Fueling Ministry Through Sacrifice
Today I thought we’d explore how prayer and free will offerings come together to fuel ministry through sacrifice. We use the term “alms” as a reference to free-will offerings. They are gifts that are given to God that are over and above the tithe. But first, let’s start with our Weekly Discipleship Check List.
1. Update Your Prayer List
First, review and update your personal Intercessory Prayer List. If you don’t have one, make one. The Prayer Book has a place for you to make one in it. Fill it in, stick the booklet in your Bible and you’ve got a mini-Discipleship manual with Daily Readings, Memory & Meditation Verses, Catechism Questions, Psalms, Hymns, and even our Psalm Prayers & Prayers of Confession are in there. Having it gives you the ability to walk together even while we are out of one another’s sight.
2. Begin Memory & Meditation Verses
Second, begin memorizing Psalm 22:14-15 and trying to weave them together with the rest of verses 1-13. “A little child shall lead them (Isaiah 11:6)” is cute to think in moments when 6 year olds are memorizing and reciting the truth. However, God created men and women to lead them. Let’s do so by example.
Trust me our old brains can do it. We do have the bandwidth. We only have to begin exciting that part of our brain again–using it–to reignite it. It takes a minute to stoke the fire back into a flame, but when you put wood on it you will find that you can still burn it. You can teach an old dog new tricks. I have found that it depends greatly on how determined the old dog is. Tech hasn’t taken anything from us that cannot be restored, at least in some measure, with practice. You have to put your hands to the oars, then your shoulder, and then your back. When you do You’ll find that the boat still cuts through the water just fine.
3. Find Something To Sacrifice
Third, find something this week that you can sacrifice—a lunch, a couple of Starbucks drinks, a streaming purchase or rental, a day of meals, etc.—so you can give both the tithe (obligatory offering) and an alm (free will offering). I often fast leading up to remembrances and celebrations like the Crucifixion and the Resurrection as a way to give a little more. Why? Because the Gospel has implications that take more than the tithe.
Resurrection Implies Mission
The implication of the resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is mission. Therefore, Jesus after His resurrection tells His church to:
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).” What is Jesus doing? He is making the implications of His Kingship clear so that they can be carried out.
The Outpouring Of the Holy Spirit Empowers Mission
Is that all Jesus says during his post-resurrection life on Earth? No. In Acts 1 we get to read His final words. “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight (Acts 1:7-9). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit empowers His church to carry out the Missio Dei. Therefore, they wait for Him in Jerusalem, but with His coming the mission begins.
Funding Ministry & Mission
How is mission funded in the New Testament Church? The tithe supports the ministry of the local church and free-will offerings support Her mission. Together, they sort of work like taxes and philanthropy in the World’s system. The tithe being the Kingdom Tax that goes to provide services to the body, without which the Church cannot function. The free-will offering being the Kingdom philanthropic pipeline that goes to fund various ministries and institutions that support the mission. Without sacrificial giving the mission stops with us. We can maintain our ministry through the tithe, however, without the alm we cannot fulfill the mission.
Origin Of The Word Offering
New Testament Christians talk about the Old Testament sacrifices being fulfilled so much that we forget that we do still offer sacrifices.
- We offer the “sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15)”
- We are living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). All of us and everything we have is tied to the horns of the “altar” as an offering.
- We encourage fasting and giving up material things so we can make additional “free will” offerings (Matthew 6:16-18, Isaiah 58:3-7) to accomplish ministry, especially among those who cannot repay it.
Protestants Have Forgotten The Word
The modern Protestant has forgotten where the word “offering” comes from. It is related to sacrifice. It is a word that was previously used in the Temple that made the transition to the Church. For two thousand years the giving of the church has been called offerings. Every church I grew up in as a kid publicly posted their previous week’s “offering total” as an accountability practice. There were two numbers. Tithe and Offerings. Make your sacrifices unto the Lord one’s that feel like sacrifices. If you don’t feel it in some measure, was it a sacrifice? Is that how we commonly use the word today? It’s usually associated with a painful giving up of something. We draw that definition from the Church.
Our Third Lord’s Day Focus
On the Third Lord’s Day of each month we focus our worship on alms giving and intercessory prayer. Both are means of grace and both train the heart revealing strengths—that we can praise God for, and weaknesses—that we can confess and seek His aid to overcome. So make that prayer list and plan that sacrifice claiming the promises of God as you do.
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded (James 4:8).”
“(I)f you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday (Isaiah 58:10).”
Go forth Overcomers, trust in the Lord, and offer right sacrifices unto Him Who is “the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God,” to Him “be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17)”
YES Remembering the Crucifixion
Friday April 18th at the Senior Center @ 7 pm
We will take the Lord’s Table to close, going out in silence. We will return in joy on the Lord’s Day morning to Celebrate His Resurrection.
Sunday Morning April 20th at the Senior Center
9-10 am Celebration Breakfast
10-11:30 am Celebration of the Resurrection in Worship
No Midweek Worship
Next Midweek Worship will be April 23rd, 2025 @ The Smyrna Senior Center
6:15 Pizza and Fellowship
7:00 Opus Dei, Catechism Lesson, and Intercessory Prayer
For the month of March we are Memorizing Questions 11-15 from the Westminster Shorter Catechism
Opus Dei, Prayer Book & Blogs
Opus Dei: Monday – Saturday @ 7 am & 7 pm via the SPCC Zoom Prayer Room
Get a digital copy of our latest SPCC Prayer Book: Remembering the Crucifixion: March 8th – April 19th, 2025
Read and share our latest blog series Forsaken For Us All Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
Check out our recently completed series: Christ, His Church, & Marriage Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
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Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!
Pastor Jeremy
“Joy and thanksgiving expressed in prayer and praise according to the Word of God are the heart of the Church’s worship.” – John Calvin
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