Try-A-Tithe Sunday

Each month, Liberty Corner Church focuses on a mission partner or a ministry of the church to build awareness and connections. This month, we are focusing on Stewardship with Try-a-Tithe Sunday. 


What is a tithe?

A tithe means a tenth. God’s standard for us is to live on 90% of our income and give 10% to God’s kingdom. We get 90%, God gets 10%, to advance God’s kingdom mission on earth. That 10% has been true since Abraham; it’s in the Law of Moses; Jesus reaffirmed tithing—it has been the standard for four thousand years. It’s in the Bible, so it never goes up.


Tithing is a sacrifice. It proves that we trust God to provide—and God promises if we are faithful, God is faithful. In Malachi, God says “Test me on this: bring the full tithe, and I will open the windows of heaven to bless you.” God does not promise a red Lamborghini, but God does promise a truly abundant life. God provides what people want to get from money—joy, freedom, security. 


What is Try-a-Tithe Sunday?

Trusting God with money seems scary to many people. Our world tells us there might not be enough. Tithing means trusting God to provide. Many Christians have never tried tithing, may have never heard of tithing. Some people give 1%, and have no idea there is a biblical standard. Maybe you’ve never done the math to know what a tithe would be.


On May 2, we will have try-a-tithe Sunday, where we are encouraging you to try tithing for one week. Figure what you earn that week, and give 10% of it that Sunday. No long-term commitment. And no risk: if you have an unexpected bill, we can refund the money from that week. By the way, we always have a Deacon’s Fund if you are in need. No commitment, no risk. On May 2, let's bring the full tithe, and see what God does. 


Contact | Barnabas Sprinkle

Kingdom Investing

Principle 1: Stuff doesn’t last forever. God’s kingdom does!

  • Matthew 6:19-20  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

  • Jesus is telling us to seek true treasure, not temporary treasure!


Principle 2: Seeking stuff competes with trusting God.

  • Matthew 6:21, 24 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. … “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.


Principle 3: God provides all the stuff we need.

  • Matthew 6:25, 32-33: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? …For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
  • Philippians 4:19: And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 

 

Principle 4: God blesses those who faithfully invest in God’s kingdom.

  • Luke 6:38: Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

  • 2 Corinthians 9:6-8: The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And 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.

  • This does not mean we give to be greedy, seeking a financial gain. God provides what money pretends to provide: security, joy, freedom, and abundance.

 

Principle 5: The standard for kingdom investment is 10% of one’s income, called a “tithe.”

  • Abraham gave 10% out of gratitude to God (Genesis 14:20).
  • Jacob committed to give 10% out of gratitude to God (Genesis 22:28).
  • The 10% tithe was required in the Law of Moses (Leviticus 27:30-32, Deuteronomy 14:22, etc.).
  • When God’s people turned back to God, they tithed (see 2 Chronicles 31:5-6, and again in Nehemiah 10:37-38).
  • Jesus told the Pharisees that tithing their garden herbs cannot make up for ignoring God’s grace, and he affirmed that we should not neglect to tithe (Matthew 23:23).

 

In God’s economy, 90% of what we have provides for our needs, and 10% supports God’s mission. Tithing is intended to be a sacrifice: it is an investment that demonstrates our trust in God, and our commitment to God’s kingdom.

 

Principle 6: God promises to prove God’s faithfulness if we will be faithful. 

  • Malachi 3:8-10: Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

 

Overall, God asks us to return part of what God has entrusted to us. We do so in gratitude to our Creator, who owns everything we have, provides all we need, and gives more than we can ask or imagine. We invest in God’s kingdom, that it may spread to the ends of the earth.