From New Thinking to New Doing - Herbert Cooper

Jesus came so lost people could be saved. This church is not a cruise ship where we lay by the pool. This is a battleship and for 23 years we've been on mission for Jesus. For 23 years we've been worshipping Jesus, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, reaching lost people, baptizing people, helping people know God and grow in God, discover a purpose and make a difference. We've been on the mission of Jesus. For one reason, one reason, to see more changed lives. Welcome to People's Church. Thank you for joining us in person and online. Why don't you come and stand and bless the Lord with us this morning. There's a lot of talk going around town. I hear a lot of people running their mouths. Every word like an anchor just bringing them down, down, down. Yeah, we've all been looking for a silver lining. Something to hold on to when hope's been hiding. I know a place we can go if you want to find it. This is the good news. If you're breathing it's for you. An empty grave, a life that's changed. It all points to Jesus' name. If you've been searching and nothing's been working, I've got good news. Jesus loves you. Open up your eyes and look around. This is the place where your freedom is found. Take a minute, breathe it in. Watch your life turn upside down. This is the good news. If you're breathing it's for you. An empty grave, a life that's changed. It all points to Jesus' name. If you've been searching and nothing's been working, I've got good news. It's the good news that Jesus loves you. Yeah, it's the good news of the gospel. He loves you, yeah. No matter what you bring, oh He's in love with you. No matter your history, oh He's in love with you. No matter your unbelief, oh He's in love with you. From now till eternity, He's still in love with you. No matter what you bring, oh He's in love with you. No matter your history, oh He's in love with you. No matter your unbelief, oh He's in love with you. From now till eternity, He's still in love. This is the good news. If you're breathing it's for you. An empty grave, a life that's changed. It all points to Jesus' name. If you've been searching and nothing's been working, I've got good news. It's the good news that Jesus loves you. He loves you, yeah. I promise you, I promise you that He's still in love with you. Because He loves us. Oh, how he loves us. He's still in love with you. It's the good news.

It's the good news of the gospel. He's still in love with you. Hallelujah. I'd like to invite the prayer team to come forward at this time. We're a church that believes in the power of prayer. And if you like prayer today, no matter how big or how small the need is, it matters to God. So as we sing this next song, you can step forward. Come forward. Let's believe God for a miracle in your life. I'm a sinner. Grace is still healing. I'm a story. Time is revealing. I'm all of these things, but mostly I'm thankful. I'm a fighter caught in a struggle, a survivor rising above it. I'm all of these things, but mostly I'm thankful. Because you gave me one more day to say I love you. You have brought me all this way to testify your grace. What more can I say but hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, because you gave me one more day, one more day. When the night was closing in on me, didn't know if I'd see the morning. You held on to me, and Jesus, I'm grateful. When my enemies turned up the fire, El Shaddai,

you were right there beside me. You showed up for me, and Jesus, I'm grateful because you gave me one more day to say I love you, God. You have brought me all this way to testify your grace. What more can I say but hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, because you gave me one more day, one more day. One more day, one more day. Come on, will you just join us and sing this praise now? Oh, Lord, I just really want to praise you, yeah. You mean everything, everything, everything to me. Come on, if you mean it, will you just lift your hand and sing this out? Sing, oh, Lord. Oh, Lord, I just really want to praise you, yeah. You mean everything, everything, everything to me. Sing, oh, Lord, I just really want to praise you. Yes, God. You mean everything, everything, everything to me. Sing, oh, Lord, I just really want to praise you. Yeah. You mean everything, everything, everything to me. Cause you gave me one more day to say I love you You have brought me all this way to testify your grace What more can I say but Hallelujah Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus Thank you Jesus

Cause you gave me one more day One more day, one more day, one more day Oh we bless your name Jesus We thank you God We thank you God that we woke up today With breath in our lungs Life in our limbs With a hope, with a future that's found in you God I love you Lord Oh your mercy never fails me All my days I've been held in your hands And from the moment that I wake up Until I lay my head I will sing of the goodness of God Come on church let's sing this out Sing all my life All my life you have been faithful This sounds so good, come on sing it out All my life you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness of God I love your voice You have led me through the fire In darkest nights you are close like no other I've known you as a father I've known you as a friend And I have lived in the goodness of God Come on lift it up, sing all my life All my life you have been faithful Yes God

All my life you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness of God How many of you know that he's good And his mercy's endured forever How many of you are grateful for his goodness How many of you are grateful for his faithfulness Come on let's sing this out together Your goodness is running Your goodness is running after It's running after me, yes Your goodness is running after It's running after me With my life laid down, I'm surrendered now I give you everything, yes Your goodness is running after It's running after me Your goodness Your goodness is running after It's running after me, yes Your goodness is running after It's running after me With my life laid down, I'm surrendered now I give you everything, yes Your goodness is running after It's running after me, yes All my life you have been faithful All my life you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness

Come on, sing it out. ♪ All my life, yeah ♪ All my life you have been faithful Yeah! ♪ All my life you have been so, so good, yeah ♪ With every breath that I am able ♪ I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God You're a good God and we love you, Lord. Yeah! Thank you, Lord. And Father, we thank you that you're a good God. And Father, I pray that you would pour out your goodness on people's lives today. And Father, we thank you that you're a good God, Lord, even in the midst of war and trouble. Lord, your word reminds us in Psalm 46, one through two, that you, oh Lord, are a refuge and strength, Lord, in times of need. And Father, therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth be removed and the mountains be cast in the midst of the sea. Father, we thank you that you're a good God. And Lord, we pray this psalm today over America, over Israel, Father, over Iran today. Father, would you protect innocent lives? Father, would you protect our military? Oh, Father, would you be a refuge and strength, a very present help in time of need? Would you bring peace to the Middle East?

And Father, may lives be surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God, have your way in our world today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. And amen, come on, would you give them praise one more time? Amen, amen. Church family, before you're seated, we love taking time in every service to connect, get to know each other a bit better. Find two or three people, learn their names, shake some hands, let's connect church. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, welcome to People's Church, everybody. Hey, my name is Rob Champion. I'm the campus pastor here at the Oklahoma City campus. Whether you're joining us online or in the house today, we are family. We're so glad to have you with us today. I do want to take a moment just to welcome all of our first time guests. Welcome to People's Church. Yeah, we're so glad to have you today. Well, People's Church, one of the things that's so special about our church is that we don't just care about our church. We care about the Capital C Church. And every time that you give, you are helping to start brand new churches all across America, the United States, and all around the world through the partnership that we have through Church Multiplication Network and through the ARC, the Association of Related Churches. And we wanted to give you an update so you can see how your giving made a huge impact

in the ARC in 2025. Take a look at this video. Hey, I'm Dean Arizzo, and I have the privilege of serving as the President and Executive Director of Association of Related Churches. I just want to say a big thank you and share some incredible impact that you are a part of. ARC exists to help plant and start new life-giving churches, churches just like yours. We believe the local church is the hope of the world. And when a new church opens their doors, entire communities are changed for God's glory. And because of your generosity this past year, here's what's happened. 55 brand new churches were planted in 2025, bringing the total to 1,187 churches launched through ARC over the past 24 years. On their very first Sunday, more than 20,000 people walked through the doors of those new churches. And most importantly, more than 1,600 people made a decision to follow Jesus. That's the kind of difference you are making. So on behalf of every ARC church planter, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your faith. Thank you for your giving. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your generosity. And thank you for your heart for God's house.

And because of you, countless lives are being changed and we know the best is still to come. bless you yeah praise god come on church can we celebrate and praise god for 55 brand new churches lord we pray that you bless these churches you bless these pastors lord that you use them and their dream team lord as they reach their communities to see more change lives in jesus name we pray amen so well hello people's church family how we doing today everybody doing good oh come on are you doing good today success starts on sundays in god's house lifting up the name of jesus and welcome to church today well you're ready for the word of god today i said are you ready for the word of god today to allow god to speak to your heart i want to talk to you for the next few moments about from new thinking to new doing new thinking to new doing last week we learned that we need to always look to god and his word when we're overwhelmed financially because god knew that many of us would experience worry pressure and stress when it came to our finances and that's why the bible talks about money and possessions more than heaven and hell combined the bible has around 500 verses on prayer less than 500 verses on faith but over 2300 verses in the bible on money and possessions why because god knew this was an area we would get easily overwhelmed with in life so this three-week series that we are in is not a giving or a generosity series it's not about the more campaign this series is all about me as your pastor having a heavy heart as i've heard how overwhelmed some of you are financially in 2025 the people's church office received a record number of benevolence calls from our church family and there are people at all of our locations even today part of our church that are struggling financially and my heart is to equip you with tools to go from being overwhelmed to overcoming in your finances and last week we talked about breaking the mindsets that's blocking your financial breakthrough such a critical message if you missed last week's message please get on youtube and watch that very important message because we learned that breakthrough doesn't begin in your bank account it begins in your thinking before god grows your money he first grows your thinking and the next step that we're going to learn today is you gotta go from right thinking to right doing everybody say right thinking to right doing okay so in this story that we are studying for this series the widow woman did not just receive new thinking she also

received new actions let's look at the story together in second kings chapter four chapter four beginning in verse one it says the wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to elisha your servant my husband is dead and you know that he revered the lord but now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves and in this story the widow cries out to the prophet of god this is very important because how we handle money is a spiritual issue we either honor god or we dishonor god with money we either realize that we are stewards of money or we deceive ourselves into thinking that we're owners of money god is the owner of everything and we're called to steward what god has given us and so the widow cried out to the prophet of god and god responded but what's interesting about this story is god did not respond by sending resources from heaven the prophet of god gave her instructions not money god often answers our prayer with steps not shortcuts and a huge reason many people don't see their financial situation change and turn around is because they want shortcuts, not steps. But God breaks financial bondage one step at a time. So let's look at the steps that this widow woman took to go from being overwhelmed to overcoming. Let's dive into the steps. And the first step is to take thorough inventory. I want you to see this in this next verse, in verse number 2 in 2 Kings 4. It says, Elisha replied to her, how can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house? Your serving has nothing there at all, she said, except a jar of olive oil. What do you have in your house is an honest question that many can't answer. It's obvious this lady had taken inventory because she doesn't talk in generalities. She doesn't respond to this question by being overly super spiritual. She doesn't say, well, that's not an important question. That doesn't matter. No, no, she was specific about what she has. She said, I only have a little oil. You see, many people miss the very first step to financial

breakthrough and freedom. They never take inventory of what they have. Financial freedom begins with facts, not feelings. But here's what happens is when people get overwhelmed financially, they often avoid financial conversations, they ignore financial statements, they steer clear of the facts. Many people don't face the facts because the facts can feel intimidating. I know this from personal experience. I told you last week that I put our honeymoon on a credit card. And when we first got married, Tiffany and I had student loan debt, and then I took out more student loan debt to pay for Tiffany's college and to pay our bills. We had car debt. We bought a computer and new furniture on a credit card. And years ago, I learned this, I learned this, I learned this. I cannot fix what I refuse to face. This is not about shame, it's about clarity. So you have to write down all you have. You have to write down all your assets. You have to write down what you make a month. You have to write down what you spend a month. You must take inventory and you may not like what you discover. You may feel like this widow woman and find that all you have is a little oil and a whole lot of debt. But hear your pastor, financial breakthrough and freedom always begins with knowing what you have and where you are. Proverbs says in Proverbs 27 verse 23, be sure you know the condition of your flocks. Give careful attention to your herds. Now, this was an agricultural society.

Their money was their flocks. So the writer is simply saying, you got to know your financial condition. Pay careful attention to your money. The widow's breakthrough began with knowing about her oil, not knowing about the answers. So don't underestimate figuring out what you have in your house. You have to open up the financial statements. You got to check your online balances. You got to list all your debts one by one. You got to write down the interest rates. You got to write down the due dates. You got to list all your monthly expenses one by one. You got to write down your monthly income. You must know where you are financially. What do you have in your house? Here's the second step. Invite the help of others. So this widow's breakthrough would have never happened without people. So scripture says she first went to the prophet of God, and then the prophet of God told her to involve other people. I want you to see this in that next verse in 2 Kings 4 and verse 3. It says, Elisha said, go around and ask all your neighbors. But I don't like two of them. Ask them too, right? Ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't just ask for a few. You see, to go from overwhelmed to overcoming, she had to get other people involved. Her breakthrough did not come from isolation. It came from collaboration.

Oftentimes, our breakthrough doesn't come from what God does. It comes from who God sends. God often... answers our prayers for provision with people. Isolation is the enemy of breakthrough. When pressure rises, our instinct is to hide, is to avoid, is to deal with it all by ourselves. And people hide, and especially in the financial arena, because of pride. They don't want to appear weak, they don't want to appear like they don't have it all together, or they hide because of fear of exposure. People avoid asking for help because they're afraid someone will see their insecurity, or their poor decisions, or their hidden struggles, or people hide because of past hurt. Some of you have involved other people before, and it backfired on you. Maybe you were judged, or you were misunderstood, or your vulnerability was mishandled, so now you say to yourself, I'm just going to handle it all by myself. But unhealed wounds often creates an isolated life. For some, they hide because of overconfidence. People have success in one area, and it gives them a confidence, an overconfidence that they can produce success in every area of their life. And they're overconfident, so they don't ask for help. Some hide because of shame. Shame says, if people really knew me, they wouldn't like me, they wouldn't respect me. So people hide their struggle instead of asking and seeking for help. I love what Proverbs 15 verse 22 says. It says, plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors, they succeed. The widow woman's financial breakthrough came because she was willing to involve the help of others. God oftentimes answers our prayers for provision with people.

One of the ways we want to help you experience financial freedom is in our free financial class. And I want to encourage you next Sunday to get to it. It's in our first service. You can go to the first service and go to the financial class in the growth track room at your campus, and then come worship at the next service. But get to that class. It's a six-week financial class. We're diving in real practical and budgeting and sheets that you're going to take home, homework to take home. We're going to help you experience financial breakthrough and freedom. Our church wants to come alongside of you and strengthen you so you can go from overwhelmed to overcoming. Here's the third step. Third step. The third step was this, go from panic to planning. This lady was emotional. She went to the prophet crying, a mama's heart, I'm going to lose my two sons. The prophet gave her a plan to follow. He said, go get a lot of jars from your neighbors and then pour the little oil you have into the jars. The struggling widow quickly moved from panic to planning. Many people want the promise of freedom without following the plan that leads to freedom. They want overflow but ignore order. They want elevation but ignore preparation. They want God to move suddenly but they won't move strategically. God oftentimes answers our prayers with a plan. He answers with the people, he answers with a plan. He answers with the people, he answers with a plan.

You say, well, pastor, I don't know how to put together a plan. You say, pastor, I'm just horrible with money. Listen to me, family. You're not bad with money, you were just never discipled in it. I want you to quit thinking that about yourself. I got Tiffany and I into a financial mess in our early 20s because I was never discipled in money. But thank you, Jesus, that in my early 20s, I started to learn principles that I'm teaching you today. I started to learn biblical financial principles and I began to apply them to our finances and got breakthrough. And one of the principles that I learned is what I'm teaching you today, Proverbs 21, verse 5. Good planning, everybody say, good planning. Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. So, you need a plan, you need a plan, you need a plan. So, let's talk about a plan real quick. Here's the first step. Identify the root of your poor financial habits. Identify, it's key, if you're identifying why helps prevent repeating the same mistakes again. You can't fix what you don't understand. So, just examine the debt or the pressure that you find yourself in. Just ask, why am I in this situation? Is it due to unforeseen circumstances? Is it due to poor decision? Is it due to low self-esteem? Why am I in this financial strain and pressure? Is it due to a poverty mindset, emotional spending, or instant gratification?

Maybe it's comparing and competing with other people. Maybe it's a lack of financial education. Maybe it's a combination of both. But I want you to think about the root. Why am I in this? What's the root of it? Plan, a plan, a plan. The second step to the plan is this, create a simple budget with categories and limits. So let me talk to you about a budget. This has been huge for Tiffany since our early 20s. We have a budget. Matter of fact, I've got our budget, put it on a spreadsheet for you right here, and then we tweak the categories to fit you. But this is our budget that's been tweaked and modified for our church family. But we got a budget list, and you got to have a budget list. You got to list it. Look, here's a budget list, like, this is our budget, and we tweaked it for you. But you see that all the categories are listed. I mean, you got to even list it, Covenant Eyes, YouTube TV, whatever you got. You got to list it, all of it out. The gym, you got to list it. Eating out, you got to put it all down. The subscriptions of the streaming device. You got to list all of your expenses, all the way down to family pictures. You go get your hair cut. You go to counseling. You got to list it. You go to the chiropractor, list all of your expenses, all the way down to Christmas.

Me and my wife, we got a kid all the way in Florida to travel to college. We list it all. You say, Pastor, you went too fast. I couldn't get all that down that quick. Okay, on your PeopleSearch app, if you go to that, it's a budget list. It says there, it's a budget list. Click on the budget list, and you will see the same document that you just saw there. It's in an Excel template, and you can download it in a printable PDF. It's also, you can open it in Google Sheets. So it's right there for you to go and put together a budget. Some of you, you've never done this. I want you to put together a budget and list all of your expenses, categories, and limits. You got to track every expense. Track every expense. Start doing that for the next month. It'll be a game changer in your finances. A plan, a plan, a plan. The next step to the plan is cut out anything that's not essential. Be real about your wants and your needs. Going out to eat after church, that's a won't. Go home and make you some ramen noodles, huh? Get that smartphone and get you a dumb phone. Get rid of YouTube TV and get you some ears. Come on, move them things around and see if you can pick up a chatter or two. I'm just, right? You can't spend your way out of debt, right? Okay, we're talking about a plan, a plan. Start saving extra money for emergencies. You got to get $1,000 saved up.

Have a garrasso. You got to get a couple of thousand dollars saved up. You got to do whatever it takes legally to get yourself $1,000 saved up. I always got to throw it legally into our church. I'm going to read to everybody. I'm going to go to somebody else and sell me some of that stuff, pastor, give me that. Nah, nah, that's not what I'm talking about. But you got to get, like, life happens. Emergency stuff breaks down. You've got to have an emergency fund. I'm talking about a plan. Here's the next step. Start paying off debt from smallest to largest. Even starting with $20 a week and start paying on the smallest debt makes a big difference, even $20 a week. And after you pay off the first debt, celebrate it. Celebrate the win and then take that extra money and then pay off the next debt. And then after you did that, celebrate and pay off the next debt. This is actually what Tiffany and I did in our early 20s. We kept paying off each debt until we had them all paid off. And then we decided we're not getting back into debt. And the only debt we have today is just our home because we just, we applied this principle. Just take care of one debt at a time. And then number four, let's get to number four. Number four, we're talking about the steps to go from overwhelmed to overcoming. Number four, shut the door and focus. Shut the door and focus. I want you to see this here in 2 Kings chapter 4, that next verse,

verse 4 says this, then go inside and shut the door behind you, the prophet said, you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars as each is filled, put it to one side. She left him, and scripture says it again, shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. I love the Bible. I love how the Bible focuses on these two statements. Shut the door. She had to shut the door because... Distraction kills obedience. The widow woman did not let the voices of other people, their doubt, their despair, their negativity, their lack of belief in her to dictate her actions. She closed the door and focused on the steps that God had given her. Shutting the door is necessary so you can eliminate distractions. Some of you will never experience the financial freedom and peace that God has for you. If you don't shut the door on some people, you have some of the wrong voices in your life. They're the wrong voices. They're gonna keep you upside down financially. The scripture says this in Proverbs chapter four, verse 25 through 27. It says, look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet. Stay on the path. Don't get sidetracked.

Don't get sidetracked. Keep your feet from following evil. Shut the door. You gotta shut the door on the constant critic. The people who never celebrate you. They only criticize you. If someone only points out what's wrong, they are not helping you build what's right. Shut the door. Shut the door on the fear spreader. Every idea you have, every step forward is too risky. They're always, it's too dangerous. You can't be taking that $20 and paying off your debt. Don't you do that? And they sound so practical, but they only paralyze you with fear and stop you from taking steps forward. Shut the door. Shut the door on the victim mentality. Be aware of people who make everything someone else's fault. They rehearse problems more than they pursue solutions. When you hang around people who are constantly talking with a victim mentality, you lose personal responsibility. You cannot build a victorious life with a victim soundtrack playing in your mind. Shut the door. You gotta shut the door on the chronic complainer. They magnify inconvenience and minimize opportunity. They drain emotional energy

and they reframe every blessing as a burden. Complainers will stop you from moving forward. Shut the door. You gotta shut the door on an envious friend. They subtly compete with you instead of celebrating with you. They change every time you level up. They're threatened by your success. Some people will cheer for your survival, but resent your success. They're attracted to your brokenness, not your breakthrough. Shut the door. You gotta shut the door on the gossiper. If they talk about you to everyone, if they talk to everyone else about you, they'll talk to you about everyone else. Come on, they'll talk about you to everyone else. Come on, I don't know what I'm talking about. Gossipers create drama. They are drama, drama, drama. Ain't nobody got time for that. Shut the door on the gossiper and stay focused on what God has called you to do. You gotta shut the door on the manipulator. They use guilt and control to try to control you. They use emotional pressure to keep you from moving forward. Listen, your growth threatens their control. People who punish you for growing are not safe for your future. Shut the door.

You gotta shut the door on the spiritually negative person. They reduce your faith to skepticism. They mock your biblical obedience. They question God's ability to work in your life and in your finances. Some people criticize your obedience because they've made peace with their compromise. Shut the door. You have to get the wrong voices out of your life. The widow woman got those jars. She got that hole and scripture says, shut the door. Hey, look at your neighbor's head brothers preaching right now. Shut the door. You got work to do. You gotta go from overwhelmed to overcome it. Shut, shut the door. Number five, consistently proceed forward. Consistently proceed forward. Second Kings chapter number four and verse number five says this, five and six. She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, bring me another one. But he replied, there is not a jar left. Then the oil stopped flowing. Catch this, I want to give you several points right here from this Texas. I want you to understand this.

You got to go from revelation to responsibility. The widow lady didn't just hear the word of the Lord. She didn't just meditate on the word of the Lord. She didn't just speak the word of the Lord. She obeyed the word of the Lord. She did the word of the Lord. She went from revelation to responsibility. She took responsibility to first go to the prophet and then she went to her neighbors and gathered jars and then she went home and she got the oil she shut the door she got the jars and she started pouring she did the word of the lord financial breakthrough happens when you move from knowing to doing from talking to walking answered prayer oftentimes looks like responsibility when you know better you do better well pastor i'm praying about it and you should prayer is powerful prayer is necessary prayer invites god into your situation but prayer does not cancel responsibility prayer does not replace discipline prayer does not cancel effort you can't pray your way out of habits you refuse to change revelation without responsibility produces frustration because without responsibility you will never experience the financial freedom god has for you you gotta go from emotion to execution this lady was very emotional for good reason her husband was dead she had so much debt the creditors were about to take her sons from her it's very emotional for her she went to the prophet and cried out but then she moved from emotion to execution she went from overwhelmed to obedient the widow did not wait until she felt better to start doing better i want you to think about this

she had no idea how god would provide for her but she was obedient to do the next step that was right in front of her obedience is about what you do not what you feel faith is not measured by your feelings it's measured by your follow-through proverbs 21 verse 5 let's go back to that scripture again it says good planning and hard work everybody shout hard work yeah good planning and hard work lead to prosperity but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty you must put in the hard work there's no shortcut to financial freedom but church i want to encourage you you can do this i don't care how upside down you are financially you can do this one step at a time the widow took one jar and she began to pour then she grabbed another jar and she began to pour and then she grabbed another jar and she began to pour and then she grabbed another jar and she began to pour financial freedom comes incrementally not instantaneously god multiplies what you pour consistently not occasionally she just kept pouring and she kept pouring and she kept pouring you have to consistently pour the all you have you have just to keep pouring say pastor what does that look like going to the financial class for some of you next sunday is pouring all into the jar taking thorough inventory of what you have in the house is pouring all into the jar inviting the help of others is pouring all into the joy jar going on the people's church app and downloading the budget list and putting a budget together is pouring all in the jar writing down all of your income and expenses is pouring all in the jar getting getting on a strict budget is pouring all into the jar cutting out unnecessary spending is pouring all into the jar making payments to pay off that first smallest debt

is pouring all into the jar shutting the door on the wrong voices is pouring all into the jar don't wait for a big step to get started financial breakthroughs come by being obedient in the little steps she kept pouring and god kept pouring she kept pouring her little oil and boy god broke out the crisco oil y'all god broke out god was like girl i see you pouring girl i see you working what you got your little oil won't fill all these jars up but i got some stuff you don't know about if you keep taking those little steps i got some stuff for you but you got to keep pouring and i'll keep pouring you keep pouring and i'll keep pouring you keep pouring and i'll keep pouring you keep pouring and i'll keep pouring you keep pouring and i'll keep pouring little steps unlock big breakthroughs little steps unlock big breakthroughs number six put priorities before pleasure i want you to see the second king chapter four verse seven she went and told the man of god i did what you said my brother and i got jars full of oil he said go sell the oil and pay your debts you and your sons can live on what is left after she filled the jars full of oil the next step in the plan was to pay off the debt before she lived on the rest the prophet was telling this widow woman put priorities before pleasure financial Breakthroughs come from putting priorities before pleasure. Priorities matter. The order in which you do things matters a lot to God. Matthew 6, verse 33, but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you as well. Order matters to God. God blesses our life when we do things in the right order.

The biblical order for our finances is first give to God first. God pours out His blessings when we put Him first in our finances. Supernatural things happen when we give to God first. This past week, I had no idea this was going to happen. After I preached last Sunday, a lady in our church sent in a testimony about what God did in her and her husband's finances. I love receiving testimonies from you all. Let me just share her testimony that she sent in this past week. She said, I had submitted a prayer request months ago regarding losing my job. Our vehicle broke down and we did not have the finances to fix it. Our car was down for six months because we only had one income and was paying on a car that was not running. We did not know how we were going to pay all of our bills on only one income. We had one thing after another happening in our lives and it seemed like God was just silent. We continue to tithe and trust God for our breakthrough. After six months, we believe that God was teaching us to be a better steward over our finances. God came through in our finances and we were able to pay our debt, pay tithe, and bless others in the midst. We knew that no matter what we had, we had to keep trusting God with what we had and believing in his word and not looking at our circumstances. We gave it to him and began to learn what he was teaching us

in this season. He is faithful and I never doubted what he could do. He came through bigger than we could ever imagine. And I just say, praise God. I say, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, church family. I want to see this happen for you. I want this same thing for your life. Hey, church, when you decide, I'm going to be committed to putting God first in my finances, my tithing, and you decide to be a better steward, a better steward of your finances, God will work in supernatural ways in your finances. Hey, church, God blesses our finances when we keep the order right. So don't spend first. Get an emergency fund. Get $1,000, $2,000 set aside. Don't spend first. Pay off your debt. The order matters. Pay off the debt. The order matters. Don't spend first. Save for the future. Retirement, kid's college, save for the future. The order matters. Then enjoy the rest. Then go out to eat at that nice restaurant. Then go out and buy you some new clothes.

Then you go out and take that real nice vacation. Then you go out and enjoy those really expensive hobbies. But if you can just get the order right by putting God first and becoming a better steward, God will bless your finances. Church, you can do this. You can do this. You can experience the goodness of God. You can, you can, you can. Father, touch my church family. Touch them right now by the power of your spirit. At all of our locations, you believe in for God to work in your finances in ways that you've never seen before. You need the goodness of God in your finances. Just lift your hand up right now. I want to speak a blessing. I want to pray a blessing. Just lift it up. Every location, every location, that's it. Every location, every location. Father, I pray for your people as they stretch a hand towards heaven. Lord, may they experience the goodness of God. May they experience the blessings of God. Lord, may they take the next steps. May their heart be encouraged today, God. I pray pour your blessing out on every location. Pour your blessing out on our people, God. I pray they go from overwhelmed to overcoming. I pray for financial peace where there's been

financial worry. I pray right now, God, there'll be financial success where there's been financial strain. I thank you for a breakthrough and blessing in the hearts and lives of our people. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Every head bowed, every eye closed just for another moment. There's some of you here today that God is not first in your life. You're far away from God. You don't have a relationship with God. He loves you today. He has a plan and a purpose for your life, but you have to put him first. There's others of you here today that God used to be first in your life, but you've drifted away. You've allowed everything else to take priority over your relationship with God and you've drifted away and God's calling you back and saying, put me first again. I have something for you. I want to bless your life. If you're here today you're far from God. You've drifted away. You need to make Jesus the Lord of your life. You need to make him first again in your life. You need to turn away from your sin and turn towards God. When I count to three I'm gonna ask you to slip up your hand. I want to lead you in a prayer to make Jesus the Lord of your life. He's gonna come in. He's gonna wash your sins away. He's gonna give you a fresh brand new start and he's gonna lead you in his ways. But it starts with putting him first. If that's you here today, I want you to lift your hand boldly when I count to three. One, two, three. You say that's me. I need that Jesus. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I see that hand. I see that hand. I see that hand. Anyone else? You say that's

me. I see that hand. Anyone else? I need to put God first again in my life. Thank you. I see those hands. If your hands are lifted all over this room here today I want to pray with you. I want you to pray this prayer. The Bible says confess it with your mouth, believe it in your heart and you will be saved. Pray with me now. Dear Heavenly Father, I come before you today. I know that I'm far from you but I can sense you drawing me to you. Today I make you the Lord of my life. Today I make you first in my life. Be my Lord. Be my Savior. Lead me. Guide me for the rest of my days. In Jesus name. Amen and amen. Church, come on. Can we praise God for those who said yes to Jesus today? We're so excited for you and are you grateful that God wants to bless you? You know, just like a good dad wants to bless his children. To all of our guests, if you're looking for a home church, I hope you don't need to look any further. You're among some of the kindest and most loving people in all of Oklahoma. Give us a year of your life. Really get planted in the house of God and watch what God does in and through your life. We're family here at People's Church. We shout it at the end because we really do believe it. Come on, shout it with me on three. One, two, three. We're family. God bless your church. Have a great day. Your goodness is running. Your goodness is running out.