Last week we started our journey of Biblical preaching and teaching on money and specifically, “Giving God’s Way”. We began right where the Lord starts with everything in our lives, the condition of our hearts. You’ll never be able to give according to God’s plan and purpose for your life until your heart is where it needs to be. Wealth exposes people to who they are whether good or bad.

Today I want us to go back into this praise report from the Apostle Paul to the Church in Corinth about the special offering for Jerusalem that had been collected in the poor Macedonian churches. Let’s look together at 2 Corinthians 8:1-5.

God has a plan that has established the flow and order of giving:

• God blesses the people with a means to earn and give.
• God uses those same people to give to Him.
• God also uses people to carry out His plan and purpose, through the call of ministry.
• God has requirements for those faithful people who oversee and maintain the finances for His glory.

When I give to Christ, it’s:

1. To God—Deserving
2. Through the Church—His plan
3. Facilitating the work of God—The need
4. For the Glory of God—Our purpose

We will pray for God to define the ministries of our church and then once we know His plan has been cultivated in our hearts. We leave it at His feet and trust Him to fund His plan, not the other way around! Jesus said were going to feed 5,000, not we have $290.00, how many can we feed?

We will never experience that as a church until our heart is right to give and that what we give is committed to Christ!