The Right Financing

Written by Ed Allen
Sunday, 30 October 2005 08:00

Sermons - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Sermon Notes

Proverbs 3:9-10 (NIV)

 ⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth,
       with the firstfruits of all your crops;

 ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
       and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Haggai 1:5-6 (NIV)

 ⁵ Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. ⁶ You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

Core Principle: The right financing for home improvement begins with giving.

1. The way we spend our money reflects our priorities.

Matthew 6:19-21

Treasures in Heaven

 ¹⁹"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

2. All that we have comes from God.

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
  the world, and all who live in it;

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

3. Even the ability to produce comes from God.

Deuteronomy 8:18

But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

4. Giving breaks our slavery to money and reminds us to worship God.

Deuteronomy 14:23

Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.

5. God prospers us not to raise our standard of living but to raise our standard of giving.

2 Corinthians 9:11

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.