Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Dec 24th, 2011 Surviving The New Year – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Good morning! Only one more shopping day till Christmas (two, if you go to Wawa to get a gift card Christmas morning!). And then, shortly after Christmas, the credit card bills start rolling in. Are you worried? The Bible says, in Proverbs 24:1 thru 4: “Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief. Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Not that the credit card companies are run by evil men. They are a business. The credit card companies are out to make money too. They have bills to pay and creditors to pay off. They need an income just like you and me.

“…Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:20). But He may not come back until you pay your bills. So let me give you a few tips on Surviving the New Year.

First of all, and most important for your survival is to put God first. That means you should tithe, that’s 10%. It was the best of the flock, the first fruits from the harvest, and it is holy unto the Lord…

“And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.” (Lev. 27:30).

That simply means that if you were paid $100 this week, and Uncle Sam took $25 to keep big government going, your tithe that goes into the general fund of the local church should be $10. That’s 10% of you first fruits, not $7.50. This is what God wants to use to keep His ministries going. He doesn’t need your money to do this, but how is He going to bless you if you don’t give. Malachi 3:8 thru 12 explains it plainly by asking, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.”

The second step for survival is in the first part of Romans 13:8, “Owe no man any thing…”: start paying off your credit cards. You know how it’s done. Start with the smallest balance, and pay as much as you can. Make sure you pay the minimum on your other cards too. When the smallest is paid off, role that payment onto the next smallest, and destroy the one that had the minimal balance if you want to get out of debt, and owe no man anything. Eventually you will have all your cards paid off. Deuteronomy 15:6 states, “For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.”

Praise the Lord, he has gotten our mortgage balance of the church property to a point where the amount going to the principal is more then the interest. Sooo…

1) Put God first.

2) Owe no man any thing.

And thirdly is also in Deuteronomy 15:6: “…and thou shalt lend unto many nations…”: you can give an offering. This is more of an outcome of the first two. We have someone in our church who is having some financial problems right now. See Brother Gerald if you can help. Also our missions conference is February 25^th thru the 29^th. Did you know that if 2 people gave $5 to missions every week it would be $40 per month: enough to support one of our missionaries. If everyone in the church would give their $5, a church that has 100 giving members could support 50 missionaries at $40 per month. One hundred church members only giving $2.50 each could support 25 missionaries. A person giving $10 per week supports 1 missionary at $40 per month.

Can you imagine what God could do if we tithed the way we should, spent money the way we should, and gave to others the way we should? It would be staggering.

I hope these little tips will help you in 2012.

Peace (Malachi 3:12)