1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:03,920 Oh, Crossing family, it is so good to be with you all and 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:07,160 welcome those of you joining at all of our different locations, 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,240 those of you watching online and those of you who are part of the 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,560 Crossing Inside Nation. I also want to welcome those of 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,680 you who are joining us for the first time or the first time in 6 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,360 a long time. We are so glad that you are here 7 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,520 and I hope that you will swing by the new here booth and all of 8 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,960 our different lobbies and take advantage of the QR code on the 9 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,600 seat in front of you. You have come on the perfect 10 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:34,440 weekend because today we are starting a brand new series 11 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:38,800 called Map Makers. And the goal of this series is 12 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,560 we are going to chart a path to better stewardship, to less 13 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:47,760 stress and to greater impact. All of us would like to be 14 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,600 better stewards, All of us would like less stress, and I believe 15 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,120 all of us want to have greater impact. 16 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,480 And so that's why we put this series together. 17 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,960 Map Makers. We want to chart a different 18 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:05,280 course than the course that we have been walking, and this 19 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:10,680 sermon series was born out of a broken heart that I have for so 20 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,200 many people who call the crossing home. 21 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,720 This is an area in our life that is causing a great deal of 22 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:22,360 stress and anxiety. In fact, surveys show that today 23 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:28,000 people are constantly stressed out and one of the number one 24 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,120 reasons for their stress is their financial situation. 25 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,120 In fact, look at this from Money and Mental Health Policy 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,280 Institute. This is what they have. 27 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,200 Their reports have revealed that people have financial 28 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,440 difficulty. You guys, you know, you don't 29 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,600 have to raise your hand, but you know somebody, you've heard 30 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,880 stories of people who are having financial difficulty. 31 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:54,400 What this leads to is them having stress and anxiety 32 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,800 because of collections or going without essentials or things not 33 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,920 turning out the way that they thought that they would turn 34 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:02,360 out. You know what this leads to? 35 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,480 This leads to mental health problems. 36 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,240 You know what mental health problems lead to? 37 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,800 They lead to people making bad decisions make. 38 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:15,120 It leads to them having a harder time earning money, managing the 39 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,080 money they do earn, and spending their money in the right way. 40 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:20,960 You know what that leads to? Financial difficulty. 41 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:26,400 You know what that leads to? And the cycle goes on and on and 42 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,960 on. You are going to, over the 43 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,600 course of your life, manage some of you hundreds of thousands of 44 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,360 dollars, others of you millions of dollars. 45 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:43,720 And most of us were not taught how to handle our money. 46 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,120 And so we are stressed out because we have yet not yet 47 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,640 figured out how to manage our finances. 48 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:55,400 Furthermore, not only does the mismanagement of your finance 49 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,000 causes all kinds of problems for you personally and in your 50 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,000 mental health and creating anxiety and stress, it also 51 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:08,960 impacts your marriages. An estimated 20 to 40% of all 52 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:14,840 marriages and citing financial issues as the 'cause it is the 53 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,800 number one issue related to divorce. 54 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,840 On top of that, the average divorce cost $15,000. 55 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,360 So you're already stressed out about the marriage that you're 56 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:30,360 in. You decide you got to figure out 57 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,880 a way out of it because you can't handle the financial 58 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:34,680 pressure. And to get out of the thing you 59 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,200 got yourself into is because of money is going to cost you 60 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,960 another 15 grand to get out of it. 61 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:45,800 This means that the way you and I handle our money has a direct 62 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,840 correlation to our mental health and our marital longevity. 63 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,440 You know what also it means? It means that how we handle our 64 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,680 money can determine whether or not kids grow up in a house with 65 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:03,080 a mom and a dad. And the sad truth today is that 66 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:08,080 most Americans are not good with our money. 67 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:14,480 Recent statistics show this. 48.6% of Americans consider 68 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:19,560 themselves to be broke. If the word that they were to 69 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:24,280 use to describe their financial situation, almost 70% of people 70 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:30,720 in America would say I'm broke. The irony is we are the richest 71 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:36,640 group of people in all of human history and we see ourselves as 72 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,720 broke. Furthermore, it gets even more 73 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:44,680 heartbreaking. 6 or 66.2% of Americans feel like they are 74 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:49,840 living paycheck to paycheck. That means that there is no 75 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:53,520 margin in their lives. If something bad happens next 76 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,240 week and they don't get the check for that week, they don't 77 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:59,520 know how they're going to make everything work. 78 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,720 And then there's a couple people out there who they seem to be 79 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,600 doing really great financially. The problem is, is they're 80 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,640 probably not that better at managing their finances. 81 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:13,680 They just make way more than there's. 82 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,040 They are stupid. They've out earned their 83 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,680 ignorance because even people who have an awful lot of money 84 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,880 sometimes make really bad decisions. 85 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:26,120 And unless somebody came alongside of you and taught you, 86 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,240 unless somebody came alongside of you and mentored you, most of 87 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,440 us don't actually have a financial strategy. 88 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:39,200 And so we find ourselves waking up stressed out, anxious, 89 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,800 struggling, and then it impacts the person who's supposed to be 90 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,320 our support system, our spouse, and then it impacts the kind of 91 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:48,800 parent we want to be because now we're going through a divorce 92 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:50,240 and our kids are having to navigate it. 93 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:52,920 And I just have a question. I think that there's a better 94 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:54,520 way. Would anybody else want to walk 95 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,000 that road if there was one? Because there is a fundamental 96 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,680 statement here at The Crossing that we believe that God's way 97 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,440 is the best way. And would it surprise you to 98 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,520 find out that when it comes to handling your money, the Bible 99 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:14,280 has an awful lot to say. We believe that God's way is the 100 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:18,360 best way in every area of our life, and we preach it. 101 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,440 You've heard us talk about it. Do we believe that there is not 102 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,720 a single area of our life that is off limits to God and there's 103 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,280 not a single area of our life that God doesn't have a best 104 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:30,520 plan for us to walk in? When it comes to how you 105 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,720 navigate your marriage, we believe that God's way is the 106 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:34,400 best way. If you were to come to me and 107 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,160 ask for parenting advice, you know what I tell you? 108 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,920 I tell you that when it comes to parenting, God's way is the best 109 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:40,200 way. If you were to come to me and 110 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:41,880 say, Clayton, I'm trying to figure out how to navigate my 111 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:44,520 sex life, I would say God has a plan for that too. 112 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:46,560 He also has a plan for your work life. 113 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,800 He also has a plan on how to spend your life and he also told 114 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:52,240 you how to focus your energy and your efforts. 115 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:55,120 God has the best way when it comes for when you want saved, 116 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,720 when you want to experience the power of the Holy Spirit, how to 117 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,760 handle hurt, how to navigate forgiveness, how to overcome 118 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,240 adversity, and yes, even how you handle your money. 119 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,960 The tough part is almost everybody that you know has 120 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,200 said, I want God in all of these other areas of my life, but when 121 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,120 it comes to my finances, we want God to leave us alone. 122 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,360 And I just have a question to ask you, in any area of your 123 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,320 life that you've turned over to God, has it gotten better? 124 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,320 And the areas of your life where you've said, God leave me alone, 125 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:29,000 has it gotten worse? I know that's true for me and I 126 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,800 know it's true for the people that sit across the table from 127 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,880 me. The sad truth today is that many 128 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,760 people are living in rebellion to God's best way. 129 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,800 People who call themselves Christians are rebelling when it 130 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,080 comes to God's plan for their finances. 131 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,520 And So what I want to do over the next couple weeks is I want 132 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,200 to show you if God is a father and the Bible says that he is a 133 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,840 good father, I want to allow God to kind of sit across the table 134 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,440 from you and say this is how I think that you should handle 135 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,440 your money, that God is going, this is my plan for you. 136 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,800 And then I'm going to challenge you in a radical way to trust 137 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,440 him in all these different areas. 138 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:10,880 We're going to talk about tithing. 139 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:12,400 We're going to talk about budgeting. 140 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:13,960 We're going to talk about saving. 141 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:15,880 We're going to talk a little bit about investing. 142 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,880 We're going to talk about how to become a generous person if you 143 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,160 are a generous person. And we are going to do 144 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,080 everything in our power at the crossing because we love you to 145 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:28,320 give you a chance to go on the journey to experience God's best 146 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:29,920 for you. Why? 147 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,760 Because Satan has a stranglehold on so many of us when it comes 148 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,679 to our finances. Satan loves to destroy a family, 149 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:38,840 and money is destroying families. 150 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:42,520 Satan loves to destroy yourself. Esteem yourself worth and your 151 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,920 identity, and Satan uses money to attack it. 152 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,400 Maybe that's why Jesus and the Bible spend so much time talking 153 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:56,720 about money. 11 of Jesus's 39 stories dealt with money. 154 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,280 There are over 2300 verses in the Bible if you were to read 155 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,640 it, that talks about money, wealth, and possessions. 156 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:08,040 God is not silent on this issue. He doesn't stop talking about 157 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,400 this issue. Our issue is not that God is not 158 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:13,920 speaking. Our issue is that we are not 159 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,680 listening. We are not obeying. 160 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:18,800 And you've heard me say this before. 161 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:25,200 Remember, God blesses obedience. You know this to be true as a 162 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:29,160 parent. How many of you, your kid has 163 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,960 been acting a fool and you rewarded him. 164 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,640 You said, Oh my goodness, I gave you this task to do and you 165 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,280 didn't do it at all. I'm going to give you even more 166 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,080 responsibility. How many of you, when you set a 167 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,840 curfew for your kid and you said you better be home at 10:00 and 168 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,200 they came home at 12:30, said, you know what? 169 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:54,280 Because you were such a good kid. 170 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:58,160 Your new curfew is 230. None of you did that. 171 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:01,960 You'd be crazy if you did that. What you did do is when your kid 172 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,480 honored what you had asked him to do, over time, you gave him 173 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,520 more responsibility. We instinctively reward and 174 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:14,320 encourage our kids when they are obedient, and we coach and we 175 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,520 correct people when they are disobedient. 176 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:20,880 So if you and I want to create a better path to better 177 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,800 stewardship, less stress, and greater impact, we need to start 178 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:31,040 handling our finances God's way. The tough part is that when it 179 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:36,160 comes to God's ways, His ways are so different than our own 180 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,320 ways. They're so counterintuitive. 181 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,120 Let me show it to you. Matthew chapter 20. 182 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,040 So the last will be 1st and the 1st will be last. 183 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,640 This is Jesus talking. You know what that seems like to 184 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,920 me backwards? That didn't. 185 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,120 That's not how it happens here. Around here, it's first is 186 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,520 first, last is last, and 2nd place is the first loser. 187 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,320 But when it comes to God, he's saying, listen, those of you who 188 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,560 will be last in the Kingdom of heaven, you're going to be 189 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,240 first. Oh, it gets more radical than 190 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:07,280 that. Mark chapter 8. 191 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,360 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it. 192 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,760 But whoever wants to lose their life for me and for the gospel 193 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:17,120 will save it. You know what we would say, if 194 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,040 you want to save your life, you better save it. 195 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,080 But in God's economy, he says, if you want to save your life, 196 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,600 you better lose it. You better turn over control of 197 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,680 it and give it to me. It gets worse. 198 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:34,000 Matthew 23 The greatest among you will be your servant. 199 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:36,960 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who 200 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:38,400 humble themselves will be exalted. 201 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:40,680 That's not how it true it works around here. 202 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,280 Whoever exalts themself will be exalted. 203 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,760 That's how it works. Hey, if you want to become the 204 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,920 greatest, you be the greatest and everybody else serves you 205 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:54,400 not when it comes to God's plan, God's best way for you is if you 206 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:59,480 want to be the greatest person ever, be the best servant ever. 207 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:05,280 God's ways are not our ways. It gets worse. 208 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,320 Luke chapter 6. But to you who are listening, I 209 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,160 say, love your goodness gracious what? 210 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,400 Love your enemies. You're not supposed to love your 211 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:18,040 enemies. You're supposed to hate them. 212 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:20,280 Oh no. And God's economy. 213 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:21,640 We're supposed to love the people who hate us. 214 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,960 In fact, we're supposed to do good to those who hate us. 215 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,600 We're supposed to bless those who curse us. 216 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,840 That's not what we do. We out curse the people who 217 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,000 curse us. We do the one finger wag right? 218 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:38,160 We pray for those who mistreat us. 219 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,160 That's not true. We pray against those who 220 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:46,960 mistreat us. God's plan is so profoundly 221 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:54,280 different than our plan, and that's why it's so hard to walk 222 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,960 in his ways. But Jesus says that wide is the 223 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:03,400 path that leads to destruction, and narrow is the road that 224 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,880 leads to eternal life. Jesus constantly says these are 225 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,000 hard teachings. Who can understand it? 226 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,200 What do you mean is who will follow it? 227 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:18,520 And I want you to be a person who has the courage to walk the 228 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:22,160 narrow Rd. So it shouldn't come as a huge 229 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,120 surprise to us. Then when it comes to how we 230 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:31,000 handle our money, God has a different plan than our plan. 231 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:37,040 And the first step in starting to handle your money the way God 232 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:42,400 expects you to handle your money is to realize that your money is 233 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:47,840 not yours, it's His, that it comes from Him. 234 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:52,960 Matthew or Psalm 24 says this. The earth is the Lord's and 235 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:57,200 everything in it, the world and all who live in it. 236 00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,840 And you might be going, OK, that's great, big picture, big 237 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:01,280 strokes. Totally agree. 238 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:04,960 Because the trees are His and the oceans are His, and the 239 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:09,120 galaxies are His, and the mountains are His, but not me. 240 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:16,560 Actually, he owns you. And you're like, no, yeah, let 241 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:20,280 me walk you through it. When you got baptized, you said 242 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,960 that you want him as your savior, which means that you 243 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,720 need rescued. You need saved. 244 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:31,240 You can't do it on your own. You're in a spot that you can't 245 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:36,600 get yourself out of. So Jesus saves you and you want 246 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:42,400 him as your Savior and your Lord, which means He owns you. 247 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,720 We are His sons and daughters, but we are also, in a sense, His 248 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,280 slaves. We have turned our lives over. 249 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:57,440 We have lost ourselves in Him, so that way we become His agents 250 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,520 to do what He wants us to do with the lives that we have 251 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,520 turned over to Him. Your life is now under His 252 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,160 control. If you're a Christian, that 253 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:15,200 means that we love people who are our enemies because we 254 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:20,000 belong to Him now. It doesn't stop there. 255 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:24,200 The Bible teaches that all the money and the wealth in the 256 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,960 world belongs to him. I'll just give you one verse, 257 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,440 Haggai chapter or two, Verse 8. The silver is mine and the gold 258 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:33,640 is mine, declares the Lord Almighty. 259 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,960 And you're going. Yeah, but I worked for it. 260 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,000 And like, I'm the one who punched in at the job. 261 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,960 I hate working for the boss. I hate it was me. 262 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:49,920 Well, I got news for you. Deuteronomy chapter 8, you may 263 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:51,920 say to yourself, it's as if he's been listening to our 264 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,280 conversation. My power and the strength of my 265 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:57,720 hands have produced this wealth for me. 266 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:03,960 Well, actually, But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who 267 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,960 gives you the ability to produce wealth. 268 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,080 So your life doesn't belong to you, your money doesn't belong 269 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,480 to you, and your ability to make the money doesn't belong to you. 270 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:17,880 So then how should we handle our stuff? 271 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:22,240 That's not really our stuff. How should we handle His stuff? 272 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,360 This is where we get a super biblical term. 273 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:31,200 It's called stewardship because what we have is not our own. 274 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:36,480 We are stewards of something that does not belong to us. 275 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,120 And you and I have a choice. What kind of steward are we 276 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,240 going to be? Are we going to be a good 277 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,760 steward of the things that God has given us? 278 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,760 Are we going to be a bad steward of the things that God has given 279 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,440 us? And once we realize that it all 280 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:57,880 belongs to God, the next logical thing that we should do is what 281 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,280 He tells us to do. And this is where it gets even 282 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,480 more upside down because the first step is recognizing that 283 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:08,720 it all belongs to God. The second thing that He wants 284 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:13,760 us to do is tithe. The very first step and you 285 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:16,880 operating financially the way God wants you to operate 286 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:21,000 financially is to honor God with the tithe. 287 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,000 Now you might be going, you're brand new to the church. 288 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,319 You're like, what does this mean? 289 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,880 The in the Bible, the word tithe just means a 10th. 290 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:34,800 It's 10%. When God made man, He gave them 291 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:40,120 this charge that they were to bring their first and their best 292 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:46,200 to Him in worship and sacrifice. It was the first fruits. 293 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,200 Let me show it to you. Leviticus chapter 27. 294 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:50,280 This isn't the first time this is mentioned, but this is the 295 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:51,520 clearest way that it's mentioned. 296 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:56,760 A tithe. 10% of everything from the land, whether grain from the 297 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,560 soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord. 298 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:04,320 It is holy to the Lord. It's separate. 299 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,320 It belongs to Him. Let's keep going. 300 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:12,720 Whoever would redeem any of their tithes must add 1/5 of the 301 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,040 value to it. So let's say we were sheep 302 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,160 farmers and we were running all of our sheep to God and we would 303 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:21,480 be going, OK first sheep is gods. 304 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:25,240 Then we go sheep 2 sheep, 3 sheep, 4 sheep, 5 sheep, sheep's 305 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:27,560 sheep. We get to sheep 10. 306 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:32,280 I don't want to make a clip, I don't want to make OK then we 307 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:34,480 get another one, but all of a sudden you're like hold on a 308 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,000 second. I really like that sheep. 309 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:40,120 I want to redeem it. He would say you can. 310 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,480 What's the fair market price for that and add 1/5 to it. 311 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:47,480 There was a tax almost imposed for you, trying to keep good 312 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:49,280 things for you. Let's keep going. 313 00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:53,680 Every tithe of the herd and flock, every 10th animal that 314 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,400 passes under the shepherd's rod will be wholly to the Lord. 315 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,960 No one may pick out the good from the bad or make 316 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,560 substitution. OK, I want to keep oh man, I 317 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:08,160 don't want that one doesn't get to go to God. 318 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:12,240 I really like that one. So I'll give him this one and 319 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:17,160 you give him like the ratty looking lamb, you know stop. 320 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:19,640 You almost saw me go somewhere. OK. 321 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:23,000 What he would say is the moment you tried to pull that off. 322 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:27,480 Both of them now belong to the Lord God is hand smacking stingy 323 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,400 behavior. He's saying, in light of 324 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:34,920 everything I've done for you, bring me your very best holy and 325 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,960 cannot be redeemed. Next one, this one says in 326 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,840 Deuteronomy, you must not worship the Lord your God in 327 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:42,640 their way. He's talking about the way other 328 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,720 people worship their gods. But you are to seek the place 329 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,680 the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to 330 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:50,200 put his name there for his dwelling. 331 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:51,880 And then what are you supposed to do when you get there? 332 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,480 Let's keep going. To that place you must go. 333 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,200 Therefore, bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your 334 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:02,440 tithes and special gifts that you have vowed to give, and your 335 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,280 free will offerings, and the first born of your herds and 336 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:06,640 your flocks. Let's keep going. 337 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:07,800 What else does it say in the Bible? 338 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:12,640 Deuteronomy 1422? Be sure to set aside a 10th 10% 339 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,680 of all that your fields produce each year. 340 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,720 Let's keep going. He ordered the people living in 341 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:22,040 Jerusalem to give the portion to the priests and the Levites, so 342 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:24,000 they could devote themselves to the law of the Lord. 343 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,240 As soon as the order went out, the Israelites this the people 344 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:33,840 of God generously gave the first fruits of their grain, new wine, 345 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,000 olive oil and honey, and all that the fields produced. 346 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,080 They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. 347 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:44,960 The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah 348 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:49,400 also brought a tithe of their herds and flocks and the tithe 349 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,120 of the holy things dedicated the Lord, and they piled them in 350 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:54,680 heaps. Let's keep going. 351 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:56,840 This is where we're talking to Jesus. 352 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,720 Here's Jesus talking. Woe to you, teachers of the law 353 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,840 and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You don't ever want to be called 354 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,760 a hypocrite. You give a tenth of your spices, 355 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,800 mint, dill and cumin, but you have neglected the more 356 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,640 important matters of the law, justice, mercy, and 357 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,640 faithfulness. You should have practiced the 358 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,280 latter without neglecting the former. 359 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,040 This always happened when we're talking in a sermon on tithing. 360 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,280 There are people who come to our church and they are already 361 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,560 tithers the like, it's kind of nice to have a weekend off. 362 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:25,960 You know, this is a sermon for everybody else. 363 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,120 You know, I'm already tithing. I'm already trusting the Lord 364 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:30,560 with my finances. And what Jesus would say to you 365 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:32,640 if you were reading this passage is you'd say great. 366 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:35,080 Don't just check the box on your finances. 367 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,560 Make sure that you're paying attention to the other things 368 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,000 that matter even more. Make sure that you're paying 369 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,640 attention to justice, mercy, and faithfulness. 370 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:44,680 But to the people who are listening right now and you've 371 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,920 never started honoring God in the area of tithing, Jesus says 372 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:52,920 that you're not supposed to neglect the former, neglect the 373 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:56,280 tithe. You and I are not supposed are 374 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,560 supposed to not only be good at tithing, we are also supposed to 375 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:03,680 be good at justice, mercy, and faithfulness. 376 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:10,000 Tithing is not your time. Tithing is not your talent. 377 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:16,240 Tithing is your treasure. It was about giving back to God 378 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:21,920 what is God's. If He supplies everything you 379 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,120 have, then everything you have belongs to Him. 380 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:30,120 God says you are supposed to bring some of it back. 381 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:35,320 Let me illustrate it this way. Does somebody have a truck that 382 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:39,040 I can have and let's do $100 somebody. 383 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,200 God bless you. Thank you so much. 384 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:42,800 You guys sit right there for just a second. 385 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:44,960 That was awesome. You guys are so generous. 386 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:48,280 Thank you. And you might be thinking, how 387 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:52,160 do these two young guys so freely come up and give me truck 388 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,920 keys and $100? It's because I gave it to him 389 00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:00,200 before the service started. They have no problem returning 390 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:04,280 to me what they realized belonged to me in the 1st place. 391 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,920 And what do you think I would have done if they had not 392 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,640 returned it to me? I would have had our security 393 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,120 snipers address it post haste. All right, guys, have a seat. 394 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:14,560 Thank you. Guys. 395 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:21,160 Give them a round of applause. OK, So they gave it back to me 396 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,720 because they know that I gave it to them. 397 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,320 So here is what tithing looks like. 398 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:28,880 This is going to freak some of you out. 399 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,920 If this week you're babysitting, you're a babysitter. 400 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:34,280 You're just doing the babysitting thing. 401 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,520 You made $100 this week. If it was your birthday, today's 402 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:40,200 my son's birthday. If he gets $100 from his 403 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,760 grandma, which is grandma should give him $100, he's getting 404 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,200 expensive. He would show up for church and 405 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:51,920 he would give $10 back to God. Everything that Zane has comes 406 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,640 from the Lord and He returns 10% of it. 407 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,040 If you are out there and you're working and you've got a a side 408 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:02,600 hustle and you made $1000 this month on your side hustle, you 409 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:06,760 would bring $100 and you would give 10% back to God. 410 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:11,160 If you are crushing it and you're making $10,000 a week, 411 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:13,800 that means that every week when you'd show up for church to 412 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,240 honor God in the area of tithing, you would bring your 413 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,040 first fruits. The very first thing that you 414 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,120 would do with the money that you made is you'd give $1000 back to 415 00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:26,440 God. If you make $100,000 a year, you 416 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,240 would every single year make sure that you were giving 417 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,360 $10,000 to God. You would give it back to him. 418 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:35,760 And if you're killing it and you're making, you know, you 419 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,360 sold your business for $10 million, guess how much money 420 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:42,040 you would write to the church you would write a check for? 421 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:45,000 Yeah. So yeah, that we got six of you 422 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:46,360 that are still awake. God bless you. 423 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,880 And you're going. Yeah, that's a lot. 424 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:57,280 You get to keep 90. When Jennifer and I, when I 425 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,200 first got into ministry, that was the first time I was making 426 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:06,080 like real money. I don't want to brag, but I was 427 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,680 making $18,000 a year. Don't. 428 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:14,000 I know, I know, I know. I would go to McDonald's 429 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,120 sometimes twice a month just because I could. 430 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,000 And when I was making $18,000 a year, every year I was giving 431 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:28,160 $1800 to the church. When I was in Bible college and 432 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,880 I was preaching at a little church that would give me 433 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:34,880 $200.00 a week to preach at that church, there would be a check 434 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:39,240 for $20 that would go in the offering plate. 435 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:45,960 And when you start tithing young, when you start off 436 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:51,120 operating in God's plan at an early age, it is not nearly as 437 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:55,520 hard as finding yourself one day in a spot where you're making 438 00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:00,480 $100,000 a year and you've been living on $105,000 a year. 439 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:02,920 And now you have to figure out how do you get yourself in 440 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,280 alignment with God's will and God's purposes. 441 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,600 But look what happens when the Bible says that we honor God. 442 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:13,520 Proverbs chapter 3. Honor the Lord with your wealth, 443 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,160 with the first fruits of all of your crops. 444 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,360 Then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats 445 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:23,920 will brim over with new wine. What God is saying here is when 446 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:28,720 you honor Him, He will take care of you. 447 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:34,120 God's blessings flow in the direction of your obedience. 448 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,680 This is a fundamental truth that Christians have. 449 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,680 You might attend our church. You may have been around here 450 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,160 for a while, but the people who have trusted God in this area of 451 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,000 your life, this is what they would say to you. 452 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:53,160 They believe that 90% with God is better than 100% without Him. 453 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,720 That they want to trust God in this area of their life because 454 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,320 they would much rather have God be a part of their financial 455 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:05,280 picture than not a part of it at all. 456 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,800 And I want to show you an example that God gives of a 457 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,640 group of people who chose not to put him in their financial 458 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,200 strategy. It's in Malachi chapter 3. 459 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,920 I, the Lord, this is God talking, do not change. 460 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:26,080 So you, the descendants of Jacob, this is the people of 461 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:28,600 Israel are not destroyed. Verse seven. 462 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:34,080 Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have turned away 463 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,800 from my decrees and have not kept them. 464 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:41,880 You have not done what I have told you to do. 465 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:49,480 You have been disobedient. Return to me and I will return 466 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:52,760 to you. There's a correlation that God's 467 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:58,120 proximity and God's impact in your life is impacted by your 468 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:02,920 obedience to what God calls you to do, says the Lord Almighty. 469 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:08,240 But you ask, so the people go. But how are we to return? 470 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:12,440 Let's keep going. Verse eight Will a mere mortal 471 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:18,280 rob God? Yet you rob me. 472 00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:21,400 The people go. You're God. 473 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:29,960 How could we possibly be robbing you in tithes and offerings? 474 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,600 They're going. How are we supposed to return? 475 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:40,120 How are we robbing you? Because you are not giving back 476 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:43,080 to God. What belongs to God? 477 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:52,080 Verse nine, You are under a curse, your whole nation because 478 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:57,760 you are robbing me. God's blessings flow in the 479 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:00,520 direction of obedience. What do you think flows in the 480 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:05,720 direction of robbery? They're under a curse because 481 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,040 they are not being good stewards. 482 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,680 They are rebelling. They are robbing some of you 483 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:13,960 listening to the sermon and you're going, you know what, I'm 484 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,320 going to start giving back to God and I'm going to start 485 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:20,560 giving like 2% or I'm going to start giving 3% because 10% 486 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:26,000 seems like a lot. I would just tell you God is 487 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:31,120 accusing them of robbing him, and the solution is not to rob 488 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:39,480 him less, Right? Like your kid. 489 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,160 Your kid does something he's not supposed to. 490 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,720 Did you throw six parties at the house this week? 491 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:46,840 We gave you a rule. No parties at the house. 492 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:51,120 All right, all right, I give up. I'll just throw 3 this week. 493 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,160 Bosses. You kept somebody robbing from 494 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,000 you like you've been taking 1000 bucks a week. 495 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:01,960 I know. I'm so sorry, I want to make 496 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,240 this relationship right. I'm only going to steal on two 497 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:10,280 days this week. It sounds so simple when we put 498 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:14,760 it in our world, but what do you think is impacting your 499 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,160 relationship with God? If we are in a position where we 500 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:21,360 are robbing Him, the solution is not to rob Him less. 501 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:26,920 The solution is to be obedient. So how much do you give the 502 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:28,520 person who cut your hair as a tip? 503 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,280 How much do you give to the person who hands you your coffee 504 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:37,240 out the window as a tip? How much do you give the 505 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,760 waitress who brings you your food that you didn't actually 506 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:45,280 order? And how much do you give to the 507 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,320 one who gave everything you have? 508 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,040 How much do you give to the one who died on the cross for your 509 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,280 sins? How much do you give to help 510 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,200 other people find what you have found in Jesus? 511 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:05,120 Verse 10 Bring the whole tithe 10% into the storehouse. 512 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,000 This is where you worship, this is where you gather. 513 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,320 This is where you grow. This is where you attend. 514 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,840 This is where you serve. This is where you learn. 515 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,480 Bring it to the church that there may be food in my house. 516 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:22,520 Then God says, Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see 517 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:26,880 if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour 518 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:32,160 out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store 519 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:36,680 it. Verse 11 I'll prevent pests from 520 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:40,000 devouring your crops, and the vines of your fields will not 521 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,520 drop their fruit before it is ripe, says the Lord Almighty. 522 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:49,960 Verse 12 Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours 523 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,560 will be a delightful land, says the Lord. 524 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:58,120 All mighty. So my entire life I have been 525 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:02,600 operating in the area of tithing, no matter how little or 526 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:08,160 how much I made my commitment as a bare minimum has been 10% and 527 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,360 you might be going. So Clayton, are you a multi 528 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:13,760 trillionaire? I'm not. 529 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:18,280 The blessings that God has poured into my lap have not been 530 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:22,760 over the top financial success. What they have been is I have 531 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,720 not had stress, I have not had worry. 532 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:29,720 He has supplied all of my needs. He has been there every step of 533 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,320 the way. He has showed up in miraculous 534 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,960 ways in this area, in my life, in ways I never thought 535 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,720 possible. And every single week when I'm 536 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,080 at church and I walked, watch the baptism video, I go. 537 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,800 I was a part of every single one of those. 538 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:51,000 And that blessing is worth all the blessings in the world to 539 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:54,080 me. God is saying when you honor me, 540 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:59,240 I will take care of you. And I want to put me and my 541 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:03,680 family in a place that God blesses, in a place that God 542 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:05,960 protects. And you might be going right 543 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,120 now. This is really hard. 544 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:14,640 Trying to give 10% of what I make to God is really hard. 545 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:17,520 That's going to take some serious faith. 546 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:26,480 Isn't that the point? Faith Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 547 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:30,600 six. And without faith it is 548 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:35,880 impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must 549 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:40,240 believe. That's faith, that he exists and 550 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,640 that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 551 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:50,880 If you and I are going to be Jesus people, we are going to be 552 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,920 giving people. We're going to be obedient 553 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:58,280 people. And you guys know this to be 554 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:04,440 true deep down inside, that you can give without loving, but you 555 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:09,440 cannot love without giving. We give money to all sorts of 556 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:11,320 things. We give it to the government. 557 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:14,679 Some of you don't love it. We give money to restaurants and 558 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:16,639 we didn't like it. We give money to the cell phone 559 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:18,960 company and we can't stand the way they treat us. 560 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,600 We give money to Netflix, we give money to Hulu, we give it 561 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:23,360 to the bank. I've never met somebody who's 562 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:24,880 wearing the I love my Bank shirt. 563 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:27,280 That didn't work at the bank. Like I love the bank. 564 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:28,880 I can't. I go there all the time. 565 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:35,719 No, we can give to all kinds of things and not love them, but 566 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:41,800 you can't love without giving. Think about your family, your 567 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:45,239 friends, your church, and your God. 568 00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:52,239 How can you and I possibly say we love God and not give to 569 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,040 accomplish the very thing that He called us to accomplish? 570 00:34:55,840 --> 00:35:01,000 Because at the very heart of the gospel is a generous God who 571 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,960 made a generous gift. You've probably missed this 572 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:10,720 before, and the most popular verse in all of Scripture is 573 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:17,960 this principle. John 316 For God so loved the 574 00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:26,160 world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes 575 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,840 in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 576 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:35,480 This is an issue of God's generosity and our faith. 577 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,920 You and I, we were made in the image of God. 578 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:45,840 That means that He has woven generosity into our DNA. 579 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:51,080 And we might be the most like Him when we are obedient to Him 580 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:56,160 and generous on His behalf. Because whoever believes in Him, 581 00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:00,560 this issue of faith will have eternal life. 582 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:05,040 And when we trust God, He promises to bless us. 583 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:10,320 And when we want to chart a path to being better stewards and to 584 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:15,560 less stress and to greater impact, the first thing God 585 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:17,840 asked us to do is realize it all belongs to Him. 586 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:23,200 And the second thing He asked us to do is to honor Him, to bring 587 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:25,680 Him. The tithe will impact the rest 588 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:27,040 of it. Next week we're moving to a time 589 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:27,560 decision.