A Friendly Lake Tahoe Church
Teaching the Word of God
Sharing the Love of Christ
and Building Stronger Families

145 Daggett Way
P.O. Box 6598
Stateline, NV 89449
(775) 588-5860

tahoechurch@gmail.com
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What You Should Know about Contributions to Tahoe Community Church

Charitable Contributions Information

Because churches are funded primarily by members’ contributions, it is important for you to know how the federal government views your contributions.  We are not giving tax advice here, but conveying information we’ve received concerning contribution rules.

To be tax-deductible, charitable contributions must satisfy 6 requirements:

  • a gift of cash or property
  • claimed as a deduction in the year in which the contribution is made
  • the contribution is unconditional and without personal benefit to the donor
  • the contribution is made “to or for the use of” a qualified charity
  • the contribution is within the allowable legal limits
  • the contribution is properly substantiated

In 1994, changes to item #6 were made regarding substantiation.  In the past it was possible to “substantiate” with a canceled check.  Now, any individual who makes monetary contributions totaling $250 or more must receive a written receipt.

In order to serve you properly, we will keep confidential records of your contributions in the church office.  In order to do so, we need your help.  We will be providing you with individual offering envelopes shortly after we begin receiving your contributions.  The envelopes will be preprinted with your individual “envelope number” which will help our bookkeeper record your contributions properly.  These envelopes are designed to be used in the offering bags on Sundays or sealed and mailed (pre-addressed).  Please write the amount of your offering on the envelope in the space provided.

Other things you should know:

  • When you “purchase” something through the church, your tax deduction is applicable only to the amount it exceeds the value received.  Example: If you purchase a $50.00 gift certificate at a fund-raiser for $60.00, $10.00 is considered a donation.
  • “Services” donated to the church are not tax deductible.
  • Receipts for property (non-cash) will be included on your contribution record with a description of the item, but with no dollar value stated (we do not “appraise” property).
  • Funds can be designated only to approved church-wide programs such as mission projects, building fund drives, and specific youth programs.  In the government’s eyes, if you control it, you own it, and it’s not a gift.

Each person making contributions to Tahoe Community Church will receive a quarterly statement.  Always feel free to direct any questions or comments you might have to the church office at 588-5860, or Elder Gerry Wright at 544-6245.

Does God Really Need Our Money?

The whole subject of giving to God can be divided into four distinct categories:

  • Tithing - a testimony of God’s ownership.
  • Obedience - helping meet the obvious needs around us.
  • Abundance - helping others from our abundance (savings, earnings, etc.)
  • Sacrifice - yielding our own needs for the greater needs of others.

Here we will deal specifically with the category of “Tithing”.  To put tithing into its proper context, it is very important to understand why we should give to God in the first place.  After all, does God really need our money?

Why Give to God?

The basic reason why we should give to God is really for our own sake.  In so doing we are reminded that He is the owner of all that we have, and we are only managers.  When we try keeping it all to ourselves, we reveal a serious problem in our perspective on life.  We are looking at ourselves as owners and not managers (stewards).

When we look at money and possessions that way, we inevitably look at every other aspect of our life the same way.  Each of us sees himself or herself as the person in charge.  We begin to think of God as our servant, there to help us from time to time when we call upon Him.  Rather, we should see ourselves as God’s servants, ready always to do His will.  That is why we call Him Lord, meaning “ruler,” “owner,” “sovereign,” “king.”

This is why giving to God is so important.  It reminds us of who He is, who we are, and what our relationship should be to the things He has allowed us to manage in His name.

The Purpose of the Tithe

The tithe serves as an external, material testimony of God’s ownership of both the material and spiritual things in our lives  The first place in God’s Word where the tithe occurs is in Genesis 14.  Abraham, on his return from the daring rescue of Lot from four enemy kings, encountered the priest Melchizedek and voluntarily surrendered to him a tithe (one tenth) of everything he had.  In Hebrews 7:1-10 we are told that Abraham did this to acknowledge God’s sovereignty.

Now it is often said that the tithe is Old Testament “legalism,” but we have just seen that Abraham tithed some 430 years before the Law was given to Moses.  Although the tithe is mentioned in the Law, it is interesting to note that no punishment was indicated for not tithing. (Consequences for not tithing included withholding of blessings, but this is not to be construed as punishment.)  Tithing has been, and always will be, a voluntary act on the part of God’s people.

The Promise of the Tithe

Whereas not tithing brings about a withholding of God’s blessings, tithing with proper motives invokes God’s blessings: “’Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test 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 a blessing until it overflows.  Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground;  nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:10-12).

The Storehouse

In order to bring our tithes into the “storehouse,” it is necessary to determine what, exactly, the storehouse is.  In biblical time it was a physical place where the Jews would deliver their offerings of grain or animals.  A storehouse had specific functions according to God’s Word:

  • To feed the tribe of Levi (Numbers 18:24-29). The tribe of Levi and the priests would be the equivalent of pastors and other church staff, and missionaries and evangelists today.
  • To feed the Hebrew widows and orphans living within the Hebrew city (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). They would be equivalent to the widows and orphans served in a local church.
  • To feed the Gentile poor living in the Hebrew city (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).  Today’s equivalent would be the unsaved people in the community surrounding a local church.

The local church serves as the storehouse in God’s economy today.

The Amount of the Tithe

Although the word tithe means “tenth,” a tenth part of one’s increase is the minimum that a Christian should tithe.  It has been calculated that the Old Testament tithe, along with other additional offerings that were prescribed in the Law, come to about 23 percent annually.

As we have seen the tithe’s purpose is to be a testimony of God’s ownership, and thus it is meant to be individualized.  It was never intended that everyone should give the same amount, but that each should give his tithe bountifully and cheerfully (II Corinthians 9:6-7).

Deuteronomy 14:23 says, ”And you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the first-born of your herd and your flock, in order that you may learn to fear (love) the Lord your God always.”

Why did God establish the tithe?  In order that we may always learn to fear the Lord our God.  Is this applicable today?  Review what God’s Word says:  ”The fear (love) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” (Proverbs 9:10).  If we want to be wise in handling our finances, we must seek that wisdom from God.  One of the ways God intends for us to do this is to acknowledge His Lordship by tithing to Him.

(except from “Answers to Your Questions about Tithing” by Larry Burkett.)



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