Worship at a Set Place
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thoughts on Stewardship
Worship at a Set Place
Foundation scriptures: Deuteronomy 12 verses 5 – 19
But you shall seek the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His Name and make His dwelling place, and there shall you come; 6 And there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the offering of your hands, and your vows and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock. 7 And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you. 8 You shall not do according to all we do here [in the camp] this day, every man doing whatever looks right in his own eyes. 9 For you have not yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God gives you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God causes you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about so that you dwell in safety, 11 Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His Name [and His Presence] to dwell there; to it you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes and what the hand presents [as a first gift from the fruits of the ground], and all your choicest offerings which you vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, and your menservants and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no part or inheritance with you. 13 Be watchful not to offer your burnt offerings in every place you see. 14 But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all I command you. 15 However, you may kill and eat flesh in any of your towns whenever you desire, according to the provision for the support of life with which the Lord your God has blessed you; those [ceremonially] unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the hart. 16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it upon the ground as water. 17 You may not eat within your towns the tithe of your grain or of your new wine or of your oil, or the firstlings of your herd or flock, or anything you have vowed, or your freewill offerings, or the offerings from your hand [of garden products]. 18 But you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God shall choose, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your towns; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake. 19 Take heed not to forsake or neglect the Levite [God's minister] as long as you live in your land. Deuteronomy 12:5-19 AMP
1. Even though this is an Old Testament passage concerning, the children of Israel, and the altar—the place of worship—we believe that several aspects of it apply to us today:
a. It is not scriptural to hop from church to church.
b. It is not scriptural to not go to church at all.
c. God sets the solitary in families.
d. We are not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together—even the more so when we see That Day approaching.
e. It's not a matter of control—it's a matter of covenant.
2. We believe in the local church as the modern day "altar"—the place where we bring our worship and our offerings (our sacrifices).
a. God does not live in tabernacles made with hands.
b. We understand that He lives in us and that we are His temple.
c. Corporately we come together to fellowship with one another, to worship, and to bring our offerings, in the place that God chooses.
d. Not every church is where you should be but you should be where God sends you. Bring your families; your kids. Be rooted and grow. Come to a place of maturity.
e. Those who refuse to do these things are out of order—they are not under God-given authority. The apostle Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ". The prerequisite for leadership is that they must follow Jesus and point you also to Jesus and not themselves. If they do not do this —what are you doing there?
f. Put your seed into good ground—that which produces for eternity.
Pastor Adonica's Thoughts:
If you call yourself a Christian and you are not submitted to God in every area of your life, especially giving, then you are nothing less than rebellious. If you do what seems right to you and you do not obey the written word or allow the Lord to lead you on all these things, you have idols of self-will and un-submissiveness in your heart (Ezekiel 14:4 AMP). Pray about which church you should commit to and then commit, through thick and thin. Don't follow the line of least resistance. Commit to a church and allow God to burn the junk out of your life.
Pastor Rodney's Thoughts:
This passage is very plain. God did not want people sacrificing on any altar available. Even though we are on television, we have always believed that you are to tithe to the local church. The tithe does not go anywhere other than where you are being fed. That would be like living in your parent's house, eating at your parent's table, using their electricity, their covering, their wisdom, and paying board to the next door neighbor. You would be supporting those who do not even care for you. It is important for your spiritual well-being, just like the commitment of marriage. You don't go around sowing your seed all over the place—only with the wife of your youth. You must be committed to a local church and bring your offerings and sacrifices there.
Prayer and Confession:
Father, this day I commit to support Your work in the place You have chosen for me. In faith I give and I worship You with my giving.
Recent:
Righteous Now
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP
“Therefore if any man be in Christ…” What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” You are baptized into Christ when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And Romans 10:13 says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The moment
Defeating Strife
These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19 AMP
Faith Facts
Faith is persistent
Luke 11:9-10 AMP
So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
John 16:24 AMP
Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.
Faith is single-minded
James 1:5-8 AMP
If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the