and may you be richly blessed along the way. Soli Deo...

and may you be richly blessed along the way.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Curtis SolomonAssociate PastorCornerstone Community Church

40-Day Devotional40-Day Devotional

INTRODUCTION

40-Day Devotional

It has been a great joy and privilege to write and compile this devotional for the Building for Life campaign. My prayer is that the Lord would use it to greatly bless our church family, as I have been greatly blessed in writing it.

The devotional is 40 days in length and designed to provide content for five days a week for each of the eight weeks of our campaign sermon series. Much of the content is geared around the text of the sermons we will hear each Sunday during the campaign. I pray it will build upon the great teaching from God’s Word. Take time to reread the passage from Sunday’s sermon each day before you dive into this booklet. Some days include testimonies, some have statistics and data to make us think, and others are solely devoted to Scripture reading and meditation.

There are questions throughout the devotional, and some are quite penetrating. These questions are not here to make you feel condemned or guilty, but to make you think and to challenge all of us as we grow together to be more like Christ.

This is an exciting time in the life of Cornerstone Community Church, and I am glad to be going through it with you. I pray this season will make us even stronger in the Lord and more closely knit as a family.

Thank you for joining in this endeavor, and may you be richly blessed along the way.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Curtis SolomonAssociate Pastor

This would be a TiTleiNTRoduCTioN

This would be The TiTle

It has been a great joy and privilege to write and compile this devotion for the Building for Life campaign. My prayer is that the Lord would use it to greatly bless our church family, as I have been greatly blessed in writing it.

The devotion is 40 days in length and designed to provide content for five days a week for each of the eight weeks of our campaign sermon series. Much of the content is geared around the text of the sermons we are studying during the campaign, so I pray it will build upon the great teaching we hear each Sunday from God’s Word. Take time to reread the passage from Sunday’s sermon each day before you dive into the devotional booklet. Some days the devotional will include testimonies, some will have statistics and data to make us think, and others will be solely devoted to Scripture reading and meditation.

There are questions throughout the devotion, and some are quite penetrating. These questions are not here to make you feel con-demned or guilty, but to make you think and to challenge all of us as we grow together to be more like Jesus.

This is an exciting time in the life Cornerstone Community Church, and I am glad to be going through it with all of you. I pray that this time will make our church family even stronger in the Lord and more closely knit as His children.

Thank you for joining with our church family in this endeavor,

This would be the area that would have a quote put in it This would be the area that would have a quote put in it This would be the area that would have a quote put in it This would be the area that would have a quote put in it This would be the area that would have a quote put in it This would be the area that.

PRayeR - layinG tHe FoUnDationWeeK 1: exoDUS 35:4-36:7

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it.

Psalm 127:1a

Read Psalm 127.

Psalm 127 is part of a group of Psalms known as “The Psalms of Ascent.” They were a group of Psalms the people of Israel would sing as they prepared to go up into the temple to worship during the feasts. Many of these Psalms of Ascent develope themes of praise and prayer. The Psalms of Ascent were prayers for deliverance from enemies, peace for Jerusalem, and blessing on the temple. The people sang praises to God for His deliverance, His help in time of need and His bountiful provision.

Psalm 127 focuses on a theme that will be repeated throughout this devotional and our building campaign: prosperity and blessing come from the Lord. Verse one tells us that no matter what our endeavour is, if God is not working for that same goal, it ultimately will not succeed.

Psalm 127:2 goes even further by telling us that God’s blessing is not dependent upon our own work because “He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.” This is not to say that we should not work in cooperation with God’s plans; it simply means that God’s blessing is not dependent upon our work.

As we begin this campaign together, let’s be sure to go before the Lord in prayer and seek His favor in the life of our church. Over the next eight weeks, our church will focus our ministry efforts on the theme of Building for Life. Our prayer is that the Lord will use this time to grow us as individuals and as the Body of Christ.

When we enter this special time of worship and study, let’s be mindful of the way the Israelites prepared for the feasts. Let us spend time preparing our hearts through prayer, being watchful to praise God for

Day 1

His amazing character and tremendous blessing and laying all of our requests before Him.

As you read over this devotional by yourself or with your family be sure to spend time in prayer each day. Prayer is a great way of demonstrating our dependence upon God and not ourselves as we ask Him to lay the foundation of our Building For Life.

PRayeR

Here are a few things we can pray together as a church family:

1. Praise the Lord for the opportunity to grow as a church family and for the provision of this building to meet our growing needs.

2. Pray the Lord would continually draw us closer to Him and conform us more into the image of Jesus.

3. Pray the Lord would lead you and your family as you grow in the understanding of biblical stewardship.

4. Pray God would show you how you can give to the Building for Life campaign.

Day 2

Moses spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded…”

exodus 35:4

Why should you give money to the church? How much money should you give? When and how often should you give? Questions like these fill the minds of Christians when they first begin to learn about the concepts of tithes and offerings. Over the next eight weeks, we will answer these questions and many more in our Building for Life sermon series and devotional. Our desire is that every person in the church understands, in a deeper way, the great blessing and responsibility of giving to the Kingdom of God.

In Exodus 35:4, Moses begins his instruction to Israel with a reminder that God has commanded the people to give. This is one of the answers to the question, “Why should I give to the church?” This passage is referring to the specific occasion of gathering materials for the construction of the Tabernacle. However, this is not the only place God commands His people to give.

Deuteronomy 14:22-29 outlines three different taxes the nation of Israel was required to give. The first is the most familiar to us—the tithe. Tithe simply means tenth, and the people of Israel were required to give 10% of whatever source of income they had. Their income might be produce if they were farmers, livestock if they raised animals, material goods, or currency. Leviticus 27:30-33 tells us the tithe was set aside for the Levitical priests’ livelihood.

In addition to the tithe, the people of Israel were instructed to give in order to pay for all the feasts and celebrations God called them to have. Every third year they were to take a special collection to provide for the needs of the impoverished in their land.

The Jewish tax system was a flat tax of 23.33%. However, there were still other ’taxes’ due, like the temple tax (Matthew 17:24). The Jews were also not permitted to harvest their fields to the edges, leaving the corners unharvested as an additional welfare tax to help feed the poor

GoD’S CommanD to GiveWeeK 1: exoDUS 35:4-36:7

Questions

1. What was the purpose of the gifts the Israelites brought in Exodus 34 and 35?

2. What was the purpose of the tithe in the Old Testament?

3. What does this tell us about the priority of giving to God’s Kingdom?

4. Can you think of a time when you were overjoyed to respond positively to a command you were given? Share about that time with your family or some other person.

QUeStionS

(Leviticus 19:9). The annualized tax a Jew would be required to pay might total about 25%.

The taxes listed in Leviticus were the regularly recurring tithes and offerings the Lord commanded of His people. The gifts recorded in Exodus 34 and 35 went above and beyond the regular giving God required of His people.

Giving in the New Testament church is not identical to that which is required in Deuteronomy 14, and we will have a chance to look at that later. For now it is good to note that God called His people to give back a portion of their income to His Kingdom work.

In our sinful hearts, the idea of doing something out of obligation or duty often seems burdensome and joyless. On the contrary, when we read the account in Exodus, it is clear the people responded to this command with joy and cheerfulness in their hearts (Exodus 35:5, 21). Just because we are told to do something doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be done with great joy.

There are many more reasons to give of our resources to God’s work, but among the most important is God invites us to! Pray that God would stir our hearts to respond to His call to give with hearts full of joy and gratitude.

Day 3WeeK 1: exoDUS 35:4-36:7

GoD CommanDS, GoD PRoviDeS

Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel departed from Moses’ presence. Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit

moved him came and brought the LORD’S contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.

exodus 35:20–21

Do you remember the first time Moses spoke directly to God? He was wandering around in the mountains taking care of some sheep when he saw a fire and went to check it out. Lo and behold, there was a bush all ablaze, but for some reason this bush wasn’t being burned up, and the fire wasn’t spreading. Then out of the bush came a voice! Talk about a crazy morning. But the craziness had just begun. The Lord spoke through that bush and instructed Moses to return to Egypt and rescue God’s people from slavery.

Delivering God’s people out from under the bondage of the most powerful nation on the earth was no small feat, and Moses was understandably nervous. Moses made two objections: he thought no one would believe him (Exodus 4:1), and he was a poor public speaker (Exodus 4:10). God responded by giving Moses aid on both counts. God sent Moses’ brother Aaron with him as a spokesman, and God gave Moses the power to perform miracles as a clear indication that the true and living God was behind his mission.

From that point on, Moses’ life was filled with one crazy command from God after another. Demand the release of My people from Pharaoh. Cross the Red Sea. Come up on this mountain with Me for 40 days. Lead My people through the wilderness. Get water out of this rock. Time and time again, God also provided Moses with the solution and the power to bring about His commands. He sent plagues to destroy Egypt and persuade Pharaoh to release the Israelites, a great wind to part the Red Sea, and a wall of flame to keep the Egyptians back. He miraculously provided for Moses on the mountain and for His people in the wilderness, including water flowing from rocks.

By the time Moses responded to God’s command to build the Tabernacle, he had already been a first-hand witness to an extensive

Questions

1. Have you experienced a time when God called you to do something you considered difficult or even impossible? What happened? How did God provide for your faithful obedience?

2. Is there something right now that God is commanding you to do that you are nervous about? If there is, take some time to reflect on these passages. Recall times in your life when God blessed your faithfulness, and ask Him to give you the faith to trust in His goodness and provision.

history of God providing for His people. In Exodus 35:4-19, God commanded His people to bring provision for the temple, and He gave them instructions on building it. In Exodus 35:20-36:7 we see His miraculous provision. God provided by making the command and then stirring the Israelites’ hearts to give. He was even the One who gave them the wealth to begin with. Remember, much of their wealth came from the Egyptians who gave them great riches as they were exiting Egypt (Exodus 12:35-36).

Some people may look at the account of Exodus 35 and miss the wonderful events at work. We see people giving from their goods and want to credit the work of man with the provision for the building of the Tabernacle. God, through Moses’ pen, makes it very clear the people gave because God stirred their hearts (35:21).

The fact is, God is always at work in and through His people. When He commands us to do something, He always provides us the means to do it. Sometimes those means will seem extraordinarily miraculous, and no one could explain them apart from God’s special provision. At other times His provision comes through seemingly ordinary means. Rest assured, if He has commanded it, He will bring about the means. Our job is simply to be faithful to follow through with the command.

Day 4

Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the LORD’S contribution for the work of the tent of

meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments. exodus 35:21

Two days ago we discussed that God commands His people to give. We saw a plan for regular giving that was laid out in the Old Testament Law. That giving was an ongoing practice that roughly equaled 25% of the people’s income each year. The account in Exodus 35 was a call for an extra special gift above and beyond the regular giving that was to occur among the people of Israel.

In contemporary church lingo, we refer to our “tithes and offerings.” Usually that phrase refers to the practice of giving a regular amount in a systematic way (our “tithes”), which is supplemented by gifts for special occasions (our “offerings”). Whether or not we use those terms, the idea is a very biblical one. Christians should be in the habit of giving regularly to support the work of their local church and on occasion giving above and beyond with special gifts to meet special needs.

Sometimes these special needs are in the form of a gift to a needy family, a special offering taken for a visiting missionary or special missions trips, or donations to other Christian organizations. Our family sets aside a regular tithe right off the top of our income that goes to the church every pay period. In addition to that, we support other missionary friends on an ongoing basis. Above that we are also blessed to give on occasion to special needs as they arise.

The building of the Tabernacle was certainly a time of special need in the life of the people of Israel, and we will see another similar occasion next week when we look at the collection for the building of the temple.

Our Building for Life campaign is one of those opportunities in the life of our church to give above and beyond our regular giving. We recognize that giving regularly is already a sacrifice and that giving

GivinG above & beyonDWeeK 1: exoDUS 35:4-36:7

Questions

1. Are you in the habit of giving on a regular basis to your local church? If not, what is keeping you from supporting that ministry?

2. Have you ever given special gifts above and beyond your regular giving?

3. What are some things you are passionate about that you might consider giving to?

above and beyond cuts even deeper. We also recognize that God uses times like these to grow His people as they look to see Him abundantly provide through their sacrificial giving. It is important, though, that your offering not come out of your tithe; it should be in addition to your tithe. Just like the Priests and the Levites were dependent upon the continual giving of Israel, the day to day function of the church depends upon the continued giving of its people.

Practical Tip:

Consider adding a category called “Special Giving” to your budget that you regularly fund so that you have money set aside to give when those special needs arise.

Day 5

So Moses issued a command, and a proclamation was circulated throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman any longer perform

work for the contributions of the sanctuary.” Thus the people were restrained from bringing any more.

exodus 36:6

Most of us who think about this passage in the context of a building campaign dream of this kind of outcome. One pastor who preached on Exodus 36 in the midst of his own building campaign shared that dream. In his sermon, he also points to a deeper reason behind the generous gifts of the Israelite people other than a new building. Here is an excerpt from that sermon:

“This response is so great that Moses, as opposed to starting a building campaign, has to start a ‘stop-the-giving campaign.’ You know, every preacher that reads this passage is salivating, and he’s saying, ‘Lord, just once in my life let me be able to do a stop-the-giving campaign.’ Don’t you think I haven’t thought of it, folks, don’t you think I haven’t thought of it.

“And so Moses calls the leaders and the other craftsmen and tells them to go to work in verse 2, and they begin going to work and they begin assembling the material that’s being given to them in verse 3. And then in verses 4 and 5 they all get together and they go to Moses, and you get the impression that this happened real quick; this wasn’t like weeks that they went. We’re not told exactly how long, but you get the idea pretty quick they come to Moses and say, ’Moses, we don’t need anymore.’ And he replies, ‘Say what?!’ and they say, ‘We don’t need anymore. We have everything we need. You need to tell the people to stop giving.’ And so Moses has to go out and make a proclamation and a decree to stop giving. He has to start the ‘Israel, stop building the tabernacle’ campaign or ‘stop giving to the building of the tabernacle’ campaign. We read in verse 5 that the men said that the people were bringing much more than enough for the construction work that the Lord commanded them to perform. And so Moses, in verse 6, issues a command and circulates a proclamation throughout the camp saying,

tHe “StoP-tHe-GivinG” CamPaiGnWeeK 1: exoDUS 35:4-36:7

Questions

1. What do you most look forward to about having a new building?

2. What ministries do you participate in that will benefit from the new facilities? How so?

3. What are you most hopeful to see in the future life of Cornerstone Community Church?

‘Let no man or woman any longer perform work for the contributions of the sanctuary.’ So that the people are restrained from bringing any more, Moses issues an order to stop giving.

“What’s the point here? The point is that the people were generous in their giving, and that all the people were generous in their giving because they longed for the Lord’s presence. Just like they were willing in their giving because they wanted the Lord to be in their midst. They were generous in their giving because they wanted to have the tabernacle so that the Lord would dwell in their midst. You see, all the people who long for the Lord’s presence and who are looking for His coming are generous in their giving to His kingdom because they love Him and they long for Him and they are saying always in their hearts, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.’ And that’s what they want more than anything else and so their giving reflects it. The all of their givings, not just their stewardship of material resources but giving of the totality of who they are reflects that they long for the Lord’s presence and they are looking for His coming.

“I think the relevance of that to us is pretty apparent, isn’t it? This passage could have been written for us today. The Lord has given us much - does our giving to Him reflect His giving to us? And does it reflect a real desire on our part to be with Him, to dwell with Him, to know communion with Him, and to enjoy His presence?”

Day 1

Then King David said to the entire assembly, “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is

great; for the temple is not for man, but for the LORD God.”1 Chronicles 29:1

God knew of David’s passionate desire to build the Temple, but He chose Solomon, David’s son, to complete this momentous task (1 Chronicles 28:2-6). Not only would David not get to build the Temple, he would never even see it erected. We might expect David to become bitter and jealous, to pout and say, “Look at all I have done for God. I took over the kingdom from a crazy maniac who wanted to kill me. I conquered more of the Promised Land than anyone else before me. I even slew the giant Goliath all in the name of God. I bought, collected, and stored up all the provisions for the Temple, and now He won’t even let me build it. Thanks a lot.”

However, David’s response is the opposite of self-focus; it is other-focused, and it is God-focused. His response is an inspiring example for us to follow. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, David calls the leaders of Israel together to give them the news and praise to the Lord. Lest anyone think David’s praise was simply lip service, he contributes even more than he already had to the building of the Temple.

1 Chronicles 29:3, “Moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple…”

So what was it that kept David from becoming bitter? He kept his focus on what truly matters - serving and worshiping the almighty God. He stated in verse one that “the temple is not for man, but for the Lord God,” and, as we just read, his delight was in the house of his God. David set his gaze God-ward and was able to face great difficulty and disappointment and to accomplish amazing things for the Lord.

David’s God-centered gaze also enabled him to serve others greatly.

GivinG FoR FUtURe GeneRationSWeeK 2: 1 CHRoniCleS 29:1-20

Questions1. Have you ever had a passion to do something for the Lord only

to see Him give that work to someone else? What was your reaction?

2. What are some things you hope to see happen with the new facilities with which the Lord is blessing us? How will you react if these things do not come to fruition? What can you do to ensure your response will be honoring to the Lord?

3. Can you think of an investment in the Lord’s work that someone else made that impacted your life? Share that story with your family or someone else in your life, and see how the Lord keeps spreading the blessing of that investment.

The Temple that Solomon built stood for over 400 years, allowing generation after generation to come before the Lord in holy worship. While David was never able to set eyes upon the temple, he gave generously to a work that would bless others for centuries to come.

As we go through the Building for Life campaign, one of the things we realize is that we are building for the future. We are not just giving money in order to purchase a building; we are giving to the Lord to see His work furthered for generations to come. He has already blessed us greatly by expanding our ministries in breadth and depth. The Cornerstone Biblical Counseling Training Center started off with greater success than we anticipated. The Cornerstone Youth Group has almost tripled in the past three years, and we have children’s Sunday school classes that are full to the brim. Praise the Lord!

There may be some in our congregation who will never be able to fully utilize the facilities we purchase, but that should not hinder their passion to give to the Lord’s work that will outlast us all.

Set your gaze on the Lord. He can use you to bless and serve others for generations to come.

O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours.

1 Chronicles 29:16

Stewardship is a word that is thrown around a great deal in Christian circles these days. “It’s an issue of stewardship” is a phrase I have heard in regards to physical fitness, automotive repair, caring for the environment, and, of course, finances. So what is all the fuss? What does stewardship mean?

Dictionary.com defines stewardship as “the position and duties of a steward, a person who acts as the surrogate of another or others, especially by managing property, financial affairs, an estate, etc.” Randy Alcorn, in his book The Treasure Principle, says this about stewardship: “A steward manages assets for the owner’s benefit. The steward carries no sense of entitlement to the assets he manages. It’s his job to find out what the owner wants done with his assets, then carry out his will.”

Three questions come to mind when I consider these definitions of stewardship: 1. Who is the owner? 2. Who are the stewards? 3. What are the assets?

To answer the first question simply, the Owner is God. Psalm 24:1 states, “The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.” God is the Owner who has entrusted great treasures to His stewards with the expectation that they will manage the assets in accordance with His will, and He expects a great return on His investments when He comes back (Matthew 25:24-26).

The stewards, then, are all mankind, but especially Christians. Each person on this earth has been blessed greatly by God. Our very lives and existence are generous treasures entrusted to us to be managed for His honor and glory. Each person will give an account before our Heavenly Father on how he has managed the treasures that were entrusted to him.

SteWaRDSHiP - WHat’S tHe FUSS?Day 2WeeK 2: 1 CHRoniCleS 29:1-20

Questions

1. How can we benefit from recognizing that we are stewards and not owners?

2. Why is it good that God owns our possessions and we do not?

3. Read the following verses, and list God’s instructions to you as His steward.• Luke 16:10-13• 1 Corinthians 4:2

So what are the assets or treasures we have been entrusted with? Once again, to state it plainly, everything! Absolutely everything that exists, every experience we have, every gift and talent given to us is something that God has entrusted us with. We can either wisely invest them in ways that will bring glory to God, or we can squander them trying to bring praise to some other idol, usually ourselves.

So in reality it is appropriate to talk of stewardship when we refer to our use or abuse of everything in life—our time, our money, our talents, our property, our education, our church, our families, etc. You are a steward. God is the owner of all that has been entrusted to you. How will you manage His assets?

Practical Tip:Make a list of at least 10 things God has given you to steward. Place the list in a prominent place in your home, and every time something else comes to mind add it to the list.

Day 3WeeK 2: 1 CHRoniCleS 29:1-20

leaD by examPle

Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands

and of hundreds, with the overseers over the king’s work, offered willingly. 1 Chronicles 29:6

Following the example given in 1 Chronicles 29, the elders of Cornerstone decided it would be wise to go to the leadership of the church to request donations for the Building for Life campaign before going to the entire church family. Part of the motivation was to “test the waters” to see if moving forward with the campaign and the building purchase was what God was leading us to do. I don’t believe any of us were prepared for how the Lord blessed.

Here is a testimony from the wife of one church leader as she contemplated giving to the Building for Life campaign.

“When I had heard our church was going to be raising funds for the building next door, my internal, private reaction was ‘horizontal’. I thought to myself, ‘Oh no, how will we be able to cut our budget any tighter? (without personally sacrificing, of course). How can we contribute…when we are on a fixed income? How can we give…when we have so many bills coming up in the near future?’

“Then the campaign letter came and my fears grew, even to the point of worry and hesitation. But there came about a turn in my heart almost immediately when I went over the letter. Following that, I prayerfully went over each verse that was cited in the letter. Gratefully, verse by verse brought peace, joy, and faith. Assurance came over me. I was reminded of so many ways the Lord has taken care of me physically, financially and spiritually in the past. My heart was particularly encouraged by 1 Chronicles 29. The entire chapter was a blessing deep in my heart and mind.

“I don’t have the power or energy to change my own heart but thankfully ‘His divine power has given us everything we need for a

Questions

1. What was your reaction when you first heard Cornerstone was planning to begin a building campaign to purchase new property? What about when you heard the $1,000,000 goal?

2. What was your reaction when you learned over $600,000 had already been given or promised towards that goal?

3. How did that affect your view of the leaders of our church family? How did it grow your view of God and His provision?

godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.’ 2 Peter 1:3”

What a testimony to the power of God’s Word to change our hearts, to encourage us, and to challenge us to live for Him. This is just one person’s story out of many who gave so generously to the Building for Life campaign. The amazing response from the leadership at Cornerstone brought in almost two-thirds of the funds we were seeking to raise. That is over $600,000 in pledges and cash gifts from the lead gifts, towards the $1,000,000 goal. Praise the Lord!

to aSK oR not to aSK?Day 4WeeK 2: 1 CHRoniCleS 29:1-20

Building campaigns can make many people feel uncomfortable. They don’t like the idea of people in the church asking for money. Many times people who are uncomfortable with ministries asking for money point to George Mueller as an example of how to raise support for ministries. George Mueller is a giant in the Christian faith, and to many people he serves as an example of living by absolute faith in God. His primary ministry was running orphanages, caring for the needs of the children, and pointing them to Christ. Most people who know of Mueller and his ministry recall one primary thing: in his entire ministry, Mueller never asked a single person for any support. He simply prayed to God, laying the needs before his Heavenly Father, and waited to see Him provide.

Once Mueller was asked, “You have always found the Lord faithful to His promise?” He replied:

“Always. For nearly seventy years every need in connection with this work has been supplied. The orphans, from the first until now, have numbered 9,500, but they have never wanted a meal. Never! Hundreds of times we have commenced the day without a penny in hand, but our heavenly Father sent supplies by the moment that were actually required. There never was a time when we had no wholesome meal.

“During all these years I have been enabled to trust in God, in the living God, and in Him alone. One million four hundred thousand pounds have been sent to me in answer to prayer. We have needed as much as fifty thousand pounds in one year, and it has all come by the time it has been really needed. No man on earth can say that I have ever asked him for a penny. We have no committees, no collectors, no voting and no endowments. All has come in answer to believing prayer.”

Many missionaries and ministry leaders look to George Mueller as the example of how to raise funds, some to the point of thinking it is unspiritual and even sinful to ever ask someone for money. But there is something important to understand about George Mueller. Before he was a Christian, he was a thief, gambler, and liar. In his

Questions

1. What has been your experience with Christians asking for money to support ministry?

2. Prior to this devotion, was it your belief that Christians should not ask for money, but simply pray and wait to see God provide? If so, has your view changed? How?

3. Are you more or less inclined to support a ministry that spells out the specifics of their needs to you?

autobiographies, Mueller recounted that by the time he was 10 years old, he was stealing government money from his father who was a government employee, and while his mother lay dying when he was 14, he was out drinking and gambling with friends.

You see part of the reason Mueller never requested money to support the ministry was to completely separate from his past life of sin. He never wanted to give anyone the excuse that he was in the ministry to make money.

D. L. Moody was another famous Christian minister who also served the Lord greatly, and he had a very different approach to raising funds than Mueller. One book on methods of raising money for missions stated, “Moody made no bones of declaring the needs, even to slapping a Christian businessman on the back and suggesting he invest a few thousand dollars in precious souls!”

The point is not to pit Mueller and Moody against one another, but simply to show that there are many ways to go about raising the funds necessary to carry out a ministry. In Exodus 35, Moses makes no qualms about telling the people of God exactly what needs to be brought in order to build the Tabernacle. The Apostle Paul also had no issue with calling the churches to give to special needs and to support him in his missionary travels (Romans 15:24, 1 Corinthians 16:2, 2 Corinthians 8-9).

Day 5WeeK 2: 1 CHRoniCleS 29:1-20

GivinG oUR beSt

One principle in giving that was ingrained in me in my youth was the idea that we are always supposed to give God our best. It is a principle that runs through the entirety of Scripture and should run the entirety of our lives.

Right from the beginning of Scripture we see this principle mentioned. In Genesis chapter four, the first brothers on earth each bring a sacrifice to the Lord. God rejects Cain’s sacrifice but accepts Abel’s. There is much speculation about why Abel’s sacrifice was accepted while Cain’s was not, but Scripture points us to a few reasons. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that God saw Abel’s sacrifice as “better” and that it was offered “by faith.” Genesis 4:4 also tells us that Abel “brought of the firstlings of his flock.” This term “firstlings” refers to the firstborn of the flock. It also carries with it the idea of the best and the strongest of the flock. Abel didn’t wait around to see which sheep would turn out to be the best and the worst and then give God the mediocre portions of the herd. He gave God the best, right away.

Abel’s sacrifice was a precursor to what would be required of the people of Israel in the Levitical Law. In God’s commands to His people, He made it abundantly clear that only the best of the best were supposed to be used in sacrificial worship to Him. Leviticus 22 outlines specific instructions about the sacrifices that were acceptable to God. They were supposed to be perfect. They could not have defects, eczema, or scabs, and they could not be blind, lame, or bleeding. These perfect sacrifices foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who was without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1:19).

So what does that mean for us today? We no longer take animals to an altar to be slaughtered and burned, so how does this apply to us? Paul calls all Christians to offer themselves as living sacrifices to God, which is our “spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1). So our entire lives are supposed to be lived in a sacrificial way to God, always giving Him first of our best. This has implications for every area of life, but let’s consider how this is reflected in our finances.

There are three mindsets when it comes to giving back to God when

Questions

1. Do you live on a budget? If so, which of the three types of budgeter are you? If not, check out our practical tips to find some tools to help you begin budgeting your finances.

2. Besides your finances, what are some other parts of your life where you can set aside your best for God?

Practical Tips:

Here are a couple websites that have helpful tools to help you begin setting a budget:

http://www.crown.org/Resources/Personal/Downloads.aspx

http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/budget-forms/

budgeting. The first is to ignore Him all together and not even set aside money in the budget to give to the church. With this mindset, people may or may not give on occasion as they think about it, but it is definitely not first and foremost on their mind.

The second mindset is to allocate money to every bill and spending category, and then if there is anything left over, it is given to the church. Of course, there is often nothing left over, and even if there is, those leftovers often get eaten up by the many “miscellaneous” expenses that come up.

Third is the practice of taking a portion right off the top to give back to God. These people have “Tithes and Offerings” as the first category in their budget. When the paycheck arrives, the first check written is to the church. They truly honor the Lord with the “firstlings” of their income.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out which of these scenarios most closely reflects the biblical instruction to give of our best. No matter what our financial situation is, we are all called to give to God of the “firstlings” of what He has given to us. Our prayer is that our entire church family would give the best to God in every area of life, recognizing that it is all from Him in the first place.

laStinG tReaSUReS

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves

do not break in or steal. matthew 6:19–20

Investing in things that will last can be a difficult concept to grasp for a four year old, and a harder concept still to live by as an adult. We have been trying to instill this principle in our son Reid so that he doesn’t waste all of his money on candy machine toys but rather on things he will be able to enjoy for some time. Of course, this is challenging when there is an ongoing debate between his mother and me about which is the better investment, diamonds or electronics! I’ll let you figure out who is in favor of which.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus challenges His listeners to invest for the long haul. He encourages them to lay up treasures that will last for eternity rather than treasures that will fade away with this world or long before then. Randy Alcorn, in The Treasure Principle, summarizes this concept in the following way: “You can’t take it with you - but you can send it on ahead.”

But what do we mean by storing up treasures in heaven? It’s not as if you can mail your prized possessions to Jesus so they’ll be gift-wrapped and waiting for you in your heavenly abode. If we look at the context of this passage, Jesus goes on to explain what He means by saying, “You cannot serve God and wealth.”

To put it in the form of a question, we need to ask ourselves, “What am I living for?” Is our greatest concern in life the bottom line or the balance on our bank statement? Are we running the rat race, doing everything we can in life to amass as much money as possible? Is our primary criteria in decision-making what it will cost us or how much money we will get? Or on the other hand, is our first and foremost priority the glory of God? Do we make our decisions based on what

Day 1WeeK 3: mattHeW 6:19-34

Questions1. Read the following passages, making note of the cost of investing

in this life versus the cost of investing in the life to come. Luke 12:16-31, Matthew 13:44-46

2. How much of your stuff would you be willing to sell in order to buy a storage locker you knew contained $10,000,000,000?

3. What would you be willing to give up in this life if, in return, you could live forever?

4. Jesus tells His followers that if they wish to come after Him, it will cost them their lives (Matthew 16:24-26). Are you willing to die to yourself so that you can live with Him forever and ever?

will be most pleasing to Him? Who is our master?

You see, every action we perform, every decision we make, every word we speak, and every thought that crosses our minds invests in one of two worlds. Either we are investing in God and His Kingdom, or we are investing in this world. The account of this world may or may not show positive growth, but even if it does, the guarantee is that in the long run it is a losing investment. We won’t have any dividends, and the principal will vanish too. The other account - the Kingdom of God Fund - may not look like a flashy investment that pays dramatic dividends in the short term, but when we step back and look at the long-term payout, it performs amazingly, and the exponential growth is off the charts.

WHeRe iS yoUR HeaRt?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. matthew 6:21

It is often said - because it is true to life - that how you spend your money and how you spend your time reveals what is most important to you. Show me your checkbook and your planner, and I will tell you what sits enthroned in your heart.

Jesus made this point very clear in the sixth chapter of Matthew when He instructs His followers to store up eternal treasures in heaven rather than earthly treasures that will ultimately come to destruction. Where we put our treasure is where our heart truly resides.

So we have to ask ourselves, “What is it that I really value?” Take a look over the past few months at where your money and time have been going. No, I mean it. Stop right now! Pull out your bank statements, (or look them up online), and review your calendar for the last month. When you are finished come back and finish reading.

What did your records reveal to you? After housing, groceries, automotive, and other “essentials,” what were the top three spending categories? Did they revolve around you or someone else? What about your giving to the church? Where did that fall into the rank of budget categories? Do you give to other Christian or charitable organizations? Is that more or less than you spend in your entertainment column?

Now think about your calendar. Were you able to make it to the gathering of the church regularly? When you were there, were you serving or being served? How about time with the Body of Christ outside service times? Was there any time given to serving the Kingdom? When you were at work, school, or home, was God on your mind? Did you seek to serve Him during those day-in-and-day-out tasks? How many movies or other entertainment activities did you attend? How about movies and TV on a daily basis? How did that equate with time spent studying the Bible or praying?


Questions

1. If you haven’t already, write down the top three things you spend your money on after the bare necessities of life. What are you spending money on? Is that money focused on you, others, or God?

2. What is the total dollar amount of those top three categories? What percentage is that of your income? How much of your income goes to the church? What is the ratio of these?

3. Pray that the Lord would use this time to open your eyes to understand what it is that you truly value in life. Ask Him to make Himself your number one priority.

We do not ask these questions in order to stir up guilt so that you will give more to the church. Giving motivated by guilt is not what God desires. We ask these questions to help you dig into your heart and see what is competing with God for your affections. If your conscience is pricked, don’t become embittered against God or the church. Instead pray to God and ask Him to change your heart. Ask Him to give you new or renewed desires and passions for Him and for the furtherance of His Kingdom. For some of you I pray that this will be a time of encouragement and affirmation that you are seeking after the Lord first in your life. Praise the Lord! Be encouraged, and give God the glory.

When we truly seek after God, He will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). Sometimes that means He will change our circumstances to meet our desires, but more often than not it means He will change our desires to match the circumstances He has planned for us. Either way we experience deep joy and satisfaction when we realize we have received our heart’s desires, and they are treasures that will last for eternity.

WHat iS tHe “GooD eye”?

The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the

darkness!matthew 6:22–23

When you think about money, what is your first response? Do you become jealous about all those who have more than you? Do you get greedy and think about all the things you could do to get more for yourself? Or do you immediately thank God for His provision and trust Him with a contented heart? Pastor John Piper, in a sermon on Matthew 6, reminds us that the way we view money indicates whether we have a “clear eye” or a “bad eye.”

“Between these two descriptions of the light Jesus says that the eye is the lamp of the body and that a good eye produces a fullness of this light. So what is the good eye that gives so much light and the bad eye that leaves us in the dark?

“One clue is found in Matthew 20:15. Jesus has just said, in a parable, that men who worked one hour will be paid the same as those who worked all day, because the master is merciful, and besides, they all agreed to their wage. Those who worked all day grumbled that the men who worked one hour were paid too much. Jesus responded with the words found here in Matthew 6:23, ’Is your eye bad because I am good?’

“What is bad about their eye? What’s bad is that their eye does not see the mercy of the master as beautiful. They see it as ugly. They don’t see reality for what it is. They do not have an eye that can see mercy as more precious than money.

“Now bring that understanding of the “bad eye” back to Matthew 6:23 and let it determine the meaning of the “good eye.” What would the good eye be that fills us with light? It would be an eye that sees the


Questions

1. What was your response the last time you heard about someone else receiving a great financial blessing?

2. How do you respond when things get tight in your budget? What about when you receive unexpected financial blessing?

3. What can you do to remind yourself to praise and thank God in the midst of all your financial circumstances?

Practical Tip: Take time this week and try to memorize Proverbs 30:7-9, a great prayer of contentment.

Master’s generosity as more precious than money. The good eye sees God and His ways as the great Treasure in life, not money.

“You have a good eye if you look on heaven and love to maximize the reward of God’s fellowship there. You have a good eye if you look at Master-money and Master-God and see Master-God as infinitely more valuable. In other words, a “good eye” is a valuing eye, a discerning eye, a treasuring eye. It doesn’t just see facts about money and God. It doesn’t just perceive what is true and false. It sees beauty and ugliness, it senses value and worthlessness, it discerns what is really desirable and what is undesirable. The seeing of the good eye is not neutral. When it sees God, it sees God-as-beautiful. It sees God-as-desirable.

“That is why the good eye leads to the way of light: laying up treasures in heaven, and serving God not money. The good eye is a single eye. It has one Treasure. God. When that happens in your life, you are full of light.”

Contentment Day by Day

Read and meditate on the following passages. Write down any thoughts that come to you, and share them with at least one person today. Then pray and ask God to help you be content with His daily provision.

1 timothy 6:6-8

ecclesiastes 5:10

Proverbs 30:8-9


Questions

1. What truths about contentment did you learn from this study?

2. What things changed your thinking the most in regard to contentment ?

3. Who do you plan to tell these encouraging truths to?

matthew 6:9-11

Philippians 4:11-12

not to WoRRy!

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things

will be added to you.matthew 6:30, 33

Charles Spurgeon, known to many as the Prince of Preachers, wrote a year-long daily devotional guide entitled Faith’s Checkbook. The following are his reflections on the verses above.

“Clothes are expensive, and poor believers may be led into anxiety as to where their next suit will come from. The soles are thin; how shall we get new shoes? See how our thoughtful Lord has provided against this care. Our heavenly Father clothes the grass of the field with a splendor such as Solomon could not equal: will He not clothe His own children? We are sure He will. There may be many a patch and a darn, but raiment we shall have.

“A poor minister found his clothes nearly threadbare, and so far gone that they would hardly hold together; but as a servant of the Lord he expected his Master to find him his livery. It so happened that the writer on a visit to a friend had the loan of the good man’s pulpit, and it came into his mind to make a collection for him, and there was his suit. Many other cases we have seen in which those who have served the Lord have found Him considerate of their wardrobe. He who made man so that when he had sinned he needed garments, also in mercy supplied him with them; and those which the Lord gave to our first parents were far better than those they made for themselves....

“See how the Bible opens: ‘In the beginning God.’ Let your life open in the same way. Seek with your whole soul, first and foremost, the kingdom of God, as the place of your citizenship, and His righteousness as the character of your life. As for the rest, it will come from the Lord Himself without your being anxious concerning it. All that is needful for this life and godliness ‘shall be added unto you.’


Questions

1. Do you ever find yourself being anxious about paying your bills or being able to afford food and clothing? What do these passages encourage you to do to fight that anxiety?

2. How does remembering God’s past provision help you fight the worry about future provision?

3. Why is it when we focus on serving others and serving God, we tend to forget our own troubles?

“What a promise this is! Food, raiment, home and so forth, God undertakes to add to you while you seek Him. You mind His business, and He will mind yours. If you want paper and string, you get them given when you buy more important goods; and just so all that we need of earthly things we shall have thrown in with the kingdom…Away with carking care. Set all your mind upon seeking the Lord. Covetousness is poverty, and anxiety is misery: trust in God in an estate, and likeness to God is a heavenly inheritance.”

tHe GolDen RUle

Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.luke 6:31

“Pay it forward” is a phrase that is used today to encourage people to bless someone else because they themselves have been the recipient of some blessing. For instance, the television series “The Biggest Loser” used “pay it forward” as a motto for one season of the program. The contestants on the show were encouraged to go back to their hometowns and initiate programs that would help others learn the principles of weight loss they had learned from being on the television show.

While “pay it forward” is not a phrase that is included in Scripture, the idea is there. For example, God informs us that we should “pay forward” the comfort He has given us in our trials to others who are going through trials as well (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

However, God’s instruction in Luke 6:31 outpaces the idea of “paying it forward.” You see, God calls us to treat others as we would want to be treated, whether or not someone has treated us in our desired fashion. We should beat people to the punch, so to speak, in our kindness toward them.

Applying this principle to financial needs was one of the distinguishing factors of the early church. In Acts chapter 4, we have the amazing account of how the church cared for one another so that “there was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34). Those who were more well-off would sell what they had and give the proceeds to the Apostles, who would in turn distribute them to those who were less fortunate.

One thing that sets Cornerstone apart from other churches in my experience is the amazing generosity displayed through our Deacon Fund. Don’t get me wrong, lots of churches have similar funds, but I have never seen one that is so well-funded while at the same time being utilized so regularly. It is a great reflection of the early church in Acts.

Day 1WeeK 4: lUKe 6:30-38

Questions

1. Have you ever been the beneficiary of someone else’s generosity? How did it make you feel toward that person? If it was a church, what were your thoughts toward that church family?

2. Have you ever given to the needs of someone going through hard times? What did that do for your relationship with that person? What motivated you to be generous? How did that person respond?

Some people who have been blessed by our Deacon Fund have voiced a desire to one day be able to give to that fund as well. Not as payment for a debt - the money given from this fund is a gift not a loan—but as a way of “paying it forward.” Others will give generously to this fund because they were blessed by someone else’s generosity in the past. Still others give to this fund having never been in need of others’ financial help but with the realization that God has been gracious to them, and if they were ever in that situation, they would like others to be generous to them as well.

No matter the motivation for giving to help others in need, it is a good practice to be in. I am always thankful when I hear reports on the Deacon Fund being used to help out a person or family in need and then to turn around and learn we have more money in the fund than ever before. God is good and gracious to His people, and it shows when they are good and gracious to one another.

GeneRoSity to oUR enemieS

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for

He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.luke 6:35

Reflecting on Luke 6:30-38, Pastor John MacArthur offers some key insights into the benefits we receive by loving our enemies. The following is taken from one of his sermons on this passage.

“We’re talking here about evangelistic loving and the benefits then are evangelistic. Verse 35 repeats this command, ‘Love your enemies and do good and lend.’ The very three things He mentions in 32, 33 and 34. He picks them up, you’re to love your enemies, you are to do good and lend, ‘But you expect nothing in return.’ You don’t expect love back from your enemy. You don’t expect good back from your enemy and you don’t expect your enemy to lend to you either. You don’t expect anything in return. You’re simply treating them the way you would like to be treated but you don’t expect anything in return.

“This is not natural. This is not normal. This is not human. But if you do it, verse 35 says, ‘Your reward will be great.’ What’s that? Is that your eternal reward? No. He mentioned eternal reward back in verse 23. The reward we’re going to receive in heaven for suffering persecution, that will be our heavenly reward. But this reward is in the world of men. You’re loving sinners the way sinners are not used to being loved. You’re loving those who don’t love you. You’re loving those who don’t do good to you. You’re loving those who don’t lend to you and you’re asking no love, no goodness and no loan back. This is unconditional free transcendent love. You’re just loving them the way they ought to love you, even though they don’t. You’re showing them a love that they can’t experience, that doesn’t belong to their world, and your reward will be great.

“What will be your reward? Verse 35 states, ‘And you will be sons of


Questions

1. When was the last time you had the opportunity to lead someone to Christ? What was it like to share the Gospel? When they responded positively, what was your reaction?

2. Can you think of any greater opportunity than seeing the Lord use you to lead someone to saving faith?

3. After reading these comments on Luke 6:35, how can you create more opportunities to proclaim the good news of Jesus?

the Most High.’ What does this mean? Well, the people are going to conclude you’re a son of God. You will manifest God before them. He’s not talking about what God is going to give you, He’s talking about what men are going to think. They’re going to say, ‘He’s very much like God.’ Why? ‘For he himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.’ The kindness of God, the grace of God, the forgiveness of God, the mercy, tenderness, compassion of God is all through the Old Testament.

“The Jews who know the Old Testament are going to know you’re manifesting the kind of love that was true of God. God is kind even to ungrateful and evil men. We’re all in the category of ungrateful. We’re all in the category of evil (Romans 3:10ff). We’re all wicked, we’re all thankless. We’re the only people there are to love yet God loves us and is kind toward us. It’s the kindness of compassion. It’s the kindness of warning. It’s the kindness of invitation. It’s the kindness of goodness. And when you do that, people are going to make the connection.”

lenDinG WitHoUt ReGRet

If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for

He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.luke 6:34–35

After serving at Cornerstone for almost a year, I borrowed the Wiemann’s extra-long pickup truck to haul materials that were donated to our Gleanings rummage sale fund-raiser. Over a few-day period, I navigated that beast of a truck all around the North County, including weaving through a packed Trader Joe’s parking lot, without incident. All that ended the Saturday morning of the rummage sale. That morning I picked up a few dozen delicious treats from Sunrise Doughnuts on El Camino. As I was backing out of a virtually empty parking lot I heard a horrible crash, and the truck jolted to a stop. I looked behind me to see what vehicle I had just crushed, but nothing was there, so I pulled forward. That was a big mistake. As the truck began to move, more sounds of twisting, tearing metal filled my ears. I stopped and jumped out to see what I had done. What I saw made me sick to my stomach. I had backed over a huge fake rock that had a metal pole sticking out of the top of it. The side of the truck was crumpled, and as I pulled forward, it sheared the back bumper away from the truck.

The fear and worry I felt in that moment is hard to describe. The truck was still drivable, so I started it up and headed to the rummage sale praying all the way. After calling my wife to fill her in, I made the call I had been dreading the most: calling my boss and pastor to tell him I had just wrecked his truck.

That phone call went from being one of the most dreaded I ever had to make to one of the most encouraging and memorable ones of my life. After ensuring that I was okay and no one else was hurt, John Marc told me, “It’s alright. It’s God’s truck, not ours. All this is in His


Questions

1. Have you ever loaned something to someone only to have it returned damaged or not returned at all? What was your reaction?

2. Have you ever borrowed something and damaged it or lost it? How did the person who loaned it to you respond? How did that make you feel about them?

3. What are some truths to think on or practices you can implement to help you hold your possessions lightly?

hands.” It is hard to express how relieved I was. It was as if a huge stone I had swallowed that was weighing in my gut just dissolved.

That was the greatest example I had ever seen of someone holding their possessions very loosely, realizing that they were in God’s hands, not their own. There are so many lessons to be gleaned from that experience I don’t have time to expound each one here. But one thing that did stand out tremendously was that my material goods are not truly mine; they belong to the Lord. If I can trust Him with the eternal destiny of my soul, then I better be able to trust Him with my stuff.

It is easy to lose sight of this truth in our materialistic, consumer-driven culture, but the reality is the most valuable things in life can’t be bought and sold. People and our relationships with them are worth so much more than the things we own.

Give to Give not to Get

Luke 6:30-38 highlights a very important question in regards to our giving and service: “Why?” Why do we help others? Why do we give money to people? Why do we lend? Why do we love? The question of motive is a very important one. We, as sinful human beings, often struggle with having right motives. As 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us, we can say all kinds of magnificent things and accomplish monumental tasks, but if we do not have love, it all amounts to nothing. Read over the passages below, noting the motivations that can often fill our hearts and the contrasting motives that should drive us.

matthew 6:2-4

mathew 23:5-6

luke 16:15


Questions

1. When was the last time you had someone over for dinner who could never return the favor?

2. Do you find yourself more often motivated by what other people think or what God thinks?

3. When you do something motivated by the knowledge that God sees everything, are you expecting Him to reward you in some way?

John 5:44

John 12:43

exPeCt to See GReat RetURn

This year an article appeared on Christianity Today’s website entitled “10 Million Tithers Donate More Than $50 Billion.” The article highlights some fascinating truths about those who tithe in the U.S. Here is the article as it appeared on the website:

“There are an estimated 10 million tithers in America that donate more than $50 billion annually to religious and charitable causes. A new 5-year constituency study released by the State of the Plate gives an inside, in-depth look at the financial, giving, and spiritual practices of 4,413 people who donate 10% or more each year.

“Survey participants came from all 50 states, all types of churches, and all income levels. The full report, ‘20 Truths about Tithers,’ provides 27 pages of valuable information on this important group of givers for the media, pastors, church, and non-profit leaders.

“While many who donate 10% or more may not consider themselves ’tithers’ because of its connection to Old Testament teaching, this practice has been observed by many devoted Christians for centuries and is still voluntarily practiced by millions today. Notable State of the Plate findings:

• 77% of those who ‘tithe’ give 11%-20% or more of their income, far more than the baseline of 10%.

• 97% make it a priority to give to their local church.

• 70% ‘tithe’ based on their gross income, not their net.

• 63% started giving 10% or more between childhood and their twenties.

• Tithers carry much less debt than most people and are financially better off than Christian non-tithers—80% of ‘tithers’ have no unpaid credit card bills; 74% have no car payments; 48% own their home; and 28% are completely debt-free.


Questions

1. If you tithe, at what point did you begin this practice? What motivated you?

2. Have you ever used one of the excuses listed above as a reason not to tithe?

3. How does this article affect your thinking on giving to the church?

“What keeps non-tithing Christians from giving: 38% say they can’t afford it; 33% say they have too much debt; and 18% said their spouse does not agree about tithing.

“Brian Kluth, founder and publisher of the annual State of the Plate research says, ‘While the idea of tithing has been around for centuries, very little has ever been known about this group of significant givers. Now for the first time, our research provides an in-depth look at the most important group of givers to religion. Without their generous and faithful support, most churches and Christian non-profits would quickly cease to exist.’”

HoW to Give Day 1WeeK 5: aCtS 20:35

Give Cheerfully

2 Corinthians 9:7

Give Generously

2 Chronicles 31:5

1 Chronicles 29:14-17

I Timothy 6:17-19

Give Systematically

Deuteronomy 14:22

Genesis 28:16-22

Proverbs 3:9-10

Give Reverently

Matthew 2:11

Deuteronomy 14:23

Leviticus 22:20

Malachi 1:6-9

WeeK 5: aCtS 20:35

HoW to Give Day 2

Give Proportionally

1 Corinthians 16:2

Deuteronomy 16:17

Exodus 35:5

Ezra 2:69

Give Joyfully

2 Chronicles 24:10 and 29:36

2 Corinthians 8:2


Give Willingly

2 Corinthians 8:12

Exodus 35:21-22

1 Chronicles 29:6

Give Regularly

Deuteronomy 16:16

1 Corinthians 16:2

Nehemiah 10:35-39

WeeK 5: aCtS 20:35

HoW to Give Day 4

Give Faithfully

Deuteronomy 14:27

2 Chronicles 31:4-8

Give Expectantly

Malachi 3:8-10

Genesis 28:20-22

Luke 6:38

2 Corinthians 9:6-11

Give Eternally

Matthew 6:19-20

1 Timothy 6:19

Mark 10:21

Hebrews 11:13-16


Give Extravagantly

John 12:1-8

Mark 12:41-44

1 Chronicles 29:2-9

Exodus 35

Give Thoughtfully

Haggai 1:3-11

GRaCe anD tHe GiveR

In Randy Alcorn’s book, The Treasure Principle, he points out an important correlation between God’s grace to us and our response as it relates to giving. The following is a section from the companion study guide that shows this correlation from two passages in 2 Corinthians.

“Randy points out that ‘Christ’s grace defines, motivates, and puts in perspective our giving.’ Just as God’s grace guides and empowers all aspects of godly living, so also grace underpins the generosity of a wise steward. As Randy says, ‘As thunder follows lightning, giving follows grace.’

“Throughout 2 Corinthians 8-9, the themes of God’s grace and our giving are intertwined. How does each of the following sections clarify the relationship between the two?

• 8:1-5

• 8:6-7

• 8:8-12

• 9:6-9

• 9:10-15

Day 1WeeK 6: 1 CoR. 16:1-2, 2 CoR. 8:1-5

Questions

Randy Alcorn states, “Take a few minutes to talk to your Father about His grace toward you. Write down a few of your possible responses to His grace—inward mental or emotional responses, and outward behavioral responses. How do these responses reveal ways that God’s grace might impact your thinking, belief, and behavior?”

“Gaze upon Christ long enough, and you’ll become more of a giver. Give long enough, and you’ll become more like Christ.

“Our giving is a reflexive response to the grace of God in our lives.…This grace is the action; our giving is the reaction. We give because He first gave to us.”

loPSiDeD GivinG

That in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.

2 Corinthians 8:2

Most of us would assume the more money people made, the more they would give away. This may be true in an overall dollar figure, but when it comes to percentages the inverse tends to be true. Study after study shows that in the United States the propensity of people is to give a higher percentage of their income the less money they make.

The New York Times published an article in 2010 entitled “The Charitable-Giving Divide,” which included this finding: “In 2001, Independent Sector... found that households earning less than $25,000 a year gave away an average of 4.2 percent of their incomes; those with earnings of more than $75,000 gave away 2.7 percent.”

Realizing that these statistics take into consideration all charitable donations, one might hope Christians give at much higher rates. Unfortunately, that is not the case. According to generousgiving.org, “Giving by North American churchgoers was higher during the Great Depression (3.3 percent of per capita income in 1933) than it was after a half-century of unprecedented prosperity (2.5 percent in 2004).”

One thing is for sure: the poor tend to give more of their income than the rest of the population, and that doesn’t seem to be a new trend. Paul used the Macedonian church as an example of people who gave generously to churches in need in other parts of the world. Paul described the Macedonian’s financial situation as “deep poverty.” These people were not just lower middle class; they were among the poorest of the poor.

Jesus also commented on this trend of sacrificial giving among the poor when He pointed out an elderly widow who put two tiny copper coins into the offering box at the temple. He contrasted her miniscule gift with the large sums of money put in the treasury by the very rich,

Day 2WeeK 6: 1 CoR. 16:1-2, 2 CoR. 8:1-5

Questions

Want to know just how wealthy you are?

Visit this website to see how you compare with the rest of the world: www.globalrichlist.com

saying, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:43-44).

This is not to say that all wealthy people are stingy and none give generously. There are many wealthy Christians who give tremendously to others, and there are many ministries that would not survive without their generosity. Some wealthy Christians even live on 10% of their income and give 90% to the work of the Church. But they are the exception.

Some studies indicate the poor tend to give more because they are more acutely aware of what it is like to need help, so they are inclined to give to others, while the rich are so far removed from needing the aid of others, so they give less. Others figure that the poor give more because they are more used to relying on God’s provision rather than their own, so they are more comfortable giving away their finances.

No matter the reason, the fact remains: it is not how much money you have that determines how much you will give. Everyone can give sacrificially - the wealthiest and the - poorest. It just so happens the poor tend to give more. So ask yourself, “Do I give like I am wealthy or do I give like I am poor?”

Give aCCoRDinG to anD beyonD

For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability… 2 Corinthians 8:3

“Giving Units” is a term used in literature about church finances to refer to the individuals or groups of people that give regularly to the church. Some “giving units” are individuals while others are couples, larger families, or even organizations. When Cornerstone’s elders were considering our options for growth, we did some research to determine the best approach. In our research we came across some interesting facts about the giving that takes place in the churches of our country. • Only one-third to one-half of U.S. church members financially

support their churches.

• Overall, only 3 to 5 percent of those who donate money to a church tithe (give 10 percent of ) their incomes.

• 9% of American “born-again” adults tithed in 2004.

To be honest, I was kind of shocked by these statistics and sure that our own church family was giving well above the national averages. In due diligence, we began to look at the giving of our church family. Don’t be alarmed; we did not look into names or giving of specific families! All of our information was based on anonymous “giving units” at Cornerstone. What we found was that our giving was not much different from that of the rest of the American church.

One thing stood out to me from our research. If the average giving unit in our church made $60,000 per year and gave 10% of their income to our church, our annual budget would be double what it was in the 2012-2013 ministry year.

As we mentioned before, the idea of the tithe (10%) comes from the Old Testament Law and is not specifically commanded in the New Testament. But as you have seen, it was a regular practice of God’s

Day 3WeeK 6: 1 CoR. 16:1-2, 2 CoR. 8:1-5

Questions

1. Do you know what percentage of your income goes back go God? If so, what is it? If not, take some time today to look back over your finances for the past six months and see what percentage you do give.

2. How does your giving compare to the tithe?

people throughout history. We noted that the Israelites were actually commanded to give closer to 25% of their income. With the New Testament guideline of giving sacrificially, it is hard to imagine that 10% would be considered a high level of sacrificial giving. The tithe is often described as the training wheels of giving, or the floor of giving rather than the ceiling.

Many Christians who do give sacrificially give much more than 10%. One example of such generous giving is R.G. LeTourneau.

“R. G. LeTourneau (1888–1969) was a Christian industrialist who dedicated his life to ‘being a businessman for God.’ He was hugely successful, designing and developing his own line of earth-moving equipment. LeTourneau was the maker of nearly 300 inventions and had hundreds of patents in his lifetime. As he succeeded financially, he increased his giving to the point where he was giving 90% of his income to the Lord’s work. LeTourneau once quipped, ‘I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back - but God has a bigger shovel.’”

Do i Have to be PooR to love JeSUS?

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come,

follow Me.”matthew 19:21

I don’t know about you, but for me and many of my friends, the question of whether or not being poor is more spiritual has been quite a conundrum. At times Jesus told people to sell everything they own and give it to the poor (Luke 18:22), but is that the call of every Christian? Is it really more spiritual to be poor? In contemplating this question, one of my favorite Christian musicians, Andrew Peterson, wrote the article “Money Part 1: Not the Root of All Evil.” The following is his conclusion:

“…Being poor is not the only way to radically follow Christ. Some people are called to it. I have long felt a tension between all that I learned from the Kid Brothers and Rich Mullins about identifying with the poor and the weak, versus my holy responsibility to tend to my family’s spiritual and physical needs. Had Rich ever married, I’m certain his wife would have appreciated a nice dress every now and then, or a bouquet of flowers, or a decent kitchen, and she probably would have lovingly insisted that he not give all his money away, especially after she bore his children and needed to buy diapers, and school supplies, and shoes for goodness’ sake. And the other thing is, Rich Mullins had hit songs that are still making money. He gave a lot of his money away, but he also had a constant stream of it flowing in. Lots of it. And I’m sure the ministries he supported with the surplus were grateful that he channeled it to them for Kingdom work.

“Money isn’t the root of all evil. The Bible doesn’t say that. Here’s the verse: ‘For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.’ (1 Timothy 6:10) We’re called to keep watch so that we don’t fall in love with money. To be sure, wealth is a heavy burden and isn’t for everyone, just as poverty is a burden and

Day 4WeeK 6: 1 CoR. 16:1-2, 2 CoR. 8:1-5

Questions

1. Have you ever felt guilty about having money or owning nice things? Why do you think that is?

2. Why do you think Jesus instructed the “rich young ruler” to sell all that he had and give it to the poor? Do you believe that’s something you are called to do?

3. Can you name any wealthy biblical heroes? What does this teach you about God’s view towards the wealthy?

isn’t for everyone. The people of the church are varied in strengths and weaknesses. Money itself isn’t evil. In fact, money can be a great tool for Kingdom work. It’s easy to tout ideals about how wrong it is to be wealthy until you’re on the receiving end of someone’s generosity.”

The article, in its entirety, can be found at: http://www.rabbitroom.com/2010/08/money-part-1-not-the-root-of-all-evil/.

GivinG WHile PooR

As we have seen in our study of this passage, the Macedonian Christians were enthusiastically motivated to give to others even out of their poverty. Scripture is filled with examples of people giving when they themselves had very little. Being poor is no reason not to give. Speaking of being poor, here are some interesting facts from www.globalrichlist.com. I again encourage you to visit this site and see where your family sits in terms of global wealth.

• A person who makes $30,000 a year is in the top 1.10% of the richest people in the world based on income.

• That same person makes roughly $15.63 an hour while the average worker in Ghana makes $.08 in the same amount of time.

• It would take the average laborer in Indonesia 40 years to earn $30,000.

• The monthly income of someone making $30,000 per year is equivalent to the monthly income of 184 doctors in Malawi.

Day 5WeeK 6: 1 CoR. 16:1-2, 2 CoR. 8:1-5

Questions

1. After seeing where you stand in the global economy, do you think you are poor?

2. Have you ever used your low income as a reason not to give to the church? At this point in the study, has your view on that changed?

3. Is poverty something God is unaware of or unprepared for?

Read the following passages, and see what they say about the giving of the impoverished.

• Deuteronomy 16:16

• 1 Kings 17:10-15

• mark 12:41-44

DoeS GoD Want yoU to be RiCH?

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:6

The “Health and Wealth Gospel” that dominates much of TV preaching has done a great deal of damage to the Christian witness in our culture and has created a great deal of confusion within the church. Prosperity preachers teach that one of God’s primary concerns is for you to be rich and healthy. If you are not both rich and healed from all ailments, that is a result of your lack of faith. They teach that if you have faith you will not only be saved from sin and death, but from poverty and illness. One way you demonstrate your faith is by giving their ministries lots of money. Oh, and if you do give lots of money in faith, then you are promised God will give you even more money in return. Here is what one pastor said about this movement in a sermon on 2 Corinthians 9:1-15.

“In health/wealth theology God is obligated to deliver the goods; He becomes a utilitarian genie who grants every wish to the faithful. I think it is one of the most dangerous and damaging heresies of the 20th century.

“And yet I want to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. You see, nearly every heresy is a legitimate truth taken too far, or a biblical idea that has been distorted. The reason the health/wealth advocates are able to dupe so many people is that they are actually quite close to the truth. The Scriptures do teach that God rewards faithful giving. So, how do we distinguish what Paul teaches here from the run-of-the-mill TV health/wealth con man?

“Well, let’s start by looking carefully at what Paul tells us: ’Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.’ The fact that a person reaps what he sows is a thoroughly biblical principle taught in both Testaments many times. In a parallel passage, Galatians 6:7-8, Paul writes: ‘Do

Day 1WeeK 7: 2 CoRintHianS 9:6-8

Questions

1. Have you ever thought that God owed you something in return for your hard work or sacrificial giving? What kinds of things did you expect in return?

2. Have you ever given sacrificially and experienced special provision or blessing from God as a result? Share that experience with your family, friends, or community group.

not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.’ This passage speaks of the Law of the Harvest as it applies to our moral lives, and three corollaries can be easily deduced from it.

A. The principle of Identity: you reap what you sow.

B. The principle of Increase: you reap more than you sow.

C. The principle of Interval: you reap after you sow.”

Tomorrow we will take a deeper look at these three principles.

iDentity, inCReaSe, anD inteRval

Continuing the thoughts from the sermon quoted yesterday:

“A. The principle of Identity: you reap what you sow. One thing you will never find is a farmer harvesting wheat when he planted corn! That which is harvested is that which is planted. And “God cannot be mocked,” i.e. He cannot be hoodwinked; we can’t slip anything by Him. Some people sow to the flesh every day and wonder why they reap corruption, moral decay, poverty, disease, broken relationships, loneliness, and depression. Others sow to the Spirit every day, and because they do so, their lives are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We should not at all be surprised by the different results–they are inevitable. You reap what you sow.

“B. The principle of Increase: you reap more than you sow. What farmer would plant a sack of grain in order to harvest a sack of grain? The return is always much greater than the initial investment. This is a beautiful thing to behold, of course, when we are sowing to the Spirit. However, it is a tragic truth when we are sowing to the flesh. Hosea 8:7 puts it this way: “for they sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind.”

“C. The principle of Interval: you reap after you sow. No matter what a farmer plants, it takes time for the crops to grow and ripen. When we’re sowing to the Spirit this fact can sometimes cause us to lose hope, forgetting that sometimes we have to wait a long time before we see the rewards of our efforts. But when we’re sowing to the flesh the same principle can cause us to be careless, believing somehow that we will escape the harvest we have sown. We will not! There will be a payday someday.

“Now Galatians 6 talks principally about our moral lives, but Paul uses the same Law of the Harvest in 2 Cor. 9 to speak to our stewardship lives. The Principle of Identity says that if we sow a life of stinginess, and selfishness, and materialism, the harvest we experience will be perfectly in keeping with what we have planted. If, on the other hand,


Questions

we sow a life of generosity and sharing, we will reap the same results in our own lives. The Principle of Increase tell us that we will reap more than we sow. If we are tight-fisted, we can expect that God will be even more tight-fisted with us, but if we are generous, He will be generous with us way beyond our imagination (remember Ephesians 6:20: “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”).

“And the Principle of interval says that sometimes we have to wait for God’s blessing. If you give $1,000 to the Lord today, you’d best not expect a $2000 check in the mail tomorrow. That’s not how God operates. But He does promise that the Law of the Harvest is in operation–both in our moral lives and in our stewardship lives.

“The question that arises in my mind is this: is it a hard and fast promise that a person who sows generously with his money will always reap financial benefits? And, I would answer with an unequivocal “yes and no.” Look at verse 8 again for part of the answer: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” This verse contains the word “all” four times and “every” once: all grace, all things, all times, all that you need, every good work. That’s about as close to an absolute promise you can find. But notice too that he says, “God is able . . .” to do this, not “God will do this.”

noteS

tHe PRinCiPle oF ReCiPRoCity

Consider these passages of Scripture and what they say about God’s response to our faithful sacrificial giving.

Proverbs 3:9–10 “Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.”

Proverbs 11:24–25 “There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.”

Proverbs 19:17 “One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.”

Proverbs 21:20 “There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man swallows it up.”


Questions

1. Are these verses promises for us that will absolutely come true? Why or why not?

2. How are we supposed to reconcile these verses with Christians across the globe throughout history who have been poor and destitute?

3. Are we supposed to be motivated to give because we expect God to give to us in return?

Proverbs 28:27 “He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.”

malachi 3:10 “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’”

GoD PRoviDeS tHRoUGH yoUR laboR

When Jenny and I were going through seminary, the Lord taught us many things outside the classroom. One of the most valuable lessons we learned is that God chooses to bless His people in a variety of ways, and we should never envy the blessings of others.

I must confess this was a difficult lesson to learn, and it was not without its ups and downs. There were times of great jealousy and discontentment, but the Lord is gracious to bring us to repentance and move us on in Christlikeness in spite of our sinfulness.

During that time we were surrounded by friends who received great material blessing. Some friends’ families were paying for them to go to school, buying them cars, or purchasing homes for them. Some of our friends never had to work outside their studies for seminary. All along the way, we experienced seemingly decreased material blessing. We had purchased a home right when we married, which we sold a year later to move into an 800-square-foot apartment only to downsize a year later into a 227-square-foot converted sewing room above an elderly couple’s garage. We remained in that apartment for three years, with Jenny working full-time while I balanced as many as four part-time jobs around my schooling, volunteer church ministry, and family life.

Being content was the first part of the lesson we were learning through this time. One of the two things that helped me learn contentment was the realization that no matter how “bad” we thought we had it, we were still incredibly rich - materially and immaterially - in relation to the rest of the world. The other thing that helped me to learn contentment was to focus on the blessings God gave me rather than the blessings God gave to others. It was very easy to run into discontentment when I was busy focusing on how much everyone else around me was getting, thinking they had so much and I had so little.

The other part of the lesson we learned is God often chooses to bless us in ways that seem very normal to us, but are no less from His gracious


Questions

1. Can you recall a time in your life where you experienced abundant blessing from the Lord? An unexpected gift, a double bonus, a forgiven debt, a special provision of some other need (food, clothing, automobiles)?

2. Take some time and thank God for the many “normal” ways that He provides for you and your family. Here are some examples to get you started: your job, the convenience of grocery stores, family and friends who provide childcare, etc.

hand. While there are times when God blesses people with the unexpected check for just the amount they needed to cover a particular bill, or through an anonymous donor covering their educational debt, more often than not He provides for us through industrious hard work.

Paul recounted for the Ephesians how he had worked diligently while in their midst to provide for himself and for those who were his traveling companions. Was Paul a man who was accustomed to seeing God work through mighty signs and wonders? Absolutely! Was Paul a man who served God through great sacrifice and personal detriment? Of course! If anyone deserved to be provided for miraculously it was Paul. But how did he eat? How did he pay his traveling expenses? He did it by piecing together various materials to build tents.

Like Paul, Jenny and I also have had other times in our lives when we received incredible, undeniably miraculous provision. A number of those occasions have been in our time here at Cornerstone. When those times come into your life, relish them. Thank God for them, and write them down to look back on, and give God praise when you are experiencing more difficult times. And remember that every good gift in life is a blessing from the Lord, and that He often provides through means that seem more “normal” to us.

WHat’S my motivation?

In 2 Corinthians 9, God gives us some unique motivations for giving generously and joyously to His work. In today’s devotion we get to read an explanation of one of those motivations from John MacArthur’s commentary on 2 Corinthians.

“It is hard to imagine a more precious promise than to be the personal object of God’s love. All the world’s acclaim, honour, and rewards given to all philanthropists put together does not come close to this privilege of being loved by God. Yet that is what He promises the cheerful giver. God loves the world in a general sense (John 3:16), but He has a deeper, more wonderful love for His own (John 13:1; 1 John 4:16), and a special love for each one of His children who gives cheerfully.

“Cheerful giving comes from inside, from the heart, rather than from external coercion. It begins by giving just as one has purposed in his heart. Once again, Paul stressed the truth that Christian giving is strictly voluntary.

“But though it is not forced, neither is it casual, careless, or a mere after afterthought. Proaireo (Purposed), used only here in the New Testament, has the idea of predetermination. Though there is spontaneous joy in giving, it is still to be planned and systematic (1 Cor. 16:2), not impulsive and sporadic. Nor is giving to be done grudgingly. Lupe (grudgingly) literally means, ‘sorrow,’ ‘grief,’ or ‘pain.’ Giving is not to be done with an attitude of remorse, regret, reluctance, or mourning over parting with what is given. And, as noted above, it is not to be under compulsion from any legalistic external pressure.

The giving that God approves of comes from a cheerful giver. Cheerful translates hilaros, from which the English word hilarious derives. Happy, joyous givers, who are joyous in view of the privilege of giving, are the special objects of God’s love.”


Questions

1. Are you excited when you think about giving money to the church? What about when you are in the activity of giving? How about after you give? If you aren’t ever joyful about giving, what does this passage make you think?

2. What are some things you could do to help yourself become more motivated about giving for the right reasons? A couple examples might include praying and asking God to make you a joyful giver, or thinking about all the ministries that are supported and the lives that are being changed by giving to the church.

We are not anticipating anyone to break out in hilarious laughter as they pull out their checkbooks in order to give to the church, but giving can and should be a joyous occasion.

If you have never been in the habit of giving to the church this idea may seem very strange to you. You may even think, “Fine, I will wait until I get really excited to give and then I will donate to the work of the church.” I would like to challenge you on that thinking. One thing I have found to be true in many areas of life, including financial giving, is that the joy often follows the obedience. It’s not the other way around. It is like the times that we get to share the Gospel with a friend. Leading up to the conversation we can be very anxious and fearful, but after we open up God’s Word and show them the hope available for them in Christ there is a great sense of joy and blessing that comes just from obediently following God’s command.

So give it a try. Pray about what God would have you give to the church, both in regular giving and towards the Building for Life campaign, then give. Then watch and see how God grants you joy, peace and a cheerful heart towards giving.

“UnFUlFilleD” PRomiSeS

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed

that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.Hebrews 11:13

As I am writing this devotional we are at a point in our negotiations for the new property where it has become apparent that we will not be able to move into the property for almost two years. Surprisingly, my reaction is joy and gratitude. Don’t get me wrong, I was very much looking forward to moving into the new facility in the Fall of 2013 and had already begun to pack up my office. But seeing how the Lord has worked on my heart and the hearts of the other elders, and how He has orchestrated all this so beautifully, I cannot help but be joyful.

Let me take you back in time for a moment. Not long after my family and I moved to Cornerstone in 2010, the property next to us came up for sale. At the time, the leadership investigated the possibility of purchasing the property. Over the next couple of years, multiple offers were made on the property, but no agreement could be reached. So the elders decided to look into other possibilities. We sat down and made a list of all the things we would like in a new property and began to search.

Looking around the area, there were no existing facilities to meet our needs or properties that could be remodeled very easily. The cost of purchasing land and building a new facility was also prohibitive. Around this time, the seller of the property came back to us with a reduced price on the Morro Road property.

Since the building had now been occupied with tenants, we had a whole new set of circumstances to consider. Initially, we thought that a trade of locations would be the best solution. We could move into the Morro Road property, and the smaller church and preschool could move to our current property.

Day 1WeeK 8: HebReWS 11:13-16

Questions

In the end, it was determined to be best for all parties to remain in our respective locations. As a result, both tenants will continue in the building until their leases expire in July of 2015, or sooner if circumstances change.

At first we were disappointed that we would have to wait to occupy the building, but in God’s providence, the decision comes with some tremendous blessings for us.

First, between credits from the seller and rent from the tenants, our loan amount will decrease significantly. Secondly, we have the opportunity to be completely debt free when we occupy the building! Our church has been debt free for over a decade. While we are taking out a temporary loan to close escrow, we earnestly desire to pay it off during our Building for Life campaign. Third, we will have our current facility available, so we will have one campus and can use our Santa Rosa building for our growing counseling, care, and discipleship ministry. God is good!

Throughout the process it has been exciting to see the Lord move the hearts of the Cornerstone elders in unison. We have always enjoyed great unity, and it has been encouraging to see the Lord use our pastor, John Marc, to handle the negotiations with integrity.

Our move into the new building may be delayed, but God’s grace, faithfulness, provision, and blessings continue to abound!

noteS

KeePinG an eteRnal PeRSPeCtive

But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a

better possession and a lasting one. Hebrews 10:32–34

Pastor John Piper preached the following as part of a sermon on Hebrews 10:32-36.

“Where does that freedom come from? The text is very clear in answer to that. And the answer is not that it comes from some superior kind of grace given to saints and martyrs. The answer is that it comes from cherishing the reward of heaven more than life on earth. This is the other aspect of being ‘enlightened’ (v. 32). Their eyes were opened to see the glory and worth of their future reward. Verse 34b: ‘You accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.’

“Right here is one of the main keys to why the church in America is so anemic. We are at home in this world. But these early Christians were aliens and exiles whose true home was in heaven and in the age to come with Jesus. That world was so real to them and so precious that they did the unthinkable: they ’JOYFULLY accepted the seizure of their property.’ It’s the joy that’s so jolting here. It’s the joy. This gives fresh meaning to the Old Testament word: ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength’ (Nehemiah 8:10).

“There’s only one explanation for this joy: they really believed it! They were ‘enlightened’ by God to see it! They believed two things about their possession in heaven: one is that it is better (‘you yourselves have a better possession’ - v. 34) and the other is that this possession is abiding. In other words, they really believed that this world is inferior and this


Questions

1. Would you consider it a blessing to suffer financially on behalf of Christ and His church?

2. Have you ever had the opportunity to suffer persecution directly for your faith? If so, share that time with others around you.

3. How often do you think of heaven? When you do think of heaven what do you imagine it will be like? Are you more excited about living there than here?

world is temporary. The one to come is superior and the one to come is eternal.

“These were not words; they were realities. They were so real that when the house and the furniture and the clothes and the books burned, and the horses were stolen, they knew (the word in v. 34 is ’knowing’!) that God was actually preparing them for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. They said with Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:10—we ’have nothing yet we possess everything.’

“The key to their joy in the midst of danger and loss was that they simply did not put much stock in this world. They had been transferred into the kingdom of God’s Son (Colossians 1:13). They had passed from death to life. Their lives were hid with Christ in God.”

Heavenly minDeD anD eaRtHly GooD

The Treasure Principle is a great little book written by Randy Alcorn that points to a biblical understanding of our material goods and how we should use them in God’s Kingdom. Today’s devotion comes from a section of the study guide companion to that book. I pray it helps you to think.

“Five minutes after we die, we’ll know exactly how we should have lived. But God has given us His Word so we don’t have to wait to die to find out. And He’s given us His Spirit to empower us to live that way now.

1. Write the obituary you hope will be printed after your life has ended. Focus on aspects of your character, your acts of obedience, and your influence on others, including your giving.

2. How would you answer these questions from The Treasure Principle: ’Five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given away while I still had the chance? When you come up with an answer, why not give it away now? Why not spend the rest of our lives closing the gap between what we’ll wish we would have given and what we really are giving?’


We have one brief opportunity - a lifetime on earth - to use our resources to make a difference.

3. What steps might God be prompting you to take during the next few weeks as you grow in your giving and as you influence other people’s attitudes toward giving?”

noteS

UnaSHameD GoD

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for

them.Hebrews 11:16

Have you ever been ashamed to be seen with someone? Perhaps it was your mom who wore those really embarrassing clothes when she came to visit you at your high school. Or have you ever been told you should be ashamed to be seen with someone? Like the time you befriended the pregnant teenage girl who used to be a part of your church? Or maybe you have felt horribly ashamed of yourself and wondered why anyone would want to be seen with you? Hebrews 11:16 makes an amazingly remarkable statement: “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” What’s more amazing is that if we have faith in Jesus Christ, that same statement applies to us. Let’s read what Pastor John MacArthur says about this amazing declaration:

“…Verse 16 ends with a stunning statement, I think one of the most stunning statements in the book of Hebrews. ‘Therefore because of this faith, this positive faith, this powerful faith, this patient faith, this pilgrim faith, God is not ashamed to be called their God for He has prepared a city for them.’

“Is that stunning or what? I’m pretty sure I give God plenty of reason to be ashamed to be called ‘My God.’ I imagine that Satan goes into heaven as he did in the case of Job and he stands before the throne of God accusing the brethren. Standing there, before the throne of God, Satan brings up my name and brings up the names of any and all of us who are so utterly unworthy and says to God, ‘How in the world can you want to be associated with such people? Wouldn’t You like to distance Yourself from them? It is bad for Your reputation.’ God says, ‘I’m not ashamed to be called their God. I’ve prepared a city for them and in that city I’ve prepared a room for them in My house. I’m going to bring them here and I’m going to glorify them and I’m going to make them like My Son. I’m going to put them on My throne and


Questions

1. Have you ever felt intense shame over your own sin? How do you think others (who knew of your sin) viewed you? What did you think God thought of you?

2. After studying this passage and reading this devotional, what are your thoughts about how God sees you?

3. Have you ever felt ashamed of God? Now that you know He is not ashamed to be associated with you, how will you respond the next time you are tempted to feel ashamed of Him?

I’m going to bless them forever and ever and ever.’

“Sometimes I think we are ashamed to call God our God, but God is never ashamed to call us His children. What an amazing, amazing thought. I can’t think of a higher honor, can you? Isn’t that the ultimate honor? God is not ashamed to be identified with me before holy angels? I am the God of John MacArthur. So they lived and died in the unrealized promise of faith and God gave them the supreme honor: God was honored to be identified with them.”

Hall oF FaitH to WallS oF FaitH

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Hebrews chapter 11 is known by many as “The Hall of Faith.” It is a list of Old Testament saints who demonstrated their faith in God through the actions they lived out. Hebrews 12:1 refers back to this list, encouraging us that since “this great cloud of witnesses” is watching us as we run the race of life, we need to run well. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus, who began and will complete our faith, and run like the wind.

The Building for Life campaign is one opportunity we have as a church family to step out in faith together and see what God can do through us. Testimonies of God’s goodness are one thing God uses in our lives to help us encourage each other along the race of life. Our prayer is that you have been encouraged and challenged by the video testimonies we have seen and some of the testimonies contained in this devotional. Here is another testimony from one couple who participated in the lead gifts ahead of the campaign:

“My wife and I were asked to prayerfully consider giving a lead gift to the Building for Life campaign. We have always been faithful to give to the Lord from our income, but we knew that this would be a gift over and above our regular giving.

“So we set a date to discuss what we each thought we should give and then make our commitment. When the time came the word ‘faith’ is what resounded in our minds. Hebrews chapter 11 speaks of the great saints of faith ‘who died without receiving the promises, but having seen them and welcome them from a distance.’ Our opportunity was to give toward a project that we could see right next door!


noteS

“So instead of giving what we could simply afford, we prayerfully decided to give an amount that would take us out of our comfort zone and stretch our faith. We did it joyfully knowing that ‘God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work’ 2 Corinthians 9:8. The fact is, we have never been able to outgive God.

“We are excited to see what God will teach us through the Building for Life campaign, and how He will provide through His people!”

Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow!

This would be a TiTleiNTRoduCTioN

This would be The TiTle

It has been a great joy and privilege to write and compile this devotion for the Building for Life campaign. My prayer is that the Lord would use it to greatly bless our church family, as I have been greatly blessed in writing it.

The devotion is 40 days in length and designed to provide content for five days a week for each of the eight weeks of our campaign sermon series. Much of the content is geared around the text of the sermons we are studying during the campaign, so I pray it will build upon the great teaching we hear each Sunday from God’s Word. Take time to reread the passage from Sunday’s sermon each day before you dive into the devotional booklet. Some days the devotional will include testimonies, some will have statistics and data to make us think, and others will be solely devoted to Scripture reading and meditation.

There are questions throughout the devotion, and some are quite penetrating. These questions are not here to make you feel con-demned or guilty, but to make you think and to challenge all of us as we grow together to be more like Jesus.

This is an exciting time in the life Cornerstone Community Church, and I am glad to be going through it with all of you. I pray that this time will make our church family even stronger in the Lord and more closely knit as His children.

Thank you for joining with our church family in this endeavor,

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FRom tHe CamPaiGn Committee

Thank you for taking part in the Building for Life campaign devotional. Our prayer is that this time of focus in our church family was a blessing to you individually as well as a blessing to the entire Cornerstone family.

We also hope that you were encouraged and challenged by God’s Word to grow in your understanding of biblical stewardship. The passages we studied and the principles we discussed are not limited to the context of raising funds for a building, they are truly lifetime ideas.

This journey is not about simply getting a building. It is about expanding community outreach, growing ministries, reaching future generations. It truly is about Building for Life!

Thank you again, for your partnering with us.

The Building for Life Campaign Committee

“You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 2:5

P.O. Box 1540, Atascadero, CA 93423 ~ (805) 461-3899 ~ Cornerstoneca.org

and may you be richly blessed along the way. Soli Deo...

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