Many are the stories of King David in the Old Testament. At times he is a bold sinner doing horrible things; at other times he is heroic leading Israel as it's greatest king, admired as a man after God's own heart. In this morning's scripture, David was at the peak of his power and his leadership. He was charismatic, that is, the people saw God's spirit in him calling them to greatness and faithfulness. After unifying the land and approaching the completion of his time on earth, David set his final sights on building a worship center befitting the God of Israel. But you know what you need to build a new church? Well, a lot of things, and one of the most important is money. That's what David needed to build Israel's church. David's devotion to God was great, and for David, the pinnacle of his career as God's King over Israel and the witness of his deep faith, was providing a place for worshiping and praising the God of Israel.

Now here's what makes David great and why people loved him and were willing to follow him. He asks the people to donate the money that is necessary to build the temple. But David sets the standard. "My devotion to God is so great, that I will take my own personal wealth to help build this Holy place." David gives a fantastic amount, more than any King would be expected to have, as a sign of his devotion to God.

It didn't come out of the national treasury, but out of his own pocket. And with this example, the people give willingly and joyfully; enough to build the temple.

Now there is a little insight into this giving that we need to consider. The contributions are dedicated and consecrated to the Lord. But in the original language, there is the additional understanding that it is not only the gifts or the contributions that are consecrated to God, but also the giver. Which means that the financial sponsors have committed themselves to the Lord's work and success. For us today, our giving to the Lord and the ritual of bringing our offerings to the altar and praying over them is not only a dedication of our gifts and tithes but also a dedication of ourselves to the work of Christ and to the success of the work of Christ's church. We ourselves along with our gifts are consecrated to the ministry of Christ.

As we look at consecrating ourselves to Christ in expressing our faith in God, I want to share 7 truths of our giving. These are not my understandings, but I have discovered them through some reading about Christian stewardship. The person who put these truths together calls them, "The 7 Non-Negotiables of Christian Stewardship." (1) Let's look at these as the foundation blocks of witnessing to our faith through our giving.

The first truth is that "God owns everything." This is a biblical truth. The beginning of the bible says that God created everything and gave everything to human beings to be used for the benefit of God and God's creation. In effect, we are managers, or stewards, of God's creation and all of the resources that God has given us. We don't really own anything. At best, God graciously lets us use it while we live this life.

Now people in modern society don't like to hear that.

Everything that bombards us through television, movies, newspapers, magazines, friends, families, the stores and malls we walk through, tells us that all that we have belongs to us because we wanted it and deserved it. My friends, don't be deceived. I have had 3 immediate family members, my mother and my two younger brothers, die suddenly when they were only about 50 years of age, and I helped to clean out the possessions of two of them. I can tell you with all truthfulness and candor that they didn't take anything with them when they died, not their most valuable possession or their most precious memento, not even the clothes on their backs. Everything that God gave them to use while they lived was passed on to be used by others during their lifetime. You and I don't own anything. Thanks be to God who graciously shares divine blessings with us so that we may live to do Christ's ministry of love and grace.

The second truth is that "God's work must be supported by God's people." We in this church talk about God's call to be disciples of Christ. And a part of what that means is that you and I are the ones who have been given the task to get the job done. It is our responsibility, not someone else's. Christ has called us to get God's work done. And here's the rub: Christ doesn't ask his disciples to do anything without giving them the resources to get it done.

There's an old joke about the pastor who stood up one morning in church and said, "God has called us to do this great new ministry. It's going to need a lot of money to get it done. The bad news is that our church treasury is almost broke. The good news is that God has already put the needed funds in your pockets. So we'll be taking up an offering."

God relies on you and me to get the job done because we have committed ourselves to being God's people, ready and willing to respond to God's commands of ministry. The author of these truths mentions 4 different kinds of giving. (1)

The first is Regular Giving in which God directs Christ's people to give according to a specific, consistent pattern. This is represented by our weekly giving through the Sunday morning collection plate, where we give similar consistent amounts.

The second is Responsive Giving, in which God calls upon believers to give in proportion to God's blessing upon them. This is joyful giving when we give extra because God has blessed us in a special way. The person who anonymously gave the funds for a new stove and oven in our church kitchen was giving in response to God's blessing on his life.

The third is Reliant Giving, in which a commitment to give is based not on what one has but on what one is believing God to supply. This is a step in faith. Our outreach program, FaithCentre, was started without any money from our church budget but on the assurance that God wanted us downtown, and so we stepped out in faith without any resources certain that God would supply our needs. And people gave to FaithCentre not knowing what would happen next.

The fourth is Revelation Giving, which occurs when God reveals a specific need and impresses upon the believer to meet it. This occurs when a special project is funded, like building a new addition to the church building or supporting our conference camping program's capital funds campaign.

The third truth is that "God holds every person accountable." This is something else that people in modern society don't want to face. We are accountable. We're accountable to our employers to give a full day's quality work with a joyful heart. We're accountable to those who work for us to be honest, fair, just and explicit in what needs to be done.

We're accountable to society to live by its laws and treat others respectfully and with dignity. We are accountable to our families to provide support, nurture and love for each and every member. And we are accountable to God for the way in which we live life and for the faithfulness of our discipleship. Make no mistake.

There is always a judgment day. If we don't fulfill our responsibilities as employees, we get fired. If we don't fulfill our responsibilities as employers and managers, our company goes bankrupt. If we aren't accountable for our actions in society, we end up in jail or worse. If we don't fulfill our obligations to our families, we end up losing them. And if we don't take seriously that life is meant to be lived in a certain way and that way is the way of discipleship, our future in eternity as we stand before the judgment throne will not be heaven, no matter how good we think we have been. We are accountable in life and we are accountable for how we use the things that God has given us in living life.

There are still 4 more truths of stewardship, but we have run out of time today. So next week we will continue with part 2 of this message as we prepare for Consecration Sunday on Nov. 14. I pray during this time that you will enter into dialogue with God about how fully you have surrendered your life to Christ. Is Christ Lord of every part of your life? Are there parts you have not surrendered?

Trust in God for everything, and God's grace will bless you richly.

(1) Kirk Nowery, "7 Non-Negotiables of Christian Stewardship," Stewardship Strategies, Fall 2002, pp. 8-9, 11. See also, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. III, p.467-470, for the exegesis.