1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:22,720 Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected or to give online, go to hcv.church or give.htv.church. 2 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,960 If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text 3 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:32,000 change me to 970-00. Thank you and enjoy the message. 4 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:37,520 Joining us from home or Hagerstown Healthcare, thank you for welcoming us into your space. 5 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:44,080 And just like I said earlier, you saw the kids up here on stage. We had nearly 60 volunteers 6 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:51,280 help us last week. We had nearly 100 kids fill this place. And I tell you, they met Jesus last 7 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,320 week and that's the most important thing that we could ever do. And not only did they meet Jesus, 8 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:02,480 but they had a lot of fun as you could tell by their dance. Now yesterday, as many of you know, 9 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:08,480 there was an assassination attempt made on Donald Trump. And just being honest and upfront, 10 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,440 in my own will and in my own strength, I wasn't going to mention anything about it because I'm 11 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:20,160 not political. I don't want to get politics mixed up with church and I believe it has no place there. 12 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:27,440 However, this morning, I felt a prompting in my spirit that the Holy Spirit was challenging me 13 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:33,280 to pray for unity. See, I believe the enemy wants to continue to divide our country. 14 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:41,760 But I feel that as a community of faith, as the church, we need to come together and pray for God 15 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:48,720 to bring our country together through a situation like this. Because see, the Bible tells us that 16 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:56,400 what the enemy meant for good, God turns around and brings about for good. Or did I say good? 17 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:01,280 Yeah. What the enemy meant for bad. There we go. Sorry. Got bad and good mixed up. 18 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:07,360 And I just wanted to pause for a second and invite you to come together as the church 19 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:16,000 and to simply just pray for our political leaders. The negativity, the evil, the arguing, 20 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:22,160 the bickering that we see in our country that has no place, that through this, they would be 21 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:27,200 able to come together and begin to solve some of the issues that many of us are facing. So let's 22 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:36,560 pray. Holy Spirit come. God, we just give our country to you. You tell us, God, through the 23 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:43,440 Bible, that when people come together and call on your name, when we cry out for forgiveness, God, 24 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:50,320 forgive us. Forgive us for not putting you first. Forgive us for walking off course. 25 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:58,400 We humbly come before you and cry out and ask you to heal our land, heal our country. 26 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:06,560 God, bring about unity between Republican and Democrat and independent God. May this one event 27 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:12,640 that was meant for evil be turned around and meant for good and send our country, set our country 28 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:20,000 back on a course where we can put you first and worship you and you become the center of our lives. 29 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:28,640 So as a church, we cry out, may we be vessels of this change. Help us, God, to just say the right 30 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:36,880 words. Help us to do the right thing and give us wisdom in everything we do. In Jesus' name, amen. 31 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:42,800 Amen. Now for the last several weeks, we've been looking at what it means to be generous 32 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:50,800 in God's kingdom. Two weeks ago, I kicked it off discussing kingdom generosity and how it's so 33 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:57,840 vastly different than the world's economy. Last week, we looked at the kingdom money mindset. 34 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:04,800 We discussed tithing and we discussed what it means to give back to God. And why is it important 35 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:11,200 to discuss money in church no matter how it makes us feel? Again, just as I shared last week, 36 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:18,880 remember two out of three, right, or two-thirds of the parables that Jesus taught or 66% of them 37 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:24,080 deal directly with finances and possessions. In the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 38 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:32,320 one in every 10 verses speak to money and finances. So Jesus thought it was important 39 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:37,120 to teach about. And for those of us that are following him, especially the leaders within the 40 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:43,200 churches, we believe that's important. Therefore, we are going to teach about it and we're going to 41 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:48,320 share about it. We're going to challenge you to live your best life when it comes to money 42 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:56,800 and giving. Because here's the reality. Kingdom generosity is a heart issue. And Jesus wants all 43 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:05,360 of our heart. Everything we have in this life comes from God. It's all His. He gave us everything 44 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:11,280 that we have. And when that truth hits, when it sinks in, listen, giving becomes exciting, right? 45 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:17,440 It becomes a privilege, an opportunity to turn around and give back to God a little of what He 46 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:24,560 has given to us. With kids camp happening this week and being around 100 young people the whole 47 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:31,120 week, it kind of got me thinking about how Jess and I give our younger kids money to buy us 48 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:38,480 Christmas presents. Any other parents like that? Right? Every year, Jess and I supply our children 49 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:45,040 money to go out and buy us a present. Think about it. Do we need whatever it is that they're going 50 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:52,160 to purchase? No. Right? We could just go out and buy it ourselves. The only reason they have money 51 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:59,520 is because we gave it to them. And the whole idea of giving them money is so they can give something 52 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:06,800 back to us. It isn't for us. It's for them. And I think this is what God wants us to learn today. 53 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:16,240 See, the principles that He established around giving, He doesn't need our money. Right? None of 54 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:22,560 it is for Him. It's for us. Right? Why do we give our kids money to give us something back? Because 55 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:29,200 on Christmas, we want our kids to experience the joy of giving to others. We want them to experience 56 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:35,440 the simple excitement of going out and purchasing something that they think will make us happy. 57 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:42,080 And then when we open up that perfectly wrapped present lying under the tree, we smile so big and 58 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:48,640 are excited about the gift. See, we're trying to change the way our kids experience Christmas. 59 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:56,640 And when it comes to giving, God is trying to change the way we experience life. He says, 60 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:04,800 if you give back part of what I've already given you, watch your joy grow. If you give back, 61 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:11,680 you'll experience more peace, more financial freedom, more purpose. And did I mention that 62 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:20,080 He promises to open the windows of heaven for us? More than anything, it gives me and you the 63 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:27,200 opportunity to leave behind a legacy that every person on this earth dreams of leaving. See, 64 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:34,960 when this life ends, more than anything else, we desire that other people feel that we mattered, 65 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:42,480 that we made a difference by giving, by helping, by serving, by inviting people to our community 66 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:48,560 of faith, by building our community of faith to see others give their lives to Jesus and 67 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:56,800 experience new life. We all want that sort of legacy. And see, God gives us the opportunity 68 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:03,120 to experience some of that through the way He set up the giving of our resources. See, when our 69 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:10,320 hearts, when our hands line up with God's, when they're open and we give back our first and our 70 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:21,120 best to Him, He can bless us by loving on those, those other lives afterwards. He says, we are 71 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:28,720 never more like God than when we give. Jesus challenges us to give freely, motivated by love, 72 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:35,680 not expecting anything in return, which leads us to our first and only thought this morning. 73 00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:43,120 See, our attitude counts more than the amount. Our attitude counts more than the amount. Mark, 74 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:49,360 chapter 12, Jesus sat down near the collection box in the temple and watched as the crowds dropped 75 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:54,880 in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in 76 00:08:54,880 --> 00:09:01,680 two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I tell you the truth. This poor widow 77 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:07,360 is given more than all the others who are making contributions for they gave a tiny part of their 78 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:15,360 surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on. Now, could you 79 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:23,200 imagine just for a second, if I walked out on this stage today and said that Jesus was coming to HCV 80 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:30,320 next week, right? There would be a buzz in the air, but see, that is literally what is happening 81 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:36,560 in these verses that I just read for you. Jesus is visiting the temple in Jerusalem and word gets 82 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:41,680 out that Jesus is coming to church. And could you imagine the feelings that would go through your 83 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:48,320 mind? Right? For some of you, be honest, you're thinking, finally a good preacher will be sharing 84 00:09:48,320 --> 00:10:00,160 next week. Thank goodness. So you arrive with anticipation. You look around the room. Where is 85 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:07,600 he? Worship begins. As you look for Jesus in the room, he's not on the stage singing. 86 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:15,120 And as the prayer happens, you're like, you peek out one eye and you think Jesus is going to be 87 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:22,720 praying. You think Jesus is going to be praying, but no, he's not on stage. And suddenly you begin 88 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:28,320 to rush through your mind, but I thought Jesus was coming. And then finally, when it comes time to 89 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:37,120 collect the offering, Jesus shows up and he sits down in your row right beside you to watch what 90 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:45,120 out to put in the offering. Wouldn't that be a little awkward? Make us a little uncomfortable. 91 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:53,920 But see, this is what is happening in those short verses that I just read. Like verse 41, it says, 92 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:59,760 Jesus sat down near the collection box in the temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their 93 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:06,720 money. And as I was reading about this encounter last week, I began to ponder why Jesus would do 94 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:15,760 this. Why sit and watch what people are giving. And the Holy Spirit led me to Jesus's famous words 95 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:21,360 in Matthew 6, 21, wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. 96 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:30,480 See, Jesus was not watching for the person that gave the most money. He was watching for the person 97 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:36,960 that gave from the heart. Because we are naturally generous to the things that are closest to our 98 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:44,640 hearts. And Jesus was looking for the people that had a heart for his father's house, who had a heart 99 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:51,600 for the kingdom of God and its causes. Because that's what God cares for desperately. 100 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:58,000 And as Jesus was watching the offering, he saw many rich people, and now other translations say, 101 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:06,400 throw in large amounts. They were throwing in the money. See, in the Jewish temple, 102 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:14,000 brass offering baskets that looked like upside down tubas were built into the walls of the temple. 103 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:21,120 You know, for those of us that are a little older, think about the way tolls used to be collected on 104 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:28,800 the throughways before easy pass. Right? There was these large metal baskets, and to get on the turnpike, 105 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:34,640 you had to drive by slowly and chuck in your change, hoping it would go in the basket so you got the 106 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:42,240 green light. Well, the offering in the temple would have been very similar to that. And as people 107 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:51,120 walked past the basket, they were throwing in their coins, and the more money that was given made more 108 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:58,880 noise. So the wealthy would be throwing in all of their coins against the brass, and people would be 109 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:06,160 looking around thinking, wow, that person is rich. See, that would have been impressive to every 110 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:13,760 person in the temple except for Jesus. See, Jesus pointed to the widow that only gave two cents, 111 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:19,440 two coins. And think about it, he actually calls the disciples over, he says, come over here, 112 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:24,080 come over here, look at this woman. This woman gave more than anyone else combined, 113 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:32,720 because she gave from the heart, she gave everything. And Jesus is shining a spotlight 114 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:41,760 on generosity. See, in God's eyes, our attitude is worth so much more than the amount. And when 115 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:48,000 it comes to our finances, friends, it's a trust issue. Jesus highlights this woman because of 116 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:56,080 her faith that God would continue to provide for her even in her poverty. We must remember this 117 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:02,320 woman was a widow, and in that culture, there was no social security. There was no husband to provide 118 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:12,160 for her. There was no government support. All she had was God. And when it came time for her to give, 119 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:22,240 Jesus celebrates her and says, yes, it's all about the heart and her attitude towards giving. 120 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,560 Which leads us to reflect on a simple question this morning. 121 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:36,080 Where is your heart when it comes to giving? See, if Jesus were sitting beside you today, 122 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:43,840 would he applaud your giving, celebrate your attitude, or would it kind of make him wince? 123 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:52,400 And as I was reflecting on this series, and please understand, every week that I share, 124 00:14:52,400 --> 00:15:00,960 I try to put myself in your shoes. Because I want to be just as impacted by God every week by the 125 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:06,400 words God speaks through me. Especially when it comes to being generous and giving. Because 126 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:13,760 I know it's a very difficult subject to navigate. So as I put myself in your shoes or sat in your 127 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:20,320 seat this week, I began to think about all the different emotions that comes along with giving 128 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:25,360 and finances, especially being discussed in church. Because you learned that last week, Jess and I 129 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:30,640 give back to God first, just like many of you do, with the desire to give above and beyond what God 130 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:38,160 asks for. But if I'm being honest, when it comes to sharing about giving and finances in church, 131 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:48,640 the two emotions that are loudest in my head and my heart are first, excitement, and second, scared. 132 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,080 I'm excited to give back to all that God is doing in our community of faith. 133 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:58,720 I shared about all the things that Hub City Vineyard did in 2023 last week, if you missed it. 134 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:03,680 I want to encourage you to go back and listen in. Because when you hear those things, it brings about 135 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:10,640 excitement and buzz and energy. I like to be a part of all that kingdom stuff. But the scary part 136 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:18,880 of giving, when it comes down to it, just like the widow gave, is the emotion, that feeling, 137 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:26,640 well, what if God doesn't come through this time? Even though He's always provided for me and I have 138 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:33,600 testimony of His faithfulness, of how He's provided for my family, what if? What if there's not enough 139 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:39,280 money to pay the bills? What if someone gets sick? What if they're sick? What if they're sick? 140 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:46,800 What if someone gets sick? What if the car breaks down? What if? And I don't know why it's in there. 141 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:53,280 I don't know why it's in our thought patterns, but it is. And the best thing we can do in regards to 142 00:16:53,280 --> 00:17:00,560 those feelings is to be honest with God about them. Because it's in our honesty that God can change 143 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:08,320 our heart and our outlook on giving. See, Jesus speaks directly to us and our emotions on giving 144 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:14,320 in a parable in Luke chapter 12 verses 15 to 21 that I would like to read for you. Then He said, 145 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:20,800 beware, guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you earn. 146 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:26,400 And unfortunately, we are human and all too often, that's what we think life is about. 147 00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:33,120 The more we make, the more success we have. Then He told them a story. A rich man at a fertile farm 148 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:38,960 that produced fine crops. And you can see Jesus immediately pointing back to God from the very 149 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:45,360 beginning. Where does the harvest come from? It comes from God. Right? God created the ground. 150 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:53,440 He provides the rain. He created the sun so this harvest can be fertile. The man though said to 151 00:17:53,440 --> 00:18:01,840 himself, what should I do? I don't have room for all my crops. Then He said, I know. I'll tear down 152 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:11,280 my barns and I'll build bigger seed containers. Then I'll have enough room to store all my weed 153 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:16,240 and other goods. And I'll sit back and say to myself, my friend, you have enough stored away 154 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:23,520 for years to come. Now take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry. See, the target for this man was 155 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:31,200 what? Was possessions. The target for this man was more, more money, bigger barns, store more food, 156 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:38,560 make more because there's going to be a day coming when I can live it up. See, it was all about 157 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:45,600 his kingdom. It was all about my kingdom. Then God said to him, you fool. You will die this very night. 158 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:52,160 Then who will get everything you worked for? Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth 159 00:18:52,160 --> 00:19:00,560 but not have a rich relationship with God. See, Jesus is describing two targets when it comes to 160 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:07,680 our money. And He says, this is how humanity chooses to give. Either they are rich to themselves 161 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:15,040 building their kingdom in what's best for them or they're rich towards God in His kingdom, 162 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:21,840 focusing on seeing others set free, healed, and delivered so that they can live an abundant life. 163 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:28,240 So friends, when we realize that it's all from Him anyways and I'm just the steward of what He has 164 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:36,080 given me, we have to determine which target we are shooting at, which leads us to our first point. 165 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:44,080 Aim at something that matters. Again, Luke 12, He said, I know I'll tear down my barns, build 166 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:50,000 bigger ones. I'll have enough room to store up all my weed and my other goods. I'll sit back and say 167 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:58,000 to myself, eat, drink, and be merry. Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not ever 168 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:04,960 have a rich relationship with God. So in honor of this being an Olympic year, in the 2004 Olympic 169 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:11,840 Games in Athens, there was an athlete by the name of Matthew Emmons and he was competing in the 50-meter 170 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:18,640 rifle shoot. This guy was an amazing athlete and I was reading this week he had the ability to slow 171 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:26,080 down his heart rate in pressure situations so he was able to focus on the target and pull the trigger 172 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:34,320 for the shot between heartbeats so that he was perfectly still. See, he didn't even want the beat 173 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:41,520 of his own heart to impact the precision of the shot. And please understand this guy was amazing. 174 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:47,520 By the time it came to the final round of competition for the Olympic gold, it was already over. 175 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:54,880 Matthew was so far ahead of the competition, all he had to do was simply hit the target and he would 176 00:20:54,880 --> 00:21:02,640 have won. And he could have did that with his eyes closed. All of the other competitors were 177 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:10,880 shooting for second place. This guy already won. But picture it, okay? He steps up 178 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:20,880 for his final shot and in your mind you can see it. He looks through the scope, 179 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:30,560 he takes aim, he slows his heart rate down, pulls the trigger. Bullseye! 180 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:41,200 He got it! But wait, but wait, every time a bullseye is achieved in the competition there's a horn 181 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:49,200 that sounds, but the horn never sounded and he was confused. As he stood up from his position, 182 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:58,640 he realizes he hit the bullseye on the wrong target. Matthew shot at the neighbor's target, 183 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:03,680 hit a bullseye on the wrong target, lost the gold and ended up in eighth place. 184 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:17,680 Olympic dreams crushed. But friends, that's so much like life. See, we have to be careful that we 185 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:24,080 don't spend our whole life trying to hit a bullseye on the wrong target. And that is what Jesus is 186 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:30,160 saying about this guy in the parable. He's saying, no, the target was on him in his kingdom building 187 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:36,160 it, growing it, so he had more money, more stuff, and one day, one day he could retire and live the 188 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:45,840 good life. But Jesus is like, oh, you hit a bullseye on your target, but that target doesn't matter. 189 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:52,480 And that's a problem. Listen, I've performed many funerals or celebrations of life because of 190 00:22:52,480 --> 00:23:01,120 pastoring this church. And friends, it's very easy to tell what people focused on or what their target 191 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:06,800 was while living on this earth. I have performed funerals where the person made a lot of money, 192 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:15,600 was very successful, but had very little friends with not much to say. And I've been able to 193 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:21,760 tell you that I have performed funerals for young people that died way too early because they were 194 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:27,440 focused on themselves and their needs and their pain, and they made a wrong decision. 195 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:34,720 But I have done funerals where people stood in line to share about the good deeds, the positive 196 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:40,720 attitude, the difference this person made while living on this earth. He or she was so generous. 197 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:47,440 It's very, very different. We don't want to hit a bullseye on the wrong target. 198 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:56,400 King David was different. Yes, he made many mistakes in his life, but he also had a lot 199 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:02,960 of great qualities and he knew where his target was. David is sharing about what he was going 200 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:08,400 to give to build the temple of God. Because remember, before Jesus, the people didn't have 201 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:14,480 the presence of God living within them. God's presence resided in the Ark of the Covenant, 202 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:20,720 and David was making plans to build a temple to house God's presence. And David says, 203 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:26,480 I'm going to be the first one to give. Look at 1 Chronicles 29. The work ahead of him is enormous. 204 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,920 For the temple he will build is not from your mortals, it's for the Lord God himself. 205 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:37,200 Using every resource at my command, I have gathered as much as I could for building the temple of God. 206 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:42,320 Now there is enough gold and silver and bronze and iron and wood, as well as great quantities of 207 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:47,920 onyx, other precious stones, costly jewels, and all kinds of stone and marble. And now, 208 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:55,200 because of my devotion to the temple of God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold 209 00:24:55,200 --> 00:25:03,280 and silver to help in the construction. See, David was focused on God and His kingdom. But how? 210 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:12,240 It's easy to talk about being generous to God's kingdom, but also get it. You work every single 211 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:20,560 week. There's bills to pay. There's food to buy. There's gas to put in the car. Chris, how do we 212 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:26,800 pay the bills and put God first? Well, verse 14, a little further down, answers that question. It 213 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:34,960 says this, but who am I? And who are my people that we could give anything to you? Everything 214 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:42,080 we have has come from you and we give you only what you gave us first. See, David understood that 215 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:50,080 everything he had came from God. So it was a privilege to give back to God first. David was 216 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:58,720 focused on the right target. And friends, that target changes your legacy. The guy that Jesus 217 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:06,800 spoke about in the parable, he hit his target and was successful, but no one really cared when he 218 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:13,440 died, except for maybe his family that would be fighting over all the money that he left. But when 219 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:21,120 David died, it's recorded in the Bible that he was a man after God's own heart. David wrote many of 220 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:28,400 the Psalms that we read every single morning. Think about that. More than 3000 years after David 221 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:34,080 died, we are still being encouraged by the recorded words that God spoke through King David. 222 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:41,440 David is still changing lives 3000 years after he lived. And friends, that's the 223 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:47,120 way he lived. And friends, that's what a legacy looks like. And it was determined by the target 224 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:56,320 he chose to focus on. We need to aim at something that matters. D.L. Moody says it this way, 225 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:02,640 our greatest fear should not be a failure, but it is succeeding at something that doesn't really 226 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:10,560 matter. Which leads us to point number two. Give something that costs you. See, every now and then 227 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:16,400 God offers us the opportunity to give abundantly. Many of you know that last week I shared about the 228 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:23,920 tithe and why God invites us to give back to him first. And remember, I challenge those of you that 229 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:30,240 question the tithe or is it biblical or do I really need to file it? I said, hey, challenge yourself. 230 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:36,560 Tithe or give 10% somewhere else. Keep coming to HTV. We're going to love on you. We're going to give 231 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,280 you coffee. We're going to worship together. We'll pray for you. We'll teach your kids all about Jesus, 232 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:47,440 but give your money somewhere else. That's how much I believe in tithing. God is always taking 233 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:52,160 care of this church. And we believe that as we continue to follow the Spirit's leading and 234 00:27:52,160 --> 00:28:00,080 prompting, he will do so. David, right, in another passage we're about to read, is about to get an 235 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:06,640 offer. See, David unfortunately made another bad choice and he needed to make a sacrifice for the 236 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:13,520 sin he had committed as an offering to God. So David approaches a man offering to buy his property 237 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:20,320 and animals to make the appropriate sacrifices to God. But when the guy realizes it's King David, 238 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:26,720 he offers his property and animals to David for free. But listen to David's response in 1 Chronicles 239 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:35,440 21. But King David replied to Aruna, no, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take 240 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:40,480 what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing. 241 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:48,480 See, David says, I won't bring an offering to God that costs me nothing because it's not really an 242 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:56,880 offering. It's not a sacrifice. But when it costs me something, then I get to feel excited and scared. 243 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,640 And I think that is where God wants us to be when it comes to giving and generosity. 244 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:08,480 He wants us both excited to give, while at the same time a little scared because that's where faith 245 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:13,760 comes in. See, giving is never about the amount. It's about our faith and our obedience to God. 246 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:20,320 It's all about our hearts. It's not about how much we have. It's about trusting God with what he gave 247 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:26,160 us. And we learned earlier in Mark Chapter 12, everyone has a different situation in this life. 248 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:33,600 Jesus, sitting down again at the collection box in the temple, sees many rich people throwing in 249 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:45,360 lots of money. He also sees a poor widow who drops in two small coins. And we learn quickly 250 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:51,200 that they gave out of their surplus, their extra, but she gave everything. 251 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:59,840 She gave everything. It cost her something. And what did Jesus do? He applauded her for the action. 252 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:05,600 It's never about the amount. And it's crazy as I talk to people about their giving, I've come to 253 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:12,080 notice that there's four different stages of giving that I want to quickly look at. But also 254 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:16,800 want to challenge you that if you identify with one of these stages, take the next step 255 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:24,240 and continue your growth of generosity. So the first stage is the person that gives occasionally. 256 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:29,600 It's that person that every now and then when the baskets pass, you have to have 20 in your pocket. 257 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:36,480 You drop it in. Or while you're checking out at Walmart, you feel a little prompting in your heart 258 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:42,400 to give the extra dollar to round up. So you give to St. Jude's to make a little different. 259 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:48,560 You want to give something. To those of you that give occasionally, I want to say thank you. 260 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:56,480 Thank you for giving something when you feel God telling you to give, because that's a great first 261 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:05,680 step. If you're not giving occasionally, start there. The next step is consistently giving. 262 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:11,520 And this is the people that recognize how God wants them to live when it comes to their finances. 263 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:17,760 And I'm going to stop just throwing a tip into God, because sometimes we can misconstrue. When 264 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:23,760 we tip God, that's like going out. When we go out to eat, that's when we tip the server based on 265 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:29,280 their performance. So sometimes when we're just occasionally giving and we give God a tip, it's 266 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:37,040 out of the wrong heart place. But if you want to give consistently, you begin to set up a certain 267 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:41,120 amount that you're going to give to God every week or every month or whatever you determine. 268 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:47,440 And you can write a check and have it ready, or you can set up reoccurring giving online 269 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:54,480 to whatever amount you choose to do. And that's a great next step if you're just giving occasionally. 270 00:31:54,480 --> 00:32:00,160 You can move to consistently giving, which leads us to our next step, the tithe. And I talked about 271 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:08,720 this last week. This is giving 10% of our first back to God. And I want to challenge those of you 272 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:18,080 that believe that if you give 2% back to God and call it a tithe, that's not true. And the only 273 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:22,240 reason I want to challenge you on calling it a tithe is because I don't want you to get frustrated 274 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:27,040 when you give a small percentage of your income, like 3% or 4%, and then you don't receive the 275 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:32,320 blessings back that Chris promised from God. And then you get mad at God, mad at the church, mad 276 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:42,720 at Chris, and leave. So don't call 3% of your income a tithe. Call it giving regularly. But a tithe 277 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:50,960 is 10% of our first, which leads us to the fourth step, and that's excelling. And that's those people 278 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:57,280 that have the gift of giving. You just love to give and give abundantly, and you experience joy 279 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:05,200 in it. And it's above and beyond the tithe of what God asks. That's a gift for some of you. 280 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:09,520 Walk in that gifting. I encourage you in that. Many of you know that we're trying to raise 281 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:16,400 $10,000 to build a kitchen in Kenya at the school that Jess and I visited a few months ago. 282 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,000 Right now, I asked Tracy, we're halfway there. We're about $5,000. 283 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:28,000 Right? Yeah, it's awesome. In like two weeks. I mean, it's incredible. It's a miracle in my book, 284 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,680 but some of you, just being honest, you have the ability to walk out to the welcome hub and write 285 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:37,280 a $5,000 check, and it's done. And if God's putting that on your heart, do it. Because that means 286 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:42,080 you're excelling in giving, and you're just walking in what God's telling you to do. And I want to 287 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:48,320 challenge you. Take a step of faith in this next season of your life and move forward. And if you 288 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:53,920 take a step of faith in this next season of your life and move closer to God, because God set up 289 00:33:53,920 --> 00:34:02,160 this system for giving, not for him, but for who? For us. It's not for him. It's for us to grow in 290 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:07,840 our generosity, leading us to our next point. Then you watch God work. You're like, Chris, 291 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:12,400 wait a minute. That was your point last week. It sure was. And I'm going to repeat it. Because 292 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:17,600 it's so valuable and important. And don't get it twisted. I'm not promising a heavenly Rolex or a 293 00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:24,560 Mercedes. I am simply saying that God is going to take care of you and meet all your needs when 294 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:30,480 you put in first. I mean, Malachi 3 tells us that. Bring all the ties into the storehouse so there'll 295 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:35,360 be enough food in my temple. If you do so, says the Lord of Heaven's army, he said, I will open, 296 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:40,240 here it is, the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out blessings so great you won't have enough 297 00:34:40,240 --> 00:34:45,200 room to take it in. Try it. Put me to the test. And the only way we fail that test is if what? 298 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:51,600 Don't give it all. So take a step of faith. Proverbs 3 tells us, honor the Lord with your wealth, 299 00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:55,920 and with the first part of everything you produce, then he will fill your barns with grain and your 300 00:34:55,920 --> 00:35:03,200 vats will overflow with good wine. See, God doesn't want the leftovers. Because if we're honest, 301 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:09,680 we're human. And quite often at the end of the month, there's very seldom anything left over 302 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:17,760 because we like to spend money. That's why God wants the first and the best. And this verse is 303 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:25,520 inviting us to trust him and to view life differently every single day. See, in the 18 years 304 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:31,920 that I've pastored this church, listen, we've been a generous church. We've always looked to serve 305 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:37,600 the community. We always looked to make a difference in people's eyes. Heck, I've been accused of being 306 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:45,120 an evangelist. Oh, Chris, you're just an evangelist. You just want to see people saved and set free, 307 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:56,640 healed and delivered. Last time I checked, that's the mission. True or false? Chris, you just want 308 00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:04,080 to see people saved. You want to see people come into God's kingdom. Yeah, I do. And you should too. 309 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:12,720 So if you want to accuse me of being an evangelist, keep giving me compliments. I received them. 310 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:22,480 And I felt like I needed to share with some of you, right, the reason that we have a 1970 tie-dye van 311 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:28,480 sitting at our entrance way that we call our sign. Okay, no, it's not because we're trying to be the 312 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:34,000 cool church or the hip church on Oak Ridge Drive. Okay, there's a story behind it that I want to tell 313 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:38,560 you because for some of you, you came here for the first time, saw that tie-dye hippie bus, drove 314 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:44,880 through our parking lot and just kept going. You're like, I'm not quite sure about that place. 315 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:52,080 But the reason we're called the hippie church goes all the way back to 2006 when I planted this church, 316 00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:57,680 right? And we weren't even a church yet. I had like 20 people. We were watching the last time 317 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:02,320 the Washington Redskins were in the playoffs. I'm sorry for you Redskins fans. I pray for you 318 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:07,600 every football season. But we were watching Redskins playoff parties as a means of getting 319 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:14,400 the church started. And we got this information that the cold weather shelter needed volunteers. 320 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:19,520 They didn't have enough people serving the homeless during the winter months, right? And this was in 321 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:26,800 January. So I said, hey, let's go. Right? So I gathered our 20 people in our big thriving church, 322 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,400 right? We hadn't even taken an offering yet and we were going to go be generous. 323 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:35,040 But on the way to going to be generous, guess what? We decided to grab a karaoke machine 324 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:40,880 and board games to take along with us because we wanted to have a party when we went to serve the 325 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:47,120 homeless, right? Because HGV likes to party. Okay? So we wanted to have fun. So we rolled into the 326 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:51,600 cold weather shelter, still in the same place. I still remember walking up the steps, walked 327 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:57,280 through the front door leading our group of 20 misfits. And I said, hey, we're here to serve. 328 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:02,800 And they're like, oh, you're a Hub City Vineyard? I said, yes. And they said, well, who's the pastor? 329 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:11,840 I said, oh, that's me. They're like, aren't you a little young to be a pastor? I said, no, 330 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:17,760 just the pastor. And they said, well, what's all this stuff you brought with you? Why do you have 331 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:21,520 these board games and this karaoke machine? I said, oh, we're all excited. We're going to cook dinner 332 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:25,520 and then we're going to sit down and play board games and have dinner with the residents. And 333 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:29,280 we're going to sing karaoke. We're going to have a lot of fun. And they said, well, you can't do that. 334 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:34,400 I said, what do you mean you can't do that? They said, well, you're not allowed to eat with the 335 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:40,400 residents. You have to cook their food in the kitchen, give them the food, put the gate down 336 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:48,560 and just walk away. And I said, excuse me, are they in prison? Last time I checked, they're just 337 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:53,680 people needing some help. Why can't we play board games and sing karaoke? They said, well, you just 338 00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,480 can't. We don't want to get them riled up. And then they might want to go out and smoke an extra 339 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:03,840 cigarette and it's just a complete mess. And I'm not making this up. So I looked back at them. I 340 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:09,680 said, well, I tell you what, you don't want all this to sing karaoke and play board games. We won't 341 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:16,400 cook. We're leaving. So they got in a little huddle and started talking. I saw a lot of gray hair. 342 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:23,840 I have gray hair now. Okay. I get it. I have gray hair now. They turned around and they said, 343 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:29,920 okay, we don't want you to leave. Just don't get them riled up. I said, oh, we won't. I promise. 344 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:39,840 You know me. Trust me. So we cooked the food and had dinner with them. That good conversation was 345 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:48,960 playing Stratego and then the karaoke machine got out. YMCA. We were going at it. Everybody had a 346 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:55,360 great time. There was laughs. There was fun. There was joy. And as we were leaving, as we were leaving, 347 00:39:56,400 --> 00:40:01,760 one of the reach leaders looked at us and said, man, you guys are just a bunch of hippies. You 348 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:15,200 love everyone. I said, oh, I said, really? Yeah. I said, okay, I'll adopt that. That's why we got 349 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:21,920 tie dye shirts and tie dye flags and a 1970 Volkswagen van that we pulled out of the woods. 350 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:29,360 We're not trying to be cool. If people are going to call, if people are going to call Jesus a hippie, 351 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:34,720 that's who I follow. And I don't have a problem being a hippie. All right. So grab a tie dye shirt 352 00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:40,560 and embrace us. But the point is, it's just because we were generous. And then you fast forward to 353 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:46,960 today, guess what? It's now a requirement at the reach cold weather shelter that you have dinner 354 00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:56,480 with the residents. And all that happened because some hippie church wanted to sing karaoke one 355 00:40:56,480 --> 00:41:04,240 night with the residents at the cold weather shelter. Right. So the point is, that's the point. 356 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:11,760 God rains down his blessings. He opens windows of heaven, which leads us to our fourth and final 357 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:21,600 point. Just realize life is not a game. Life's not a game, friends. Heaven is real. God is real. 358 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:29,920 Satan is real. And our life is real short. And eternity is for eternity. Look at Matthew 25. 359 00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:34,240 Then the king will turn to the one on the left and say, away with you, you cursed ones into the 360 00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:39,440 eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry and you didn't feed me. I was 361 00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:43,600 thirsty. You didn't give me a drink. I was a stranger. You didn't invite me into your home. 362 00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:48,560 I was naked and you didn't give me clothing. I was sick and in prison and you didn't visit me. 363 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:55,440 And they will go away into eternal punishment. With the righteous will go into eternal life. 364 00:41:55,440 --> 00:42:01,600 James 4 14 tells us, how do you know what your life will be like tomorrow, church? Your life is 365 00:42:01,600 --> 00:42:07,680 like a morning fog. It's here a little while and then it's gone. See, when we decide to trust God 366 00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:15,600 with everything that he has given us, he uses us to change people's lives for eternity. And HCV will 367 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:24,960 continue to work and serve and invite and include because we desire more than anything else to reach 368 00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:31,280 people and see lives transform both in the tri-state area and around the world. Call me an 369 00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:36,160 evangelist. It makes no difference to me, but I'm going to challenge you to get out there and do the 370 00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:43,360 same because that's the most important thing we could do. And I believe that if we ask this simple 371 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:49,840 question and invite God to do this simple statement that we read from David in Psalm 90, 372 00:42:49,840 --> 00:43:13,280 teach us to use wisely all the time that we have.