Our Attitude of Giving

Crosspoint Church of the Nazarene · Sunday, August 30, 2026

All Scripture: New King James Version

Before We Begin

The envelope in the seatback pocket. What does it say?
Jesus taught on possessions, talents, time, and money more than anything else
"Premeditated" is a legal word. This morning it turns positive.
Prayed over before we walk through the doors. Online giving too.

1. God Names It Plainly

Malachi 3:8-11

8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.

9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the Lord of hosts.

Three Words Worth Defining

Tithes: the 10% God required by His law in the Old Testament
Offerings: anything over and above that 10%
Storehouse: an abundance, a special place of supply

2. What the Law Actually Required

Altars, sacrifices, obedience measured.

Numbers 29:35-39 (under Old Testament law)

35 On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no customary work.

36 You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven lambs in their first year without blemish,

37 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance;

38 also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

39 These you shall present to the Lord at your appointed feasts (besides your vowed offerings and your freewill offerings) as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace offerings.

Pulpit Commentary, one lunar year: 1,071 lambs, 113 bullocks, 37 rams, 30 goats, 112 bushels of flour, 370+ gallons of oil, 340 gallons of wine

Exodus 30:11-15 (under Old Testament law)

11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

12 "When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them.

13 This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the Lord.

14 Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord.

15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves."

Matthew Henry: a levy by the poll, so much a head, for the service of the tabernacle

3. Under Grace, God Looks at the Heart

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

No deliberation
"Can we afford to give back to God?" is not the question
Out the front door, God knocking at the back door
No compulsion. No embarrassment. An open conscience.

4. Render to God What Is God's

Matthew 22:15-22

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.

16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.

17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"

18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?

19 Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius.

20 And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"

21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

Two groups who hated each other, united against Jesus
Half an answer. Caesar has a limit. God is open ended.

5. Mary's Jar

John 12:1-3

1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.

2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.

3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

Matthew 26:7 and Mark 14:3 also record the anointing of His head
Spikenard: high mountains of India and Nepal, up to three months to harvest and deliver, purest form
She saved it. She never hesitated to spend it on Jesus.

The Eternal Significance

She knew what was coming
Anointing with oil signifies a coronation, a God-given responsibility

John 12:4-8

4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said,

5 "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"

6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

7 But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.

8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

Burial preparation begins here
"She has done a good work for Me." (Mark 14:6)

Old Testament Prophecy Fulfilled

Song of Solomon 1:12

While the king is at his table, My spikenard sends forth its fragrance.

Alabaster

Church of the Nazarene, launched 1949
Land, pastors' living quarters, new churches
Received each September and February

The Question

The world counts the cost. Jesus counts the heart.

What is in your jar of resources?

What is your attitude toward it?