When You Give
January 11, 2026 Service. Join us for worship with Faith Worship Arts, followed by Week Three of our Seekers series with Pastor Johnnie Wilson.
In this message, Pastor Johnnie walked us through Matthew 6:31–33, challenging us to examine what it truly means to seek God first—especially with our finances. Through a powerful historical illustration of partial surrender, we were reminded that God isn’t looking for pieces of our lives, but our whole hearts. Jesus teaches that giving isn’t optional for the believer—it’s a spiritual discipline that reveals the location of our heart, confirms who or what we serve, and demonstrates whether God truly holds first place in our lives. We were encouraged to see tithing not as an obligation, but as a faith-building principle that fuels the mission of the local church and aligns our resources with God’s kingdom purposes. When we give first to God, we make room for Him to bring order, provision, and eternal impact—because seeking Him first changes everything.
Come on, can we stand in this place? Come on, we praise our God together. We lift Him up. Come on, put those hands together. ♪ ♪ When I could see the work of His fingers ♪ ♪ And what His hands have made ♪ ♪ I stand in awe, I'm full of wonder ♪ ♪ At a loss for what to say ♪ ♪ But it starts a story deep in my spirit ♪ ♪ And the fall is just too great ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but, I can't help but, come on ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, I will ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, who He is ♪ ♪ And all He's done because He lives, we overcome, and I will ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, come on, come on ♪ ♪ When I could see the love of a Savior ♪ ♪ And His tolerant, lenient grace ♪ ♪ A heart full of passion, a total surrender ♪ ♪ And He never backs away, because it starts a story deep in my spirit ♪ Come on, the fall is just too great. ♪ The fall is just too great, oh, I can't help but, I can't help but, come on ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, I will ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, who He is ♪ ♪ And all He's done because He lives, we overcome, and I will ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, come on, come on ♪ ♪ Underworking, new life birthing, God who makes a way, come on ♪ ♪ He's the path, the erase, the sinner saving, God who empties graves ♪ ♪ He's the path, the erase, the sinner saving, God who empties graves ♪ ♪ Jehovah-Jireh, He's my provider, I'll bless His holy name, oh, I can't help but praise Him ♪
♪ Underworking, new life birthing, God who makes a way, come on ♪ ♪ He's the path, the erase, the sinner saving, God who empties graves ♪ ♪ Jehovah-Jireh, He's my provider, I'll bless His holy name, oh, I can't help but praise Him ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, I will ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, I will ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, I will ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord who is ♪ ♪ In all He's done, because He lives, we all will come with Him ♪ ♪ In all He's done, because He lives, we all will come with Him ♪ ♪ Worship, worship, worship the Lord, I will ♪ Come on, can we do that just for a moment and lift our Savior in this place? Come on, there's nobody like our Jesus, amen? Come on, can you just give Him praise for a moment? Hallelujah, Jesus! Come on, if God has been good and faithful to you, can you clap your hands together as we continue to declare His goodness? Here we go! ♪ Why would I ever doubt Your goodness? ♪ ♪ You are the only one who's never failed me ♪ ♪ I've been a witness to Your greatness ♪ ♪ I've seen the mountains move and tombs made empty ♪ ♪ You do more, so much more than I could imagine ♪ ♪ And right when I see the storm brewing, You do something incredible ♪ ♪ You're my refuge, You're my way through ♪ ♪ You are faithful to do something incredible ♪ ♪ All my help is in Your presence, I can trust that You'll do something incredible ♪ Come on, clap your hands together, we sing! ♪ No doubt about it, You are faithful to do something incredible ♪ You are faithful. Your word is true and it has never failed me. I serve a God who is more than able.
When I am weak, your name is strong and mighty. You do more, so much more than I could imagine. Right when I think you're done for me, you do something incredible. You're my refuge, God. You're my way through. You are faithful to do something incredible. All my help is in your presence. Oh, I can trust that you'll do something incredible. If you believe that God isn't done doing incredible things in your life, can you give him great praise right here? What I've been asking and what I'm thinking, you will exceed it. I will believe it. What I've been seeking, the things I'm dreaming, you will exceed it. I will believe it. What I've been asking and what I'm thinking, you will exceed it. I will believe it. What I've been seeking, the things I'm dreaming, you will exceed it. And I will believe that Right when I think you're done moving, you do something incredible. You're my refuge, God. You're my way through. You are faithful to do something incredible. All my help is in your presence. Oh, I can trust that you'll do something incredible. You're my refuge, my way through. You are faithful, oh God. All my help is in your presence, God. Yes, it is. Oh. And I know what I've been asking and what I'm thinking, you will exceed it. I will believe it. What I've been seeking, the things I'm dreaming, you will exceed it. I'll believe it.
What I've been asking and what I'm thinking, you will exceed it. I'll believe it. What I've been seeking, the things I'm dreaming, you will exceed it. You'll do something incredible. If you believe it, lift up a shout of praise. Oh, he's an incredible God. This is an incredible season to be a part of an incredible community. Why don't you take a moment to just say hi to somebody, welcome somebody to the church. Tell them you're glad to see them. It's going to be a great day in church today. We'll be right back to continue with service. God bless you. ♪♪ Well, welcome. Praise the Lord. Amen. You look fantabulous. Amen. How are we feeling today? Come on. You look better than you sound better. Come on. Amen. Aren't you glad to be here worshiping the Lord together? Amen. Amen. We want to welcome everyone here today. And those of you that are watching on the screen, thank you for being here as we gather in multiple locations to worship and glorify the one true God. Amen. Amen. We're so thankful that you're here. And we also want to celebrate some amazing people that are here also for their very first time. And that's our first-time guests. So if this is your first time here at Faith Church Orlando, we want to welcome you. Our ushers are going to serve you
and allow us to welcome you with a warm faith welcome by applauding you. So raise your hand. Let us see where you're at. Amen. Thank you for coming. We got a group over here. That's amazing. We got some in the back. Awesome. Well, welcome. Praise God. We are glad that you're here. If you didn't have the opportunity to connect with one of our amazing guest experience volunteers in the lobbies, we would love for you to just unlock your phone and tap the tag that's in front of you so that you can connect with us. You can get more information and we can connect with you and let you know about what's going on here at Faith Assembly and how you can be a part of that as well. And just to let you know what's going on and the different activities and ministries. And if you have the opportunity after the service, we would love to connect with you in our guest connection hub, which is in the atrium. Amen. We would love to, our volunteers would love to just share some more insight as to what our church is doing, what's going on, and really just answer any questions that you might have. Amen. So we're thankful that you're here. We thank those that are watching online as well. And so now that you're here, you're no longer a guest. You're now family. Welcome to Faith Church. Amen. Welcome to Faith Church Orlando. Here's a look at upcoming events. Church, our volunteers are the backbone of everything we do at Faith. And we're starting the year by celebrating and equipping you in a big way. Join us this Friday, January 16th, as we gather for our Ministry Teams Conference, a free one-night-only experience designed to ignite passion, build unity, and launch us into a strong new year of ministry. Whether you're already serving or you've been feeling the nudge to get involved, join us in the Mainstream Youth Center from 6 to 9 30 PM to hear sessions from our pastoral staff and guest speaker, Pastor Travis Jones. Free child care and fast-friendly dinner will be included. Visit faithassembly.org slash events to register and for more information. Exciting things are happening at Faith. Here's a look ahead. We encourage you to connect, grow, serve, and reach here at Faith. So stay connected through the Faith app or our website. Have a blessed week. Amen. Amen. Praise God. Listen,
I just want to underscore one of the highlights on the announcement, and that's our, uh, this Wednesday's Night of Prayer. We're in a season of prayer and fasting, and we just want to encourage everyone to be here Wednesday night, especially this Wednesday night and Friday night, uh, during our prayer and fasting season, uh, and just come before the Lord and just tarry before His presence so that we can pray for one another and so that God can just not just fill this house, but that He can fill our lives and our communities with His presence. How many know our communities need Jesus? Amen. And so let's pray for our neighbors. Let's pray for our communities. Let's pray for our leaders, but let's invite someone to come with us. Don't come to the altar alone. Invite someone to come with you and say, let's pray together. Amen. Love to see you all there this Wednesday. Amen. Well, let's continue to celebrate the Lord by putting our faith to work. Amen. It's time to bring God's tithes and our Kingdom Builders offerings to the Lord. Amen. And there are some amazing ways, and there are really two steps in giving. The first step is the tithe, which is the 10%, uh, that we want to honor and obey God with. Amen. And then there's the Kingdom Builders offering where we give, um, above and beyond the tithe out of generosity and love. And when I say let's put our faith to work, it's because when we step out in faith, when we give to God the first fruits, not just of our increase, but also of our time and talent, we are honoring Him and we're putting our faith to work saying, Lord, we trust you. We believe that you're going to do the impossible. You're going to do more than we could have asked or even imagined. And so in a moment, you'll have an opportunity. The ushers will serve you. You can also tap the tag that's in front of you if you want to give digitally, or if you want to give traditionally, you'll have that opportunity as well. Whatever works best for you. But let's put our faith to work because when we trust God with everything on our lives, we know that He will do exceedingly more. And that the important thing is that as we give to the Lord through the local church, it is so that ministry can take place, so that lives can encounter Jesus, and that this world can be one for the Lord. Amen. So thank you for your obedience. Thank you for your faithfulness. And thank you for putting your faith to work today in Jesus' name. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the opportunity to give, to partner with you as we give through the local storehouse, so that you would be glorified, that you would take these seeds of faith, our giving, the first fruits of everything that we have, that your name would be glorified, Lord God, and that people would know your deeds. Lord, bless it, multiply it. And Father God, we are so honored that we have the opportunity
to sow into your kingdom so that your name will be known. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God bless you as you give. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Amen, church. Well, wouldn't you give, would you stand with us as we continue in worship this morning? And I want to invite you in this room. Would you just begin to lift up your hands and just begin to praise the Lord in your own words? Even before the song starts, can we just give God our praise? Come on, there is no one like our God. Lord, you alone are worthy of all the worship, of all the praise. Lord, we give it to you this morning.
♪ ♪ Sat on high ♪ ♪ Elohim ♪ ♪ The great I Am ♪ ♪ Lives in me ♪ ♪ El Shaddai ♪ ♪ You are Prince of Peace ♪ ♪ Emmanuel ♪ ♪ Here with me ♪ ♪ Your name is great ♪ ♪ And greatly to be praised ♪ ♪ Your name is great ♪ ♪ And greatly to be praised ♪ Come on, can we just call Him Church? ♪ Sat on high ♪ ♪ You are Elohim ♪ ♪ The great I Am ♪ ♪ Lives in me ♪ ♪ El Shaddai ♪ ♪ You are Prince of Peace ♪ ♪ Emmanuel ♪ ♪ Here with me ♪ Come on, we lift Him up. ♪ Your name is great ♪ ♪ And greatly to be praised ♪ ♪ Your name is great ♪ ♪ And greatly to be praised ♪ ♪ Your name is great ♪ ♪ And greatly to be praised ♪
♪ Your name is great ♪ ♪ And greatly to be praised ♪ ♪ Oh, we worship you, Christ ♪ ♪ You alone deserve all our worship ♪ Come on, can we just call Him worthy in this place this morning? Come on, that's who He is. ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪ ♪ Worthy You will be forever, Yahweh ♪ ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪ ♪ Worthy You will be forever, Yahweh ♪ ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪ ♪ Worthy You will be forever, Yahweh ♪ ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪ ♪ Worthy You always, oh we need You ♪ ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪ ♪ Worthy You will be forever, Yahweh ♪ ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪ ♪ Worthy You will be forever, Yahweh ♪ Come on, shout your name. ♪ Your name is great, Yahweh ♪ ♪ When rain is raining ♪ ♪ To be praiseworthy ♪ ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪ ♪ Worthy You will be forever, Yahweh ♪ ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪ ♪ Worthy You will be forever, Yahweh ♪ ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪ ♪ Worthy You will be forever, Yahweh ♪ ♪ Worthy You are, worthy You are ♪
♪ Worthy You will be forever, Yahweh ♪ Come on church, we've been singing about the name of Jesus. How many of you know there's power in the name of Jesus today, amen? What we wanna do right now is we wanna open up these altars and we wanna have a time of prayer. And so if you are in need, you've got something going on, maybe a sickness in your body, or you have a need that's represented, today we wanna pray for you. We are in a season right now of prayer and fasting and we are believing for miracles. Somebody say amen to that. And when we pray, we don't pray in our own name and we don't pray in vain. We pray in the name that is above every name. Can I just build your faith today? Let me read what Paul writes in Philippians 2, verse 9. He says, therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at that name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord all to the glory of the Father. And if you read that verse, we started, it says, therefore God gave Jesus this name that is above every name. What is the therefore referring to? You have to go back to verse eight to really understand it in context.
It says this, that Jesus became obedient to death, even death on a cross. In other words, the reason why Jesus has power, when we call on his name, there's power in that name, is because Jesus conquered death, hell, and the grave. And how many know this? If Jesus conquered death, hell, and the grave, there is nothing that is impossible for God. So let's agree together today and pray in faith for needs to be met and prayers to be answered today. So prayer team, can I invite you to come this way? And our pastors are gonna also be available. And if you have something that's happening in your life right now where you go, I wanna submit this unto the lordship of Jesus Christ. Man, I want God to be active in this situation. Some of you might be going through a physical battle. Let us pray for you today. Or maybe today you've been struggling with things in your mind and having thoughts that don't line up with the word of God or what God would speak over your life or the truth over your life. Maybe it's depression or anxiety. Maybe it's a relationship issue that you're going through, a marriage, or whatever it might be. Listen, there's nothing too big, there's nothing too small that God can't meet today. And so come on, if that's you, you need prayer today.
We're gonna invite you and just spend a few moments in prayer right here in this service, and we're gonna believe for miracles today. Come on, church, would you stretch your hands in this direction? And if you need prayer, let me encourage you to make your way forward today. God, we come before you right now knowing that you have given Jesus a name that is above every name. In fact, Jesus, you say if we pray according to your will, we can ask anything in your name and it will be done. And so God, today we don't pray out of religion. Today we don't pray out of just routine, but we really believe in the mighty name of Jesus, that at that name, depression has to go, that at the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, that sickness has to go. So God, right now I pray for healing, a supernatural touch on every body. God, a supernatural touch on every mind today, God. In Jesus' name, we come against the attack of the enemy. We know the enemy wants to steal. heal from us and to kill us and destroy us. Oh, but Jesus, you wanna give us life and life to the full, and I pray for the peace of God just to transcend every mind, every heart. God, put a covering around your church. Put a covering around your people today, and we intercede, oh God.
We pray that you would have mercy today in Jesus' name. Oh, we call upon the mighty name of Jesus, and at that name, we know that even demons tremble because there's power in that name because of what was already accomplished on the cross, because of the price that was already paid on the cross. God, we can have confidence in our prayers, so God, meet every need. Oh God, I pray that you would touch people right now. God, touch people right now. God, we pray for the miraculous to take place, and we thank you, and again, God, we pray this in the matchless name, the name that is above every other name, the name of Jesus, God, let it be so, in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name. Jesus, you are able. Jesus, you are sovereign. Come on, if you know he reigns over it all today, won't you lift your hands to heaven? As we're believing for miracles, let's continue to declare his worth and his reign. We say, worthy you are. Worthy you were. Worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever. We sing this to the God who hears. Worthy you were. Worthy you will be. The God who answers prayers.
Worthy you will be forever. To the God who's able to heal. Worthy you were. Worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever. The God of miracles, signs, and wonders, we declare worthy you were. Worthy you were. We declare your worth today, Jesus. Worthy you will be forever. We say, you are pure and holy. You're merciful and true. And uncompared to who you are, you're perfect through and through. Lord, you deserve all glory from earth to heaven's throne. Worthy of all power and honor, all to you alone. We sing, it's all about Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, everything bows before your name. It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Forever and ever you will reign. Yes, God. Oh, Jesus, you reign over every situation that's been brought before you today. We believe it today. We continue to worship you as we sing you are the Messiah. You are the Messiah, the bright and morning star. Salvation reaches every soul
who welcomes all you are. You are welcome in my heart. It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Everything bows before your name. It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Forever and ever you will reign. It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Everything bows before your name. It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Forever and ever you will reign. Now, come on, people of God. Won't you lift your heads and magnify the God who reigns, the God who we call upon in this moment that we know has sovereignty over sickness, sovereignty over disease, sovereignty over broken families and issues. He can fix it all for he is holy. He is worthy. He is sovereign. We sing you are. Holy, holy, Lord God almighty. Reigning on heaven's throne. You hold the world in your hands. Still carry my heart. ♪ I bow before You, Lord ♪ ♪ You are holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ♪ ♪ Reigning on heaven's throne ♪ ♪ You hold the world in Your hands ♪ ♪ You carry my heart ♪ ♪ I bow before You, Lord ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ You are in control, God. You are in control. ♪ You will reign forever, the soon-incoming king ♪ We believe. ♪ Every knee will bow and all the earth will praise You ♪ ♪ Your name, Jesus Christ, we will proclaim ♪ ♪ It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Everything bows before Your name ♪ ♪ It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, ever and ever You reign ♪ ♪ Ever and ever You reign ♪ Come on now. ♪ It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Everything bows before Your name ♪ ♪ It's all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, ever and ever You reign ♪ One more time, let's declare He's holy. ♪ You are holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ♪ ♪ Reigning on heaven's throne ♪ ♪ You hold the world in Your hand ♪ ♪ Still carry my heart, I bow before You, Lord ♪ ♪ You are holy, holy, Lord God Almighty ♪ ♪ Reigning on heaven's throne ♪ ♪ You hold the world in Your hand ♪ ♪ Still carry my heart, I bow before You, Lord ♪ Praise. Thank you, Lord. I am so thankful. I am so thankful for a God who holds the world in His hand and yet still cares for your heart. He cares what you're going through.
He cares what you're facing. He cares about your circumstance today. And I just feel like there may be somebody in this room, one of our locations, who is having difficulty in putting your trust in God, knowing that God has got you. And so I want us to do that together. I want us just to trust God with our situation. Trust God with the thing that's making us feel a heaviness on our life. Trust God with the thing that's keeping us awake at night. Come on, I want us to do that as best we can. Say, God, I trust You and I thank You that You care about my situation. So come on, across every location, why don't we lift up our hands to heaven and say, God, I'm Yours. My problems are Yours. My situation is Yours. My stresses are Yours. Oh God, my family is Yours. My job is Yours. My life is Yours. And I thank You, God, for caring for me, God. I thank You, Jesus, that You care about each and every one of us. And Lord, we thank You for Your presence that is just giving us a hug right now, God. I thank You for Your presence in every single location. And we honor You and we bless You because You're a good God and You're worthy of praise.
You are greatly to be praised because You're a great God. Come on, let's one more time give God great praise in this place. Oh, come on, you can do better than that. We love You, Lord. We worship You, God. Amen. Amen. I don't know about you, but I feel Jesus today in this gatherings. And if you don't feel Jesus, stick around and lean in because He's here. And I'm glad you are here. I'm glad everybody's at every single location. Let me mention those real quick. Our Red Bug Lake campus joining this service, our Michigan Street campus joining this service, our Narcoossee Road campus. Today's service streamed at our correctional facility at Central Florida Reception Center. That's a mouthful, but we put our hands together and we give God praise for what He's doing at every single location. I'm glad that you are there. I'm glad that you are here, and I wanna commend some people. I wanna give some props to some people today. There's a lot of you, and you have been to every single Sunday service this whole year so far.
And so give yourselves a hand if you've been in church every single Sunday this whole year. It's amazing. I know it's only the second Sunday of the year, but hey, keep the streak going. See how long you can go. But I'm glad you're here, and if you're joining on the screen somewhere else, we're glad that you are, and lean in to what is happening. Be a part of every part of this, and we look forward to seeing you in person really, really soon. And if you have a copy of God's Word, you can go to Matthew chapter six. We've been in Matthew chapter six for a couple of weeks. We'll be in Matthew chapter six today, and probably next week as well. And we are in a season right now of fasting and prayer, and we've kind of set our theme and our key word for 2026 as a church family, and that word is seek. We're gonna be seekers this year. Seekers after God's presence. Seekers after God's will for our lives. Seekers after the lost. Seek and save that which is lost. And so we are seekers in 2026. Somebody say amen.
And we're starting the year off with this season of fasting and prayer, kind of like tithing the year to God, taking the first and best part of the year, this very first part of the year, saying God, we're gonna spend some extra time seeking after you. We're gonna spend some extra time in prayer, some extra time in a season of fasting. And if you've not started fasting with us yet, we're just a little bit past halfway, and so there's still time for you to jump in, and maybe you've never fasted before. And we've been talking about that these last couple Sundays, the fasting and prayer. But I wanna mention that again, and if you've not started with us yet, you still can. And so jump in, maybe fast one. If you've never fasted before, maybe fast one day and spend some extra time in prayer that day. And if you need resources on that, you can go to our app or to our website, and we do have some resources there. And actually, on the app, we have prayer focuses for each day. So part of what we've been doing is having seek at seven, 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., having times of prayer. And I want you to join us in that and set an alarm. And if you can't do it, maybe right at 7 p.m. and you have to bump it a little bit.
I've had to do that a couple of the days. But find some time where you're just spending some extra time in prayer. But we've been doing prayer focuses each day as well. And Sunday's prayer focus is we pray for our church. And so thank you for praying for your church. And if you haven't yet today, find some time today, maybe this evening, and just pray and say, God bless my church and God move in a mighty way. And you can pray for some other churches as well. That's okay as well. But we're praying for our church. And so we're gonna read in just a moment Matthew 6. Matthew chapter six in this season of seeking. And we're gonna read in a moment our really our probably key verse. We said we narrowed down this idea of seeking and made that our goal for the year to be seekers. We said if one verse encapsulated it, if we had to narrow it down to one, we said Matthew 6, 33 would probably be that verse. But I wanna read some verses that lead up to Matthew 6, 33 in order to get some context at this. And in a moment, we're gonna pray. And after we read this passage, but I wanna ask you a question before I read this passage. And it's just a little survey here. But how many of you at any location have ever worried about money in your life? You've ever worried about money in your life?
Wave at me if you've ever worried about money. That's what I thought. That's a lot of you. And the ones who didn't vote, I don't believe you. I think you probably have. All right. So here's the good news. Well, let me ask you a second question. How many worried about the credit card bill from this Christmas coming up here in a few days? Yeah, okay, good. Some of you are like, that's too real, Pastor. Like, now I'm stressing about it again. Okay, here's the thing about worrying about our money and worrying about whether or not we're gonna have enough. Here's the thing. You don't have to do that. You don't have to worry. Let's look at the context of 633, the verses that precede it. Matthew chapter six, let's start in verse 31. Jesus doesn't say you don't have to worry. No, he commands you not to worry. Jesus says, so don't worry. Do not worry, saying what? What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows what you need.
He knows you need them. Verse 33, but, almost in contrast to that, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and then all these things will be added unto you. It does put a bit of a resource and a need in a financial context to this verse that has a lot of different contexts. Seeking first the kingdom of God, but all these things, included in that, is our needs being met. And so, not only do you not have to worry, Jesus has asked you and commanded you not to worry. So we're gonna pray and ask God's anointing on this message. We're gonna ask that our hearts would be open to this message, and that God, if he speaks to us, that we say yes to that. I also wanna pray for our former lead pastor today as he continues to recover. I got to spend some time with Pastor Carl this last week, and it was great to get to see him and see the progress that is being made. And he's in a window of treatment right now that's pretty aggressive, and what we're gonna pray for is just an acceleration of his health and his healing in this season of treatment that he's in right now. And so, why don't you pray with me across every location. Father, in Jesus' name, we link our faith together, and we pray, God, that you bring healing at an accelerated rate to Pastor Carl. Lord, raise him up, strengthen him at an accelerated rate.
God, healing in his body, and just be the lifter of his head, we pray, in Jesus' name. Lord, I pray for anybody else who's sick that's under the sound of my voice. Lord, accelerate the healing in their life now, in Jesus' name. And God, we pray that you would anoint this word. Anoint your word today, and may it take root in our life. May it stir a response in our hearts. May we say yes to your word today, and I thank you for your word, and I pray, God, that there would be a fresh, prophetic anointing on your word, and it's in Jesus' name, we pray, and everybody said, amen, amen. Well, we've been in Matthew chapter six, and we pointed out, a little bit of review, we pointed out that Jesus talks about three duties of every Christian in Matthew chapter six. And he talks about the duty of fasting, and he talks about prayer, and he talks about giving in Matthew chapter six. And in all of those references, when he talks about them, he doesn't say, if you fast, he doesn't say, if you pray, he doesn't say, if you're feeling extra spiritual, and you ever decide to fast, here's how to do it, he doesn't say, if you have a lot of extra time on your plate, and you finished all your shows that you were trying to finish, and you have time, then when you get around to praying, hey, pray this way, he didn't say,
if you fast, he didn't say, if you pray, he said, when you fast, and he said, when you pray, and he starts off the chapter by saying, not if you give, but he says, when you give. Jesus thought you were gonna be a person of prayer. Jesus just assumed you were gonna be a person who fasted, and Jesus assumed that you were gonna be a giver. And I get it that when we start talking, let me give you some advice today as we start to talk about giving a little bit today in this Seeker series. So we can feel it in the room, right, whenever I just kind of announce that we're gonna talk about giving, like you can feel everybody in the room just kind of like, like you just feel everybody kind of clench up, and so because we get nervous about that, because people say, well, all the church talks about is money, it's just not true. All the church wants is money, it's just not true. I want God's will for your life. I want you to honor God in every area of your life, so it's just not true. So here's what I want you to do, because sometimes we kind of tense up. Everybody just relax, everybody, come on, let it go, shake it off, amen, smile a lot during this message, all right, amen a lot during this message, because if you amen a lot, like if you amen a lot during this message, the people around you are gonna be like, that person is so generous. I mean, they're amening so much during this message
on giving and on tithing, and so let's practice real quick. We want to honor God in every area of our life. Amen, oh, I may preach today if you act like that, all right, and so why would we talk, why would we even talk about that? It's not because it's all we talk about, but to not talk about it. Do you know there are over 2,000 verses in the Bible that have to do with what a person is. doing with their possessions? Are we to ignore all those verses and just not cover that? And so, here at the beginning of the year, we want to do that. Of course, we've been in Matthew chapter six anyway, so we're gonna use the words of Jesus to help guide us through this message today. And we believe that there is such, because of the overwhelming scriptural precedence, biblical precedence, we encourage tithing as the good and godly practice to kind of start the giving journey. And so, we're gonna talk a little bit about that today and what tithing is. And what tithing is, tithing is when we take the first 10% of what comes into our life and we don't even give it to God. You can't really, technically, you don't give your tithe, you return your tithe. It is holy, it's holy at a different level. It belongs to God at a different level.
He's trusting you with it, but you return it to him. And so, it's the first 10%. So, this is a good time of year to maybe reevaluate that in my own life. If you are a tither, this is a good time to maybe just go back and make sure that we're on the right percentages and we're doing this thing God's way. But we're gonna talk a little bit about this today and use the words of Jesus as our guide. So, I'm gonna share some of the things that I love about tithing. I'm gonna share today kind of what tithing settles for me and helps me secure in my life. And so, the first thing that I love about tithing that helps me settle and secure in my life is it settles and secures the location of my heart. Tithing helps settle and secure the location of my heart. So, let's go to the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter six. We're staying in Matthew chapter six, verse 21. And it says, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Here, Jesus is using finances as a gauge to see what's valuable in our life, to see what we value most in our life. He says, and where your treasure is, there your heart will follow. It's almost like you could do this. You could pull up your credit card statement
and start to go through your credit card statement, and it would show you what you value in your life. You could maybe log on to your banking system and pull up the bank ledger, and it would show you what you value in your life. This is what Jesus is saying. The great evangelist Billy Graham, and this is from a different era, and I know checkbooks aren't used that much anymore, so forgive that this is from a different era of time, but what he says is so true. Billy Graham said, the checkbook is a theological document. It will tell you who and what you worship. I mean, you could pull up on your phone, and if you use Apple Pay and hit the credit card, it'll show you those last five or six purchases. I did this this week just to see what I value. Now, I'm gonna tell you, there were too many restaurants on there. I'm gonna be honest, all right? I had a little moment of repentance right there. And so tithing, what I love about tithing, though, is tithing has this built-in passion igniter, because where my treasure is, there my heart will follow. So if I want to care about what God's doing in this house, and listen, I want my heart to be in this house. I wanna care about every ministry and about every win that this church has. Well, you know what happens? When I take my first and best,
and I invest that into this house, my heart follows my treasure, and now I'm passionate about what my church is doing. I'm passionate about what my God is doing in my church. Come on, somebody say amen. I wanna care about what God is doing in this house, and I love that tithing is that built-in passion igniter. We go from maybe just being, some of us are maybe just a passive consumer when it comes to church. We just kinda come around, and we consume, and we take, if we make it, we do, if we don't, we don't. If we're a part of it, if we're not, like we could season, I'll go maybe a couple months, and then I'll come back through. It's a passive consumer. I'm praying that you move from a passive consumer to a passionate contributor, to a passionate stakeholder, someone who is invested in this thing and says, I care about what God's doing in my church. Somebody say amen. I love that tithing does that. Where your treasure is there, your heart will be also, Jesus said. And you've heard me say before that tithing fuels the ministry and vision of the local church. So I got a gas can right here with some cold hard cash coming out of it. Because tithing fuels.
fuels the ministry and the vision of the local church. So like back when the school starts up and we're able to give away over 2,500 backpacks to families who need help with school resources. How does that happen? It happens because the tithe fuels the ministry and the vision of the local church. How in the last couple years have we been able to release hundreds of thousands of dollars for people who are going through a rough season and benevolent funds and they maybe have an emergency or just a season where they need help with utilities or with rent. How is that possible? It's because the tithe fuels the ministry and vision of the local church. How is it that we offered last year over 4,100 free counseling appointments to people who needed some godly wisdom in their life in some moments of, how does that happen? Let me tell you how it happens because the tithe fuels the ministry and the vision of the local church. How is it that we can have staff to teach and preach and coordinate and care for your babies and your children and the teens and young adults and moms and dads and everybody? How is this possible? It's because the tithe fuels the mission and vision, come on somebody, the mission and vision
of the local church. We distributed car care and groceries to over 1,400 families over the last year who needed help in a season of need. How is this possible? It's because the tithe fuels the ministry and vision of the local church. I guess you could say all money fuels somebody's vision, doesn't it? Like whenever I spend my money anywhere, I'm moving somebody's vision forward. Like when you got your seven streaming services, you're moving somebody's vision forward with that money. You're moving the vision and ministry of Netflix forward. And I decided a long time ago, I am never gonna let my first and my second I am never gonna let my first and my best fuel the ministry and vision of something that does not deserve my first and best. Amazon is not gonna get my first and best. I'm not gonna fuel the mission and vision of Apple or Walmart or Gucci, wherever you land in between. Come on, I'm not gonna use my first and best to fuel that. I'm not gonna use my first and best to fuel the vision and mission of the NFL or the Major League Baseball or the NBA. I'm not gonna use my first and best to fuel the mission and vision of Chevrolet or Ford or Nissan or Mercedes, wherever you land in. I'm not gonna use my first and best
to fuel the mission of Starbucks or Darden or Coca-Cola. Like I'm not gonna use my first and best to do that. But my first and best is gonna fuel the mission and the vision of this house. Come on, somebody. Like that's the beauty of the times. It's funny, my family, we were all together recently and we started talking about kind of what it was like back in the way where all the kids were growing up and man, we had some lean years and we were talking about that, how when we'd go to restaurants, if we ever even did go to the restaurants, a lot of times we'd be driving home and the kids would be like, where are we eating today? And we had this thing we would say, today, tonight, we're going to Willie's Cafe. They'd be like, at first they were like, whoa, really? And then we got home and we're like, Willie's, Wilson, this is our cafe, this is our home, we're eating at home. So it got to the point where we would say Willie's Cafe, they hated that. And we would do that on the nights that there weren't any kids eat free anywhere. We knew where all the kids eat free, we did that all the time. It was, you buy two adult meals and you'd get two free kids meals. And so we had five kids, but they'd be sharing those two kids meals.
Figure it out, all right? Split it amongst you. Our kids knew, they just didn't order, they didn't order a drink, like they ordered water to drink and sometimes the waitresses would try to over, like go around us and they'd look right in the eyes of the kids and say, what would you like to drink? I'd be like, oh, let me answer for him. He, no, he doesn't know what he wants. He wants a water to drink. Our oldest son, when he started working when he was in high school, he's had his first little job and we'd go to restaurants and be like, everybody have water to drink? And he'll be like, I'll pay for it myself, can I just get a Diet Coke? We're like, all right, if you pay for it yourself, are you tithing? He's like, yeah, I'm tithing. You can pay for it yourself? Listen, as much as I love a Diet Coke and a Coke Zero, I'm not gonna use the first and best to forward Coca-Cola's mission and vision, I'm not. I'm gonna use my first and best that belongs to God, I'm gonna use that to fuel the mission and vision of the local church. All money is fuel, it's just what are we gonna fuel with the money that God's trusted us with? I love, I love that tithing helps settle the location of my heart.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. My heart's in this house. I love that tithing helps settle the confirmation of who or what I serve. Now Jesus says something very controversial also in Matthew chapter six. In verse 24, he says, no one can serve two masters. Either you'll hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. We're like, all good. We don't even know what two masters he's talking about yet. And then he clarifies it and he says, you cannot serve both God and money. He doesn't say you should not serve both God and money. He doesn't say you might not want to serve both. He says you can't do it. What he's saying is that the money as a master is gonna ask you to do things that God as a master, those commands in your life and following those as your master, they're going to conflict and so you cannot serve both God and money. And it's interesting because of all the things that Jesus could have filled in the blank with. So he's talking about you can't serve two masters. We're like, we get it. And then he says you can't serve both God and blank. And of all the things that he could have filled in right there on the things that might get in the way
of us serving God, he could have said you can't serve both God and power. You can't serve both God and pleasure. You can't serve both God and sex. You can't serve both God and fame. You can't serve both God and entertainment. He could have put a lot of things in the gap and what did he put in the gap? He said you can't serve both God and money. So why did Jesus put money here? Why is this the only place in scripture where God compares the spirit of God to some other spirit? It's the only place he contrasts the spirit of God with another spirit and Jesus chooses money. Let me tell you why. Because money is looking for servants. There is something spiritual about money and money is looking for servants and I would probably say that greed is the worship with which we worship the false God of money. So when we try to hold on, when we try to get more and more and more, it's like we're worshiping this false God of money. How did Timothy say, 1 Timothy chapter six verse 10? For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Money's not evil in and of itself but boy, when we make it our God, it can become evil so quickly. And so Jesus points this out to us
and says you can't serve both God and money. Could it be the reason why Jesus chooses money in this is because money is the only thing that promises what only God can bring in your life? Have you noticed that? That money tries to promise you what only God can bring in your life. Money says hey, if you have me, you'll have identity, you'll have significance. If you have me, you'll have happiness, you'll have peace, you'll have joy and all of these things, listen to me, money ain't gonna bring those things to you. Talk to somebody who has a little bit of money and they'll tell you money does not bring happiness but I'll tell you, only God can bring those things into your life. Oh but money will promise it. So when I tithe, watch this, I redeem this potentially dirty mastering money. When I tithe, I redeem it and now it has kingdom purpose on it instead of just some dirty, false God. Tithing even gives your job eternal significance. Your job needs some eternal significance. I know some of you work at a place, you're like man, there's not much Jesus going on at my job. I get it, I feel the same way where I work. It's tough here, all right? You know, we got a lot of Jesus here. So I know some of you work at places
and you feel like there's no spiritual thing happening. You know what, when you tithe, you turn that job into an eternal significant moment. And that employer is not your provider and your job's not your provider, no, God is your provider and money, when we tithe, puts an eternal significance on that. And this might be a good time to pause and say, I am not trying to get your money. My life doesn't change whether you tithe or not. I'm not trying to get your money and God's not even trying to get your money. God doesn't need your money. You go, well man, if God doesn't need my money, what's all this talk of him needing this 10% back? Sure sounds like he needs my money. No. God did not invent tithing because he needs your money. God did not invent tithing because you need to walk by faith in your life. God did not invent tithing so that the church would grow. God invented tithing so that your faith would grow. Come on, you need this more than God needs this. You need to trust God in this area. And that's why, maybe that's why Jesus doubled down in Matthew chapter 23 verse 23. Jesus' words, Jesus talking. He's talking to some Pharisees that were tithing, but they'd gotten the rest of their life all out of whack. They'd forgotten some important things that it took to follow God. And so he's bringing some correction here. And he says, yes, woe upon you Pharisees and you other religious leaders. This is Jesus talking. For you tithe down to the last mint leaf in your garden, but you ignore the more important things, justice, mercy, and faith. Okay, look what Jesus says next. This might settle it. Yes, you should tithe. I maybe could have just read that verse and been done with service. Y'all like, that'd have been better, shorter. Amen. Jesus, yes, you should tithe, but you shouldn't leave the more important things undone. I also love that tithing helps settle for me
and helps me secure the demonstration of first place in my life. So important to put God first. Brings us to our kind of key verse for the year, doesn't it? Verse 33 of Matthew chapter 6, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. When God is first in your life, boy, it just seems like things line up. When God is first in your life, every other priority falls into place. When God is first in your life, marriage, health, family, job, it falls into place. God's got to be first in our life. Tithing goes a long way to putting God first in my life. As a matter of fact, it would be very difficult for me to convince you that God was first in my life if he was not first in my finances. If you had access to my finances and you started looking at it, you said, pastor's up here all the time talking about put God first, put God first, and God's not even showing up in there. It would be difficult for me to convince you of that. Why? Especially with what Jesus said, where your treasure is, there your heart will follow. So God has to be first. He has to be preeminent. Exodus 23 verse 19, bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. Somebody might go, pastor, that's law though. No, I mean that is, but you can go before the law. Before that law was ever even given. 430 years before the law was given, Abraham's given a tithe in Genesis. After the law, the principle of tithing, it's thread throughout scripture that our lives, if our lives are going to be blessable, God's got to be first. And I'm going to read verse 33, the end of verse 33 again, and just remind you of the last part of what Jesus said there. He said, and then all these things will be added to you. All these things will be added to you. Tithing creates margin in my life for God to fill all these things. When I give that first 10% by faith, the second 10% by faith, I'm going to give you that first 10% by faith. It's not the last 10%. The last 10%, I don't need faith to give the last 10%. The first 10%, I need faith, but I'm also giving God margin to having all these things going on in my life. All these things will be added to you as well. The book of Malachi talks about that margin that we could walk in. Malachi 3 verse 10, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. God says, test me in this. You know, there are 50 places in scripture that say, don't put God to the test. 50 different places in scripture where it says, don't put God to the test. Don't put God to the test. Don't put God to the test. And this is the one place in scripture where God says, by the way, put me to the test here. Put me to the test and see if I won't throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be
room enough to contain it. I don't understand how it works, but when I tithe, there is a window in heaven that opens and everything on heaven's side of the window gets to come into my side of my life because I'm faithful in this area of my life. Pastor, are you saying that we give so that we can get? No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is we can give with confidence, knowing that God is my source. My job's not my source. My employer's not. No, God's going to meet my every need, and I'm going to create margin in my life for God to bring blessing on my life. And I've heard people say, you don't have have to give. New Testament believers don't have to give a tithe. They don't have to tithe. I've never heard anybody say that we shouldn't give a tithe. Or that somehow it's wrong. Let me say this, I'm gonna give some advice to anybody who maybe, maybe you don't believe in the tithe. You don't think it's for you today. Well, then here's my advice. I've never given this advice before today. Here's my advice for you today. If you don't believe in tithing, then here's what I encourage you to do. If I were you, then I would give 11%. I just start regularly, systematically giving 11%. You think I'm joking, but if we're gonna say, well, I'd rather go lean New Testament. I'd rather lean more New Testament. You haven't looked, I guess, because New Testament goes this way. New Testament does not go this way. That's funny how the anti-tithers are like, well, I wanna be 3%, I wanna be 4%.
Well, that's not New Testament giving. Let me show you what I mean. In Luke chapter 18, this rich, young ruler comes to Jesus. He's got a lot of money. He says, Jesus, I've done all these religious things. I've got it all figured out. What else do I need to do? Jesus says, okay, here's what I want you to do. Go sell everything you have, give it all away, 100%. If you wanna move to 100% giving, meet me after service and we'll figure it out. Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19, he encounters Jesus. His life is changed and he gets up and he says, this day I take half of everything I have and I give it away, 50% New Testament giving. The Macedonian Christians in 2 Corinthians chapter eight, Paul says they gave beyond their ability. I don't even know what percent, 125%. I don't even know what that is. They gave beyond their ability to give. That's a lot. He also calls us to excel in this grace of giving. The widow in Luke chapter 21, Jesus is watching all these people bring their offerings. That's a whole nother thing that Jesus was at the temple watching what people were giving. And there were some rich people that put in large amounts. I don't know if they were large to them because they were wealthy. And he sees this little poor widow come
and bring two mites, two little coins and drop it in. Jesus is watching and Jesus says to some of the disciples, see that right there? She just gave more than everybody else. They were like, how can that be? But because she gave out of her poverty, she gave everything, everything she had, 100%. How can we think that with all God's done for us that we're supposed to go backwards in our honoring of him and in our giving? So I wanna encourage you. And I've wrestled with this, I prayed. I want you to know, like when I come into a message like this I prayed all week. I've been fasting, of course, and I'm praying and fasting. I'm saying, God, check my motives. I want pure motives in this. I want you to be blessed. I want you to be able to honor God and grow in your discipleship. That's my motive in this. And we're gonna do something. And again, I didn't know whether to do it or not, but we're gonna do it. So if you tithe regularly, if you're already a tither, continue that and stay in your rhythm and do what you do. But if you've never tithed before or maybe you're not currently tithing or whatever, I'm gonna, we're gonna try something. Because I wonder what our church would look like
if every person who attended gave the whole tithe to the storehouse. I wonder what kind of ministry we'd be able to accomplish. I wonder what kind of lives would be changed in places all over the world if we all just tithed. It would be crazy. So here's what we're gonna try to do. Three weeks from today, three weeks from today, so it'll be February 1st, and we'll remind you as we get there. February 1st, three weeks from today, we're gonna do a all tithe day. And if you're not even ready to say, Pastor, I don't know if I commit to be a tither with my whole life. Okay, can you commit to do it once? Can you do it once? Where you would take one week of your, figure it out, how much do I make in a week, and I take 10% of that, move the decimal point over, and bring that on February 1st, and we'll give you a report of what comes in and what happens when everybody decides for just at least once, we're gonna all tithe together. And I have a feeling that even that gesture, I have a feeling that we're gonna hear some reports of God coming through in some really cool ways. And again, if you tithe, then stay in your rhythm, and that's fine. If you wanna come on February 1st
and just bring an extra tithe or whatever, you can do that. I think I'm gonna do that. But stay in your rhythm. But if you've never tithed before, let's make February 1st all tithe day in Jesus' name. Come on, somebody say amen. And all right, let me pray for you. Let me pray for you all across this room. Father, thank you for your word, and I pray, God, that your word would take root in our life. I pray, God, that you'd give us a desire for just greater obedience to your word, that you'd bring light and illumination to your word in our hearts, in Jesus' name. And Lord, I pray for anybody in this, any of our locations that is not right with you in their heart. They don't know you as Savior, Lord, I pray that today would be their day to find you, and it's in your name I believe for that. And if you would just keep your heads bowed and your eyes closed for just a moment longer. But if you're here today and you don't know Christ, let me tell you something, there is no amount of money that you could give that would take the place of you giving Christ your heart. Let me tell you very clear, God wants your heart and your life way more than he wants your money.
But listen to me, this needs to be the offering that some of you make today. You need to give him your life. You're not right with God, you're outside of relationship with God, you know it. And God, what did he do because of that? He gave his first and his best, you could say. He sends his son Jesus to die in your place so that you could be reconciled to God. Who needs to take that truth and believe on that and have reconciliation with God today? You're here today and you're outside of relation with God and you need him. I'm gonna pray for you as we close out this service. If that's you, nobody's looking around, if that's you, come on, just hold up your hand high, let me see it. I need Christ today, pastor. I need forgiveness. Thank you. I need forgiveness today. Thank you. Who else? Anybody need Christ today? I need forgiveness. I need to come back. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? I need to come to Christ today. Awesome.
And the risers, I need Christ today. Thank you. And the top, awesome, awesome. Why don't we do this, church? Why don't we stand to our feet? Let me lead this entire room in a prayer of devotion and dedication to God and those of you that lifted your hand and those of you that should have, come on, pray this prayer with me right now. Pastor Allison's gonna come after this and give you instruction of what it looks like to begin to walk out this journey with Christ, but let me pray for you and pray with you. As a matter of fact, repeat after me. Let's pray this together. Say Jesus. Jesus. I give you my life. I give you my life. I believe on you. I believe on you. And I ask you right now. And I ask you right now. To forgive me of my sin. To cleanse me of my sin. Set me on a new path. Renew my mind. Renew my heart. Lord, my life is yours. Everything I have.
Be the Lord of my life. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Come on, put your hands together for what just happened in this room, that people found Christ. And Pastor Alex is gonna come and give some instruction in closing prayer. God bless you. Amen. Amen. Praise God. What a wonderful day to start, right, with giving God our all and our best, with surrendering our lives to the Lord. Amen. If you made that prayer today, there's gonna be a QR code on the screen. We wanna connect with you to start your journey in your new faith walk with the Lord. So please click on that QR code with your phone so that we can connect with you, provide you a devotional, but also tell someone about the decision you made today. And celebrate that Jesus is Lord. Thank you for being here. We're gonna pray in a second. Remember, come back next week, this Wednesday, invite someone to be with you. We are thankful that you are here. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the opportunity to worship,
to glorify your name, and to receive this wonderful word that you have for us, Father God. And today, we begin and continue to give you our first and to give you our best, starting with our lives and everything in it, Lord. We love you, we praise you, and we give you all the glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Faith Church Orlando, you are now sent. God bless you. Have a wonderful day.
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