He’s Either 1st or Last

stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question. Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus replied, what does the law of Moses say? How do you read it? The man answered, you must love the Lord your God with a part of your heart. Oh, y'all read and read and say, okay. You must love the Lord your God with your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. Not as passionate about that one, I felt that. Right, Jesus told him, do this and you will live. Do this and you will live. How do you do this? How do you, how do you personally do this? How do you personally love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength? How do you do it? Because what Jesus is essentially communicating is that if he is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all. And even if he is your savior, that is desiring to give you eternal life, there will be parts of your life that are still dead and dying if they are not surrendered to submit it to him. And so I don't want you to experience part of Jesus. I want you to experience all of Jesus. (soft music) And that means that we have to learn to surrender, submit and give him access to every part of our lives,

including our finances. If you brought someone for the first time, apologize now 'cause we're talking about money. He's normally not like this, I didn't know. Come back next week. Jesus, we need help. We need help making sure that you are actually Lord and savior of our lives because so often we get used to being in the driver's seat. So I pray that in these next few moments, you, Holy Spirit, allow me to decrease, allow you to increase. And I pray that your sons and daughters are able to actually receive you as sons and daughters, not orphans with the mindset that has been developed and cultivated by their experiences or by the culture, by the world, but let's adopt a kingdom mindset, a mindset of knowing we have a good father who wants good things for us. So help us to trust you more today. In all areas of our life, in Jesus' name, amen? Amen, you can be seated, thank you. Jesus spent the majority of his 33 years teaching and preaching about the kingdom of God and he would use different analogies and stories and all these things. And one thing he did in Matthew six, 33, he would say things like this. He said, but seek first or to say first, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.

What do you really seek first in life? Have you ever thought about that? I'm not asking what's in your Instagram bio. I'm saying like, what do you really seek first? How many of you are visual learners? Good, this will help you. - But it seems as if you can either win or crash the car, it's trying to win. Well, if the heck here's the deal, I'm the best there is playing simple. I mean, I wake up in the morning, I'm excellent and nobody can hang with my stuff. You know, I'm just a big, hairy, American winning machine. If you ain't first, you're laughing, you know? I'm talking about that phrase, trademark, not to use you outside for this, but Ricky Bobby. - You gotta love Ricky Bobby. He said, the interviewer said, either you win or you crash trying to win. Where does that come from? Is that either your first or last? I wanna propose for your theological framework that the same perspective that Ricky Bobby has for every aspect of his life is the same perspective that you and I should have for every aspect of our life, especially with our relationship with God, including our finances. He's either first or last.

He's either first or last. And I wonder how many of us are operating in a mindset and a lifestyle that communicates that God truly is first. Not in some parts of our life, but in all. But the question I would have for you is how many of you are grateful to me How many of you work for a company that you do not own? Lot of hands, cool. How many of you believe in taking ownership of your position even and regardless of how much you get paid? Less hands. So the majority of us can understand that even when we are not in charge, we are still responsible to take charge when we don't feel like it, when we have coworkers, we don't like, when we have a supervisor that micromanages us, like no matter what the circumstances are, we understand that since we are grateful that someone writes our checks and we are glad to spend them, the exchange is that we're expected to produce our best effort as a result of that. That's not complicated. That's a principle that has been established since the beginning of time. It's called stewardship. Everybody say stewardship. Stewardship is simple.

It's the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care. It's responsibility. It's saying I'm gonna show up on time and regardless of how I feel about the position, I understand that there's an expectation that I give my best effort to it. That's stewardship. So here's my question. And by the way, I just get used to it. I was off last week and I was just thinking about all these questions to answer you. I don't have a lot of answers for you today. I just got a bunch of questions that you can wrestle with God about. Here's the first one. How are you stewarding the riches God has entrusted to you? I already hear somebody in the back. Well, first of all, I'm waiting on the Lord to be rich. Well, that's a problem because we established in week one that the fact that you drove here or are leaving and going home after this and many of you bought coffee on your way to here, that proves that you're in the top 15% of the world in terms of wealth. The fact that you live close enough to get into this room or you have wifi and you are watching online, you're in the top 15%. So here's the problem. God and 80% of the world, 85%, sorry, I went to public school.

Believe you're rich, you're probably comparing yourself to the person sitting next to you or to the person you've seen on social media and it's making you believe you're poor and comparison to someone that you call rich or quantify as rich. Well, you're poor not because of your income, you're poor because of your mindset. I agree with you. You are broke because you don't even understand how rich you are. So you'll never be rich enough because there'll always be someone with a little bit more than what you currently have. So how are you stewarding the riches that God has entrusted to you? Here's, I'm gonna just point out a problem right now. If you are the sole owner of your life, then this message is gonna be tough for you to follow. But still will Christianity as a whole because the core, the foundational belief of Christianity is that we believe that since God created us and then sent his son to die as us because of our offenses and sins against him. And then he rose again and wants a relationship with us for eternity since Jesus loved us and that to die for us, the least we could do is live for him. So we believe as Christians, our lives and not our own, we are stewarding the life that God has entrusted us with.

That's the definition of Christianity. So if you disagree with that, so then you gotta ask yourself this question. Do my decisions on a daily basis, mostly revolve around what something will cost me or make me financially? Or do they reflect a heart of gratitude, trust, and submission to my Lord and Savior? Because if the primary source of your peace and anxiety are the same thing, then that is probably your God. I'm not saying you can't be stressed if you lose your job or all your stocks. I'm not saying that's not adjustable, reasonable to be stressed or worried. I'm saying, where do you go for peace then? Because if the answer to your stresses, I just gotta make more money than money has become your source, that is your God. But if the answer to when I'm feeling overwhelmed is to hide under the rock of Jehovah Jaira, my provider, then actually that allows him to be my Lord and save me even from things I can't control. So then you're probably wondering, okay, then how do I do that? not just my feelings, so glad you asked. That's where the tithe comes in. Or if I say tithe, a tithe is 10% of your income that you give first, or if you say first. A tithe is 10% of your income that you give first and an offering is anything extra

that you give beyond that. Now, tithing is not something new. It is not or regulated to our era. This is something that actually started in the beginning in Genesis. If you go to the first book of the Bible, you constantly see the example of tithing. One of the earliest is in Genesis 28. It says this, "The next morning, Jacob got up very early. "He took the stone he had rested his head against "and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. "Then he poured olive oil over it. "He named that place Bethel, which means house of God." I think that's funny because I went to Bethel high school in Blale, California, and that was the house of Lucifer. First show. (audience laughs) I wasn't yet saved, I was bought, and it was a problem. Although it was previously called less. Then Jacob made this vow. If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey and if he will provide me with food and clothing, and if I return safely to my father's own, then the Lord will certainly be my God. And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God. I always say worship. It'll become a place for worshiping God and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.

I want you to notice his language. God protects me. God provides for me. So I want to present back to God a tenth of everything he gives me. Jacob has this understanding. Even though it's a little transactional, did you catch the verb? You're like, if God does, if God does, if God does, then I will. And God does not rebuke him for it. He meets him in that place. God can handle your skepticism. God can handle your sketchy faith. And since Jacob understands though, that as long as I wake up every day, I'm protected. As long as he keeps guiding me to my next thing, I'm provided for. As like, if he keeps providing and protecting, then the least I can do is come back and create a place of worship. Bethel means house of God and what is beautiful about that statement and about that concept is that he's in the middle of nowhere on the run from his past. And he has this encounter with God and he says, I'm making this place that used to be called lust. I'm making it a house of worship, which is beautiful. 'Cause that means that no matter where you are or where you're coming from running to

or running or experiencing, you can turn that into a place of worship. You can make it your Bethel. Bethel should not just be the church you attend. It should be the home you live in. Why? Because God desires for it to dwell with you. He desires to create a place of worship in living temple. So you have the privilege and the opportunity of creating a Bethel place wherever your feet go. But then I want you to notice something else. Proverbs first three, it says this. This is written by the wisest man whoever lived, King Solomon. He says, honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then you will fill your barns with grain and your vats will overflow with good wine. Then go to Malachi. This is a prophet speaking on behalf of God. This is what God told the prophet, verse six. I am the Lord and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. I want to pause right there because I think that is profound. A lot of people, and we'll talk about this in a moment, they're like, I don't believe in tithing. That's Old Testament. That's fine.

Well, in the Old Testament, God said, I am the Lord and I do not change. Not only that, he said, because I do not change, that is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Who's Jacob? Jacob was the man who was running from his past, was a manipulator, was a liar, was a cheater, was all these things, but had an encounter with God, he made a vow to God, consecrated his life to God, God changed his name and then hundreds and hundreds, not thousands of years later, in Malachi, people are walling out and God says, because I am the Lord and I do not change, that is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Some of you are the result of a Jacob in your family tree. Some of you are the result. You have been doing things to sabotage what God wants to do in your life. You've been running from God, you've been running over God. You've been doing all sorts of things that, in honesty, the wages you have earned, God's ready to just about to smite you, but there's a Jacob in your family. There's a praying grandma in your family tree. There's a Nora in your family tree. There's an auntie in your family tree. There's a friend that you didn't even know

was praying for you 'cause they saw you like, oh my gosh, you wild. And because of the covenant that someone else made, God is honoring the Jacob in your history and in your legacy and there is mercy that you are walking into that you do not deserve. You better give God a shout for the Jacob in your family. I know what I'm capable of but if you keep providing protecting and leading me I concentrate myself That's why Paul told someone as for you and your house you will be saved there is salvation on your home You're the result you're not even in here because you wanted to be here You're in here because some of God is honoring the prayer of somebody else somebody praise you into this building somebody Praise you into that YouTube video. You thought I'm just trying to make my girl happy shut up God is honoring the prayers of a grandmother or a mother or a father or someone who you don't even know But God placed it on their heart to intercede for you. They are a shake of they are a bridge to bless things Sorry, I said shit. I'm all I said. I gotta stop saying that to y'all. Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Sorry forgive me But here here look notice notice the rest of this verse he says ever since the days of your ancestors you have scorned my decrees and Failed to obey them now return to me verse 7 and I will return to you says the Lord of heavens armies But you ask how can we return when we have never gone away? Like what do you mean? I'm Christian my grandma's Christian my mom's Christian. I'm Christian no no no God says should people cheat God. Yeah, you have cheated me. You over there cheating on God. That's wild But you asked me what did you mean? When did we ever teach you? You have cheated me of the ties and offerings due to me You were under a curse for your whole nation has been cheating me Bring all the ties into the storehouse. So there will be enough food in my temple if you do says the Lord of heavens armies I will open up the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great You won't have enough room to take it in try it put me to the test now This is the only passage in Scripture all 66 books where God ever says try me test me I don't know if y'all ever have the same algorithm as I have But I love that that video where it says white people and black people say the same thing just two different ways So why people be like Jimmy?

Don't you test me? Don't you try me? Black people like try me. I Don't know if God is in his white voice or his white voice, but in Malachi three, he says test me Jimmy And that's the only place he does it Which means it matters to him. He he's he's he's Daring you to trust him in the thing that you often trust the most your finances But here's what you need to understand about both passages whether it's problems whether it's Malachi Whether it's Genesis what what what's being communicated is is that when you look for a shortcut shortcuts or excuses to hold back from God You were cheating him, but more so you were cheating yourself And how about this even if there was no promise attached to your obedience to your trust to your faithfulness Is he not still worthy of it like like even if he didn't say I will bless you the fact that he woke you up The fact that he's given you the fact that you already have more than you deserve Is that not enough to say hey, it's really you really deserve it more than I do But yeah, he still says Testament But here's a better question Why is it that so many of us feel uncomfortable and uneasy Giving our money to God, but we have no problem asking God for more money Well, aren't you would have been like you ain't got no shame How is it that we have no shame? asking Jehovah to provide for us But yet we will not make Bethel a part of our finances Let me be clear Tithing is the start of trusting God not the end of trusting God Why do I say that because there are plenty of people who tied but they're still not experiencing the fullness of what God has for them in their lives And it's parsley due to poor stewardship in every other area of their life

This is what Jesus has in Matthew 23 23 what sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you ferris these hypocrites For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens. How many of y'all got a herb garden? All the drug dealers are like, oh man. I Didn't know he was the feds But you ignore the more important aspects of the law Justice mercy and faith you should tie yes, but do not neglect the more important things What is he saying? You can't still gossip, lie, be led by your anger, born and be like, "But since I tithe, I'm good with God." At the same time, you cannot be like, "Well, I'm a good person, God knows my heart, I do a lot of good things for the community. I've got like, I'm always, I serve, I do so many other things that God's like, "No, no, it's not an either or it's a both end." And I do want to be clear about this. Tithing is not what gets you in or out of heaven. It's not a salvation issue. You can be as thin as you want and still get to heaven. What happens is you rob yourself of the windows of heaven coming out to you while you're still living. And so it's not about salvation, it's about stewardship, which honestly are two sides of the same coin. So here's what it looks like. When you tithe, you were giving back to God through his church. So what's holding you back from consistently honoring and trusting God with your finances? I mean, that's the fair question. Because there has to be a reason that we don't all just, you know, wanna just jump for joy when it comes to giving.

There has to be something emotional or mental that's blocking us. And maybe it's a couple of things. Maybe you're going through a difficult financial season. Maybe you're growing in your faith in the Christ. You're like, "Well, I just got here last week, I raised my hand, came to the altar, and now I have some up. There's money, I thought the gospel is free." I just didn't know, I didn't, you know. That's fair, that's fair. Or maybe you're not aware of why you should give. You're like, "Well, no, doesn't the government, doesn't, "you know, Uncle Donald, take care of the churches "and just give all the money?" He's like, "Not my uncle, okay, my bad, wrong joke, "wrong crowd, wrong crowd." But you're like, like, I thought the government paid for legacy and the lights and the building, you know. So alert, they don't. Or maybe you're like, "Yeah, I would, or I did." But I don't see any features and sneakers and I don't see any juice key on the TikTok videos, and I don't know where the money going. And I just can't trust these churches. All they want is your money, and then all it goes, is to the pastors Bentley and Gucci belts, and like, I'm not paying for his crazy lifestyle. That's fair, that's very fair. So let's talk about where does the money go?

You ever thought about that? Like, where does the money, well, I'm here to tell you where the money goes. First of all, let's talk about, well, I could start with last year, where the money went, right? We have a full report last year. So last year, how much money actually came to and through legacy church? Put it up, 1,965,679 dollars and 28 cents. (audience applauding) Now notice the room. Some people were excited. They were stubborn like, they're like, "Look at God." Other people were like, "Well, shoot, "they in the middle, they don't need my money." They all here, they ballin', they good. Was my little timbersing under, like, they in a million, a million, a million, like, you know? Well, let's talk about how we steward that money once it comes, like, where did that 1,9 million go to? First, it went to missions and outreach, meaning that we tied what is tied to us. We send it back out to expand the kingdom of God with outreach and missions of other organizations. The next thing we do is we save it, 'cause we don't know the economy, we don't know what might happen month to month. So we are intentionally saved, why? So that any time I teach on money, it's not from a posture of necessity,

but a posture of opportunity for you to be a part of what God is doing. Here's the third thing we do, it goes to ministry. Actually, 35%, so you go 10, 10, and then 35% goes to actual ministries, doing the works of the ministry. Seeing children transform, seeing people get saved in different environments, like, we do the ministry. The next is 10% is operations. Keeping the lights, like, making things happen. The last 35% is staffing. Now, here's a fun thing to know about staffing. Technically, I'd be honest in saying, 35% doesn't go to staffing, 25% goes to staffing, because every staff member is required to tie. Matter of fact, we're hiring for some positions right now, we're doing interviews, and I'll just, don't even think about applying. If you don't agree with timing, you cannot work for a legacy church. And I didn't realize I was controversial to a lot of people who are like, "Well, I'm on the worship team, that's my tie." That's my, first of all, I hope that's not your tie, okay? Second of all, I'm one of the top givers of the church. So if I'm not above tithing, you're not about to be above tithing. Because how dare you live off the faith of someone else's faithfulness,

but your faith lists yourself. That's hypocritical. So we refuse, if you, and you can serve here, you can volunteer, you'll just never get a dollar to your paycheck under being a staff of legacy church if you don't believe in tithing. Because again, it's not about salvation, it's not stewardship. I don't trust you. So I will not hire someone I cannot trust to be a good and faithful steward. Why? Because I'm the faith leader. Don't you consider me the leader of faith for this house? to be a faith leader at their position, so how can they lead you in faith that they don't have faith? They're now a lid, not a launching pad. So I don't want people that don't have this spiritual authority to talk to you about generosity, being on-- I'm holding a microphone, talking to you about generosity. So that's our core conviction. I took too long. OK, next. We spent $14,000 on donuts. I got to be transparent. I'm sorry. I just want you to know. You're like, where does the money go? You ate it. You, you, and your kids, y'all ate it. I was a part-time job. Y'all just ate.

Why? We don't think that's a waste. We think that's a way for people to not just hear about the bread of life, but to experience. We want kids their first core memory of, I get to go to church. I want to go to church like that. We want it to be like an experience that they remember. And then we moved in here. You're like, well, we can't afford for all of y'all. So now only the eight o'clock gets pre-donuts, so that number is going to go down a little bit. Next year, trying to be faithful stewards. Next. $200, $64,786.88 goes to support for other churches and non-profits all over the world. So what does that mean? That means that victims of human trafficking, that means people that are going through disasters. That's why we've fought in our convoy of hopes. So the people in Nepal, the people in Texas, like whatever there's a disaster, we put our money where our mouth is, and we support. And we don't create all million ministries, 'cause we're like, that's dumb. There's better ones that already exist, so why not just fund what God is already doing as opposed to trying to be original and creative? So that's our heart. Here's the next thing that we do.

We provide benevolent support, assistance with food, rent, temporary housing. $42,799.94 has gone out from legacy since we started to help with that. Now, your first thought might be like, well, that's a lot lower than the other number. Like, y'all are sending $267,000 to people all over the world and doing this. And what about people that need help with their rent? What about entering your backyard? Why aren't you taking care of them? We do. Here's what we do. First, we make sure that they send us the bill, not a need, 'cause we need to see it. We're not the government. We don't just give you cash 'cause you asked for it. Number two, another core belief, because we're not the government, and we don't just get to have trillions of dollars that we can't account for, we don't get handouts. We get hands up. We say, do you want to be well? 'Cause then you need to, we need to make sure that there's a system so that you're not coming back to us in six months asking for more money, because you don't know how to steward what you do have. Maybe you're living above your means. Maybe no one's taught you out of budget, so we send you to financial peace,

and we don't let people keep coming back and back. And we're like, we gave you last year. Well, I'm going through another hard season. That's not a season. That's a lifestyle. So that number will always be significantly lower than what we got, because we spend more time equipping the saints than financially supporting all the saints. Okay? Go look with your mom. All right. (congregation laughing) Restore some relationships. Humble yourself. All right, all right, let's go. Let's go. Young, leave me in trouble. We gotta go home. All right. $170,000 goes to the next generation this year. I can already know that that number. That's going towards kids' ministries, food in ministry, like investing and making sure that the gospel is going on for legacies, not just us. Here's the next number you should know. We partnered with an organization called God Behind Bars. And this is important for me, because my father spent the first 33 years of my life in prison. And when he got out, he told me this summer,

he was like, I'm just trying to move to a different gated community. I'm really accustomed to him, but I just need a different view. And I'm so grateful that we now get to partner with other fathers and brothers and sons and daughters who are incarcerated. And even though they are not seen every day by us, they are still seen by God, and we don't want them to forget that. And I'm so grateful that because we invest thousands of dollars into making sure that inmates have access on their tablets to the gospel, we've already seen 12 people publicly say yes to Jesus in prison in the past three months. And is that the last one? I just want, again, if you have more questions, email, do you even [email protected]? And then we have an answer them for you. But here's what I want to reiterate. You do not give to legacy. You give through legacy. Because every time you give what is happening, we are caring for orphans and widows. We are advancing the gospel to people that are in unreached communities, groups, or forgotten community groups. We are feeding the needy. We are rescuing human trafficking victims. And we are providing opportunities for others

to give their lives, to sacrificing it, and laying it down for the benefit of those who are about ready to give up on theirs. So that's what it means to partner and to give back to God. Here's a fun fact. tithing is biblical, but only half of them actually do it. Now, some people don't believe in tithing because they believe it's the Old Testament, and Jesus brought a new covenant. I think that's great. What's interesting to me about Jesus is that he always raises the standard, he never lowers it. That's why why the church of Acts, if you read Acts chapter one through five, it says that they were sharing all they had with everyone so that no one in the church went without. It's that that they would sell property to give to the church to make sure that they could disperse it to those in needs. They were, they were raising the standard like tithing is actually the least we can do. It's the stepping stone. It's the starting point. It's not the finish line. And a lot of people still adopt that mindset. And we adopt that mindset. That's why we say, hey, we don't want tithing to be the standard. We want that to be the start. Now, I will say this. Nobody. I mean, nobody has ideal circumstances when it comes to giving. Everyone can justify or make a reason or excuse of why they still need what they have.

And here's what I want to remind us, whether you believe in tithing, whether you don't, Christ is called all of us to a consistently generous and sacrificial life. Meaning that my actions, my words, my works, my wallets should all reflect a faith in God, not a focus on myself. So here's that I do want to help because a lot of us don't have an income problem, we have an outcome problem. Meaning the outcome of our spending is a reflection of a lack of prioritization, a lack of self control, a lack of good stewardship. So let me just help you see what an example of good stewardship looks like. Here's just an example. I'm not your financial advisor, but just take it for what it is. First of all, tie the first 10% back to God. That's that's off top. Then save the next 10% for future needs and opportunities. Then spend 50% on mortgage rent bills, things like that. And then splurge, you know, 20% go, treat yourself. It's pumpkin spice season, live it up. Take the kids at Disneyland. Like we're not saying you can't enjoy the fruits of your labor. We're saying make sure that you enjoying it. Doesn't in one season doesn't make you have to endure every other season. And here's the last one, invest. And that's 10% for financial growth, for missions, for passion projects. Why? Because if I have an order to my finances and God is at the top, I can expect his hand to be on the 100% because I made a decision to take my hand off of the 10. Let me you guys are visual learners. You said that bring out the bring out the props. I need them to see this while they're doing that. I want to give you a great example of stewardship in scripture.

First Chronicles chapter 29 says this, then David prays the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly. Oh Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever. Yours, oh Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours. Oh Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from you alone for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your right hand. And at your discretion, people are made great and given strength. Oh, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you and we give you only what you first gave us. Herein lies the tension because it is hard for me to fully give back to God. What is his if I partially believe that some of it is still mine. Who's a parent in here? If you guys remember when your kids were like one or two or 22 and they were they had the mind complex that's mine. That's mine. And do you remember like when they were you're like, honey, it can't be yours because my name is on the mortgage in the bills. Well, I just I just I didn't feel like going to class and I'm about to drop out. You can't because I'm paying for your tuition. So unless you have a repayment plan, you're going to go and you're going to act like you like it. Why because you understood like there's no such thing as mine when you live under my roof and if you think you're grown, you can leave. And when you hit rock bottom, you don't come back and guess what? It's my roof again. Why am I saying that because some of us have a mind complex and we're like, well,

I work really hard and and I'm not saying you don't. But David, the king who understood God very well, the Bible says he was a man after God's own heart, meaning he understood the heart of God. He said, everything on the earth is yours. How could I even give you back? How could I give you anything when you first gave it to me? And so I want you to notice what they did. They started off by first. Why because we want it to be to where we don't even see it come to our checking account because then it might tempt us believe the lie that it's ours So I set up automatic recurring giving so that the first 10% Automatically goes to God and I'm not even tempted to be like, oh, but I'm losing it. No, no, I'm gaining it. I Get to give back because he's the one who gave it to me. It's his Why because it's first so The first fruits the the first of the month the fit the first the well, I got a bonus give it to him first Well, this was unexpected. Give it to him first like Like the first he deserves the first. That's what the tie this the first, but then notice this He says Jacob said it Abraham said it Jesus said it David said it Everything I have is yours. So you get the first But because I trust you with the 10 you now entrust me with the 90 So as long as I've honored God first Then I can learn how to be responsible in stewarding the rest and Notice this because I got to see it myself because I went to public school, too And I just want to make sure my math is right According to my calculations carry the one two three The approximate one two three four five six seven. Okay, and then you contrast that With the ginormous amount of influx of fruit its vegetables produce

Suffering suck it hash that is a lot less than that 10% to God and 90% that God trusts me with and Here's what's crazy when I have the mindset that oh no, that's too much That's too much that like like you don't know. I live in Chandler. It is expensive like that's too much. I Bet you eat fourteen thousand dollars of donuts or Starbucks a year, too You're probably eating away. What's God? We just can't afford it. You could afford it if you stop eating out for every meal You could afford it if you stop mixing up what you desire with what you deserve God convicted me of this recently actually several years ago But he said your problem you become a poor steward when you conflict with what you desire with what you deserve Anybody ever did some dessert I deserve it spending before Come on y'all know what it is. I've seen you a fashion square. You wasn't supposed to be there either. I Ask your husband. What's her Amazon account say show me? You got some I deserve it spending habits and I'm not saying that you don't Deserve to just work work work work and not go on a vacation. I'm not I'm not saying now I would say that's good stewardship of your of your mind and your body to rest and enjoy I'm just making sure are you putting what you deserve before God gets what he deserves? Because then that's a problem because you know what we have no problem doing. Hey, God. I know I Really haven't given you any of of this at all But would you do me a favor and put your hand and blessing on what I already want? And you know what God would say boo boo you got this whole thing twisted because This was the start But in technicalities all of it is mine None of it is yours and I'm trying to get your heart to get used to honoring me first So then you'll trust me with the rest because if you can trust me first It's easy to trust me later But if you never did create the discipline of putting him first

He'll always be last and then you're going to got to bill you out of situations You're going back to God when you're like you didn't have to leave in the first place Because either he's first or Am I helping anybody? Free fruit and vegetables after your legacy Listen listen listen listen listen If you feel hesitant or uneasy or not at peace with giving your money back to God through the church Then I need you to know something. You're not a bad person. You're not a fake Christian You're struggling with something very normal. That is the tension of the heart and mind Because even though you're hearing and and cognitively processing what the word of God says There's a part of many of our hearts that says I Understand it or I see it here, but I just feel like And this is what the Bible says not to you six Jesus says is no one can serve two masters for either he will hate You cannot serve God and mammon, mammon was the God that symbolizes money, greed, wealth. And he's like, you can't, you can't serve both. You can't be loyal to both. And here's what I would challenge you with. Maybe we need to be more like David, the man after God's own heart who had all the wealth and he said in Psalms 51 10, God created me a clean heart, O God, and renew a loyal spirit within me. Why? He said, because if I follow my heart and my feelings or even my mind and my checks and balances and my pros and cons sheet, I will always find a way to be more loyal to what you give me than to the giver himself. I will always find a way to be more loyal to what my desires are as opposed to who is worthy, who deserves it. And so he says, creating me a clean heart, renew a loyal spirit within me. Matthew 6, 21, Jesus says it like this, wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. So here's my question to you.

Where's your heart? Where's your heart? And the beautiful thing about being submitted to the spirit of God is that you don't have to follow your heart. You can lead it. You get to decide what you desire. And it might take a while, but do you know why so many people celebrate it when we showed them what God has done in a church plant in just three and a half years? Because their heart is attached to what they've invested in. They've invested in the kingdom of God. So they rejoice when they see the kingdom of God expanding. Matter of fact, some more little to press are like, that's it. That's where we're at. We're trying to change the world. It's going to take a little bit more. But honestly, here's the thing you should know, the priorities of your heart are often reflected by your words, works and wallet. You ever heard somebody say something when they were drunk? And you were like, they're being honest. You ever, you ever, you ever checked your, your screen time? Somebody like, nope, I don't even want to know, have you ever checked your spending? It shows you where your heart's at. And how beautiful that God gives us an opportunity not to give him money, but to give him our hearts. Because rather than allowing mammon, rather than allowing money to dictate our peace or our joy, we said, I've already put him first. So he's in control of that. Honestly, this message is really not about money. It's about faith. I don't know if you caught it.

But it takes faith to entrust what you can see to the one who you can't see. That takes faith. That's not easy, that's not normal, that's supernatural. And I am grateful that even when I don't know how he's going to do it or what he's going to do with it, I know that he's faithful, I can trust him. It's what your kids do with you every single day. They don't know what you do for a living. I know mine don't. My kids are still messed up. My four-year-old, a couple of weeks ago, you know what, I took off last Sunday because I was ashamed, partially. Last Sunday I found out, or two Sundays ago, last time I was here, my son was in kids' church and they all get free donuts, your kids know. And I guess somebody took one of my son's donut holes. My son's like, my church paid $14,000 for these donut holes. And so my four-year-old, true story, and I probably got to repent of all this, he told the other kid, you take my donut again, my dad's going to kick you out of this church. I know. So if that was your child, I'm sorry. That is not true. Do not listen. Don't let a four-year-old dictate our relationship. That is not true. Please pray for him, pray for his parents, pray for his mother, oh my gosh. Isn't it interesting though? He trusts his father to protect him. He trusts his father to provide for him. He trusts his father for all things. The same way that God is asking us to trust him. And we have to tell ourselves, hey, if we take God's money, I don't want to miss out

on what he has for me. Not only that, let's make it not selfish. I don't want to miss out on what he can do through me if I would have trusted him with it. You know why those people were rejoiced? Because they recognize that I'm a part of seeing those 12 people in a gated community come to faith. I'm a part of seeing the next generation. my heart because I've because I've The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6, "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists, and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him." What does that mean? Just what it says. That when we have the faith, not just of our feelings, but of our finances, God's like, "I'm so proud of you. I can do that. I can do something with that. I can reward that." Why? Because you're seeking me first. Here's my question for you. Do your finances demonstrate a faithful steward or a faithless one? Do you put your faith in your finances? Or do you have faith for your finances? Because you'll hold a jar as your provider. Here's the challenge I want to give you. Maybe you haven't tested God. Do the 90 day tie challenge. Test God and see what He does with your faith. We put it on every seat for the next three months. Sign up, turn this card into the next steps team outside, or a usher. You can fill it out, give it to a usher. But if you have never tied, if you're not a titer, for the next three months, test God. Do it. Be faithful. Be consistent. And here's what I promise you. If at the end of it, God has not grown your faith, not your finances, this is what we're not going to do a legacy. We're not going to try to pin God. Well, I gave 10% so He's supposed to stretch my, you know, make the band stack up, and he's supposed to bless this parlay. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what we're going to do here. We don't give to get. We give because we've been given so much. And no, what else? We give

because it stretches our faith. It helps us trust Him more. It helps us see Him more clearly, helps us depend on Him more. And also because He's already protected, provided, and guided. The least we can do is give back to Him what He's already has. But here's my promise to you. If at the end of three months, you're like, that was the worst decision of my life. I never wanted to do that again. We will give you every dollar and send back. This is a money back guarantee. Why? Because the Bible says so. Test God, sign up. And after three months, you're like, I don't even believe in God anymore. I will give you all your money back. I promise. Why? Because I want to build a church that is faithful because they're grateful. I want to be a person that is faithful, full of faith, to the one that's always been faithful to me because I'm grateful, not because I have to, but because I get to, because I have this understanding that everything belongs to Him anyway. The least I could do is start by giving Him 10%. And then as He grows and I'm like, well, let's just keep going. Like, why? Because I want to still enter the kingdom. I want to still enter the things that please God. So everybody stand up. Maybe faith for you isn't tithing. Maybe that's why God has you learn about faith today because you can recognize that maybe you've been settling financially instead of actually stretching your faith financially. He wants to grow you to another level. But maybe the first thing that God wants is not what's in your hand. It's your heart. Maybe you don't even have a relationship with God. And before you give Him anything out of your hand, you need to understand He really just wants whatever is connected to your heart. He wants you to know Him. He wants you to know that He loves you. He wants you to know that you can trust Him. Hey, if you're still watching at this point, I believe that it's not an accident. I believe that if you're feeling something in your spirit, that is God trying to get your attention and invite you into a deeper relationship with Him. And so if you're ready to take that step, I want to walk you through what that looks like. It's simple. We're going to say a prayer together and it's just you acknowledging that you believe that Jesus is who He says He is and that you're willing to commit your life to following Him and learning what it means to be a son or daughter of God. So repeat after me if you can. Jesus, here I am, I believe that you love me, that you died for me and that you want a relationship with me. I acknowledge that I'm a sinner and I need a Savior and I'm committing to learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus. If I mess up, I will not quit because you've never quit.

in Jesus name. Amen. Hey, we're proud of you. That's a huge decision. And we don't want you to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own from this point. We have a value, a legacy that says we follow Jesus for ourselves, but not by ourselves. So I would invite you to text the number below, follow the instructions, and we're going to send you resources so you can learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus and be on this journey of faith. Congratulations. Your life will never be the same. Thank you for watching. Hope you enjoyed the online experience. Hey, if this message impacted you, make sure you like, comment, subscribe, and share it with the friends so we can continue to share the gospel. Hey, here at Legacy Prayer is our priority. You have any prayer needs. You can send them to [email protected]. If you'd like to financially partner with Legacy, you can text any dollar amount to 84321. You can also download the church center app. Visit our website at legacyaz.church. Click on "Waste to Give." You'll find links to support Legacy Church. You can find us on social media. Otherwise, God, and love. We like Jesus. We'll see you next week.