Don’t you love those sermon prep moments when the clouds seem to part and the ideas come together fluidly? During my fifteen years of preaching, the clouds have rarely parted with ease. I remember one night when I woke up in the middle of the night with a sermon outline in mind. I wrote it down furiously and went back to bed. And it actually turned out pretty well!

Of course, that’s not the ... read full post  |  3 comments

If the only money subject you preach on is the tithe, you are robbing your church of spiritual truth and growth. In fact, if you look at the teachings of Jesus, He taught extensively about money while only mentioning the tithe in passing. As Jesus taught, He was concerned about the spiritual implications of money far more than He was the religious rules of giving.

Unfortunately, many pastors and teachers ... read full post

Let’s face it, life in America sure seems to be a lot more about “gimme, gettin’, and greed” than “generosity, giving, and gratefulness.”

So, as pastors, how can we encourage parents to help raise generous kids? If we (and the parents we shepherd) fail at this task, God's work will be hindered for years to come since our www.STATEofthePLATE.info annual research shows ... read full post

The Bible says so much about money, stewardship, and generosity. For church leaders planning a preaching or teaching series on money, it can be difficult to decide upon single theme to keep things succinct yet powerful. Three common themes are:

Holistic stewardship seriesMore than just financial management, this series covers the stewardship of time, talent, God’s Word, relationships, finances, and more. ... read full post

As you teach your congregation about giving, what motives do you appeal to? How do you inspire, encourage, or inadvertently discourage your people? In the following video, Scott Ridout, lead pastor at Sun Valley Community Church in Gilbert, Arizona, offers the five most common giving motivations of churchgoers and distinguishes between lower-level motivations (which are short-term) and higher-level motivations (which ... read full post  |  3 comments

If God used your preaching to motivate one of your members to give a $500,000 gift to provide clean drinking water to a third-world orphanage, instead of your church, could you celebrate the gift?

Starting your sermon series off with a concerted focus on Kingdom giving (assuming you've got a sincere heart), rather than just giving to your church alone, will help people relax and engage with your preaching. ... read full post

One of the biggest reasons some churchgoers fear sermons about money is that those sermons are almost always tied to an annual stewardship or capital campaign. It's inevitable for members to grumble when they feel that there is an agenda around the preaching. Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church in Atlanta says it well, "When it comes to stewardship and generosity, do your people know what you want for them ... read full post

Most pastors have developed their own theological view of the tithe and may feel compelled to preach on it during a series. Unfortunately, the message doesn't seem to be getting through because less than 10% of church members actually tithe.

It's often effective to position the tithe as the "training wheels of giving." God desires for us to be truly generous, not bound to any particular formula or number. And ... read full post  |  1 comments