Treasure - Neighbors to Nations - Matthew S8E2

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Hey, welcome to the church of London to meet you. Thanks for sitting us. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Church Online family, so good to see you. Welcome to Church. My name is Jay. This is my friend, Amber. It's an exciting season in the life of our church. We're in season eight of the Gospel According to Matthew, neighbors to nations, but it's not just season eight. It's the kickoff through our two year discipleship journey where we all get to ask the question, how can I make disciples from my neighborhood all the way to the nations? And so if it's your first time to church, we're so excited that you're here and it's an exciting season. - That's right. And we would love to connect with you. We want to meet you. So you could go ahead and drop where you're from and your name in the chat. So that our team can connect with you. And I'm really excited about neighbors to nations.

One of the things that I'm most excited about is that this is something that our whole church gets to be a part of. We are all asking this really important question. What is my role in the Great Commission? - Yeah, when I think about that, we're both parents, right? We've got kiddos and I'm just processing. I don't know many of you are as well. How can we bring our families along as we process what God is calling us to do as Pastor Joseph continues to lay out the vision that God gave him. And so as we think about that as one of our kids ministers, how are you processing that as a parent? How would you bring our kids along? - Well, one thing that we say a lot around here is that our kids are not just the church of the future, that they are a part of our church right now. And so as we enter this two year discipleship journey, we want our kids to know that they are a part of it too. The Great Commission is not something that's for adults, but it's also for them. And so we want our kids to be a part of it, bring your kids into the conversation at the dinner table. And we want to equip you with resources to disciple your kids into what the Lord is calling your family to in the next two years. - So as we think about those resources, there's a lot of things out there. We want to make sure that everyone has

everything they need as we get ready for that. We have a discipleship guide just for you, for not just for these five weeks that we're walking through season eight, but also just to keep as we still process what God's going to do over the next few years. You can actually text into 44-1122, hit the resources tab, where you can get the digital form of that guide, or you can actually buy it from our store just to shipping, and you can have that in your hand. But speaking of those resources for the families, right, what's on the website that they can use? - Yeah, there are so many resources on there, and we wanted to put it all in one place. So don't resources and kids and families or sources are all there for you. There's also a divo to go on. - We have a neighbor's nation so that you can dive deeper with your kids at home. - So something for all of us there on the website, and you're going to hear more about Advanced Commitment Night coming up very soon, and one thing is I want you to know, that's not streaming online. So if you live close, or you can jump on a plane, so you don't want to be here for that, as we just prepare our hearts for what God is going to do, and you're going to hear more about that. You can also text ACN to 44-1122 as well,

just to really understand, man, this process of how we are just spiritually getting ready. But right now it's time to worship though, right? - That's right. Grab your Bible grab at your this Let's worship together. [MUSIC] Church family, it's a joy, it's a gift to be in the house. The Lord of the year is born. Psalm 34, 3 says, "O, magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt His name together. For I saw the Lord, and He answered me, and He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. Aren't you thankful for that promise this morning? Come on, let's pick Christ, I'm Jesus and we sing. We're creation, suddenly articulate. We're a thousand times to leave the white cry. And from noise to sound, and east to mess. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] ♪ Oh, you're worthy, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, you're our provider ♪ ♪ You look at the flowers ♪ ♪ And all of their beauty ♪ ♪ I don't have to wonder ♪ ♪ You know what you're doing ♪ ♪ So why would I worry at all ♪ ♪ When you're faithful to ♪ ♪ Sir, polite, Christ of faith ♪ ♪ And everything I need ♪ ♪ Everything I need ♪ ♪ My Father has it ♪ ♪ My Father has it ♪ ♪ Every single time ♪ ♪ The Lord will provide ♪ ♪ My Father has it ♪ ♪ My Father has it, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, my Father has it ♪ ♪ You look at the spirit ♪ ♪ We're lacking for love ♪

♪ And we don't have to feel ♪ ♪ We'll see you up tomorrow ♪ ♪ If you want it, we'll ring ♪ ♪ Oh, you're enough ♪ ♪ If I have you, I have enough ♪ ♪ It's your love, this love is why ♪ ♪ Everything I need, everything I need ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ Every single time we will grow high ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it, yeah ♪ ♪ My Father has it, yeah ♪ ♪ Sick ones will be the end ♪ ♪ Treasures, everything else ♪ ♪ It will be added ♪ ♪ Oh, but I need it, come on, say ♪ ♪ And I know the Lord will grow high ♪ ♪ Oh, I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪

♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ Oh, for the lessons I've seen me in ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ Oh, I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ And I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ Oh, I know my Father has it ♪ ♪ I know you will provide ♪ ♪ You've seen what you can do ♪

♪ Oh God of wonders ♪ ♪ Your power has no end ♪ ♪ The things you've done before ♪ ♪ In greater measure ♪ ♪ You will do again ♪ Come on, can you testify to that? ♪ There's no prison ♪ ♪ While you can't break through ♪ ♪ No mouths if you can't move ♪ ♪ All things impossible ♪ ♪ There's no broken body you can't raise ♪ ♪ No soul that you can't see ♪ ♪ All things impossible ♪ ♪ The darkest night ♪ ♪ You can light it up ♪ ♪ You can light it up ♪ ♪ You've got to be viable ♪ ♪ Let hope arise ♪ ♪ You've got to be viable ♪ ♪ You've got to be viable ♪ ♪ To wash in my heart fear ♪ ♪ You've defeated ♪ ♪ I will trust you ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ There's no prison ♪ ♪ While you can't break through ♪ ♪ And move on ♪ ♪ Things are possible ♪ ♪ There's no broken body you can't raise ♪ ♪ No soul that you can't stay ♪

♪ All things you can light it up ♪ ♪ You can light it up ♪ ♪ You've got to be viable ♪ ♪ Let hope arise ♪ ♪ Death is overcome ♪ ♪ You've already won ♪ ♪ You're the God of revival ♪ ♪ You're the God of revival ♪ ♪ Come and breathe on the dry bones today ♪ ♪ Oh Lord ♪ ♪ Come awake in your people ♪ ♪ Come awake in your city ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Pour it out ♪ ♪ Every strong home will come ♪ ♪ In your city ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Pour it out, hey ♪ ♪ Every strong home will come ♪ ♪ Oh, I hear the change in the ground ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Every strong home will come ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪

♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Pour it out ♪ ♪ Every strong home will come ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh God of revival, pour it out ♪ ♪ You're the throne of grace is your kids ♪ ♪ And just say heavenly Father, would you pour your spirit out on our world ♪ ♪ And our lives, as we're just saying ♪ ♪ You are the Lord who provides ♪ ♪ And we thank you that Genesis 22 says ♪ ♪ The first time worship is mentioned ♪ other side of Calvary and seeing the face of the Lord in person we thank you for what you've done for us we worship you the Lord who provided and gave his son for us so would you have your praise today Lord receive all the honor all the glory you're worthy of it it's in Jesus name we all said amen amen y'all can take a seat. Amen and welcome to the church of 11 22 where we are a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ as a church we are in a sermon series entitled neighbors to nations it's actually season eight of our walk through the gospel according to Matthew this year it's the final season but it's also the start of a two-year discipleship journey where we as a church we're going to be asking the question

what is my part to play and your great commission God through my giving my growing and my going and it's such an important conversation that we've created a discipleship guide for you if you don't have one would you raise your hand we want to make sure that you get one our welcome team will get one to you online you can get access if I headed to the website coe22.com/intin the chat host will throw that in there and there's a lot of steps for us to take over these next two years as we want to see our neighbors reach with the gospel we want to see the ends of the earth reach with the gospel and you have your first step to take coming up this weekend Friday November 6th at St. John's is an advanced commitment night and then Saturday November 7th we have two advanced commitment nights here at the San Pablo campus and this is where we're going to have a time of worship pastor Jobe is going to preach and then we get to take our first step and bring our commitment to this two-year discipleship journey here a lot about that in the sermon today and then after that we're gonna head out we have food from all over the world so that we can celebrate as a family but we can also anticipate what God is going to do in our neighbors and all the way to the nations and it's such an important conversation I just want to encourage you this is one of those conversations you don't want to walk through on your own first of all you were made to have other people in your life and I want more from you than just attending a service here I want you to be a part of this family and one of the ways that you do that is you get in a disciple group because in a disciple group you're going to talk about the sermon every week and you're going to open the scriptures every week and you're going to share your life with these people that are probably sitting around you right now and the way you get in a disciple group as soon as the service is over you head out to the lobby to those connect centers there's areas on either side of the lobby with the screens and there'll be men and women out there who would love to help you find a group that works for you right now we're going to continue to worship so grab your Bible grab a pen and open your journal to page 55 and let's listen to this testimony together I always told myself I don't ever want to be broke again I don't want to be broke the way that I was as a child I come from a third-world country you know we were barely above poverty level there was nothing for us to be generous about there wasn't never a conversation about things like that until we actually came into the States and my mom started making decent money in a factory decent money for us and she could you know like send money back and help somebody when they were in trouble it was something that we did because we had

to we had to help our family it wasn't this joyful given because I get to we got married and then he surrendered his life to Christ I was very much even in the beginning of our marriage my money is mine and your money is yours when I do something I try to do it the best I can so generosity for me became a part of the journey that I wanted to take to get close to God that was interesting because I was in the faith first and he was the one teaching me that we honor God but we are one in our finances and everything and that took some time I asked her a question one days I did how much do you think we should tell she's like there's something between you and God so for her to be a person that had a problem with that giving me that opening not only that but putting that on means like you are the spiritual man of the house you should be making these decisions and for me I'm like is she tied in 15 percent if I say one percent she's gonna think I'm cheap so I'm like okay let's start small because that's where I feel and then let's have a plan to grow and that grow became like two percent and then the next year two and a half or three and then one year we're like okay we're just you know delaying things let's just trust God go all in and then about that time it's like how can we do a little bit more and help you know above and beyond to those that we know around us so we literally have a direct deposit that goes directly to our church account and it's a bank account. and anything above and beyond if we know of a need, a hardship that someone is going through. - It will never solve our problems. It will always solve somebody else's problem. So it has been a lot of faith and the spirit revealed to me over time. Okay, now you need to continue to fortify your faith. Last year, I got laid off. I spent three and a half, four months without a job and almost at that point where our rainy day fun was running out, it would be so easy to say, God would understand, I need to take care of my family first. But even if I don't have anything to give tomorrow, today he provided for me.

So I'm going to trust him with his. What I'm going through right now is things that I would not wish to deal with. But in those things, I am being tested on my faith and on the other side of this, I know that I have a stronger relationship with God because I've been faithful through the valley. And a lot of unanswered questions have been answered through this season where I didn't know if I was faithful because life was good or if I was faithful because he is good. And I know that I'm faithful. I know that I'm faithful because he has put faith in me to be faithful through this, through the toughest time, and I would pay everything to have known that. We're committed to giving to neighbors to nation because God has been faithful so far and he will continue to be faithful. He has already provided above and beyond what we could have ever expected, even through the valley, even through the hard times. So we're going to stay faithful because it belongs to him. (upbeat music) - Amen, amen, amen. Who's excited to be at church today? I love it, don't be nervous. We're talking about money, treasure, don't be nervous. Got a little, you always get nervous, you don't have to. Hey, that's we're in week two of this series, we call neighbor of nations, neighbors of nations, that has launched against into the next two years,

rooted in what we talked about last week, that the Great Commission, Jesus says, therefore go and make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And then here's the promise and behold, I will be with you always to the very ends of the age. And we are asking this fundamental question, God, what is my role in your Great Commission? Am I giving my growing, am I going? And all year long, we've been studying the Book of Matthew, verse by verse, line by line. And for those of you that are in the gifted class, you'll notice there were a few sections and we got there and we just kind of skipped over them. We were holding them for this series, this neighbor's the nation series. And the reason is because the sections of scripture that we are going to study are going to help us understand what my role is in your Great Commission and am I giving my growing and my going. If you brought your journal, how many brought your journal, raise them really high, hold them up real proud like that. Yeah, yeah, okay, listen, we are not saved by works, but you people are going to heaven, I can promise you that. If you don't have one, make sure you bring this every week, okay? And a part of the reason is the notes are in here,

I think we're on page 55, the text is in there, there's a place to write notes, there's a daily reading guide, there's all the things, okay? Yeah, day 55. And a part of the reason too that I wanted to look at this is in the very back, there is our commitment card. And I am going to talk about treasure, money today. And I got some really good news, we're not going to do anything different tonight. I just want us to be ready for two specific dates, Advanced Commitment Night is November 6th or 7th at St. John's and at San Pablo. And I don't, you don't want to start thinking about it on that day, I need you praying about it right now. And then everybody in our church on November the 19th and the 22nd, 11, 22, that's neat. Then we are going to make our commitments and I want you praying about it like crazy between this day and that day. And if you're a guest, if you're not normally here, but this is the best news for you ever, you don't have to do anything I say the whole time, not one thing, you can just sit in judgment over all these greedy Christians sitting around you. And you've never claimed Jesus says to the Lord, you don't only have to do one thing at all, I'm not even talking to you, so you can just kind of take a break. And then if you're the kind of person that's like, oh, all we ever does is talk about money.

Did you know that we are going to study from the sermon on the Mount? This is the most popular, the longest recorded sermon of Jesus' life and 20% of the whole sermon. He talks about money and stuff and treasure, 20% of his most popular sermon ever. And in fact, if you look at all the teaching ministry of Jesus, 15% of everything And if you look at me and be like, all he ever does is talk about money. We did the math. We put it into chat GPT, which may be a helpful tool or a demon that's gonna murder us like Terminator 2. We'll see in a couple of years. And anyway, I talk about money around here, all the teaching pastors. You know what percentage of our sermons are about money? Jesus is for 15%, we're at 3.4%. So if you don't like to talk about money, you would have hated the teaching ministry of Jesus. And so the reason that I'm sharing this with you is I don't want anything from you. I just want you to understand what the scripture says and I want you to start praying about it like crazy, this commitment card. You can look at it, feel it, touch it, smell it. We're not gonna do anything tonight, but over the next few weeks you're praying about it. Because when it comes to advanced commitment night

or commitment weekend, I want you to be ready. And I simply want you to hear what the Bible says and I want you to do whatever he says to do. And I'm gonna give you another out. When the Apostle Paul was talking about generosity, he says this in second Corinthians chapter nine, the Apostle Paul carried along by the Holy Spirit is talking to the church about generosity. And here's what he says, he says, the point is this, whoever so sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever so's bountifully will also reap bountifully, each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. In other words, this is between you and God. And this is crazy, maybe I shouldn't tell you this. Do you realize you could attend this church until Jesus comes home and never bring one dime? And we won't kick you out. I wouldn't even know. It's not like we have a scanner when you come in and we're like, beep, they're eight and a half percent. We gotta do, nah man, we don't know. All right. And so that's not how this is. In fact, you know how I yell at you sometimes

and I'm like, you got three years to go on a mission trip or I need your seat. There's no way to enforce that one either. We're not gonna kick you out. So all that to say, there's no arm twisting here whatsoever. But let me tell you what I cannot do and what I will not do. I will not change the word of God and I will not apologize for the word of God because the Bible says that the law of the Lord is perfect reviving the soul. That God's word is not burdensome. Actually, what happens with God's word is when we do what he says, there is freedom. And when we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and we march in obedience and sentence direction, that's where we find life and have life abundantly. And the other thing I cannot do is I cannot change what you do. So my job is 10 toes down preaching as hard as I can. What the scripture says and then what you do with it is between you and the Lord deal. So as we talk about money, don't be nervous, unless you're greedy. So if you look nervous, you probably greedy. So tell your face, be happy. I need you to amen a lot, sit up. It's gonna be fun, we're gonna have a good time. There's no special offering at the end. This is us preparing for what is coming up.

As we are asking God, God, what's my role in your great commission? Am I giving, my growing and my going? Matthew chapter six, beginning in verse 19, this is a part of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. And Jesus has already talked about loving your enemies and he's talking about fasting and prayer and he's talking about all these things. And then again, he shifts in 20% of all of his content is about treasures. And he says this, do not lay up for yourselves treasured on earth. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. That phrase lay up or store up the root word is actually treasure. He's saying, do not treasure for yourself the treasures of this world. He says, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. We're moth and rust, destroy, and we're thieves, breaking and steal. If you were making bank in the first century, then they didn't have banks like we have. You couldn't get cryptos. So what you would do is you would usually buy cloths and linens and things like that. Or you would buy coins. And what Jesus is saying is, if that's where you've got all your hope, the problem with that of all of that stuff is temporary. He's saying, so don't store up

for yourselves treasures on earth because it's all temporary. You see, we live in a world that spends billions of dollars a day to get us to act like we're gonna live here forever. I've told you a million times, I travel a lot. Can you imagine how dumb it would be for me to renovate my room in the Holiday Inn Express? They would be pumped that they'd be like, sir, it seems like an awful waste of money for such a sort of stay. Or I have to drive a lot of rental cars 'cause I travel, can you imagine if I got my little, it looks like an M&M with wheels. Can you imagine if I pulled it in and be like, pimp my ride, man, I'm gonna put a spoiler on to this thing. I won't want those on me, I won't need to be bad. And they're like, you're bringing it back in 48 hours. It would be ridiculous, right? And so from a heavenly spread perspective, Jesus is saying, so don't store up for yourself everything here on earth, like it's the most important thing, like you're gonna live here forever. And in fact, we're obsessed with storing up our treasures. It's astounding. I mean, seriously, when you get a minute during the boiling part of the discernment, Google how many storage facilities there are. And I know what you're thinking, like,

"Well, I'm in it, but that's where I keep my stuff." Who's stuff? You know you don't have any stuff, right? Like it's just on loan from God. Do you realize this? That you've never seen a hearse with a U-Haul 'cause you can't take it with you? It's all gonna stay here. We are not owners of anything. We are but stewards, Psalm 24 says it this way. The earth is the Lord's and all that fills it. The world and those who dwell therein. In other words, it's all his and he is trusting us to steward it while we are alive. And here's the thing, there's only a few things you can do with it. You can bring him the first and best. That's what we're gonna spend our time talking about. You can save, the Bible does say that it is good to store up a blessing for your kids and grandkids. That is a fact. And then we as Christians are to enjoy it all. And so I'm not saying that you gotta be little stingy people that you can only go out and eat on Triple Q Pond Tuesday. That's not what the Bible says. We bring to God our first and best. We're really, really wise with it and make wise investments and decisions. And then we enjoy it at all. And in fact, Christians should enjoy life

more than all the other people because our enjoyment does not terminate on the thing but it rolls up to the giver of all good things. And yet so many of us have these stored resources that are just sitting there not doing anything. Now listen man, if you got a boat and you like to fish all the time, praise God. Jesus did a lot of ministry on boats. But if you got a boat and honestly you hadn't been on it in three years, these are the kinds of things that are like, "What are you doing?" If you got a Harley, praise God, you're the coolest guy in the room, like me. But if you hadn't gotten on it in six years, what are you doing? Why is it just sitting there? Jesus would say, "Why are you storing up for yourselves treasures here on earth?" And then he goes on to say, "But instead of doing that, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither mouth nor rust and strollers or thieves do not break in steel." Like the only thing that we can take to heaven is people and praises. So you can either all store it up here or you could send it ahead. And when you get there, I mean, really, really blessed. And so, when we bring our first and our best to any Bible preaching gospel center church,

not just 11-22, but anybody that's serious about the gospel, then guess what happens? Is it churches like ours and all good gospel centered Bible believing churches that are serious about reaching one more? They leverage it to store up for us treasures in heaven like this year here at 11-22, over 6,000 people have surrendered their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Can you think of a better investment? This is what he's saying. So, so sitting at home, man. Verse 21, "This is the key verse to unlock and understand everything that Jesus is talking about resources in the Sermon on the Mount." For, this is like the reason behind all this, or where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. We think it's the other way around. We think that our treasure followers are heart. Jesus says, actually it's the other way. Actually, our heart follows our treasure. Something has to go first in our life. And Jesus says, "It's your money." That your heart, your attention, your affections follow what you value and you put your money where you value something. I mean, if I were to take, this is my man on the front row. He is a traveling evangelist. I love it so much. He has been here and he sits under your authority

and the teaching of the Word of God in our church. So, we get to bless him. And he lives out the neighbors, the nations, as good as anybody have ever seen in my life. Praise God for you. But you ain't got no money. So, let me pick some of my other money. You ain't got no money either. Who's the rich person right here? You look like you got money. All right. And you got on. Yeah, okay. If I were to take your wallet, he got no socks on. Rich people don't wear socks. Do you ever notice that? I got no fast socks, okay. Anyway, so no sock rich guy here, hey. If I took your wallet, guess what would happen? He, you would pay attention to the sermon more than you've ever paid attention to a sermon in your life. Why? 'Cause I got your treasure and where your treasure is. can I see Pastor Joby?" They'll be like, "Oh, you need prayer? I need my wallet." That's what would happen, right? Like, if you own stock, the little green related line with your numbers matter more than the other random numbers, you ever play fantasy football? You ever put a little change on it?

Don't admit it in here. But just, you know what I'm saying? You got a little money riding on your fantasy football team. Then, all of a sudden, the Arizona Cardinals game matters to you because you've got a receiver and a defense, and you're invested. This is what he's saying. He's saying that where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. And here's the thing. God doesn't want or need your money. He has it. What you're going to do with it? Hide it from him? Take it with you? If you wanted your money, he'd squish you, you'd be a little greasy spot and all your stuff would still be here, okay? What he wants is you. And what we do with our money reveals and even steers the direction of our heart. And so he says where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. And he wants a relationship with you. Then these next verses sound kind of weird, so I've got to explain to him, explain to you in content. He says, "The eye is the lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness?" Here's what this means. In first century medicine, they believe that they could diagnose your whole body just by looking at the eye. That's what they believe. And in Jesus, in this context, here's what he's saying. He's basically saying like, "I can tell if you love Jesus or not."

Why? By the way, I worship. By the amount I serve, my prayers, that's not it. It's actually what you do with your treasure. That's it. That it reveals and even steers the direction of your life. Then he goes on to say in verse 24, "For no one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other, you cannot serve God and money." That the number one competitor for the human heart is money and stuff. And we live in a world that spends billions of dollars a day to double down on us on that. You see, the message of the Scripture is that money makes a good servant and a terrible master. You see, what we've been called to do is love God and love people and use money to love God and love people. But the moment we start to love money, if you've ever heard somebody say, "Well, money is the root of all evil." That's not the Bible. It's the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil because nobody can serve two masters. And if we begin to love money, what'll begin to happen is you'll use God and use people to love money instead of use money to love God and love people. Do you see the shift? And here's the thing, in the human heart, there's only room for one throne. And there's all these things circling the heart's throne, and when you surrender your life to the Lordship of Christ, you're saying, "Jesus, you and you alone are worthy to sit on the throne of my life because you are Lord." And if you begin to love money and love stuff and put your hope there, then what begins to happen is there's only room for one. You ever play musical chairs?

I remember, I've told you before that I was, the first time I ever played, I was in youth group. I had never played musical chairs. I didn't understand at first. I mean, I called on quick, but I got there, I was like, "Hey, there's not enough chairs. Oh, I get it. Somebody's left out." And I wasn't the most athletic high school kid, but I was youth group elite. You understand what I'm saying? And it came down to me and this girl who was not athletic. She was fearfully wonderful. She made she had many talents. I think she played flute in the marching band. She was smart. And I just thought, "I'm about to dominate." And we are just marching around the little chair, and I was going to dominate, because I knew the youth group girls would dig that, because that's what they love. And the music stopped, and with all my outside linebacker ability, I went as hard as I can just going in. "Whoop." And this flautist, is that what you call him? She grabbed that chair and scooted it out the way and put it under her, and I went crashing into the wall, and she took my seat, okay? Much to my chagrin. When you're human heart, there's one throne, and only one gets to sit down. And nobody can serve two masters, because here's the problem. [BLANK_AUDIO] Because whatever you idolize, when it lets you down, you will demonize. And if you put your hope and money, it will let you down.

And here's the craziest thing you've ever heard about Jesus. You ready for this? Jesus, when you find Him, He will never fail you. And when you fail Him, He will always forgive you. It's the best deal in all of eternity. And so, some of you, honestly, you've made very poor decisions, and you've put your trusted money, and you just have to do the things in this world. And you were in a financial mess. The Bible has many, many, many, many practical realities to help you understand financial freedom. A part of what you need to do, honestly, if you're really young, you're not gonna like this, but that's also why you're broke. You need to get a Dave Ramsey book about financial freedom, and 'cause he just applies a bunch of biblical principles. And you need to do what he says. And some of you are like, yeah, but he's a boomer. I know, they got money, and you ain't got no money, 'cause you are dumb, don't be dumb. And you need to like, you gotta have a budget, and you gotta live on less than you make. And you might not be able to drink a $9 coffee every day if you're in debt, up your eyeballs. And then you just slowly begin to dig your way out and apply the debt snowball and get your little emergency fund. Because here's the thing, you are mis-managing God's money, and why in the world would he ever trust you with more

if you're mis-managing what he's already given you? And so do those things. And then the other thing, maybe you got a little bit of folding money, and you're getting certain to get a little nervous. A couple years ago, I was teaching on this, on bringing our first and best to him, and a guy meets me in the lobby, and he's like, pastor, I need, I got a lot of money. I'm like, congratulations. All right, he's like, well, the problem is this. If I do what you say Jesus says to do, I think I might have to change everything. Bingo, isn't that the whole point if I don't even have to Jesus? I mean, we're not talking about slight little adjustments in our morality. If we are saying we were dead to our sins, and we believe that Christ died on the cross, and we call him our Lord, and when we hear the voice of the good shepherd, and take a step of obedience in his direction, it changes everything about everything about everything. That's exactly what we're saying. But what you think is a sacrifice is actually gonna be a freedom that is indescribable and undeniable. That's what we're talking about here. And so, ultimately the question is this, so where are you placing your trust? Do you trust the Almighty God of the universe

who sent his son to die on the cross for you, or is your trust and stuff? Now, a little bit of speculation on my part, but every time I talk about money here, everybody anxious. And I think Jesus is looking at the people, as he says, "Hend us, amen." Nobody can serve two masters. Nobody can serve God and money. Why are you storing up for yourselves treasures on earth? Why not store it up treasures in heaven? 'Cause where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. And he looks out at the crowd and people are like, (inhales deeply) And so Jesus being the master teacher, he's like, "Hey, what's wrong?" Are you anxious? Look at this next verse, verse 25. Therefore, I tell you, don't be anxious. Don't be anxious about your life. What you're gonna eat, and what you will drink, or about your body, what will you put on? Look at this question, is not life more than food, the body more than clothing? Everybody agrees with this, in principle. For you old people like me, remember VH1 behind the music? How many of these did you have to watch? You'd be like, shut up, guns and roses

was not fully and finally satisfied with all the treasures of this world? Right. And everyone was the same, right? They had everything you could ever want this world has to offer, and somehow they can't get along and they're miserable. Well, is life not more than food and the body more than clothing? And so what Jesus is going to do next, so many people miss this in this sermon, that Jesus is teaching, is Jesus is going to talk about money in the lives of money. That's what he's gonna talk about. And he's gonna use two examples. He's gonna talk about birds, and he's gonna talk about flowers. And the reason he's talking about birds and flowers, is because generally speaking, we come to money with one of two different positions, okay? Some of us are spenders and some of us are savers. And then what's crazy is in God's economy, Got any savers in the house? Anybody a saver? All right. Notice how they always raise their hands. This is right here. That's plenty. That's very efficient. All right. Well, he's got a word for savers. Any spenders in the house? If you're a spender. All right. Yeah, there's always a way. What do we win? How about a bo-go? No, I may relax, okay? So the story about birds and the story about flowers is actually about me and you. It's about spenders and it's about savers. And there's nothing wrong with spending and there's nothing wrong with saving.

The problem is where you put your hope. That's the problem. And here's what Jesus is setting up. Because Jesus knows that we have a thief and he's a liar. And he only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but your money lies to you. Like your money lies to you. And here's the lie your money tells you. It says it real sexy too. I can't talk real sexy, but just pretend, okay? Your money looks at you like deep in your eyes and it's like, come here. If you love me, I'll love you back. And you're like, you'll love me money? Yeah, I'll love you. How will you love me? Well, the definition of love in the Bible is simply to provide and protect. And money's like, that's what I'll do. I'll give you satisfaction and I'll give you security. And we believe it because it feels like it. And so Jesus is going to talk specifically about that. And so he says this, he says, look at the birds of the air. All right, savers, re-raise your hand, okay? If you're a saver, okay, savers. Here's who he's talking to. He's like, hey, all you savers, look at the birds. And I don't know how it works. He's standing on a mountain and he's Jesus. So he could have went, cue birds. Hey, birds. Everybody look at the birds. And he's going to use them as an example. He's like, hey, look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Here's what he's saying, they're not lazy. They get up every day and work hard. They do, man. You remember seeing a lazy bird? They get up and they work hard. But they don't have a great retirement plan. They've got no 401(k) and no investment and all of that. And the Bible's not anti that, but they're not putting their hope in themselves for the future. And he simply says, are you not of more value than they? Jesus is saying, come on, tell me you got more faith than a bird.

Like Jesus didn't down the cross for the redemption of birds, but he did for you. Don't you trust him? You see, here's the problem with the Savior. If you're a Savior, there's nothing wrong with saving. The Bible says we should save to the point where we could bless our grandchildren. You might want to pay attention to how much? Because how much is too much? And I know you're like, I just want to bless them. Have you met a trust fund kid? You might not be a blessing. You know what might be a blessing is while they are growing up showing them what it looks like to ruthlessly advance the kingdom of God and work really hard to do that. My guess is that's going to be a better blessing. And we'll even say things like this. We'll even say things like, well, I'm just trying to get a nest egg. And when we say the word nest egg, we mean a little bit of security. You know I looked up where the word nest egg came from? In the 1700s, people would make a fake egg to trick a hen to give all of her eggs so they could take them. And I thought, that'll preach. Here's the problem with saving. There's nothing wrong with saving. It's when you put your hope in saving because you log on to your account and you associate a number with security. And you think, I'm safe. It just can't provide it. One phone call from the doctor in there went all of your security. One phone call from the highway patrolman and poof, it's all gone, right? And so when we put our hope there, that's the problem. And he goes, listen, you're more valuable than the birds. Don't you believe God's going to take care of you? If he takes care of the birds, surely he's going to take care of you. And then he goes on to verse 27 to say this, in which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Answer, zero. In fact, guess what anxiety does? It will subtract 26,700 hours from your life. I looked it up. If you live a high pressure, high anxiety life, it's going to take three years off of your life. And one-third of heart attacks are attributed to stress. heart disease that the number one killer in America and their number one worry in America right now is he was right. And so then, so he says to you, "Savers, nothing wrong with saving, but if you think your security is going to be in some number in a bank account, then you got less faith than a bird. You got to trust God. He's got you." If he took care of the birds, surely he'll take care of you. And at this point, the spenders are like, "You get him, Jesus. My stinging husband won't let me get nothing where old clothes and sorry." All right. To the spenders, here's what he says. Look at this, you're going to hate it. Ready? And why are you anxious about clothing? Don't you glad he didn't say golf clubs? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow and neither toil nor spin. And yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. He's like, they don't even go to the mall and they dress better than we do. That's what he's saying. But if God so closed the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, in other words, surely you understand you're more important to God than grass. He says, "Will he not much more clothe you? Oh, you of a little faith. Therefore, do not be anxious saying, what are we going to eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the Gentiles seek after these things?" You see, spenders, here's how money lies to us. It says, "This stuff is going to satisfy." And you believe it. You believe it. Even though it's lied to you all of your life, that's why you have to keep getting more stuff, we think, "Well, I know that old outfit didn't do it, but the new one's going to do it." This is why I call it the coldest sack of stupidity, not because stuff is stupid. You're stupid. Me too, okay? And so he says, "There's nothing wrong with spending. We should enjoy life more than anybody else. But if you are looking for ultimate satisfaction and stuff, it's just never going to do that." And so he says, "For the Gentiles seek after these things." Here's what he's saying. He's like, "When we put our hope of satisfaction in the temporary things of this world,

we are being practical atheist." You're like, "Wait a minute. I believe in Jesus." And he's like, "Yeah, you're just not acting like it. You're acting like the stuff of earth is more important than allegiance to Christ." That's how we're acting. He says, "Don't you know your heavenly father knows that you need them all?" And then here's the but. So however, instead of looking for security and satisfaction in the stuff and money that you're trying to hold on to, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be out in India. What things? Cadillac and cotton candy? No. Security and satisfaction. That's what will be added. Eternal security that you're in the hand of God and nothing can take you out. And satisfaction, a peace that transcends all understanding. And so when he says seek first, here's what happens. I want to share with you, I've taught on this almost every year for the last 10 years, what I call the principle of preeminence. This is a principle that's in the Bible that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And it's from the very beginning of the Bible to the very end of the Bible. And it's simply this, that God is first. He just is first. Even if you don't act like it, it doesn't change who he is, that God is first. Here's how the Bible starts. In the beginning, God. Not you, not me. In the beginning, God. That Colossians chapter one says that Jesus is before all things. That God did not begin with the beginning or start with the start. He started to start and began the beginning. He is God. He's first. It's just who he is. And because God is first, God loves first. Because that's just who he is. This is why the Bible, like in John 3 16 says, for God so loved the world. He didn't wait to see how he acted and then decided if he was going to love us or not. But because he is first, God loves first. First John 4 10 says, and this is love, not that we first love him, but he first loved us. And he gave his son as the propitiation for our sin. This is about the preeminence of Christ, that the reason God loves first is because God is first, and because God loves first, and is first, God went first. Romans 5 and 8. God demonstrated his love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And here's what this This has to do with this part in Jesus' system. the resources that God has allowed us to steward and you see what Jesus says right here where your treasure is there your heart will be also this is the reality of how it plays out in the stewardship of our lives that what we do with what we think is our money it's all his but you know what I mean what we do with money reveals and even steers what's first in your life Jesus says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added

unto you Jesus says where your treasure is there your heart will be also and so the way we say it around here is because God first loved us by sending us his best in Jesus Christ to pay for us to redeem us then we cheerfully respond by stewarding a portion of what he has trusted us with by bringing our first and best to him and the reason we bring it through the local church is because Jesus is the head of the local church and the local church is Jesus is plan a to accomplish the great commission for his glory so that's how that works and so some people especially online right now we'll talk about the tithe it's a legitimate question so as New Testament believers are we held to the idea of the tithe from the Old Testament and if you want to say no here's what they'll do they'll be like well the tithe is from the Levitical tithe and you know they'll kind of tell all these things but the reality is is when most people most Bible teachers today when we use the word tithe what we mean is not a one-to-one relationship to the Levitical law of the Old Testament but it's kind of a shorthand way of talking about our generosity because tithe in the Old Testament and it's actually in the whole Bible from before the law to the very slice of because of the Bible it's not just it's not just purely 10 percent it's the first and the best and the faithful first that's what it means okay and so it's a bit of a shorthand and so it's not a one-to-one with the exactly with the Levitical tithe of the Old Testament but it's the principle of first and best from cover to cover in the Bible why because God is first and God loves first and God went first and what we do with our money reveals what's first in our life so we gladly bring our first and our best and so a shorthand way to say that just tie and here's the thing I'm telling you the law comes in Exodus chapter 20 in the Bible and before you get to the law the very first humans ever born now Adam and Eve are the first ones created and then they had two sons and they didn't get along so your family might be very biblical okay and one kid's name's Cain and one kid's name's Abel and the Bible doesn't talk about how much but the Bible says Abel brought a sacrifice of the first born of his flock he brought God first because God is first and then Cain in the course of time got brought God and offering which means he brought leftovers and it went really good like God blessed Abel and he would not receive Cain's there's no law yet you see this Moses are not going to bring the law for a long generations after this and then you get to I think it's Genesis 14 Abraham has been called by God he trusts him him and Sarah pack it all up they're heading towards what will be the promised land at this point Abraham has been in a bunch of battles he saved his his relative lot he's beat up a couple

of tribes he's starting to stack up some spoils and he runs into Melchizedek who was a priest of God the name Melchizedek means the king of righteousness Hebrews says that Jesus is the order of Melchizedek so this either is a Christophany Jesus showing up pre Christmas or he is a picture of the coming Christ and what Abraham does even before there is a law about you know exactly pre-scrab what to do then he falls on his face and he worships him and he gives him a tenth of everything that he has this is pretty long and then you Moses shows up and he's going to set up the sacrificial system and the legal Old Testament pre-scribe tithe is set in place and it's very specific it's actually 23% so but don't worry about that because there were two tithes every year and then there was one every three years you can put it together it's a lot okay but every single one of it was a picture of the coming sacrifice of Christ and then you get to the gospels in the Bible and Jesus shows us and he never undoes the tithe In fact, he doubles down on it at one point. He's talking to the Pharisees and he says, "You tithe from your spice rack, like you're keeping the letter of the law, and yet you're not showing justice and mercy." And then he says, "You should tithe." That's good. I'm not saying it's not good, it's good. But you're neglecting the weight of your matters. So what if you can check a box on a giving envelope, but you're mistreating people? That's what he says. And so he doesn't undo it. Then you get to the book of Acts and what you're gonna see, especially in the early church, is the followers of Jesus, they're doing all kind of stuff, man. They're working on jobs, making extra money, selling land, and they're bringing it

and laying it at the feet of the apostles. And then the apostles are using it for the advancement of the church, which is the accomplishment of the great physician, great commission, and what they're doing is you're using it to meet the needs of the people. So you see it in the early church, and then by the time you get the apostle Paul comes along, he's carried along by the Holy Spirit, and when he teaches in the epistles, he never gives a number, he's never like 10% is the number. This is not a math equation, this is a heart issue. And the reason that a lot of churches talk about 10% is because it's not a bad benchmark. Whether it's a goal to get to, or you've been doing it for a while, and you're like, you know what, I'm kind of comfortable there, but thank God Jesus didn't tie this blood, he gave it all. But the key is, is that you pray like crazy, and you bring to him what you have decided in your heart because you've said, God, what does it look like in my life? What is my role in your great commission in regards to my giving and growing and going? And then we just do whatever he says. And you don't do this because of what you get, and you don't even, this is crazy, I'll explain it in a second, you don't even primarily give because of what it's gonna do.

R.O.I. is good, return on investments, good, but that's not even primarily because you're actually trying to like control the outcomes. The primary reason we bring our first and best is because what he has done for us, and it's a response to the character and nature of God. And then when you get all the way to the end of the book, Revelation, the most valuable thing that you have is all these, you've been working your whole life for these crowns you get in heaven. It's the most valuable thing you have. And guess what you're gonna do with it? You're gonna take it off, and you're gonna put it at the feet of Jesus. And you're gonna say it was off for you? So I'm not trying to argue about an Old Testament law with the Levitical priest. I'm trying to tell you from the very beginning of the book to the very end of the book, we are to bring Jesus for the sake of his glory by accomplishing the great commission our first and our best. And I imagine the crowds looking at him and they're like, they're kinda nervous 'cause he's talking about their stuff. In verse 34 and Jesus says, "So therefore, don't be nervous." He says, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow." "For tomorrow, we'll be anxious for itself."

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. It pretty much comes down to this. Jesus is saying, "Where's your trust? "Do you trust me or do you trust you and your stuff?" So listen, here at 1122, through the neighbors to nations. We're gonna pray like crazy. Next week on the six and seven, Advanced Commitment Night, for anybody that's like, "Hey, I'm ready. "I wanna go first. "I wanna set the tone." Didn't cool, you show up. You're gonna pray like crazy over this card. You're gonna do whatever he tells you to do by faith. You're not gonna be anxious about tomorrow. You're gonna be like, this is what he's told me to do and I'm gonna be obedient. And you're just gonna say, "God, I trust you." And here's what's gonna happen. And then everybody else, if you can't be there, then on 1119 and 22, we're gonna make commitments. And here's why, here's why we do commitments. Jesus said, "Nobody built a building "without counting the bricks." So it's a good idea for us to count the bricks so that we can know how many military families can we take care of? How many displaced people groups can we support? How many evangelists can we send out? How many missionaries can, you know what I'm saying?

It just, it helps that crazy. That's why it helps. That's why we're doing it. And here's what's gonna happen. When you bring your first and best, when you pray about it and you sense what God is saying and you bring your first and best, you will be advancing the gospel. Through the campuses that we launch, the churches that we plant, the missionaries we send, the outposts we start, And that's still not the primary reason. And you will be helping those in need. That's right, there'll be prisoners that get saved and people in senior living facilities that get saved, and we're going to care for military families, and we're going to start a Christ-centered recovery ministry called Regent, and we're going to be fighting for the unborn, and we're going to take care of more foster kids, and we're going to continue to love our special needs community, and we're going to take care of our first responders, and that's so legit, and that's not the primary reason you bring. And you will be blessed. I can guarantee you, because when we bring our first and best, when you tithe, you learn to live on less than you make, and if you can do that, you'll always have more than enough. You don't even have to believe in Jesus to apply that one, you're welcome. And you will experience some God-honoring satisfaction when in a couple of weeks we're like, "Look what God did through your generosity," and you get to be like, "Wow, God used what I brought," and he multiplied it, and that's cool, man, they're never wrong with that. And the Bible says it, "Where your treasure is, your heart will be also when we bring our first and best, your heart will grow towards Jesus." All these are wonderful things. However, the primary reason that we bring our first and best is as a response to the

reality that God is first, and he first loved us by giving his son Jesus Christ. And so we cheerfully say, "God, thank you that you would even trust me to steward these resources." It's all yours, I'll gladly bring my first and best, and I'll be wise with it, and I'll enjoy the rest until your glory. I want you to be blessed by it all, but I'm going to bring my first and best. And so that's what this card is. This is simply a tool. We did not print this out of the Bible. This is for you to just be praying about so they could help you think through and answer that question from him, not me. God, what does it look like in my life or in our family's life to be a part of your great commission and my giving? In the next few weeks, we're going to talk about the going and the growing. And then you'll show up at Advanced Commitment Night at St. John's, or at St. Pablo. And you'll just say, "Okay, Lord, I'm bringing it back to you." Here's the heart behind it. I told you this before, but you don't remember. Years ago, before we moved over here to this part, we're in the layaway of the old Walmart, but when we were in ladies' accessories over there, that's where I used to preach them. Right when the church first started, JP was about eight years old. He turns 21 next month. It's crazy. He was about this big, and he's about that big. It's kind of weird. It was after a service, and we used to have these giving kiosks if you had been around a long time. We used to have these little, like, you could, like, swipe your card. Because the reason we don't pay, if you're new here and you're like, "They don't even take up an offering."

I just can't find in the Bible where Jesus took anything. We bring to God. And Paul said, "I don't want you to give under compulsion." So I don't want you to feel guilty with some bucket comes by. And then, too, and I know you'll be like, "If you give online, you'll be," you look down. You're like, "I give online, big shot up." You know what I mean? It says, "I don't want you to give under compulsion." So you just respond by bringing your first and best, online or whatever. So that's why we don't do that. So we put back in the day before we could do text to give and all that, we had these giving kiosks. And there was one in the back, back here, and the way Gretchen and I do it is the first day of the week, Sunday, the very first money that comes out of our account is we bring it to church. Okay? And we're not legalists about it. If Gretchen stops for a cup of coffee, I'm not like, "You have cursed our family." I mean, you know. You ask her, "Well, it's a lot cheaper at church." But anyway, that's a different sermon. So anyway, and so we've done a ton of services and I think JP was eight years old or something like that. He was about, you know, that big. However old that is. And he's with me and he's waiting to go get in the truck and leave. And I'm like, "Oh, hold on. Hold on. I got to bring our first and best."

I'm putting my backpack down and I swipe my little card and I put my phone number in there, right? And normally my eight-year-old never paid attention to anything. But for whatever reason, that day, he's eye-leveled with the little screen and he sees it. And the number pops up and it's like, "What would you want to bring?" And I put in the number. Now, I don't know what you would have thought about that number. For some of you, like big ballers, you'd be like, "Oh, that's adorable." Gretchen and I were stretching as hard as we could. And you know, for some of you, you'd be like, "Oh, that's kind of a lot." To an eight-year-old, he was like, "He did. Just like that. And I go, "First off, scooter, we don't give anything. Me and your mama bring this and you have added zero actually negative. You are a deficit to our P&L in the household, okay?" But it does, he looks at me and he's like, "Hey, why don't we give so much money to the church?" And it might just be like a, you know, because I'm a preacher so I know a bunch of Bible verses. There's this chapter in Exodus 13, I think that's where it is. And Moses is giving instruction to the Israelites and he says, "You're going to get to the promise land and when you get there, you need to bring the firstborn of your animals to God as a sacrifice." Why? Because God is first and God went first and he talks about it a lot but it's the principle of preeminence. And then he says, "And when it comes to pass and your son comes to you and asks why you give of the firstborn," here's what I want you to say. And ultimately, here's what Moses is saying, he's like, "I know what's going to happen," a couple generations from now, you and your family are going to be on your goat farm out

there and your grandson's going to come up and be like, "Hey, granddaddy, I got a question. I mean, I think I'm going to take over the goat farm here one day and I got to ask you about the most expensive one, the firstborn, we sacrifice to God. What are we doing? You know, what we could do is instead of sacrificing the firstborn, why don't we wait and make sure we have enough and see if one might be a little bit gimpy or maybe have three legs or be a gator fan or something like that and then we could give it and it wouldn't cost us nearly as much, why don't we do that? You fast forward several thousand years and my kid is watching his mom and dad just do what Jesus says to do to bring our first and best and he goes, "Dad, what are we doing? Why don't we get so much money to the church?" And so Moses tells the people in Exodus, "When your kid asks that, here's what you tell him, we were slaves in Egypt and by the mighty right hand of God, he reached down and redeemed and rescued us out of slavery and brought us across dry land and set us in the promised land." That's why we bring our first and our best. And so with my eight-year-old boy, I got done on my knees, eyeball to eyeball and I said, "Buddy, I have not always been the man that you grew up with, that I was a bad dude and I'm trying to make it make sense to an eight-year-old." And I said, "I just did what I wanted, with who I wanted, whenever I wanted." And the crazy thing is what I thought was freedom was actually slavery and I was slave to my own sin. And before I ever did anything good about it, God sent his son Jesus to come and rescue me and by the mighty right hand of God, he snatched me up out of my own sin, took me across the chasm that separated me from Almighty God and the life that we now live that you know is all by his grace simply because he loves me. So me and your mom gladly bring our first and our best because he first loved us by giving his best in Jesus Christ. And then my sweet little eight-year-old, which they grow out of so fast, he looks at me and he goes, "I'm glad you're my dad."

When we bring our first and best because of what Christ has done for us, it's an act of worship. That's it. It's just going, "I don't believe the lives of the world. I don't think it's going to satisfy me and I don't think it's going to give me ultimate security in God because you first loved me, because you are first and you sent your son Jesus Christ. I bring my first and best to you." Here's what it's saying. It's your looking at God and you're going, "I trust you. I trust you and I'm glad you're my dad." And so I want you praying about that over the next couple of weeks as we boldly step into what God's calling us to do in neighbors to nations, that every one of us, every single God told me what my role and your great commission is, am I giving, am I growing, am I going? Would you please stand, let me pray for you. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father. No, God, we're glad you were our dad. Lord, I'm really, really, really thankful for the Holy Spirit right now. And Spirit, God, you're the real preacher here, not me. I'm just the mailman. I just try to deliver the mail. It's the Spirit, I pray that you would help people divide out the word in their own flesh. 'Cause they fight in me. And Lord, I pray that you would help people divide out the loving, warm invitation of obedience from you and fear of being obedient. And Lord, you said, "My sheep hear my voice."

I pray that we would hear your voice. You also said, "The voice of a stranger," they wouldn't listen to. I pray you'll help us identify that. And then that same Spirit that is going to give us comfort and it's going to help us understand your word. Would you also empower us to just do whatever it is that you called us to do? And God, we thank you in advance for all of the ways that we'll get to glorify you and celebrate the advancement of your gospel. When faithful men and women just simply bring their first and best as a step of obedience and say, "Father in heaven, we're really, really glad you're our dad." We pray it in Jesus' name, amen. So, church, no special offering at all. We're going to sing 'cause he's worth it. We're going to bring like we always do our ties and our offerings and we're going to pray. And every single one of, I know we can't all fit down here, but every single one of us need to be praying. All right, God, what's my role in your great commission? Am I giving? Am I growing? Am I going? Let's sing, let's bring, let's pray, let's respond. ♪ Just in assurance ♪ ♪ Jesus is mine ♪ ♪ He's been my fourth man in the fire ♪ ♪ Time after time ♪

♪ Born of His Spirit ♪ ♪ Washed in His blood ♪ ♪ That what He did for me on count ♪ ♪ Was more than He had known ♪ ♪ I trust and I ♪ ♪ I say you're the one ♪ ♪ You will never fail ♪ ♪ You'll never fail ♪ ♪ I trust in God ♪ ♪ I'll save you the one ♪ ♪ And you will never fail ♪ ♪ You will never fail ♪ ♪ Perfect submission ♪ ♪ All is at rest ♪ ♪ I know the offer of tomorrow ♪ ♪ And so am I ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ This is my story ♪ ♪ This is my song ♪ ♪ I'm praising my risen key ♪ ♪ I'll save you all the day long ♪ ♪ I trust in God ♪ ♪ I'll save you the one ♪ ♪ And you will never fail ♪ ♪ You will never fail ♪ ♪ I trust in God ♪ ♪ I'll save you the one ♪ ♪ And you will never fail ♪ ♪ You will never fail ♪ I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered

I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered I saw the Lord, and He heard, and He answered Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him

Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Oh, who will never fail Oh, how I trust Him, oh, how I trust Him Amen, Church, do you trust in God? This is not about the bottom line in your budget, but it's 100% do you know the heart of the Father for you? It changes everything when you do. Which is why we continue to take steps to follow after Him. Listen, you need to get in a group to talk this out this week. If you're not in a group on your way out, let those men and women at the Connect Center help you. Church, we love you like crazy. We can't wait to see you next week. Be free. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪