Raising the Bar for Responsibility
Main Text: Malachi 3:8–12 NKJV
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts; “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the LORD of hosts.”
Malachi 3:8–12 NKJV
2026 Vision: All Things New
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
II Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
Declaration:
“I’m becoming who God wants me to be.”
At Lily Baptist Church, our challenge is to:
Believe — Trust God, trust the process, hear God clearly, and respond in worship.
Belong — Honor God, honor yourself, honor others, and create an environment for healing.
Become — Represent God everywhere, be the light in the room, and live as an ambassador for Christ.
Series Review
Throughout the book of Malachi, God has been examining the hearts of His people. Israel was rebuilding after captivity, but rebuilding their city was not enough. God wanted to rebuild His people.
God confronted their current level of commitment and called them to rise to His standard.
Our series has challenged us to raise the bar in several areas:
Part 1 — Raising the Bar for Worship
Part 2 — Raising the Bar for Covenant
Part 3 — Raising the Bar for Relationships
Part 4 — Raising the Bar for Social Justice
Part 5 — Raising the Bar for Responsibility
Now God challenges us to examine what we are willing to contribute to His work.
Understanding the Story Behind Malachi 3
Malachi 3:8–12 is often preached primarily as a sermon about giving. But understanding the historical setting reveals something deeper.
This is also a passage about responsibility.
Israel had been taken into captivity. Jeremiah prophesied that the captivity would last seventy years. Eventually, God’s people returned, but Jerusalem was devastated. Its walls had been torn down and its gates burned.
Nehemiah eventually received permission from the king to return and help rebuild Jerusalem.
Remarkably, the walls were rebuilt in 52 days.
But rebuilding walls wasn’t the ultimate goal.
Nehemiah wasn’t simply rebuilding a city. He was rebuilding a people.
The rebuilt walls created a safe community where God’s people could be restored.
Nehemiah helped restore:
- Worship
- Community
- Spiritual education
- Fellowship
- The priesthood
- The work of the Levites
- Music and singing
- Ministry to individuals and families
Ezra, the priests, and the scribes read God’s Law and helped the people understand it.
All of this required people, commitment, and resources.
That brings us to the central lesson:
Ministry requires responsibility.
1. Accept Your Responsibility
Before Malachi confronted Israel about their giving, Nehemiah records an important commitment made by God’s people.
“Now the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding—these joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes.”
Nehemiah 10:28–29 NKJV
Notice that responsibility did not belong only to Nehemiah.
The priests were responsible.
The Levites were responsible.
The singers were responsible.
The gatekeepers were responsible.
The families were responsible.
Everybody had a responsibility.
They made a commitment to obey God’s Word and support God’s work.
Later, they specifically committed themselves to bringing firstfruits, offerings, and tithes to God’s house. They concluded:
“…and we will not neglect the house of our God.”
Nehemiah 10:39 NKJV
That’s a powerful declaration:
“We will not neglect the house of our God.”
Their giving wasn’t merely about money. It provided the resources necessary for ministry.
Likewise, ministry today requires resources.
At Lily Baptist Church, our resources support areas such as:
Evangelism.
Outreach.
Christian Education.
Fellowship.
Worship.
Spiritual development.
Administration.
Our giving helps create the ministry experiences through which people worship, learn, fellowship, grow, encounter Jesus, and experience His love.
Responsibility Is More Than Money
Financial giving matters, but our responsibility doesn’t end with money.
Some people contribute through:
Time.
Talent.
Expertise.
Teaching.
Serving.
Prayer.
Leadership.
Encouragement.
Professional services.
Physical labor.
Material donations.
Members have volunteered with the Lily Light, taught Sunday School and VBS, helped with Trunk or Treat, provided refreshments, directed traffic during funerals, worked on the church floors, and met needs they saw without being asked.
Everything you faithfully give to God has Kingdom value.
Questions for Reflection
- What responsibility has God entrusted to you at Lily Baptist Church?
- Do you primarily think of church as a place where you receive ministry or a place where God has called you to participate in ministry?
- What time, talent, knowledge, experience, or resources has God given you that could strengthen His church?
- If every member participated at your present level, what kind of ministry could our church accomplish?
- Can you sincerely say, “I will not neglect the house of my God”?
This Week’s Challenge
Take inventory of what God has placed in your hands. Identify one resource beyond money—your time, talent, experience, knowledge, connections, or spiritual gifts—that you can intentionally use to strengthen God’s work.
2. Understand What Your Giving Accomplishes
Why was God so concerned about Israel withholding tithes and offerings?
Because those resources supported the work God had commanded His people to accomplish.
The sermon reminds us:
“The tithes and offerings were the resources God provided for Israel to rebuild a holy nation.”
The same principle helps us understand giving today.
When we give, we aren’t merely paying bills.
We are funding ministry.
At Lily, contributions support staff, administration, worship, evangelism, outreach, Christian education, ministries, special days, fellowship experiences, utilities, insurance, internet services, security, supplies, printing, the building, and other necessities that make ministry possible.
But look beyond the numbers.
Because God’s people give…
People experience worship.
People are introduced to Jesus.
People experience the love of Jesus through outreach.
Hungry people are fed.
People find community.
People receive Christian education.
Children and young people receive ministry.
People are given opportunities to grow spiritually.
Lives are being changed.
That changes how we think about giving.
Your offering becomes ministry when it leaves your hand.
A dollar can become Sunday School material.
An offering can become food.
A tithe can help keep the lights on while somebody hears the gospel.
A contribution can help stream worship to somebody who cannot enter the building.
A gift can help reach a child, encourage a senior, support a family, or introduce someone to Jesus.
Giving isn’t merely about maintaining a church.
Giving helps the church accomplish its mission.
Questions for Reflection
- When you give to the church, do you think primarily about what you are losing or what your gift can accomplish?
- How does connecting your contribution to actual ministry change your understanding of giving?
- Which ministry of Lily Baptist Church has personally helped you or your family?
- Who may have contributed financially, volunteered, taught, served, or sacrificed so that ministry could be available to you?
- What ministry would you especially like to see Lily expand?
This Week’s Challenge
The next time you give, attach a prayer to your gift:
“Lord, use what I give to change somebody’s life.”
Don’t simply give an offering. Give with purpose.
3. Grow Into Your Responsibility
The sermon recognizes something important: not everyone is currently in the same financial position.
For some people, immediately giving ten percent could create serious financial hardship.
So the message offers both truth and grace.
The Truth
God has given His people the responsibility of giving tithes and offerings as part of worship and as a means of providing resources for Kingdom work.
The Grace
Start where you can.
If you aren’t currently able to give ten percent, begin somewhere.
Maybe it’s two percent.
Then pray, learn, improve your financial stewardship, and grow.
Move from:
2% → 5% → 7% → 10%
The goal is not guilt.
The goal is growth.
The sermon encourages members to take advantage of opportunities to learn budgeting and biblical financial principles while praying for God to increase their capacity and improve their financial management.
This connects beautifully with our 2026 declaration:
“I’m becoming who God wants me to be.”
Becoming doesn’t mean we’re already there.
It means we’re moving.
Growing.
Learning.
Developing.
Becoming more responsible with what God has entrusted to us.
And this principle applies beyond money.
Maybe you aren’t ready to lead a ministry—but you can volunteer.
Maybe you can’t volunteer every week—but you can serve once a month.
Maybe you can’t make a large financial contribution—but you can faithfully give what you can.
Maybe you don’t have money—but you have knowledge.
Maybe you don’t have knowledge in a particular area—but you have time.
Don’t allow what you cannot do to become an excuse for doing nothing.
Questions for Reflection
- Where are you presently in your journey of financial stewardship?
- Are you allowing financial difficulty to stop you from taking any steps toward generosity?
- What could you change in your financial management to increase your ability to give?
- In what other area of ministry do you need to move from occasional participation toward greater responsibility?
- What does your next step look like—not somebody else’s next step, but yours?
- Are you growing in generosity as you grow spiritually?
This Week’s Challenge
Identify your next step in responsibility.
If your next step is financial, prayerfully establish a consistent giving percentage you can faithfully sustain and begin working toward greater generosity.
If your next step involves service, choose one concrete way to become more involved.
Then commit to growth rather than comparison.
4. Imagine What God Could Do With More
The sermon asks us to use our spiritual imagination:
What could we accomplish for God if we had more resources to work with?
More doesn’t only mean money.
What if Lily had:
More resources?
More volunteers?
More time?
More talents?
More skills?
More participation?
More people accepting responsibility?
The sermon envisions possibilities such as expanded outreach, leadership training, a stronger Sunday School, vibrant youth ministry, full-time youth or outreach ministry, missionary work, blessing bags for people experiencing homelessness, mentoring programs, community prayer initiatives, resource fairs, family movie nights, neighborhood cleanups, adopting a school, a community garden, summer camps, retreats, senior ministries, ministry to single mothers, transportation ministry, and broader media outreach.
The question isn’t simply:
“What does Lily have?”
The greater question is:
“What could God do through Lily if all of us accepted greater responsibility?”
Imagine a church where everybody brings something.
One brings resources.
Another brings leadership.
Another brings creativity.
Another brings wisdom.
Another brings technology.
Another brings compassion.
Another brings teaching ability.
Another brings organizational skills.
Another brings physical labor.
Another brings prayer.
Another brings financial resources.
And God brings it all together for His glory.
Questions for Reflection
- What ministry would you love to see Lily Baptist Church accomplish that we aren’t currently able to do?
- What resources would be necessary to make that ministry possible?
- Could something you possess be part of God’s answer?
- What would happen if every member increased their level of participation?
- Are we asking God to provide resources while overlooking resources He has already placed within our congregation?
- What could Lily become in Tarrant if we fully partnered with God and one another?
This Week’s Challenge
Write down one ministry dream you have for Lily Baptist Church.
Then answer:
What would it take?
What could I contribute?
Who could it reach?
How would it glorify God?
Pray over that vision this week.
5. Trust God With Your Responsibility
After confronting Israel, God makes an extraordinary invitation:
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”
Malachi 3:10 NKJV
God says:
“Try Me.”
“Prove Me.”
God wasn’t simply asking His people to give.
He was asking them to trust Him.
Then God promised:
“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field…”
Malachi 3:11 NKJV
And:
“And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land…”
Malachi 3:12 NKJV
The sermon closes by envisioning what could happen when God’s people raise the bar of spiritual responsibility.
The church could have greater resources to minister.
Members could receive greater opportunities for spiritual growth.
More people could hear the gospel.
Brokenhearted people could receive good news.
Captives could hear the message of freedom.
Oppressed people could receive help.
The church could have greater influence in the community.
And God’s people could accomplish greater works.
This isn’t ultimately about raising money.
It’s about raising our level of responsibility so we can raise our level of ministry.
God has been faithful.
The question is:
Will we be faithful with what God has placed in our hands?
Questions for Reflection
- What makes trusting God with your finances difficult?
- What is the difference between giving because of guilt and giving because of faith?
- How has God demonstrated His faithfulness to you in the past?
- What would it look like for you to trust God more deeply with your money, time, gifts, and abilities?
- Are you asking God to increase your resources while faithfully managing the resources you already have?
- What “greater works” would you love to see God accomplish through Lily Baptist Church?
This Week’s Challenge
Choose one area where God is calling you to greater responsibility and take an actual step.
Don’t merely intend. Act.
Give.
Serve.
Volunteer.
Learn.
Teach.
Invite.
Pray.
Lead.
Support.
Put something God gave you to work for God’s Kingdom.
Believe. Belong. Become.
Our responsibility connects directly to Lily’s 2026 vision.
BELIEVE — Trust God With What You Have
Believe that God is your source. Trust Him enough to use what He has given you according to His purposes.
BELONG — Take Responsibility for the Church You Belong To
Belonging means more than having your name on a church roll.
This is our church.
This is our ministry.
This is our community.
This is our responsibility.
We don’t merely ask:
“What is the church going to do?”
We ask:
“What are we going to do?”
BECOME — Grow Into Greater Stewardship
Our declaration says:
“I’m becoming who God wants me to be.”
Part of becoming is learning to faithfully manage everything God has entrusted to us.
Our money.
Our time.
Our gifts.
Our influence.
Our opportunities.
Our experience.
Our relationships.
Our lives.
Final Reflection: What Could We Do?
The sermon ends with some powerful questions:
What can we do?
How many people can we reach?
How can we change the world around us?
What are the greater works God has in store for us?
We will never discover the full answer by remaining at our current level of responsibility.
God is calling us higher.
Not simply to give more, but to become more faithful.
Not simply to attend church, but to take responsibility for ministry.
Not simply to ask what Lily can do for us, but to ask what God can do through us.
We will find out when we raise the bar.
Personal Study Questions
As you review this message this week, prayerfully consider:
- What has God entrusted to me?
- Am I being faithful with it?
- What does my giving reveal about my priorities?
- Am I growing in generosity or remaining at the same level?
- Do I see myself as a consumer of ministry or a contributor to ministry?
- What talent or skill am I currently not using for God’s Kingdom?
- Where could I become more responsible at Lily?
- What ministry could become possible if I increased my participation?
- What would happen if every member of Lily accepted greater responsibility?
- What is God asking me to do next?
Invitation
The greatest example of giving is God Himself.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 NKJV
God created you and loves you. Sin separated us from God, but God’s love was greater than our sin. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again so that we could receive forgiveness and eternal life.
If you are ready to trust Jesus, pray:
“God, thank You for creating me and loving me. I realize I have sinned in my life and I’ve been separated from You. I ask You to forgive me for my sins. I believe You sent Your Son Jesus to die and pay the penalty for my sins. I believe He rose from the dead according to the Bible. I confess Jesus as Lord of my life and Savior of my soul. I ask that You send Your Holy Spirit into my heart. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”
If you’ve prayed this prayer, let us know. Visit the Become a Member page on our website.
This Week, Remember:
Accept Your Responsibility.
Understand What Your Giving Accomplishes.
Grow Into Your Responsibility.
Imagine What God Could Do With More.
Trust God With Your Responsibility.