03 The Tith and Our Approach to Giving

Think about what we were singing. We were singing about Christ being our greatest treasure. I hope that He is your greatest treasure. We can have a lot of things in our lives that are great to us and things that we treasure and we should, but He should be our greatest treasure. That resonated with me. I hope it resonated with you. I enjoyed your singing. You bless me. We have learned here that we are the choir. So when you sing and when the choir sings well, it blesses me. I hope it blesses you.

Now, I said this this morning, or I said this earlier, that this morning I'm not going to ask you to turn to a particular portion of Scripture, which is usually what I do. I usually ask you to open up to a particular portion of Scripture, and I divide that portion of Scripture and let that Scripture preach to us. But this morning I will be preaching a topical message, but of course everything that I'm sharing comes out of the Scripture. Now, this morning we're going to look at what God's Word teaches us about giving. And when I say giving, I'm talking about the practice or the duty, the privilege of giving our money to the church.

Now, I said this earlier in our Scripture reading. We looked at this last year, but it is time for us to look at this again. But let's be honest here. When the pastor preaches on money and giving, there are lots of different things that can come into our minds and into our thinking. Some of you automatically think about tithing when the pastor preaches on giving or mentions money or mentions giving, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Now, some of you may think about the debate that is around the tithe. Some of you know that there is a debate as to whether the tithe is binding with New Testament Christians.

So some of you automatically think about that debate and think about that subject when it comes up. I know that I have had some good conversations with some of the brothers in the life of the church around this debate. But there are some other things, more negative things that some of you think about. Some may think of the incorrect teaching that they have heard about money and giving in the church. I know I've heard some really good sermons about tithing and giving. And I say good, I mean bad. I've heard some bad ones through the years. Some of you may think of preachers who manipulated people in the church in regards to money and giving.

I have seen that. I have literally seen men stand behind the pulpit and lie about an offering, about giving. And I even wanted to take a few steps back because I thought lightning might strike somebody. Some of you may think about leaders who have abused the money of the church. I have seen that. I know of a church, a pastor who resigned. When that pastor resigned and went on, he had led the church into all kinds of debt that the church didn't even know about. As a matter of fact, it took a pastor several years to undo all of that. But there is another type of thinking that can come into the minds of some.

And this may be in some of your minds this morning. You may be saying to yourself, "Oh no, the pastor is about to preach on giving. He's going to make us feel guilty for not giving more." You may be thinking something like this, "Here we go. The pastor is going to try to squeeze us to give us more." Well, if you have any thoughts like that running around in your head, I want to draw a line in the sand before you. And I want to say that I've been the pastor here for almost 15 years and I have never, ever guilt trip anyone into giving. I've never tried to squeeze anyone, not once.

And there are many of you who would stand up and say, "The pastor is right because you've known me all those years." So if you have any negative thoughts in your mind, I want you to put those thoughts out of your head. Just discipline yourself and put those thoughts out of your head. Now question, why am I preaching on this subject? Why am I preaching on this subject? Now I've already alluded to one in our scripture reading, but there are several reasons. First, on a practical level, we are finishing up some of our 2025 budget items. We're a little late in doing those things. We've had some hindrances, you know about that.

And we need to know how we, as Grace Life Church Brookhaven, how we should relate to our church budget and other church projects that require church money. Now think about it. Where is the money for the church budget supposed to come from? Think about that. And then spiritually, as a believer and as believers, we want to walk with the Lord and we want to be obedient to His Word. And so we must know what God expects us to do and how He expects us to behave in this area of our lives. And then also as church members specifically, we need to know the standard for giving within the life of the church.

We need to know how we, as members of Grace Life, should be giving. And then specifically, I mentioned this earlier, I'm about to start calling you, as individual members of Grace Life Church, to give above your top on a regular basis. Those of you who are members of Grace Life know that the elders and the financial team have recommended that we put the majority of our budget surplus money into a future fund for a building of our own. And I believe that it is time for us to start giving towards a fund to meet that need. Now, let me show you how we're going to approach the message. Basically, we're going to look at three things.

First, I want us to look at the tithe as seen in the Old Testament. Then second, I want us to look at the tithe and giving in the New Testament. And then third, we will look at how the tithe relates to us today. Now, I encourage you to be good listeners. I encourage you often to take notes. But I do want to say this. This is a topical message. So in that, I'm going to be covering quite a lot. I'm going to reference quite a few scriptures. And if you need to listen with your ears in your mind and get those notes later, you can do that. Because I do want us to get our minds around all these things.

So number one, I want us to look at the tithe before the law of Moses. Number one, the tithe before the law of Moses. Now, when we think of the tithe before the law of Moses, some of you could be tempted to think that this is less important. You may be even tempted to discount or to ignore this part of the message. But listen, you need this more than you know. This has a bearing on how we relate to tithing and giving in our day. Now, when we look at the tithe before the giving of the law of Moses, we see two places where the tithe is mentioned. First with Abraham and second with Jacob. First with Abraham.

In Genesis 14, 18 to 20, we see where Abraham tithed to this mysterious king Melchizedek. And this is what happened in those events. After Abraham had won that regional war and he rescued his nephew Lot from captivity, Melchizedek met Abraham after his great victory. He refreshed Abraham and his men by bringing them bread and wine, and then he blessed them. And the text says that Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of all of the spoils of the war. Now, who this mysterious king was really matters here. And we know who Melchizedek was from our study of the book of Hebrews.

But Melchizedek was the king over ancient Jerusalem, and his name meant and means righteous king. And we know that he was priest of God the most high. Simply that means this. Melchizedek and Abraham worshiped the one true God, and Abraham saw him as a great spiritual leader worthy of respect and worthy of honor. And what Abraham did here matters. Abraham was not commanded to give a tithe of the spoils of that war to anyone. He simply did this because he felt impressed by God to do so. But then second, Jacob. In Genesis 28, 18 to 22, we see where Jacob tithed to God. And this is what happened in those events.

After Jacob had had this dream of what we call Jacob's ladder to heaven, he set up a stone to mark this place as a special religious site. And this was a common practice in their day. This stone served as a monument of remembrance for Jacob and for others. And the text says that after these events, Jacob said that he would give a full tenth of all that God had given him back to God. Now what Jacob did here matters, or why Jacob did what he did matters. Just like Abraham, Jacob was not commanded to tithe the tenth of all that he had back to God. Now before we move on, I want us to make sure we see a couple of things here.

These men were not commanded from the Scriptures to tithe. Before the law of Moses, God's people were not commanded to give a tithe to God. But look at why they did what they did. And if you know your Old Testament, you may know why they did what they did. Simply Abraham tithed out of love and appreciation to God. But not Jacob. Jacob tithed because he was trying to bargain with God. Now this leads me to a question for you, for me, for us. Why do we give? We may use tithing to give. We may write a check to give. We may put cash in the offering plate. But why do we give? Do we give because we love God? Do we give out of duty?

Now we could give out of duty that is attached to love, yes. Do we give out of obligation? Is it drudgery? Do we give because we somehow think that God's going to bless us or help us? Why do we give? See, the lesson here is simple. This can be overlooked, but it is much needed. We must examine our motivations. We must examine why we do what we do. And we need God to examine our motivations. And we need God to reveal to us why we give the motivations of our hearts, our minds, and our thinking here. Because we certainly do not want to be like Jacob. And then number two, I want us to look at the tithe between the law of Moses and Jesus.

The tithe between the law of Moses and Jesus. Again, when you hear this, you may be tempted not to pay attention, but you need this more than you know. Now, there is a lot that I could say here, but I'm going to summarize and condense quite a lot. But simply under the Mosaic law, the Jews tithed, and they tithed far more than 10 percent. And far more than the 10 percent that we saw Abraham and Jacob give. They actually tithed some 23 to 25 percent, and even up to 30 percent when you see how many different tithes they were commanded to obey. But basically they were commanded to give three different tithes under the Old Testament law.

First there was the tithe for the priests, and we see this in Leviticus 27, 30 to 34. Simply this is what took place there. The priests and the Levites came from the tribe of Levi, and under the law they had no means of earning a living like the other tribes. Basically they worked for the nation of Israel, and this tithe went for their support. And this tithe was very practical and much needed because the running of the government was under the Levites and under the priests. But then second, there was the tithe for their religious festivals, as listed in Deuteronomy 12, 6 to 17.

Simply these tithes were to fund those commanded religious celebrations and festivals. And this tithe was very practical, and it was much needed. Those religious feasts and celebrations were very important for the religious life of the Jews, and this tithe funded all of those things. And then third, there was the tithe for the poor, which is seen in Deuteronomy 14, 28 to 29. Simply this was the tithe taken to care for the poor of the land. You could call this a national social security or welfare system because it's basically what it was.

This tithe took care of orphans, this tithe took care of widows and strangers within the nation of Israel, and this tithe was given every third year, which met a legitimate need in the land. Now notice what we have quickly seen here. So far the Jews, they tithe over 23% a year. This was strict mandatory giving under the law of Moses. But this was not for any other people but the Jews. This was strictly for the nation of Israel. But notice there was more. They gave more money for the poor, as seen in Leviticus 19.

They were to obey the Sabbath rest for the land and release debts, the debts of others, according to Exodus 23, and there was the temple tax they were to pay in Exodus 30, 13. So scholars tell us that these Jews easily tithed 23 to 25%, even up to 30%. But there was one more. There were the free will offerings. Above all the commanded tithes, the Jews gave offerings from their hearts. We could use that kind of language. There was the free will offering concerning the tabernacle in Exodus 35, 20 to 29, and Exodus 36, 4 to 7. There was the free will offering in Leviticus 22, 17 to 31. And make sure we understand this.

These free will offerings were above the sum 23 to 25 to even 30% mandatory tithes that were clearly seen in the Old Testament scripture. So notice, it is important for us to see what tithing and giving look like for the Jews who were under the Mosaic law within the nation of Israel. We can easily see that they gave far more than 10%. They gave 23 to 25% easily, up to 30%, and they gave even more as God led them. And something else we need to realize. The nation of Israel was a theocracy, not a democracy. This means that a lot of what they tithed was more like what we would see as taxes.

Much of what they gave in tithes actually went to run and to fund the government. But much of what they gave was for what we would see as ministry or for religious needs and purposes in the life of Judaism. Now, look at how this applies to us. First, this is educational. Of course, I zoom through this. There's a lot more that I could say. This is a short education concerning how the Jews in the land of Israel gave according to the scriptures. But then second, this may be corrective. You may have had some wrong thinking here concerning the Jews who were under the law.

You may say, "Pastor, I didn't even know any of that, so I didn't have any incorrect thinking here." But third, we need to make sure we hold on to how God's people gave in the Old Testament. Because giving looks much, much different for God's people in the New Testament. And I do believe that the Old Testament Jews who were under the law do serve as a great example to us. But then number three, I want us to look at the tithe and Jesus. Now, in studying tithing and giving in the Old Testament, this is simply educational. Of course, we can learn some lessons. We can be challenged. Our hearts and our motives can be tested, and they should be.

And also how we give and how much we give as compared to those Old Testament Jews, that can really make us think, and it should. But a question, if a good Jew gave well above 20% under the law, what should we do as New Testament believers who are not under the law? And that's a loaded question. So I want us to do some comparing and some contrasting. Now, here is where I am relying on God the Holy Spirit to work in you according to your need and who he wants you to be. Now, I want to address the tithe and Jesus by asking three questions. First, what is required in the New Testament? You may say, "Pastor, we've looked at the Old.

Get me to the New." Well, here we are. First, what is required in the New Testament? Now, there are two passages that I want to read. We read one of them earlier. Matthew 17, verse 24 to 27. Matthew 17, 24 to 27. "When they came to Capernaum, the tax collectors of the two drachma tax went up to Peter and said, 'Does your teacher not pay the tax?'" Well, who was the teacher? That was Jesus. And he said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first saying, "What do you think, Simon? For whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax?

From their sons or from others?" And when he said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up. And when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself." And then the verse that we read earlier in our scripture reading are the verses because there were several. Matthew 22, 15 to 22. "Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him." That's Jesus in his words.

"And they sent their disciples to him along with a Herodian saying, 'Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.' Tell us then, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes of Caesar or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius.

And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" And they said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Therefore render or guilt to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And when they heard it, they marveled and they went, they left him and went away. Now, right here we need to ask, what do we see here in these two blocks of scripture? This may surprise some of you, but Jesus was clearly calling his followers to pay taxes. He told him to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, which would have been money for taxes. And we can even see that Jesus paid his tax.

It was obvious that paying taxes to Caesar was one of the subjects at hand here. And he, thus Jesus, was clearly calling his followers to give to God what is God's. That would be their love. That would be their heart. That would be their life. That would be their service. That would be their all. And it is obvious that giving one's heart, life and all to God was the bigger, more important subject at hand here. And look, church, the same applies to us today. We should give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. Now, let me pause here in my message.

When we speak about paying taxes today, there are Christians that will say, "Pastor, I really can't get my taxes because of how evil and corrupt our government is." Listen, church, go study how evil and corrupt Caesar was. Go study how evil and corrupt the Romans were. And Jesus never blinked at I at paying taxes to Caesar. Now, this leads us to the second question. Second, how did Jesus tithe? You may have never thought about that, but we should. How did Jesus tithe? Well, Jesus tithed according to the Old Covenant. During the earthly life and ministry of Jesus, the New Covenant had not yet been inaugurated.

So Jesus was under and bound to the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses. I can say that because we know that He fulfilled all that was in the Old Covenant, and He obeyed the Law of Moses perfectly. So Jesus tithed according to the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses. So yes, Jesus tithed all of those tithes that I briefly quickly covered earlier. And notice this fact. Jesus expected the religious leaders to do the very same thing that He did. Listen to Matthew 23, 23 to 24. He says, "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

The scribes and Pharisees were the religious leaders." He goes on to say, "For you tithe, mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provision of the Law, justice and mercy and faithfulness. But these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others." In other words, He didn't let them off the hook with the tithes. "You blind gods who strain out a net and swallow a camel." So what are we seeing here? They tithed, but Jesus rejected their tithe. Why? It was because of the conditions of and the motivations of their hearts that Jesus rejected their tithes.

It was because of their lack of obedience to the weightier matters of the Law, justice, mercy and faithfulness. Simply their tithes did no good whatsoever because they were just obeying the rules for a whole host of sinful and prideful reasons. These religious leaders were giving according to the letter of the Law while ignoring the heart of the Law, so God rejected their tithes. Now right here, there is a big lesson that we need to see. And I want to ask you a question. How does God feel about your tithe or your giving if you neglect the more weightier matters? Let me ask that again by being all-inclusive. How does God feel about our tithes?

How does God feel about our offerings if we neglect the weightier matters? Do you neglect love? Do you neglect love for God? Do you neglect love for the church? Do you neglect love for the brothers and sisters, the saints of God? Do you neglect love for lost sinners? Jesus says in Matthew 22, 37-40, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." All these two commandments depend on all of the Law and the prophets.

And Luke Church, if we are not seeking to love God and our neighbor this way, our Lord may be rejecting our tithes and our offerings. And then number four, the tithe in us. The tithe in us. Here is where we finally get to the question, "Are we commanded to tithe from the Scripture? Are we commanded to tithe from the Bible?" And for some of you, what I'm going to share with you here will challenge you. Some of you have been taught some things a little different. But before I answer the question, I want to point out a few facts. I want to give us five facts that show us how we as New Covenant Christians, remember we live under the New Covenant.

I want to point out five facts that show us how we as New Covenant Christians should relate to the tithe. First fact, we are not under the Old Covenant. The commandments as seen in the Old Covenant are not for us today in the New Covenant. And Paul makes that clear in quite a few verses. We see this in Romans 6, 14, and 15. We see this in Romans 7, 5 to 6, Galatians 3, 1 to 5, and Galatians 4 verse 7, and 2 Corinthians 3 verses 4 to 18. Listen to a couple, because you need to hear this. Romans 5, or excuse me, Romans 6, 14 to 15. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under the law, but under grace.

What then are we to sin because we are not under law, but under grace by no means? Romans 7, 5 to 6 says, for while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. Now let me clarify something. We are certainly bound to the moral law of the Old Testament. We are to obey the Ten Commandments, but we obey the Ten Commandments by grace and through love. Now, how do we obey the Ten Commandments?

How do we relate to them? We should relate to the standard of the Ten Commandments by striving to obey the greatest commandment and the second greatest commandment, which used to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength, and all our soul, and our neighbors as ourselves. But we are not under the Old Covenant, therefore all of those tithes in the Old Covenant have no authority over us. Of course we can learn from those examples and from that teaching. Now before I move on here, I want to help you. I mentioned that we are not bound to the law.

We are not bound to the law, but we are certainly bound to the moral law. Let me help you. According to the moral law, I'm not supposed to commit adultery. Now last week I talked about my wife, but she was in the nursery. This week she's right in front of me. We know that the moral law says that I'm not supposed to commit adultery. Well, do I walk around in life saying I should not commit adultery? I should not commit adultery, the law, the law, the law. No, I obey that law out of love. I love my wife. I love my wife. Therefore I do not want to commit adultery. So what I'm trying to show you is this.

We do not relate to the moral law, but rule after rule after rule after rule. That is never ending and it brings no life. We relate to the moral law through love. We love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with all of our being. Therefore when the temptation comes along to steal, we don't steal because we love God. Now let me continue. Second fact. The tithes in the Old Covenant were given to the priests and the Levites, but none of the New Covenant. There are new priests and Levites. First Peter 2.9 says that we do not need priests and Levites.

We in fact are priests, meaning we can go before God, not needing an Old Covenant priest to go before God for us. First Peter 2.9 says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." Then third, the third fact. The tithes in the Old Covenant were only tied to the land and the nation of Israel. The Old Covenant tithes were tied to the nation and the land of Israel, so those requirements cannot be applied to New Covenant believers.

With the coming of Christ and the New Covenant, Israel and the Jewish nation was not the centerpiece of God's work on earth any longer. The church was and the church is. Galatians 4, 25-26, tell us that Jerusalem is no longer the centerpiece of God's purposes. But Christians are a part of the heavenly Jerusalem and we look forward to that city that is to come. Fourth fact, we covered this. When Jesus affirmed the tithe in the Gospels, that was before the inauguration of the New Covenant. Jesus was under the Old Covenant all throughout his earthly ministry.

And we see this in the Gospels where he was calling the Jewish religious leaders to obey Old Covenant tithing regulations. Fifth fact, nowhere is tithing mentioned when the commandments are given for believers in churches to give in the New Testament. I'm going to repeat this one. Nowhere is tithing mentioned when commandments are given and examples provided for believers in churches to give in the New Testament. Simply there are no commands given for believers in churches to tithe found in the New. And there are not even any examples of New Testament believers or churches tithing either.

In verses like Acts 2, chapter 4, Acts 11, verses like Galatians 2, 10, 1 Corinthians 16, 1-4, 2 Corinthians 8, 1-9. Believers are clearly called to give to needs and to the poor, but there is no type of a command to give a tithe. So finally the question, from the Scriptures, are we as Christians today commanded or required to tithe? Well, the answer to that is no. You may say, "Wait, pastor. Jesus commanded those he ministered to and taught in the Gospels to tithe. Remember, Jesus was under the Old Covenant and he was ministering to Jews who were under the Old Covenant as well.

So yes, he commanded them to tithe, but we do not see that after the New Covenant was instituted. Simply after the dawn of the New Covenant and the birth of the church in Acts 2, many things changed. Now at this point I want to show you our approach to giving here at Grace Life Church. And this is very, very important, especially for those of you who are new. As your spiritual leaders, pastors and elders, we call you as members of Grace Life Church to begin your giving by giving a tithe of 10%. Let me repeat that.

The spiritual leaders that God has placed within the life of our church, the pastors and elders, we call you as members of Grace Life Church to begin your giving by giving the tithe of 10%. Now I am not saying that I can give you a command from the New Testament. No, I know that. But as your pastor and elders, we believe that we should begin our giving by giving a tithe to the church for the work of the church. Look, under the Old Covenant, those faithful Jews brought their tithes to the priests and the Levites who were their spiritual leaders.

And they brought their tithes to the spiritual leaders to be used according to the scripture and how the scripture is prescribed in the Old Testament. And as pastors and elders, we call the members of Grace Life Church to do the same thing. Begin your giving by bringing a tenth of your income to the church and to the leaders that God has raised up in the life of the church. And then your leaders bring those tithes and their recommendations to you, the members of Grace Life Church, to make that final decision in these matters. Remember, we are elder led but congregationally governed. Elder led and congregationally governed.

You may say, "Pastor, you're stretching things." No, not really. At the beginning of the New Testament church, those early believers brought their offerings to the church leaders. That would have been the apostles at that time. Also, throughout the New Testament, we see the very same thing. Paul would call the churches to give and to bring those offerings to the church and to the leaders of the church for the church and for the ministry needs of the church. And we do the same thing. Now, look at all that the tithe goes to fun here at Grace Life. And the ministries that you and your children benefit from.

First of all, we pray rent for this facility. We have a great rental situation. And we rent this facility and you enjoy the air conditioning and the heat in the rooms in this facility because of tithe monies. Think about the ministry of small groups. That's funded by the tithe. Think about all of the ministry that we are devoted to with our children. Think about the nursery ministry. We have paid workers so that moms can come sit under the word of God and not be hindered or distracted. Think about all of the special events that we do. We have certain ministries for our teenagers or our students. We have vacation Bible school.

Think about all of the missions that we are involved in. We are designating a lot of money for missions this year. Look at our 2025 budget. All of you who are members have a copy of that. If you're a visitor, we welcome you to pick it up. It's right on that front row there. It's got a big blue heading across there that says 2025 budget. If you're a visitor, we don't mind you looking at that. Look and see all that our tithes and our offerings go to fun. Can you tell me if these things are not legitimate biblical ministry and ministry that you spiritually benefit from? Notice something.

This is why it was good for us to glance at the tithes there in the Old Covenant. The tithes under the Old Covenant that those Jews gave went for tangible needs. Two things, taxes and ministry. The tithes and offerings that we call you to give, those tithes and offerings go for tangible needs as well. Ministry needs that are right before you. Now I want to close with five quick lessons here. Five quick lessons. Lesson number one, the tithe needs to be brought to the church for the everyday ministry needs of the church. That budget represents everyday ministry needs.

Some needs are monthly, some are once a year, but we would see those as everyday needs, things that we do on a regular basis, sometimes year after year. Lesson number two, offerings are for needs above the tithe. Let me explain. Your tithes should not have been given to a visiting pastor. When we take up a love offering for a physical need or something like that, that is above the tithe. What you should give to Derek Melton in our spring revival and renewal meeting that's coming up in April, that should be considered above your tithe. Your tithes should not go for a missions offering.

Your tithes should not go to a brother or a sister in the life of the church where we have a special need or a special event in the church. Again, how are the daily, monthly, yearly ministry needs of the church going to be met if the members of the church are not faithful to the tithe? And then the third lesson, your tithes should not go to an outside Christian organization. I've known people like that. I've known people who came and sat in the pew and they benefited from the ministry of the church, but yet they gave their tithes to other places. I think about one individual.

He was super, super spiritual and always very critical about certain things in the life of the church, but I found out later that he was so spiritual, he gave his tithe to a certain missions organization. I guess he was too good to just help turn on the lights and pay for food when we had a fellowship. Fourth lesson, what is the tithe? Ten percent. Now here's where a debate comes up. I mentioned this, I remember someone chuckling and coming up to me and saying, "Pastor, yep, I know that debate. Some debate whether it comes off the gross or the net." Look, folks, this is easy. This is easy.

If you give to God what is God's, and if you seek to tithe out of a heart and out of a desire to give to God the first fruits of your labor, you'll give a tithe, ten percent of your gross income. Look, you'll give or you'll pay first what is of most importance. Let me give you an example. If your deer camp dues are the most important, you're going to write that check first. If your golf or tennis club dues are the most important, you're going to write that check first, you see? Number five, fifth lesson, when do you tithe? And this is important when you get paid, when you receive income. You do not wait to pay your water bill.

You do not wait to pay your electricity bill. You don't wait to pay your country club membership, your tennis club membership, or your deer club membership. No, you don't wait to pay your taxes. Well, if you wait to do all those things, you've got bigger problems than to tithe. Now, I want to close by saying two things. First, I live everything that I'm preaching. I do. We do. We tithe, and we give exactly like I am calling you to give. Brother Keith tithes, and he gives exactly like I am calling you to give. I give 10%, and I give more. I give, we give offerings above that 10%.

And I'll tell you what, I welcome you to track down any member of the financial team. Keith's an elder, he's a member of the financial team. Tommy Alderman's on the financial team. Jared Walters is on the financial team. Chris Travis is on the financial team. They count the money. They see who gives. I do not. I don't know if you give $500 or $5 million, but you can look them in the eye and say, "Is the pastor a hypocrite?" And they'll tell you, "No, he's not." Second, next week I will be preaching a message that specifically addresses our need for a building. And we will learn how we should view this need.

We will learn how we should approach this need. We will learn how we should give to this need from the Old Testament Scripture. And get this, this message and this teaching this morning is the foundation from which we work. We cannot look at giving to a need like a future fund for a building without looking at how we should give every day, every week, throughout the year. And the life of the church. So, the title of the message is this, "The Tithe and Our Approach to Giving." And I close by saying, if you have a question, big or small, ask. Maybe you say, "Pastor, I'm not so sure about that. Come, let's sit down over a cup of coffee.

We'll walk through the Scripture because I want us to all be on the same page here." So, let's pray. We'll sing a song of worship and closing, and then we'll hear a testimony concerning church membership.