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An Acceptable Sacrifice - Philippians 4:10-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 19, 2009 AM Sacrifice is a quality that has been lost on many in the church today. Let me illustrate what I mean: According to a Worldmag.com article, “Of every dollar given to a Protestant church, the average amount that goes to overseas missions is two cents.” In fact, they noted that “In 1920, the percentage of giving to missions from the total offering was 10.09 percent, just over a dime out of every dollar.” Empty Tomb, of Champaign, Ill., has analyzed the contributions and spending patterns of American churches. They found that “Noticeably missing in this study of church giving is tithing.” The study shows that total giving for American churches was at about 2.5% for all religious contributions! They found that “If church members were to tithe 10 percent of their income, churches would reap an additional $156 billion.” Christians have forgotten what it means to sacrifice for the kingdom of God. Interestingly, ...

The Fruitful Labor of the Believer - Philippians 1:22-26 Pastor Lee Hemen March 15, 2009 AM How does a person measure their life? Some do it with the number of years they live, while others do it through the personal achievements they made during their lifetimes. Still others measure their lives through their financial success, the gathering of wealth, or material possessions. Some measure their lives by the family they have. While some of these are quite important, for the Christian there should be a different criteria in how we measure our lives. How do you measure your life? This is a incredibly crucial question for the Christian to consider in contemplating the conclusion and contentment of their continuation! It was for Paul and he mentions this to the Philippians! We find that fruitful labor for Paul was not measured in the number of notches he had on his witnessing belt nor was it found in the final tally of the bodies he registered through the doors of the churches he helped to...