Giving generously to God and others is an essential Spiritual Practice for a Jesus-follower. The practice of financial generosity is a consistent theme in the Bible and a radical witness of our faith in God within a materialistic culture obssessed with spending on self.
They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honour. Psalm 112:9
In Malachi 3:10, God instructs people to bring a tithe (10%) of their income back to Him. Jesus affirms this Old Testament principle of tithing (Lk 11:42) while the New Testament writers teach Christians to give their money generously (2 Cor 8:3), consistently (1 Cor 16:2) and cheerfully (2 Cor 9:7).
Discover Church encourages everyone to form the Spiritual Practice of giving 10% of their income and other offferings, however ultimately each person must decide in their own heart, before God, what to give.
“Remember this, a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give.”· 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
Decide on the percentage of your income to give. It is recommended to tithe (10%).
Calculate 10% of your income or incomes e.g. $1000/wk earnt is a $100 tithe. $3000/mth from a wage, a pension and a small business is a $300 tithe.
One-off tithes examples: inheritance, house or other assests sold etc.
If you are self employed it may not be as straight forward to calculate 10% so if you need some help, let us know.
If your giving amount is consistent then set up recurring giving.
Set recurring giving to same cycle as your wage is paid i.e. paid fortnightly, tithe giving recurrs fortnightly.
a. Bank Transfer - you can set up through your bank to auto transfer a set amount regularly (weekly, fortnightly, monthly etc.)
BSB: 033-138
Account Number: 267016
Referece: Tithes
b. Credit/Debit Card - You can set this up using tithe.ly, just follow the prompts and create an account. If you ever need to manage your payments or update your account you can just log in and update yourself.
If your income is unpredictible and an automatic payment may not work for you. That's okay, you can still practice giving generously.
a) Schedule a time (set a reminder) each week or month to give to God. Calculate your income for this period and then calculate your giving amount as a percentage (i.e. 10%) of your total income.
b) Using Bank Transfer or Card, as outlined above transfer your giving.
Great question! This is answered best here - Why Give?
Funds received from tithes and offerings go towards the opperations of our church. For example; supplies for Kids Church and other ministries, electricity, water, maintence, wages etc.
Despite being a registered charity we are not an eligible Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR). Therefore we cannot provide receipts for Tax Deductions.
All giving is confidentital and recorded anonymously. The church treasurer is the only person who may see giving information as they reconcile the church accounts but personal information is never reported.
Tithes: A 'tithe' is 10% of a person's income and the minimum giving encouraged in the Bible.
Offerings: Monies given in addition to tithe giving. Sometimes this is given to a specific need or cause.
Missions Giving: A common form of offering giving directly to a mission project. All funds given to these are sent directly to the project, we do not use these funds for church expenses. For example, as a church we financially support a missionary family in the Middle East and take up mission offereings to send direclty to them to support them.
Giving to a beneficiary e.g. church, charity or school, through a will is common. Bequething provides the opporunity for someone to give a generous lump sum to the church as part of their final Will and Testament.
Affordability is a challenge that effects everyone in different forms and is often a matter of whether we chose to live (spend) within our means or not. A Jesus-follower who wishes to worship God with their money will often give their tithe before paying other expenses and therefore tithing is treated as a matter of honouring God not affordability. However, being a spiritual practice some may need to grow into giving a full tithe (10%) over a period of time.
Ultimatley giving is between you and God, we encourage giving finacially and beleive it's bilical (go here for more on this) you don't have to give to be apart of our church community.
Great Question! A tithe is 10% of your income, it's up to you whether you calculate 10% of your before or after tax income. For example if you are paid $1000 from your employer then you would tithe $100.
Some people also tithe 10% of a once off income i.e inheritance, asset sale etc.
If you are self employed it may not be as straight forward to calculate 10% so if you need some help, let us know.
Have more questions or want to talk to someone? Just send an email to hello@discoverchurch.org.au and one of the team will get back to you.