My Offering

• “What did you get out of worship?”• This is the wrong question to ask!

•The right question is – “What did you give in worship?”

• Worship has always involved giving!• Elkanah, father of Samuel, is an

example of one who gave in worship

1 Sam. 1:3

• And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh.• Sacrifice = to give up something of

value • In Elkanah’s case he gave an animal in

sacrifice to God

• Who paid for that animal? – The worshiper did• The animal was valuable but was

freely given as a sacrifice to God

2 Sam. 24:24

• And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

• How much is worship costing you and me?• What do we sacrifice to God when

we come together to worship Him?

•1. We offer God ourselves

2 Cor. 8:5

• And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

• “They dedicated themselves to serving the will of God entirely; they did not mark out some segment of their lives or possessions, to be used only for personal or selfish uses. They gave their entire beings to serve the will of God” (Bob Winton)

•2. We offer God our glory

1 Ch. 16:29

• Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

• Glory = to give glory to God is to praise Him, to honor Him,

Rev. 19:7

• Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

•3. We offer God the fruit of

our lips

• This includes praise and thanksgiving in prayer and in song

Heb. 13:15

• By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Heb. 2:12

• Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee

• We are all being “graded” on our singing – not on the quality of the voice but the sincerity of our heart

•4. We offer God our attention to

His word

1 Tim. 4:13

• Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Heb. 2:1

• Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

Mk. 4:24

• Take heed what ye hear…

Lk. 8:18

• Take heed therefore how ye hear…

• Remember – “when we pray we speak to God; when we read Scripture, God speaks to us.”

2 Tim. 4:2

• Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.• In season = when spiritual interest is high

– when they want to hear• Out of season = when they don’t want to

hear

• In America and in many congregations of the Lord’s church we are currently going through an “out of season” cycle

•5. We offer God our money

• The amount we give says something about our love for God

2 Cor. 9:7

• Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. (KJV)• Each one must give as he has decided in

his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (ESV)

Acts 20:35

• I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

• God deserves the best we can offer him• 1 Ch. 16:29 “Give unto the LORD the

glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”