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INTRO
Paul is closing the letter with final exhortations.
Encouraging the church to take part in giving to support the saints in Jerusalem
Encouraging an attitude of giving within the church
Their giving was a glorious picture of unity in the Gospel (helping other… to Jerusalem)
Each church doing their part for the kingdom
We should give
Deliberately (With a plan. On purpose)
Proportionally (we give as God has given)
Sacrificially (give the best not what is left over)
Joyfully – WITH A JOYFUL HEART
A Heart for Missions – v. 1
Others
Saints, Galatia, Jerusalem
We give so that:
Others may share
Others may hear
Others may be saved
A Heart for Worship – v. 2
First day of the week
Privately
With thanksgiving – Phil. 4:18-20
Not hypocritically – Acts 5:1-11
There are three kinds of giving: grudge giving, duty giving, and thanksgiving. Grudge giving says, “I have to”; duty giving says, “I ought to”; thanksgiving says, “I want to.” ROBERT RODENMEYER
A Heart for Unity – vv. 3-4
Together as a body
Same mission, purpose (THE MISSION)
Doing more together
Others included in the process (Acts 20)
No church is just a church… we are part of THE CHURCH.
Unity for the Gospel
Not just unity for the sake of togetherness
It is interesting to read in Acts 20 the wide variety of people who did accompany Paul on his return to Jerusalem after his third missionary trip. Listed there are people from all the major areas from which Paul gathered funds (although no one is mentioned from Achaia): from Galatia, Gaius of Derbe and Timothy of Lystra; from Macedonia, Sopater of Berea, and Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica; from Asia (Ephesus), Tychicus and Trophimus, and (indirectly) Luke from Troas. VERLYN D. VERBRUGGE, “1 CORINTHIANS,” IN THE EXPOSITOR’S BIBLE COMMENTARY: ROMANS–GALATIANS (REVISED EDITION), ED. TREMPER LONGMAN III & GARLAND, DAVID E., VOL. 11 (GRAND RAPIDS, MI: ZONDERVAN, 2008), 407.
CONCLUSION