The Gaze of Eternity

♪ Where your blood will shed for me ♪ ♪ There's no greater love than this ♪ ♪ But you say you're vocal ♪ ♪ You have overcome the grave ♪ ♪ Your glory feels the highest place ♪ ♪ Walk in separate me now ♪ ♪ Come on, what you say to get is they at the cross ♪ ♪ The land they cross now ♪ ♪ Where your blood will shed for me ♪ ♪ There's no greater love than this ♪ ♪ So you overcome the grave ♪ ♪ For you have overcome the grave ♪ ♪ Your glory feels the highest place ♪ ♪ Walk in separate me ♪ ♪ Walk in separate me now ♪ ♪ I say you have the cross I bow my game ♪ ♪ Where your blood will shed for me ♪ ♪ There's no greater love than this ♪ ♪ So you overcome ♪ ♪ To you have overcome the grave ♪ ♪ Your glory feels the highest place ♪ ♪ Walk in separate me now ♪ ♪ Sing it again, sing it again ♪ ♪ There's no greater love than this ♪ ♪ You have the cross I bow my game ♪ ♪ Where your blood will shed for me ♪ ♪ There's no greater love than this ♪ ♪ So you overcome the grave ♪ ♪ You have overcome the grave ♪ ♪ Walk in separate me now ♪

♪ Walk in separate me now ♪ ♪ To you for the damn sight ♪ ♪ You made it all ♪ ♪ Where do you stand ♪ ♪ To you for the damn sight ♪ ♪ Where do you stand ♪ ♪ Where do you stand ♪ ♪ To you for the man ♪ ♪ To you for the man ♪ ♪ Jumping away ♪ ♪ Where do you stand ♪ ♪ There's no greater love than this ♪ ♪ To you for the man ♪ ♪ Where do you stand ♪ ♪ Where do you stand ♪ ♪ There's no greater love than this ♪ When you set it aside, when you say, when you set it aside, when you set it aside, when you set it aside. It's the end of the clock, the end of the clock, the end of the clock, the end of the clock. See, there's no cream, you won't come to grace. When you glory feels the heart, it's the end of the clock, the end of the clock, the end of the clock. Get through the bell, jump in a way, jump in a way for me, when you set it aside. When you set it aside, when you set it aside, when you set it aside, when you set it aside. It's the end of the clock, the end of the clock, the end of the clock. And I was born to lift the navel above all names, you hear the melody of all creation, somebody say it, but there's no, the only I can bring, who else is worthy. We call you out, everything within you. Would you let every dress praise the Lord? Who else is worthy? There is no one, there is no one. There is no one, so will you. So will you testify, you are the infinite.

God of the Kingdom. Would you trust me, I'm all I can do. This is it, you keep my brokenness. Show me your glory. So I have so much of things, not even agency. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, there is no one. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, there is no one. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, there is no one. There is no one, there is no one. ♪ I'm the God of glory to one who wants and is and is the co-seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ By the lead, hardly say what I just want ♪ ♪ Hey, come on, move to us, the Father's love ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ is getting it ♪ ♪ Come on, Brad, wrap it first ♪ ♪ Put your fingers on air for today ♪

I have the power to go into one, to go out to me. To me, come and see you. Holy, holy, holy. Touch is what I am. It's what I am. It's what I am. To do to us the Father's land. Jesus Christ, we live. Sing it again. Sing it again. Sing it again. Sing it again. Sing it again. Holy, holy, holy. Jesus Christ, we live. We're out just worthy. Sing it again. Sing it again. Sing it again. Jesus Christ. Sing it again. To do to us the Father's land. To do to us the Father's land. To do to us the Father's land. Sing it again. Sing it again. Sing it again. Sing it again. Sing it again. Sing it again.

Sing it again. Sing it again. To do to us the Father's land. To do to us the Father's land. To do to us the Father's land. To do to us the Father's land. See what holy say, you are holy. Shout it to him. Oh, you're the Lord God. Oh, my, she worthy is left worthy is left worthy is left. See what holy, you are holy. See what holy, you are holy are you worthy are you worthy is left worthy is left. See what holy, you are holy. Oh, holy, are you worthy are you worthy is left worthy is left worthy is left worthy is left. Just the voices, you are holy. Shout it to him. Oh, holy, are you the Lord God. Oh, my, she worthy is left. Just the words that say, worthy is left worthy worthy is left worthy is left worthy is left You are holy, you are holy. Declare a church. See how you're the Lord God. Go ahead. Shout it to him. Worthy is the land, holy is left worthy is left worthy is left worthy is left worthy is left. Worthy is the land, holy. Today I want to talk to you about the gaze of eternity. The gaze of eternity. To start with eternity, we got to start at the resurrection. I know what some of you are thinking, but the resurrection, we talk about that in April.

We do the big event here. Pastor Drew, it starts dark, boom, he's arisen and we have a great day of celebration, he's alive. No, I understand something. The resurrection is not a holiday, it's not a tradition, it is the paramount aspect of the gospel. It is the foundation of the gospel. The cross is wonderful. We sang about the blood today and Pastor Drew keeps singing about the blood because the blood is what gives me the ability to lift my hands, to worship him, to be free, to be liberated, to be forgiven. And I'm telling you what, I don't want to be forgiven in the grave. What good is forgiveness to a dead man? I need the resurrection of Jesus Christ in my life. See, I don't just need to be forgiven, I need to be forgiven, redeemed and resurrected into eternity. And the resurrection is hard for us sometimes in the West. We struggle with the resurrection, why? Because the resurrection requires death. Well, I heard that, uh-oh. And that, uh-oh, was the prayer time I had in my life right that day. That's what I was expecting Kavar to give me, uh-oh, put this thing in reverse because no one wants to talk about death, but understand, there is no resurrection without death. Resurrection requires death and so we need to stare death in the eyes, but now to the power of the resurrection we can. But I want to be clear because listen, this is a sensitive subject I'm dealing with. And I know I'm the preacher up here, you know, emotionally talking about the things of God and it's wonderful, but I'm going to tell you, I'm going to be straight up honest with you. I don't want to die, but I don't fear death.

And there's a difference there. And Christians, we walk in that difference. You can dread dying, Jesus dread of dying. Here's in the garden, if you can take this cup from me, take it from me. Like if there's any other way, I mean, he read the very scriptures that Pastor Kerry read. He's like stripes, beatings. Oh boy, this isn't going to be good. He knew what was coming. And he goes, if there's any way you can take this cup from me, please take it from me. But nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done because he puts his faith back in the Father. power of Jesus Christ. And O death, where is your sting? I'll be honest to you, when they talk about a toothless lion, I'm still scared of a toothless lion. It's still a lion, but I'm telling you what, it don't matter what it does to me because I know who has the authority and all the power. And that is the very gateway I'm looking for. This is not a new problem. This is the problem in the early church. In the book of Corinthians, chapter 15, Paul says this, "As the church was debating whether the resurrection was for them or not," in chapter 15, "Now if crisis proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there's no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. This is the very foundation, everything, the reason we're here today singing about the blood, about everything, the reason we're late is because of the resurrection. That is the prayer of everything we preach, the gospel, everything is built upon it.

And in 1 Corinthians 15, 19, just a few verses later, he says this to his audience, "For only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone else." I mean, we're the biggest suckers if all Christ is for is this life alone because the gravity of what is to come to the resurrected power, this is the core of where we stand. But to look at the resurrection, we have to look at death. And a lot of us don't want to look at death because it puts our faith on trial. It puts our trust in a measurable way. But I want to remind you, you can dread dying, and I hope you do, and if you don't, there's people I can help you talk to. You probably should talk to someone. But that doesn't mean I fear death. In the book of Hebrews, you want to dig deeper in this. I'd encourage you to study there, but I want to move us now a little bit closer because I need you to understand that the resurrection isn't one doctrine among many. It's the event that guarantees all the other beliefs that we have. And so why are we talking about the stable? Here's the key. The resurrection doesn't only change what happens after we die. It should change how we live right now because now death is a doorway and not a dead end. Maybe the goalpost has been moved because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's not that I say I got a ticket to ride, and I just got to make sure I hold this ticket until I die. And some of you have a Beatles song going through your head right now, as do I. But that's not the purpose of the resurrection. The purpose of the resurrection is that now that I understand the resurrection and the power of this, I've got to reinterpret every way I'm living now in light of them. I'm re-imagining what this world is and who I am and what I'm asked to do and even what I'm reading the scripture in light of eternity. And this is why it's critical as a church and as a people that we begin to look through the gaze of eternity.

I'll be honest with you, I wish this was automatic, but it's not. It has to be intentional. I wish in a few weeks on September 20th we have baptism, Pastor Doug mentioned it, and I encourage you if you have not followed the Lord in the obedience of baptism, and I say obedience because it actually is a command. I know you're going to do your hair, it's going to be beautiful. Let me tell you what, get in the water, it's worth it, because what comes out is so much more beautiful. And I wish when you came out of that water, somehow you would just see eternity. I wish you could just see a soul, I wish you could see what your neighbor, I wish you could see money and time and everything that eternity requires you to re-envision. I wish it was automatic, but it's not. It's part of the life we have to begin to live in Him. It's part of discipleship. It's part of our spiritual algorithm that we're developing, where we put our focus, where we begin to draw. See the world looks constantly to keep your attention out of eternity. It's going to demand all of your attention be offered to it at all times. No matter what, don't look up, just look at me, don't look past that moment, just look at the job, just look at the house, look at the relationship, look at the car. [BLANK_AUDIO] Just look now. Don't look past this moment. Just look now. But saints, we have a responsibility to continually set our gaze beyond the moment into eternity. In Colossians, the author of Paul says this, "If then you were raised with Christ," which I find interesting that he's starting this whole idea built on the foundation of being raised in this resurrected state, "Seek the things that are above where Christ is. Set it at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you died,

and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." So he's encouraging his audience to understand something like, "I need you to set your mind on the things above. I need you to focus on the things that aren't just on this earth because there's intrinsic value you're going to find out that goes way beyond the moment when you look into eternity and when you look at Christ because that's where your prize is. That's where your focus is. And when it comes to fruition, you'll already be there, fully connected and a part of him. Now, I need to warn you because Paul isn't saying ignore earth and your life here. He's not saying don't take a vacation. He's not saying you need to become a monk and live in the desert with the desert fathers and mothers. I'm not inviting locus eating and camel hair costumes, okay? That's not what I'm trying to press you to get to. I'm inviting you to re-imagine how you see the earth and what your role here actually is. It's not a rat race. It's an eternal race. It's not about getting, it's about pouring out. See the eternal gaze is not about escapism. It's what allows you to have clarity as you navigate this life. It's essential for the believer. It's actually where the clarity comes into play because you have these disrupted moments constantly happening, if it's not a bill in the mail, it's a call from a doctor. It's a question that rises, but when we step and we look through the gaze of eternity, we start to see all these things differently. It's not easy. Like I said, it's not easy to live with the gaze of eternity because everyone around you is going to think you're crazy, utterly crazy, forsaking everything, foolish.

Paul even says in the second Corinthians, he writes, "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day for this light, momentary affliction." Everybody say that with me. Ready? One, two, three. Light, momentary affliction. Let's say that again. One, two, three. Light, momentary affliction. When it's the last time you looked in the mirror, when your life was going wrong and you said, "It's just a light, momentary affliction." But what Paul wants his reason, this light, momentary affliction, is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. And it's so critical because everything wants to grab your attention to say this is the most important thing, don't compromise. And what Christ is saying, the things that you're so worried about, they're actually light, momentary afflictions in comparison to what is coming. And that isn't to belittle under here, this isn't to belittle the hardship and the pain that we endure in this life, the fragileness that we have to live in day in and day out. That is not meant to belittle that as nothing. What it's meant to show is the gravity of the glory we're going to encounter. That if you, what you're facing right now is this big, understand, the glory to come is a bazillion, quadrillion times bigger. It's not saying what you're going through is insignificant and dumb and stop being, pull yourself up by the bootstraps. He's not saying that. He's saying in comparison, it is a light thing compared to how great it's going to be. In Exodus, the author does the same thing.

When Yahweh, Moses says, I need to have a name to put in the contract with Israel. He says, I'm telling him Yahweh, Yahweh, the gracious, the compassionate one. I'm slow to anger, I'm abounding in love. I do punish sins on the third and fourth generation. This is generational curses. Here we go. This is why you're a drinker. I agree we pass things off. We don't read the next one. If he punishes sin to the third and fourth generation, his loyal love extends to the 10,000th generation. Don't stop at the three to four, get to the 10,000 because that's who he is. His character, if he punishes the three and four, he blesses the 10,000. That's the gravity, but we get so transfixed on the challenges and the setbacks that we lose the gravity of the glory of what is to come. And we have to have an eternal gaze to understand this. We can't lose heart. We're responsible to continually position ourselves. So I want to warn you, there's an impact when you develop the gaze of eternity. Do you guys remember Surgeon General Warnings? I'm about to give you a spirit general warning. Living your life to the gaze of eternity will cause loved ones and others to question your life choices. The short-sighted never know where they're going, yet they're sure of where they're at. Don't take your directions from them. I want the person who has good perspective. I'm going to take my advice from the person who's been dead and came back to life. And he has good counsel. But I want to warn you, church, if we choose to set our gaze on eternity, this place ain't going to look like this place for very long.

It's going to defy our surrounding cultures. It's going to question who we allow to sit in here. Our parking line ain't going to be able to hold what God's trying to prepare. You might not have that room you wanted in that seat. You'll be amazed how many hips we can fit into these pews coming up. Because when a church and a people prepare for eternity, God starts to do eternal things, and eternal things always, always, always require people. That's the prize. So I want to warn you about a few things that's going to happen if we do this. First and foremost, setting your gaze on eternity, it's going to change your values. It's going to change your values. Meaning what we call gains in this life become losses, actually. And what we think of losses start to become gains in light of eternity. It's this opposite game, opposites. It just keeps happening. God says, give and suddenly I have more and you're like, I don't get this. These think God's kingdom starts to become the metric and not this age starts to become the metric. And then when you start to live by, its rules start to live according to you and bless you. In Philippians, I love what Paul says, he says, but whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I counted everything at loss because the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I might gain Christ. When Christ becomes your soul pursuit, the eternal one becomes just, you start to give up everything this world has to offer. Every title, every accolade, every option. You start thinking about money, life, everything differently. But here's Paul, the chief of the Pharisees trained under the best and he's like, it's

all rubbish compared to this. Suddenly everything changes and I want to caution you because when you set your gaze on eternity, everything gets reprised. Everything's reprised. You realize everything changes in the value and in your value systems. The people around you can't understand why you would give that much money to missions. Order the church. And everything begins to change and take different shape. When you start to look at your life and examine it through the lens and the gaze of eternity, I want to caution you because setting your gaze on eternity is going to change your going to use them as an example. I want to invite you into this. But Psalms 90 verse 12 says this, "So teach us to remember our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Everybody say, "Teach us." That means we have to learn. It assumes, first of all, and foremost, I'm going to educate here the other day. What I do is educate. I have the ability to educate a lot of people. There's three people. I really struggle, struggling educating their my children. I've said, "Daddy is a professor. He's a teacher. He's learned, and you treat me like a moron day in and day out." Because every time I try to teach them something, guess what? I hear. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. And I'm like, "I don't think you know because it's still not done." I'm like, "Dad, I know." And I'm like, "No." Again, you're not allowed to say, "I know." Because it's still there. The "teach us" of this passage is not just saying, "Bark a command." It's saying, "Give us understanding." See, knowledge and understanding are two different things in Scripture. A lot of us say, "Teach me these things." And then we treat God in the same, "Oh, yeah, I know. I know. I know. I know. I know." A number of my days. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get that. I get that. But it doesn't change any of the way we live. We never pick up this heart of wisdom. We just, "I know God. I know. Ah, shoot. I know. Yeah. I got you next week. Dad, God." I remember to leave. Yeah. Teach. Teach. I got. I know, Dad. I know. I know. I know. I know. And I think we just need to say that God, I don't know. I don't know. And I know you've said it a thousand times. I can't wait for the day. My kids say, "I don't know." But we're having revival now. All the parents in here in this place.

And I'll be honest with you. No one is a bigger. My parents are here. No one can guarantee more who knew everything at that age than me. I know. I know. That's if I even heard them. So I'm the biggest criminal in this at all. But I want to challenge you with the way you see time because eternity shouldn't make time meaningless. It makes us intentional with our time. And so on the back screen, I'm going to have a QR code. If I can come up, you can hit that. This is also in the app. So you can go to the app, but if you can scan that, it's going to take you to a website, which is a interactive life calendar. Now, I have one of these in my office. My wife won't let me hang it up because she hates it, thinks it's morbid. I need help with time. So I keep this. So when you go there, you're going to see and they'll pull it up here. I'm going to use me as a prime example here. You're going to put your birthday at the very top, March 12th, 1980. So that's my birthday. Me and Pastor Drew have the same birthday, but he's much younger than me. God bless you. He doesn't have as many red. But what that red represents is for some of you, you have a lot of white and a little red, some of you have a lot more red and a little bit of white there. And what that means is this is every week of your life to the age of 90. This is how many weeks I have left if I get to 90, which I'm going to be honest. If this is what 46 looks like, I'm good at 90 to call it. And so, but when I look at this, and I have this in my office that I can on Wednesdays literally dot the mark for my week. This tells me how long I have left to invest in eternity. How long I have left to invest in my marriage and my kids in this church, in this community, in North Point. It redefines my time for me with intentionality in light of eternity. I know some of you, whether you're here or even at home, you're like, I'm all red. I don't even have white left. Just keep going. Just keep going. He's not done with you. Just keep moving. I mean, just on Wednesday, I'm driving down to Springfield, Missouri to sit and record with David Plimier, Victor Plimier's son. David's in his mid 90s. And guess what? He's still giving and still investing in eternity because he's investing in the North Point Victor Plimier scholarship for our mission students. And we're going down to record more stuff to put up. But see, he has a perception. He understands, like, I'm not going to guarantee those five to really invest. I want to start now with this perception of my life within light of eternity, with how I'm spending my time, with my algorithms, with my prayer life, with my prayer life, with my worship, with my giving, all these things,

all start with me, understand the time and looking through the lens of eternity with it, that this is my opportunity to look at and to make a difference for eternity. This is the time I get to be a player on the field. It's going to change your time. It doesn't make it meaningless. It makes it intentional. And Pastor Sam says that all the time, we're not running out of money. We're running out of time. I have two more. He said, "Your gaze on eternity is going to change your perspective." It's going to change your perspective. Romans 8 says this, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that has to be revealed to us." This is a theme in all of Paul's writings. He's constantly, constantly reassessing the moment of the day in light of eternity, that today's issue, today's moment, today's diagnosis, today's dead end, today's no hope moment, today's call from my child, today's call from a loved one, today's neighbor moment. It all takes shape differently when I bring eternity into light of it. And understand, even when I'm done working, God is still working. And guess what? Cancer ain't going with you. Needed those bills? All the people the mortgage has said? We get to leave a lot of this behind, but the question is, what are we going to take with us? In the gaze of eternity, tsunamis become ripples. Tidal waves become so small to us once we bring eternity in the eternal one into our scenario and our situation. That doesn't belittle it again, what we're going through. It magnifies who He is in light of it. You guys remember that song? I'm sure you've had moments when your moment you're in is so overwhelming and just paralyzing. There's times when you even can't even pray. So for me, I have to fall back into worship at times. I just turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory grace. Can we just sing that really quick? So turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace. Sometimes that's what we have to do to change our perspective is begin to just stare right into the eyes of Jesus. But the things of this world, they don't go away. We need them to dim down in the light of Him. To remind us who's in the boat, the one who controls the waves, the wind, and even death itself is with us. Lastly, setting your gaze on an attorney is going to change your giving. You're giving.

I believe times are part of what we give, but let's be honest, money is only a representation of our time. So let's just talk about what we need to talk about. The church has been shamed when we talk about money. It's one of the greatest predictors of where our values actually lie. Show me your bank account. I'll show you what matters. So I'm only gonna speak on what Christ speaks about here. Please don't hear the manipulation. Just hear my heart. Christ says this, "Don't lay up for yourself treasures "on earth where moth and rust destroy "and where thieves break in and steal, "but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven "where neither moth nor rust destroy "and where the thieves do not break in and steal. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be." Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. There's a few texts that I read today in the passage we did that talked about when us with Christ, when He appears, with this, with that. And it's so important that we understand that money is one of the bridles that moves the horse. The horse doesn't choose. It's what's turning. My question is, I can tell really quick for some people who's pulling the reins on them. 'Cause see, imagine if you had a financial planner which I encourage you all to have and some of you in here do it.

Some of you are financial planners, but I encourage you to get with one 'cause I think it's wise to be a financial planner in the sense that no more time. And guess what, in my time, I'm gonna have retirement. I wanna be prepared, I want my wife prepared. But also, some of us need to have spiritual planners and eternal planners. And can you imagine if I went to a financial planner and I said, yeah, I go there, every quarter we talk about everything I need to do. And I said, how's it going? I don't do any of it, I just go meet with them about it. I don't actually invest anything. You'd be like, why are you going? Like, well, because I'm meeting with the financial planner. But that's not what matters. What matters is that you actually start to invest. And yet we do that sometimes Sunday after Sunday, opportunity after opportunity. Money does matter. It's one of the greatest predictors Christ continually is talking about it, why? Because he wants to know more, he doesn't want your money 'cause I'm gonna be honest with you. This is monopoly money to him. Okay, I'm just gonna get it. It's monopoly money we're playing with. What money represents is your heart. It says it here, for where your treasure is,

there your heart will be. Don't hoard your heart from monopoly money. It ain't worth it. There's a great parable in scripture, Lazarus of the rich man. When they step into eternity, guess what? Everything becomes clear in an instant. And the rich man bags that God would send someone to his brothers, and the response is they have the prophets, they have the leaders. Understand saints, one of the greatest transfers of wealth that's about to happen isn't with the baby boomers. The greatest transfer of wealth is when you die. What will go to eternity? What's actually gonna cross over with you? You have the ability to transfer so much wealth into the kingdom. And that transfer is not about your tax breaks, it's about your heart. And like I said, I believe God is preparing a people for what he's preparing to do. And he is a people whose treasure is rightly anchored in Christ. Not saying, I'll come serve, but don't ask me for anything. George Mueller has this quote, and I don't even like this quote, 'cause it's just mean to me. 'Cause I have no defense against it. He said, God judges what we give by what we keep. (gentle music) What we give by what we keep.

Imagine if you would with me, just, I don't know what it looks like the moment I take my last breath. Pastor Merritt, I don't know if there's a house of mansion. I don't know if I'm gonna be in the poor section. I don't know how the community of heaven works. I don't know if there's a train tracks and I'm on the other side. I just, Pastor Eric, I don't know yet, but what I do know is that I'm gonna be with him forever. And I'm gonna see much clearer at that. you're going to have that Schindler's List moment where you're like, oh, but this and this and this. And I'm not saying that to say you can't go live in the blessings of God, but don't chase the praise of man. God will bless you. But imagine if you would, whatever the scenery looks like past your Eric, I know this. At some point, something like this is going to happen. This is the best way I can imagine it is when I'm an attorney, there's going to be a knock on my door. Trent, I'm going to open it up and a messenger for the Lord's going to be there. He's going to say to me, Trent, good news. I have some dividends here for you, some treasures, some value to offer you. Remember that missionary from North Point that now serves in Africa? Well, she has done amazing things and the seed she's planted is coming to fruition. The church is being planted and revival is moving across Kenya. It's going to hand me something to value. I must say, I'm so thankful because I've been looking for something to put at the feet of Jesus just to tell him how worthy he is. And then he says, but we're not done, Trent, because also you had Jay and Grace Mecca from North Point. They're went to Europe. You invested. And then there's the dividends here. Oh, and you know how everyone in your neighborhood, when you lived in Kitwood, yeah, they had over the garage rack storage unit from go serve and you prayed with them? I do. Good news. Good things are happening because it wasn't just you, but other people came along and prayed with them. But you're a part of that journey. Here's the dividends. Well done. Put it at the feet of Jesus. I've been looking for something to offer him because he's worthy for all he's done. Can I remember the studio? You and

your wife had just started attending GR first and they wanted to build it. We've never given to a studio before. We've gone to a lot of things. I've bought farm animals. I've bought boats and studio. This was a first. But remember Pastor Sam asked you when he asked the congregation, would you give? Because we recognize something eternal here. And you gave. Guess what? The songs that are coming out of the studio 33 are going across the nations now. God is being worshipped in multiple languages. People's lives are coming. They're getting filled with spirit just by listening to some of the music that's happening because you're a stakeholder in that. Here's some of your, give it to Jesus. Put it at his feet. I've been looking for something to lay at his feet. See some of you look at eternity the way I look at my 401k. It's a little light and probably needs a bit more investing. And I want to be a steward of my 401k but I do not want to neglect heaven and eternity for it. Because the greatest transfer of my wealth is not when I die to my kids. Because I've been investing in eternity for over 30 years now. With ages little ones. With speed the light. With convoy of hope. I'm never going to be a millions person. But God isn't measuring the amount he's measuring the gift. And I'm trying to make sure my treasure, my heart always, always. When it says, Trent, don't you want that 20 acres? Don't you want that, don't you want that larger? Listen, I have to wrestle. I got Zillow on my phone and I own a house. Okay. And I'm still looking. It calls to me too, Saints. I could have something nicer and better. I could have something bigger. But then when I go and it says financial calculator, I'm like, but then I can't give. Then I couldn't do this. And that's why collectively we have two cars with over 450,000 miles on them. Because they're God's cars and he just won't let them die. Because we're giving and we're investing. And I want to give him something in light of eternity. I want to make sure when that knock in the door comes, it's like, it's not like, hey, how you doing today? Good. And that's it. I want to make sure that I have something to lay at a And some of you, you're like, "I've never done this before." Well, let me tell you what, get a good spiritual planner for you. And we have a really good one, Pastor Sam. I've been with him on any bad buys yet. I'm seeing great return in the kingdom because he has a whole team that's looking to be

led by the Spirit and where we're going. And I believe where we're going, it's going to require a church that has to understand not that we need your money, but we need your heart to see eternity. Because the investment has an eternal reward, because he's preparing a people for what he's preparing to do. And that's you and me, and that's us. And it's our responsibility to prepare ourselves with an eternal gaze. And you understand, the greatest prize in this room is not your wallets, it's you. The greatest prize in this room is not your wallets, it's not money, it's not time, it's you.