That’s how Martha felt when Jesus and his disciples paid a surprise visit to her home in Luke 10:38-32. Sometimes the unexpected can expose struggles going on inside us. Martha had an additional thirteen extra guests to worry about. How would you feel if your Senior Pastor knocked on the door with twelve of his mates and said “We were just driving by and thought we might stop in and have dinner with you.” You would probably try to look enthusiastic and welcome the guests in with a less than genuine, frozen smile on your face. As they came in you might apologise for the sink full of dirty dishes and rush to the living room to turn off the episode of Desperate Housewives you’d been watching. At the same time you’d be mentally rummaging through the cupboards wondering what you could serve. Perhaps?

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A helpful passage on how to give is 2 Corinthians 8-9. Here are some principles it teaches us.

Our giving should be sacrificial

The Macedonian church gave generously out of the most severe trial and extreme poverty (8:2). When money and resources were scarce they still gave, even at personal cost to themselves! They clearly did not give from their surplus, they gave sacrificially. It cost the Macedonian church to give. Does our giving cost us?

Our giving should be in proportion to our means

The Macedonian Christians gave as much as they were able (8:3). See also previous post.

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How should we serve God with our money? How can we be good stewards of the money God has given us? The Bible has ample answers to these questions. Let’s look at some reasons for giving, some guidance on how to give and budget our money and then deal with some common objections to giving (over the next couple of posts). I say “some” because there will undoubtedly be more than this post permits and this simple mind understands!

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Money is a sensitive subject. It is a taboo topic. Like talking to strangers on a packed London Underground tube, it just makes people uncomfortable. But Jesus had a lot to say about money. Depending who you read, somewhere between 10-30% of His teaching addressed the subject! Driscoll says, and I’m not about to argue with him, that “Jesus devoted roughly 25 percent of his words in the Gospels to the resources God has entrusted to our stewardship.” (Doctrine)

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Really wanted to expand the reach of this great, encouraging testimony that was shared at our recent baptism service. May it stir your love for God and passion to share the gospel!

My name’s XXXX. I’ve been coming here for about 3 months after completing the Alpha Course, and this is my testimony: I thought I was happy before… I had dreams, most of which changed on a daily basis. CEO; Club-Owner… I remember one of my mates back at uni saying I should become a WWF wrestler once. It didn’t stick!

No matter where I was going in my life, or what was the top of my list for that day, God never featured. I believed there was something out there, but was never sure what, and it didn’t bother me. I had heard the name of Jesus, but he wasn’t a part of my life.

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