Investing in the Future of Mosaic Church

Luke 20:45-21:4 - What is Jesus doing by bringing attention to this poor widow?

1. Even though it’s about a poor widow’s gift, Jesus doesn’t rebuke the wealthy for giving at the temple. All should give - rich and poor and everyone in between. The issue is about the sacrifice made.

2. Small amounts are significant. So if you feel your giving doesn’t makes much of a difference compared to the overall need, think again. Jesus saw the widow’s two coins and said that she had put more in than anyone!

3. External obedience is always trumped by internal obedience. You may look good to everyone, but Jesus knows what is happening on the inside and what the gift really costs. Remember God looks at the heart, not the actions.

4. Both the wealthy and the poor must beware bypassing the heart, but the wealthy are in more danger as their sacrifice is often less. The widow gave ‘all she had to live on’ and so had to trust God fully because she was so vulnerable and defenceless. If the wealthy don’t give sacrificially then it may mean they are never challenging where they put their hope and trust. 

5. Look at the contrast of investment and reward:

Teachers of the law
flowing robes > people’s attention
greeted in public > people’s approval
most important seats/place of honour > people’s respect
devour widows’ homes > people’s belongings
pray lengthy prayers > people’s admiration

actual result - punished most severely

Widow
generous in poverty > God’s provision
gives in secret > God’s attention
makes sacrifice > God’s pleasure

actual result - true recognition of her sacrifice

These lists force us to ask fundamental questions:
What do you really want in life? What is the reward you really seek?
Your money will follow your heart, values and desires.
The teachers made their choice - they ultimately wanted a reward from people. 
And the widow chose her reward from God. 

Questions:
1. Why do we find it hard to talk about money?
2. What stands out to you from this story? 
3. How are you like the teachers of the law?
4. What is attractive about the poor widow?
5. For further study, read the parable of the rich fool together in Luke 12:1-34 and discuss it.
6. How does 2 Cor 8:7,9 give us insight as to how the gospel sets us free from greed?

Practical ways to defeat greed and idolatry

1. Treasuring Christ and His Kingdom.
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil 3:7-8)

The more I see the richness of Christ and His Kingdom, the easier it is to see the shallowness of my idolatrous heart and the emptiness of the world’s riches.

2. I trust in God’s promises for every need to be met (for my family and the church).

“My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
“God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Our experience has been again and again that God comes good as we take steps of faith in giving.

3. We set aside money every month to give and are ready to give as the Lord leads in special offerings. Every year we’ve been married we try to increase our giving.

I take my cue here from Paul’s teaching that giving should be regular and free - disciplined and spontaneous. For example, he says in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2
“Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”

This points to the wisdom of planned, regular, disciplined giving. Sporadic giving with no plan will probably mean you are not treating giving as an integral part of your worshiping life. 

Perhaps that is the next step for you – simply decide to give regularly a percentage of your income – And if you ask “how much?” my answer is start with the Old Testament standard (10%) and build on that, as God prospers you. It is hard for me to imagine God’s people, after the glories of the cross, giving less to the church than the saints of the Old Testament.

It is also good to keep growing in generosity. If you don’t put something like this in place, you will call more and more things needs which are in part only wants. Or as wages increase your standard of living increases, but your giving doesn’t.

4. We try to protect our hearts from idolatry by creatively finding ways to give sacrificially so it shows us what we truly value.

As we give sacrificially we find our hold on these things loosens and their hold on us loosens.

Questions:
1. What else do you do to help defeat greed and idolatry?
2. How can you support each other in this at Mission Group?
3. What proportion of our income should we give to the local church?
4. What do you do if you are in debt? Mosaic runs a CAP money course, which helps you budget your income and expenditure. Is this something it would be wise to do?
5. What are your particular giving challenges practically? No income, debt, student, family, etc.
6. What are your particular giving challenges internally? Is it hard to trust God? What stops you giving more?
7. Please spend time in the next week or so with your accountability partners talking about your finances. What are your challenges and where can you grow in generosity?

Lastly, spend some time this week praying as a Mission Group for God to provide the £30,000 we need to move into the next phase of growth as a church family.

Giving it all

Giving doesn't come easy to me, and if we're honest, many of us. Don't get me wrong, I/we give, but sometimes it is with a sense of duty, that we must because we're Christians, or a feeling that somehow we can buy our way into heaven. Sometimes to be honest, I/we miss God's freeing grace for us in our giving through a misunderstanding of what He wants from us.

This coming weekend, 1st March, is the first of two ‘Special Offering’ Sundays, the second being on the 8th March.  What better opportunity to take a quick look at what God has to say about our giving.

When Jesus speaks to His disciples about the heart of a giver He tells the story of a poor widow.  When Jesus speaks to us, His disciples, He uses the same story found in Mark 12.  It reads:

”...Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.  Many rich people threw in large amounts.  But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.  Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury more than all the others.  They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on.’”

What an awe inspiring story. The profound hidden reality of this story is two fold:

1.    Jesus has given everything so that we might have everything.

The blood that Jesus shed on the cross has paid the wages of my sin, meaning I have no debt to pay to God - it is already paid!  I cannot buy my way into heaven with my cash - He has already paid for it.  The story teaches us that whatever I choose to give to God and His church has no bearing on whether or not He forgives me, blesses or loves me.  This means I am free to give without guilt, pressure or duty.  I am free to give with joy, without a hidden agenda of settling a debt.

2.    Jesus has given everything so that we might give everything.

Our only response, given the price paid for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is to give our everything.  The widow didn’t give what she could afford, the surface scraps of her lifestyle, she “put in everything - all she had to live on”.  Does this mean I have to put all my wages and bank balance into the offering bowl?  No!  It means that God wants my heart to be trusting in Him, not my bank manager.  He wants me to trust Him for my rent, my food, my spending money and even my giving.  Ultimately, Jesus is asking His disciples to trust in Him, and give Him everything.

So, how much should I give this weekend?
The short answer, for some of us rather uncomfortably, is everything - my whole life!  The old hymn writer put it like this: “Take my life, let it be, consecrated Lord to Thee”.  I pray this week that God would be receiving our whole lives.  That we would trust Him with everything including our wallets and bank balances and that He would impart faith in us to pray for money we don’t have and give everything we do have, remembering that it’s about us joyfully giving ourselves to God of which our finances are only a part!

Special Offering Thoughts

In 2 Corinthians 6:3, the Apostle Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah and says “…I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” I believe God wants to remind us of this promised blessing in this season of church life. So, as we start Alpha (which had over 100 in attendance on Wednesday) and as we ask God for £70,000, we need to experience God’s favour financially and trust God to bring salvation today!

Personally I’m sensing faith to pray for money for my family to give away.  And I’m trusting God to give all of us the grace we need for giving away generously and sacrificially.

Last week at Mosaic we handed out a letter giving the details of our special offering this year that begins on Sunday 1st March and runs over to the following week, Sunday 8th March.  This is the summary of the letter:

Over the last 4 years we have seen God form and shape us into a church now gathering over 300 people each week in two services.  We are just as committed to loving God, each other, our city, the underprivileged and the nations just as much as when we first began.  Our hope is that this special offering will give us the opportunity to deepen our impact on the city, enlarge our investment in people and engage those needing to hear about the love of Christ.

The Goal is £70,000
The Focus is People and Projects.

Part of our offering will be to invest in People, especially children.  We want to create the best kids ministry we can offer to families, and support our outreach work with young people in Holbeck and Cottingley. 

Our other focus is Projects.  We are looking to support our counselling ministry and facilities, finalise phase three of the building (includes replacing our borrowed PA system) and invest in church planting; initially in Paris but hopefully in many other cities across the globe.

So, we are asking you to pray now about what God would have you give, over and above your regular giving, to this special offering.  Each year we seek God together for His provision and each year he has been faithful, in fact we believe he “…is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”(Eph 3:20-21).

With love and thanks,

Matt Hatch
Lead Elder

On behalf of the Mosaic Eldership team
(Steve Vaughan and Chris Mason)