WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:03.589 We are so glad to be together here with our church 00:00:03.589 --> 00:00:07.969 family. I just wanted to take a moment and give 00:00:07.969 --> 00:00:11.070 a shout out to Pastor Alicia. Thank you for listening 00:00:11.070 --> 00:00:13.169 to this message from White House Church. She 00:00:13.169 --> 00:00:14.890 is a credentialed minister with the Church of 00:00:14.890 --> 00:00:18.410 God. And yesterday she was the speaker at our 00:00:18.410 --> 00:00:22.710 State Girls Club event. And yeah, yeah, let's 00:00:22.710 --> 00:00:27.019 just give a whoosh. Listen, I... We got a text 00:00:27.019 --> 00:00:30.160 from our state youth director, Desmond and Keisha, 00:00:30.260 --> 00:00:32.119 our state youth directors, and they just told 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:35.020 us what an incredible job that Pastor Alicia 00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:36.920 did yesterday. So we just want to let you know 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:39.600 that the state is proud of you. Pastor Kip and 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:42.060 I are proud of you, and thank you for using your 00:00:42.060 --> 00:00:44.320 gifts to further the kingdom. So yeah, we just 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:46.159 want to give a shout out to you this morning. 00:00:46.700 --> 00:00:51.320 Well, we have been in this message series, holy 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:54.700 buckets. You know, I thought it was funny when 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:57.640 Pastor Kip said that was going to be the title 00:00:57.640 --> 00:00:59.759 of the financial message series that we were 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:02.479 in. But honestly, holy buckets is a word that 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.939 we use at our house a lot. Not always referring 00:01:05.939 --> 00:01:08.239 to this message series, but it's just kind of 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.859 a term that we use. But it's been an incredible 00:01:10.859 --> 00:01:15.739 series. God's word gives us so much instruction 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:21.280 on finances. and possessions. And today we are 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:25.260 on message five of this series. And I am just 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:28.739 praying this morning that God just uses me as 00:01:28.739 --> 00:01:32.379 his vessel to bring across his word and not my 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:35.780 words. I'm humbled that I have the opportunity 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:39.359 to be up here and to share this message this 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:43.560 morning. So With that being said, I'm up here 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:45.760 doing announcements a lot, and all of you know 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:50.140 that I absolutely love fall. It's amazing. This 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:52.799 morning was a beautiful, chilly morning. I love 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:56.980 fall. I love leaves. I love pumpkins. If you 00:01:56.980 --> 00:01:59.480 ask Pastor Alyssa, she may tell you that I have 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:03.319 a pumpkin. problem, which I shared with her yesterday. 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:05.480 I gave her some pumpkins yesterday so that she 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:08.159 too could have a pumpkin problem in fall. But 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:10.500 one of the other things that I love about fall 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:16.680 is football. I love football. May not look like 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:18.659 I'm a football girl. I don't like to play football, 00:02:18.860 --> 00:02:22.469 but I like to watch football. Not college ball. 00:02:22.610 --> 00:02:27.189 I love to watch the NFL. So we are in week three 00:02:27.189 --> 00:02:30.409 of the NFL, and I just am so excited that there's 00:02:30.409 --> 00:02:33.110 something to watch on Sunday afternoons that's 00:02:33.110 --> 00:02:35.629 worth watching. So it's just another reason that 00:02:35.629 --> 00:02:39.270 I love fall, because football is also here and 00:02:39.270 --> 00:02:41.530 back. Can I get an amen? Football's here, guys. 00:02:41.569 --> 00:02:44.610 Come on. There we go. There we go, right? So 00:02:44.610 --> 00:02:46.909 I'm going to talk a little bit about that this 00:02:46.909 --> 00:02:48.870 morning. So how many of you out there know who 00:02:48.870 --> 00:02:52.710 Vince Lombardi is? Yeah, here we go, right? So 00:02:52.710 --> 00:02:56.110 he was the legendary Green Bay Packers coach. 00:02:56.370 --> 00:02:59.930 He was a very strong advocate for the fundamentals. 00:03:00.250 --> 00:03:04.650 He famously stated, everyone has the will to 00:03:04.650 --> 00:03:10.770 win, but very few have the will to prepare to 00:03:10.770 --> 00:03:15.409 win. Winning is in the plan and the preparation. 00:03:16.370 --> 00:03:18.870 There's another pretty famous football coach 00:03:18.870 --> 00:03:21.289 out there. I don't know how much of a fan I am, 00:03:21.310 --> 00:03:23.310 and I'm pretty sure Brian Cardin is a fan of 00:03:23.310 --> 00:03:26.409 him, but Bill Belichick is another famous football 00:03:26.409 --> 00:03:28.990 coach out there. I know, keep your booze to yourself 00:03:28.990 --> 00:03:33.750 out there, all right? But during his 24 years 00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:37.210 with the Patriots, Bill Belichick led this team 00:03:37.210 --> 00:03:41.830 to six Super Bowl titles, nine conference championships, 00:03:42.169 --> 00:03:47.229 and 17 division crowns. He was known for his 00:03:47.229 --> 00:03:51.840 detailed... opponent -specific strategies. The 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:55.759 New England coach emphasized exploiting the strengths 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:58.360 and attacking the weaknesses along with being 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:01.539 well -prepared to make adjustments during the 00:04:01.539 --> 00:04:05.560 game. He would often refer to this quote from 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:10.000 Sun Tzu's The Art of War that every battle is 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:14.409 won before it's fought. This phrase highlights 00:04:14.409 --> 00:04:17.670 Belichick's meticulous preparation. He believed 00:04:17.670 --> 00:04:20.470 by exploiting the opponent's weaknesses and playing 00:04:20.470 --> 00:04:23.410 to his team's strengths that the Patriots could 00:04:23.410 --> 00:04:26.810 control the game's outcome long before kickoff. 00:04:27.470 --> 00:04:31.870 You see, in football, a game plan is the detailed 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:35.610 strategy -based blueprint created by the coaching 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:39.189 staff to guide their team's performance in a 00:04:39.189 --> 00:04:43.810 specific game. how they would use specific formations 00:04:43.810 --> 00:04:47.110 and defensive styles to capitalize on strengths, 00:04:47.389 --> 00:04:50.730 to expose the opponent's weaknesses, and to ultimately 00:04:50.730 --> 00:04:55.029 win the game. These plans consider factors like 00:04:55.029 --> 00:04:59.310 field position, down and distance, and the opponent's 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:02.689 formations to create a comprehensive approach. 00:05:03.589 --> 00:05:06.790 See, game planning is at the heart of football 00:05:06.790 --> 00:05:09.899 coaching. It's not just about the X's and O's. 00:05:10.259 --> 00:05:14.319 It's about understanding the game, strategizing, 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:17.339 and getting the team ready for anything that 00:05:17.339 --> 00:05:20.699 might come their way today. A solid game plan 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:23.699 can be the deciding factor between winning and 00:05:23.699 --> 00:05:27.319 losing when the players hit the field. Now, can 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:31.000 you imagine for a minute? Today, Nick Ceriani, 00:05:31.220 --> 00:05:34.339 who's the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, he 00:05:34.339 --> 00:05:36.939 shows up at Lincoln Field today to play the LA 00:05:36.939 --> 00:05:40.199 Rams, who also happens to be 2 -0. The Eagles 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:44.439 are 2 -0. The LA Rams are 2 -0. He looks at Jalen 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:47.100 Hurts and says, you know, let's just show up 00:05:47.100 --> 00:05:49.639 today and let's just kind of do this by feel. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:52.680 You know, you know a lot about football. I know 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:54.660 a lot about football. We've been doing this for 00:05:54.660 --> 00:05:57.639 years. Yeah, yeah, I know. Matthew Stafford's 00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:00.060 a pretty good quarterback. And yeah, I know that 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:02.879 their team is third in the NFL with sacks right 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:06.519 now, but let's just see what happens today. That 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:11.720 would never happen. I mean, maybe if you're Mike 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:14.720 Tomlin, you know. Just kidding. I'm a diehard 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:18.079 Steelers fan, but there are days. when it seems 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:20.519 like poor Mike has no plan. I'm just saying. 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:23.819 I love them all, but you know. But in all seriousness, 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:29.500 this week, there has been hours and hours of 00:06:29.500 --> 00:06:32.680 watching film and looking at what the LA Rams 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:35.660 did this week in their first two games. The coaches 00:06:35.660 --> 00:06:38.339 are watching it. The players are watching it, 00:06:38.379 --> 00:06:42.800 all in preparation for a plan to win the game 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:46.639 today. Now, whichever team has the best game 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:50.379 plan with great execution is going to win the 00:06:50.379 --> 00:06:53.860 game. And why do coaches and players do this? 00:06:54.459 --> 00:06:55.879 Well, first of all, they make a lot of money. 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:58.680 But why do coaches and players do this? They 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:02.399 do this because without a plan, you lose before 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:04.779 you ever step on the field. If you don't have 00:07:04.779 --> 00:07:07.379 a plan, you're going to lose. And you know what? 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:12.519 The same is true with money. If you want to win 00:07:12.519 --> 00:07:16.079 financially, you need both a good offense and 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:19.319 you need a good defense. So what's the plan? 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:27.399 A budget. And it gets quiet in the house. A budget 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:32.220 is simply a game plan for your money. Winning 00:07:32.220 --> 00:07:37.360 with money takes time, takes discipline, and 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:42.750 it takes self -control. Yes? I said self -control. 00:07:43.790 --> 00:07:46.029 That's a fruit of the Spirit, in case you didn't 00:07:46.029 --> 00:07:49.290 know. You can find it in Galatians 5, 22 and 00:07:49.290 --> 00:07:52.930 23. And that one hurt a little bit for even me. 00:07:53.290 --> 00:07:57.129 Self -control. So you may say it takes a plan. 00:07:57.430 --> 00:08:01.170 The plan is a budget. What's a budget? Maybe 00:08:01.170 --> 00:08:03.170 you don't know what a budget is. I'm here to 00:08:03.170 --> 00:08:06.230 tell you what a budget is today. A budget is 00:08:06.230 --> 00:08:09.470 a plan to write down... how you're going to decide 00:08:09.470 --> 00:08:12.509 to spend your money each month. A budget shows 00:08:12.509 --> 00:08:15.209 you how much money you make, and it shows you 00:08:15.209 --> 00:08:19.069 how much money you spend. There's no way you're 00:08:19.069 --> 00:08:21.470 going to win with money if you don't have a plan. 00:08:22.209 --> 00:08:25.310 There's no way. Now listen, I know there are 00:08:25.310 --> 00:08:29.089 reasons that people don't budget. Number one, 00:08:29.629 --> 00:08:33.230 they're afraid what they're going to find. They 00:08:33.230 --> 00:08:35.629 don't want to know. They don't want to know how 00:08:35.629 --> 00:08:38.750 much they spent at Starbucks in September. They 00:08:38.750 --> 00:08:40.570 don't want to know how much they spent at the 00:08:40.570 --> 00:08:44.250 gas station getting energy drinks or McDonald's 00:08:44.250 --> 00:08:46.269 getting burgers or coffee. They just don't want 00:08:46.269 --> 00:08:47.590 to know. They'd rather stick their head in the 00:08:47.590 --> 00:08:50.389 sand and not know what happened to their money. 00:08:51.049 --> 00:08:52.809 Number two, people don't like to budget because 00:08:52.809 --> 00:08:55.129 it's too restrictive. Because if they look at 00:08:55.129 --> 00:08:57.350 the budget and it says they already spent too 00:08:57.350 --> 00:08:59.190 much money at Starbucks, that means tomorrow 00:08:59.190 --> 00:09:00.350 morning they're going to have to make their own 00:09:00.350 --> 00:09:02.750 coffee. And it might not taste as good as it 00:09:02.750 --> 00:09:06.649 did at Starbucks. You know? It's too restrictive. 00:09:07.529 --> 00:09:11.429 Number three, sometimes your spouse isn't on 00:09:11.429 --> 00:09:13.889 the same page with you. They don't want to budget 00:09:13.889 --> 00:09:16.970 and it creates tension and it creates heartache. 00:09:17.970 --> 00:09:20.730 And the number four reason why people don't budget 00:09:20.730 --> 00:09:24.289 is because they don't know how. They don't know 00:09:24.289 --> 00:09:27.029 how. But let me tell you something this morning. 00:09:27.110 --> 00:09:31.029 Scripture is clear. Now, the Bible doesn't use 00:09:31.029 --> 00:09:35.169 the word budget, but it strongly encourages financial 00:09:35.169 --> 00:09:40.259 planning. wisdom, stewardship, which are all 00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:47.179 core of budgeting. It requires diligence and 00:09:47.179 --> 00:09:51.460 planning. The Bible promotes diligence and the 00:09:51.460 --> 00:09:54.220 foresight in financial manners, emphasizing that 00:09:54.220 --> 00:09:57.960 plans lead to abundance while hasty decisions 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:03.840 lead to poverty. Proverbs 21 .5 says this, the 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:08.129 plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely 00:10:08.129 --> 00:10:12.549 as haste leads to poverty. And I know some of 00:10:12.549 --> 00:10:14.809 you are cringing when I said the word diligence 00:10:14.809 --> 00:10:18.149 and discipline. Those are words that we don't 00:10:18.149 --> 00:10:21.210 like to hear. Those are words that we might think 00:10:21.210 --> 00:10:23.929 that they make us feel too restrictive or we, 00:10:24.070 --> 00:10:26.549 it's like, oh, I can't go to Starbucks or, oh, 00:10:26.570 --> 00:10:29.029 I can't do this or, oh, I can't do that. But 00:10:29.029 --> 00:10:31.929 diligence and discipline in your finances can 00:10:31.929 --> 00:10:34.899 actually bring you freedom. In your finances. 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:38.500 Because when you have that margin and you create 00:10:38.500 --> 00:10:41.120 that margin in your finances and your possessions, 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:44.500 it actually creates freedom. It doesn't constrict. 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.379 It creates that freedom. Here are some examples 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:53.110 of diligence. Tracking every dollar. That doesn't 00:10:53.110 --> 00:10:55.409 sound like fun, does it? Tracking every dollar, 00:10:55.490 --> 00:10:57.870 writing down or using an app. There are so many 00:10:57.870 --> 00:11:00.850 apps out there today that you can track all of 00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:03.029 your finances, every spending. They'll hook to 00:11:03.029 --> 00:11:04.529 your checking account. You don't even have to 00:11:04.529 --> 00:11:08.330 do it manually. It'll do it for you. Reviewing 00:11:08.330 --> 00:11:10.370 your receipts and your statements, double checking 00:11:10.370 --> 00:11:13.850 the bank for accuracy. How many of you still 00:11:13.850 --> 00:11:18.090 balance your checking account? Not very many 00:11:18.090 --> 00:11:20.409 hands because we rely on the bank to be right, 00:11:20.509 --> 00:11:23.169 right? Yeah, surely electronically, it's all 00:11:23.169 --> 00:11:26.809 gonna be the right way. Back in the day, I'm 00:11:26.809 --> 00:11:28.129 gonna show how old I'm. Back in the day, you 00:11:28.129 --> 00:11:30.789 actually got a paper bank statement and you had 00:11:30.789 --> 00:11:32.830 your little bank register and you would cross 00:11:32.830 --> 00:11:35.470 things off and find out if you made a mistake 00:11:35.470 --> 00:11:37.549 here or there. Now you just go on and you rely 00:11:37.549 --> 00:11:39.309 on the bank. Oh yeah, the bank says I have 500 00:11:39.309 --> 00:11:42.269 bucks. Great, let's go spend that. That's what 00:11:42.269 --> 00:11:44.889 we do today. We don't actually go back in and 00:11:44.889 --> 00:11:47.330 check to see if there's a mistake, you know? 00:11:48.990 --> 00:11:52.190 Sticking to categories and saying no to extra 00:11:52.190 --> 00:11:55.190 spending when you've already maxed out that category. 00:11:55.409 --> 00:11:58.610 If you're not tracking, you don't know. Paying 00:11:58.610 --> 00:12:02.610 your bills on time. Regular check -ins to see 00:12:02.610 --> 00:12:05.570 weekly or monthly if we're aligning with our 00:12:05.570 --> 00:12:09.629 budget. Adjusting quickly if something changes, 00:12:09.649 --> 00:12:13.100 like for all of a sudden. Gas prices skyrocket. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.879 Our groceries, we can't stay in the $300 a month 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:18.480 budget. It's costing us $400. You just can't 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.100 stick your head in the sand and say, well, that's 00:12:20.100 --> 00:12:22.639 what the prices are nowadays. You've got to adjust 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:26.940 your budget. Examples of planning are creating 00:12:26.940 --> 00:12:32.360 that budget before the month begins. Assigning 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:37.899 every dollar a job before you spend it. It's 00:12:37.899 --> 00:12:43.289 so quiet in here. Building an emergency fund. 00:12:43.490 --> 00:12:45.389 I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand if 00:12:45.389 --> 00:12:47.529 you have an emergency fund, but I will tell you, 00:12:47.549 --> 00:12:52.889 according to statistics, that less than 56 % 00:12:52.889 --> 00:12:56.570 of people have a $1 ,000 emergency fund if an 00:12:56.570 --> 00:12:59.090 expense comes up that they haven't planned for. 00:12:59.590 --> 00:13:02.789 Less than 56%. So here's what happens. When you 00:13:02.789 --> 00:13:05.610 have an emergency fund and you have an emergency, 00:13:06.649 --> 00:13:09.850 It creates less stress in your life if you've 00:13:09.850 --> 00:13:13.649 planned for that. That's where that freedom comes 00:13:13.649 --> 00:13:16.570 in, where if you don't have that, it creates 00:13:16.570 --> 00:13:19.409 more stress and more strife in your life. Now 00:13:19.409 --> 00:13:22.490 listen, about three weeks ago, Pastor Kip and 00:13:22.490 --> 00:13:24.690 I's refrigerator went out, the one in the house, 00:13:24.850 --> 00:13:27.169 the one that was only seven or eight years old. 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:29.639 We weren't planning for it to go out. We thought 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:32.580 it would last at least another three, four, or 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:35.559 five years. For crying out loud, we have a refrigerator 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:39.960 in our garage that is about 40 years old that 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:42.200 was in the basement of the house when we bought 00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:44.159 the house. And I didn't want it in the basement. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.360 I wanted it in the garage. So Kip didn't want 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:49.799 to kill anybody with trying to get that refrigerator 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:53.019 out of the basement. So he literally put straps 00:13:53.019 --> 00:13:55.990 around it and created... I don't know, planks 00:13:55.990 --> 00:13:58.850 or something. And he drug it out of the basement 00:13:58.850 --> 00:14:03.830 with his truck. Can't make that up. He really 00:14:03.830 --> 00:14:07.110 did that. Yeah. Give him a hand, right? So he 00:14:07.110 --> 00:14:09.129 drug this refrigerator. And I really think he 00:14:09.129 --> 00:14:11.070 did it that way. I'm just going to tell him on 00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:12.809 it. He didn't want the refrigerator in the garage 00:14:12.809 --> 00:14:15.700 because it's taking up space in his garage. But 00:14:15.700 --> 00:14:18.259 he didn't win that battle. I won that battle. 00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:20.860 So I think he thought if he drug it out with 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:22.740 the truck, something would happen and it would 00:14:22.740 --> 00:14:25.179 break on its way out and he wouldn't have to 00:14:25.179 --> 00:14:29.039 have a refrigerator in his garage. But I believe 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:33.259 the Lord was on my side because that refrigerator 00:14:33.259 --> 00:14:37.720 in the garage is still running. It's over 40 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:39.679 years old. It's been drug out of the basement 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:43.059 by a truck. And my refrigerator, the nice, shiny, 00:14:43.139 --> 00:14:45.840 stainless steel one that was in my kitchen that 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:49.320 was only seven or eight years old, died. I don't 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:52.639 know the irony in that or what, but I guess the 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:54.259 Lord was on my side with the 40 -year -old one, 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:55.940 but not the seven -year -old one. I don't really 00:14:55.940 --> 00:14:59.820 know. But because that went out, had I not had 00:14:59.820 --> 00:15:02.419 a plan, you know, if you went to buy a refrigerator 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:05.879 lately, they're not cheap, you know? So if I 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:08.360 didn't have the emergency finder, I hadn't planned 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:11.240 for something like that, what would I do? I would 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:13.759 have to buy it on credit. I'd have to use a credit 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:18.320 card if I didn't have a plan. So planning is 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:23.700 important. Planning for things like repairs or 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:28.059 the replacement, holidays, vacations. Planning 00:15:28.059 --> 00:15:33.340 is setting financial goals. Planning is prioritizing 00:15:33.340 --> 00:15:38.320 needs over wants. Making sure that our essentials, 00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:41.940 housing, food, transportation, utilities, are 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:46.779 covered before Starbucks and Hulu and Netflix 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:51.340 and YouTube TV and all of those things. Those 00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:54.620 are things of planning. God's word also talks 00:15:54.620 --> 00:15:58.639 to us about counting the cost. Jesus uses the 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.720 example of building a tower to illustrate the 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:04.340 need to count the cost and plan for expenses 00:16:04.340 --> 00:16:08.879 before starting a project. Jesus says in Luke 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:10.820 14, 22, you know, in your Bible where you have 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:13.220 like the red letters, when it's the red letters, 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.480 it's Jesus talking. So this is Jesus talking 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:19.320 here. He says, suppose one of you builds a tower. 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:23.259 Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:25.860 to see if you have enough money to complete it? 00:16:26.750 --> 00:16:29.870 He's talking about counting the cost. How does 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:32.750 that work for me today? When I need to buy a 00:16:32.750 --> 00:16:36.809 car, am I looking at the sticker price? Am I 00:16:36.809 --> 00:16:39.029 thinking about how much the insurance might go 00:16:39.029 --> 00:16:42.330 up? How much the gas will be, the maintenance, 00:16:42.509 --> 00:16:46.470 the repairs, the registration? Maybe having to 00:16:46.470 --> 00:16:49.049 detail the car because the kid pukes in the back 00:16:49.049 --> 00:16:52.070 seat or the dog pees on the seat or all of those 00:16:52.070 --> 00:16:56.409 things. How about buying a house? Beyond the 00:16:56.409 --> 00:16:58.850 mortgage, do you count the taxes, the insurance, 00:16:59.110 --> 00:17:01.610 the HOA fees, utilities, the maintenance, the 00:17:01.610 --> 00:17:05.630 furniture? And does those payments still leave 00:17:05.630 --> 00:17:09.230 room for saving, for giving, for emergencies? 00:17:09.410 --> 00:17:12.390 Or are you going to be house poor because it's 00:17:12.390 --> 00:17:16.880 so much of your income? Using credit cards, considering 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.420 interest charges if the balance isn't paid in 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:22.240 full. Are you really okay with that $500 purchase 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:24.180 if you don't get it paid off that it's really 00:17:24.180 --> 00:17:27.319 going to cost you $650? Are you okay with that? 00:17:29.539 --> 00:17:33.140 Saying yes to subscriptions or memberships. Planning 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:36.440 for the big things. Lifestyle choices. Eating 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:40.500 out versus daily cooking at home. Yes, it's cheaper 00:17:40.500 --> 00:17:43.359 to cook at home, as painfully as it is for me 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:48.109 to say that. How much does this convenience really 00:17:48.109 --> 00:17:52.589 cost me over a year if I've got all this money 00:17:52.589 --> 00:17:57.329 going out to eat? It's making a plan. Scripture 00:17:57.329 --> 00:18:02.269 also talks to us about avoiding debt. That warns 00:18:02.269 --> 00:18:05.670 us that the borrower is slave to the lender. 00:18:07.150 --> 00:18:10.849 Proverbs 22 .7 says the rich rule over the poor 00:18:10.849 --> 00:18:15.090 and the borrower is a slave to the lender. Now, 00:18:15.090 --> 00:18:17.710 some of you in here are in our Financial Peace 00:18:17.710 --> 00:18:20.049 University class that we're doing here on Wednesday 00:18:20.049 --> 00:18:23.349 nights. And I believe it was this week's video. 00:18:23.470 --> 00:18:24.730 I don't know if it was this week or last week's 00:18:24.730 --> 00:18:28.029 video, but Dave Ramsey says when you're out of 00:18:28.029 --> 00:18:30.109 debt and you don't owe anybody money and you 00:18:30.109 --> 00:18:33.210 go to work on Monday and like the boss is kind 00:18:33.210 --> 00:18:35.329 of like really cranky with you and he's been 00:18:35.329 --> 00:18:37.589 cranky in the past and you're like, yeah, I've 00:18:37.589 --> 00:18:41.210 just, I've had it. And you just walk away. And 00:18:41.210 --> 00:18:43.190 the boss says, where are you going? And you say. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.779 I don't owe anybody any money, so I don't need 00:18:45.779 --> 00:18:47.799 to stay here and put up with this. You can go 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:50.039 somewhere else. There's freedom if you're not 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:52.960 in debt. But if you owe a lot of money, you're 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:55.059 going to put up with whatever that boss does 00:18:55.059 --> 00:18:56.779 because you need that paycheck to make those 00:18:56.779 --> 00:18:58.539 payments so that you can still live in your house 00:18:58.539 --> 00:19:03.000 and drive that car that you have. So the borrower 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:08.779 is slave to the lender. God calls us to be good 00:19:08.779 --> 00:19:11.500 stewards, good stewardship. Believers are called 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:14.710 to be. good stewards of the resources that God's 00:19:14.710 --> 00:19:18.069 provided, which includes managing our money responsibly. 00:19:18.549 --> 00:19:22.589 Proverbs 21 .20 says this, the wise store up 00:19:22.589 --> 00:19:26.950 choice food and olive oil, but the fools gulp 00:19:26.950 --> 00:19:32.390 theirs down. If we eat our seed now, we don't 00:19:32.390 --> 00:19:36.099 plan for the future. Just as a farmer who eats 00:19:36.099 --> 00:19:38.759 their seed corn cannot replant it for next year's 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:42.160 harvest, individuals or businesses that consume 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:46.359 their core resources deplete their ability to 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:49.579 generate future wealth or future abundance or 00:19:49.579 --> 00:19:56.480 margin. God calls us to be good stewards. He 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:00.299 also calls us to save and to be generous. Proverbs 00:20:00.299 --> 00:20:03.920 11 .25 says a generous person will prosper. and 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:09.240 whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:13.779 22, nine says, the generous themselves will be 00:20:13.779 --> 00:20:16.000 blessed for they shared their food with the poor. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:20.900 Now, Pastor Kip really hit savings last week. 00:20:20.980 --> 00:20:23.220 So if you missed his message, I encourage you 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:26.359 to go back on YouTube and listen to it. I'm not 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:29.019 gonna cover that in much detail today, but God 00:20:29.019 --> 00:20:33.069 calls us to plan. God calls us to count the cost. 00:20:33.289 --> 00:20:38.109 God calls us to avoid debt, to save, and to give 00:20:38.109 --> 00:20:44.049 generously. God calls us to learn to live within 00:20:44.049 --> 00:20:48.269 our means. And you know what? Learning to live 00:20:48.269 --> 00:20:52.289 within our means and to be generous doesn't happen 00:20:52.289 --> 00:20:57.089 by accident. This doesn't happen without a plan. 00:20:57.660 --> 00:21:00.140 If you don't plan to give, if you don't plan 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:02.519 to be generous, if you don't plan to live within 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:05.920 your means, it's never going to happen. It's 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:08.039 never going to happen. So let me just say this. 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:12.140 I don't want to stand up here and act like Kip 00:21:12.140 --> 00:21:14.140 and I have always done everything right. Because 00:21:14.140 --> 00:21:16.960 listen, we've been married 35 years. And if you've 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:20.440 got 10 minutes, an hour, three days, we can tell 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:22.240 you all the mistakes we've made over those 35 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:24.500 years. But let me tell you, we've been there. 00:21:24.910 --> 00:21:27.710 Pastor Kip and I have lived paycheck to paycheck. 00:21:28.349 --> 00:21:32.529 I can remember being a stay -at -home mom when 00:21:32.529 --> 00:21:35.930 Alyssa was not quite two years old. I was very 00:21:35.930 --> 00:21:38.650 pregnant with Jenna. Kip was an elevator tech 00:21:38.650 --> 00:21:41.990 back then, and he was making, I don't know, we 00:21:41.990 --> 00:21:43.029 were trying to think, I think he was probably 00:21:43.029 --> 00:21:46.170 making $7 or $8 an hour back then. And we did 00:21:46.170 --> 00:21:48.789 have a budget. We budgeted back then. And we 00:21:48.789 --> 00:21:51.910 would deposit all of Kip's paycheck into our 00:21:51.910 --> 00:21:55.500 checking account except for $20. That's what 00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:58.019 was left out of our budget when we deposited 00:21:58.019 --> 00:22:00.559 his saying that we could pay all of our bills. 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:04.119 Now, this was so long ago. This was before the 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:06.660 days of direct deposit. Like, that wasn't a thing 00:22:06.660 --> 00:22:09.039 yet, okay? So Kip actually had to get a physical 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:12.700 paycheck, and he got paid every Monday. So he 00:22:12.700 --> 00:22:14.779 would bring the paycheck home on Monday, he would 00:22:14.779 --> 00:22:16.480 set it on the kitchen table, and then he'd go 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:19.680 back to work on Tuesday, and then I and Alyssa 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:22.000 would go to the bank, and we would deposit the 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.779 check, and I would bring the $20 home, and I 00:22:24.779 --> 00:22:29.000 would put the $20 on the table. Kip got to carry 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.779 the $20, and I was thinking about that this week. 00:22:31.900 --> 00:22:34.859 Why didn't I get two 10s? Why didn't he get 10 00:22:34.859 --> 00:22:37.859 and I got 10? I don't know the answer to that. 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:40.240 All I know is I would put the $20 on the table 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:43.160 and Kip would carry it. I guess because I stayed 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:44.380 home with Alyssa. I don't know. I didn't have 00:22:44.380 --> 00:22:46.400 anywhere to go or any money to do anything. So 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:49.460 I just didn't. But anyways, he gets home from 00:22:49.460 --> 00:22:52.960 work that particular Tuesday evening and he says, 00:22:53.019 --> 00:22:56.140 hey, did you go to the bank today? I said, yeah, 00:22:56.140 --> 00:22:58.799 I went to the bank. He said, oh, well, where's 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:01.460 the $20? I said, well, it's on the kitchen table. 00:23:02.460 --> 00:23:05.119 He said, no, it's not. And, you know, Kip was 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:06.819 notorious for not being able to find things. 00:23:06.859 --> 00:23:09.339 And I'm like, yes, it's on the kitchen table. 00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:12.940 No, Dixie, it's not. So I went to the kitchen 00:23:12.940 --> 00:23:15.079 and looked on the kitchen table. And sure enough, 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:17.799 he was right. The $20 was not on the kitchen 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:23.319 table. And I realized that it had to be my almost 00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:25.779 two -year -old that had done something with the 00:23:25.779 --> 00:23:30.359 $20 bill. So I began to question Alyssa. Anybody 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:31.619 in here have a two -year -old that you've ever 00:23:31.619 --> 00:23:35.190 tried to get information out of? It's not pleasant, 00:23:35.269 --> 00:23:38.509 is it? You know, Alyssa, did you take the $20 00:23:38.509 --> 00:23:39.990 on the table? I'm not even sure she knew what 00:23:39.990 --> 00:23:42.730 a $20 bill was. Alyssa, did you take that green 00:23:42.730 --> 00:23:45.250 little piece of paper that was on the table? 00:23:45.450 --> 00:23:49.289 Did you put that $20 somewhere? We asked, we 00:23:49.289 --> 00:23:51.329 asked. I searched high and low. I looked in her 00:23:51.329 --> 00:23:53.230 room. I looked in her toys. I looked under the 00:23:53.230 --> 00:23:55.049 table. I looked in the trash. We looked everywhere. 00:23:55.430 --> 00:24:01.259 We could not find the $20. So that week, Not 00:24:01.259 --> 00:24:03.400 only did I not have any money in my wallet, but 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:05.039 Kip didn't have any money in his wallet either 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:08.240 because we didn't have that $20 because it disappeared. 00:24:08.500 --> 00:24:11.619 Now, because we had a plan, because we had a 00:24:11.619 --> 00:24:15.119 budget, we didn't go to the bank the next day 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:17.640 and take another $20 out so that Kip had money. 00:24:17.859 --> 00:24:23.559 We just didn't have $20 that week. So it took 00:24:23.559 --> 00:24:27.759 some discipline. It took self -control. Was it 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:31.859 easy? There were days that it was not easy. Did 00:24:31.859 --> 00:24:36.059 it stink sometimes? Yep, it really did stink 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:41.420 sometimes. Do I regret it? No. I'm grateful to 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:44.059 this day that we had a plan. Did we always do 00:24:44.059 --> 00:24:46.259 it right like that? Again, I've already told 00:24:46.259 --> 00:24:48.400 you, no, we made a lot of mistakes. But on a 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:52.579 side note, about five years later. We were moving 00:24:52.579 --> 00:24:55.480 and unpacking boxes. And I was unpacking the 00:24:55.480 --> 00:24:57.599 kids' books, because by this time I had three 00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:00.339 kids. And lo and behold, when I picked up a book, 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:03.299 guess what fell out of one of those books? We 00:25:03.299 --> 00:25:05.940 found 20 bucks. So Alyssa, thank you for helping 00:25:05.940 --> 00:25:09.539 us save that $20 for five years, you know? We 00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:11.299 didn't earn any interest on it, but we had our 00:25:11.299 --> 00:25:15.839 20 bucks back after five years. Back then, we 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:18.299 didn't make much money, but we had a budget. 00:25:19.380 --> 00:25:23.250 That budget... always included tithing and giving 00:25:23.250 --> 00:25:27.170 first. No matter what our income was, we planned 00:25:27.170 --> 00:25:30.990 for giving and generosity. It wasn't easy. There 00:25:30.990 --> 00:25:34.470 were sacrifices. My kids, when they were little, 00:25:34.569 --> 00:25:36.789 you can ask them, they grew up on hand -me -downs. 00:25:36.789 --> 00:25:41.009 In fact, Alyssa and Jenna were grandchild four 00:25:41.009 --> 00:25:43.190 and five on Kip's side of the family, and there 00:25:43.190 --> 00:25:47.109 were three girls before them. They wore the clothes 00:25:47.109 --> 00:25:49.369 of the number one, two, and three grandchildren. 00:25:49.869 --> 00:25:52.150 Alyssa was four and Jenna was five. So they were 00:25:52.150 --> 00:25:54.609 like hammy, hammy, hammy, hammy downs till my 00:25:54.609 --> 00:25:57.049 kids got them. And that's what they grew up on. 00:25:57.430 --> 00:25:59.730 You can ask my kids. We didn't go out to eat 00:25:59.730 --> 00:26:02.089 when the kids were little. We did not go out 00:26:02.089 --> 00:26:05.670 to eat. It was a very, very rare occasion that 00:26:05.670 --> 00:26:08.750 we went to a restaurant. When we did, there was 00:26:08.750 --> 00:26:10.890 this place, and Alyssa will remember this. If 00:26:10.890 --> 00:26:12.089 the other two were here, they would remember 00:26:12.089 --> 00:26:14.390 it too. There was this place in Johnstown. It 00:26:14.390 --> 00:26:18.250 was called Meatballs. Guess what they served? 00:26:18.890 --> 00:26:21.490 They had meatballs, right? So you could go there 00:26:21.490 --> 00:26:23.789 on a Friday night. Spaghetti and meatballs were 00:26:23.789 --> 00:26:28.049 $1 .99, all right? This place was a dive, all 00:26:28.049 --> 00:26:31.730 right? It was like plastic chairs. It was not 00:26:31.730 --> 00:26:36.690 like a high -end restaurant at all, okay? a couple 00:26:36.690 --> 00:26:38.890 little arcade games in there like that you put 00:26:38.890 --> 00:26:40.829 the quarter in. Our kids didn't get quarters 00:26:40.829 --> 00:26:42.890 because we didn't have quarters. But we would 00:26:42.890 --> 00:26:44.829 go there every once in a great while. And I'm 00:26:44.829 --> 00:26:47.190 pretty sure that we at least made two of the 00:26:47.190 --> 00:26:50.730 kids share $1 .99 spaghetti and meatballs while 00:26:50.730 --> 00:26:53.609 we were there, okay? But it was a very rare occasion, 00:26:53.690 --> 00:26:56.569 but we'd spend that 20 bucks that we had. Going 00:26:56.569 --> 00:26:59.250 to meatballs once in a great while, all right? 00:26:59.589 --> 00:27:02.190 So it was very rare. We used to laugh because 00:27:02.190 --> 00:27:04.690 once we did that once in a while, then the kids 00:27:04.690 --> 00:27:06.750 were constantly asking, hey, can we go to meatballs? 00:27:06.970 --> 00:27:09.490 Can we go to meatballs? And Kip and I's very 00:27:09.490 --> 00:27:12.809 parental response was, nope, we're going to pen 00:27:12.809 --> 00:27:15.650 balls. That was our house. Pen rods, pen balls. 00:27:15.769 --> 00:27:17.470 Yeah, I was making the spaghetti and meatballs, 00:27:17.690 --> 00:27:22.710 all right? We drove crappy vehicles. Like, I 00:27:22.710 --> 00:27:24.250 don't know if you can say crappy from the pulpit, 00:27:24.309 --> 00:27:29.450 but... We drove really bad vehicles. Our vehicles, 00:27:29.630 --> 00:27:31.890 I'm not making this up. Kip can testify to this 00:27:31.890 --> 00:27:35.329 and so will our family. They were so bad that 00:27:35.329 --> 00:27:39.789 we kept the title in the glove box so that if 00:27:39.789 --> 00:27:42.410 we were somewhere far away from home, like more 00:27:42.410 --> 00:27:44.789 than a half hour and it broke down, we could 00:27:44.789 --> 00:27:47.150 just get rid of it like wherever we were. You 00:27:47.150 --> 00:27:49.230 didn't have to go back and get the title, all 00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:51.990 right? I mean, I remember one time, I mean, they 00:27:51.990 --> 00:27:54.450 were bad. There's a lot of stories I could tell 00:27:54.450 --> 00:27:56.349 about the really bad vehicles, but I remember 00:27:56.349 --> 00:27:58.970 one in particular. You have to ask Kip what kind 00:27:58.970 --> 00:28:01.670 of a car it was. All I know is it was gray and 00:28:01.670 --> 00:28:05.930 it was ugly and the headliner wouldn't stay up. 00:28:06.009 --> 00:28:09.369 Kip kept like fixing it, but it didn't work. 00:28:09.529 --> 00:28:13.250 So I would drive down the road with one hand 00:28:13.250 --> 00:28:16.369 while holding the headliner up with the other. 00:28:16.430 --> 00:28:19.650 That's how bad the vehicles were that we drove 00:28:19.650 --> 00:28:25.180 for a really, really, really long time. I also 00:28:25.180 --> 00:28:29.119 remember one, the other one is that my dad drove 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:32.519 a Cadillac Sedan DeVille, four -door, really 00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:36.539 cool car for a young mom, right? Four -door Cadillac 00:28:36.539 --> 00:28:39.579 Sedan DeVille. I think it had like 160 ,000 miles 00:28:39.579 --> 00:28:44.059 on it and he got rear -ended. And so Kip decided 00:28:44.059 --> 00:28:47.920 it would be a great idea to buy that car from 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.200 the insurance company for a thousand dollars. 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:54.400 And he was gonna fix it. He sort of fixed it. 00:28:54.539 --> 00:28:57.500 I think he put a different colored like taillight 00:28:57.500 --> 00:29:00.759 in it. And then I think some gray primer on, 00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:03.220 he pounded out like where he didn't, I mean, 00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:05.519 he did fix it. We drove it, but, and we drove 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:09.740 that car for, I don't know, two years, two years 00:29:09.740 --> 00:29:11.980 we drove that car. And he kept saying the engine 00:29:11.980 --> 00:29:14.119 was gonna go on it, you know, cause they don't 00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:16.420 really make cars back then to go that far or 00:29:16.420 --> 00:29:21.009 that long. And our church at the time, It was 00:29:21.009 --> 00:29:23.349 like on the middle of a hill, but it was on kind 00:29:23.349 --> 00:29:25.349 of like the main drag between the high school 00:29:25.349 --> 00:29:29.450 and the stadium, the football stadium. And we 00:29:29.450 --> 00:29:31.269 were on our way to church in the morning, and 00:29:31.269 --> 00:29:34.410 the car was making some noises that it probably 00:29:34.410 --> 00:29:38.089 shouldn't have been making. And Kip said, man, 00:29:38.150 --> 00:29:39.369 I don't know how much longer this is going to 00:29:39.369 --> 00:29:43.869 make it. And so we went to church. We left church. 00:29:44.250 --> 00:29:46.690 We get in the car, and he goes to drive up the 00:29:46.690 --> 00:29:50.460 hill, and it starts making loud. banging sounds, 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:54.480 right? Yeah. And start smoking. So it's making 00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:56.759 loud bangings, you know, in front of all of our 00:29:56.759 --> 00:29:59.279 church family. It was great. So we're driving, 00:29:59.380 --> 00:30:03.500 we get to the main street and he realizes that 00:30:03.500 --> 00:30:05.880 he's not sure we're going to make it the two 00:30:05.880 --> 00:30:08.539 miles to our house. So instead of staying on 00:30:08.539 --> 00:30:10.480 the main street where there'll be more red lights, 00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:12.779 he goes up one more street on the Somerset Avenue 00:30:12.779 --> 00:30:16.480 and there is one red light on Somerset Avenue. 00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:19.660 really small town. Anyways, we're driving through, 00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:21.740 we almost get to the red light and the car is 00:30:21.740 --> 00:30:25.440 smoking so bad at this point that it like people 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:28.779 can't see, like it's enveloping the whole street 00:30:28.779 --> 00:30:31.259 and you get to the stop sign and you are the 00:30:31.259 --> 00:30:32.720 red light and you couldn't even see anything 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:34.519 because the smoke had just enveloped everything. 00:30:34.599 --> 00:30:36.519 Well, then he started to get worried and we had 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:38.960 the two girls and he says to me, all right, you 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:41.559 get out. And you get the two girls and walk down 00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:44.440 to Graham Avenue. And maybe somebody from church 00:30:44.440 --> 00:30:47.900 will see you and pick you up and take you the 00:30:47.900 --> 00:30:49.799 rest of the way home. I'm going to try to get 00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:51.660 the car home, but I'm not sure it might blow. 00:30:52.460 --> 00:30:55.539 So these are the kind of cars we drove. I wasn't 00:30:55.539 --> 00:30:59.079 kidding. They were crappy. So I walked down to 00:30:59.079 --> 00:31:01.440 Graham Avenue with probably, Levi wasn't born 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:02.920 yet, so it had to be a four -year -old and a 00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:05.400 two -year -old. And lo and behold, my sister 00:31:05.400 --> 00:31:08.069 and brother -in -law. who were in much better 00:31:08.069 --> 00:31:11.230 financial shape than what we were, because, yeah, 00:31:11.289 --> 00:31:14.150 anyways. My sister says she's looking, and she's 00:31:14.150 --> 00:31:18.490 like, Brad, Brad, that looks like my sister and 00:31:18.490 --> 00:31:20.710 my two nieces standing on the side of the road. 00:31:20.829 --> 00:31:23.690 So my brother and sister -in -law stopped and 00:31:23.690 --> 00:31:25.750 picked me and the girls up, and we made it home. 00:31:25.890 --> 00:31:28.329 And I think you did get the car the whole way 00:31:28.329 --> 00:31:31.250 to the house, but... I don't know. It died. Those 00:31:31.250 --> 00:31:33.069 are the kind of cars we drove. We made sacrifices, 00:31:33.309 --> 00:31:36.250 all right? It wasn't good. It wasn't good. But 00:31:36.250 --> 00:31:39.029 those are the sacrifices we had to make to stay 00:31:39.029 --> 00:31:41.849 within the budget so that we could have margin, 00:31:41.869 --> 00:31:45.670 so that we could have more freedom in our life, 00:31:45.789 --> 00:31:49.910 all right? Now, earlier, I mentioned Dave Ramsey. 00:31:50.730 --> 00:31:53.210 Dave Ramsey, I'm sure, is a name that most of 00:31:53.210 --> 00:31:56.089 you have heard here. If you don't know who he 00:31:56.089 --> 00:32:03.250 is, he is a... A very outspoken financial guru. 00:32:04.170 --> 00:32:06.549 And he wants to get you out of debt. Which is 00:32:06.549 --> 00:32:08.490 why we're doing Financial Peace University. But 00:32:08.490 --> 00:32:11.630 he has a famous saying that he says. He says 00:32:11.630 --> 00:32:15.329 that money isn't a math problem. It's a behavior 00:32:15.329 --> 00:32:20.410 problem. More money doesn't fix poor habits. 00:32:21.180 --> 00:32:23.319 A lot of people say, if I just made more money, 00:32:23.380 --> 00:32:25.619 if I just got that raise, we would be in good 00:32:25.619 --> 00:32:28.640 shape. If I just, if I got a better job or if 00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:30.799 I did this or I got an extra job. But you know 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:34.440 what? A person making $40 ,000 a year and someone 00:32:34.440 --> 00:32:39.140 making $140 ,000 a year, both can be broke if 00:32:39.140 --> 00:32:43.859 you overspend. It's not a money problem. It's 00:32:43.859 --> 00:32:47.440 a behavior problem. See, spending follows patterns, 00:32:47.539 --> 00:32:49.960 not just numbers. It's not the size of the paycheck, 00:32:50.099 --> 00:32:53.579 but it's the choices made with it. Impulse buying, 00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:56.980 eating out, swiping that credit card without 00:32:56.980 --> 00:33:03.140 thinking about the budget. Money in our checking 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:06.920 account reveals our priorities. Where does your 00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:10.299 money go? Does it go to hobbies? Does it go to 00:33:10.299 --> 00:33:16.319 debt? Does it go to generosity? It reflects our 00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:24.339 habits, our values, and our discipline. A raise, 00:33:24.420 --> 00:33:27.480 a bonus, or a big tax refund is not going to 00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:30.960 change your life long term. It's the behavior 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:34.900 changes on the daily basis. Tracking, planning, 00:33:35.140 --> 00:33:40.680 and saying that word that nobody likes, no, is 00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:44.680 how you build wealth. Now listen. It's not about 00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:47.619 how much money you make. It's about how you manage 00:33:47.619 --> 00:33:50.839 it. And let me give you an example. You don't 00:33:50.839 --> 00:33:53.720 need to earn a massive paycheck to become a millionaire. 00:33:56.079 --> 00:33:59.440 A one -time Vermont -based janitor at a school 00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:03.160 for 40 years and an occasional gas station attendant, 00:34:03.380 --> 00:34:06.460 Ronald Reed demonstrated that, that you can reach 00:34:06.460 --> 00:34:10.150 a seven -figure mark on a modest salary. That 00:34:10.150 --> 00:34:14.869 man never made more than $25 ,000 a year. And 00:34:14.869 --> 00:34:18.090 unbeknownst to everyone around him, he died at 00:34:18.090 --> 00:34:23.610 the age of 92 in 2014, and he had quietly amassed 00:34:23.610 --> 00:34:29.690 an $8 million fortune. Thanks to smart spending, 00:34:30.030 --> 00:34:34.110 disciplined spending, and investing habits. His 00:34:34.110 --> 00:34:37.630 family was tremendously surprised upon finding 00:34:37.630 --> 00:34:39.949 out his hidden wealth. He was a hard worker, 00:34:40.130 --> 00:34:43.449 but nobody had realized that he had become a 00:34:43.449 --> 00:34:47.489 multimillionaire. Reed came from humble beginnings. 00:34:47.909 --> 00:34:50.730 He was the first in his family to graduate from 00:34:50.730 --> 00:34:54.010 high school. He served in World War II in North 00:34:54.010 --> 00:34:57.590 Africa, Italy, and the Pacific. After the war, 00:34:57.630 --> 00:35:00.369 he came home, worked as a gas station attendant 00:35:00.369 --> 00:35:03.449 and a janitor at a Vermont school for 40 years. 00:35:04.010 --> 00:35:07.789 He married a woman who had two children. He maintained 00:35:07.789 --> 00:35:11.230 a frugal lifestyle, never spending money unless 00:35:11.230 --> 00:35:14.929 he had to. His friends remember him driving a 00:35:14.929 --> 00:35:19.849 second -hand Toyota Yaris, using safety pins 00:35:19.849 --> 00:35:22.690 to hold his coat together, and cutting his own 00:35:22.690 --> 00:35:28.269 firewood well into his 90s. Now listen, I'm not 00:35:28.269 --> 00:35:29.969 standing up here this morning saying following 00:35:29.969 --> 00:35:32.510 Jesus is about making you a millionaire. That's 00:35:32.510 --> 00:35:36.480 not what I'm saying. What if you had enough margin 00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:40.139 in your finances to give hundreds away or thousands 00:35:40.139 --> 00:35:44.400 away or millions away? Do you know that Reed 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:48.480 donated all $8 million that he had amassed to 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:51.980 the library, the school, and the hospital that 00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:56.099 was in his local town? Listen, to be able to 00:35:56.099 --> 00:35:59.739 do that, you need a plan. You need a budget. 00:35:59.900 --> 00:36:02.699 You need a game plan for your money, no matter 00:36:02.699 --> 00:36:05.280 the level of your income. You need discipline 00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:10.420 and self -control. I'm gonna take this one step 00:36:10.420 --> 00:36:12.340 further this morning, even though it's already 00:36:12.340 --> 00:36:16.840 very quiet in here. You need to be teaching your 00:36:16.840 --> 00:36:21.480 children this from a young age. Man, we will 00:36:21.480 --> 00:36:25.079 spend hours on the soccer field, the baseball 00:36:25.079 --> 00:36:27.599 field, the football field, the cheering field, 00:36:27.719 --> 00:36:30.579 teaching our kids to do these things. And it's 00:36:30.579 --> 00:36:33.239 fun. I'm not knocking that at all, but I am pretty 00:36:33.239 --> 00:36:35.800 confident. That your kiddo is not going to be 00:36:35.800 --> 00:36:39.199 the next Jalen Hurts. The probability of an American 00:36:39.199 --> 00:36:40.980 high school football player making it to the 00:36:40.980 --> 00:36:46.599 NFL draft is less than .02%. But you know what? 00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:48.900 I'm not being mean. I love your kiddos. My kid 00:36:48.900 --> 00:36:51.619 played soccer. I loved watching Levi play soccer, 00:36:51.739 --> 00:36:55.059 and he was good. But he wasn't that good. He 00:36:55.059 --> 00:36:56.820 wasn't going to make a living at playing soccer. 00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:00.880 These are good things and fun things, but they're 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:03.719 not the most important things. Listen, teaching 00:37:03.719 --> 00:37:08.559 your kids to budget and be generous is something 00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:12.880 they will use for the rest of their lives. See, 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:15.659 we taught our kids with the envelope system. 00:37:16.579 --> 00:37:18.619 Alyssa can, she's the only one here, I keep picking 00:37:18.619 --> 00:37:19.940 on her. She's sitting on the front row up here, 00:37:19.980 --> 00:37:21.500 but you could text the other two, they would 00:37:21.500 --> 00:37:23.679 tell you. They had the envelope system. So from 00:37:23.679 --> 00:37:26.420 the time our kids earned any money, whether it 00:37:26.420 --> 00:37:28.460 was their allowance, whether they had jobs, whatever 00:37:28.460 --> 00:37:32.010 it was, they had three envelopes. They had one 00:37:32.010 --> 00:37:33.869 that was their giving envelope that they had 00:37:33.869 --> 00:37:36.849 to put 10 % of whatever they got went into that 00:37:36.849 --> 00:37:40.070 envelope. And then they had a savings envelope 00:37:40.070 --> 00:37:43.349 and 50 % of what they got had to go in the savings 00:37:43.349 --> 00:37:46.949 envelope. And then they had a spending envelope 00:37:46.949 --> 00:37:49.789 that they got to put 40 % of what they had in 00:37:49.789 --> 00:37:52.170 there. And we did this from the time they were 00:37:52.170 --> 00:37:55.050 little. We did this their whole childhood. And 00:37:55.050 --> 00:37:58.199 we were diligent. Or they may tell you that we 00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:01.360 were a hard case, but this is what we made them 00:38:01.360 --> 00:38:04.340 do. Now, I can remember one time when Jenna was 00:38:04.340 --> 00:38:07.159 a teenager, she wanted to go to Hershey Park. 00:38:07.619 --> 00:38:09.900 She had received a season pass as a Christmas 00:38:09.900 --> 00:38:12.340 gift. And at the time, she was working a part 00:38:12.340 --> 00:38:14.840 -time job at the sports emporium. But now let 00:38:14.840 --> 00:38:16.760 me tell you, when Jenna was at home with us and 00:38:16.760 --> 00:38:19.860 she was a teenager, she definitely was our spender. 00:38:20.199 --> 00:38:23.730 She loved to spend her spending money. And she 00:38:23.730 --> 00:38:25.769 would spend it on others. She would spend it 00:38:25.769 --> 00:38:28.030 on whatever. But she was definitely our spender. 00:38:28.030 --> 00:38:31.690 Levi, not so much. He was our saver. He loved 00:38:31.690 --> 00:38:34.469 spending our money. He even loved spending Jenna's 00:38:34.469 --> 00:38:36.789 money, but he didn't like to spend his money. 00:38:37.500 --> 00:38:39.360 Jenna would often say, hey, Levi, you want to 00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:41.400 go to Chick -fil -A? And he'd say, yeah, I don't 00:38:41.400 --> 00:38:42.619 have any money for that. And she's like, oh, 00:38:42.659 --> 00:38:45.260 I have $5. Let's go to Chick -fil -A. All the 00:38:45.260 --> 00:38:47.360 while Levi had 500 in his spending envelope. 00:38:47.420 --> 00:38:48.820 He just didn't want to spend it on Chick -fil 00:38:48.820 --> 00:38:51.280 -A. But if Jenna was willing to spend her money 00:38:51.280 --> 00:38:53.519 on Chick -fil -A, he was willing to go and eat 00:38:53.519 --> 00:38:55.579 it. But anyway, she wanted to go to Hershey Park 00:38:55.579 --> 00:38:59.079 that day. And I said, listen, you can go as long 00:38:59.079 --> 00:39:01.300 as you have spending money in your envelope to 00:39:01.300 --> 00:39:04.019 pay for your lunch. You know, and we did it on 00:39:04.019 --> 00:39:05.820 the honor system. I wasn't like checking their 00:39:05.820 --> 00:39:08.539 envelopes. She's like, yeah, yeah, I'm good. 00:39:08.559 --> 00:39:10.579 I'm good. We're going to go. But unbeknownst 00:39:10.579 --> 00:39:14.780 to me, her spending envelope was empty. So she 00:39:14.780 --> 00:39:19.579 decided to borrow her tithe out of her giving 00:39:19.579 --> 00:39:23.219 envelope. It was a $20 bill. So she had full 00:39:23.219 --> 00:39:25.099 intentions. She was going to get paid in a couple 00:39:25.099 --> 00:39:26.840 of days. She was going to take $20 out of her 00:39:26.840 --> 00:39:29.219 paycheck and she'd put it back and she'd pay 00:39:29.219 --> 00:39:32.260 that tithe back in that envelope. So she got 00:39:32.260 --> 00:39:34.079 to Hershey Park with her friends and she got 00:39:34.079 --> 00:39:36.739 on that first ride. And when she got off the 00:39:36.739 --> 00:39:38.780 ride, she put her hands in her pocket and realized 00:39:38.780 --> 00:39:41.840 that her $20 had fallen out while she was on 00:39:41.840 --> 00:39:45.599 that ride. So now she's at Hershey Park. She 00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:49.239 has no money. She's got to mooch off of her friends 00:39:49.239 --> 00:39:51.519 or borrow off of her friends. And she still has 00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:55.389 to pay that $20 back. into her giving envelope. 00:39:55.590 --> 00:39:58.530 So Jenna will tell this story. And when she would 00:39:58.530 --> 00:40:00.590 tell us, she would came home and she told us 00:40:00.590 --> 00:40:02.269 a story and this was what her words were. She 00:40:02.269 --> 00:40:04.570 goes, you know, you just don't ever borrow your 00:40:04.570 --> 00:40:06.250 tithe money because the Lord is gonna shmite 00:40:06.250 --> 00:40:10.690 you. Now, I am not saying that the Lord is gonna 00:40:10.690 --> 00:40:12.969 shmite you. That was her interpretation of what 00:40:12.969 --> 00:40:16.250 happened when she was at Hershey Park. But I 00:40:16.250 --> 00:40:20.210 will say that there is a biblical way to steward 00:40:20.210 --> 00:40:23.659 your money. You need to have a plan. You need 00:40:23.659 --> 00:40:26.840 to have a budget. You need to teach your kids 00:40:26.840 --> 00:40:30.480 from little on up. Even if their tithe is a quarter, 00:40:30.739 --> 00:40:34.280 teach them to bring that offering, that tithe 00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:36.960 to the Lord. Teach them from little up. Then 00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:39.179 it's not a big surprise when they're adulting. 00:40:39.500 --> 00:40:42.159 Jenna's a great adult. We did pretty good. She's 00:40:42.159 --> 00:40:44.340 adulting well now. She's not, you know, she's 00:40:44.340 --> 00:40:46.440 not borrowing her money from other places. She's 00:40:46.440 --> 00:40:49.059 doing a great job in life. But you gotta teach 00:40:49.059 --> 00:40:52.050 your kids. You can't wait. Don't wait until they're 00:40:52.050 --> 00:40:53.550 adults and then be like, oh, you know what? You 00:40:53.550 --> 00:40:56.409 should probably budget. If you teach them from 00:40:56.409 --> 00:40:58.710 little up that there's a way to steward your 00:40:58.710 --> 00:41:01.670 money and your possessions, it's not a big knock 00:41:01.670 --> 00:41:04.050 in the head when they become an adult. You know, 00:41:04.050 --> 00:41:06.750 they're like, oh, adulting stinks. I don't want 00:41:06.750 --> 00:41:09.010 to do this adulting thing. But if they're in 00:41:09.010 --> 00:41:11.789 a practice of following God's word, of following 00:41:11.789 --> 00:41:13.909 biblical standards, of stewarding your money 00:41:13.909 --> 00:41:18.050 and your possessions by having a plan, it's so 00:41:18.050 --> 00:41:21.739 much easier. But it takes work. It takes discipline. 00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:26.019 It takes self -control. And I'm going to ask 00:41:26.019 --> 00:41:30.019 Kip to come up this morning. I'm reminded of 00:41:30.019 --> 00:41:33.500 a song that has been stuck in my head since the 00:41:33.500 --> 00:41:36.159 first grade. I know that's a long time ago for 00:41:36.159 --> 00:41:39.000 those of you who, I'm 54, so first grade was 00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:41.679 a long time ago. But it went something like this. 00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:44.019 It's a song like, it's a small world that gets 00:41:44.019 --> 00:41:45.679 stuck in your head. But the song kind of went 00:41:45.679 --> 00:41:47.900 like this, and we won't go through it yet, but 00:41:47.900 --> 00:41:52.599 it says, There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, 00:41:52.699 --> 00:41:56.539 dear Liza. There's a hole in my bucket, dear 00:41:56.539 --> 00:42:00.480 Liza, a hole. That song gets stuck in your head, 00:42:00.579 --> 00:42:02.519 okay? So anyone else have that song in music 00:42:02.519 --> 00:42:04.340 class? Ever heard of that song? I'm not alone, 00:42:04.519 --> 00:42:05.980 okay? Thank you. There's like three of you out 00:42:05.980 --> 00:42:08.820 there. All right. Great demonstration. All right. 00:42:08.840 --> 00:42:12.400 Anyways, that song just keeps coming in my mind. 00:42:12.440 --> 00:42:15.900 And it makes me think of this bucket that we 00:42:15.900 --> 00:42:18.349 have here is kind of like... Henry was the guy 00:42:18.349 --> 00:42:21.070 in the song. So Henry is the one talking to dear 00:42:21.070 --> 00:42:22.829 Liza saying, I have a hole in my bucket. All 00:42:22.829 --> 00:42:25.489 right. So he's complaining that he's got this 00:42:25.489 --> 00:42:28.250 hole in his bucket. And so Liza is telling him 00:42:28.250 --> 00:42:30.989 to fix it. So first she tells him to fix it with 00:42:30.989 --> 00:42:33.909 a straw. And he says, well, the straw is too 00:42:33.909 --> 00:42:36.210 long. And so she said, well, then cut the straw. 00:42:36.570 --> 00:42:40.239 And he says that his knife's not, not. sharp 00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:41.940 enough. And she's like, well, sharpen the knife. 00:42:42.099 --> 00:42:44.539 Well, what do I use? Well, you use a rock. Well, 00:42:44.539 --> 00:42:46.800 the stone's too dry. And he just got excuse after 00:42:46.800 --> 00:42:49.239 excuse after excuse. But it made me think of 00:42:49.239 --> 00:42:51.019 our finances. So what Kip's going to show you 00:42:51.019 --> 00:42:54.380 is this is Henry's bucket with a hole in it. 00:42:54.440 --> 00:42:57.639 So when we are managing our finances and we don't 00:42:57.639 --> 00:43:01.539 have a plan, it's kind of like this. As he's 00:43:01.539 --> 00:43:03.880 pouring that water in, there's no way to control 00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:06.820 your funds. There's no way to control the leaking 00:43:06.820 --> 00:43:09.800 that's happening because there's a hole. And 00:43:09.800 --> 00:43:12.760 that's kind of how your finances are if you don't 00:43:12.760 --> 00:43:15.699 have a plan. If you don't know where your money's 00:43:15.699 --> 00:43:18.840 going, it's just leaking out of that hole. And 00:43:18.840 --> 00:43:21.059 maybe you say, well, I need to earn more money 00:43:21.059 --> 00:43:23.239 or maybe I can't do this. Maybe you're like Henry 00:43:23.239 --> 00:43:26.119 and you're coming up with excuse after, well, 00:43:26.139 --> 00:43:28.019 I can't do a budget because I don't make enough 00:43:28.019 --> 00:43:30.840 or I can't save because I don't. make enough, 00:43:30.880 --> 00:43:35.480 or I can't do a budget because, because, because, 00:43:35.639 --> 00:43:40.619 because, because. You know what Liza says to 00:43:40.619 --> 00:43:43.599 Henry at the end of this song? Henry, you are 00:43:43.599 --> 00:43:46.199 just plain old lazy. You don't want to fix that 00:43:46.199 --> 00:43:50.300 hole in your bucket. And maybe that's us with 00:43:50.300 --> 00:43:54.340 our finances. Maybe we don't want to make a plan. 00:43:54.500 --> 00:43:57.159 Maybe we're making excuses of why we can't do 00:43:57.159 --> 00:44:01.349 it God's way. But let me tell you God's word. 00:44:01.409 --> 00:44:02.809 I started at the beginning of this by saying 00:44:02.809 --> 00:44:06.769 that God's word is very clear on money. I know 00:44:06.769 --> 00:44:08.989 Pastor Kip has said this throughout the sermon 00:44:08.989 --> 00:44:11.630 series that we've been doing, but the God's word 00:44:11.630 --> 00:44:14.829 mentions our money and our possessions over 2 00:44:14.829 --> 00:44:19.690 ,300 times in his word. Why do you think he did 00:44:19.690 --> 00:44:25.190 that? Because he knows without a plan, without 00:44:25.190 --> 00:44:28.500 discipline, without self -control, we're not 00:44:28.500 --> 00:44:33.579 gonna do it very well. Pastor Kip said last week 00:44:33.579 --> 00:44:36.420 in his message, do we believe what God's word 00:44:36.420 --> 00:44:41.260 says? Because we're only gonna do what we believe. 00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:45.880 Do you believe that God's word instructs us on 00:44:45.880 --> 00:44:50.619 our finances? We're only gonna do what we believe 00:44:50.619 --> 00:44:56.460 with a plan, with discipline, generosity, and 00:44:56.460 --> 00:44:59.989 money. becomes a tool for blessing and not a 00:44:59.989 --> 00:45:04.550 trap. I'm going to ask if the worship team would 00:45:04.550 --> 00:45:11.489 come. Let's not be Henry with a hole in our bucket 00:45:11.489 --> 00:45:15.369 and make excuses of why we can't make a change, 00:45:15.610 --> 00:45:19.829 why we can't surrender to what God says about 00:45:19.829 --> 00:45:23.489 our finances. Let's not step onto that financial 00:45:23.489 --> 00:45:26.760 field without a game plan. Let's not just show 00:45:26.760 --> 00:45:29.320 up at the football game and say, you know, we're 00:45:29.320 --> 00:45:31.460 gonna do it because I know a lot about football. 00:45:32.159 --> 00:45:34.199 You know, I could say, I'm gonna do it with my 00:45:34.199 --> 00:45:36.619 finances. I know a lot about spending money. 00:45:36.820 --> 00:45:40.019 I've been doing it for 50 years. It's not gonna 00:45:40.019 --> 00:45:44.980 work. We've gotta have a game plan. We've gotta 00:45:44.980 --> 00:45:49.800 be diligent. We've gotta teach our kids. And 00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:54.119 above all, we've gotta honor God with our money. 00:45:54.679 --> 00:45:58.960 and our possessions? Are we able to surrender 00:45:58.960 --> 00:46:02.940 our finances and our possessions to the Lord 00:46:02.940 --> 00:46:07.440 and do finances his way? To do them biblically, 00:46:07.460 --> 00:46:11.420 to follow biblically what he says to do? Or do 00:46:11.420 --> 00:46:13.280 we want to keep doing things our way and get 00:46:13.280 --> 00:46:15.639 the same results we've always got? You realize 00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:19.199 that's the definition of insanity. Doing things 00:46:19.199 --> 00:46:22.019 the same way and expecting different results. 00:46:24.199 --> 00:46:27.300 Or are we going to invite the creator of the 00:46:27.300 --> 00:46:32.099 universe, the one who owns it all, to be part 00:46:32.099 --> 00:46:36.699 of our plan with money and possessions, knowing 00:46:36.699 --> 00:46:41.099 that Philippians 4 .19 says that my God shall 00:46:41.099 --> 00:46:44.840 supply all my needs according to his riches and 00:46:44.840 --> 00:46:48.900 glory. He owns it all. Do we trust him with that? 00:46:49.219 --> 00:46:52.780 Do we trust him? to create margin? Do we trust 00:46:52.780 --> 00:46:56.360 him to put him first in our finances? Do we trust 00:46:56.360 --> 00:47:06.920 him with that? Thank you for tuning in to this 00:47:06.920 --> 00:47:10.380 message from Lifehouse Church. We pray that you 00:47:10.380 --> 00:47:13.489 were impacted powerfully by this message. If 00:47:13.489 --> 00:47:15.909 you have been personally affected by our ministry 00:47:15.909 --> 00:47:18.570 and you would like to partner with us as we love 00:47:18.570 --> 00:47:21.809 God, love people every day, visit our website 00:47:21.809 --> 00:47:26.409 at www .lifehousecog .com.