THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHRIST

This lesson cuts straight to the heart: Jesus is the only rightful authority over the church, and the New Testament—not tradition or headquarters—must be the measuring rod for our worship and finances. Using Scripture from Acts, Corinthians and the epistles, the speakers show that collections in the early church were voluntary, communal, and used for benevolence and the support of those who ministered the Word; they were never the private purse of a leader or the income stream of an organization. The message is arresting: hypocrisy and greed—seen in Ananias and Sapphira or Judas—turn God’s gifts into a stumbling block, while cheerful, self-surrendered giving proves genuine faith.

This is both a warning and a summons: examine your practices and motives—do your offerings reflect love, stewardship and obedience to Christ, or convenience, compulsion and commerce? Measure every custom against the New Testament pattern, confess what fails God’s standard, and choose the hard work of restoring undenominational, Christ-centred worship where money serves people and the gospel, not the other way round.