Grace Gives | Return

Pastor Seth introduces Grace Gives, a recurring series meant to make God’s grace something the church embraces in every area of life, not merely a phrase on its sign. Because grace is God’s free gift—“God’s riches at Christ’s expense”—he connects it directly to generous living. Quoting Martin Luther, he describes faith as “a daring confidence in God’s grace,” asking what would happen if people trusted that all resources belong to God, their loving Father. The three-week series will cover returning the first, giving cheerfully, and building a legacy, leading toward the church’s December Big Give offering and future plans.

Seth jokes that announcing a sermon on tithing produces little enthusiasm, then admits he once avoided the subject because finances trigger stress, fear, and suspicion of religious manipulation. For years he either skipped financial teaching or watered it down into harmless clichés. His attitude changed several years ago while he was praying about another unavoidable sermon. He sensed God confront him: Seth had tithed throughout his Christian life, had experienced the joy and peace it brought, and was withholding that same possibility from others because he feared their reactions. Since then, he says, he has felt hope and excitement discussing tithing.

Seth defines a tithe precisely as the first 10 percent of income, rather than any amount given to a church. He acknowledges that some churches and theological movements have exploited the subject, but argues that the principle is much older than modern fundraising. In Genesis 4, Cain brings “some” of his crops “in the course of time,” while Abel brings fat portions and the firstborn of his flock. God favors Abel’s offering. Seth says this is not favoritism based on who God loves more; Abel recognizes reality by giving the first and best, while Cain gives leftovers without faith, love, or honor.

Seth says farmers at Grace City helped him understand the Genesis contrast. A farmer can estimate the eventual harvest while crops grow, making it easier to give from what remains. A shepherd offering the firstborn does not know how many healthy animals will follow, so giving the first and best requires faith. The point is therefore not to increase Cain’s leftovers but to change what comes first. Seth traces this principle into Exodus, where Israel is told to bring the best firstfruits to God’s house. He says the tithe specifically concerns the first and best offered directly to God, not whatever remains after personal decisions.

Seth explains the Old Testament instruction to redeem an unclean firstborn donkey with a lamb; if it is not redeemed, its neck is to be broken. He presents this as a picture of the clean, unblemished sacrifice redeeming the unclean and broken. For Christians, Jesus fulfills the entire sacrificial system: the Passover lamb, animals sacrificed for sin, and every firstborn offering foreshadowed him. Jesus is God’s first and best—the firstborn over creation and the perfect Son—given to redeem everyone else. Seth therefore says tithing is not merely a financial strategy but reflects the gospel pattern of God giving his first and best.

Seth connects Exodus’s firstfruits command to the instruction that parents explain tithing to their children by recounting Israel’s slavery in Egypt and rescue through the blood of an innocent lamb. Giving the first and best is thus a repeated story: God redeemed his people first, and their giving responds to what he has already done. He then cites Malachi’s severe language that withholding tithes is robbing God and notes that Scripture says to “bring” or “return” the tithe rather than simply give it. Since everything belongs to God, people steward 90 percent but return the first 10 percent.

Using examples of $10, $1,000, $10,000, and larger incomes, Seth emphasizes that the arithmetic is simple: the tithe is 10 percent. The harder question is how living on 90 percent can work better than living on 100 percent. He recalls earning $600 monthly as a new Christian and being challenged to return $60, despite rent, food, and gas. He began tithing every check and says he has always had enough, though he cannot explain the math. Unexpected checks, cash, help from church members, and even IRS refunds have reinforced his conviction that 90 percent blessed by God is better than 100 percent without that blessing.

Seth argues that tithing is not merely an Old Testament requirement by citing Jesus in Matthew 23. Jesus criticizes Pharisees who tithe even tiny herb-garden income while neglecting justice, mercy, and faith, but then says, “You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.” Seth interprets this as affirming the firstfruits principle while rejecting external righteousness detached from love, patience, kindness, and other spiritual fruit. He compares it to requiring both shirts and shoes while warning people not to neglect pants: the weightier matters must not be neglected, but that does not erase tithing.

Seth rejects the common plan to begin tithing once income increases, noting that larger income usually brings larger lifestyles and more difficult checks to write. He started his children early: whenever they received a $10 allowance or earned money mowing a lawn, they returned a tithe, sometimes bringing coins and even receiving annual giving receipts for amounts such as $2.74. He says they were not forced, but discovered the joy and continued. Tithing, he argues, orders God first through budgeting, connects money to eternal impact instead of short-lived purchases, and makes people notice God’s provision more attentively.

Seth gives three reasons not to tithe: to purchase closeness with God, to appease a guilty conscience, or to gain power in church. Money cannot buy salvation or atone for sin, and Grace City will not let donors choose carpet colors, attach names to buildings, or control ministry. He recounts a parent who wanted him to dictate her daughter’s major, boyfriend, and life choices, hinting that a generous family might fund the church if he cooperated. Seth refused, telling her that her dollar did not buy him. Giving must be directed to Jesus, not used as leverage.

Seth says people should give only if they trust the church’s leadership and financial transparency—or ask questions and seek help until they can. He insists, “We don’t give to get” and do not give to be saved, yet says faithful giving has helped break his fear of never having enough. His family lived on about $2,000 a month as campus ministers while budgeting carefully and tithing. He does not explain every provision as a transaction, but believes God has repeatedly supplied what was needed. He closes by asking listeners to identify where God is challenging them and to return their first and best in trust.