Posted on Fri, Mar 20, 2009
What will you do to sell the Son?
Speaker - Elder Dayo Atejioye (Treasurer, BHSDAC, London)(Summarised by Sis. Ayobola Akwarandu)
Key Texts: 2 Corinthians 9: 6 - 8 and Malachi 3: 8 - 12
You may be wondering what this sermon is about. Well, this sermon is about Stewardship. May be you ask why exactly do we pay tithes? We do because it is a commandment. Therefore, it is sacred and reserved by God to Himself. We must recognise that the tithe is used to further the work of God and provide for God’s household. In the Seventh Day Adventist Church, the tithe is not used at the local Church but remitted to the Conference for further use to support the Pastoral ministries such as funding trainings for Pastors and paying their salaries.
God also wants us to pay offerings. In fact, withholding offering is also categorised as robbery! God expects us to give out of whatever He has blessed us with, be it big or small. The SDA Church also practices liberal giving used towards mission work, there are also special offerings for various use within and outside the Church.
Have you heard of the story of the unemployed graduate who woke up with only $10? He decided to buy some food, eat it and wait for death but then came along an old man with two children who were lean and malnourished, they begged him for food and he looked at them with compassion and decided they would need the food more than him. He handed over the food and the old man gave him a coin and prayed for him. After they left, he sat under a bridge, opened an old news paper and saw an advert, not for a vacancy but for old coins. He walked all the way there hoping to get something in return for the old coin given to him by the old man. Well, he got $3million in return, as the old coin was some sort of classic treasure. He rushed back to the place where he left the old man and found a note thanking him for giving his all. The note was signed by God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! This story might be fictitious but its message is about giving our all to God.
Giving to God is a unique investment that brings great returns. The return is not only financial but also the winning of souls for the Kingdom of God. Soul winning is like an enterprise. A successful enterprise requires investment. It is the investments that prompt returns. As a seasoned marketer, major principles used within the industry are Planning and Preparation. Marketers realise that no planning amounts to absolute failure. Marketers know their products in and out, and they plan carefully how to sell them. They project on who the customers are and how to catch their attention. Many organisations are successful because of their marketing skills. As a Church, what is our product? Do you know your product? Do you have adequate knowledge of your product and do you know who can benefit from your product and how you can get it to them?
Another principle in marketing is ‘timing’. This makes a significant difference to marketers. What sort of time do you approach your customers? How would you approach them? With what attitude will you approach them? How much time and resources would you dedicate to sell your product to get the right returns? Do you know you cannot win people to God if your life does not minister to them? Unless you invest your time and resources to God you will not win them.
Are you going to keep the Son (Jesus Christ) to yourself and go to Heaven alone or will you share Him with others and take them along? You were saved to serve. You can serve Him with your life, your time, your treasure (money), your talents, your body Temple. Give your means to God and He will bless you beyond all measure.
Shalom! 
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