Acts 20:35 exhorts us to give to please God, for our giving to be honored in heaven and to receive abundant blessings from God.

How do we give?

1. Our giving should be orderly and disciplined. 1 Corinthians 16:2 Paul instructs the church to give every first day of the week when the Church meets together.

2. We are to give according to the measure that God has given us. While this was requirement in the OT, the NT encourages us to give out of gratitude and not out of compulsion.

3. Every one should give. 1 Corinthians 16:2. When we give to God, God will bless us, our children and the generations to come.

4. We are to give just as Christ gave. 2 Corinthians 8:9. He gave sacrificially, liberally and he gave the best.

5. We must give cheerfully. 2 Corinthians 9:7

6. We must also give sacrificially. Luke 21:4 Jesus commanded the poor widow and said that she had given much.

Example of the church in Macedonia

2 Corinthians 8:1-9

Paul refers to the ‘grace God has given to the Macedonian Churches. The grace he talks about refers to the opportunity to give their money. Paul says that:

1. They gave joyfully

- They had overflowing joy at the opportunity to give.

- This great joy was not a function of the abundance that they had to give.

2. They gave generously

- They gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability.

- They were poor people who gave what they could and they gave some more.

3. They gave completely

- They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to the church

- They did not just gave some money, they put themselves at the dispersal of both God and Paul

4. They gave generously

- They gave sincerely and from their heart.

- They gave because they saw it as an opportunity.