Transcript Christian Giving Statistics

In God We Trust
HCC Fiscal Health
• Spending less than taking in –
operating in the black
• Several months of emergency funds
• Debt - $7.3M > $4.1M (HCC Soncy)
• Pay off debt by December 2012 –
through two avenues
In God We Trust
“For the word of God is living and active.
Sharper than any double-edged sword,
it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's
sight. Everything is uncovered and laid
bare before the eyes of him to whom we
must give account.”
Hebrews 4:12-13
In God We Trust
“Where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.”
“You cannot serve
both God and Money.”
Matthew 6:21, 24
In God We Trust
• When we trust Christ,
we manage His money
• When we distrust Christ,
we own our money
In God We Trust
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We own nothing, He owns everything
We become % givers
We avoid excess debt
Spending decisions become
spiritual decisions
• We can’t ever give enough
In God We DisTrust
•
•
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We own our stuff
We’re tippers (giving God what’s left)
We use debt excessively
Spending decisions are my decisions
We can’t ever get enough
Christian Giving Statistics
23% of all evangelical Christians
tithed
Barna Research
May 2011
Christian Giving Statistics
23% of all evangelical Christians
tithed
Of ALL American Christians –
4% tithed
only
Barna Research
May 2011
Christian Giving Statistics
23% of all evangelical Christians
tithed
Of ALL American Christians –
4% tithed
only
ALL American Christians –
gave an average of 2.38% to church
Barna Research
May 2011
Hillside Christian Church
FY2010 budget = $7,255,143
FY2010 income = $7,389,647
FY 2011 budget = $7.16M
FY 2012 budget ~ $8M
HCC Missions
FY2010 – Actual Income = $7,389,647
Actual Missions giving = $553,844
7.5%
Fy2011 – Budget = $7,164,214
Missions budget = 561,205
7.8%
HCC Giving
If HCC members are giving the average of
2.38% & our FY2012 budget ~ $8M
Then – if ALL members tithed – our income
would be about…
HCC Giving
If HCC members are giving the average of
2.38% & our FY2012 budget ~ $8M
Then – if ALL members tithed – our income
would be about…
$32,000,000?
HCC Giving
$32,000,000
Debt at HCC (Soncy) - $4.1M
Missions - $3.2M (or much more!!)
In God We DisTrust
“As goes culture, so goes the church.”
“I Never Thought I’d See the Day
David Jeremiah
10/19/11
In God We DisTrust
“Churches on the whole are continuing to
spend more on current members and less on
the larger mission of the church and cutting
back on missionaries,” Sylvia Ronsvalle,
Empty Tomb’s executive vice president, told
the [Christian] Post.
The State of Church Giving Through 2009
Empty Tomb Inc.
In God We DisTrust
By increasing tithing to 10 percent, parishioners
could help provide much needed relief efforts
around the world and contribute to the end of many
of the world’s greatest problems, while still
maintaining their own church activities.
But the “lukewarmness” of the church in the United
States and not a lack of resources or methods
posed serious consequences to both global
evangelization and the end of physical suffering.
If a church is turning inward and valuing the
happiness of its members over service to others,
it is moving on a spectrum toward pagan values,
the vice president also stated.
The State of Church Giving Through 2009
Empty Tomb Inc.
In God We Trust
•
•
•
•
We own nothing, He owns everything
We become % givers
We avoid excess debt
Spending decisions become
spiritual decisions
• We can’t ever give enough
In God We DisTrust
•
•
•
•
•
We own our stuff
We’re tippers (giving God what’s left)
We use debt excessively
Spending decisions are my decisions
We can’t ever get enough
In God We Trust
You may say to yourself,
“My power and the strength of my hands
have produced this wealth for me.”
In God We Trust
You may say to yourself,
“My power and the strength of my hands
have produced this wealth for me.”
But remember the LORD your God,
for it is He who gives you the ability
to produce wealth…
Deuteronomy 8: 17-18
In God We Trust
Who has a claim against Me
that I must pay?
Everything under heaven
belongs to Me.
Job 41: 11
In God We Trust
The earth is the LORD’S
and everything in it,
the world,
and all who live in it…
Psalm 24: 1
The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
You founded the world and all that is in it.
Psalm 89: 11
In God We Trust
Everything in heaven and earth is yours
Wealth and honor come from you
I Chronicles 29: 10-13
In God We Trust
But who am I, and who are my people,
that we should be able to give
as generously as this?
Everything comes from you,
and we have given you only
what has come from your hand.
I Chronicles 29: 14-20
In God We Trust
King David – with all my resources &
my personal gifts over & above
The leaders gave willingly
The people gave generously
I Chronicles 29: 1-9
Naked I came from my mother’s womb
And naked will I depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
May the name of the LORD be praised.
Job 1: 21
In God We Trust
King David – with all my resources &
my personal gifts over & above
The leaders gave willingly
The people gave generously
I Chronicles 29: 1-9
We can only give that which God has first given us
In God We Trust
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse
Malachi 3: 8-10
• Tithing isn’t commanded for the NT church
• The word ‘storehouse’ is not in the NT
Therefore….
In God We Trust
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices —
mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected
the more important matters of the law —
justice, mercy and faithfulness.
You should have practiced the latter,
without neglecting the former.
Matthew 23:23
In God We Trust
Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God
a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds
of garden herbs, but you neglect justice
and the love of God.
You should have practiced the latter
without leaving the former undone.
Luke 11:42
In God We Trust
God commands the tithe from the Israelites
• Honor God
• Pay the priests
• Help the needy
Storehouses in several cities
Storehouse = tabernacle/temple treasury
In God We Trust
New Testament examples
Now about the collection for God's people: …
On the first day of every week, each one of you
should set aside a sum of money
in keeping with his income, saving it up,
so that when I come no collections
will have to be made. Then, when I arrive,
I will give letters of introduction to the men you
approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.
1 Corinthians 16
In God We Trust
New Testament examples
This service that you perform is not only supplying
the needs of God's people but is also overflowing
in many expressions of thanks to God.
2 Corinthians 9
In God We Trust
New Testament examples
If we have sown spiritual seed among you,
is it too much if we reap
a material harvest from you? 1 Corinthians 9:11
Anyone who receives instruction in the word
must share all good things with his instructor.
Galatians 6:6
In God We Trust
New Testament examples
All the believers were together
and had everything in common.
Selling their possessions and goods,
they gave to anyone as he had need.
3,000 members & growing!
Acts 2: 41-47
In God We Trust
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said,
"I tell you the truth, this poor widow
has put more into the treasury
than all the others.
They all gave out of their wealth;
but she, out of her poverty,
put in everything — all she had to live on."
Mark 12: 41-44
In God We Trust
You have heard that it was said, DO NOT…
(physical, outward observance)
But I tell you…
(heart, inward observance
resulting in outward actions)
Matthew 5 & 6
In God We Trust
So – do I give to my church? Why? How much?
Do you depend on a regular income?
Should your church do the same?
Missions, benevolence & light bulbs
In God We Trust
“In the passage where the New Testament says
that every one must work, it gives as a reason
“in order that he may have something to give
to those in need.” [Ephesians 4:28]
Charity—giving to the poor—is an essential part
of Christian morality…
I do not believe one can settle how much
we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule
is to give more than we can spare.”
In God We Trust
“In other words, if our expenditure on comforts,
luxuries, amusements, etc.,
is up to the standard common among those
with the same income as our own,
we are probably giving way too little.
If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us,
I should say they are too small.
There ought to be things we should like to do
and cannot do because our charities expenditure
excludes them.”
C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity
In God We Trust
Command those who are rich
in this present world not to be arrogant
nor to put their hope in wealth…
Command them to do good,
to be rich in good deeds,
and to be generous and willing to share.
I Timothy 6: 17-19
In God We Trust
Why do I always seem to ‘grow into’
my pay increases?
I can’t afford to give right now
I’ll start to give when I get a little more
In God We Trust
Giving isn’t what you do
once you are generous –
Giving is what you do
that makes you generous
For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also
Matthew 6: 21
In God We Trust
His divine power has given us everything
we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of him who called us
by his own glory and goodness.
II Peter 1:3-4
In God We Trust
“Do not waste time bothering whether you “love”
your neighbour; act as if you did.
As soon as we do this we find
one of the great secrets.
When you are behaving as if you loved someone,
you will presently come to love him.
C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity