The First Place Fruit Goes

Good morning, good morning. You guys doing well? That's hard to not be doing great after worship. I love it. I love the house of God. Anybody else? Like David said, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. There is no place I would rather be on planet Earth than in God's house, in God's presence, enjoying an outpouring of God's power with God's people. How's that for some alliteration? I'm already preaching, praise God. Let's go. It's good to see you here. If we've not met before, my name is Lyle, my beloved bride, Allison, and I have the privilege of serving this local church as lead pastors, and we are so grateful that you are here today. So grateful that you're here today. We are in a sermon collection right now called, anybody remember? Y'all got it. How was your Valentine's Day, by the way? Was it great? Four people, it's like, yeah, it was all right. Okay, we must have a whole lot of singles in here. We'll try to get you a date before you leave today. We'll work on it.

No better place to meet your significant other other than church. Yeah, our Valentine's Days these days look a little bit different. We have known each other for 14 years, and believe it or not, it was actually on Valentine's Day 13 years ago I proposed to my wife. And now we just had our fourth baby who got dedicated today. He got dedicated today. Baby Ezra, let me see him. Everybody's gotta see him, you know? He was made for this. He didn't even cry coming up here. The fourth. Number four, the mighty builder, Ezra. Yesterday, we were like, what are we gonna do for Valentine's? Has anybody else reached the point in your marriage where you're like, for Christmas, you'll show up with new shoes and be like, I'm gonna get a new pair of shoes. I'm gonna get a new pair of shoes. I'm gonna get a new pair of shoes. I'm gonna get a new pair of shoes. I'm gonna show up with new shoes and be like, Merry Christmas, you bought me these. Anybody else do that? It's like we've reached that point in our marriage where we're buying each other stuff,

don't even know it, you know? So we were talking about like, what are we gonna do for Valentine's Day? You know, celebrate the night we got engaged. And it's like, we just had a fourth kid, man. I don't know. So Isaiah was asking, that's our first, he's 10. And he was like, I wanna go to the movies and I wanna go watch the movie, Goat. Anybody watch that possibly? No, nobody, okay, awesome. Steph Curry produced it, so we gotta support our boy. And I don't even know him, by the way, but I lead his intercessory prayer team. He doesn't know that either, but I do, okay? Because I mean, I pray for him, man. I pray for him, I pray for his wife, I pray for his kids. I mean, I go down the line. Come playoff time, let me tell you, like I'm in the prayer closet. Anybody else do that? Like when it's time for your favorite player to play a game, I'm like, Lord, don't let his, he and his wife get in a fight today. Lord, protect his peace today. So, listen, I'm an intercessor, all right? You're gonna have to deal with that. So Isaiah was like, hey, I wanna go watch this movie. So for Valentine's Day, I took my son to the theater.

And it was so funny, because when I got in, Green Hills Mall, if you went yesterday, by the way, half of Nashville was there. Like, it was so packed. Anybody else go? It was so packed, more than Christmas. And so we had to sit in the front of the theater, which is kind of the worst. And then when I got in, I don't know if you guys know this now, but there are signing seats in the theater. Any of you guys notice that? Southwest is also assigning seats on the airplane. We just need to have a praise break right now for that. Praise God, hallelujah. And so I came up to my seat, and there was another guy in my seat. And I was like, bro, I'm sitting here, you know? And he was like, oh, my bad, you know? And he moved over. And then I realized, like, his whole family was on the row. It was just me and Isaiah split up his entire family. And we were in the middle, because we bought those seats, you know? And I thought about being nice and letting him have them, but I was like, nah, I wanna sit in the middle. I already had to sit in the front. So I said, hey, so I'm gonna sit in the middle. I'm sorry I broke up your family there, bro. But I ain't moving, huh?

And, you know, I had some Reesey-Peasey's, and I was like, you want some of these, bro? And he was like, nah, I'm all right. And I'm like, man, Valentine's Day. look different these days, don't they, boss?" Yeah, he's there with, like, six kids. I'm like, I got four, and so we fist bump and watch a cartoon, you know? It's like, sorry, man. But it was good. That's why we're doing this whole sermon collection on first love. It's not only because we wanted to talk about first love between you and your husband, your wife, but because we wanted to also talk about, in February, first love, the relationship that you have with Jesus. And I don't know if you've read the book of Revelation recently, but in Revelation chapter two, we kicked off this whole collection in the letter that Jesus spoke to the church at Ephesus, and he said, you guys are an amazing church. You guys are an awesome church. You work super duper hard. You're very diligent. You guys are an amazing church. You don't tolerate false prophets or false apostles, but, like, you expose with discernment people who have ulterior motives with the believers. You are an amazing church. You're so perseverant that even in the face of persecution,

you don't throw in the towel. You continue to march forward for the kingdom. You're an amazing church, but I got this one thing against y'all. You have forgotten your first love. So what I want you to do is return. I want you to repent, and I want you to go back and do the works that you did at first. And so that's the framework for how we've talked about every message this month so far. So I'm gonna do the third installment today. And so I want you to think of it as we are returning to first love. We're returning to the works that we did at first. Everybody say works. I wanna make sure you get it. You're not saved by your works, but because you are saved, you're gonna work. I'm gonna try this side over here. We're not saved by works, but because we're saved, we're gonna work because God has prepared us in advance for all sorts of good works. And so what I wanted to do was really push us beyond a simple confession of affection. Anybody can say, I love you, God, and we can sing, and we can shout, and we can read the scripture in here, but how does love show up on Thursday morning when you got called in early and you really didn't wanna hit the alarm clock? Am I talking to anybody in here?

Also, last week, we hit on marriage. It's not enough just to give a confession of affection. If I'm dishonoring my wife and she confronts me on it and I say, but you know I love ya. How many guys know that's not enough? I gotta return to the works that I did at first. I gotta pursue, I gotta repent, I gotta lean in. I gotta date my wife, amen, amen. So we talked about that last week. This week, we're gonna talk about something else where love shows up. Now listen, nobody stampede for the double doors in the back, all right? But I'm gonna talk about another place where love shows up. Are you ready? You've already agreed you won't leave. You sure you're ready? All right, I'm gonna talk about how love shows up in our finances. See, I knew I wasn't gonna give very many amens. I already knew, I already knew. You sure? Yes. Okay, Deuteronomy chapter six, Deuteronomy chapter six. We're gonna go, if you're here for the first time, I don't talk about money very often. In fact, I will say this. I talk about money a lot less than Jesus did because about half of his parables included money and possessions.

So I think for most local churches today, if any pastor preached about money as often as Jesus did, they wouldn't have very big of a following. But then again, neither did Jesus. I'm gonna go to Deuteronomy 26. We're gonna read verse one through 11. Anybody else just keep like random stuff in your Bible as your bookmark? I have a train ticket to Paris, randomly. And I have a national retreat week card for Sabbath time in London. Hey, look at that. We got a friend from London here today, come on. Joel is also here somewhere. Where are you actually from though? You're not from London, right? Just outside. Just outside of London. But you said two and a half hours away. Just outside, okay, I got you, I got you. Because for us, like two and a half hours is just like right down the road, you know? For you guys, it's like I went to the coast, you know? This is cool, like I just collect stuff like this, put it in my Bible because I'm like, it just reminds me of like places that God is moving. And I don't know if you guys know it or not, but God is moving in a great way in England. I can't wait to go back. Come on, Joel, I don't know if you know this or not,

but we took 53 missionaries with us to London last year. And we had an event in London. We should do that again. How many of you guys are in Deuteronomy 26? Cool. Please stand for the reading of the Word of God. We're going to read it out loud all together as a family. Deuteronomy 26, starting in verse 1. Let's read. Everybody say, first. First. That's what we're going to talk about today. Remember, first love is not a theory. It is about priority. Okay? First love is about how you handle your priorities. Everybody say, first. First of all, the fruit of the ground which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you. You have to remember that your boss is not the source of your income, but God is. Amen? I know you get a paycheck from an employer, but in a greater way, every good gift comes down from the Father of lights. So he says, whenever you receive this, you shall take some of it, and then let's catch up there. It says, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place. Everybody say, the place. Place. That the Lord your God will choose, and that place is this, the place where he makes his name to dwell. Okay, verse 3. And you shall go to the priest who's in the office at that time and say to him, I declare today, the Lord your God, that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us. Notice, he's testifying.

Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. And you shall make a response before the Lord your God. See, anytime you talk about tithing, everybody thinks it's about money. It's not about money. It's about worship. When you hear a message on finance, don't think of it simply as a message about your money. It is a message about worship. You with me? Okay, so he says this. A wandering Aramean, my father, he went down into Egypt, and he sojourned there. Few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers. And the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt, brought us out of the slavery of sin, brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into a place. Hallelujah. And he gave us a land. Hallelujah. A land flowing with milk and honey. Hallelujah. And behold, now I will bring the first. Everybody say the first. Of the fruit of the ground which you, O Lord, have given me. And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house. You, and get this. He said, invite some other people to the party. Why don't you?

You and the Levite, get the priest in the room. And the sojourner. I'm talking about the sojourner. I'm talking about the traveler. I'm talking about the stranger. I'm talking about people you don't even know yet. Just invite them to the party. Who is among you. So, the title of the message today is The First Place That Fruit Goes. The first place that fruit goes. And I want you to see in this passage, I know I read 11 verses. I know it's a lot. But I want you to catch this. There's three things that happen. Bring, boast, and bless. All right? Bring, boast, and bless. Bring all the fruit. Bring the first fruits. Bring it to the house of God. Bring it. Boast, meaning I'm coming to testify. God has been good to me. He brought me out of the slavery of my sin. He brought me into my promised land. I've showed up this morning to bless the Lord. I'm going to boast in my God. Amen? So, it's bring, it's boast, and then bless. Meaning, we're blessed, but not just to be blessed ourselves.

We're blessed to be a blessing. Amen? So, he said, get other people in here, man. Welcome other people. Bless them as well. Amen? Amen. So, Lord, we say thank you for your word. It's everlasting and unchanging. And yet, it's always faithful to change us. So, we humble ourselves before your word today. And we seek transformation. God, I pray that you shape the very nature and character of Christ in each and every one of us. And that we all leave the sanctuary different than the way we walked in. In Jesus' name we pray. And everybody said? Amen. Amen. You can be seated. So, as I mentioned, today is a little bit of a family day because we had baby dedications. And my parents were here earlier for the 830 service when we did the dedications. And as I was thinking this week about tithe and offerings and finance and how we worship God with our wealth. I was thinking about how much I love to learn about giving. Now I know that's not everybody's story and I just wanna say from the jump, if you are nervous because I told you I was gonna talk about money, please allow me to put you at ease. I know a lot of people have felt manipulated, they felt controlled or coerced about money

in ministry, in church, and I just want you to know you can chill and breathe easy because there will be no offering after this. So you can just take a deep breath, it's all good. Money, as it pertains to us, tithing and giving and offering is not a matter of your salvation, it is a matter of your discipleship. Okay, so I don't want you to think about it in those terms, I want you to think about it in terms of discipleship. The reason that we tithe is not because we have to but we tithe unto transformation. It's a matter of discipleship, not salvation, are you with me? So I want you to chill, just relax a little bit, okay? I'm not gonna beat you up for money because how many of you guys know, God loves a cheerful giver. So I don't know how we can give cheerfully if we've been beat into submission in order to give. You know, so God wants us to give cheerfully, not under compulsion, not because we think we have to, not because we're reluctant to or we feel shame if we don't, but He wants us to give cheerfully and as I was studying this week, I got to thinking, man, this is amazing, I love being able to talk on giving, I love being able to study this topic, I love being able to give to God and I was thinking about my family

and my parents who are here today and I said, you know, I'm grateful that tithing is not taboo to me because one of the most important principles that I was taught in my house growing up is, son, we tithe. That's what we do in this house, we tithe. So if I got some money from my grandmother for Christmas, my dad would ask, how much did you get? Oh, you got 10 bucks? Well, don't forget to return one to God this Sunday at Sunday school. And so I never thought of tithing as being like a weird thing, you know, I always just thought it was something, not like a law, like I gotta do it, but I just thought of it as part of my life in Christ. It's just what we do as a disciple. So when my wife and I met and we started hanging out and dating some, actually ended up going to California to spend a few days with her while we were dating, and we had an eight hour trip from Redding, California all the way to LA, I think that's about how long it is. And my mom, who is a counselor and has been a marriage counselor for a number of years, she gave me a list of 100 questions to ask my wife. No pressure, right? She was like, look, if you guys are gonna get married, you should probably talk about some significant issues.

And so we did, and one of those was about finances. And I said, hey, listen, I just want you to know that if we work out and we get married, there is never gonna be a day that we don't tithe. I just wanna get that straight, like from the start, I'm a tither, and if we get married, our family, we gonna tithe. And thank God, Allison was like, well, what you learned growing up in your house, I learned growing up in my house. We are also tithers, let's go. And so I was like, okay, amazing, this is great. So we're gonna tithe, we're gonna give, this is incredible. And I realize now that it's kept tithing from being taboo to me because my parents were always so straightforward about the topic. And I'm gonna be honest with you, I have huge convictions about tithing offering and giving to God financially, so much so that whenever my girls get older, we got two daughters as well, y'all. Whenever my girls get older and they start dating, you best believe I'm gonna interview their boyfriends and I'm gonna ask them if they tithe. And if they grow up in this church, I'm gonna check their tithing record, I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm gonna keep it a buck this morning. I'm gonna tell you right now, I will. And here's why, because I am not, in Jesus' name,

I'm not gonna let no man that does not put God first in his finances marry my daughter, it ain't gonna happen, man. Anyway, I ain't gonna bail you out of all your financial issues because you don't wanna honor God with your money, but that's just my conviction, all right? This is my passion, my conviction, and I really believe in this. And one of the reasons for that is because it's brought me so much life. It's brought me so much freedom. It's brought me so much blessing. And it's not always easy to give, it's not always easy to tithe, but any time that I do, I get the opportunity to remind my money who the Lord is. And it ain't you. Ben Franklin, it ain't you. Bitcoin, it's the Lord Jesus. ain't Bitcoin right now, huh? I don't know if you trade crypto, but it definitely ain't Bitcoin right now. But it ain't you. But it's, yeah, everybody got quiet. Everybody's like, I sold my Bitcoin, bro. Well, we take Bitcoin. I don't know if y'all know that or not. You can tap the plate and you can do Bitcoin. We ain't even gonna sell it.

We just wait until it goes back up. But, you know, I've been a pastor for, well, a lead pastor for 14 years. I've been in full-time vocational preaching ministry for 20 years, and I don't really talk about money a ton, but when I do, I always get the same questions. It's usually like, do I have to tithe? Well, isn't tithing Old Testament? What's gonna happen if I don't tithe? No, Pastor, I tithe. And you know what I realize? Most Christians don't tithe. Most Christians tip. That's what they do. And so they give on the basis of the level of their entertainment on that particular day. So they give by inspiration, not by discipline. Right, so they give because they're motivated, not because they're obeying God's word. It's like, man, worship was so good today, I'm gonna tithe 10 bucks, right? Now, if you give 10 bucks in the offering today, you are not actually tithing unless you just received a check for 100 bucks, because a tithe is a 10th. Everybody say 10%. 10%. Okay, whenever people talk about tithe, they're not magically making up this number and suggesting that you should give this amount so that the church can be supported.

If you look it up in the Hebrew, the Greek, do the language study, all tithe means in the Bible is 10th. That's it, it's not a magical thing. It just means a 10th, all right? And this is a biblical practice and has plenty of biblical precedent. So when we talk about firstfruits, you might be thinking, well, how does firstfruits and tithe, how do they interact with each other? That is what I wanna make the message about today, because I wanna talk about firstfruits. I wanna talk about giving of our firstfruits. And here's what they are. Firstfruits is a principle. Everybody say a principle. A principle. Tithing is a practice with a percentage, all right? I'm gonna say it again. I'm gonna break this down as simply as I can today, because I really want you to catch this from the Bible, all right? So firstfruits, it is a biblical principle. We have plenty of biblical precedent to practice it as we do with tithe, but firstfruits is a biblical principle and tithe is a biblical practice and a percentage. Are you with me? Are we together? Do we have unity? Amen. So firstfruits is a principle

and tithing is a practice and a percentage. The very first time you're ever gonna see tithing talked about in Scripture is actually in the book of Genesis. Chapter 14, verse 20, and the Word of God says this, "'And blessed be God Most High, "'who has delivered your enemies into your hand.' "'And then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.'" So this is our father Abraham that had many sons, had many sons, our father Abraham. So Abraham, prior to having his name changed by God, is Abram, and he wins a victory in war. And then he encounters this priest king named Melchizedek and he offers him a tithe. Everybody say 10%. So that's what he does. And you'll see even in the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews talks about Melchizedek in this way. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever. So who is Melchizedek, perhaps, is the question. He is a glimpse of Christ in the Old Testament, okay? So long before Jesus shows up in the Gospels, he shows up in Genesis as a priest, and Abram says, I am going to give you, thank you so much for prospering me, thank you so much for bringing me into freedom, thank you so much for protecting me,

thank you so much for victory, priest king Melchizedek, here is a tithe. I'm gonna give you 10% of the spoils, and that is my commitment to doing so. And that is what a tithe is, it is a percentage. Now in Genesis 28, verse 22, the Bible says this, and this stone, this is Jacob, by the way, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house, and of all that you give me, I will give a full tenth to you. So in the place of encounter, Jacob says, I promise God a tithe. So it's at God's house that Jacob makes a promise to practice a percentage, all right? If you're taking notes, you can write that down, because that's probably the best definition I could give you of the tithe, all right? And I made this up, I just tried to make it as easy as possible to remember. But here it is, at God's house, we make a promise to practice a percentage, all right? If you want a basic, this is my version of a definition, I didn't get this from anywhere else, I just think right from the book of Genesis, it's a great takeaway. for what the tithe actually is. At God's house, we make a promise to practice a percentage. Y'all read that with me, let's get it all together. At God's house, we make a promise to practice a percentage. So you see, the firstfruits is a principle,

tithing is a practice with a percentage. The very first time we see firstfruits talked about is actually before the law was ever given, which is in Genesis chapter four. Now, you probably heard this before, but let me just remind you of it. This is the first time you're ever gonna hear about firstfruits offering. Genesis four, verse three through five. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel in his offering, but for Cain in his offering, he had no regard. Now, if you're studying this passage of scripture, you've got to search for context clues. Because if you just read this at face value, you're like, okay, well, God liked Cain and he did not like, or excuse me, God liked Abel and he didn't like Cain. All right, wonder why? Well, actually, if you look closely here, you'll see for Cain's offering, he brought it in the course of time, meaning it was not a priority. Okay, we're talking about first love. And I know anytime we talk about first love, we always focus on the word love and forget about the word first.

We focus on affection and we forget about priority. Are you with me? And so, the reason why God said, I don't have any regard for this offering is because it was not a priority. And yet, how did his brother give? Said, Abel also brought of what? Don't just let my wife say it. Come on, y'all, help me preach this. I know we're talking about money. I get it, I get it. You don't get a whole lot of amens when you're talking about money. But what was it? The firstborn. You see there? He made God a priority. And he said, I'm gonna give you my first. Why is it that God wants our first? Because whenever God gets our first, God knows he's got our best. Are you with me? So, God likes first. You guys know this? God likes first. You'll probably remember the 10 Commandments, which are still in effect, by the way, just because we're in the New Testament. We're under grace. Still gotta be obedient to the 10 Commandments, amen?

Because every time we talk about this, people become astute theologians. Right, never read the Bible. But you talk about money, they're gonna tell you what's old in the New Testament real quick. Amazing, that's awesome. But the 10 Commandments are still in effect. How many of you guys know? We still should not murder people. Amen, hallelujah. I hope I can get a couple of amens on that. My God. You know, don't covet your neighbor's wife. Right? Whenever Moses comes down off the mountain, he said, look, I got these two tablets of stone, and here's some commandments for you guys. What's the very first one? You shall have no other gods before me, right? Why? Because God wants to be first. God knows, whenever you put me first, then I'm getting your best. The ancient church theologian, Augustine, he talked about this. He said, when I come to God, I've got to reorder my loves. I've gotta order my loves. I've gotta order my loves.

He's talking about first love there because he's talking about prioritizing our desires. Prioritizing our desires. That's what God wants. This is why, whenever Jesus was asked, what's the greatest command in the law and the prophets, he said, you can summarize it like this. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, right? Another word for the word heart is the word desire. Everybody say desire. Desire. I wanna make sure you're getting this. What God is looking for from us as his children, as his people, is that when all of our desires get in a line, at the front of the line is he himself. So, this is what Augustine's talking about. Order your loves, man. Rightly prioritize your loves. So, whenever God says, when you come into the promised land, I like to read it like this. When you get paid. Listen, I love tithing. You know why I love tithing? Because if I tithe, that means I just got paid. I mean, I don't know about you, I like getting paid. I don't know. Lord, if they didn't say amen, I'll just take theirs. You know, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But I like talking about it,

and that's what God is asking for here in this passage. He said, whenever you come into the promised land, here's what I want you to do. I want you to take the first, because I want to know you put me first, and I want to know I've got your best, and I want you to bring it to the house, and I want you to put it in a basket, I want you to put it down at the altar, and then I want you to do this. I want you to worship. Remind yourself of where you've come from you used to be in egypt You used to live under threat of the lights being cut off every month But now you're blessed get to come to the house of god smell it all nice You used to live under threat of not making it to work on time because you were riding on e e for egypt Thank god he brought me out of egypt Come on Now i'm riding on f florida promised land, I don't know we're just making it up man Are you with me you understand what i'm saying we come into the house of god worshiping hallelujah Thank you. Jesus. You brought me out of the pit. You brought me out of depression You brought me out of anxiety. You brought me out of disease. So i'm giving to you It's not about something I gotta do and i'm doing it reluctantly because pastor said so but i'm doing it as an act of worship And I know that as I sow i'm sowing not only unto the advancement of the church's vision But i'm sowing under transformation of my own heart That that if if if the world knows anything about god, here's what they definitely know that god's a giver If the world knows anything about god, here's what they definitely know that god's a giver How do I know that because you pass any semi on the highway? You're gonna see a bumper sticker. John 3 16 For god so loved the world that he Y'all know it. He's the real og the original giver Original giver god so loved the world that he gave that means anytime that I give

Generously out of obedience or I see a need then I am behaving like my daddy Yeah You guys get anything out of this so whenever you come in Here's what I want you to do I want you to take your first because your first is your best and I want you to give it to me and you're gonna See this principle all throughout the scripture first fruits both in the new and the old testament I'll give you a couple scriptures real quick But exodus 13 and 2 consecrate to me all the firstborn whoever is the first to open the womb among the people of israel Both of man and beast they belong to me God is saying I want the first why is that because he wants the best Uh exodus 23 19 proves that right there the best Of your first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the lord Your god anybody can give god their leftovers I remember one time I was sitting with a guy and he was saying, you know He was like talk to me about tithe and I was like, yeah sure. Let's talk about tithe I love talking about tithe. Let's talk about offering talk about finance. Let's talk about it I I love talking about it and and I said, you know, tell me about how you tithe He said oh, well, you know, we always faithfully give, you know, ten percent for the most part and I said, oh, okay Go ahead Tell me and he said yeah I mean we make sure we take care of everybody we pay our bills we do this and that and then at the end of The month if we have enough then we tithe And i'm like bro, how much faith does it take to pay god last? I told you I have convictions about this There's a reason why I tithe on my gross rather than my net and you can decide whatever you want to do But there's here's here's my reason for it because uncle sam ain't my lord I'm gonna have to go back to this side because uncle sam ain't my lord. So that's why i'm letting him know. Hey, listen my source It and i'm proud to be an american. I'm proud to be in it, but my source

You know ain't nothing political no position nope my source Is jesus I get a check from my job, but my source Is jesus You with me? So I want them to have my best that means having my first tithing is not just about giving ten percent It's about giving the first ten percent You with me? If you're with me just say amen Okay, I gotta move on because I want to touch on a couple of objections before I close Uh the the most common objection and I always get dms and so hopefully i'm covering this now So if you need to email me, please do I usually get about five or six after a message on money But um, usually people like but I don't have to tithe right so prove to me that I have to tithe Do I really have to tithe? Well when you're asking that question consider your vantage point Do I have to tithe? Why are you asking that question? What are you asking? In fact? Okay, well do I have to do this? Okay. So what's the alternative if you don't do it? Right what you are looking you're looking at tithing from the vantage point of salvation If you don't tithe you're not going to go to hell Somebody just got free i'm telling you right now Somebody grew up in a religious atmosphere and you heard messages like I did when I was 10 I heard some terrible messages on money I remember one time a preacher came in and said if you don't tithe the lord will take it out in medical bills I was like what? That's crazy How am I supposed to give joyfully now? I'm thinking I'm going to leave church and break my leg. That's terrible. That's a terrible --" It's not biblical at all.

But sometimes we grow up with these mindsets, and we hear people railing on money, and so we're, like, what? I don't have to. I don't have to. You don't. You don't have to, Todd, just like you don't have to read your Bible. You can still go to heaven. You don't have to come to church. I still dance with you on the street of gold. You don't have to worship. You don't have to fast. You don't have to pray. If your whole relationship with God is looking for what you can get out of... I would just call into question the validity of the depth of the intimacy that you actually have with God, because you don't actually have a real relationship with a person. You have a relationship with a caricature... who looks like him a little bit. Are you with me?

Which is really just this, like, decaposhed version of our own imaginations of God that would never challenge or correct us, but will always bless us for the desires of our heart. And this is why Jesus said, listen, where your treasure is is where your heart will go, meaning your desire for the meaning your desire is always gonna follow your investments. This is why I think it's important to serve on a team. Your desire will always follow your investment. As soon as you withdraw investment, you withdraw desire. If you want to go deeper with the livelihood and the community of your church, one of the best things you can do is start sowing seed. Time, talent, and treasure works every single time. I'm telling you. And sometimes... I know what I'm preaching now is not popular. I know it's not.

But I'm doing this because I I'm doing this really to pastor you, so if you don't go to church here, it's not even for you. I mean, well, you can get something out of it, but I'm not asking you to tithe here. You with me? It's important. It's really important. But I know it's very challenging, and when people ask me that question, well, do I really have to tithe? I don't really have to tithe. I just tell them this. No, you don't have to tithe to be saved. Tithing is about discipleship. Tithing is not about salvation. When you tithe, you're tithing for the sake of the Lord. When you tithe, you're tithing for the sake of salvation. When you tithe, you tithe under transformation. So a really bad question about tithe is this. Do I have to tithe? The better question is this.

What happens to my heart when I tithe? That's the much better question because you're tithing under transformation, and when I tithe, I'm telling my money who the boss is, and it's not you. It's God. You with me? And here's the second objection, and usually this is the longer email, so please, like, if you want to send me an email, just send me an email. Don't have ChatGBT send me an email. That you've spent hours and hours crafting to defend your point. Just, I'd like to have a conversation with a person, not a robot. Anyways, all right, pastoral problems. Here's the second thing I hear. Well, I'm a pastor, and I'm Here's the second thing I hear. Well, tithing is Old Testament. You know what I say? That's usually where biblical principles are found...

in the Bible, which consist of the Old and the New Testament. Well, I don't have to tithe. No, you don't. No one's gonna stone you. You don't have to tithe. You don't have to tithe. You don't have to tithe. No, you don't. No one's gonna stone you if you don't tithe, right? Read Leviticus. You get stoned for all kinds of stuff, and I should clarify, in East Nashville, we're talking about getting hit with rocks, not... Right? It's important. This week, I was in Birmingham, and Pastor Chris Hodges was talking about how he would, you know, preach, and all these first-time, you know, believers, or they come to the church for the first time, they would hear him preach, and he was talking about Paul, and he was like, Paul, you know, he was so hardcore, he was shipwrecked, he

was beaten, he was bitten by a snake, he got stoned, and then somebody afterwards came up, and they were like, he got stoned, and he was like, yeah, can you believe that? And he was like, well, at least he had some relief from the snake bite. Okay, hold on. Bro. He said that person was from California. I was like, hey, I get it. It's a joke. I say, well, you know, tithing is just so Old Testament, and I would say, yeah, you'll see tithing in the Old Testament, you see tithing in the New Testament. You'll see tithing before the law. You'll see tithing after the law. Tithing is a practice and a percentage, all right? It's about first fruits being a biblical principle and you prioritizing God with your finances. When it comes to first fruits, first fruits applies to all sorts of things. How do I give my best to God in this area? When it comes to money,

the way that I start is through the tithe. That's how we give God our best. And so when people say, well, you know, it's so Old Testament, I would see that really as a distraction because it's not about what you have to do and we've already established this. You don't have to be, you don't have to tithe to be saved, but tithing is not about the law at all. Tithing is about your heart. It's not about the law. Don't get distracted by that. That's honestly, I think it's good to be, it's good to be reminded that we are no longer bound by Mosaic law and we do not live under the ancient civil system of Israel, praise God, but it's not about the law, it's about the heart. And if you wanna get super technical on that, just know two things, that the idea of giving to God our first predated the law long before the Mosaic law was given. We read it today, Genesis chapter four, first fruits were already being offered. And then secondly, it was always a matter of worship long before it was a matter of rule. So you gotta get that. And the thing that you need to know also about the New Testament is that the New Testament never lowers the bar on anything. It actually raises the heart in such a way

that you need grace in order to be obedient. Well, I just wanna be a book of Acts church. Well, if you have a problem with the tithe, you don't. I mean, I'm gonna tell you straight up, if you got a problem giving God 10%, you don't want a book of Acts church. Well, no, I want it in the worship. I want it in the preaching. I want it in the prayer, but I don't want it in the money. Well, if you read Acts chapter two, you'll see how people gave and they didn't limit it to 10%. Generosity wasn't about a percentage. Generosity was about obedience and a heart posture. Are you with me? I hope I'm helping you guys. So as I'm closing, just, if you don't mind, please allow me to ask you a couple of questions and then we'll pray, is that when you get paid, when you come into the promised land, who gets the first portion? Remember, first love is about where we give first. All first fruits is is just love in financial form. That's all it is. Second question, am I giving God my leftovers and hoping that he blesses me with what I refuse to trust him with? I'm gonna say it again. Am I giving God my leftovers and hoping that he chooses to bless me in an area that I refuse to trust him with?

Number three, do you have a plan to put God first in your finances or do you just have good intentions? Because intentions are sweet, but intentions don't disciple your heart. A plan, systematic plan does. And the most basic plan when it comes to your money is the tithe, it's not magical, it's measurable. And so what tithing is, is it's a consistent practice that trains my heart to put God first. And if you're in a rough season financially, I want you to hear direction today, not condemnation. You may feel like, ah, I can't do that. Well, start where you are, but don't stay where you are. I would encourage you in that in Jesus' name. Break that leftovers habit and don't see first love as a theory, but see it as a priority because that's what it's about in Jesus' name. Let's stand to our feet. We're gonna pray, close. Did you learn anything today? If you learned something today, just say amen. If you're grateful for God's word, just say amen. And I mean in all areas of life, all areas of life. We wanna worship you, Lord, in spirit and in truth. Our altar team is coming today. We'll dismiss with a song, but let's pray together. Lord, we say thank you. Thank you for how you have touched

each and every one of us today by the power of the Holy Spirit, God. We give you praise, we give you glory, we give you honor today. And we say, Lord, thank you for trusting us. Thank you for trusting us with resource. God, would you make this church a church that is known for generosity, not just what individuals give, God, but what this church gives. Lord, I pray that you would bless the nations through finance that flows through this church, God. I pray for expansion. Lord, I thank you for the expansion into 904 Gallatin Avenue. And Lord, we bless that ground even now, and we declare revival over that soil today in the name of Jesus. Lord, we thank you for entrepreneurs. We thank you for. Creators and influencers and musicians and business owners God I pray an anointing to rest upon each and every one of us today The exact thing that God spoke over us is that we have a power resting upon our lives to get well But we also understand God that you said Jesus it is better To be a blessing than it is to be blessed It's better to give than it is to receive so give us the heart of our Father today in Jesus name and everybody said