Giving
QUESTIONS ABOUT TITHING ANSWERED
Part of being a Good Steward or Manager of what God has provided is to give a portion back to Him!
We pay the Tithe, or 10%, of whatever we receive from Him.
That Tithe should be paid on our gross salary.
It's not that God needs our money; rather, giving serves as an external, material testimony that God owns both the material and spiritual things of our lives!!
The tithe is an indicator of obedience to all of God's laws.
He is looking for the right attitude in our giving.
In the Old Testament book of Malachi we're told that God wants us to direct our entire tithe into the storehouse.
A storehouse in the Old Testament had four functions. It was used to feed (1) the tribe of Levi and the priests of Aaron, (2) the prophets, (3) the Hebrew widows and orphans living within the city, and (4) the widows and orphans of the Gentiles who were living in and around the Hebrew city.
However, the equivalent of the Old Testament storehouse in the New Testament, as well as in our present day society, is the local church.
God's Word tells us to bring our tithes into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10). When we obey Him and pay our tithes to the church, God holds the leaders of the church responsible for the distribution of the tithes (Nehemiah 12:44-45, 13:5,13).
If we associate the functions of the Old Testament storehouse with the New Testament and current local church, its fourfold function would be to provide for the needs of (1) the pastor and staff, (2) missionaries and evangelists, (3) widows, orphans, single parents, and invalids in the local church, and (4) the unsaved who surround the local church.
Should we give our tithes to pay for Christian education?
The tithe belongs to God. It's our material testimony that God owns everything in our lives. When we take a portion of our tithe and divert it to keep our children in Christian schools, it's really a gift in self-interest. Educational costs are your normal responsibility. Therefore, if God wants your children to attend private school, He will provide the funds without your having to divert His tithe for that purpose.
Should we give our tithes to secular humanitarian organizations?
Because our tithes are given as a testimony in His name, the ministries that serve in God's name should be the recipients of our tithes. Therefore, the tithe should not be used to support secular organizations. However, that doesn't mean that there are not worthy organizations to which you can give. It simply means that the tithe—the first 10 percent of your gross income—should not be used to support secular organizations.
SUMMARY
The tithe is to support the local church of which you are a part...
since you are receiving ministries to your family there...
since you are participating in prayer and service to help maintain the vision of Jesus Christ in your community from within the local church...
you should tithe there.
Giving to any other place than the local church can be a gracious OFFERING above and beyond your tithe!
God would certainly be pleased with other giving beyond His tithe(see "Thank Offering" below),
but the Tithe is the basic faith service unto the Lord that He asks of us to go "into the storehouse" of the local church.
Part of being a Good Steward or Manager of what God has provided is to give a portion back to Him!
We pay the Tithe, or 10%, of whatever we receive from Him.
That Tithe should be paid on our gross salary.
It's not that God needs our money; rather, giving serves as an external, material testimony that God owns both the material and spiritual things of our lives!!
He is looking for the right attitude in our giving.
A storehouse in the Old Testament had four functions. It was used to feed (1) the tribe of Levi and the priests of Aaron, (2) the prophets, (3) the Hebrew widows and orphans living within the city, and (4) the widows and orphans of the Gentiles who were living in and around the Hebrew city.
God's Word tells us to bring our tithes into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10). When we obey Him and pay our tithes to the church, God holds the leaders of the church responsible for the distribution of the tithes (Nehemiah 12:44-45, 13:5,13).
If we associate the functions of the Old Testament storehouse with the New Testament and current local church, its fourfold function would be to provide for the needs of (1) the pastor and staff, (2) missionaries and evangelists, (3) widows, orphans, single parents, and invalids in the local church, and (4) the unsaved who surround the local church.
The tithe belongs to God. It's our material testimony that God owns everything in our lives. When we take a portion of our tithe and divert it to keep our children in Christian schools, it's really a gift in self-interest. Educational costs are your normal responsibility. Therefore, if God wants your children to attend private school, He will provide the funds without your having to divert His tithe for that purpose.
Because our tithes are given as a testimony in His name, the ministries that serve in God's name should be the recipients of our tithes. Therefore, the tithe should not be used to support secular organizations. However, that doesn't mean that there are not worthy organizations to which you can give. It simply means that the tithe—the first 10 percent of your gross income—should not be used to support secular organizations.
SUMMARY
The tithe is to support the local church of which you are a part...
since you are receiving ministries to your family there...
since you are participating in prayer and service to help maintain the vision of Jesus Christ in your community from within the local church...
you should tithe there.
Giving to any other place than the local church can be a gracious OFFERING above and beyond your tithe!
God would certainly be pleased with other giving beyond His tithe(see "Thank Offering" below),
but the Tithe is the basic faith service unto the Lord that He asks of us to go "into the storehouse" of the local church.
17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you 
FLOWERING FIELDS OF FAITH
Our Promise is that Jesus takes care of even the Lilies of the Field.
So we have a poster in our Foyer with a field of Lilies.
$500 / Lily
We have 8 lilies currently growing in our field!
THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN!
If you currently share in the mission of the Belle Church of the Nazarene
or have been involved in our past,
we invite you to give an offering to the church in thankfulness of what God has done through the
Belle Church of the Nazarene!
A Thank Offering as Unto the Lord!
*
We are currently taking gifts for our new mini bus purchased in the fall of 2010.
We bought it in faith for about $50,000 as a ministry to our:
~Seniors with its low step to get up and in the vehicle
~Teens for mission trips and trips to King's Island
~Children as they attend district events and activities
~Adults who love to fellowship and travel!
*
If you would like to contribute to Belle Church of the Nazarene,
we would appreciate your gift to our ministries as we continue
"making Christlike disciples in Belle"!
Room to stand and walk down the aisle!
16 O LORD, truly I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant;
you have freed me from my chains.
and call on the name of the LORD...
Psalm 116
~
Send Your Thank Offering To:
Belle Church of the Nazarene
306 E. 9th Street
Belle, WV 25015