will bless us.  Heaven will reward us.