Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

In this third of three sermons on Stewardship issues (09 September 2018), Rev. Geoff McKee looks again at 2 Corinthians 8:1-7 and also at Mark 6:31-44 (The Feeding of the Five Thousand). Having covered – in the two previous sermons – the misconceptions that only people with money should give and that it is unpleasant to give, this week he explodes the myth that giving results in a lack of resources.

Click here to download a PDF version of this sermon.

You can access the two previous sermons here (“only people with money should give”) and here (“it is unpleasant to give”).

2 Corinthians 8:1-7 (New International Version)
The Collection for the Lord’s People
8 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. 6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Mark 6:31-44 (New International Version)
31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognised them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Martin Luther, the great German reformer, wrote: “I have tried to keep things in my hands and lost them all, but what I have given into God’s hands I still possess.”

Some fear that, if you give away, you will not have enough left for yourself.

But it is a myth to say that giving results in a lack of resources.

Some of us never add the supernatural into the so-called economic realities of life. [Read more…]

The series of sermons on Stewardship continues (this is week 2 of 3) and, in his sermon for 02 September 2018, Rev. Geoff McKee debunks the Money Myth that “it is unpleasant to give”.

Click here if you would like to download a PDF version of the sermon explaining why it is a myth that giving is unpleasant.

You can read the Week One sermon in this Stewardship series on this website here.

2 Corinthians 8:1-7 (New International Version)
The Collection for the Lord’s People
8 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. 6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Mark 14:3-9 (New International Version)
3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson.

She gave the little girl a fifty pence piece and a pound coin for church.

“Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself,” she told the girl.

When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given.

“Well,” said the little girl, “I was going to give the pound coin, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I gave the fifty pence piece, so I did.”

Some say it’s unpleasant to give.

Many think we would be happier if we kept our money for ourselves.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? [Read more…]

This the first of a three-week series of sermons on Stewardship. Rev. Geoff McKee plans to look at three “Money Myths”, the first of which is that “Only people with money should give”. Through the examples of the Macedonian churches in 2 Corinthians 8:1-7 and the widow observed by Jesus in Mark 12:41-44, Geoff explains why Christian giving must be sacrificial giving.

If you would like to download a PDF version of the sermon, you can do so by clicking here.

You can read the ‘week two’ sermon in this series here.

2 Corinthians 8:1-7 (New International Version)
The Collection for the Lord’s People
8 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. 6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Mark 12:41-44 (New International Version)
The Widow’s Offering
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

During the Nazi occupation of his country in the Second World War, King Christian X of Denmark noticed a Nazi flag flying over a Danish public building.

He immediately called the German commandant, demanding that the flag be taken down at once.

The commandant refused.

“Then a soldier will go and take it down.” said the king.

“He will be shot,” threatened the commandant.

“I think not,” replied the king, “for I shall be the soldier.”

Within minutes, the flag was taken down. [Read more…]

In his sermon for 19 August 2018, Rev. Geoff McKee considers the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:15-20.  This advises us to make best use of our time through worship – and to avoid the abuse of alcohol. Geoff goes into a lot more detail than that, however.  The Greek word, kairos, which relates to time, is central to a proper understanding.

If you would like to download a PDF version of the sermon, click here.

Ephesians 5:15-20 (New International Version)
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The ancient writer of Ecclesiastes wrote:

“God has set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

How would you like to spend two years making phone calls to people who aren’t at home?

Does that sound absurd?

According to one time management study, that’s how much time the average person, over a lifetime, spends trying to return calls to people who never seem to be in.

Not only that, we spend 6 months waiting for the traffic light to turn green, and another 8 months reading junk mail.

These unusual statistics should cause us to sit up and take notice. Once we recognise that everyday life activity can chip away at our time in such huge blocks, we may see how vital it is that we don’t busy ourselves in vain.

In King David’s complaint to God in Psalm 39, he wrote: “You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You” (v 5).

He meant simply that to an eternal God our time on earth is brief. And God doesn’t want us to waste it. When we do, we throw away one of the most precious commodities he has given us. Each minute is an irretrievable gift – an unredeemable slice of eternity. Yes, we have to make the phone calls and we must wait at the traffic lights. But what about the rest of our time?

Is our time well spent?

The apostle Paul wanted us to make the most of the time. [Read more…]