WHEN NOT TO GIVE (4 OF 5)
by Jeff Strite
Scripture: Acts 4:32-37, Acts 5:1-14
This content is part of a series.
When Not To Give (4 of 5)
Series: Giving To God
Jeff Strite
Acts 4:32 - 5:14
OPEN: (I opened with an old Camp Song which I sang at the beginning of the sermon)
Ananias and Sapphira got together and conspired a plot to cheat the church and get ahead
They knew God's will but didn't do it tried to cheat the Holy Spirit
Peter prophesied and then they both dropped dead
APPLY: That was a cute little camp song that we used to sing when I was younger… But when I went looking for those words on the Internet, I came across a Christian site that was absolutely appalled by that song.
I. And I can understand that - As cute as that song is, the story behind it is very unsettling.
ILLUS: Years ago, I was studying thru Acts with a group of men. When we got to this story, I commented that it was a dangerous thing to lie to God… and that Ananias and Sapphira had paid for their lie with their lives. God had struck them dead.
One of the men got very agitated at that. He passionately argued that Ananias and Sapphira must have died of natural causes… because the God he believed in - the God of New Testament was a God of love… not judgment.
ILLUS: In his book, Home Town Tales, Philip Gulley recalled many long Sundays as a child when he would sit through a boring church service and envied his unchurched neighbors.
One Sunday, he slipped out of the church and went to the local candy story, where he spent his offering money on Tootsie Rolls. He returned to church just in time to hear the sermon, which was about Ananias and Sapphira.
After the service, he remembered praying passionately for forgiveness for his misdeed. He even stayed up all night chanting, "I love Jesus I love Jesus," in the hopes that this would convince God to spare him.
It is not a comfortable idea to realize that God might just bring judgment on us for the way in which we give our gifts to Him. But… that's precisely the message we're getting from today's text.
THE SETTING:
Ju ...
Series: Giving To God
Jeff Strite
Acts 4:32 - 5:14
OPEN: (I opened with an old Camp Song which I sang at the beginning of the sermon)
Ananias and Sapphira got together and conspired a plot to cheat the church and get ahead
They knew God's will but didn't do it tried to cheat the Holy Spirit
Peter prophesied and then they both dropped dead
APPLY: That was a cute little camp song that we used to sing when I was younger… But when I went looking for those words on the Internet, I came across a Christian site that was absolutely appalled by that song.
I. And I can understand that - As cute as that song is, the story behind it is very unsettling.
ILLUS: Years ago, I was studying thru Acts with a group of men. When we got to this story, I commented that it was a dangerous thing to lie to God… and that Ananias and Sapphira had paid for their lie with their lives. God had struck them dead.
One of the men got very agitated at that. He passionately argued that Ananias and Sapphira must have died of natural causes… because the God he believed in - the God of New Testament was a God of love… not judgment.
ILLUS: In his book, Home Town Tales, Philip Gulley recalled many long Sundays as a child when he would sit through a boring church service and envied his unchurched neighbors.
One Sunday, he slipped out of the church and went to the local candy story, where he spent his offering money on Tootsie Rolls. He returned to church just in time to hear the sermon, which was about Ananias and Sapphira.
After the service, he remembered praying passionately for forgiveness for his misdeed. He even stayed up all night chanting, "I love Jesus I love Jesus," in the hopes that this would convince God to spare him.
It is not a comfortable idea to realize that God might just bring judgment on us for the way in which we give our gifts to Him. But… that's precisely the message we're getting from today's text.
THE SETTING:
Ju ...
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