The Brides Resources - Revision history

Wakefien: /* Who are the elder, πρεσβύτεροι? */

2024-05-25T23:13:50Z

‎Who are the elder, πρεσβύτεροι?

Wakefien: /* As a church we need to consider what special projects God might have for us next. */

2024-05-25T23:11:56Z

‎As a church we need to consider what special projects God might have for us next.

Wakefien: /* Preview: What we are going to see is that the normative practice for Christ followers is purposeful regular financial giving; but more there are times when they may be asked to give more for special projects. Ultimately, the church is called to prov...

2024-05-25T22:57:12Z

/* Preview: What we are going to see is that the normative practice for Christ followers is purposeful regular financial giving; but more there are times when they may be asked to give more for special projects. Ultimately, the church is called to prov...

Wakefien: /* Something I want us to consider is just what day to day operations cost. */

2024-05-22T14:06:49Z

‎Something I want us to consider is just what day to day operations cost.

Wakefien: /* Acts 20:35 states */

2024-05-22T14:05:09Z

‎Acts 20:35 states

Wakefien: /* Text: Various, read before each main point. */

2024-05-22T14:01:11Z

‎Text: Various, read before each main point.

Wakefien at 21:03, 21 May 2024

2024-05-21T21:03:49Z

Wakefien: /* The command to give is not a specific local phenomena. */

2024-05-21T21:02:27Z

‎The command to give is not a specific local phenomena.

Wakefien: /* Introduction: */

2024-05-21T21:01:30Z

‎Introduction:

Wakefien: /* The church is called upon to provide for those whose vocation is the Gospel (1 Timothy 5:17-18). */

2024-05-21T20:59:17Z

‎The church is called upon to provide for those whose vocation is the Gospel (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

@@ Line 122: / Line 122: @@
 The text states that
 ===Elders who lead, preach, and teach are worthy of double honor.===
-====Who are the elder, πρεσβύτεροι?====
+====Who are the elders, πρεσβύτεροι?====
 First we need to understand the word πρεσβύτεροι. This word in Scripture that we often translate as elder does not refer to just someone who is aged. The word can refer to age but across Jewish and Christian circles, and even in non Judeo-Christian systems the word really came to be a title for an official office. I don't want to get to into the weeds here but elder, pastor, and bishop are all equivalent titles used for one office, the office of pastor. The text here is about pastors and the the statement is that pastors are worthy of double-honor.
 ====What is double honor?====
 I have heard all sorts of explanations of what double honor actually is. I have heard people say that a pastor should be paid twice as much as the average salary and I have heard others talk about making sure the pastor is well cared for. I don't want to get into the weeds here and as I stated the church has taken care of me very well.

@@ Line 105: / Line 105: @@
 ====As a church we need to consider what special projects God might have for us next.====
-We have a beautiful piece of land on the north property. What might God want us to do with that property? I will dream for just a moment. I would love to see us erect a nice looking perhaps steel building on the property. We could have a multi-use gym fellowship area. We could have some storage. We could have some additional classroom type space. I would love to see us set up an area that could be used for recovery ministry. Specifically, there is a group in Omaha called freeway ministries. Freeway ministers to the homeless population by providing a hot meal, clothing, and a worship service. The right multis building could be used by Freeway ministries to allow us to be part of ministering to an unreached population in Lincoln.
+We have a beautiful piece of land on the north property. What might God want us to do with that property? I will dream for just a moment. I would love to see us erect a nice looking perhaps steel building on the property. We could have a multi-use gym fellowship area. We could have some storage. We could have some additional classroom type space. I would love to see us set up an area that could be used for recovery ministry. Specifically, there is a group in Omaha called freeway ministries. Freeway ministers to the homeless population by providing a hot meal, clothing, and a worship service. The right multuse building could be used by Freeway ministries to allow us to be part of ministering to an unreached population in Lincoln.
 <p>So, what would it cost to make this dream a reality? A church that wants it to be a reality. "But you didn't give us a number" some might say. "Yes, you are very astute. I didn't give you a number because we don't need a number we need a church that wants to take the next step." God already has the money to do the project we just need to have the vision. </p>
 So, what should we do
 ===MTR: Evaluate your offerings. Are you generously looking for opportunities to offer and serve.===
 We need to pay off our loan. That is a first step and we are making good progress. But as we make progress on the loan let's cast vision. Let's think about what God might have next and let's not just cast vision for us here in this room, lets cast vision for our city.

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 ==Preview: What we are going to see is that the normative practice for Christ followers is purposeful regular financial giving; but more there are times when they may be asked to give more for special projects. Ultimately, the church is called to provide for those whose vocation is the Gospel.==
-As we talk today I want you to not just consider the present bur consider the future what might God have in store for our church and how might you be part of that future?
+As we talk today I want you to not just consider the present but consider the future what might God have in store for our church and how might you be part of that future?
 =Body=

@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 ====Something I want us to consider is just what day to day operations cost.====
 *It costs is $256 a day just to operate our facility.
-This does not take into account any salaries or anything like that. Things like water, electrical, gas, maintenance, lawn care, $250 a day. almost $94000 a year. 20% of our church budget is spent on just upkeep of our building. So why do I tell you this? Because I want us to understand how important it is that we give. We give to the church purposefully and regularly because simple operational costs take resources. As we cast vision for our church we must keep in mind that there are some fixed costs. Things that are essentially impossible to eliminate. No matter what we do we really need to anticipate that something like 20% of our budget will need to be spent on keeping the lights on.
+This does not take into account any salaries or anything like that.
 ===MTR: Evaluate your giving. Are you giving regularly, intentionally, proportionally, and lovingly?===

@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 ====Acts 20:35 states====
-<blockquote>
+<p><blockquote>
   In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
-<ref>NIV</ref></blockquote>
+<ref>NIV</ref></blockquote></p>
 Being able to give is in fact a blessing.

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:01, 22 May 2024
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−	It is hard for churches to talk about tithing largely because it is hard to strike a balance. Some churches only talk about tithing. Other churches never talk about tithing. It is like pendulum, we don't want to be like those churches that preach health and wealth to all who freely give, but we also need to teach about financial giving. The purpose today is the learn about the financial resources that Christ has provided his church. The reality is that while Christ owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he has decided to let each of you be part of his resourcing of the church. We here in this room bear a responsibility to steward the finances with which we have been entrusted and part of that stewardship comes when we give generously to our church. Why give? Because it is commanded, why else? Because God is working in our church and we have been invited to be part of that work.	+	====It is hard for churches to talk about tithing largely because it is hard to strike a balance.====
		+	=====Some churches only talk about tithing. Other churches never talk about tithing.=====
		+	It is like pendulum, we don't want to be like those churches that preach health and wealth to all who freely give, but we also need to teach about financial giving. The purpose today is the learn about the financial resources that Christ has provided his church.
		+	=====The reality is that while Christ owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he has decided to let each of you be part of his resourcing of the church.=====
		+	We here in this room bear a responsibility to steward the finances with which we have been entrusted and part of that stewardship comes when we give generously to our church.
		+	=====Why give? Because it is commanded, why else? Because God is working in our church and we have been invited to be part of that work.=====

	==Preview: What we are going to see is that the normative practice for Christ followers is purposeful regular financial giving; but more there are times when they may be asked to give more for special projects. Ultimately, the church is called to provide for those whose vocation is the Gospel.==		==Preview: What we are going to see is that the normative practice for Christ followers is purposeful regular financial giving; but more there are times when they may be asked to give more for special projects. Ultimately, the church is called to provide for those whose vocation is the Gospel.==

@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 Moreover, we must understand that
-===Day to day operations take money===
+===Day-to-day operations take money===
@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 This does not take into account any salaries or anything like that. Things like water, electrical, gas, maintenance, lawn care, $250 a day. almost $94000 a year. 20% of our church budget is spent on just upkeep of our building. So why do I tell you this? Because I want us to understand how important it is that we give. We give to the church purposefully and regularly because simple operational costs take resources. As we cast vision for our church we must keep in mind that there are some fixed costs. Things that are essentially impossible to eliminate. No matter what we do we really need to anticipate that something like 20% of our budget will need to be spent on keeping the lights on.
-===MTR: Evaluate your giving. Are you giving regularly, intentional, proportionally, and lovingly?===
+===MTR: Evaluate your giving. Are you giving regularly, intentionally, proportionally, and lovingly?===
-==There are times when the people of God are called upon to provide for ''special'' ''projects'' (Exodus 35:4-29)==
+==There are times when the people of God are called upon to provide for ''special'' ''projects'' (Exodus 35:4-29).==
 Shortly after leaving Egypt during the Exodus the people of God had an important need arise. They needed a proper place to worship God. The solution was the Tabernacle but the resources would need to be gathered. I want us to take some time to look at the process here.
 ===The people of God brought financial resources.===

@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 I am speculating, but I suspect that the resources expended in the early church came at a cost and Paul noting this cost asked the other churches to come together to provide for those who had earlier graciously given to enable to early church to grow.
-===The command to give is not a specific local phenomena.===
+===The command to give is not a specific local phenomenon.===
 I find verse 1 to be telling. Paul reminded the Corinthians that the command to give was not something he was asking for from one particular church. Giving was the normative practice that all the churches were doing.
 ====Something we need to understand is that giving is normal for a church. A healthy church is a giving church. ====
 ====The timing of giving has cultural significance.====
 Something else I want you to notice is in verse 2. There was a specific time when giving took place, Sunday. To understand this part of the passage we must understand that people were paid daily. There was no notion of every other week payments etc. Also, there were not refrigerators and so people typically spent their paycheck on food for the day. People literally lived paycheck to paycheck and that was essentially a daily thing. When Paul calls on people to lay aside saving up this is counter cultural. Furthermore, by specifically laying up each paycheck Paul is removing emotional hype from the giving process. Giving is regular and purposeful not emotional and random.
 ===The command to give is in proportion to one's income.===

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 '''Homiletical Proposition/Application: Within the Church local congregations are resourced by Christ through the abundant generosity of the members.'''
-=Introduction: =
+=Introduction: Memory Verse, Hebrew 10:25=
 ==Image: Winning at Sim City - don't make the mistake of laying out all your roads at once==

@@ Line 111: / Line 111: @@
 The text states that
 ===Elders who lead, preach, and teach are worthy of double honor.===
 First we need to understand the word πρεσβύτεροι. This word in Scripture that we often translate as elder does not refer to just someone who is aged. The word can refer to age but across Jewish and Christian circles, and even in non Judeo-Christian systems the word really came to be a title for an official office. I don't want to get to into the weeds here but elder, pastor, and bishop are all equivalent titles used for one office, the office of pastor. The text here is about pastors and the the statement is that pastors are worthy of double-honor.
+====What is double honor?====
-I have heard all sorts of explanations of what double honor actually is. I have heard people say that a pastor should be paid twice as much as the average salary and I have heard others talk about making sure the pastor is well cared for. I don't want to get into the weeds here and as I stated the church has taken care of me very well. What I do want to emphasize is that a church should support the pastors and should do so at a reasonable level of support. Let me just go out a little further on a limb and try not to cut the limb off out from under me. I have heard of congregations who debate whether the pastor is worth $x dollars or make statements of "well the pastor will make more then me if we pay him that much." Really two thoughts come to mind. First, we need high standards for our pastors so that they are worth the money. Second, if God is blessing a pastor shouldn't a person be excited?
+I have heard all sorts of explanations of what double honor actually is. I have heard people say that a pastor should be paid twice as much as the average salary and I have heard others talk about making sure the pastor is well cared for. I don't want to get into the weeds here and as I stated the church has taken care of me very well.
+=====What I do want to emphasize is that a church should support the pastors and should do so at a reasonable level of support.=====
 Again, you all take great care of me but I also want us as a church to be prepared to generously support our pastors. There may, hopefully will, come a day when we get to hire another member to our pastoral staff. When that day comes I want us to be thinking in the back of our heads "double-honor!" You see, it is important that we recognize that
 ===The work of a pastor, while often a passion of the pastor, still deserves the label "work".===
-I don't know how to explain what the term "work" means to a pastor but I am going to try. I love my job and have no desire to do anything else. I enjoy coming to church and I enjoy interacting with you all. Part of the reason I knew I was being called to ministry was because I found myself devoting all of my free time to ministry when I had a non-ministry job. Ministry is my passion, really it is my life. But, it is also work. Several weeks ago Emily asked me "do you ever feel like just not going to church on Sunday." "No" I told her "I have no choice but to go to church so why would I let my feelings dictate otherwise? but" I continued "there are time when when going to church energizes and invigorates me and there are times when going to church takes energy away from me."
+====I don't know how to explain what the term "work" means to a pastor but I am going to try.====
-Begin pastor does require that I work and Paul makes it clear, those who work deserves wages.
+Being pastor does require that I work and Paul makes it clear, those who work deserves wages.
 ===We need to be prepared to support our current and future pastors.===
-I am casting vision here and before I do so I want to first tell you that I have discussed this with our ministry staff. I am not planning to surprise them. But let me cast vision for a moment. As a church we currently have 237 members, 56 children of members, and 66 regular attenders. We further have a group of people who participate occasionally and a list of people who are visitors but who have not attended for long-enough yet to be moved into our regular attender category. So, we have approximately, 359 people that we as a church take responsibility for. We have a wonderful group of 8 deacons who faithfully serve, we have a several part-time staff members who handle the administration of the church. We have a faithful worship and kids ministry director, and then two pastors on staff. One pastor is full-time and the other part-time. Why do I say this, because conventional wisdom says you need 1 ministry position for every 75-100 people to keep growing. Our ratio is off, we are at 1 to 130 right now.
+I am casting vision here and before I do so I want to first tell you that I have discussed this with our ministry staff. I am not planning to surprise them. But let me cast vision for a moment.
 We need to think about next steps. One next step is going to be working toward making David's position a full time position and the other step we need to be thinking about is bringing on another pastor to do discipleship and family ministry.