I just heard one of the best sermons ever on the process of lifestyle stewardship, storehouse tithing, and the Cooperative Program! This pastor has been addressing his people with the Word of God for the past several weeks on the general issue of finances.

His goal is to lead his people to be a great giving church. However, in order to bring his people to the point of being a great giving church, he first has to deal with such biblical issues as the bondage of debt, bad financial decisions and overall lifestyle stewardship issues.

From the biblical foundation of stewardship, he moved to talk about being a great giver. If we can ever get our church families out from under the load of debt, he said, then we can move to being a great giving church by bringing our tithes, offerings and gifts to further God’s kingdom and bless the world like it says in Genesis 12:1-3.

He then ended the sermon by talking about taking our cash and evangelizing the world from where we live. He talked about our church giving a minimum of 10 percent to both the local association and the Cooperative Program as a way to be world-class givers. He said our church gives away 10 percent as a model, so we can say to our people you should give away at least 10 percent.

By the way … did I mention how old this pastor was? Well, he is not 50, 60 or 70 years old like you would expect. In fact, he is a young church planter.

And let me tell you the rest of his story … he has traded in his SUV on a smaller car, has relocated his family to a smaller, less expensive home and has begun to tackle his own debt … all in an effort to become a greater giver. He is in his early 30s and may his tribe increase. Man what a sermon! Man what a role model!