When Jesus was asked what was the most important commandment, He actually gave two: love God and love people (see Matthew 22:37-40).  He cited Leviticus 19:18, which says to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Looking at that phrase in its context provides some insight.  Leviticus 19:18 in its entirety says: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”

Since we’re coming out of a three-week series on forgiveness at CrossWay, this really jumped out at me.

Sometimes we tend to categorize biblical truths as Old Testament or New Testament, as though they’re not consistent with each other.  The whole concept of forgiving others because God forgives us seems very New Testament.  But it’s right there in Leviticus in the Old Testament!  We’re not to carry grudges or seek revenge.  If we do, we’re not loving our neighbors.  And we’re to practice this kind of love because Jesus Christ is the Lord.

It’s stuff like this that reminds me why I love the Bible… and even more than that, why I love the God of the Bible.

We’re told that Moses carefully and diligently obeyed God and did everything just as he was supposed to.  And then near the end of the book it says: “And so Moses finished the work.”

I love that statement!  Something I pray for is that God would help me to finish the work, to complete the plans and fulfill the purposes for which He created me.  Although I sometimes fear failing to finish the work, a couple passages in the Bible tell us about tools God gives us to help:

Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  I’m not left alone to finish the work.  God prepared these “good works” long before I was even born, and He has “created (me) in Christ Jesus to do” them.  He is shaping my character and He gives me His Spirit so I can finish the work like Moses did.

More specifically, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  God gave us the Bible so we would be not just ready, but “thoroughly equipped” to complete the work He’s called us to.

Maybe this is one of those things that can’t be explained in a way to convey the “a-ha!” moment.  But when I read this morning about how “Moses finished the work,” it hit me what an enormous statement that is.

I think that’s what I want my tombstone to say: “And so Nathan finished the work.”

Lord help me!

Of course, I already knew that God made me and that He made me unique.  But I never really thought about the fact that I’m His idea.  I mean, this morning I made a cup of coffee, but I didn’t come up with the idea of coffee.  God not only made me, but my very existence is His idea.  There were already billions of people on the planet, but none of them were me, and in His mind God conceived the idea of me and then made me.  My height, my complexion, the color of my eyes and the shape of my nose… my strengths, weaknesses, the things that make me laugh and the things that make me nervous… all of this was God’s idea!  I originated in His mind.

This insight gives much more meaning to Psalm 139:13-15: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.”

Think about it: You are God’s idea.

Reminds me of all the bumper stickers that were around during President Bush’s last year or so, that simply had the date of the next inauguration.

It’s weird how so many people still place so much hope in a politician.

There’s a day coming when we will have a new leader who will make a difference and we will see positive and lasting change.  But as Jesus said: “About that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36).

Maybe I should get a bumper sticker with a blank date.

The highlight of the day for me came at the end of the second service.  When we reached our prayer time after the sermon, I grabbed a chair and used it for an altar, and encouraged others to do the same if they felt led to.  As I got down and bowed my head with my eyes closed, I heard a lot of rustling.  A lot of rustling.  When I finished praying, I started to stand up and saw that everyone was on their knees in prayer!  It was awesome.  I was so moved that I couldn’t say anything, so I just walked up to the drums for the closing song. (Turns out that the prayer gave such a sense of closure to the service that people started to get up to leave, not realizing we had a closing song!)

It was especially cool because our Worship Planning Team met last week and talked about how we can lead people into worshiping through physically humbling ourselves before God.  God definitely responded.

God is the God of that city, and He is the God of our city, too!  He is the God of our community.  He has many people here.  He is doing something in the West Ocean City/Berlin area, and He’s bringing His people together to make it happen.  Not only that, but Jesus Christ has people in our community that don’t know Him yet, and He wants to work through His churches here to bring those people to Himself.

In this passage in Acts, Paul preaches in the synagogue–the established church, if you will–and they not only oppose him but actually abuse him.  So he goes literally right next door, preaches the gospel, and revival breaks out in the city!  CrossWay is on a mission to make lifelong followers of Jesus Christ throughout our community and around the world, and that means we can’t hide in an insulated religious bubble.  We must go out into the community.  Sometimes there’s a dormant revival right next door, just waiting to explode as soon as the gospel is shared.

So we talked about our vision of being a place where anyone can understand and respond to the Bible.  That’s how we make lifelong followers of Jesus.  We know Jesus by reading and understanding the Bible, and we follow Jesus by responding to the Bible in faith and obedience.  We can fulfill our vision by living out our core values: Community, Reverence, Outreach, Service, Spiritual Growth.  As these five things come to define us, we’re in position for God to bring His kingdom to our community.  He is the God of this city!

While we’re often surrounded by messages that tell us to indulge ourselves and live above our means, the wisdom of God tells us otherwise.  In fact, at church we looked at several verses that tell us to pay attention to ants and we can learn some biblical tips for good money management!  (See Proverbs 6:6-8; 30:25.)

We touched on three specific things we can do for financial success God’s way:

(1) Earn.  This may seem obvious, but it’s really not what we’re encouraged to do.  Rather than working and earning money, we’re constantly presented with amazing once-in-a-lifetime better-act-now get-rich-quick schemes.  If nothing else, at least buy our product for a chance to win $25,000 or a big-screen TV or a trip to paradise!  But the best plan for obtaining money (which we obviously have to do before we can manage it) is to go old school and earn it.  Instead of looking for shortcuts, let’s look down the road at the big picture.

(2) Save & Spend.  After the tithe, the next place to direct our money is savings.  It doesn’t have to be a lot.  A little bit over a long time adds up.  Personally, I’d encourage people to save for specific things rather than just have a lump savings account.  With online banking, it’s easy to have separate savings accounts for retirement, vacation, college, car repairs, etc.  Rather than waiting for that million-dollar check to drop on us from somewhere, the way to achieve our financial goals is by working toward them a little at a time.  After tithing and saving, it’s time to spend!  We’re responsible to God for 100% of our income, so we should still spend responsibly.  Pay the bills, have fun.  But be careful to live below your means.  Not within your means, which provides no margin, but below your means.  That way there’s room for financial emergencies.  Even if something dramatic happens and you have to take a pay cut, your standard of living can remain the same if you’re living below your means.

(3) Give.  This can include tithing, sure.  But it goes way beyond that.  There is tremendous joy in using our God-given resources to be a blessing to others.  Worldly “wisdom” has no room for being selfless and generous.  The closest thing it has to offer is making a tax-deductible contribution.  In other words, give so that you can keep more!  Nothing wrong with tax-deductible donations, of course, but our focus should be on giving in order to be generous and reflect the nature of God.

Earn.  Save.  Spend.  Give.  By practicing these biblical guidelines for money management, we’re not so vulnerable to the fluctuations of the economy.  Not only that, but we get to put our faith into practice by following God with our money.

I’m hearing ya on #1 & #2 but to be transparent it is sometimes hard to be cheerful about it. I am happy to be giving back to God what is his. I’ve been sitting here looking at the word cheerful and trying to think if that’s how I am feeling. Maybe I need to be praying about that cheerful thing

This seemed like it was postworthy, rather than just responding in the Comments section.

Katie, thanks for your honesty!  I totally hear ya on that one.  It’s definitely not natural or easy to give cheerfully, so I don’t have any quick or easy answers for you. I’ve been there myself… and often return there.

But I can tell you how it works for me.  Whenever I give my tithe, I remind myself that it represents just a fraction of what God has provided for me.  I also remind myself that God is going to use the money to do the things that are important to Him.  Finally, I’m convinced that God can do a whole lot more good with the money than I ever could!  It’s also helpful to keep in mind that money we give to God’s church and ministries has eternal value.

When I give money that’s not my tithe, it helps me to be cheerful about it by thinking about what it will mean to whoever it is I’m giving it to.  If it’s someone who’s struggling financially, it will remind them that God provides for them.  If it’s just a gift for someone to enjoy, it’s helpful to keep in mind what a blessing it’s been when I’ve been on the receiving end, and knowing that the other person/people will get to have the same enjoyment.

One more thing: for me, part of the joy of giving, part of what helps me to be cheerful about it, is knowing that giving regularly brings freedom.  I don’t have to worry about money and I don’t have to be enslaved to it, because when I give regularly, the chains of materialism and greed can’t keep their hold on me.  I enjoy that freedom!  I also enjoy knowing that I’m entering into one of God’s promises, that when I trust Him, He’ll take care of the details and He’ll provide for me.

Hopefully that doesn’t sound like a bunch of Christianese, because it’s not.  It’s personal experience.  Like I said, it doesn’t come naturally or easily, but it’s a work of the heart that God is eager to do.

By the way, Katie, on a personal note: I’ve often seen you give cheerfully!  When you’ve made food for small group, had people over to eat and shoot skeet, or more recently, when you took pictures of Laura Marie for us, you’ve seemed pretty cheerful about it!  It’s not just forking over the green that counts as giving.  All these other things are ways of giving.  So don’t be too hard on yourself.

The words “trust” and “faith” are very closely related.  To have faith in God is to trust Him: to trust Him with our souls, our families, our health… and our money.  The Bible has a lot to say about how we can exercise our faith in God by what we do with our money.  Money is very much a spiritual issue.

We discussed three ways of trusting God with our money:

(1) Give first.  Rather than paying off all the bills and seeing if there is enough money left over to give to support the church, other ministries, and people with financial needs, the Bible instructs us to give first (see Exodus 23:19).  Giving first shows that we trust God with the rest.  The Scriptures teach that we should give at least 10% of our income to the church–the Bible word for this is “tithe.”  Just as Jesus took one kid’s lunch and multiplied it to feed thousands of families (see John 6:1-13), so He can take our 90% after the tithe and do more with it than we could do with 100%.

(2) Give sacrificially.  This means giving to the point that we can feel it.  It means that our giving really costs us something.  This is very different from giving a little out of our extra.  Jesus teaches about this, among other places, in Luke 21:1-4.

(3) Give cheerfully and generously.  God loves a cheerful giver!  Some people give out of guilt, but God says not to do that.  Instead, we should give joyfully, as an act of worship and gratitude.  The more generously we sow, the more generously we reap.  (See 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 for a passage about this that is so simple yet so profound that we would do well to order our lives around it.)

By giving first, giving sacrificially, and giving cheerfully and generously, we actively trust God.  We show that our faith in God is not just something we talk about, but how we actually live.

Next week: Following God with our money.

When she asked if any of the kids knew where that place was, one little guy who’s three or four said, “Jamaica!”