All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “ Abba, Father. ” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
At a certain point in almost every Christian worship service, the offering plate will be passed. It may be a felt-lined brass or silver-tone plate, or a basket passed down the pew, or held in front of worshipers from the end of a long stick. It could be a 10-gallon plastic bucket. A few churches place boxes at the front or back of the church and ask people to drop in contributions during the service or as they leave. But the idea is always the same: Give to God and to support the church. The offering is a part of the service, done with integrity, and offered as a response to what God has done; and a way to support the local church. The Israelites offered sacrifices to God from the earliest accounts in the Bible. The idea of a sacrifice involves offering something to God. It was generally held that the firstborn of the herd and the first fruits of the harvest be given as thanks to God. That custom came down to the Christian church in the form of taking up an offering.