Excel in the Grace of Giving | Pastor Bryan Jarrett | Northplace Church

pastoring North Place Church in the Dallas Fort Worth area for almost 20 years. We're one church that meets in multiple locations even on multiple continents and today you are one of those locations. The church is not about buildings it is about people and we have the privilege today of sharing the hope of the gospel with you right where you are. There is no way I can know exactly what you're going through or dealing with right now but for almost 30 years I have preached about a God who I know I am confident knows you your struggles knows the very hairs on your head and the thoughts that you think before you think them and he is passionately in love with you and our prayer today is that in our time together you feel our love for you and his presence and we pray that this time together gives you hope. Thank you for joining us. North Place Church it's good to be in the house of the Lord together today and then come on when you stand up put your hands together there's joy in the room today. I've got a river that's flowing inside it's full of light it's ever growing. I've got a fire and it's always lit. It won't go out. It's always burning. You're giving me joy. It's unspeakable joy. One denyable, unexplainable. I've got the joy up. Come on does anyone else have the joy of the Lord today. I've got a river that's flowing inside. It's full of light. It's ever growing. I've got a fire and it's always lit. It won't go out. It's always burning. I've got a river that's flowing inside. It's full of light. It's ever growing. I've got a fire. I've got a fire and it's always lit. It won't go out. It's always burning. You're giving me joy. It's unspeakable joy. I've got the joy of the Lord. Down in my heart, deep down in my soul. Uncontainable. It's untainable. I've got the joy of the Lord. I've got the joy of the Lord. I've got joy on the inside. It's like fire can keep it in. And I keep praising it in. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Come on let's sing that together. I've got joy on the inside. It feels like fire. It's like fire can keep it in. I keep praising it in the bid. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Sing I've got joy on the inside. I keep praising it in the bid. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Sing I've got the joy on the inside. It feels like fire can keep it in. I keep praising it in the bid. The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength. I've got a river that's falling inside. It's full of light. It says I've got a fire. It's all between you and I, it's all, it's always burning You're giving me joy, it's unspeakable joy I deny a whole, I explain a fool, I've got the joy I've got the joy, I've got the joy Down in my heart, deep down in my soul

I've got the joy, I've got the joy on the inside ♪ I'm just your size barking in the air ♪ Sing, I've got a joy! I've got joy inside, feels like fire can keep me in If I keep crazy, it's a bit like the joy of the Lord is my strength The joy of the Lord is my strength The joy of the Lord is my strength The joy of the Lord is my strength The joy of the Lord is my strength The joy of the Lord is my strength Come on, is anyone else grateful today for the joy of the Lord? That is our strength We've got joy, one because scripture says this is the day that the Lord has made And just because He made it, we're going to rejoice and we're going to be glad in it But we're also rejoicing today because today's baptism Sunday at North Place Church We're so grateful that God is moving in the lives of these incredible people Getting baptized across our services and campus family today We've got five amazing, amazing people, part of our spiritual family who are getting baptized in this service And they're doing what the Bible commands to take that personal decision To follow Jesus and make Him the Lord of their life And they're doing what the scripture says to go public with their faith To declare that to the world, to friends, to family And so as their spiritual family, we want to celebrate with them We want to praise God with them, rejoice with the fact that our Lord is still saving That Jesus is still changing hearts and changing lives As we celebrate new life in water baptism today Lord, we love you and we thank you so much for who you are We thank you Lord for this beautiful picture of what's happened on the inside That the old life is gone, the new life is raised to life with Jesus The new us, we've come alive in the resurrection of Jesus, Lord That's what this is the picture of and we celebrate with heaven today

These brothers and sisters who were once lost, but are now found dead But are raised to life again in you We love you and we bless you in Jesus name Amen, and amen, would you continue to worship with us today as we celebrate [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ I trust in God ♪ ♪ My Savior Lord ♪ ♪ You will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ Though sorrow may last through the night ♪ ♪ His joy comes in the morning ♪ ♪ His mercies are new every morning ♪

♪ And I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, come on in one voice ♪ ♪ Can we sing this today? ♪ ♪ And I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He heard ♪ ♪ Oh, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He heard ♪ ♪ That's why, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ That's why, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ That's why, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, I trust Him ♪ ♪ That's why, I trust Him God ♪

♪ My Savior, One ♪ ♪ Who will ever be ♪ ♪ He will never be ♪ ♪ He will never be ♪ ♪ He will never be ♪ ♪ He will never be ♪ ♪ I trust Him God ♪ ♪ I sing, I sing ♪ ♪ You are the Lord ♪ ♪ Who will never be ♪ ♪ He will never be ♪ ♪ He will never be ♪ ♪ He will never be ♪ ♪ He will never be ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, I trust Him ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him ♪ ♪ That's why, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He heard ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He heard ♪ ♪ That's why, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ And He heard, and He heard ♪ ♪ That's why, I trust Him ♪

♪ That's why, I trust Him ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ He's so, so, so, oh ♪ ♪ So, I trust Him ♪ ♪ My Savior, the One ♪ ♪ Who will never fail ♪ Come on, sing this with confidence. ♪ He will never ♪ ♪ So, I trust You, God ♪ ♪ My Savior, the One ♪ ♪ Who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ Who will be trusted ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ All my words fall strong ♪ ♪ I got nothing new ♪ ♪ How could I play ♪ ♪ All my gratitude ♪ But every song was there and you'd never do So I throw my hands and praise you again and again 'Cause all that I have is a hallelujah Hallelujah and I know it's not much I've nothing else but for a key He's had for a heart singing hallelujah Hallelujah I've got one response I've got just one little hole with my heart's french wine I'll be the worst in you all

So I throw my hands and praise you again and again 'Cause all that I have is a hallelujah Hallelujah and I know it's not much I've nothing else but for a key He's had for a heart singing Hallelujah Hallelujah Oh, it's all we have to read We praise You, Jesus Don't want us to play this today So come on my soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul 'Cause you've got a lion inside of those arms Get up and praise the Lord So come on my soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul 'Cause you've got a lion inside of those arms Get up and praise the Lord So come on my soul Come on my soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul 'Cause you've got a lion inside of those arms Get up and praise Don't you get up and praise the Lord So come on my soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul

'Cause you've got a lion inside of those arms Get up and praise the Lord Oh, yeah Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me

Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me

Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me Lift up your soul Oh, don't you get shy on me (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Last week, we discovered the connection between God's power and His grace. We've known the grace that saves us and the grace that forgives us and the grace that gives us eternal life. But a lot of us have never relied on the grace that sustains us and enables us and empowers us to face the hardships and difficulties of our everyday life. It's always been there. It's always been available, but too many believers are scripturally uninformed,

which makes them unaware of the power of God's grace that is sitting there waiting for them to tap as a source of power in their life. Remember what we said last week, Empowering Grace is the strength I don't have for a moment I can't handle in a season I didn't choose. We also said that Empowering Grace is what enables every hard yes and every act of costly obedience before God. In one of Paul's darkest struggles, the Lord told him this like a Corinthians 12, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. There's an equation there. God is equating grace to power. God's grace is equivalent to God's power and the power of that grace is multiplied or amplified in my weakness and my hardship in my adversity. Immediately after that conversation last week and one of our Sunday services, I caught Mario out of the corner of my left eye. He sits right behind me back there. One of the services and a missionary in our church had been recently overwhelmed by Mario's generosity and reached out to me saying, how do I get a hold of this guy? I want to express gratitude. So I go over to Mario and I'm like, hey, I need your contact information

and can I have permission to share it with his missionary? And unprompted, Mario kind of testified and began to explain. I guess he felt like he had to explain to me why he was being so generous to this missionary. And he said, "Pastor, the message you preach today is the transformation story of my life. You know I got saved in prison. The first several years of serving Jesus in prison was burdensome. I made him Lord and asked for his forgiveness, but it was dutiful obligation of religious rulekeeping that I was striving to keep in my own self-effort. I saw the truth, but I wasn't experiencing the joy in it. But after several years of that, I discovered what the scriptures have to say about the empowering grace you preached about today. This sermon is the message that changed my life. I found joy and freedom and an ability to live for Christ when I discovered this that I had not experienced in my own exhausting self-effort. Mario discovered that grace not only saves us, it forms and empowers us to live the life God calls us to live. And because grace have become so powerful, such a power source in Mario's life, he did a deep dive into the scripture on grace. And while doing that, he ran across a phrase and Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. And second Corinthians verse eight, he read this phrase, see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Mario said the discovery of that single phrase changed every freedom for him. He realized what Paul was saying, that grace was the empowering his daily discipleship, that same grace could empower his generosity too. Grace could change his relationship with money just as it had changed his experience of following Jesus. And after hearing him say this, everything started to make sense for me. Not long after we planted the Hughes campus, our prison campus in the huge unit in Gatesville, the church started getting these checks from a prison account on behalf of a guy named Mario and they came year after year faithfully. And when they started coming, I kept going to the account like we can't take, I don't want this guy's money, we can't do this. Like this guy's in prison, he needs this. Like we can't take this and they were like pastor, he's giving this to God. Like God's gonna bless him. It just, I just didn't want it. I wanted to give it back. But obviously we honored what God was doing in Mario's heart. And what I realized last Sunday is that what Mario was doing for this missionary now that he's out of prison is what he's been doing all these years while he was in prison. And it's all the evidence of grace's empowerment

at work in his life. Mario lives a very humble life with access to very humble resources. But grace has made him a remarkably generous person, a person that excels in the grace of giving. I walked into that conversation with Mario on behalf of the missionary. I walked away from that conversation, astounded as I thought about the power of grace at work in a person's life. And today I wanna ask God to do that same kind of work in us. Look a little closer at the passage that became revelation to Mario, that second Corinthians eight passage. And you just have to know the context. Paul is writing to Christians in Corinth who were affluent. This was an affluent business, supporting Export City. This was much more affluent than some of the other churches that were planted. And there were believers in Jerusalem that were facing persecution. They had to flee. They left their jobs. Many of them were disowned from their families. There were people being martyred. And because of the persecution, they were now suffering extreme poverty. So Paul and some of the other apostles were taking collection from the church

to try to help these poverty-stricken, persecuted believers in Jerusalem. And he is giving the Corinthian church, a more affluent church, the chance to be a part of that. And second Corinthians eight, it says, and now brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace God has given the Macedonian churches. So notice that we're about to read about their generosity. Paul is saying their generosity was an act of the power of grace at work in their life. And the Macedonian churches were extremely poor, okay? In the midst, verse two, of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people in Jerusalem. And they exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves, first of all, to the Lord. And then by the will of God, also to us. So we urge Titus. Titus had already appealed to the Corinthians once for this. And Paul said, I'm sending Titus back to you to follow up on what he did in the beginning to bring to completion this act of grace on your part. I want Paul saying the grace that motivated the Macedonians in their poverty at work in them.

I want that grace at work in you in your affluence. Verse seven, but since you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in complete earnestness, and in love, we have kindled in you, see that you also excel in this grace of giving. Notice this, it's important. I'm not commanding you, but I wanna test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. I hope you see how Paul connects the generosity of the Macedonians with the power of grace that is at work in their lives, enabling them to be generous beyond their ability. Something supernatural was going on in their acts of generosity because of the grace of God. And Paul uses their sacrificial generosity, the Macedonians who are living in extreme poverty, but excelling in the grace of giving as a measuring stick to test the sincerity of the devotion of the much more affluent Corinthian believers. He's basically saying, if they can give so much with so little, what's holding you back? And then he challenges the Corinthians to excel in the grace of giving, to lean into the same grace that empowered the generosity of people with access to much, much less. Today, let me be like Pastor Paul, but instead of comparing us to the Macedonians, I'm comparing us to Mario, a man with access to little, but he has been discipled and formed in such a way that he excels in the grace of giving.

Like Mario, when I first got saved out of a life of addiction, learning about the grace of giving became one of the most significant parts of my discipleship journey. If you've been around here at all, you probably heard me say this somewhere from a pulpit or in a classroom setting or in a personal conversation when I'm talking to people who are for easy to grasp, handles that will help them grow in their relationship with God, I always point them to the four things that help me move from addict to a fully devoted disciple of Jesus Christ. Four simple things, sometimes we make it too difficult. Four simple things that still shape my spiritual journey today. Number one, develop a prayer life. And these are not just desperation prayers that you throw up when you're in a bind. I'm talking about developing an ongoing, intimate, daily conversation with God through prayer where you talk and listen. And when I teach this, I give people different methods of learning how to pray so you can have a meaningful conversation with God that's gonna last more than three minutes. And I also talk about regular times of fasting that are a vital part of a mature prayer life because it is something that Jesus modeled and lived. Number two, engage the word daily. Get a reputable translation of the Bible

that you can understand and follow a consistent daily scripture engagement pattern that takes you through the Bible over the course of the year. Number three, be in relationship with spiritually mature people. God designed us to grow within a life-giving community of faith that happens through regular church attendance and small group discipleship in Bible study. This is a mountain, spiritual growth is a mountain to climb against our sinful nature. So you need people that are ahead of you on the climb that can pull you up the mountain of spiritual growth. And the fourth thing, those seem kind of obvious. The fourth thing may be what is most surprising to people, but it may be the thing that worked in the transformation of my heart and still is the most. Develop a heart of generosity through biblical principles of giving. When I gave my life to Jesus, I was working at a grocery store and earning minimum wage. I thought I knew this and I looked it up to confirm. I was making $3.80 an hour. My first paycheck I received after I got saved, I had been receiving that for a while, but the first one I got after I got saved was $160 for two weeks of work. And I remember now that I'm a Christian holding that first paycheck after giving my life to Christ, wrestling with a decision. Am I really gonna do this?

Am I really gonna give the Lord a tie to my income? It was only $16, but when you're making $3.80 an hour, that's a lot of money. And that moment for me was more than a decision about money. It was a decision about lordship. It was a decision about the seriousness of my surrender. Just a few days earlier at an altar, I had given my life to Jesus. And when I did, I told him, I will give you everything. I will trust you with my whole life. So this moment I'm holding this check, trying to figure out what I'm gonna do, it was a serious test of my words and that altar. Was he really the Lord of everything? Would I really trust him with everything? There was a cartoon image I had just seen in a little discipleship book I had for young adults. It was a devotional and it was the image that came to mind. I saw it in that devotional and it came to mind while I'm wrestling with this check. What am I gonna do? I had just been baptized about the time I started reading that devotional. And maybe that's why that cartoon image held such significance and I never forgot searched around this week to see if I could find that exact image and I did. They're gonna put that image on the screen. At the end of the day, I didn't wanna be that guy. The guy that says, Jesus, I give you my life. I give you my everything.

I want you to be Lord of all of me, except my wallet and my possessions and my finances. And the day I wrote out that first $16 tithe check as a new believer and every time Haley and I still do that now, selfishness dies a little more in me. I decrease and he increases. Now to understand the significance of that moment in my life, I don't know that I can make you, but you have to understand I grew up in very humble economic surroundings. My family life was incredibly unstable. My dad came and finally left and never came back. I didn't have a relationship with him until I was an adult later. It put my single mom in a very difficult situation. And parents, can I just say this, your children may not understand the budget or the accounting or what's going on in the marriage, but they have a sense, something's not right. And it shapes who they are as people. I just want you to know, it was shaping me even though I didn't understand it all. And it built in me this fear and worry as a young child that we were gonna run out, that we were not gonna have enough and that fear and that worry controlled me. So when I sat there with that, but at the same time, I was standing against that controlling worry and fear that had been such a part of my life in my family.

I put the crown on God's head and made him the Lord and King of my finances, trusting that 90% with the promise of his blessing in favor was far better than 100% without it. And now was I not only partnering with God in the transformation of other people's lives for eternity by giving to the local church, there was something about that decision and everyone after that, that formed and shaped my heart into the image of Christ. Learning to give was and still is the most spiritually transformative part of my journey in becoming a disciple of Jesus. And for that reason, I can say, I may have cheated you a little in the last 21 years. I've been faithful to teach you about prayer and fasting and model that. I've been faithful to teach you about engaging the scripture and model that. I've been faithful to push you and prod you into small groups where you can grow and be discipled. But I probably haven't been as faithful as I should be in teaching you about the one thing that transformed my heart the most, excelling in the grace of giving. Sure, I do a couple stewardship teachings every Sunday and we give generosity talks on occasion, but I probably haven't given this grace of giving conversation enough airtime. The one thing that's changing my heart the most

that has the power to shape you in your journey with Christ. And I can tell you why. I've avoided that conversation because I don't wanna feed the cultural narrative that the church is all about money. It's such an important part of the discipleship journey that people think the church, it's all about money. Look, if you don't do anything, we're not going out of business. We're not going off the air. This is not a money talk 'cause the church needs your money. This is a talk because I'm a pastor who has been discipled and being discipled and this is the one thing that grew me up in my faith. I'm afraid because I've avoided, I've missed an opportunity to empower your spiritual growth with the one thing that's made the biggest difference in mind. In the Bible, there are 500 verses on prayer. We know that's important. There are 500 verses on faith. We know that's important. I can talk about that, not bother anybody. There are 2,000 verses in the Bible that talk about money and possessions. So obviously from a biblical perspective, the way we handle our money and possessions says a lot about what we believe about God. The stewardship conversation is a lordship conversation. Stewardship is conversation about lordship. It's a matter of the heart.

What did Jesus say in Matthew 6 for where your treasure is, dare your heart will be also. How we handle our assets reflects the condition of our heart toward God. Let me say it this way. A heart touched by God will give generously and a good place to start is with the tithe. But people get hung up when you use the word tithe. Some people call anything they give to God a tithe, but that's not the case. The word literally means a tenth. And it refers to the practice of giving God 10%. And biblically, it's not just any tenth in scripture. It was the first tenth. It was actually originally called first fruits. Because the principle of the tithe was these farmers and sheep herders and all these people would bring the first fruits of their crops or their livestock. And God says, if you'll bring that tithe, the first fruits, the cream off the top, and you'll honor my lordship with the first tenth, I will redeem and bless all the rest. But here's the common argument people have about giving the tithe. They say, well, I'm a New Testament believer. I'm under grace and I don't follow the law. The tithe was a concept under the law. And so now I'm under grace. I don't believe in the tithe.

And that's okay. I'm not gonna argue with that. The tithe is not law around here. We're not legalistic about that around here. But it is an obvious biblical principle and it makes for a great place to start a generosity journey. And if you're one of those people that wanna abolish any reference to the tithe, let me ask you a real honest question. Where are you gonna start? Where are you going to choose to be a great biblical starting point? The tithe was a starting point under the law. The law required God's people to give 10% for the funding of the temple. And during certain other times, there was an additional 10% for the operation of the worship festivals. And then every three years, So it averaged out under the Levitical law, regularly to be about 23%. The first 10% the tithe was the starting place under the law. So if you say, I'm a New Testament believer, I'm under grace now, I'm not under law anymore, your only option is to go up. In Luke 12, Jesus says to whom much is given, much is required. We are under grace, we are no longer under law. We have been given much, much more with grace

than what they had with the law. And if tithe was the starting point under the law and you want to do away with it, that's fine, but where do you want to start? You can't go lower. When it comes to managing Old Testament law with New Testament expectations, Jesus has that conversation in Matthew chapter five. About verse 17, he said, I didn't come to do away with the law, I came to fulfill the law. And then in the verses after Matthew five, 17, he keeps repeating the same phrase. You heard it said, blank in the law. But I say unto you, and then he tells, he always raises the bar above the law. In verse 21 and 22, Jesus says, in the law, you are commanded, do not commit murder. But I tell you, don't even be angry with your brother and sister. Jesus raises the standard. In verse 27 and verse 28, Jesus says, the law commands you, do not commit adultery. But I say to you, don't even lust. If you lust, you've committed adultery. Again, he raises the standard. If the tithe was the starting point under the Old Testament law, Jesus is always gonna raise the standard in multiple places in the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, scripture says that the tithe was holy

or set apart, or it belonged to the Lord. Malachi says it this way in Malachi three, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house, test me in this, says the Lord almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it, the reference to the tithe here in Malachi is the one place we are challenged by God to put him to the test and stand back and watch. He says, just see, watch and see if I will not bless. The passage shows us that God cares about the material life of his people and takes our giving seriously so much so. He promises his blessing. Let me share something with you that's been on my heart lately from this promise in Malachi. This is not fear-mongering, I'm just telling you what I sense in my heart. I think we're probably headed into a season of even more economic, political, and global uncertainty. And right now, I feel the same way when I give to the Lord that I did when I wrote out that first tithe check, I'm resting in the assurance that regardless of what the future holds, he is the Lord of my everything. I'm doing my best to walk in biblical principles of generosity that God's word says

puts me squarely on his radar for his covenant care. It doesn't mean that I won't experience loss or hardship. It simply means I will be better off than I would've been without his covenant care in my life. Here's what I know. I belong to a faithful God through the work of Jesus Christ. And I want my finances to reflect that belonging. I can choose to honor him first and then ask for his provision and protection in my life, and then I can go to bed trusting in his care even when I've overwhelmed about the future because I have made him the Lord of every aspect of my life. Sir John Templeton was the founder of Templeton Investments. And this is a businessman who managed people's assets. And he said this, I have observed 100,000 families over my years of investment counseling. I always saw greater prosperity and happiness among those families who tithed than among those who didn't. Dave Ramsey says, if you can't live on 90%, you can't live on 100%. His point is, no matter how much you make, there will never be enough if you won't live on a budget. And the tithe is a great way to prioritize a budget by putting God first. You might have to adjust your priorities. You might have to trim your expenses. You might have to stop trying to keep up with everybody else.

But by grace, it can be done. The great Baptist preacher, Adrian Rogers, Because if you start giving pieces of the financial pie away to everything else and forget to give God the first one, by the time you get to the end of the month, the only thing left is the half-eaten piece in your hand. There's nothing left for him, and he's the one that gave you the whole pie. But listen, this can't become transactional. It can't just be another line in your accounting software or another line in your budget. Giving is an act of worship. It is a sacrifice of praise that honors the king. Don't let it be transactional. Let your giving stay connected to your heart as an act of trust, surrender, dependence, and worship to the Lord. To worship something is to ascribe worth to it. And when we give, we're saying, God, I give this to you for your kingdom work because you are worth it. That's when it becomes worship. But excelling in the grace of giving is not just about my own discipleship, it is that, but not just that. It's not just about worship to the Lord, it is that, but not just that. Through our collective giving as the Lord's church, we are on mission together to fuel the agenda of God

in our world through the local church, whether it's Christmas parties for public schools or mobilizing missionaries around the world. That's why 100% of mine and Haley's tithe comes here to this local church. Everything we give outside of the local church is above and beyond that 10%. Why? This is just us. Why? The only thing in this world that Jesus promised to build was a church. He never promised to build another college. He never promised to build another hospital. He never promised to build another non-profit. But Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Those things are incredibly important, but the church was Jesus' priority. He gave his life to build it. And as his disciple, I am called to love what he loves, advance what he advances and build what he builds. That's why mine and Haley's, our best and first, comes here to the local church. Here's the wisdom of Proverbs, Proverbs 3, verse 9, honor the Lord with your wealth and the first fruit of all your crops. And then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats brim with new wine. You can see that the heart of God is captured when we prioritize him in his mission with our finances. It's an issue of priority.

I hear a lot of people talking right now. They're saying, but pastor, the economy's hard, it is. I mean, that's an undeniable reality. But there's also a paradox at play. While people are obviously struggling, it is documented that we're still spending ridiculous amounts of money on things we don't need. We say we're broke, but we keep charging stuff on the credit cards that we could do without. And it is a paradox. Like I read multiple articles this week, US News and World Report, so many different ones. The economy is tough, but consumer spending is still soaring like there's no tomorrow. And it's got economists baffled. They know people are struggling, so why do we keep spending money on stuff we don't need? It says something about our priorities. And if the kingdom of God was truly our priority, we would find room somewhere somehow to get it in. And the tithe is a great starting point. But listen, if your finances are so upside down right now, 10% is impossible, just do something. Sit down as a family or as a couple or in your own finances, what is a step of faith for you to start somewhere and do it faithfully and consistently God will honor that. If your heart is God, I want to grow. I want to grow in my discipleship. I want to fund the work of the kingdom around the world.

If that's your heart and 2% is a step of faith, start there. But do it faithfully and consistently and stand back and see, watch him be faithful and lift you to places that you never thought or possible by the grace of giving. Grace is an empowerment. So if you're financially overwhelmed, but genuinely want to excel in the grace of giving, here's an honest prayer you can pray. Lord, I belong to you. I want my money to reflect that. Show me what obedience looks like and give me grace to act. I want to honor you first, care for the people you've entrusted to me and become available to your work in the world. That's a good starting prayer. Would you stand with me across the room today and I'm going to ask our prayer team if they would make themselves available to serve you? Listen, here's honest truth. Some of us need God to change our appetite. every dollar in our life. Some of us have been faithful givers for a long time, but God is opening up new opportunities for us to impact more people for the kingdom. Ask God for the grace to take the next step in front of you so that you can excel in the grace of giving. I don't know why, but I've just seen God and talks like this in moments like this. He seems weird. I'm going to open the altars for us to pray at every campus you can come here. I don't know why, but I've seen it in my own life.

When I'm faithful to God and sacrificial generosity, I don't know. Maybe it's just me. I'm more broken and surrendered, but it feels to me like the heavens open, and I bombard him with the needs in my life. Really, we have this practice we call a thanks offering, it's not the tie that's something else. If we're in a situation where our lives could have been lost and we look back, if it wasn't for God, the gratitude swells up in our heart, we bring the Lord of thanks offering. We give to him, and after moments like that, we just feel like the heavens are open, and I think they are today. So if you need to meet with you today, there's an atmosphere here for us to pray and ask God to meet you right where you are. Oh Lord, I pray that you will help us grow Lord, pray, engage your word, get in relationship and learn to excel in the grace of giving. And I pray as we have your attention today and we pray, will you let miracles happen? Lord, will you bless them and keep them? Let your face shine down on them, be gracious to them, turn your countenance their direction and give them peace, in Jesus' name, amen, and amen, these altars are open, God bless you. Hey friends, I just wanted to spend a second with you at the end of this message today and just encourage you if in some way you've made a spiritual decision, maybe you've given your life to Christ today, you've recently given your life to Christ, you want to talk to somebody about giving your life to Christ, our team would love to help you. We're on the Pando app and have several ministries into various prisons because God has called us to you. We have a heart for forgotten people and forgotten places and that means we serve widows and we serve orphans and we serve special needs, kids and God has given us a heart for men and women in the prison system because I believe Jesus died for you, He has a plan and a purpose for your life and we want to help you know that and discover that. There is an address on the screen that you can communicate with us, we have a team of

people that would love to hear from you especially if you've made a decision to follow Jesus so that we can resource you and point you to tools that can help you grow. Just know that we're praying over you and we're genuinely honored that you've taken time to watch our channel and these messages from North Place Church. (gentle music) (gentle music)