Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:01]:
Hey, good evening, everybody. Good to see you guys. I hope that some of us are getting a day off on Tuesday. But more important than that, we want to honor the veterans. And so any veterans in the house, you guys want to raise your hands? Can we just say thanks? I know it's not just Dick. I know there's other people out there. And, you know, the Bible really always has a picture of warriors and, and that people who go and defend, defend the nations, people who go to defend their families, people who go to advance the kingdom. And so without those people, Lord, we wouldn't be able to enjoy the freedoms that we do have.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:44]:
And we want to recognize them. Thank you for your time of service. But we also know that many times that those guys continue on in various ways and people have gone on to be first responders. We have people who just graduated from the academy and kind of finding their places of serving our community. But can we just. Can we just thank the Lord for our veterans and pray for them as well? Father, we are grateful for the men and women who really have left home, often left the comforts of home to go and serve our nation. And some of them are recent and some of them, it's a very different season of their life. But Lord, we're grateful that apart from those who were willing to put their lives at risk, we're willing to leave home and comfort in order to defend us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:43]:
Lord, we wouldn't have the freedoms that we do have today. So, Lord, that would there be a sense of. Of satisfaction in the soul of our brothers and sisters who have served. But Lord, continue to bless them because they are men and women who are worthy of honor. So we honor them. Today we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Hey, can we say again, congratulations.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:07]:
Thank you, guys. Hey, you know, this week or I was reminded that, you know these little lamps that we have in the room, we just ordered those a few months ago, a couple months ago. And I remember when they came in, I just put them together in the. In, you know, upstairs in the office. And when I was doing that, I noticed there was an instruction. But how many of you guys ever get instruction and you go, like, I don't need no instruction. Right? I don't know if you've ever tried to assemble, you know, furniture and then at the end get screws that you got left over and somehow different things got put together like that, Right? Because sometimes that's what happens when we say, hey, man, I don't need the instructions. Maybe it looks a little bit like this when we don't have a need for instructions, right? I don't know if you guys ever done that, right? Or ever tried to take a shortcut.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:02]:
You go, like, I don't need Google Maps for this. I know where I'm going. And then takes you like 20 minutes longer than going there. Or maybe I see this with a lot of local. My friends, when they're out at the beach, when they're surfing, when they're in the yard, I said, hey, man, we're getting to that age. We gotta put sunscreen. He said, I don't need no sunscreen. You guys ever, you know, and we look a little bit more like this on the end, right? So a lot of times we have different things where, you know, our experience, our.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:37]:
You know, our. Know how we think we already got there. And I don't know if you've ever been that those of us who are students that you have the test that says, open notes, open book, and you go, I don't need to study. Open notes, open book. And then when the time comes, you're like this, right? Oh, it's supposed to move. But it's a very difficult thing. And so at times, I think all of us, we get overconfident in our abilities, maybe because we've grown up, maybe because we think we still got it right. How many of us have ever felt like this? You know, I know I'm not 18 anymore, but you still got to show your kids you still got it on the court, right? Until you need, you know, Bengay and all that afterwards.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:21]:
So. But, you know, the thing is that pulling a hamstring or those kinds of things is painful, but sometimes what is equally as painful is that when we find ourselves in financial difficulty, right, when we haven't been aware of God's instruction about money and how to act with financial wisdom, and that sometimes in those places, it's just as painful as a physical injury and sometimes maybe even more because of its lasting impact. And this evening, as we continue our series that we started last week on Money Matters, not that money is a thing to be worshiped or a sense of security or sense of the key to happiness, but money does matter. And God talks a lot about money in the scriptures. And so we're going to continue that series today, and not so much about acting our age, but acting our wage. And so this evening, we're going to start, though, by reading God's promise. Because, you know, I think that with the season that it is, and, you know, like, the season is changing, the Holidays are coming up, and yet at the same time, our government is not functioning. And yet many of us, I know, are being impacted and more of us will be impacted should this shutdown continue.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:42]:
But we need to be reminded that God is still faithful. And again, if you're in that situation, we'd like to know, you know, because we do want to stand with our brothers and sisters. And last week we had an opportunity to do that. But yeah, so please, please keep us informed and so that we can find ways that we can stand with you. So Philippians, though, 4, 19 and 20, we're going to read this because this is God's promise to you and to me. And I think we need to be something that is ingrained in us and we're reminded and things that we stand on. So would you do me a favor? Let's stand for God and God's word, the stand in reverence. And we're going to read that out together.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:23]:
And this is what it says. Ready? Let's read. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Aren't you glad it doesn't say, and that my God will supply all your needs according to your resources. Right. Aren't you glad that it doesn't say that it's based on your knowledge, on your know how, on your skill, your education? It doesn't say that. It says based on his riches in glory.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:01]:
And so he talks about in the midst of this time that yes, there can be ups and downs and upheavals that we are not immune to because we have to live through them. But this is what he says, that God's not hindered regardless of your circumstance. So before you seated, just turn to your neighbor says God's not hindered by your circumstances. And then you can have a seat. And so this weekend we're continuing this series by looking at first four bedrock principles about dealing with money. And then after that we're going to talk about some extensions of that in terms of priorities and, you know, the four principles. I think I love the fact that when we say principles that sometimes applications change, right? Different things that you do can change, but principles never change, Right? Principles are timeless truths. And some of them, to be honest, some of you guys, you could teach this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:58]:
But for some of us, to be honest, we haven't really thought about this before. And so I don't take it for granted. And again, sometimes it's things that we know, but Sometimes it's things that we need to apply. And so this evening we're going to start by looking at principle number one. It just starts out like this, that we have to spend less than you earn. Right? Everybody has to spend less than you earn. I know it's not rocket science, but sometimes, you know, it hits you in ways that surprising. You know, I think some of you heard before, you know, I had a torn labrum and it was causing me a lot of pain when I would be working out or exercising or doing some kind of sports thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:48]:
And I have a friend that he's a physical therapist and we're in a meeting and after we're doing all the meeting stuff and then at the end I said, hey, you know, I, you know, my shoulder, I've been in the gym and I'm doing this thing and it's so painful. Is there anything that you can kind of give me, like just to help me in the thing? And he, this is what he said. Well, have you considered doing exercises that don't cause you pain? No. Right. You know what I was considering? I just did all the stuff that I've always done. Right. And you know, did I change after that? No, I didn't even change after that. God had to heal me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:26]:
But the thing is that at times, you know, it seems like, oh, it's a no brainer, but to be honest, sometimes it's not. But this aspect that spending less than you earn is a solid biblical principle because if we always just whatever we get, that we spend, what we get, obviously we will always be in financial trouble. And this is not a thing that is based on an economic band. In other words, this doesn't happen to the middle class or the lower class or the upper class. It happens among all people. Because for most of us, the more you make what is the principle? The more you spend. Right. And so, you know, I was thinking talking to some friends that they work in a financial kind of arena and processing applications and it tends to be working with people that just have a, you know, they have more disposable income and they're selling things so they see the applications come in and they have to put in all their financial statements and they would say, it's like, you know, these people that sometimes you would think, you know, like, tend to be on the upper end and they do make a lot of money, but when their credit score is looked at, it's like we're shocked because we see how much they're making, but it doesn't come out in the credit score.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:54]:
And why is that? Because that principle often is, the more we make, the more we spend. But Proverbs 21:20 tells us like this. What does it say? The wise have wealth and luxuries, but fools spend whatever they get, right? So if we. Whatever we get, we think this is what we spend. It's easy to overspend because our eyes always have a greater capacity to be enamored with something than our capacity to pay for something. And I think everybody has a weakness, right? That you're tempted to indulge financially, probably not on the same things, right? Because there's some people, you know what your weakness is? It's the total opposite of somebody else on your table. Take a look at your table, right? Because some of us, you know what your weakness is? Your weakness is close, right? And you're looking at somebody go, not that guy. No, no.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:47]:
But like, right? And for some of us, you know what is your weakness? Your weakness is going out to eat, right? For some of us, you know what our weakness is? It's our kids, right? Because it's like whatever they need for school, whatever school, they got to go, right? Everybody has that. For some of us, it's our, you know, a collection of some hobby that you have that, right? Like, you go, like, I have to buy this one. Special edition, 1977, original Star Wars. I know. No pointing fingers, Pastor Jeff. No, but you know, that kind of a thing, right? That we have these items that you might feel like it's not the same for everybody. But I think everybody has a weakness. And if we're not careful, that sense of weakness becomes indulgence.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:31]:
If that doesn't, and if it continues on, it puts us in a financial difficult situation. And so because the reality is all of us need to live within our means. We all need to learn to spend not more than what we make, right? That we all need to spend less than we make. And whatever your income level, it applies because, you know, what do you call it when you have people who consistently, year after year after year, spend more than they make? What do you call that? The federal government. That's why we're in the situation that we are, right? But $38.17 trillion in debt, right? And to be honest, you know, where we were in 2020, in 2020 or 2019, we were at $20 million. This thing is spinning out of control. And that's why there's this tension, because we're saying there's. There's people in the.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:31]:
In Congresses Saying, this is going to be the undoing of our nation if we don't reign in the spending. We're consistently spending $2 trillion. And I know it's like crazy. You can't even imagine $2 trillion, right? It's impossible to. To kind of see how much money that is. But it's. If we don't reign that in, that there's no way that we can continue to function as a nation. And, you know, sometimes I've been in a place.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:03]:
I don't know if anybody ever pretended that you had more money than you did anybody ever pretend you had more money than you did? It's like I was once. I didn't even intend to pretend I had more money. But I remember when I was a missionary and I was looking at. I just needed a suit. I hadn't had a suit, and I needed to go to this function. And I looked and I remember going into this store and just looking at the thing and trying to find something that fits me. And I remember trying something on. He says, oh, you're looking for a suit? And I go, I don't know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:33]:
Yeah, maybe. And the next thing you know, he's fitting the thing. It's like, hey, we can get it to you by Wednesday, right? And I'm thinking, oh, but I leave Tuesday, right? And he says, well, if we rush it, I could get it for you on Monday, right? And I looked at the suit and there was no way I could afford the suit. And then I had to say, maybe it was Monday that I have to. You know what I mean? Like, it just was embarrassing. And the scripture says that one man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing. That was me. And another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:08]:
And the thing is that I think this aspect of that, learning to live within your means is a fundamental principle. But the reality is, why we asked you to do homework last week was just know what comes in, know what's going out. Because no one can live that way for a protracted period, right? We all have to live within our means. We all have to act our wage. And it starts by spending less than you earn. Here's the second thing. Second point number two is this. Avoid debt and financing your lifestyle, right? Avoid debt and financing your lifestyle.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:46]:
Because we all know the power of compounding interest can either work for us or it can work against us. It works for us when it's saved, when it's invested. It works against us when it's debt, right? And that's why 20 trillion can become 38 trillion, right? And so it says this in Proverbs 22, 7, it says, let's read what it says. Ready? Let's read that together. Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is the servant to the lender. And it's talking about a sense of bondage, it's talking about this form of slavery. It's talking about this aspect of, you know, just being under the gun, right? Having. Being a lack of freedom.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:36]:
You know, as we hit these holidays, it's not uncommon to spend money in November or December to have a happy holiday, you know, you gotta, you want to make it special for someone or for yourself. You want to, you know, because to be honest, sometimes today, I think some of us, we spend more on our special Christmas gift for ourselves sometimes than other people and all that kind of stuff. But it's easy to do that and then to be so overwhelmed when the statements come in January and February, right? And so why is that? Because financing is easy. It's just a click away, right? It's just a tap away. It's just a kind of a signature away. And credit card interest, we all know, is the worst, right? 25 to 29%. I mean, it sounds illegal, but it's not. And if you've ever been in credit card debt, you know how crippling that can be, right? So that if you get stuck in this place, it's so overwhelming, all we can do is pay the minimum balance.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:40]:
You know what, that's calculated at 360 months of payment. In other words, if you pay whatever your credit card debt, you could have a credit card debt of, you know, $200. But if you look at whatever the minimum payment is, you know what, that's calculated that if you keep paying that minimum payment every month, it'll be done in 30 years. That's what it's calculated at normally, that the minimum payment. And so that's what the scripture warns us about debt. Because culture says you can have it now, right? But God's wisdom says sometimes you got to wait, right? Sometimes you have to wait. Now, not everybody, not everybody who's, you know, we had read a little earlier about the foolish spend. But, you know, not everybody who's in debt is foolish, right? Because sometimes what's happened is you had a car accident.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:40]:
Sometimes what happened is you had a medical emergency, right? And sometimes, you know, it's not foolish. But we were unprepared, right? We were unprepared. And so kind of spending to keep up with A lifestyle that we cannot afford, though, I think is foolish to keep spending to maintain a lifestyle that we cannot afford. Doesn't make sense. And so we need to be just mindful that we're not financing a lifestyle, right? That we're not financing, you know, what it is that we do for fun. We're not financing the car that we drive that's beyond what we should be paying because, you know, we needed to show something to some neighbor or to some friend or, you know, because you needed to have a certain emblem on your car. The scripture says this, that when it comes to finances, I think there's a big application of what it says in James 5:7. James 5:7 says, says this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:44]:
See how the farmer waits, let's say waits, waits for the land to yield its valuable crop. Patiently waiting for the autumn and the spring rains, that there's a planting, there's a tending and then there's a waiting. And that sometimes you, before you kind of indulge on something that is so easy to tap on, that is so easy to pay with your phone, that's so easy for you to sign on the paper. Because they'll say, like sometimes you're asking, well, how much will I owe? And what will they say? What's the saying that comes back? Oh, don't worry about how much it costs. Can you make this monthly payment? Right, but the cost matters, right? You know, I bought a car a number of years ago, just when we got married and I gave Rika my car and I needed to get a car. I was doing sales at the time, so I thought I'm going to buy an economical car for gas. And so I ended up buying a Honda Civic. I wanted a Honda Civic.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:49]:
I had had a Honda Civic before that, gave it to my dad when I went to the mainland. He crashed it before I came home, so I had to buy a new car. So the thing is that I thought I'm going to just buy, I go buy a five speed, right? Even save more gas. Except I like the exsi. Now, if you don't know what si means, it just means that when you add that to the ex, it just means you pay more money. That's all that means. But you know that. And it wasn't that old, but it was a couple years old and I didn't have the money to pay for it and so I had to finance it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:23]:
And that is the only car I ever have financed, right? Because I just, I just wanted it. I thought it was cool. It was the car that all the kids would come and I'm at the stoplight, and they would be like. Like looking at me, right? Because that was the young man's car, right? And. And the thing is that, you know, as we kind of moved on in our marriage, in our life, and then we got. She got pregnant, all these kinds of things that happen. And now I have rent, now I have a mortgage, now I have kids to pay for. And you know what, though? I had so much regret of buying that car because I could have bought something that was much less something that I could have maybe paid for cash.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:09]:
But I still do that today. To be honest, that's the only car I've never bought. I've never financed a car in over 26 years. Because since then, I learned that lesson that. That kind of debt, like, it's not. Is it wrong for you guys to ever finance a car or whatever? You know, sometimes I know people have. It works out for some reasons, but for the average person, I would just say this. That to be honest, you end up spending so much more than you would ever do if you don't have the funds to pay for it outright, right? So the car that I'm rolling in right now, like, is.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:55]:
It's not a new car, but it's the nicest car I've ever had. It's the most comfortable car I've ever had. Right? It was a car that I could pay for in cash because it was 21 years old. But the thing is that we're in this place that I think we need to be mindful of getting into debt. Because debt isn't just because of the bank and the company that's coming for you, right? It's not just that sense that there's an authority over you that can somehow come after you if you don't, you know, pay your bills. But it's the stress at times, right? It's the loss of freedom at times. It's the strain on relationships at times. 56% of people who.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:44]:
Who go through divorce cite financial difficulties as a contributing factor, right? And so it's like you're running a race and you're carrying extra weight. It's not that you can't move. It's the fact how heavy and tiring it feels. Because, like, how many of us have known that you pick up a backpack, oh, yeah, £15, no problem. That you walk for, like, 25 minutes and you go like, man, you're sweating. And it's so much harder than you thought, because £25 or £15 over 25 minutes, it compounds its weight. And so, you know, that's why Scripture reminds us, let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt. To love one another, saying, that's the only kind of debt that you always pay, right? But always make sure you pay that debt.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:43]:
But he says this. You pay all your debts, but he says this. But make sure that you're loving one another, saying, when you're paying that kind of a debt, there's no regret when you pay that kind of a debt. So that's number three. Number two, the third thing is this. Build an emergency fund. Build an emergency fund. You know, we said that how easy it is for some of us to find security in our finances, right? To find a sense of financial independence and freedom sometimes in our.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:20]:
In our circumstances. And we said that those things are not entirely wrong. What's wrong is that when we lose the big picture. And so having savings is. I don't think it's not an optional thing, but it's not our God, but so we. We should be prepared for the kind of inevitabilities or the unforeseen things of life. When you had a car accident, let's say we talked about, or you know, you had some other kind of accident, that's why you had some medical bills. It's called an accident for a reason, right? Because you didn't foresee it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:54]:
But one of the things that we can see is a need to be prepared. Proverbs 6, 6 says this. Take a lesson from the ants, you lazy bones. Learn from their ways and become wise. How many of us that when we think, what's the wisest animal kind of in the world do we think? Ant, right? Nobody thinks that, right? Because to be honest, they're kind of dumb, right? They kind of move on instinct. But what it is, it says that we can learn even from something that's not the smartest. Why? Because they have a way about them that is wise, even though they themselves may not be wise. What does it say in Proverbs 30, 25? We're going to read that together.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:40]:
Ready? Let's read ants. They aren't strong, but they store up food all summer. The ant doesn't spend it when it gathers it, right? The ants don't eat everything they gather in the day that they gather it. They plan ahead, they save it. Ants don't wait for the crisis to start storing. They use the time when there is plenty and they start when it doesn't even seem like there's a lot, right? So in the Same way God calls us to use wisdom, to plan, to save, to prepare, not out of fear, but out of faith. Can we. Do me a favor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:21]:
Let's just say we save not out of fear, but out of faith. Why do we save out of faith? Because we're saying this. It's because I believe God's word, right? I believe God's instruction. I believe that when he says that there's a storage in our life, that God is my provider, not my savings is my provider. But you know what? That God uses savings. Now, Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow. You guys remember that, right? He says, hey, don't worry about tomorrow. Trust God that he's your provider, right? Later on, it says a few verses later, in Matthew 6:33, he says this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:04]:
He says, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things, right? Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. And so that's the heart of God, right? That's the heart of God, that knowing that God's the provider. Like what we read in Philippians 4:19, right? That's the heart of God. But Proverbs teaches us the preparation and the skill, the wisdom of mastering money and dealing with money by this, by preparing and saving for those moments, right? So God's heart is to prepare. I mean, God's heart is to provide. But the way that sometimes he provides is he says, plan and prepare. You know, a number of years ago, I had a friend that. Well, he's still a friend.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:52]:
I just. We don't see each other very often. But he and his wife, they were young and he had a good job, and still, to be honest, still in college and saving and kind of putting this nest egg away. And they got married, got pregnant, and their first child came on the scene. And all of a sudden his wife was bedridden. She had a hard pregnancy. She had all these complications, and all of a sudden she was bedridden for about four and a half months, unable to work. Right? He had to adjust.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:28]:
He still was doing, you know, relatively well, but they started to dip into their savings. And to be honest, I was worried about. About his faith, because here he was a guy who was faithful, a guy who loved God. He was like a worship leader guy, and he was a great, you know, lead in that area. But then here now, you know, I didn't want him to feel like, oh, my gosh, why I'm serving God and why does this happen to me? And we got together and we were having lunch, and I say, how you doing? You know, with all this thing? And it's like you feeling okay? You know, I know that it's not what you saved the money for because you wanted to try and get a place and the whole thing. And he said this, he says, no, hey, Glenn, you know that I am so grateful that we saved because if we hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to weather this storm with any sense of security, right? And so he saw it different, right, because he saw that God's wisdom was that preparation in saving. And so, you know, that it's, it's God's heart to provide. But he says sometimes the mechanism happens in saving.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:45]:
Can I just say this? If you don't have. And I, you know, many of us that. It sounds so basic, but I cannot assume that everybody has a savings account. If you don't have a savings account, please open one. If you have a savings account, put something away every month, right? You know what? Put it on automatic so that you don't think about it. You don't have to consciously do it. You don't have to remember why. Because Even if it's $25 a week or whatever it is that you do it, because little by little it'll add up and it'll be part of God's plan in your provision.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:30]:
And here's the fourth thing is this. Set long term goals. Set long term goals. It says this in Proverbs 24, 3 and 4. It says, by wisdom a house is built and through understanding, it is established through knowledge. Its rooms are filled, let's say filled, right? It's filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Now this house that he's talking about, it's not so that we can live the most opulent life or that we got to be materialistic. We need the most sacred and beautiful and rare treasures.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:02]:
But there's some things that are laid out here. It starts with a plan, right? Not a purchase. The house starts with a plan. Why? Because it says by wisdom a house is built, right? You build a house with a plan and through understanding it is established. So when you set long term goals, like paying off a home or saving for your kids, college or retirement, or sometimes even some, you know, some dream thing that you want to do, right? That maybe it's stability for the next generation. These are important things. It's long term goals and it's good to have long term goals. And it says that through understanding it's established.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:47]:
That means real financial strength comes from understanding how our money works, right? How to Budget, how to avoid debt, how to invest with patience. Not trying to get rich and not chasing. Always the latest thing to get rich, because sometimes you hit it rich. It's not saying that you don't, but I was mindful, I was talking to actually my son and we were just talking about how the latest crypto thing and I don't, I don't invest in crypto because I don't really understand it. To me it just seems like a scam. No, but the thing is, but here's this thing I just remember in that latest bubble burst that happened that how it said is this guy who had just bought, I forget how many tens of millions of dollars in crypto. And the crash came and he took his Lamborghini and drove it as fast as he could on the freeway to and in Europe and crashed it into a wall. He did it on purpose, right, because he made a ton of money till the crash happened.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:54]:
And then all of a sudden, right, he despaired, right? And so what we do is that we need to understand that sometimes, sometimes a little bit over time is better than something that happens today and is gone tomorrow. So but without understanding, even a good income can crumble under bad habits. And so with understanding, even modest resources can grow some of the most probably when you read about things that the people who end up doing well aren't necessarily the people who made the most money in their lifetime from their job, but it's what they did with the savings and investment. And so God doesn't just bless the finished house, he blesses the process. So sometimes we set long term financial goals, okay, and so hey, what does that mean then? That you have to live out, then when you have these principles, then you'll live those things out with different priorities, right? Cause sometimes it's a certain lifestyle, right? How many of us know that there's, there's things called if you make money, how many of us know that there's things called taxes, right? And you know, and those things need to be paid. And so you pay your debts and you save and invest and then you give and you do all those things, right? And I think that those things, they happen for everybody in the world to varying degrees and varying proportions and varying sense of importance. But God has priorities that are so opposite often of, of the world. Because when God has priorities, he says that one of the first things that what we see is to honor the God who gave us the capacity to have the resource.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:48]:
And so I think that when we see it in the scriptures, he says this, that to give is an important principle. Right to give is an important principle. Let's read what it says in Second Corinthians 9, 6. Ready? Let's read. Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows generously will reap generously. And what he's using is this aspect of a farmer who is planting seeds. He says this, that when you give to God, when you give to the poor, when you give to those in need, that you are sowing a seed, you're planting a seed that may not bloom today, it might not bear fruit today, but over time.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:41]:
He says this, that if you only plant a few seeds, what are you going to harvest? Just a little right now, this is not talking about, like your financial investment. He's talking about giving to those in need, giving to the poor. It's talking about giving to honor, to God who gave us the capacity to make wealth and that it would be a thing that we do systematically. It says in the New Testament, in the book of First Corinthians, Paul says this. He says, let's read what that says, First Corinthians 16:2. He says this. Ready? Let's read. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:25]:
What does that mean, keeping with your income? It's proportional, right? It's proportional. It's not like there's not a. There's not a tax, there's not a fee, there's not an admittance fee. There's none of that. You come because. And it's free, right? We never charge for stuff like, you know, to have a service, to come worship. That's crazy. But the thing is that what he says is we come, but we come and we honor God and we give, right? So he says it's proportional.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:56]:
And he says in keeping with your income, saving up. So when I come, no collections will have to be made. Paul was going to strong arm, if not. No, I was kidding. But you know, the thing is that it's talking about basically, don't give out of emotion. It ought to be purposeful. Don't go to the place where they're going to guilt you into giving. Don't go to the place where, you know, if you ever see me doing this, please tell me, because I never want to be that guy and I never want to do that to our church, but that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:33]:
Where people's hearts are manipulated in order to give. It ought to be something we do in Faith and obedience to God, right? It's something that we ought to do in faith and obedience to God. And to be honest, you know what? It's not the favorite thing that I get to talk about. You know why it's not the favorite thing? Because I always feel like it can be seen as something to my advantage. You know what I mean? But here's why, and we'll talk about it. We're going to have to talk about it a little bit more in the future. But one of the reasons why I did is because I do talk about it, is because I realized if I never thought about it, one day I'm going to stand before God and God is going to say, why didn't you teach my people how to be generous? There's some of them that never received the blessings of God because you never taught them how to give. And when I sense this conviction from God that I go, I repented, I repented.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:39]:
I didn't like talking. I still don't like it. But the thing is, it's an important thing. It's something that my wife and I, we practice. Now, the reality is that I don't give on the first of every week. I give when I get paid, right? And for a lot of us, that's when you give, you give when you get paid. We take an offering every week because everybody gets paid different times. But you know, the thing is, what it is, it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:02]:
It's proportional for us. We tithe, right? Because I think that's our conviction. But giving is something everybody can do. Giving is something everybody can do. And then the second thing is this saving and investing. God says this, that honor me first, right? We honor him from the first of what we have, right? And so he even says they do it on the first day of the week, which is Sunday, right? But we have Saturday service. So you guys doing on the last day of the week. But the principle is still the same.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:35]:
But it's like taking this aspect. But then the second thing is, you know what? You got to pay yourself, you got to pay yourself. That's what you do when you save and when you invest. Because if you spend it on your lifestyle, you're paying somebody else, right? When you pay it on something that you flourish, you're paying that guy. When you save it and you invest it, you paint it to yourself. And he says, this dishonest money dwindles away. But whoever gathers money, little by little, let's say little by little makes it grow, right? Consistency is sometimes more important than extravagance. Right? So we ought to pay, prepare for the future.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:24]:
So make sure you pay yourself. Make sure you pay yourself. And the third thing is debt repayment. Now, you know, everybody today, I think, you know, if you want to earn miles, you use a card, right? You want to buy a car. It's so easy to sign a thing. You want to buy a house. Everybody, I think at some point, in some ways aspires to debt, right? Because. Or that's the mechanism to get to the place that we want, where we have a house, we have those things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:57]:
But what he says, that when you incur debt, it's important to pay that back. Psalm 37:21 says this. Let's read what it says. Ready? Begin. The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously. You know, in the scriptures that what we promise to do is important to God. That what you say you'll do that it's an important thing that when I make a promise, in making a vow to my wife that it's an important promise. God holds me to that promise.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:40]:
When I. At the same time he says this, that when I sign an agreement and I say I will do such and such and for such and such service, pay such and such money, he says, in the same way, I'm obligating myself. And then God holds me today, it's an important thing. So if I borrow money, I'm obligated to pay it back. That's God's principle, and that's why he wants us to avoid debt, because it's an obligation for us to. To pay back, both in the world's eyes as well as in God's eyes. And so that's why he says, if you're going to have any kind of a debt, do the one to love. Because then when you pay it back, you do it with joy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:22]:
And so. And then fourth is this, that you got to pay taxes. You got to pay taxes, right? I just remember a while back I was watching the news and I saw somebody in the news that I didn't expect to see in the news for this reason, but it was somebody that I knew and I didn't know really well, but I had known them from church who was in court on the news and was being sentenced to some prison time for not paying taxes. And he's the last guy I ever expected. But the reason is because he was saying that because he's Hawaiian, because the kingdom was not taken legally, that he was not subject to pay the taxes of the United States. Now, I agree With a bunch of that, right? I agree that, yeah, probably was taken over. But you know what that you live in the United States, you part of society. And then when that happened, I saw that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:46]:
I actually talked to my friends at the church where he fellowshiped, and I asked them, hey, you know, so. And so I saw him on the news. What happened? He said, oh, man, he just. I don't know why. He just got caught up in this thing and he couldn't let go. And he just. He took it all the way till. Well, you saw, right? And I was like this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:11]:
And that's why it's important to understand that Romans 13:7 says this. Give to everyone what you owe them. If you owe taxes, pay taxes. You can get on a. On a point where you go, like, I. I think that for whatever the reason, there's been injustices in the world. Been injustices in the thing, maybe, right? Maybe. But if you have taxes, pay them.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:40]:
It's. Jesus said it like this. So give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and what is to God. To God, right? And these are priorities. And then at the end, if we are meeting God's priorities, he says this, okay, I'm giving to God. I'm taking care. I'm making some kind of impact in those in need. I'm saving and investing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:04]:
I'm repaying my debt, I'm paying myself. I pay back my debts. I pay my taxes. Then he says this, you know what? Go enjoy. Go enjoy, right? It says like this in Ecclesiastes 4:4. I guess I didn't write it. Is that in your notes? Not in your notes. Ecclesiastes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:25]:
Or maybe it's 5:19. Okay, I don't know why I said 4:4, but Ecclesiastes 5:19. Let me just read that. Ecclesiastes 5:19 says this. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power, to enjoy them and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil. This is the gift of God. It's not wrong to enjoy good things. If you have worked, if you have toiled, if you have had increase, you know, God wants you to enjoy the good things of life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:11]:
Do me a favor, turn to your neighbor. Says, God wants you to enjoy it, right? It's not. It's not wrong. God wants you to enjoy. There's nothing wrong. And if you. If you have the funds, right? You know, to go on a great vacation. If you have the funds, have a nice dinner out.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:29]:
If you have the funds, go ahead, go out to you Know, drive that car that you wanted, like. But here's the thing. He says this. We don't make our lifestyle our master. We make God our master, right? And then he says this, then when you have it, you'll be able to enjoy it without regret. Because the scripture says this, that the blessings of the Lord come without regret. But you know, when you get your all these priorities out of order because like, oh, shoot, I didn't pay my taxes. Oh, shoot, I didn't pay my debt.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:05]:
And, oh, shoot, I didn't, you know, I didn't do this. I did. Oh, I didn't honor the Lord. We get all these kind of things. All of a sudden you go like, oh, my gosh, I shouldn't have spent that. That's regret, right? Because now we don't have enough. So he says at the end, after you do these things, that's what you kind of provide for your family. Have a lifestyle you can be content with, right? Enjoy what God has given, but we ought to provide first for our household, right? And we honor the God who allows us to do this, right? When God gives somebody those things, that, yes, please enjoy them.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:47]:
But he says there's an order and, you know, the way of the world, the order of the world looks really different than the order and priorities of God. The ways of the world look more like this, if we were to say it. The world's priorities look more like, get all you can first and live the way that, you know, looks good on Instagram or whatever that case, right? And then, you know what? Sometimes you pay your taxes because nobody wants to go to jail. And then you pay your debts, and then you save and invest. And then if you have anything left over, that's where you give to God. That's the way of the world. Then when we look at God's word, what does it tell us? It says, honor me first with the first of your fruits. It says, with the best of the land.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:37]:
That's what he says. Give. You know what talks a lot about saving and investing, paying your debts, paying your taxes, and then living and enjoying without regret, the blessings of God. It just reminds me. Reminds me of a story that I read a while back about a crime that happened. I think it was actually New York City where thieves broke into this jewelry store and they didn't steal anything, per se, not. Not that night. What they did was they just changed the prices.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:24]:
And so they went to the places that were had the costume jewelry that was like 1999, and they took the tag from the diamond ring and put it on that. And so now it's like $7,000, right? And they took that original diamond and gold and those things, and they made it 1999 and they just changed the price tag, right? And what's the plan? Then they come back later and they buy this phenomenal jury for less price, right? That was their plan. But, you know, how is it like the devil to do the same thing to us? It takes the things that is most value and make it look like it's worth less. And then he takes those things that might have some value, but he puts it at the highest priority. The enemy will always try to take the things of God and reverse the order. And so part of us handling money is to be able to say this, God, I trust that when you've given us abilities, when you give us resources, that, Lord, that there's things to be done, there's management to be done. But first, I just want to honor you and I want to make sure for the future, for posterity, whether for your kids or your retirement or whatever it is, you pay yourself, right? You pay your debts, you pay our taxes. And you know what? When the time comes, enjoy it without guilt, right? Enjoy it without guilt.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:29]:
But when we do it the opposite way, it's so easy to come to that place where we never get past sometimes 1 and 2 on the world's way, right? And if we do, we maybe we get to point three, but we never get to point four. It's when we start consuming everything we have and sometimes more. We're not acting our wage, and this is God's plan. Make sense? Hey, let's bow our heads. We're going to close. In a word of prayer, Father, we know that all of us have sometimes greater appetites than what our financial wherewithal may be. That's probably just part of the human condition. But I thank youk that when we act our wage and we put things in the right order.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:31]:
You said, Lord, that when the time to enjoy it comes, we can enjoy it without guilt, without worry. Because we already know, Lord, we've paid our debts, we've honored our God, we've done our part to prepare for the future, Lord. We might not be perfect, but, Lord, thank you that we can enjoy the good things of life. And if you're here and you know, just you're noticing that there's things in here that, to be honest, you can't right now. You don't know how you do these things. We're going to talk about it a little bit more in the future. I think that the thing that what God is looking for is that would you just be willing to let him make changes in your heart? Because when God starts changing your heart, then what will happen is then the ways to work that out practically in the world starts to take place. But if we could give all the details in the world, we can give all the plans in the world, all the mechanisms in the world, but if your heart's not changed, you'll never do.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:56]:
Won't be important, you'll never get around to it. And so would you just be asking God, God, if there's things that you want to rearrange in my heart, Lord, the way that I deal with money. And so, Lord, I want to deal with money in a way that honors you. I know you said that we ought not to be mastered by money. That we can't serve God and riches at the same time because we'll put one over the other. We'll honor one and we'll despise the other. Lord, we want to honor you first. So Father, would you realign some of these things in our heart? And we're thankful, Lord, that there's a way to work those things out practically.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:43]:
But Lord, thank youk that yout say this, that it's yous heart that matters most. Lord, when we give youe our heart, Lord, you'd work all things out in our life. Father, thank youk that yout always start with the heart. And so we give youe ours today. And Father, we thank youk that yout have a wisdom as our Creator, as our Master, as our Lord. Teach us, Lord. Teach us, Lord. Because we want to be able to live a life that when we stand before you, that you will say, well done, well done.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:21]:
My good, my faithful servant. Lord, we pray these things in Jesus name. God's people say Amen. Amen.