Joshua Boyd

On this Father’s Day, we are grateful for our dads – those who are dads in our church and all of our dads.  God designed marriage and the family to be an image of His relationship with us.  We are His children when we believe and trust in Him.  He becomes our Father at that moment of salvation.  

God used Abraham, because of Abraham’s faith, to bring two families on earth:  the Jews and the people of faith.  Abraham is the father of the Jews and the father of faith.  God blessed Abraham and through him, blessed all of the families on earth.  

Genesis 12:2-3

I will make you a great nation;
 I will bless you
 And make your name great;
 And you shall be a blessing.
 3 I will bless those who bless you,
 And I will curse him who curses you;
 And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

And we learned last time that as we put our faith in Christ, according to Galatians 3:9, we become part of the descendants of Abraham, not as Jews but as children of faith! 

Galatians 3:9 gives us a valuable truth: 

So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

The blessing that God places on Abraham is yours and mine to share when we have our faith, our trust, in Christ.  This means that we can be fruitful and multiply.  It means that those who bless us will be bless and those who curse us will be cursed.  

Let me speak to the dads today.  We have a unique position in our family.  Biblically, we are the spiritual leader, the spiritual head of the family, and as such we have great responsibility to the Lord.  

One of those responsibilities is speaking blessings over your family.  

Joshua Boyd

Deuteronomy 8:18 CJB

No, you are to remember Adonai your God, because it is he who is giving you the power to get wealth, in order to confirm his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as is happening even today.

We’ve been using this verse as our key verse for the series and I want to dive into it more today.  There is an element in this verse that defines how God wants to interact with his children and that then becomes a template for how we should interact with our kids.  

That element is the blessing.  While there is no mention of the word “blessing” in this verse, one of the definitions of the word is:  “the power to get wealth”.  Other translations say “the power to make wealth” or “power to produce wealth”.  

Most of us today don’t think about the power in the blessing.  We have reduced the word “blessing” to saying a prayer over our food or saying “God bless you” when someone sneezes.  

The act of blessing someone to the Hebrews, means much more than offering a kind word.  It is an empowerment and an act of respect.  The root of the word means “to kneel”.  When we bless the Lord, we are showing Him the respect He deserves and humbling ourselves before Him.  It is an acknowledgement of the source.  

When God blesses someone or something, He is initiating the power and strength to accomplish the end result.  

Joshua Boyd

Deuteronomy 8:18 CJB

No, you are to remember Adonai your God, because it is he who is giving you the power to get wealth, in order to confirm his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as is happening even today.

Today we continue with the theme “Biblical Finances” as we look at the offering – but probably not in the way you would expect.  Yes, offerings can be financial, over and above the tithe.  This act shows our love for God and his people.  

Romans 15:25-29

Notice Paul here calls their offering a “good deed”.  When we think of good deeds, what comes to your mind first?  Taking food to someone?  Mowing a neighbors lawn?  It involves action, doing something.  The Scriptures define an offering as a good deed.  If an offering is a good deed than a good deed is an offering.  In other words, offerings don’t always involve money.  

Jordon Gilmore

1. Watch and wait for God
2. Protect the seed
3. Provide support 

Mark 4:26-27
John 15:4-5
John 17:17

Jordon Gilmore


Matt 13:3-9
3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Joshua Boyd

We have covered the foundation of Biblical Finances in our discussion of tithing.  Until that foundation is laid, the next level of giving can’t start – the next level of offerings.  Since tithing represents the first step, giving back to God what belongs to Him, offerings even more show our heart because they are voluntary.  When Jesus spoke of the widow giving all she had, He was speaking of her offerings. 

2 Corinthians 9:6-10

6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say,

“They share freely and give generously to the poor.

    Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

How many of you have planted seeds in a planter or the ground?  Most of us who have done so planted a few seeds.  We weren’t trying to supply our family or others with our crop.  Yet even in the small amount, we got increase.  One seed doesn’t produce once seed.  One seed increases into not just more seed but usable product to eat.   God is the one who designed the process.  He declared after the flood that as long as the earth remains, seed sowing and harvesting will remain too.  

Our responsibility isn’t to understand the increase, it is to keep seed in the ground.  Generous seed, generous crop.  Fortunately, seasons in the Kingdom can be year-round.  It is always planting season.  Harvest season comes as a direct result of the planting.  No planting, no harvest time.  

Joshua Boyd

We’ve been on the topic of Biblical Finances for the past few weeks and the topic of tithing for the past 2 messages.  This is the third and I believe final message on tithing.  Tithing not only represents obedience in giving back to God what is rightfully His, it also represents our heart.  

Matthew 6:21 CEB

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

CJB

For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also.

Trying to keep our money for ourselves, not giving it to the work of the Kingdom shows that we don’t have an eternal mindset.  Everything on this earth is temporary, especially money.  God is a resource greater than money.  He can get your needs met and bless you beyond the income on your paycheck.  

For people whose heart has turned or is turning away from God, the first outward sign that they stop giving.  Oh they may throw a tip in the offering plate, but not the tithe and certainly not offerings.  To love the Lord is to obey His commands.  Those commands are not burdensome but beneficial.  

Jordon Gilmore

Genesis 39:20-23, 40:7-8,20-23

1. We have to decide to let God use us to be a blessing in whatever situation we find ourselves in. 

It is clear that God can prosper us even in situations we don’t want to be in.
Joseph took the time to notice someone else’s plight even when his own was not ideal. He wasn’t self-focused. 

2. Pay attention to others even when we are not 100%
3. When we are serving outside ourselves we have to be led by the Spirit to do what God wants us to do. 

We can’t let our level of faith be dependent on how comfortable we are. 

Joshua Boyd

Jesus, our High Priest, the one designated to give a sacrifice for the people, is from a line of succession in Melchizedek.  Like Melchizedek, Jesus receives the tithes and He blesses.  There is a blessing that only comes when you tithe. It is a blessing of protection and provision.  

Malachi 3:6-10

These are strong words from the Lord through His prophet:  cheated God!  Under a curse because you are not tithing?  The purpose of the tithe is to honor the Lord.  To return to him what belongs to him and to give of ourselves in offerings to honor Him even more.  When we honor God, it allows him to honor us, bless us and protect us.  

King James says “I will rebuke the devourer”.  God will stop the enemy from taking from you and destroying your stuff, your livelihood, your work.  That protection only comes to those who tithe.  

Joshua Boyd

Jesus is our High Priest, the one designated to give a sacrifice for the people.  But He is not from the tribe of Levi where the priest came from, the sons of Aaron.  He is from another line of succession and rank: the order of Melchizedek.  

What are the two things we know about Melchizedek?  He blessed Abraham and he received tithes.  Jesus is like Melchizedek, in the line of succession.  So we know that Jesus does two things:  blesses us and receives tithes.  

Genesis 14:18-20

18 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High,[d] brought Abram some bread and wine. 19 Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
     Creator of heaven and earth.
 20 And blessed be God Most High,
     who has defeated your enemies for you.”

Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.