An Offertory Devotional video for Sabbath, August 27, 2022, in your @adventistchurch: vimeo.com/716535221. Putting God first can be difficult. What can we learn from this video that will help us put God first in our lives today?
Also available in #Spanish and #Portuguese.
Put #GodFirst
#StewardshipMinistries
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For more information on the Stewardship Ministries of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, you can head over to stewardship.adventist.org/ ______________________________________________
We worship God with our resources because we are in a time of revival. Ellen G. White wrote:
“A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs”
(True Revival, p. 9). Revival is an invitation to turn away from other gods and acknowledge
Him as the sole Lord of our lives. Second Chronicles 29-31 tells us about the revival during the
time of King Hezekiah. The temple was repaired. The worship services were restored. Passover
was celebrated once again. Levites were reinstalled to ministry. Restoration of true worship was
at the heart of true revival.
The people’s response to the call to revival comprised a concrete element: “Then Hezekiah said,
‘You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings
to the temple of the Lord.’ So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose
hearts were willing brought burnt offerings” (2 Chron. 29:31). Spiritual revival acknowledges God as Lord, and one tangible means is to honor Him with our gifts.
The story of Zacchaeus in the New Testament presents giving as a result of true spiritual revival.
Before welcoming Jesus as his guest of honor, Zacchaeus was the greediest man in Jericho. He
was ready to betray his country, lose his friends, forsake his religion, and sacrifice his reputation
for just a little more. However, when salvation entered his house, he was prompted to give more
than what he owed: “I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out
of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (Luke 19:8). That was his love response to the love he received from Jesus. We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.
The call for a spiritual revival is resounding loud in our churches. This week as we worship with
our tithe and regular offerings, called Promise, would it show that the revival message has taken
root in our hearts?