Giving from Gratitude

Psalm 50:7-15

Introduction: I heard a story of an old Baptist preacher who stood up to encourage his congregation on Sunday morning by asking them to consider the great potential of their church. He told them…

• With God’s help, this church will go from crawling to walking. The people responded ... let the church walk preacher, let the church walk.

• The preacher continued and said with God’s help ... once we walk -- this church can then begin to run.

• The people responded let the church run preacher let the church run.

• The preacher ... began to get happy, excited by the call and response of the congregation, so he decided to push little further, and said, with God’s help once the church begins to walk, and once the church begins to run, then this church can begin to fly. Oh yes -- this church can fly ... but if were going to fly, it is going to take money and time from each and every one of you to make that happen.

• The church got quite ... then with a faint voice from the back of the church, someone mumbled ... let the church walk preacher, let the church walk.

Why are you here today? Because you have to be! Because you want to be! There can be many answers to that question. You should be here because of you heart, you should be here to worship God. I didn’t say that to give you the answer to my question I said that to make you think. Everything we do from the church is in some way attached to giving. Giving money, time, resources or talent and when we give we will either do it from a heart of gratitude or a heart of obligation. Israel started with a heart of gratitude and wound up with a heart of obligation and God called them on it. Its time we examine ourselves and ask the question Am I giving from gratitude? If not we will wind up like Israel, if we give from obligation we will suffer from…

I. The pride of a people V.v.7-8

People have a way of turning something godly into something ungodly. That’s what Israel had done with worship, specifically the practice of sacrifice during worship. Worship was no longer about God and who He was it was about them and what God could do for them. Notice with me three things pride had done to the worship of Israel and what it can and will do to our worship as well.

A. Focused on a practice

Israel was going through the motions of worship; they were bringing the animals, killing them and offering them upon an altar, just like they were told. The only problem was that it had turned into a practice. We should ask some questions about our worship.

· Is coming to church a practice?

· Is tithing a practice?

· Is participation a practice?

B. Focused on a people

Israel done what needed to be done on a routine basis; it was repeated daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly. The priests knew their jobs and the people knew theirs. The attitude of the people was one that said I am here, I have done my job, and I am satisfied so God must be satisfied.

· Are you focused on God or yourself?

· Are you focused on God’s vision or your vision?

· Are you focused on God’s business or your business?

C. Focused on a pleasure

Israel had turned worship into a festival we know this by reading scripture associated with the psalm. For instance Matt. 21:12-13 tells us “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, ¹³ And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” It was no longer necessary for people to bring sacrifices; they could just buy them right there on temple property, hey it was the temple priests who were selling the sacrifices.

· Is coming to church entertainment?

· Is coming to church a social function?

· Is coming to church an obligation?

Pride will turn godly worship into an ungodly event focused on practice, people and pleasure if were not careful. Not only do we need to be careful with pride we need to understand the dangers of…

II. The pretense of a person V.v.9-13

When I say pretense I am talking about the individual who is so focused on religion there is no room for redemption. This type of person became well known as a Pharisee. Make no mistake there are many Pharisee’s walking around today and many more standing in pulpits this morning. Christianity is full of men and women who think the church will close its doors if something happens to them. These persons focus…

A. Was on self

The men and women in V.v. 9-13 had gotten to the point in their worship where they actually believed all the sacrifices belonged to them. They were giving something to God that He required to exist. God didn’t need anything from man but man needs everything from God.

· Do you tithe you money or give back to God what He has given to you?

· Do you share what you know about God or what He has revealed to you about Himself?

· Do you glory in God or does God glory through you?

B. Was on sacrifice

Israel was asked to give a lot of time to the temple and worship. From the time of the Exodus to the settling of Canaan Israel worshipped God mostly from a willing heart. However as time went on worship became something they gave up their time to do. How is your worship today?

· Are you worried about what time service is over?

· Are you worried about church interfering with your plans today?

· Are you worried about something other than God today?

C. Was on service

When men were called into Gods service from Israel they were humbled and felt it an honor to serve God and wanted nothing more than to please Him. Until the hearts of man began to change and then service was something man did for God. Too often that is the attitude we see today, service is something men and women do for God or for the betterment of mankind.

· Service is not about man.

· Service is not about tradition.

· Service is not about need.

We have talked about pride and pretense and how it affects our giving to God and His work, we have talked about the hindrances but how can we make a change? We can learn…

III. The pleasing of God V.v.14-15

Serving God isn’t difficult but it is sincere. God will not take a backseat to anyone. He didn’t with Israel and I promise you He will not with you and me either. If we want to please God and be able to give with gratitude we need to be…

A. Focused on the faith

· Does you heart belong to Jesus?

· Do you trust God with everything? I.e. finances, job, marriage, family…

· Do you trust God with your service?

Once you faith is focused the pleasing of God…

B. Was directed to the father

When our faith is where it should be we will be concerned totally with what God wants and not in the least about what we want.

C. Came from the heart

All of this will come from a repentant, redeemed and resurrected heart, the heart of a true believer. Can you be saved and have eternal security without all the dedication and service, the short answer is yes but you will never have the relationship God wants from you and you will never have the fullest blessings that can come from God.

Conclusion: Are you giving from Gratitude this morning? Do your attendance, service, tithes, offerings, participation and support come from a heart of gratitude? I can’t answer that for you, only you and God know that for sure. I know times are tough for everyone and no one has as much as they did a year ago. That goes for money and time. What God is asking you today is for you examine yourself and answer the question are you giving from a heart of gratitude or from another heart that God doesn’t recognize? Close as the Holy Spirit leads…