[1]NASHVILLE (BP) – The financial offering is an exciting part of worship deserving preparation and exhortation on par with sermons, SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Ronnie Floyd believes.
That’s a main point of the new resource he authored, “Ten percent: A Call to Biblical Stewardship,” available in digital format and in print [2] at sbc.net.
“Giving is an act of worshipping God; therefore, as we give, we should give our best with a pure heart,” Floyd said. “Pastors are privileged to lead this moment of worship and when they do, they need to call the people of God to give their best to Him through His church.”
On average, Americans gave 2.1 percent of their income to the church in 2017, down from 3.2 percent during the Great Depression.
“By the year 2050, at the present rate of decline in giving to the church, Americans will only give 1.66 percent of their disposable incomes to the church,” Floyd writes in Ten Percent. “This means that in less than 30 years, your church could see almost a 50 percent decline in giving. Every church will be impacted by this, with thousands closing their doors for good. I want to help you avoid that!”
In Ten Percent, Floyd offers six “biblical, strategic and practical” principles useful in encouraging believers to draw closer to God and helping them examine and improve their stewardship.
[3]“If every church used this six-week study and if most Christians would honor God with at least the first one-tenth of their entire income, it would accelerate the advancement of the Gospel to the entire world in a God-sized manner,” Floyd said. “As pastors call people to do this during the weekly offering, it is important for them to equate the vision of the Great Commission with the dollars the people are giving in a generous manner. Generosity follows the compelling vision to reach every person in every town, every city, every state, and every nation.”
The new resource offers topical exhortation, a collection of six sermons and companion small group studies designed for consecutive weekly application.
“God is the Owner of Everything” and “We Own Absolutely Nothing” open the series, followed by “Honor God With At Least the First Ten Percent,” “Bring the Full Ten Percent to the Church,” “Practice Over and Above Giving,” and “Focus On the Great Commission Always.”
To assist congregations and pastors to better use this resource in the local church, the SBC EC also created a digital resource kit for churches [2]. This kit includes a PDF copy of the book, promotional graphics, bulletin inserts, PowerPoint slides and social media graphics. In addition, other resources in the book focus on the biblical authenticity of tithing and ways to improve the offering as a part of worship.
“This resource can be used by every church regardless of their size or location. The biblical call to stewardship is one of the most needed areas in preaching and teaching,” Floyd said.
“The unique thing about this resource is that we have presented pastors and church leaders six sermons for their pulpit ministry and six lessons for small groups. Therefore, they are able to bring the biblical principles to their people through the pulpit ministry and through their small groups or Sunday School classes,” he said. “This call to biblical stewardship will resound clearly in a healthy and helpful manner.”