Ann Landers had an interesting letter in her column. It was from a girl who was writing about her uncle & aunt. She said, "My uncle was the tightest man I’ve ever known. All his life, every time he got paid he took $20 out of his paycheck & put it under his mattress.
Then he got sick & was about to die. As he was dying, he said to his wife, ‘I want you to promise me one thing.’ ‘Promise what?’ she asked. ‘I want you to promise me that when I’m dead you’ll take my money from under the mattress & put it in my casket so that I can take it all with me.’”  The girl’s letter went on with the story. “He died, & his wife kept her promise. She went in & got all that money the day he died & went to the bank & deposited it, & wrote out a check & put it in his casket.”

Three questions. Here’s the first:

1. How much money do you expect to take along when you die?

One of the things Jesus said was that we shouldn’t try to gather treasure here on earth. –

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (Matthew 6:19)

As Randy Alcorn says in his book, The Treasure Principle, …when Jesus warns us not to store up treasures on earth, it’s not just because wealth might be lost; it’s because wealth will always be lost. Either it leaves us while we live, or we leave it when we die. No exceptions. (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle)

Ever buy something special that you thought would be really nice – maybe even saving up for it for quite awhile or going into debt for it – only to have it break or get lost or really disappoint you? Maybe you spent money on some exotic kind of a treat, or a special trip or a special vehicle or a special household item or a special kind of pet.

My mother-in-law loves birds, especially pretty ones. Some years ago she bought two peacocks. So Dad went and picked them up and brought them to the ranch. They turned out to be noisy – a bit of a pain – and only about a week after Dad & Mom had gotten them, both of the peacocks flew away (at least that’s how Dad tells it J)! The money and the peacocks were all gone in a week!

Isn’t that how it is a lot of times with money – and the things we buy?

Listen to how King Solomon – the richest man in the world – said it:

Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. (Proverbs 23:4-5)

Next time you buy something special, imagine it sprouting wings and flying off into the sky like an eagle – or a peacock – away from you!

So back to the first of the three questions:

1. How much money do you expect to take along when you die?

There’re at least a couple of accurate ways to answer that:

1. NOTHING that we’ve stored here – we leave it ALL behind

2. Whatever we’ve SENT AHEAD – invested in His Kingdom.

Listen to the fuller context of what Jesus said in the Matthew 6 quote. –

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 moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

What we send on ahead, storing it up in Heaven, won’t be destroyed or stolen. It will still be there when we get there. But what we try to store up here on earth will either deteriorate or get stolen or “sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” – or a peacock – or will be left behind when we fly off to Heaven ourselves (because we’re not allowed to take any “baggage” along on that flight.)

We’ll come back to that, Lord willing, at the end of the message. But let’s move on to Question #2. –

2. What would you calculate your true “net worth” to be?

Everyone just do a quick calculation mentally. What would you estimate your “net worth” to be? If you were to sell your home, cash in any stock and any IRAs, sell any business interests, sell all your furniture, pool any bank accounts – just getting a rough estimate in your head, what do you think would be your “net worth”?

Got a figure in your head? Need another minute? Some of you might need a bit more time, because you have to subtract any debt you owe. Ready?

Now I’m going to try to guess the “net worth” of a couple of you, ok?

You tell me if I’m close.

Zero.

Zero.

Zero.

Know why? It ALL belongs to God!!! You are just MANAGING part of it for Him, but the REAL OWNER is rightfully God! Again, there are a couple of ways you can look at this for discussion purposes.

1. For purposes of a loan: _____ dollars and _____ cents.

2. In the ultimate sense we own NOTHING.

 It ALL actually belongs to God, rather than to us. –

To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. (Deuteronomy 10:14)

 The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it….(Psalm 24:1)

 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours…Wealth and honor come from you….(1 Chronicles 29:11-12)

 Nothing is ultimately ours. It ALL belongs, ultimately and really, to God. And yet, if we belong to God, ALL His resources are accessible to us as He sees fit. He gives wealth to us or withholds it as He sees best. And when He does put some of His resources in our hands, He wants us to enjoy and use those resources the way He directs. –

 3.     How are we to MANAGE His resources He puts in our care?

          Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

          (1 Corinthians 4:2)

 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1Timothy 6:17 -19)

 We must be “faithful” with the “trust” that He gives us to manage.

We are encouraged to enjoy what is given to us.

And we are to “do good”, to be “rich in good deeds”, piling up treasures of good deeds rather than piles of possessions. God puts resources into our care so He can help a lot of folks through us – and we get to be in on the true fun of that!

 Well, that all may sound good, but when we turn back from the “ideal” to the “practical”, doesn’t that sound a little bit out of touch with reality?

 Do a lot of us feel like we enough money to pay for all our bills and still have lots more to create piles of good deeds? Anyone here ever find themselves closer to the opposite end of the spectrum, feeling like you could use another pile of money just to help cover your own needs?

 Maybe part of the difficulty is that many of us have been “buying” into our culture’s way of looking at money more than God’s way of looking at it – and, as a result, we’ve gotten ourselves twisted around a bit in this whole financial area of life. Whether we have quite a bit of income or very little income, we still can find ourselves more challenged than charitable, more looking for ways to get “our” finances under control than looking for ways to pile up good deeds by giving away His money.

 Maybe what we need is to go back to a couple of those basic financial principles we’ve already pointed out and then get a “Fresh Start” on the whole financial aspect of our lives – this time doing things God’s way to really  S – T – R – E – T – C – H  whatever money He keeps giving us.

 Now this is actually a HUGE area of concern to God. In fact, He has given us literally thousands of verses here in His “Instruction Manual” for our lives regarding how to handle money and other material wealth.

 So we’re not going to be able to cover anywhere near all of His great principles for handling our finances so we control them rather than having them control us. But what I would like to do is encourage you to make two decisions today:  

Beginning today (if you’re not already doing this), I choose to:

à Find out more re how God wants me to manage His resources.

à Follow God’s ways for Stretching “My” (His) Dollars.

And there are three ways I think He wants to show us how following His principles can “stretch” the dollars He puts into our care:

 A.     Stretching “My” (His) Dollars – TO COVER MY NEEDS

 Now there are some very practical, significant things He teaches us about earning and saving and planning that can really help us here. In fact, this goes back to that decision to find out more. –

* Sunday School class (starter level, good beginning)

* Crown Ministry course (more intense but doable, excellent)

* The Treasure Principle  (groups)

* Book table in Community Room and websites

* Financial counselors (here & other churches in the area) – help for free!

 All those are really helpful. But the starting point for all of this is to really trust God – enough to follow His directions. And the start of that start speaks to the very first part of what He puts into our hands. Listen again to the passage from Malachi:

"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.

"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'

"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.

"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'

"In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

 As we said earlier, our ultimate “net worth” is “Zero”. It ALL belongs to God, and we’re just MANAGING part of it for Him. But The REAL OWNER is rightfully God! Unless you’ve stolen it from Him!

 Actually, that’s what the people in Malachi’s day had been doing! They’d been stealing from God! Listen again: "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings….”

 Now you’ve probably also heard some of the stories about people who are not only morally foolish for committing a robbery but also intellectually dumb in doing it – like the guy who robbed the vehicle of a family that had one of those GPS (Global Positioning System)s in the vehicle and it led the police right to the vehicle – or the guy who was arrested some time back because when he robbed a home he apparently didn’t realize that among the things he took was an ankle bracelet for a person who was supposed to be serving a prison sentence at home – and the signal led the police right to him.

 And you’ve probably heard of situations where a person really got it wrong by robbing a police officer.

And don’t you know you’d be in trouble if you accidentally robbed a high – ranking, powerful official like a congressman or governor or the President.

But robbing GOD!!!

Now that’s the dumbest thing they could’ve done, isn’t it? But they did!

And that’s one of the dumbest things WE can do, isn’t it? But many of us have, as well. And God doesn’t just sit back and ignore that anymore now than He did back then.

Apparently some of them hadn’t really thought of what they were doing – or weren’t doing – as being quite that bad.

Maybe we haven’t, either.

But it was that bad. And is that bad. Listen again. –

"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse….

 Remember? It ALL belongs to God, so He has the RIGHT to direct us in its use! And if we don’t use His “Company Resources” the way He says, we are guilty of “Misappropriating Funds” – embezzling – robbing God!

 He makes some of His resources available to us. And – as a way of 1) testing whether we are loyal enough to be trusted with more resources and to 2) keep developing hearts that will LOVE HIM & TRUST HIM more than the resources He gives us – He stipulates that the first part/first tenth what He puts into our care be returned to Him – and then that other gifts also be given as He directs at various times. Just so we can be clear, here’re definitions.:

 Tithe = 1/10^th. The 1^st 1/10^th is the one He calls for. That’s base-line giving.

 The whole tithe belongs to God by right. Whatever God puts into our hands – before taxes, before bills, before cars, before food, before “fun” – is to be returned to Him. That’s a test of our loyalty and a way to keep the money or benefits package or windfall from getting into our hearts so that our hearts continue to be open to God, growing in loving & trusting Him. Someone has suggested that we should treat the tithe as "hot money" that God has put into our care for only as long as it takes for us to return it.

If you were in a position at work where you were in charge of some of the company’s resources but decided to take what the owner had designated for the company’s first priority and just spent it on yourself, you’d rightly be charged with misappropriating the funds, stealing, embezzling, robbing. How long do you think you’d be employed? So why would we think it’s ok to ROB GOD and still expect Him to bless our lives?

Now that’s not because He’s “money hungry”!

He doesn’t NEED our money – it’s all His anyway! He owns it ALL!

He’s not “short on cash”. He’s not worried about paying any bills!

He chooses how much to put into our care, and He can get it back with other ways if we won’t lovingly respond to His call to give back the first portion. But what He really wants is to help us put our hearts, our trust, in the right place – in Him! He wants our whole tithe because He wants our whole hearts with our whole trust! Here’s part of what God wants to do:

     God uses giving to help us keep learning to:

a.     Love HIM more than HIS RESOURCES,

b.     OBEY Him right up front,

c.      JOIN Him in His mission to lovingly care for this world,

d.     TRUST Him to stretch the other 90% to cover our needs.

 And that’s where the “stretch” comes in. Listen to God promising to make it work better for us with the remaining 90% than if we kept it all and tried to do this our way. –

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty. (Malachi 3:10-12)

This is reportedly the only place in all The Bible where God tells us to test Him. He calls us to test Him, to start tithing and watch closely whether He comes through for you!

- Power Point: Words “Tithe Test” on memo line of a check

 - Never had anyone say, “That was a mistake! I’m not doing again!”

 - Power Point: Giving Percentage Step Chart (challenge: 10% & past)

  (Plan A – jump in at 10%; Plan B – start w/ step – test & see & grow)

 Take Him up on it! In fact, we’ll be part of the test: if you start tithing and God doesn’t meet your needs, we’ll give you the money back and even probably help you far beyond that with offers of financial counsel, financial assistance, etc. – part of the way He will meet your needs.

 Made that “money back offer” before and, to my knowledge, have never had anyone take us up on it because God didn’t come through in other ways, but we’re willing to be some of the way God provides for you. In fact, we have a fund – the Deacons’ Fund that we receive offerings for on the 1^st and 3^rd Sundays of the month – that’s set up specifically to help folks in times of real need.

 And I can just promise you – because GOD has promised you – that you will be so glad you started to trust Him! This has brought so many people so much freedom from guilt and worry and depression over finances!!! It has brought so many people so much joy and peace and, frankly, surprises at how God has provided!!! TRUST HIM!!!!!!!

 In fact, we’re committed to giving tithes and offerings as a church as well. And we have seen God come through to stretch what’s left again & again!

This is where we start!

Get this first part right, and the rest will follow!

I guarantee it – because GOD guarantees it!

Here’s where you start, and we have a lot of resources to help you take the next steps as well! (Take class/course, read, counsel w/ a counselor.)

 But beyond just stretching the rest of the resources to cover our needs in our homes and in this church, God stretches that first part, too! –

 B.     Stretching “My” (His) Dollars – AROUND THE WORLD!

 Our giving literally stretches out to help people around the world get to know Jesus and grow as His people. That’s how it was in NT already. –

I am amply supplied, now that I have received…the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:18-19 – by Paul to those in Philippi who supported his mission work)

 * Power Point: Our missions team in Kenya

 * Power Point: Bible League church planters

 * Missionary  (table after service)

 * Power Point: CRWRC – only $15/month to help whole family!

 - Part of our weekly giving - missionaries to about 30 countries (and here)

  (Our dollars, linked with dollars of 1000+ other churches – He stretches!)

 - During offering in a few minutes: DVD re tsunami relief

 I read that nationwide in evangelical churches, 20% of the people do 80% of the giving, 30% do the other 20% of the giving, and 50% give nothing. If that’s true, that’s really scary – not just because of how it limits what could be done, but also it means at least 50% of us are robbing God and aren’t partnering with Him. We’re setting ourselves up for disaster!

 But if we were to ALL follow God, even more great things could be done:

If church members were to tithe 10 percent of their income, churches would reap an additional $156 billion. And, according to calculations in the study, if 60 percent of that extra income were designated for overseas missions, that would come to $94 billion—enough to feed, medicate, and evangelize the underdeveloped world.

(“Who Gives Two Cents for Missions?” in “World” magazine, October 22, 2005 )

 It’s SOOO important that we let God stretch our vision to world-sized – and then take our dollars and stretch them around this world. But He can stretch our dollars even farther! Following Him leads to –

 C.     Stretching “My” (His) Dollars – ALL THE WAY TO HEAVEN

 Let me again read part of that Matt. 6 passage that we read earlier today:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

What you give back to God gets invested in Heaven!

And if you stretch your dollars all the way to Heaven, you’ll stretch your heart all the way to Heaven, too; because our hearts go to our treasure.

 As an example of that, let me just close with a testimony one of our members asked if he could send me.

I think that tithing is supposed to be…to the Lord so that he can fund his ministries as needed. That being said, I wanted to explain how I began to tithe and actually believe in God at the same time. (God got this guy’s giving and heart at the same time.)

    I was the typical husband with the bad attitude that his wife drug away from the all mighty to do list on Sundays to listen to a preachers idea about something I could care less about. I would get so mad about being forced to waste my time that it was a goal to make her pay and rethink making me go next week. Little did I know that God was slowly cracking into (my) thick skull.

    After about ten years of this…I had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time snowed in a tent on Kodiak island with a very very religious and financially successful friend. Because I respected his success so much, I asked what he attributed it to. I'm sure (he) was thrilled that I finally asked a question that he could pull me in with. He said it is really simple and asked if I had ever read the Bible. Of course my answer was no, but I still wanted to know about business…He explained that the (B)ible says that if you tithe correctly that (God) will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.  He told me times that he made a profit and spent the money elsewhere and actually got a loan to be right with his tithing. I was impressed with his conviction at the same time as questioning his sanity. After some thought, I decided that this is not a bad bet.....this giving thing. I also was curious if my wife was actually right, and now I have a way to test it. I'm thinking I've got this God idea by the throat, and let’s just see how this goes.  

    Two weeks later I am sitting in church with my wife and as she tries to sneak out a $20 to put in the offering, which was all I would let her do before, I stopped her and handed her $100. Her (eyes got) as big as golf balls…she had no idea that this was a test in my mind. I'm not recommending testing God, but this is how it went for me.   

    I kid you not, before the next Sunday I had actually received positive business news and my curiosity was peaked. Not only was this giving money away a seemingly good investment, there might actually be a God. 

    Needless to say, I don't remember the last time I gave that little. It seems that the more I give God back the money he has put in my possession the more he entrusts (to) me. I don't feel right going into the financial successes I have had since then, but there is no doubt that if you are a good (steward) of his money that he (will) bless you beyond your imagination.  Now that I am a full blooded Christian I tithe for the right reason.  Not just so I can selfishly get a return. 

    Tithing was the blessing that brought me to the (L)ord and continues to bless me back.  Ladies, don't give up on (thoughtless) bull-headed men...Some things take time.

 Financial planners tell us that when it comes to money we shouldn’t just think 3 months ahead – or even just 3 years ahead. They say we should think 30 years ahead.

But Jesus, The Ultimate Financial Planner, calls us to stretch to more like thinking 30M years ahead, inviting us to go from “earth-bound junk bonds” to “eternal securities”! He wants our hearts to be truly happy, trusting Him, for now and for all of eternity! He LOVES you! So TRUST Him – and obey!

 IMAGINE!!! –

- Ministries here (great stories/pictures)

- Delhi – imagine 5 years from now, 10 years out!

- Kenya , Mexico – our teams – imagine joy they’ll come back

with & joy you can have if you go to Mexico

- More Bible League planters – imagine next 500 believers!

- Imagine getting to Heaven – your heart NOT crushed, but filled w/ more & more & more joy as you see how GOD stretched your $$$!!!

 The LORD…said to Abram, "Leave (all you have and know)…and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you…and you will be a blessing…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3)