God Doesn't Need Your Money

Put your hands together. (audience applauding) So good to be with you today. Thanks so much for joining us. I wanna welcome those at Fairview Park, Twinsburg, here in the room at Avon. Of course, those also joining us online. We are a one church in multiple locations and God is on the move in our church. Amazing things are happening and we give God all the glory, honor and praise for who he is, for what he's done. Come on, can you help me thank the Lord? (audience applauding) Well, we've been in a series over the last several weeks called Foundations of Faith. And so if you're visiting with us today, you haven't missed a ton. You can drop in today for the word that God's put on my heart for our church. This whole series is about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. And we've looked at things like testimony and salvation and water baptism and prayer and fasting and worship. And today, I hope you're ready 'cause today is your favorite topic of them all. We're gonna look at the topic of money. Making sure nobody is making sure nobody was leaving or throwing anything at me.

You got a little quiet, I mean, that's okay. It's interesting, when you talk about money, here's a couple of things that happens. I was always told that around the family dinner table, let me give you some free advice for Thanksgiving, right? Like you don't talk about politics, you don't talk about your favorite sports team, you probably shouldn't talk about money. And there's a lot of opinions, beliefs, preferences, teachings out there about money. And it's sort of like an out of bounce topic, but how may I know, the church should talk about money. You know, the interesting thing is, Jesus talked a lot about money. In fact, the Bible says something about money, Jesus talked about money over 2,000 times. And he talked about prayer, about 500. It just goes to show that Jesus had an intentional ethicist placed on money. And I think it's interesting because when I think about like my budget and my resources, I think about like the things I have, the things I need, and the things I want. And now I want one of those Cleveland guardians, ALDS hats. Come on, somebody, let's go. And it's not in my budget 'cause I wasn't counting on it, especially when they were down 2-0, but here we are, come on. But I'm gonna find a way, aren't I, to get that thing that I want. 'Cause after all, I work hard for my money.

You know, but when a pastor stands on a platform and a church, sometimes people think, oh God, here we go, another sermon about money. They must be short on cash. They need to do a fundraiser. There's probably gonna be an offering at the end of the message. And we find it really easy, some of us, to start, you know, becoming financial analysts. We're like, well, where's the money gonna go? And who's making the decisions? Like, is it a good organization? Have you done your due diligence? Man, you don't think that hard about a hat from the guardians, you just buy it. And the truth is that money has a way of, you know, causing us to get all bent out of shape. You know, we start calculating and reconsidering and wondering if this is the right time for me to give to the church, you know what I mean? Like, probably they need our money. Can I just tell you something, a title of my message, and it's true. God doesn't need your money. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. So if you're taking notes, 'cause you need three things when you come to church, you need your Bible, something to take notes on and with, and you need an open mind and an open heart to receive God's word.

Do you have an open mind and an open heart to receive God's word today? I'ma teach you, I'ma preach a little bit, but I'ma teach you some things about what Jesus, what the Bible had to say about money, but I wanna remember, I want you to remember God doesn't need your money. I shoulda called this sermon, He wants your heart. 'Cause that's really what this message is about. It's not about money, it's about your heart. And we're not passing the offering buckets at the end of the service after the message, hoping I preached good enough to convince and compel you to give. We're not gonna ask you to submit your W-2 to make sure you're giving a certain amount. Come on, we're just trying to make sure you have good biblical teaching about what it means to follow Jesus and be obedient with your money. [BLANK_AUDIO] Money's about your heart. I could tell you what you value if you let me have access to your calendar and your bank account Because where your time goes and your money goes is evidence of what you value But see money represents security Especially in the United States and the Western Hemisphere money represents freedom Money represents power Money gives me options of how I want to live my life But sometimes without realizing it listen to me without realizing it sometimes We start asking money to do what only God can do We start asking money

to give us peace We start asking money to help us feel secure We start asking money to tell us that we're gonna be okay If I just got a little bit more if I could just take another vacation if I could just get a pay raise I would feel but I would have self-worth if I could just have enough zeros after my name But God doesn't need your money. I mean you can have a lot of money and Be afraid of losing it and you can have a little bit of money and want a lot more You can actually make more than you've ever made and still feel like it's not enough Because it's about your heart. It's about your mind. It's about how you view money The problem isn't always how much money we have Sometimes the problem is what we believe money supposed to do for us and to be clear There is nothing wrong with having a lot of money In fact generosity is a gift God allows and enables some people to make lots of money And actually we see in scripture in the New Testament. There were people who were funding the ministry You never once saw Jesus say that miracle cost You never once saw Jesus when he multiplied the bread in the in the low the bread of the lobes of bread in the fish He never sent him an invoice for the miracle, but you know it cost Resources to do ministry Gosh Jesus his life You see God's not worried about Journey church's budget because he's in control so Adam got to worry about Journey church's budget I'm not preaching this message because we have some big need. There's no ask I'm making an investment through the Bible teaching I'm doing today This is not a message on giving because we have an ask This is a message on giving because I want to make an investment are you with me? I just want to make an investment into your follow worship your discipleship of Jesus God is after your heart. Look at your neighbor. Tell him God's after your heart He's after your heart mine too And Bible tells us that your money in your heart. They go in the same direction, right in

Matthew chapter 25 go ahead turn their New Testament. This is our Bible story for today our lesson today comes from Matthew chapter Jesus is just man, he's preaching if you flip through your Bible if it's like mine I mean from Matthew 15 till 25 you thought I preached a long time Ma'am man was preaching there's so many red letters in the in those 10 chapters He is preaching he is teaching and he gets to this part Matthew 25 verse 14 and he is teaching he is correcting He's using stories and parables and he says this he says verse 14 again It will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them To one he gave five bags of gold to another two bags and to another one one bag each according to his ability At underline that phrase then the master the owner Bible says he went on his journey. No pun intended verse 16 the man who had received five bags of gold Went at once and put his money to work. I'd underline that went at once and put his money to work And he gained five bags more so also the one with two bags of gold gained two more But the man who had received one bag went off dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money And... The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. Master," he said, "you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more." His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness." The man with two bags of gold also came. "Master," he said, "you entrusted me with two bags of gold. See, I have gained two more."

His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. I would underline, have been faithful with a few things." He says, "Come and share your master's happiness." Verse 24, "Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. Master," he said, "I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown in gathering, where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid I went out and I hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you." His master replied, "You wicked, lazy servant. So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered. Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bank so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest, at least. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who s10 for whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance. Don't you misquote, verse 29? He got more because he stewarded, he managed well what he was entrusted with. And whoever does not have meaning, whoever just hides it in the ground and does what they think is best and thinks they know what should be done, don't you misquote it? Jesus isn't saying poor people are gonna stay poor and rich people are gonna get richer.

That is not what he's saying. It's about stewardship, it's about management. Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken from them. Let's pray, Lord, I pray you would put your anointing on this word. Help me to teach your people the way you taught me this last week. Help me God to articulate these words that you've dropped into my head, you've dropped them into my heart. I pray they would go forth and that our church would receive your word through my mouth exactly the way you want them to hear. God, anything that's not from you or of you, I pray that you would strike it from my mind and my mouth, but God, only what you want me to say, let me say it, God, you're my rock, you're my redeemer, our minds, our hearts are focused on you today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen, amen. Here's the truth that I wanna just release over the atmosphere of journey church. How we handle our money reveals who and what has our heart. Your spending reveals your priorities. Your saving reveals something about your security. You're giving, listen to me, you're giving reveals something about your trust or lack thereof. Money itself is not the problem. Some people say that Jesus taught,

money is the root of all evil, it's not the root of all evil. The Bible actually, let me just correct bad teaching. The Bible actually says the love of money is the root of all evil. And what he's saying is when money becomes your God, your first best focus in priority. I'm not saying you have to hate money, but what he's saying, what Jesus is saying is when you make it all about the money. Instead of submitting that money underneath of the God who gave it to you, then we got a problem. The love of money and you allow money to be your God. I gotta make more money, I gotta invest more money. No, no, there's nothing wrong with that. But I'm telling you as a follower, as a disciple of Jesus, the question is not, what do I wanna do with my money? The question is God, what do you want me to do with the money you've entrusted to me? See, there's a difference. You can invest, you can spend, you can save, you can give. But when the question is what do I wanna do, there could be a problem. But when the question is God, how would you have me steward this money? Now you are on the way that leads to life. I wanna show you four things from Matthew chapter 25. And the first thing I've already been hitting it, let me just give a phrase to you to remember. Point number one, you and me were stewards, not owners.

Were stewards. And just so you know that this message is not just about money, my wife and I are blessed to have two amazing children. Caleb is 11, Gracie is eight. those children. The way I see it is, the way we try to raise our family, He's good and faithful and always on time. Caleb, Gracie, you'll live forever more in heaven with the Savior and with the King of God, the Bible is the Word of God. Period. Exclamation point, not question mark. The Bible is the Word of God. And number four, the Holy Spirit is alive and active. If you fall in love and get to know the Holy Spirit, you learn how to hear the voice of God. Man, now I can just be your buddy, right? God, Jesus, Bible, Holy Spirit. My job and Katie's job, my wife, Katie's job, was to steward our children in the same way. If I'm going to steward their little lives for a period of time, I'm not going to make them do what I want them to do. I'm not going to make them do what I wish I would have done. I'm going to say, God, what do you have for Caleb? What do you have for Grace? How can I steward that in the same way? God, I got this paycheck. God, I got this bonus. God, I got these opportunities. What do you want me to do with it? It's stewardship, not ownership. Stewarding our income. Stewarding our time. Stewarding our relationships. Stewarding our property. Some of us, we've got property and resources. I got some buddies, man. They're like, "Hey, I got a lake house. You want to be blessed by it? God blessed me with it. I want to be a blessing. Hey, I got this property over here. God has gifted me with this skill set. My financial advice, can I speak into that? I know how to fix things, praise God, because I don't, right? Can you steward some of that over in my house? It's stewardship. Everything we have is a blessing from God, meant to be stewarded. Amen? Money cannot do what only God can do. If you and me ask money to do what only God can do, then money is more than a tool. It's become an idol. Money is a tool. Praise God for it. There's nothing wrong with having money or having a lot of it or having a little bit of it. It's what you do with it.

When we look to money for what only God can provide, it becomes an idol. See, money can buy a house, but it can't make a home. I didn't have a lot of money growing up. My parents didn't have a lot of money growing up. I mean, we were poor. I didn't know it. We were poor. I just thought everybody ate like Chef Boyardee's SpaghettiOs and all these frozen vegetables or whatever. Save a lot, all right? And nothing wrong with that. I am not condemning anyone. I know what that's like. I have sympathy and empathy for those realities. I mean, sometimes, man, we find ourselves in a place where we are maybe a little poor financially, but my parents taught me what it meant to be rich in spirit. Whether I had Paul says, Philippians chapter 4, you guys know that verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." That's my life verse, Philippians 4, 13. Read it in context. Say, context matters. Paul says, "I have found the secret to being content in all things." He says, "Whether I have a lot," he calls it plenty or a little. He calls it lack. "I could do all things through Christ who strengthens me." The context matters. It's not about just, "I could do all things because God gives me strength." It's my heart posture. My mindset is God will take care of me. I trust in him. Amen? That's a place to have a praise break today. God will trust in me. God will provide for me, excuse me, so I will trust in him. Ask yourself, friends, this week, ask yourself, "Do I see myself as an owner or as a steward?" Faithfulness to God starts when we stop asking God to bless our plans and we instead trust his. I'll say that again. You should write that down. Faithfulness to God starts when we stop asking God to bless our plans and instead say, "God, what's your plan? I want to get in line with what you're doing." When we understand that we're stewards, it changes how we think about money. But generosity isn't just something we do with our money. And that's the second thing I want to show you. If you grew up with very little or in poverty, the moment you got your hands on a little something. I know this, you can't tell me it's not true because I've lived it. We didn't have much, the moment we got a little, I started feeling like, okay, so now I got some security, I got some identity, I got some opportunity here. And I didn't purposely do this, but the devil's tricky. Before long, there was this little bit of greed that started polluting my heart, poisoning my heart. Oh, finally, just for a minute, not for a long time because the devil can play, but we can cast him out.

We can say, get behind me, you can resist the devil. But see, here's what I learned. Generosity breaks the grip of greed. When greed tries to sneak its way in, my life or yours, it's being generous that breaks the grip of greed. Jesus says something really, really interesting and Luke chapter 12, you can flip there if you want. You're in Matthew, flip a couple of books. Matthew, Mark, Luke, Luke chapter 12, Jesus is teaching and he says something very poignant, very impactful. It's just one little verse, you can read the whole context, but he says, watch out. He's like, hey, I'm trying to say something important here. When he said, watch out, he was like sounding an alarm. And he says, watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed because life does, this is Jesus, does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Let me make it clear. Greed isn't just about having or wanting a lot of money. Greed is believing we need more to finally be satisfied. Let me say it to you this way. Greed is wanting what I have to be enough to make me feel secure, but I have found the secret to being content, whether I have enough or not enough, I could do all things through Christ, who I put my faith in, the one who strengthens me. Greed says, if I have a little bit more, I'll be okay. But the finish line keeps moving, doesn't it? How much becomes enough, especially for us here in the United States, but generosity breaks the cycle

because it reminds us that our security comes from God, not from our possessions. Somebody should say, yes, it does. Yes, it our security, our peace comes from God. Yes, it does. Our joy comes from God. Yes, it does. Our purpose comes from God. Yes, it does. My identity comes from God. Yes, it does. My contentment comes from God. Yes, it does. Here's the sermon in a sentence, well, maybe two. Giving is not just about what leaves your hand, it's about what gets released from your heart. God doesn't need your money, he wants your heart. Giving is not about what gets released from your hand or your bank account. Generosity giving, it's about what gets released from your heart. I was recently in El Salvador with some of our pastors. Can't wait to tell you more about that October 25th Compassion Sunday. Man, we got the opportunity to see firsthand the good work that is happening around the world. And I was very taken by. I was very impacted by it while I was there for five days. And I've been to Africa and Haiti and Korea. And I've been some places, if you've ever lived overseas

or been on a missions trip, you know what I'm talking about. But I realized pretty quickly that we here in America, we have a propensity and a tendency to be entitled and ungrateful and discontent all the time. Father, forgive me. Even me, a pastor. And so I go to El Salvador and I start using my logical brand. I'm like, all right, so there's this many kids in this school and this village and these churches. And if it costs this much, we could just fundraise to solve all their problems. The thing is, God doesn't need your money. That money helps. But what these little children and these families and these mamas and what they need is what you and I need. Love. Time. Attention. Yeah, $43 a month, $43 a month. Feeds and educates and gives clean drinking water to a kid for that entire-- $43. I can't even get two coffees and two sandwiches for $43. and only three out of 10 people have a job, seven are unemployed. I just want us to have some perspective. And I hear that, and I see that, and I lived it, and we're gonna show you in the next couple of weeks some of our experience, not because journey needs your money, but because the church is the hope of the world,

because the church can help eradicate poverty and hunger and water that is dirty and undrinkable, does my spending reflect my values? I can find $43, maybe I won't buy that hat. Maybe this month I'll just sponsor a kid to break a cycle of poverty in the name of Jesus. See, generosity is not about guilt, it's not about comparison, it's not about feeling better about myself. Generosity is about, listen to me, generosity is about aligning our resources with what matters to God. Jesus' half brother says in the book of James, right? James wrote the book of James. He's the first preacher in the New Testament, and he says, true religion that is acceptable in pleasing to God is to take care of widows and orphans. So how do we put God first with our money? One biblical practice that we use, I wanna teach you for a second about it, is tithing. Okay, so we were receiving our tithes and our offerings one Sunday, not too long ago, and somebody asked one of our staff members in the lobby, hey, what's that tithing thing about? They hadn't heard that word, tithing. It's not a word we say very often. If you didn't grow up in church, maybe you haven't heard it very much. A tithe is the biblical meaning of the word tithe is literally 10th or 10%.

So when we say it's time to receive our tithe and give our offering, what we're saying is we're gonna bring the first 10%, it all belongs to God. He asks us to bring the first 10% of our income to the Lord and we're supposed to bring it first, not whatever's left over. And by the way, we can't tithe. We're not obedient when we give to a non-profit organization that has a good cause, you know, cancer research, great cause, please give to it. But you don't tithe a hundred dollars to a cancer research organization. You can give, you can be generous. The Bible teaches us very clearly in Malachi, chapter three, verse 10, the prophet Malachi teaches very clearly that when we tithe, we bring the first 10%. So in Malachi, chapter three, I'll show you this verse, it says bring the whole tithe, meaning the first best 10% into the storehouse. The storehouse is the local church. That's what it meant. That word is ecclesia, right? The local church that there may be food in my house. In other words, so that the church can help people who have need. Test me in this, says the Lord almighty. See if I wanna throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not

be room enough to store it. Listen to me, tithing, point number three, I wanna show you this, tithing is not the goal. Trust in God is the goal. You can make tithing a religious ritual that is an empty exercise. Just like reading your Bible can become a religious ritual if your heart is not in it. See, tithing is a practical way to put God first and to acknowledge that everything I have comes from him. We can give our 10%, we can bring our first 10% and still trust money more than God. Tithing doesn't guarantee that you've surrendered your heart to God, but when you tithe, there's a propensity to see that your heart is aligned with the things of God. Are you with me still? Tithing is less about money and more about God is on the throne of my life. He doesn't get my leftovers. He gets my first and my best. Now listen, I'm going to say this, this is important that you hear because I think there's some bad teaching that some of us grew up in. Tithing is not about buying God's favor. You don't get blessed more when you tithe and punished more when you don't. That is religious, pharocytical teaching that is not anywhere found in what Jesus teaches us. There are people who don't tithe that get blessed by the grace and will of God. There are people who do tithe that get blessed. There are people that don't tithe that have struggle. There are people that do tithe that have struggle. Storms and battles come at all of us because we live in a fallen world. It's not about trying to get God's attention because I gave him 10 percent of my income. It's about saying, God, I trust you despite what I'm going through. I trust you. I just want to build the faith in the room at your campus. Has anybody by a show of hands you showed up and you gave, you brought your tithe when it didn't make sense, when you didn't have the money, when you weren't sure what

was going to come through, but somehow by the grace of God it all worked out. Look around your room. There are people raising their hands. I was obedient when it didn't make sense and God showed up. The math of God doesn't make sense. How to 12 people, one of them Judas fell away. How do 11 people turn a world upside down? God. How does 5 loaves and 2 fish feed 5,000 men plus another 10 to 15,000 women and children? God math. Come on. Because he does a miracle. How does a little bit of oil and a laying on a hand set a person free or bring a kid back to life? God math. Do I ask yourself this week, do I trust God or do I trust money? Do I trust God or do I trust money? The last thing I want to show you and the last thing I want to teach you is point number four in the New Testament because I read you from Malachi 3. That's Old Testament. In the New Testament Jesus came to the earth. Jesus was teaching. Jesus did not lower the standard of generosity. He elevated the heart. There are people who think, who have been taught and who believe that tithing is an Old Testament thing. I give what I want to give because after all, Pastor Phil, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 7, the Bible says that each of you should give whatever you decide to give in your heart. You shouldn't do it reluctantly or under compulsion, but God loves a cheerful giver. So if you tell me I have to tithe, I'm not cheerful about it. That violates 2 Corinthians 9 7. Let me just teach you, okay? 2 Corinthians 9 7 is written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. After Pentecost, when the church was being established, Paul was asking the church in Corinth to go above and beyond the tithe. He was not replacing the tithe. He was saying the tithe is the baseline. I had a guy say to me, so you mean I can only give 10 percent? This tithe thing means I only, if tithe means 10 percent, I can only give 10 percent. I said you can give whatever the Lord asks you or tells you to give. I'm not going to give you a number. You start with, say start with, you start with 10 percent. That's called your tithe. You don't give it, you bring it because God commands it, but you give above and beyond that tithe. See, Paul was telling the church in Corinth, hey, we need to help out Jerusalem after Pentecost because there are some believers outside of the local church who are in need. Kind of sounds like Compassion International. Kind of sounds like, so we're tithing, but now we found out there's 225 kids in Columbia, South America who've been waiting for two years or more. They're three years old to six years old

and they don't have water, they don't have food, they don't have an education, and 67 percent of them won't even make it to the age of 10. But what if we tithe and we spent $43 on to break a cycle of poverty. See, journey, we don't benefit from compassion international. It's not an ask, it's an opportunity. Say, God, here's my tithe. I bring it to the storehouse, to the local church, to do the thing here in the body, here in Northeast Ohio, that the church needs to do, take care of people, pay the bills, do the different things, provide these amazing services, help our kids go to youth camp, have amazing resources for our children, so on and so forth. But then there's also this thing over here. That's second Corinthians. There's additional needs outside of the storehouse. We need to receive an opportunity and invitation to make an impact in our world. That's what second Corinthians is saying. I was thinking about what's the purpose of today's message? 'Cause you know, people get all squirrely when you talk about tithing and money in church. And this church and our team, I can't speak for anyone else, 'cause I'm not responsible to lead anywhere else. I'm here, God, put me here with this team. And this team, our church, is what we believe.

We believe the goal isn't to create, is not to create people who just give 10%. Ooh, look at us, we got more tithers. No, no, no, no, no. Disciples don't just give 10%. The goal isn't to create people who just give 10%. The goal, the purpose of this message, the purpose of our ministry, is to create people whose lives are marked by generosity. When they say, "There's a need and I have means." I've done my tithe, but I've been saved by the grace of God. I'm gonna give a little bit more to help those who don't have right now, what I have. I think about how people showed up to bless my mom and dad when we were struggling to make it as a kid. They had a little bit more, and we did it. And the people just showed up, it was crazy. You can't tell me it's not true, it happened. It's not just coincidence or circumstance, 'cause I'm past or fill. It's because God looks over the earth and he sees a need. And we say, "How come you don't do something "about those starving kids who don't have clean water "in Columbia or El Salvador?" He said, "I'm trying to, but my people are holding on "to the abundance that I've given to them. "The way God wants to solve the problem "and the burden that's on your heart "is for you to release."

Not squeeze, come on, just release a generous heart. So how do you want me to respond, Pastor Phil? You should ask God, God, how do you want me to respond? I'm not gonna give you the answer, 'cause I'm not God. I'm a servant of the Lord, sent to teach a little. I have faith to believe that God will move in your life. I already said it, we're not passing an offering bucket, 'cause I convinced you now to give. You could go online and do that tonight if you want. Next week, as much as that's important, what God cares about is what I care about, your heart. He doesn't need your money. He cares about your heart. Now I'll tell you, if you don't bring your money, I wonder where your heart is. I want to show you an illustration to help kind of land this plane. I came across this illustration, and I wanted to share it with you. Anybody get a paycheck? Anybody get a paycheck? Like a third of us, the rest of us are unemployed, I guess. I don't know, right? All right, so let's say this is your paycheck. Boom, hit your bank account. You're like, woo, look at this. I'm gonna unwrap my paycheck. Look at what God has done, yeah. Well, listen, I gotta pay some bills. I gotta throw some money on my mortgage.

Well, my mortgage, listen, my mortgage, I have a pretty big house, probably above my means. I'm gonna make sure my more, I gotta take care of my home. And here's the thing, like, I got some utilities. I gotta make sure I pay my, not just my mortgage or my rent, but I gotta pay my electric bill, my cell phone bill. I gotta pay my water bill. I gotta pay my Netflix bill, my Hulu bill, my Disney Plus bill, my chat GPT bill, my storage space on my phone bill. so I need a vacation, I just took a vacation, and now I need a vacation for my vacation. I'm just gonna throw money at my problems and my pain. I'm just gonna, listen, now I gotta buy groceries. How many have teenagers? You might as well just get a, like, you about to run out 'cause them kids can eat, right? I'm about to just, I'm trying, Lord, you told me to take care of these kids, like, yay, anybody ever go, your kids go like, there's nothing to eat in here. I'll show you nothing to eat. You only show you a picture? Don't make me show you a picture of kids that are starving. I just wasted what would be a meal for them, for an illustration, and I feel kind of bad about it. But I got a car payment, and I got another one in my garage, and when the weather's nice,

which a couple months out of the year, I got another one that I drive, and I'm just playing, I'm not making fun of any, but just don't get all offended, just stick with me. Nothing wrong with having a big house, or Hulu, or Disney Plus, or what, there's nothing wrong. It's just, if that becomes your priority, and you're like, oh, Pesser Phil's talking about, he's, I got some breadcrumbs. He's talking about, God doesn't need your money, but I heard about there's a need, and I understand now I should talk. Good thing I got a little bit left over, God. I'm a, God loves a cheerful giver. Wait, what'd you say, Katie? Oh, kids are going on a field trip, but they need boots for the creek. All right, we'll pay some boots. God, you understand, right? I can't, my kids go in the creek with no boots on, you know what I'm saying? Even though kids all over the world don't have shoes, I'm gonna buy a brand new pair of boots for them, just 'cause I can. I still got a little bit left, God. You want it? Oh, Pesser Phil preaching, holy spirits, he's teaching me. Man, you know, I'm gonna do next week when they pass that offering bucket, man, I'm gonna give me an offering envelope.

I got a little bit left. Oh, look at me, I'm so excited I get to give something. I'm not even gonna put my name on it. I don't want any credit. I'm just gonna drop that in. Oh, you should give too, 'cause I just did. And I know I'm going over the top and it's a little silly, but sometimes that's what the carnage of our life looks like, 'cause we don't have a plan. We don't operate in obedience to the Lord. Come on, so we just leave a carnage of a message. Everything's taken care of, and we're like, Lord, how come you won't bless me? He said, how come you won't obey me? I need a blessing, I need a miracle. He's like, I need your obedience. So you want me to give more money than this? No, I want your heart. And I would know I had your heart if the first thing you gave me was your tithe. The tithe isn't the biggest part. It's just the first part. You tithe first. You don't give him, don't you give, did God give you his leftovers? Nah, he gave his one and only son. His first. His first. Journey to Earth, can I tell you? God doesn't need your money.

He wants your heart. (gentle music)