Well, I haven’t written in a while…so here goes. What I’ve decided to do over the next month is write a very short summary of some of the teaching points from the past weekend. I do this simply to stir my mind and your minds in the key ideas from the past week.
This past weekend we talked about our 5th Value – You Can’t Outgive God. You can check out the message here if you like. First of all, let me share a brief summary:
One of the biggest distractions to a Christ-following lifestyle is our money!
It’s true, nothing will enslave you more than greed and nothing can liberate you like generosity, so it’s imperative for a growing Christ-follower to develop healthy patterns for generosity and worship in giving.
So, just as a brief reminder…
Because God is a giving God who has given to us for our personal needs and our personal ministry – we can take steps in those two areas.
Personal needs:
- Give first, then spend less than you make
- Distinguish between wants and needs
- Eliminate debt living
- Save for emergencies and the future
Personal ministry:
- Leverage the treasure principle – you can’t take it with you but you can send it on ahead!
- Make a commitment about what you will regularly give and give it.
- Start with at least a tithe.
- Trust God.
- Help others when and where you can.
Second, when it comes to finances and giving there are several resources that I recommend and I want to recommend three of them:
The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
This is a short book that has encouraged and inspired generosity as well as wisdom in finances in me. I highly recommend it.
Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn
This is a not-so-short book that is very thorough and detailed but a great resource to check yourself and grow in these very important areas of life and worship.
Financial Peace University
We offer this class 2 times a year here at New Story and I can’t recommend it enough. If you are interested in checking it out email us at info@newstory.church
