1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,200 A steward is one who overseas the possessions of another, 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:08,200 taken care of. For us as Christian stewards, 3 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:12,880 it's taken care of and managing what God has loaned to us. 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:19,560 And that's our life, it's our finances, that's our time, all 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,920 of that. So stewardship begins with 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,720 acknowledging God's ownership over everything. 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,880 We are not the owners, but managers entrusted with his 8 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,040 possessions. Someone once said owners have 9 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:36,960 rights, stewards have responsibilities, God is the 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,080 owner. Psalm 24 verse one says the 11 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:45,160 earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and they that 12 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:48,600 dwell therein. So it's all owned by God. 13 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,040 And so besides the finances, though I talked about 14 00:00:55,280 --> 00:01:00,560 stewardship of time, we are to be wise with our time, which is 15 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,600 a gift from God. The days are short and we are 16 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,520 called to use them purposefully for His glory. 17 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:14,280 Ephesians 5/15/16 says See then that ye walk circumspectly, not 18 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:18,600 as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are 19 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:23,840 evil. Another Scripture, Psalm 90, 20 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,040 verse 12 says, so teach us to number our days that we may 21 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:32,600 apply our hearts unto wisdom. So when I think about time, 22 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:37,480 there's a couple ways you you can look at look at time as a 23 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,280 Christian. OK, are we we tithing our time? 24 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,120 So if we tithe our time, well, there's 168 hours in a week. 25 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,600 OK, well then we're, we, what do we, we give God 17 hours. 26 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,760 And so if you look at it that way, well, 17 hours, that's not 27 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,200 a whole lot. But you know, you go to church, 28 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,840 say 5 hours on Sunday between Sunday school, church and Sunday 29 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:04,800 evening church, two more hours Wednesday, 2 hours on Saturday. 30 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,600 OK, you're down to, you know, 8-9 hours. 31 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,840 Then you think of devotions in the morning. 32 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:17,160 So maybe that's 6-7 more hours. So you still have a couple 33 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:18,840 hours. OK, So what would you do with 34 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,480 those two hours? Well, at least maybe spend the 35 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:24,280 time more in Bible study or prayer. 36 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,480 But another way to look at really look at it is you have 37 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,640 168 hours in the week. If you sleep 8 hours a night, 38 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:35,920 that's 56 hours you work. If you're working, you work 8 39 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:41,960 hours, 840 hours. So you're down to 170 ish or 70 40 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:46,920 hours and then your church time and then your commute time and 41 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:52,480 all that you so you have a lot more time than just that 17 hour 42 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:58,600 tithe of your weekly hours. So there's a lot more time and 43 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,920 we should probably be spending doing a lot more for the Lord 44 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,080 than we do. I know I waste a lot of time. 45 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,120 God doesn't want us to waste that time. 46 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,120 So if you think about it, just be thinking about ways you can 47 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,480 control your time, know where you're spending your time, look 48 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,200 at where you're wasting your time and should you be doing 49 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,600 something for the Lord when you're wasting time, It's easy 50 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:29,000 to waste time on the computer. You know, YouTube, it's you 51 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,840 start watching animal videos or whatever, it's, it's easy to 52 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,280 waste a lot of time. So, so be thinking about that. 53 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,440 The other thing is the stewardship of talents. 54 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:43,000 God gives every person unique gifts, abilities, and spiritual 55 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,480 gifts. As good stewards, we are 56 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:50,320 expected to use these talents to serve others and to build up the 57 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,440 Kingdom of God. Oh, and I meant to mention I 58 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,440 have most of these verses typed out so you don't necessarily 59 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:05,040 have to look it up, but I am going to read first Peter 410 in 60 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,480 a minute here and I don't have that one typed down, so I got to 61 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,600 look that up. But when I think of the talents, 62 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:15,520 you know, it can be talents with an instrument in the orchestra. 63 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,240 It could be the IT the choir or whatever, teaching a Sunday 64 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,640 school class. So it my question to you about 65 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:28,680 that is, are you supposed to be in the choir or are you supposed 66 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,120 to be in the orchestra playing in history? 67 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:32,880 If you play an instrument, you're supposed to be doing that 68 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,880 for the Lord. Only the Lord can tell you that. 69 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,360 So if you, if God wants you to be doing that, you ought to do 70 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:40,920 it. We, we still have a little more 71 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:47,240 room for our choir up here. So, and we definitely have room 72 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,760 in the orchestra. And if you play an instrument, I 73 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,000 think, I think Bill plays a juice Harper. 74 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,920 So don't you? So, so he's going to get up in 75 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:58,800 the, in the orchestra with the juice Harper. 76 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:00,080 We'll do that. That'll be great. 77 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,320 That would be exciting to have him up there, but when I think 78 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,640 it's abilities, I was thinking about Todd and up here doing 79 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,880 sign language and he was going to be my illustration. 80 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:16,880 And of course I thought he was going to be here so I could joke 81 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,440 with him about it. But the Lord had better plans 82 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:20,720 for him. He's in heaven. 83 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,800 So. And, you know, the Bible tells 84 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:28,040 us, I was thinking about that and this was not part of my 85 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:32,040 lesson, but it just came to my mind that the, you know, the 86 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,000 Bible tells us that God's going to wipe away all tears in 87 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:39,000 heaven. And so I think probably, you 88 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,640 know, Todd's happy. He's he's there with Jesus, but 89 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,400 he probably has some sadness because he knows that we're sad 90 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:49,680 because he's not here. So yeah, we just just that just 91 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,720 popped in my head anyway, that was not part of my illustration. 92 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:54,600 But I think it's Todd giving his time. 93 00:05:54,600 --> 00:06:00,760 But it was something ability that he had to sign language and 94 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,760 he was spreading the gospel and sharing the gospel through song. 95 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:11,800 Each choir, each choir. And I wasn't here last Sunday 96 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:14,840 and I came in after because I had been sick and I didn't want 97 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:16,800 to share it. So I came in after the 98 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,360 fellowship time. And so last week he signed I'll 99 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:26,680 fly away. So he got to fly away this week. 100 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:32,000 But anyway, so that's just a couple areas that stewardship of 101 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,600 our time, stewardship of our talents. 102 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:39,600 And it's important that we use those things for God. 103 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:43,640 Now we'll we'll get to what we typically think of stewardship 104 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,600 as as money. And as I thought of that too, 105 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,320 I'm just thinking, you know, we have a, we have a pretty full 106 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,400 auditorium, especially Sunday mornings. 107 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:56,160 And we, we really need to be making sure we're, we're doing 108 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:58,240 what we're supposed to be doing with our finances. 109 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,080 Because, you know, I know God can do a miracle and give us a 110 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,880 building or give us the property, but under ordinary 111 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:09,680 circumstances is going to be the church that is paying for the 112 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,520 property or the new building. So it's important for us to be 113 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,320 right with our money and making sure that we're doing what God 114 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,160 wants us to do with our ties and offerings. 115 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,160 The tithe Bible tells us the tithe in, in Leviticus and 116 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,560 Deuteronomy, multiple places, you know, that the Israelites 117 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,680 were giving tithes and offerings of their, their animals and 118 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,560 everything like that. And it tells us that it, it'll 119 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,200 say what they're what they're tithing and it say it is, it's 120 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,760 the Lord's, that's the tithe is the Lord's. 121 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,840 And that's easy. It's an easy thing, easy thing 122 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,760 to teach, especially your, your kids start when they're young. 123 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:49,760 You know, if they go mow somebody's yard, they make, they 124 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:54,320 make $10 whatever a dollar goes in offer, they should give it. 125 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:56,040 Just get them in the habit of giving. 126 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:00,880 It's an easy, simple thing. 10% is Lord said they make $10 give 127 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:05,400 a dollar to the Lord. Then we should use our money 128 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:07,800 wisely as well. It's not just it's not just 129 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,040 giving, it's what we do with the rest that we have leftover. 130 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:13,600 We don't want to waste our money. 131 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,000 Let me, I'm think I'm getting ahead of myself here, so let me 132 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:21,080 just slow down. The purpose of stewardship is to 133 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:25,120 manage the owners resources so that we already talked about God 134 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,440 owns everything. So everything belongs to God. 135 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:32,880 Though we have that we may have worked hard to earn what we 136 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:36,720 possess. It is God's and it is God that 137 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:41,360 gives us the ability to do the work to earn what we have. 138 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:48,840 I think about, I think like our house when we moved here and 139 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,400 then we bought a house and we, our house is too big for us. 140 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:56,000 It really is. But we did that on purpose 141 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,960 because we have extra bedrooms, extra bath. 142 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:04,400 And so when Pastor Whitaker's here, if the house, somebody 143 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,600 else is in the house, and we had a couple of pastors here, you 144 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:08,880 know, the pastors can come to your house and stay. 145 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:12,480 Missionaries that are coming through, you know, when we need 146 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:14,480 that, we have the room for them to stay. 147 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:18,800 And so we did it and we've always done that as we were back 148 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,600 in Indiana as well. We always had extra room for 149 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,880 someone to stay with us. And it's a blessing. 150 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:29,640 It's a blessing for your kids to see that and they get to meet 151 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,200 these people that are out serving the Lord all over the 152 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:33,800 world. You know, it's not just when 153 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:36,520 you're in church, when you're in your home, it's a little bit, 154 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:38,920 you know, a little bit different, little more relaxed 155 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:40,400 and you really get to know people. 156 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,640 And so if you have an opportunity to do that, use your 157 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,600 home for that and God will bless you for that. 158 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,080 Our vehicles. So right now our bus ministry is 159 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,920 not growing and we can't really, we don't have the room to really 160 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,120 grow it like we'd like to see it grow someday. 161 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:01,720 But we used, yeah, I drove a bus for a long time. 162 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,240 And then, and I'm not trying to brag on myself, I'm just telling 163 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:09,600 you how how we can use the things that God gives us. 164 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,720 So we had what we would, we would call shuttle cars. 165 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:17,240 So when I wasn't driving a bus, then I would be going where the 166 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,040 bus can't go, picking up people in the car and bringing them to 167 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,120 the bus. And so, and we never had 168 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:25,720 problems doing that. And I, I mean, I was always 169 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,880 like, well, I hope this the kids aren't all muddy and, and 170 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:30,960 they're not getting their treats all over the seats. 171 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,680 But you know, you'd think those things, but you know, God bless. 172 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,960 And in the way he often blesses, whether it's with our giving of 173 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:45,720 our money or giving using our house or cars, things are our 174 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,520 time. It's not always like giving and 175 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:51,280 Oh yeah, God's going to bless me financially. 176 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,200 It's not always that it's, it's blessing in other ways. 177 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:57,360 It's blessing maybe seeing somebody saved or seeing 178 00:10:57,400 --> 00:10:59,000 somebody come to church with you. 179 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:04,280 So it's a it's a lot of other ways that God blesses us. 180 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:10,560 So another area or purpose of stewardship is to multiply the 181 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:13,560 owner's resources. So how do we multiply God's 182 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:16,920 resources? Well, we can't do anything with 183 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:18,920 the trees and the animals and things like that. 184 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:23,360 But but I, I think 1 area and Brian and I were talking about 185 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,600 this yesterday by making sound investments. 186 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:32,640 So sometimes God gives us money that we have and he may not want 187 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:34,680 it right. He may not want it right now in 188 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:36,320 the offering plate or anything like that. 189 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:43,560 But you can waste that money or you can invest it for a later 190 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:48,320 use where we may need a large offering for the building fund 191 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:49,760 or we may need something like that. 192 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:57,720 I had AI had an account from an old job and transferred it into 193 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:02,120 a Schwab trading account and I was just messing with it myself. 194 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:03,920 But that wasn't that's important money. 195 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,120 And so I was just messing with it myself and I would lose money 196 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,040 and then I would gain money and then lose and gain. 197 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,720 But I was always just kind of, it was just kind of like, you 198 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:19,840 know, down, up, down, up. So it was really kind of 199 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:25,440 wasteful with an investment that, you know, God still wants 200 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:29,600 us to take care of that. Excuse me, whether we're giving 201 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:34,040 it to him or holding it for the future when we may need it or he 202 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:38,320 may need it. So finally I was like, this is 203 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:39,600 crazy. I've I've just got. 204 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:41,520 So I got up to a certain level where I wanted it. 205 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:43,280 And then I said, I don't have time to mess with that. 206 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,560 So I put it with a, a guy that's taking care of our investment. 207 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:50,760 So, so we want to invest wisely, make sound investments. 208 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,200 I already mentioned this, but don't be wasteful. 209 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,840 So really think about your spending, what you spend your 210 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:00,760 money on that's above your tithe and offerings. 211 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:06,720 And I, I don't know, it's just you can just frivolous spending. 212 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,320 I mean, you can go out and maybe you should or shouldn't be going 213 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,360 out to eat at a really fancy restaurant and it's OK. 214 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:17,400 Nothing wrong with doing that. But maybe you're going to take a 215 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:22,160 fancy vacation and the Lord maybe doesn't want you to do 216 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,600 that in a particular year or something like that. 217 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,480 Just just think through your spending, how you spend your 218 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:31,520 money. And a good way to do that is to 219 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,680 be on a budget so you know where your money is going. 220 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:39,080 It's hard. I, I struggled for years and 221 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:40,840 I'll, I'm just going to tell you my own example. 222 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:42,800 We struggled for years. I tried to get out of budget and 223 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:51,880 our pastor back in Indiana was big on preaching on finances and 224 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,400 a budget was a big, a big deal to the, you know, and they did 225 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,520 like cash budget. And there's something called 226 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,040 envelope system. If you ever read any Dave Ramsey 227 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,520 stuff, that's what he, that's what he talks about. 228 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:07,440 And I tried for years, you know, all the time I was in school and 229 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,200 I accumulated a lot of debt, which that's another point. 230 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,920 Don't, don't be irresponsible with, with debt, overloading 231 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,040 yourself with debt. Well, I did that with school. 232 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:22,600 And so we had this big school loan when I got out of school. 233 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,680 And then I was making no money when I was first started in 234 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:30,880 practice. And we're just treading water. 235 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,080 And actually, my school loan was growing instead of getting paid 236 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:37,040 off because the government #1 when you have a government loan, 237 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,720 a professional loan, you don't have to pay anything back for 238 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,160 two years after you get out of your training. 239 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:50,240 But the interest keeps growing and the interest was 7 1/4% to 240 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,120 my, my school loan grew. So I got out of school with 241 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:58,520 $120,000 in debt, which is not big compared to today, but that 242 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,080 was a lot. It was a big school loan and 243 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,640 we're paying our work or no, I, I didn't pay because I was 244 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:07,880 making no money. It was first year or so, 245 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:09,320 whatever. And then when we did start 246 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:11,040 paying, we're making minimum payments. 247 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:15,600 So the minimum payment was still less than the accumulating 248 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:17,960 interest. So by the time I got to where I 249 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:25,680 was actually really paying on that loan, I was lost my train 250 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:27,840 of thought. By the time I got paying on the 251 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:31,400 loan really and making some principal payments, it had gone 252 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:36,720 up to 160 something $1000. So that's how fast interest can. 253 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:40,280 And that was, I mean, we just, we're treading water. 254 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:44,360 So my wife worked at the church while Sarah was growing up. 255 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,320 And once Sarah graduated from high school, she went back to 256 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,520 work a job. She worked for a law firm in 257 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,640 Chicago. She made really good money, but 258 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,000 we were still just, you know, making minimum payment and 259 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,360 making just a little bit of principal payment. 260 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,920 And that school loan was staying 160,000. 261 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:04,000 So finally after quite a few years, yeah, we have about 10 262 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:08,920 years after I was out of school and paying on that we're like my 263 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:11,320 Tammy was like, what are we doing and why am I working? 264 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,920 The whole reason I'm working so we can pay that school loan off. 265 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:19,880 So that was, this is 2011, almost 2012. 266 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,200 And so I went to school later, if you didn't know that I was in 267 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,600 my 30s, I don't, I was almost 40 years old when I got out of 268 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:28,800 school and I'm out of my residency. 269 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:34,920 And so we, we paid that or we start what we're paying, but 270 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,520 we're paying minimum. And then she's, she was kind of 271 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:40,280 upset. So finally I went back all those 272 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:41,880 years, I tried to get on a budget. 273 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,840 I don't, I don't know what happened, but it, it worked this 274 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,160 time it clicked. I said, we got to do this and we 275 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,240 got on the cash budget. And I'm not kidding. 276 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:58,080 So here it's 2012, 2016. I had that $166,000 school loan 277 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,520 paid off because we just got serious about it. 278 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,480 And then as soon as I like, we paid that loan off, Tammy went 279 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,760 to work, I think the next day she said, I'm, I'm quitting. 280 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:11,000 So I'm going to be quitting. So she gave her, she gave her 281 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,400 notice, but they said, could you stay for two months? 282 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:15,960 And so she worked two more months after this school loan 283 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:18,960 was paid off. But that was and all that to 284 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,119 talk about a budget and that being wise with God's money. 285 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:24,640 And so since then, we pretty much we've been on a budget. 286 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,599 It's it's easy. We did the envelope system and 287 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,520 you just, it just seems like you always have money. 288 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,880 I mean, and there's, you know what, what money's going where. 289 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,000 So your house payments in this envelope, your car payment. 290 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:39,160 The banks think you're funny because you're always, you're 291 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:41,960 bringing in a, you get a direct deposit and then as soon as you 292 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,400 get a direct deposit, you're going here withdrawing all this 293 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,840 cash. But but it works. 294 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,560 It works. And Dave Ramsey, I mean, I don't 295 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,480 agree with Dave Ramsey on everything, but he has a good 296 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:56,920 budgeting system. And if you file that, so it will 297 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,040 be a real help and a blessing to your family. 298 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,600 Anyway, that was extra. I don't know that was it's not 299 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:09,400 on my notes here, but it's OK. So by not by not becoming 300 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,960 irresponsibly overloaded with debt, kind of like a big school 301 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:17,040 loan. The way to get the best return, 302 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,400 however, on your investments is to give it right back to the God 303 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,880 that is investing our temporal dollars into God's eternal work, 304 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:28,520 especially when it helps people here and receive the gospel of 305 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,280 Jesus Christ. So really, that's what it's all 306 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:32,600 about. So that's why it's important to 307 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,120 really be praying about what God wants you to give. 308 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:46,640 Our financial resources are not ours, but gifts from God to be 309 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:49,800 managed wisely. This includes giving generously, 310 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,720 avoiding debt, saving money, and avoiding the love of money. 311 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,280 Proverbs 39 says Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the 312 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,240 first fruits of all thine increase. 313 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:06,040 Matthew 624 says No man can serve 2 masters, for either he 314 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:10,040 will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to 315 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:14,440 the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon, 316 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:20,960 Mammon being money. Excuse me, I forgot my lozenges. 317 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:26,760 Malachi 310 says bring ye all the ties into the storehouse. 318 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,880 Storehouse being for us. Now this Malachi's Old 319 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:31,560 Testament. But this is the storehouse for 320 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:35,640 us is the church, that there may be meat in my house. 321 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,120 And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not 322 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:41,880 open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, 323 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,800 that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 324 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,440 Christians who start tithing begin to see the blessings of 325 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,200 God. Tithing is where we start. 326 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,160 That's where we start and then, as you you see, got and when I 327 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,240 again, I'm not talking about necessarily financially 328 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:03,240 blessings, although sometimes that happens and I can only go 329 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,200 by my own experience, but we always gave and we we we were 330 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,600 always faithful with ties since we've been married with our ties 331 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,880 and offerings and I when I I remember when I first started 332 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,720 school, good lessons learned I had. 333 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,400 You know, I wasn't, I wasn't, I was working like every other 334 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,720 weekend or something like that or every weekend. 335 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:27,640 But I'm in school the rest of the week. 336 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,680 And that was school was like a job, you know, it was 40 hours a 337 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:32,320 week. I'm staying up all, you know, 338 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:35,080 late at night. But Tammy would go to bed, Sarah 339 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,600 would go to bed and I'd be up till two or three in the morning 340 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,200 studying. Then I'd get up at 7 and get on 341 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:41,800 the train, take train to Chicago. 342 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,400 Just used to 1st year I studied on the train. 343 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:49,600 Second, third, fourth year, I slept on the train, but I, I 344 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,040 learned that I can study at home and all that. 345 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:59,440 But so Christians who start tithing begin to see the 346 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,800 blessings of God. So what happened was we, you 347 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,440 know, we had been, we've been tithing still, even though I was 348 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,160 in school and worked a little bit, we, we were still tithing. 349 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:13,320 And it came at some point was like, man, I was out of, I was 350 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,440 just out of money. I mean, I had, I had nothing. 351 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:22,720 And however we had, before we moved to Indiana, we lived in 352 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,520 Alabama. And before we moved, I had, we 353 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,320 were considering building a house down there. 354 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,720 And I, I had bought a lot And out of the blue someone called 355 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,840 me said hey, and it wasn't, you know, I didn't pay very much for 356 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,000 that lot. It was 1/2 acre little lot in 357 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:45,280 this little country subdivision out of the blue. 358 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:47,400 And I'm like, man, I don't know how I'm going to pay these 359 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:51,080 bills, but the guy calls and says, hey, I want to buy your 360 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,680 lot. And he offered me twice as much 361 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:58,360 as I had paid for it. And I said, Oh yeah, we'll take 362 00:21:58,360 --> 00:21:59,800 it. And I mean, I got to check like 363 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,440 really quick. That guy was really well, I 364 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,800 found out later was Mercedes-Benz was building a 365 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,640 assembly plant right by where that property was. 366 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,600 So it was probably worth a lot more than they'd pay me, but God 367 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:16,440 gave us what we needed and that that just seeing God take care 368 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:18,000 of us was just that's a huge blessing. 369 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:22,400 The other thing is when we moved here and I, I took a worked with 370 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:26,880 a practice and that practice just I had, I know what it was. 371 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:31,440 I would have stayed in Indiana for a few more years that but I 372 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,440 didn't know that, you know, and he they were hiring doctors. 373 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,040 I, there were three others besides me that got hired in 23 374 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:45,000 by the end of 23 that, that, that job, it just shut down. 375 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,120 He shut ten of our offices and put most of us out of work. 376 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,000 And so we ended up opening another practice. 377 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,200 But I had no income for five months. 378 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:59,320 This and you know, thankfully I hadn't been done with that for a 379 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,000 long time. So I didn't have that. 380 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:06,920 And, and then God took care of us and met our needs through all 381 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,080 that time. And so that's just a couple 382 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,080 areas where just being faithful, I think over the years, God 383 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,480 still takes care of him just because you have a, a degree. 384 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,320 You know what it's not, it's not always eat life's not easy. 385 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,440 And sometimes things happen and unexpected things like that was 386 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,160 totally unexpected. But, but man, God took care of 387 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,760 us good. And so that's, and I believe, 388 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:33,680 honestly, I believe it's for me by being faithful and, and 389 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:38,040 giving. And so that's important, Yeah. 390 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,880 But we need to understand that God blesses. 391 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:46,240 But it, like I said, it's not always financially, but often it 392 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,880 is. We're not giving an expectation 393 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,280 of receiving a financial blessing. 394 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:54,480 We should give because we love God. 395 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,600 That's why we give, and that's why we want to give and we want 396 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,120 to take care of the needs of the church. 397 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:05,640 So that's, you know, our pastor needs live, this is his, I don't 398 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,080 know how he puts a lot more than 40 hours a weekend that we do in 399 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,080 our jobs. So yeah, he we have to take, we 400 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,000 need to take care of him. I think we're going to have an 401 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,080 assistant pastor before you know it and we need to take care of 402 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,320 them and we need to take care of our ministries. 403 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,680 We have a lot of a lot of things going on for the size of church 404 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,080 we are, we have a lot of things going on. 405 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,800 So we need to make sure that those are all the materials that 406 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,800 we print, all of those things, the tracks, distribution of 407 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,800 those tracks, especially mailings, whatever it is, any of 408 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,680 the finances of church, we're it's our responsibility. 409 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:41,600 And we should feel that responsibility. 410 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,880 Just like when we're paying our electric bill at home, that's 411 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:45,880 our responsibility, our paying our house payment. 412 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,400 Well, this is our respect. If you're a member of this 413 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:51,280 church, this is your responsibility. 414 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,800 So we need to really, really take care of that, make sure 415 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,800 we're right with our giving, right doing what God wants us to 416 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:01,600 do. So ultimate I'm I'm faster than 417 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,560 Josh and Brian, so I'm almost done. 418 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,960 So I look at this a little little slower here. 419 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,320 I think I read this first. Let me every man according as he 420 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:17,120 purposes in his heart. So let him give not grudgingly 421 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:22,440 or of necessity for God loveth A cheerful giver as God prospers 422 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,280 us for keeping him first in our lives. 423 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,720 We give back to him according to his blessings, not because of 424 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,760 his blessings. We we should give because we 425 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:35,080 love Him and we're not giving an expectation of a monetary 426 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:39,000 blessing. 1st Corinthians 16 two says upon the first day of the 427 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:43,360 week, let everyone of you lay by him in store as God hath 428 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:46,200 prospered him, and that there be no gathering when I come. 429 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,880 That's Paul speaking to the church there. 430 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:55,960 Ultimately, biblical stewardship extends beyond just money, 431 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:58,880 beyond just time, beyond just talent. 432 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,440 It encompasses our entire being. We are bought with a price and 433 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:08,200 called to glorify God with our lives, and giving is just one 434 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:17,800 way that we can glorify God. First Corinthians 6/19/20 Say 435 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,080 what? Know ye not that your body is 436 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,960 the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have 437 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,720 of God, and ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price. 438 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,000 Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which 439 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,200 are gods. So that price that we were 440 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:41,960 bought with is the blood of Jesus Christ and we ought to 441 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:48,600 really love him, love God and show that with our generosity 442 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:53,280 toward the church and taking care of the needs of of our our 443 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,360 church. And I, I just think of the the 444 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:58,800 building situation. It's just going to be that's 445 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:00,680 going to be a big responsibility that we'll have. 446 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,840 And Lord willing, we keep growing and keep seeing we need 447 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:05,560 some rich doctors. That's all we need. 448 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:11,920 So, so, but I praise the Lord for his goodness and and giving, 449 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,560 but stewardship of every area of our life. 450 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:23,120 And so I hope that this blessing too and encouragement and we got 451 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:25,440 through it without too much difficulty here and help you 452 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,400 under understand where I'm coming from. 453 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,520 I'm not a I'm not a you know, I've actually never taught a 454 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:34,880 Sunday school class before as long as I've gone to church most 455 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:36,560 of my life and I had never taught. 456 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,320 I taught some children's junior church class and on the bus, but 457 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,600 I've never taught an adult adult Sunday school class. 458 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:46,960 So, so I hope that was on your level and not on just Alex's 459 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,080 level. All right, let's pray. 460 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:52,160 Lord, we thank you for your goodness to us. 461 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,440 We thank you for how you've blessed our church in a special 462 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:57,880 way and you've blessed our giving in a special way. 463 00:27:57,880 --> 00:27:59,720 Lord, I see it on the bulletin each week. 464 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:01,680 And it's just so exciting to see that. 465 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:04,240 And we see how you take care of our needs. 466 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,840 We do have a big need with our, our building situation, Lord, 467 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:10,320 And you know that. And I pray God that you'd help 468 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:15,920 us, but help us to be cognizant of our other areas of our life, 469 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,480 Lord, that we need to be stewards of our time and, and 470 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,040 our talents. And, and Lord, that we would 471 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,240 give our lives to you and then allow you to bless us through 472 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:28,320 that. We thank you for our pastor. 473 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,680 I pray, Lord, that you would bless him and give him Miss 474 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,680 Becca safety as they're traveling home this week and 475 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:36,840 thankful that they had the opportunity to be there. 476 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:38,840 And pray you'd be with the Hamptons, especially. 477 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,040 Lord, just be close to him and comfort them and comfort our 478 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,040 church. Lord God was a special blessing 479 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:47,800 to us and we pray these things now in Jesus name, Amen.