THURSDAY 8TH OCTOBER 2020 MORNING
1Corinthians 9:1-13 New International Version (NIV)
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? 2 Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas[a]? 6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?
7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? 8 Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”[b] Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?
But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
13 Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?
The reason of taking offerings in the church is that, finances are an important part of the life of a church, because it makes the ministry possible. Let us ask God to teach us to be like Him, so that we can give freely and gladly and be quite content, even though we do not directly receive as we give.
ALHAMISI TAREHE 8 OKTOBA 2020 ASUBUHI
1WAKORINTHO 9:1-13
1 Je! Mimi si huru? Mimi si mtume? Mimi sikumwona Yesu Bwana wetu? Ninyi si kazi yangu katika Bwana?
2 Kwa maana ikiwa mimi si mtume kwa wengine, lakini ni mtume kwenu ninyi; kwa maana ninyi ndinyi muhuri ya utume wangu katika Bwana.
3 Hilo ndilo jawabu langu kwa wale wanaoniuliza.
4 Je! Hatuna uwezo wa kula na kunywa?
5 Hatuna uwezo kuchukua pamoja nasi mke aliye ndugu, kama wao mitume wengine, na ndugu wa Bwana, na Kefa?
6 Au je! Ni mimi peke yangu na Barnaba tusio na uwezo wa kutokufanya kazi?
7 Ni askari gani aendaye vitani wakati wo wote kwa gharama zake mwenyewe? Ni nani apandaye mizabibu asiyekula katika matunda yake? Au ni nani achungaye kundi, asiyekunywa katika maziwa ya kundi?
8 Je! Ninanena hayo kwa kibinadamu? Au torati nayo haisemi yayo hayo?
9 Kwa maana katika torati ya Musa imeandikwa, Usimfunge kinywa ng'ombe apurapo nafaka. Je! Hapo Mungu aangalia mambo ya ng'ombe?
10 Au yamkini anena hayo kwa ajili yetu? Naam, yaliandikwa kwa ajili yetu; kwa kuwa alimaye nafaka ni haki yake kulima kwa matumaini, naye apuraye nafaka ni haki yake kutumaini kupata sehemu yake.
11 Ikiwa sisi tuliwapandia ninyi vitu vya rohoni, je! Ni neno kubwa tukivuna vitu vyenu vya mwilini?
12 Ikiwa wengine wanashiriki uwezo huu juu yenu, sisi si zaidi? Lakini hatukuutumia uwezo huo; bali twayavumilia mambo yote tusije tukaizuia Habari Njema ya Kristo.
13 Hamjui ya kuwa wale wazifanyao kazi za hekaluni hula katika vitu vya hekalu, na wale waihudumiao madhabahu huwa na fungu lao katika vitu vya madhabahu?
Sababu kubwa ya kupokea matoleo kanisani ni kwamba, fedha ni sehemu muhimu kwa uhai wa kanisa, kwa sababu inawezesha huduma kutolewa. Tumwombe Mungu atufundishe kuwa kama Yeye, ili tuweze kutoa kwa moyo na Furaha; na kuridhika, hata ikiwa hatupokei kitu kwa sababu ya kutoa kwetu.
