We are in our last weeks of a new series on “Becoming Like Family”.  This is important as our online community begin to share the daily challenges with friends, and we begin to gather our larger community together as one church community.  We won’t be bound together by a building, or institution, but rather by five commitments.  We’ve talked about commitment to common learning goals, connectedness as a community of small and large groups, connectedness to God in worship, grace in our lifestyles, and finally this week we end our series with a commitment to generosity in our resources.

Last week the Governor General kicked off a new initiative in canada: My Giving Moment at http://mygivingmoment.ca/.  You can watch a video introduction here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9Tn22k6jwE

Canadians clearly have an openness and willingness to give to others.  According to a survey published in November 2012 the number of Canadians who made a charitable donation increased by 10% in 2012, while the total amount of donations increased by 14% when compared to 2011.

But when Christians talks about giving, sometimes it feels different.  We might expect Christian teaching on giving to be self-serving, like we only talk about generosity when it means putting money on a plate to support a particular institute or building, or in the worst examples, buying a pastor a luxury car or mansion in the woods.

Imagine you are channel surfing, and you see a televangelist asking people to make a pledge – do you assume they’re genuine, or do you get concerned?  Billy Graham, who just celebrated a birthday, is widely recognized as one internationally known preacher whose reputation is intact, but it’s so unfortunate that he’s seen as the exception rather than the norm.

A friend of mine attended church for first time, to support a friend’s baptism, and I remember the look of horror on his face when the members of the church started passing a brass collection plate around.  This man of another religion felt compelled to give to support something he didn’t believe or understand simply because a plate was going to be passed under his nose and he didn’t want to be embarrassed appearing cheap.

For all these reasons and more, the notion of churches and christian ministries talking about money can be a touchy thing.  Some might suggest we’d be better to leave it alone, and teach about lighter stuff.

But if someone told you that the Bible was a great way to learn about Jesus, and then handed you a Bible with a bunch of sections blacked out, you’d be suspicious, wouldn’t you?  You’d wonder what they were holding back, and rightfully so.  You’d call WikiLeaks and see if they know what’s been blacked out!

It would be dishonest of me to pretend that Jesus didn’t have an awful lot to say about money and how we live with it.  It would be like blacking out 15% of Jesus’ words in the Bible!

I think Jesus said so much about money and possessions because he knew that the place of money in our lives was a spiritual issue far more than it was simply an economic issue.  He knew money had a lot to do with our feelings of self-worth, identity and security in life.  These are the exact things we are meant to derive from God, and that are meant to be developed in and through our generosity.

Question: Have you seen someone who worships money?  How could you tell?

Reminder: Earlier in this series, we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - May 13, 2014

Tuesday - Study It - Pioneer Spirit

The book of Acts was written by Luke, a medical doctor who took an interest in the teachings of Jesus through his mentor, Peter. He’s examined the evidence for Jesus’ life in his earlier letter, the Gospel of Luke, and this time he’s looking at what happened to those who decided to continue following Jesus. Jesus has given his followers a huge mission – we learned this last week – to share his good news with the entire world. To the ends of the earth! He gave this mission to twelve central disciples and a hundred or so people who may have gathered around them in this story. It would be hugely daunting, with no modern communications, travel options. They were in uncharted territory, and needed a guide. Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit, and said to wait for him to arrive. Here’s what happened on the day of Pentecost, a Jewish festival. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” (Acts 2:1-13 ESV) How could they know if this was truly the Holy Spirit, their guide for this mission they’d been assigned? They experienced three phenomena that only God could produce. Wind It sounded like wind, but wasn’t. It was the Holy Spirit. Not a bad attempt at a physical description of God’s Spirit – we know we can feel the wind, see its effects, but also that we can’t ever pinpoint or control its source. It’s out of our control, and in the case of a sailboat, we have to admit this if we ever want to get anywhere, by adapting ourselves to the reality of the wind’s direction and strength. Flames It looked like fire, wasn’t. This phenomenon didn’t burn them or produce heat. It just appeared and rested on them. They were on fire! Tongues These people sounded like they were speaking languages they knew, but they weren’t. They were speaking other people’s languages. Tomorrow we’ll see the meaning of all this, particularly the languages or tongues. Why all these odd signs of the Spirit? John the Baptist said Spirit would come with wind and fire. God has used these signs before – in Exodus God appeared as a pillar of fire to guide his people. But why now? Question: What do you think God is trying to teach these disciples through wind, fire and speech? What’s he showing them about the Holy Spirit?

Related Topics: Ascension, Early Church, Jesus, Pioneer | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

From Series: "Pioneer Story"

We read through the Book of Acts as a Pioneer Story for the church.

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