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Good morning.

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How are y'all doing today?

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Awesome.

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Hi, Mom.

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We just like to start our Sundays by welcoming anybody that's here in our sanctuary for the first time,

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or if you're joining us online for the first time, welcome to Hosanna.

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We're so excited to worship with you guys.

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I am Pastor Nathan, and this morning we are doing part four of our four-part giving and generosity series.

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And this is going to be the conclusion of our series.

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I hope the last few weeks have been enlightening and a blessing to you guys and encouraging.

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I know for many of us, myself included, there's a little bit of like challenge and rebuke in some of it,

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but we welcome the admonition of our Lord because He knows what's best for us,

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and He will teach us and challenge us and even correct us when necessary.

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And so, but today we're going to be looking at the last part of this series,

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really dealing with some practical teachings regarding finances in Scripture.

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This is obviously coming after learning the biblical admonition to be generous people in line with the nature of our Lord and Savior,

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God Himself who is generous, and looking at how giving as a member of the church,

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it's a part of our collective participation in the needs and the work of the ministry,

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the needs and the work of the body, and this includes the support of our local churches as we gather together

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to pool our time and our talent and our resources to reach out with the gospel.

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And then we learned how our modern call to financially participate in generosity,

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be it regularly, intentionally, generously, cheerfully, really is all based upon New Testament commands,

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New Testament examples, and Old Testament principles.

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So after going through all that over the last few weeks, I want to end this series dealing with really just what Scripture has to say about good financial habits.

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As I mentioned in the very first message of this series, you know, when we steward what God has given us poorly,

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when we practice bad financial habits, we can find ourselves really in a bad financial position.

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So many people are drowning in debt.

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They have leveraged themselves in debt to the point where they just can't do anything anymore because they're buried by debt.

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Oftentimes in that debt relationship, people then find themselves buried by high interest rates

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and having to make minimum payments on things that just can get out of control so quick.

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And really a lot of people, even Christians within the church, find themselves in places where they feel like they're seemingly always broke.

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They're always out of money before the end of the month gets here,

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and they're barely getting by or living paycheck to paycheck and things of that nature.

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And really we end up finding ourselves struggling, both for reasons that are out of our control,

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and there's some of that, but oftentimes for reasons that are within our control.

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And when we find ourselves struggling financially, and this is what I mentioned in the first message of this series,

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the first thing we sacrifice is our generosity.

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The first thing that we give up is our giving.

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Starbucks will win. Eating fast food all the time will win.

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You know, living beyond our means will win in the priority list, but giving will be the first thing to go often.

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And so biblically we know that that only exasperates the problem.

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When we stop being generous, when we stop being givers, biblically it makes it worse.

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Because as we've seen in our messages, the Bible is very clear about principles of we reap what we sow.

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If you give, you will get, right?

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And again, it's not about being greedy and materialistic people.

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It's about saying, God, I'm a steward of what you've given me.

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And God says, when you steward what I've given you my way, I will take care of you.

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I will take care of your needs. I will take care of your life.

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And so we reap what we sow, whether that's generosity or whether that's the lack thereof.

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And really the foundation of all of this is just that understanding that everything belongs to God.

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Everything, you know, not just the first part of our giving, not just your tithe, if that's what you do,

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not just 10% or 20%.

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Everything belongs to God because He is the Creator.

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He is the one that has given everything to us.

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And we as His children are called to then manage it well.

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And that's what stewardship is all about.

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And so God has much to say in His Word about how to manage the finances and the stuff,

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even our time and even our talent that He has given us.

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And that's what we're going to be looking at today.

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Really so that as we depart from this series,

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and we're going to be going into the Easter season here just in a couple of weeks

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to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord,

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and then after that we'll be picking up at the very top of the Bible,

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studying the book of Genesis.

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But as we exit this series, this topical series we've been dealing with,

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the idea is that we can move forward living as faithful, wise, diligent stewards of all He has given us,

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ultimately able to follow then His example of outrageous generosity in our lives

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as we want to live according to His example and after His example.

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And through that, being people who experience the joy and blessings that come

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from financial obedience to the Lord with what He has given us,

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obedience both spiritually but also materially and financially.

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So that's what we're going to be looking at today,

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but we're going to start our day praising God.

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We just want to worship Him.

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You know, He is the giver as we've been talking about for a few weeks now,

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and He has given us so much.

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But the most important thing He's given all of us is salvation.

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He saved our souls.

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He paid a price we can never pay.

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He died on the cross, a death that we should have died for our sin.

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And after that, man, everything is just bonus.

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But there is so much bonus for those who live obediently to the Lord. Amen.

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Let's pray. Father, we love you.

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We're so grateful for your Word, God,

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and we're so grateful that your Word teaches us everything, really, Lord.

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God, it's not just some lofty, intangible spiritual thing, Lord.

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It deals with so many practical things, Lord,

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that are a result of the spiritual truths we learn.

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And so, God, we're grateful that you talk to us about how to handle money.

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You talk to us about how to deal with the resources you've given us, Lord.

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And God, truth be told, there are so many in the church today that are struggling

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because they maybe live in obediently in so many areas of their life,

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but when it comes to the finances you've given them,

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they're living in disobedience, Lord.

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And maybe, God, through this series you've been teaching us, Lord,

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what your Word says and how we should be, God.

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Lord, we don't want to be disobedient people,

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and so maybe, Lord, some of us have learned,

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our eyes have been open to what your Word says,

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and maybe some of us were just being outright rebellious, Lord,

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but, God, we thank you for your Word that it teaches us,

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that it corrects us, Lord, that it shows us how to live,

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how to be righteous people, God, because that's what you're calling us to be, Lord.

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And, Lord, ultimately it's to live a life trusting you with everything,

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and that includes our money, Lord.

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We want to trust you with it, God.

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So teach us. Speak to us today, Lord.

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But first, we just want to praise your name, God.

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We're so thankful for every blessing, everything you give us, Lord.

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We're so thankful for every thing you do in our lives, Lord,

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even the disciplines, God, because we know it's out of love.

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It's because you love us.

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So, Lord, be blessed today. Bless us today, Lord.

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We look forward to everything you're going to be doing,

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and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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We are going to be moving forward with our series here as we conclude today,

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part four, dealing with practical biblical financial habits.

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And, you know, there is quite a bit of practical financial advice

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pretty much everywhere you look today.

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You can go online and spend hours and hours and hours

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listening to people's advice about what to do.

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Sadly, there's a large, large contingent of the population today,

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even within the church, where we go to TikTok and Instagram

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to find out the latest financial hack,

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and we think that's going to fix our life and make things better.

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And, you know, I mean, some of the advice out there is good,

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and some of it is bad, but when it comes to practical wisdom

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on how to do this or how to do that, how we should live,

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God's Word should be the first and the best source for us as His kids.

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You know, God has an entire book in the Bible called Proverbs.

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It's all about wisdom, how to live and what to do.

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And so God's Word, it gives us teaching,

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it gives us principles that apply to every single area of life

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regardless of time or culture, right?

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God's Word, the wisdom we find there, it's an all and always encompassing

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treasure trove of wisdom of what to do, of how to live,

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and not just for the sake of honoring God,

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which is a huge part of it, right?

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We want to honor God with our lives,

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but the wisdom we find in the Word is really what's going to be best for us,

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because God knows what's best for us, and God's ways are the best ways.

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And so what we see there is what's going to be best for us in our life,

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it's going to be ultimately what's going to result in the best for us,

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and that includes what we do with our money and our finances,

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to honor God and to be in the place of experiencing what God has

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for those who honor Him in those things.

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And so as experienced by many within the church,

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the body of Christ who abide in God's words,

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really when we do things right according to God's Word,

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which is His way because it's about His wisdom, right?

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We experience right in the outcome.

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That applies to every area of our life.

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It's the same we call obedience,

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that when we follow God's will and God's ways,

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we experience the blessing of what He has for us.

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And so as we've been walking through generosity and giving as Christians,

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and we've looked at why we give,

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we've looked at the motivation behind giving,

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we looked at the call of collective participation

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by every single member of the body of Christ who is in the body of Christ,

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we now want to learn how, how to steward things well

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according to God's Word so that we can be people who are generous,

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so that as we do right with what God has given us

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and we find ourselves able to then do everything God wants us to do

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when it comes to being generous people.

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And so really the foundation of all of this

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and some of this is overlapping to previous studies,

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but a proper biblical mindset is really what's foundational

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to good financial stewardship.

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It's important to know this right off the top.

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God does not condemn wealth.

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God does not condemn anybody for having wealth.

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Sometimes people will think that, you know, and it's just, it's, that's not true.

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Right, you go through the scripture top to bottom,

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you find that God gave great wealth to Solomon, David, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph,

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Jehoshaphat, and many others in the Old Testament.

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You get to the New Testament, you find that there was Matthew,

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who was one of the twelve disciples.

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He was a man of means as a tax collector.

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You have Joanna, Joseph of Arimathea, Zacchaeus, Lydia.

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You have these people of great wealth and great means

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that were a part of the church,

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and they were very generous people as members of the church.

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And so we see that, that God uses those people.

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And so wealth isn't inherently a sinful thing,

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but he does give grave warnings throughout his word

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to those who would seek wealth more than they seek God.

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And really to those who trust in wealth more than they trust in God.

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You have Matthew 13, 22, the parable of the sower, right?

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And he says in that parable,

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the deceitfulness of wealth can choke out the word of God in our lives.

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In Mark chapter 10, verse 23, Jesus said,

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it's hard for those with riches to enter the kingdom of God.

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Not impossible, but it's hard. Why?

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Because it's easy to trust in wealth.

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When you have enough money for everything,

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it's easy to find ourselves trusting that

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instead of being fully dependent of God.

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And so there's these warnings that, you know,

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although wealth isn't inherently bad or wrong,

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you don't want to trust in it, you don't want to depend on it.

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And then Luke 16, 13, Jesus said,

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you cannot serve both God and money, right?

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So we have these warnings throughout scripture,

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but Paul said in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 10,

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he says, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

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All right?

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Two things I want you to know there.

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It says the love of money.

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That's the problem, right?

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The problem is we get money and then we start to love it

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because we think it's the solution to everything in our life.

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And yeah, money can solve problems,

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but, you know, money itself is morally neutral.

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And the problem is those whose master is wealth,

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those who trust in it for life,

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those who will listen to the deceitful lies of wealth

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that says all you need is me.

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You don't need nothing else.

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You will provide for yourself.

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You're definitely going to lose if that's your end all

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because guess what?

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None of it goes with you.

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None of it goes with you,

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and it can't buy what is of true value,

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and that's eternal life.

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Eternal life only comes through trust in Jesus Christ.

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So Paul went on to say in 1 Timothy 6, 17,

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he was speaking to Timothy, and he goes,

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instruct those who are rich in the present age

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not to be arrogant or to set their hope

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on the uncertainty of wealth,

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but God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.

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Did you hear that last part?

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God is the one who richly provides for us

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or provides us with all things to enjoy.

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So again, having things, it's not wrong.

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Having a nice house, having a nice car, it's not wrong, right?

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I thought it was funny.

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Some person on TikTok commented on one of our videos

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from the last few weeks, and it was some quote

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and one of the teachings, and he's like, oh, yeah.

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So you can have your huge salary and your nice Mercedes

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and send your kids to private school.

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And I was like, well, I don't have kids.

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I drive a 2012 Ford Escape, you know,

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and I get paid decently, but by no means am I living in mansions

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and driving Lamborghinis, you know,

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and I just laughed because of the perception the world has, right,

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when the church talks about money.

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So Paul said instruct those who are rich,

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because it's okay to be rich if that's what God has for you, okay?

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Just don't trust in it.

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You trust in God.

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He's the one that gave it to you anyways, right?

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And that's really the point I'm building up here.

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It's trust God, depend on Him for all things,

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and steward what belongs to Him,

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which is everything you have, steward it rightly.

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Because wealth, biblically, we understand wealth can enhance good,

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but it can also create evil, right?

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Wealth is something that can be used for selfish goals,

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but it's also something that can be used for God's purposes.

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And so the reality, biblically, we have to understand that wealth is simply a tool.

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It's a tool, like every other tool that exists,

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that we can learn to use effectively, like any other tool that exists.

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And when we see wealth and use wealth biblically,

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when we see it not as the end goal,

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but it is a means to an end,

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which is namely God's purposes in your life and in this world,

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then we're not going to find ourselves loving the wealth.

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But instead, we're going to find ourselves more and more in love with the wealth giver

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and pursuing His purposes and seeking His will with it.

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And so God says, and we've looked at this over the last few weeks,

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when you steward the wealth that I've given you,

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and I use that wealth just to mean your material finances,

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because I know there's many of us that are like, I'm far from wealth, right?

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But the money, the resources He's given you,

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and this also includes things like our time and talent.

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When we steward it the way God says to steward it,

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that means not trusting it, not to bend on it, not to serve it,

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not to worship it, not to waste it, not to squander it or hoard it,

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but instead we use it.

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We manage it, we build it, and then we give it.

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When we do that in the way that God has instructed us to do that,

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God says, I'll take care of you.

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I'll make sure you have enough for your needs, right?

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Not your greeds, but your needs.

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So 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 6 through 9 says this,

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this is really a foundational concept when it comes to managing wealth

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financial or managing wealth biblically.

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It says, Godliness with contentment is great gain,

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for we brought nothing into this world and we could take nothing out,

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for if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

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But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap,

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and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge people into ruin and destruction.

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And so the biblical admonition when it comes to stewarding what God has given you

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is to start with this idea.

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I'm content and I'm grateful for whatever I, with whatever I have.

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I'm content, right?

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God knows my needs, God has given me what I need,

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and then everything I have is his, and so I'm going to pray and seek,

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how do I use it for God's glory?

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How do I use it for his kingdom?

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Nothing wrong with being rich, but we see here wanting to be rich, really,

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is warned against.

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And it's really when we come to that place of being able to trust God,

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or when God trusts us to hold everything with an open hand,

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God says, hey, I want to give this to you, and it might be a million dollars.

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And we go, hey, God, thanks.

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And he might say, steward that million dollars.

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And we're going to talk about that later when we see the principle of the talents.

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God gave one of them ten, and the guy came back and said,

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hey, I've made you ten more, God said, good job, you stewarded it well.

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But when we hold it with an open hand and saying,

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okay, God put a million dollars in our hand, and we say, cool, God,

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thanks for that, I'm going to steward it well,

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and then God comes along and says, hey, I need my million dollars,

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we go, take it, it's yours.

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When we have that attitude, God says, I can trust you with a million dollars.

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You see the point?

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But when God gives us ten bucks, and we go, mine, mine,

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and God's like, hey, I need my ten bucks,

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and you're like, oh, well, I wasted 90% of it paying high interest

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on a credit card to buy something I didn't need that I don't really,

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God's like, well, then I can't give you ten dollars again

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because you're not going to steward it well.

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You guys following that?

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So the idea is when we're content, when we're not claiming

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what God gives us for ourselves, well, in that there's promises

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that God gives to people who do that.

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And he says, as you're generous, I'll be generous.

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He goes, as you give, it will be given to you.

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Why?

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Because I trust you to give it away.

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So the Bible teaches a very important truth with this.

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It's called the principle of cause and effect.

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In Galatians chapter 6 verse 7, Paul writes this.

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He says, do not be deceived.

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God is not mocked.

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For whatever a person sows, he will also reap.

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We call it the law of sowing and reaping.

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It's a law of the natural world as well as a law of the spiritual world.

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It's something we see throughout scripture.

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The law of sowing and reaping implies that there's work

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and there's waiting, right?

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Galatians 6, 9 says, let us not get tired of doing good,

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for we will reap at the proper time if we don't give up.

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Now, of course, it's a farming thing, right?

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You go plant seed and then you wait, and you wait for the harvest to come.

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But it's a principle that applies all over the place too.

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It's a sowing and reaping.

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You've got to do the thing to get the result of the thing, right?

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And so you've got to sow the seed to get the harvest.

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Another factor of the law of sowing and reaping is that we reap in kind

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to what we sow, right?

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In the spiritual world, the Bible tells us that you sow to the flesh,

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you reap destruction.

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But you sow to the spirit, you reap eternal life.

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In the natural world, it works this way.

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You plant corn, guess what grows?

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Apples, right?

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You plant corn, you get corn.

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Nobody's surprised by that.

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But what a lot of people do is they'll stand around at the hole in the ground

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and go, God, give me corn.

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I need corn, Lord.

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But you haven't planted any corn.

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You're not going to get corn if you don't plant corn.

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That's the idea.

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This is the sowing and reaping idea here.

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Actions have consequences.

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Scripture is a constant dance between our faith in God, right?

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We trust God, we trust His provision.

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He will provide for His people.

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And then our faithfulness to do the work, to do what He says to do.

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And so Luke chapter 16 verse 10, here's a parable about a steward who has

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squandered everything he was entrusted with.

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And Jesus said this at the end of this parable, whoever is faithful and very

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little is also faithful in much.

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And whoever is unrighteous and very little is also unrighteous in much.

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And so again, we see this idea here that having a biblical view of the resources

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that God has entrusted to you, understanding it's not mine, it's His,

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understanding that He is the Master is going to show up one day and go, hey,

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give me an accounting of what I gave to you, that should lead to us being good

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stewards of it.

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And it says here, if you steward the little God has given you, chances are, or

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if you steward it properly, chances are you'll steward a lot properly.

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But if you waste the little, you mishandle the little that God has given you,

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well, why is He going to give you more?

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Because the chances are you're going to mishandle it.

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So, and then 1 Corinthians 4, 2, it says, in this regard, it is required that

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managers be found faithful.

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Faithful.

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You notice there that as a part of being a steward of what God has given us with

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our resources, managing isn't passive.

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We don't just sit on our behind and just go, okay, well, God, you do something.

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We're to be faithful.

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We're to put in the work, do our part, following His word and managing what He's

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given us, and in and through that, God then works on our behalf.

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Now, again, this isn't about salvation, right?

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We know biblically salvation is that exception to this rule, right?

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That's the thing that God said, no, watch what I'm going to do.

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I'm going to give you something that you didn't earn, that you can't earn, that

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you don't work for.

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I'm going to do something above and beyond so amazing, freely given to you

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salvation and forgiveness of all your sins, and all you've got to do is

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receive it.

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And that's salvation.

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We receive freely by faith.

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And sometimes people will look at that, and then they'll look at finances and

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they'll look at all these other things, and they go, well, why do we have to

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plant corn?

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Can't God just go, corn, and corn is, right?

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Didn't He do that in Genesis?

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He did light and light was.

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Now, yeah, God can do that.

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He is God Almighty.

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But what we see in His word is that the norm that He has chosen to work through

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is that He says, we obey, we do, we follow, God blesses, God brings the

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harvest.

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That's how He chose to do it.

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Could He have done it another way?

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Sure.

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But what He chose to do is say, here's my word.

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I want obedience, not sacrifice.

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Do what I tell you to do.

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Live this way, think this way, behave this way, manage the resources I've

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given you this way, and things follow.

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You know, everything after free salvation are choices we make to be obedient or

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not to God in His word.

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And so really the idea is that in our salvation we're given a new heart, we're

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given a new nature, we're given this new nature that isn't meant to help us be

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obedient to God, right?

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We're given the Holy Spirit to help, we're given God's word to help and guide

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us and direct us.

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But good stewardship doesn't happen on its own.

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It doesn't happen by accident.

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It takes intentional, deliberate, faithful decisions and actions on our part.

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So with all of that setting this up, it's already 1053, let's talk about some of

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the practical steps so that then, yeah, we can steward well what God has entrusted

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us with.

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And then really in that, yeah, put ourselves in a position to be as generous as

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He is generous.

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That's the goal.

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I want to give like God gives.

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I want to be generous like God is generous.

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And so what does He say?

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Now, there are many of you here in this room, you're already doing well

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financially, you're already managing what He's given you well when it comes to

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your stewardship of His resources.

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You're right on top of it and praise God for you, right?

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Praise God for that.

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And I pray that you are encouraged by what I'm about to share here through

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Scripture.

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Just be encouraged.

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Yeah, I'm doing that.

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Praise God.

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I'm following the Lord's will and stuff.

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Just, you know, let it be affirmation and confirmation that you're following God

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well, you know?

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But there's also many of us here that are on the other side of the fence.

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And we're really struggling financially.

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And a lot of it is because poor financial habits.

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And I pray that this is an encouragement to you to follow God's way.

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Okay?

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So Proverbs 21, 5.

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The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit.

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But anyone who is reckless certainly becomes poor.

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Did you know that the idea of budgeting is in the Bible?

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It's right there.

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We just read it.

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You see, the concept of budgeting when it comes to what God has given you is

474
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:14,000
simply a plan for your money.

475
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,000
I'm going to have a plan for where my money goes.

476
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:17,000
It comes in, it goes out.

477
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,000
I'm going to have a plan for that.

478
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,000
You know, and planning is not foreign to us.

479
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,000
We plan for so much in our lives.

480
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,000
We plan trips, right?

481
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,000
Can you imagine, I'm going to go on a trip to Europe.

482
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:30,000
Well, what are you going to do?

483
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:31,000
I don't know.

484
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,000
I'm just going to show up to the airport.

485
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,000
I'm going to, maybe I'll end up on a plane.

486
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,000
Who knows?

487
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,000
You go, that's foolish.

488
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,000
That's absolutely foolish.

489
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,000
We plan goals.

490
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:49,000
Why not plan for your money?

491
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,000
And when we diligently plan, it says here where our money goes.

492
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,000
Diligently plan instead of spending recklessly.

493
00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:01,000
Well, the difference here it says is profit instead of poverty.

494
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,000
A lot of times we end up poor because we're just spending and we're nickel

495
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:09,000
and diming ourselves to death and we have no idea where our money's going and

496
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,000
what happens at the end of every month, right?

497
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,000
We're like, how do I have nothing left?

498
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,000
Where did it go?

499
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:21,000
Wise planning on many fronts is not only seen in Scripture, but it's encouraged

500
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,000
throughout Scripture over and over and over.

501
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,000
In Luke chapter 14 verses 28 and 30, Jesus is giving a teaching that's

502
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,000
specifically about counting the cost of following Him.

503
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,000
But we see the principle of planning in this.

504
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,000
He says this, for which of you wanting to build a tower doesn't first sit down

505
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,000
and calculate the cost to see if you have enough to complete it?

506
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,000
Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the

507
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:46,000
onlookers will begin to ridicule him saying, this man started to build and

508
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,000
wasn't able to finish.

509
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,000
You see the principle of planning there, of thinking ahead and going, okay,

510
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,000
here's the resources, here's what I should do, because why?

511
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,000
I have a goal.

512
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:03,000
And if we have a goal of being generous the way Jesus is generous with our

513
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:07,000
finances and our wealth, well, then we have to know what is happening with the

514
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,000
resources that He's entrusted to us.

515
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,000
And that's what a budget does.

516
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:16,000
A budget allows us to know what we have, where it's going, right?

517
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,000
And I'm talking all the way down to every penny.

518
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:23,000
And we do that so we can make sure that every penny we got is wisely stewarded,

519
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,000
wisely allocated.

520
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:30,000
It's the idea of planning ahead beyond today's needs, beyond the week's needs or

521
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:31,000
the month's needs.

522
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:37,000
It's budgeting ahead so you could learn to really say, okay, if I've got to

523
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:41,000
learn how to live on less than I make so that I have extra to do things that

524
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:46,000
God is leading me to do with, budgeting is what helps you do that.

525
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:51,000
Until I started budgeting, I had no idea how much money I was really spending

526
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:56,000
stopping at 7-Eleven every Sunday morning to get a pack of donuts and a little

527
00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:01,000
coffee thing because I do it in one day and I'm like, oh, it's like eight bucks.

528
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,000
Well, eight bucks times four days a week.

529
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,000
And that's not including the Starbucks trips during the week.

530
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,000
And that's not including the, oh, I just don't feel like preparing food today.

531
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:16,000
I'm going to stop at the fast food place, which is $20 a trip now, right?

532
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:20,000
When I finally sat down and was doing a budget, I was like, I spend how much?

533
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,000
I'm fast food.

534
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,000
No wonder I'm broke.

535
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,000
You know, I could save money by doing things.

536
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:30,000
So a budget helps you see what's going on with all that type of stuff.

537
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:35,000
And so in budgeting, yeah, you might discover that, hey, I'm squandering the

538
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,000
resources God has given me.

539
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:41,000
I don't have to eat Jack in the Box three times a day, right?

540
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,000
You know, maybe I could brew coffee at home instead of pay the $6 Starbucks,

541
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:46,000
right?

542
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,000
You start to learn things like that when you see it laid out in front of you,

543
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,000
and that's what Proverbs was talking about there when it says the plans of the

544
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:53,000
diligent.

545
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,000
You've got to be diligent to think through and plan for what you're going to

546
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:57,000
be doing.

547
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:01,000
And then the whole idea is you learn to live on lesson you got so that you

548
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,000
could save, right?

549
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:04,000
Save for emergencies.

550
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:05,000
Be wise.

551
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,000
Prepare and plan for what's going on with your family.

552
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:14,000
I just heard a story last night of a woman who called in to the show, and she

553
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:20,000
goes, my husband got in a car accident last week, I think it was, and he's got

554
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:24,000
permanent brain damage and he's going to be permanently in the hospital.

555
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:28,000
And she's like, he has a business, but I just found out that he's incredibly

556
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,000
in debt in the business and didn't share it with me.

557
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:34,000
And she's like, I have five kids.

558
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:38,000
And she goes, well, what do I do?

559
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:41,000
If that was your situation, what would you do, right?

560
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:43,000
We don't know the future.

561
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,000
We don't know when things are going to happen.

562
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,000
And so we want to be able to save.

563
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,000
And Proverbs 21 20 talks about this.

564
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:54,000
It says, precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of a wise person, but a

565
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,000
fool consumes them.

566
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,000
What does that mean?

567
00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:05,000
It's the idea of gobbling up everything you make every time you get it, right?

568
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:10,000
The wise person has things set aside, stored in their house for an emergency.

569
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,000
They have resources set aside.

570
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:14,000
The foolish person consumes them.

571
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:15,000
And that's what consumes them.

572
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,000
It means to gobble it up.

573
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,000
That means spending every penny you make.

574
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:24,000
It's foolish to do so because you don't know what the future holds, right?

575
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,000
You don't know what could happen.

576
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,000
And really a question to ask ourselves as God's stewards, right, because we want

577
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:35,000
to be available for God's purposes and do serving God and all these things we

578
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:36,000
want to be available for.

579
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:41,000
But if we fall into some major financial disaster and we're not ready for it,

580
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:46,000
well, everything gets put on hold, right, because we've got to deal with some

581
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:47,000
really bad things.

582
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:53,000
And well, if we didn't save, if we didn't steward well, we find ourselves in

583
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,000
very, very difficult situations.

584
00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:01,000
One study recently done says 48% of Americans would not be able to cover their

585
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,000
basic expenses past 90 days if they lost their job today.

586
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,000
That means for those of you with families and kids, according to statistics, half

587
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:13,000
of you, if you lost your job today, you have three months before you're going to

588
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,000
lose everything.

589
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,000
That's a dangerous statistic to look at.

590
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,000
And so in Proverbs 6, 6-8, this is what God says in His word.

591
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:25,000
He goes, go to the ant, you slacker.

592
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,000
God said that, not me, okay?

593
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,000
He goes, observe its ways and become wise.

594
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:35,000
Without a leader, without an administrator, without a ruler, it prepares its

595
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:40,000
provisions in summer and it gathers its food during harvest.

596
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:44,000
That's a principle of saving and planning ahead for emergencies, right?

597
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,000
And yeah, budgeting is hard, right?

598
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,000
Saving is hard.

599
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:53,000
I mean, up until fairly recently, I used to think budgeting was a cuss word,

600
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,000
right?

601
00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:00,000
You say budget, I'm like, shut your mouth.

602
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,000
But then slowly God was like, hey, do you believe my word?

603
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,000
Well, yes, of course I do.

604
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:09,000
Well, then read these things and listen to what they say.

605
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,000
Because budgeting is you telling you what to do.

606
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,000
And I don't know, if you're like me, I go back, don't tell me what to do.

607
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,000
And I'm like, who's that person telling me that?

608
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:19,000
I'm looking in the mirror.

609
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,000
It's like, what?

610
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:22,000
Like, don't fight yourself.

611
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,000
Just what does God say?

612
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:25,000
And it's hard.

613
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,000
It's difficult to put these things into practice.

614
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:32,000
You know, Hebrews 12, 11, it says no discipline seems enjoyable at the time.

615
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,000
But painful.

616
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:38,000
That word discipline there literally says correcting guidance for responsible living.

617
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,000
So when the Bible says do this with your money and not this with your money,

618
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,000
it may not be fun at the time.

619
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:49,000
But look at what he goes on to say, later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness,

620
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:54,000
which is right living to those who have been trained by it.

621
00:34:54,000 --> 00:35:00,000
So don't be the foolish person of Proverbs 21, 20 and consume everything you have.

622
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,000
Instead, plan.

623
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,000
Budget.

624
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:09,000
Learn to live on less than you make so you can save for emergencies,

625
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:12,000
so they don't wipe you out if something happens.

626
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:16,000
And then in that process, you're able to start setting aside things

627
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:20,000
so you can move forward being generous as God is generous with you.

628
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,000
Now, one of the biggest challenges many of us have financially

629
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,000
that really affects our generosity is debt.

630
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:27,000
Right?

631
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:28,000
A lot of us have debt.

632
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:30,000
Now, I want to be very clear.

633
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,000
The Bible doesn't forbid debt, right?

634
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,000
Being in debt is not a sin.

635
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:41,000
But the Bible does have many warnings against going into debt unnecessarily,

636
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,000
and it lifts up the virtue of just not going into debt.

637
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,000
For example, Proverbs 22, 7.

638
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:53,000
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.

639
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:54,000
Translation.

640
00:35:54,000 --> 00:36:02,000
If you owe someone money, they control your life until you pay them back.

641
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:04,000
And then Romans 13, 8, Paul said this,

642
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,000
do not owe anyone anything except to love one another,

643
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:11,000
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

644
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:16,000
The idea when it comes to debt, right, and how the Bible warns against it is

645
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:22,000
you really don't want anybody controlling your life except Jesus.

646
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:26,000
Nobody should have control over your life.

647
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:30,000
And yet when we find ourselves in debt, we find ourselves working to pay other people

648
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:36,000
because of interest and things, and it really ends up putting us in a type of slavery.

649
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:40,000
You know, and just broadly, you know, and I think the reason the Bible warns against it

650
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:46,000
doesn't forbid it, but it warns against going into debt is because debt is risky.

651
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,000
It's risky, and regardless of your situation,

652
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,000
the lender expects you to pay it back, right?

653
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,000
You ever called someone you owed money to a credit card or something,

654
00:36:55,000 --> 00:37:00,000
and you said, hey, I can't pay you because, you know, I'm just,

655
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,000
you know, can you just trust me?

656
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,000
What did they say?

657
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,000
Yeah, well, you'll be hearing from our trust department.

658
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:11,000
It's called Collections.

659
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:14,000
Now, on top of that, when it comes to debt,

660
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:19,000
most of us are in debt that is charging interest in most cases.

661
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:21,000
The average credit card today, this is the average.

662
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,000
This is the middle number.

663
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:28,000
It charges 28% interest, 28%.

664
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:29,000
You know what that means?

665
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:35,000
That means for every $100 you charge, you're paying back $128.

666
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:38,000
You're paying an additional $28 that you didn't intend to spend

667
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:41,000
just for the privilege of being able to put it on a card.

668
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:44,000
Now, again, debt's risky.

669
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,000
Debt steals your money.

670
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:49,000
And the further we sink ourselves into debt,

671
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,000
the more of our money it takes.

672
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:58,000
Now, yeah, there are things in our lives that may absolutely require debt.

673
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,000
And please don't misunderstand me.

674
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:05,000
I personally believe that is a very, very small list, okay?

675
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,000
Because all of us are like, oh, Starbucks, I need to go into debt for Starbucks.

676
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:11,000
No, you don't.

677
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,000
You don't need to pay interest on Starbucks, right?

678
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:17,000
But like buying a home, that's like one of the biggest purchases people might make

679
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:18,000
in their lives.

680
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:23,000
And I know many of you think, oh, that reality is never going to exist anymore

681
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:24,000
in our market.

682
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,000
But it's a big one, right?

683
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:29,000
And very few of us would have the money to go out and buy a house outright,

684
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,000
especially with the cost of housing today.

685
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,000
But the idea biblically is if there's any way to avoid going into debt,

686
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:42,000
if there's any way to not do it, don't do it so that you won't be enslaved

687
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,000
to the lender.

688
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,000
You know, I was looking up stats on this,

689
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,000
and you got the four big credit card companies, MasterCard, Visa, AMEX,

690
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:51,000
and Discover.

691
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:54,000
And recently over the last few years, I found the thing that said they spent

692
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:59,000
$4 billion marketing to us to get us to use credit cards.

693
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:06,000
How could they spend $4 billion to get us to use credit cards?

694
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,000
You know why?

695
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:14,000
Because they made $88 billion off of interest and penalty fees.

696
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:18,000
That was $88 billion that nobody intended to spend,

697
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:24,000
but it was the hey, thank you for letting me buy it on a credit card cost.

698
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:28,000
When we don't plan, when we don't save, when we don't budget,

699
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:33,000
and instead borrow ourselves into slavery unnecessarily going further

700
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:37,000
and further into debt, we're simply not being good stewards of what

701
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:39,000
God has trusted to us.

702
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,000
God didn't say I gave you this so you could spend $88 billion of it paying

703
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,000
interest fees to lenders.

704
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,000
So you've got to be careful, right?

705
00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:49,000
When we do plan, when we do budget, when we do learn to live on lesson we

706
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:54,000
make, when we do get ourselves out of unnecessary debt or all the debt we

707
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:58,000
have, then guess what, you're able to have money set aside to save for

708
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:01,000
those emergencies, right, those financial catastrophes.

709
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:05,000
We see this in Genesis chapter 41 where Joseph got a vision and God said

710
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:06,000
there's a famine coming.

711
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,000
What did he do?

712
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:12,000
He started saving up grain, right?

713
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,000
And it saved the whole nation because he planned ahead.

714
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,000
They didn't eat all the grain as they got it.

715
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:19,000
They budgeted it out.

716
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:23,000
We're also then able to start somewhere with generosity as the Lord teaches us.

717
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:26,000
So say, okay, God, I want to be generous so you're generous and we talked

718
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,000
about that last week.

719
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:31,000
It's not about the amount, it's about the heart.

720
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:37,000
Ephesians chapter 428, it says do honest work with your own hands so that you

721
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:40,000
have something to share with anyone in need.

722
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:42,000
That's a biblical mandate.

723
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:45,000
You know what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3?

724
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:51,000
He said you don't work, you don't eat, right?

725
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:52,000
The church is here to help.

726
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,000
We as the body of Christ are here to help.

727
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,000
We have benevolence ministries and things like that, but the Bible has a whole

728
00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:02,000
lot to say about how you qualify to get help from the local body of Christ

729
00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:04,000
when you're in need.

730
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:07,000
And it's pretty strict actually, you know?

731
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:11,000
It's not to say we don't want to help people, but there are far too many people

732
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:14,000
who want to take advantage and so the Bible is very clear.

733
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:15,000
Work.

734
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:16,000
If you can work, work.

735
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:20,000
You need to work so that you earn, so that you have something not only for

736
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,000
yourself, but to help those that are in need.

737
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:27,000
We're able to provide for the needs of our families when we're saving for

738
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,000
emergencies without worry or anxiety.

739
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:34,000
And again, this is one of those verses, 1 Timothy 5, 8, but if anyone does not

740
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:38,000
provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the

741
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,000
faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

742
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:41,000
Wow.

743
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,000
Wow.

744
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,000
We're able to then save for our future, right?

745
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:52,000
Save for retirement or save to leave something behind for our families

746
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:54,000
generationally.

747
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:58,000
Proverbs 13, 22, it says, a good man leaves an inheritance to his

748
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:01,000
grandchildren.

749
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:05,000
And yeah, that's more than just money, right?

750
00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:09,000
But the whole idea of planning appropriately so that you can leave

751
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,000
something behind is biblical.

752
00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:14,000
And this all comes from the blessing of stewarding what God has given you

753
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:15,000
faithfully.

754
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:17,000
Stewarding what God has given you biblically.

755
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:21,000
As we are faithful in the little, God can trust you with more.

756
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:27,000
And as God trusts you with more, you could do more with more.

757
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:28,000
Right?

758
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:29,000
Did that make sense?

759
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:30,000
Yeah, I think so.

760
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:32,000
All right.

761
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,000
But why does God give you more when you're faithful in the little?

762
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,000
Because he knows you're going to manage it well.

763
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:37,000
You're not going to squander it.

764
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:38,000
You're not going to gobble it up.

765
00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:40,000
You're not going to waste it.

766
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:42,000
And that's the idea here.

767
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:46,000
I want to kind of close out here on a parable that Jesus told.

768
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:50,000
And this is a parable that adds one final element to biblical stewardship

769
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:51,000
that I want to add in here.

770
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:55,000
It's in Matthew chapter 25, starts in verse 14.

771
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:59,000
And it's really talking about the coming of the kingdom of heaven is the

772
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:00,000
precise context.

773
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:04,000
But it says, it's just like a man about to go on a journey.

774
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:08,000
He called his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.

775
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:12,000
To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one

776
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,000
talent, depending on each one's ability.

777
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:16,000
Then he went on a journey.

778
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:19,000
Immediately the man who had received the five talents put them to work and

779
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:20,000
earned five more.

780
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:23,000
In the same way, the man with two earned two more.

781
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:28,000
But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground,

782
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,000
and hid his master's money.

783
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:33,000
After a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts

784
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:34,000
with them.

785
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:37,000
The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents,

786
00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:40,000
and said, Master, you gave me five.

787
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:42,000
See, I've earned five more.

788
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:45,000
His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant.

789
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,000
You are faithful over a few things.

790
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:49,000
I'm going to put you in charge of many things.

791
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,000
Share your master's joy.

792
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:55,000
The man with two talents also approached, and he said, Master, you gave me two

793
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:56,000
talents.

794
00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:57,000
See, I've earned two more.

795
00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:01,000
His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant.

796
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:03,000
You are faithful over a few things.

797
00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,000
I will put you in charge of many things.

798
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:07,000
Share your master's joy.

799
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:11,000
The man who had received one talent also approached and said, Master, I know you.

800
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:15,000
You're a harsh man, reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you

801
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,000
haven't scattered seed.

802
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:20,000
So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground.

803
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:23,000
See, you have what is yours.

804
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:28,000
His master replied to him, You evil, lazy servant.

805
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:31,000
If you knew that I reap where I haven't sown and gather where I haven't

806
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:34,000
scattered, then you should have at least deposited my money with the bankers,

807
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:38,000
and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned.

808
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:42,000
So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.

809
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:48,000
For everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough.

810
00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:55,000
But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

811
00:44:55,000 --> 00:45:01,000
This parable teaches a universal truth that has universal application.

812
00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:05,000
Since the very beginning of time, since the very beginning of the creation of

813
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:12,000
mankind, every single individual on earth has been entrusted with resources

814
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:19,000
of time and resources of ability and resources of material wealth.

815
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:23,000
Now, yes, it all belongs to him because he is the master.

816
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:25,000
It is all his.

817
00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:30,000
But we are responsible for managing those resources well.

818
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,000
And we see that we are to use those resources in such a way that they

819
00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:37,000
increase in value.

820
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:43,000
If he's given you a calling, you are to develop that calling so that that

821
00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:47,000
calling increases in value to the body and the people around you.

822
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:53,000
If he's given you time, you are to use that time doing what is of greatest

823
00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:56,000
value that has the greatest return, right?

824
00:45:56,000 --> 00:46:00,000
He said redeem the time for the days are short.

825
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:04,000
If he's given you a natural ability that can bless others and glorify his name

826
00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:08,000
and his kingdom, develop that ability.

827
00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:11,000
That one's easy one like with worship ministry, right?

828
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:14,000
You know, if God calls you to a worship team and you give an ability with an

829
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:18,000
instrument, you're expected to develop that ability.

830
00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:20,000
If you're a speaker, get better at speaking.

831
00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:24,000
If you're a servant, if you're an organizer, just do better with those

832
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:25,000
abilities.

833
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:32,000
But also, whatever he's given you materially, financially, wisely manage it

834
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:39,000
so that it will have the maximum effect, the maximum return.

835
00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:40,000
For you, yeah.

836
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,000
For your family, yeah.

837
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:45,000
For your future family generationally, sure.

838
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:48,000
For your spiritual family, yeah.

839
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:53,000
But for God's kingdom and God's purposes to his glory forever.

840
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:56,000
And that parable tells us that if we manage well with what God has given to

841
00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:59,000
us, he will entrust us with more.

842
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:05,000
But if we waste $88 billion enslaved to lenders, paying out monies far and

843
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:08,000
above what we purchased because, well, I couldn't wait to save to buy that

844
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:09,000
thing I wanted.

845
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:15,000
I couldn't wait or I just wasn't prepared for that financial emergency and

846
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,000
now it's wiped everything out.

847
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:21,000
Or we're just simply gobbling up everything we make on ourselves because,

848
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:25,000
well, after all, my own pleasure is the most important thing on my priority

849
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:26,000
list.

850
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:31,000
And then we come around and try to say, oh, Lord, I'm so sorry.

851
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,000
I can't give.

852
00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:37,000
I can't be generous in the way that you're calling me to be generous because

853
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:38,000
I don't have anything.

854
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:39,000
I'm broke.

855
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:44,000
And we do that instead of taking responsibility for maybe our poor

856
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:49,000
financial habits and maybe taking responsibility for what might be unwise

857
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:52,000
spending or whatever in our lives.

858
00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:55,000
Well, Scripture seems to be very, very clear on that.

859
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:59,000
You sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly.

860
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:02,000
Sow generously, you will reap generously.

861
00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:08,000
Now, because I believe so strongly in not just telling you guys, this is what

862
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:11,000
the Bible says, but equipping you guys.

863
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:13,000
I like to try and put tools into people's hands.

864
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:17,000
That's why we provide tracks so you can go out and evangelize.

865
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:22,000
But I really want to provide tools to the body here to help you guys learn how

866
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,000
to be better stewards, right?

867
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:28,000
And really, in just the practicality of just managing money well according to

868
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:32,000
biblical principles, you saw two of our community groups that were launching

869
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:33,000
this season.

870
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:37,000
It's a resource that we're able to make available to every single family here

871
00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:38,000
in the body.

872
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:44,000
And it's designed to teach and equip each one of us on really applying these

873
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:46,000
biblical principles in our lives.

874
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:50,000
Now, it's a program that is designed to work best in a group format.

875
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:53,000
That's why we're kind of launching it with our community groups.

876
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:57,000
But you can do it on your own as well, you know.

877
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,000
But the idea is that we're going to be launching these groups so that people

878
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,000
can enroll in this class.

879
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:05,000
It's a nine-week class called Financial Peace University.

880
00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:12,000
I do know that it's, you know, it's not the end-all gospel in financial stuff.

881
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:15,000
It's just one tool that we've come across.

882
00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:18,000
I've personally been in some of the classes and I've personally benefited

883
00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:22,000
from it as well as I've seen specific people benefit from some of the

884
00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:23,000
teachings.

885
00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:25,000
So we just wanted to play it, just a real quick video to show you kind of what

886
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:27,000
the class is going to go about.

887
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:29,000
And then I'll tell you a little more about it.

888
00:49:29,000 --> 00:49:34,000
But the idea is to take what Scripture says, buckle down, learn, and apply.

889
00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:38,000
That's the idea, right, to put into practice.

890
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:41,000
And, you know, if you're like me and budgeting is a cuss word, right, you

891
00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:44,000
might have to learn some things, to unlearn some things so that you could

892
00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:47,000
then start doing good with what God has given you.

893
00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:51,000
But if we could just roll that clip real quick, that would be great.

894
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:54,000
And then we started saying, okay, these principles that we're learning, what

895
00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:55,000
do you do first?

896
00:49:55,000 --> 00:49:57,000
Do you save money and invest?

897
00:49:57,000 --> 00:49:58,000
That's important.

898
00:49:58,000 --> 00:49:59,000
Do you get insurance?

899
00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:02,000
Do you have your emergency fund first or do you get out of debt?

900
00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:04,000
What about paying off your house?

901
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:06,000
You know, what about building wealth?

902
00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:09,000
What about the power of compound interest and getting that working for you to be

903
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:10,000
a millionaire?

904
00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:11,000
Which of these things do you do first?

905
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:14,000
And it was confusing and people said, I don't know what to do first.

906
00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:16,000
And I said, well, I don't either.

907
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:21,000
And then I just ran into this thing and it said, you can do anything if you do

908
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:22,000
it a bite at a time.

909
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:24,000
That's how you eat an elephant, a bite at a time.

910
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:28,000
And so we start figuring out that good financial planning and applying these

911
00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:32,000
principles in order works, and we call them the baby steps.

912
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:35,000
Baby step one is you save $1,000.

913
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:39,000
Baby step two, as soon as you've done that, is you work the debt snowball.

914
00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:42,000
And then baby step three, once you've done that, you go back to that $1,000 and

915
00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:46,000
raise it up to a fully funded grandma's rainy day fund of three to six months

916
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:47,000
of expenses.

917
00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:50,000
Once that's done, then we do four, five, and six simultaneously.

918
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:53,000
We start working on retirement, kids college, and any extra money we throw up

919
00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:54,000
paying off the house early.

920
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:59,000
And then that brings us to baby step seven where we just live and give like no

921
00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:02,000
one else, where we build wealth and we're outrageously generous.

922
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:05,000
And that's our outline of what we're going to go through together.

923
00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:09,000
This is the process we're going to go through together to take these principles

924
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:13,000
of living debt free, of living on a budget, these principles, and how do we

925
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:14,000
apply them in what order?

926
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:21,000
That's the order.

927
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:27,000
So again, I've been through the course myself, and I think the principles are

928
00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:28,000
solid.

929
00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:30,000
You know, they seem to work.

930
00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:34,000
There's over 10, 20 million people that have been through what they call

931
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:37,000
financial peace university and really have their lives changed, you know, when

932
00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:39,000
it comes to their financial outlook.

933
00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:43,000
And so as we mentioned in the intro thing, there's a whole slew of teaching

934
00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:46,000
and training and resources that they have a part of this.

935
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:53,000
And usually it's like $130 to have this service that you're committed to.

936
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:57,000
And, you know, I always hear people that are struggling with money going, well,

937
00:51:57,000 --> 00:51:58,000
I have no money.

938
00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:01,000
How am I supposed to, you know, pay something to make money?

939
00:52:01,000 --> 00:52:04,000
And that's another conversation we could have.

940
00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:09,000
But because I feel you, the church has actually made an investment to make

941
00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:12,000
that whole thing available to you guys for 20 bucks.

942
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:15,000
So we figured $20 is affordable for most people.

943
00:52:15,000 --> 00:52:19,000
And if you can't afford the 20 bucks and you want to take the class, please talk

944
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:21,000
to me, okay?

945
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:26,000
Because I really do believe the principles when we learn these biblical principles,

946
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:30,000
and he drills down into stuff much deeper than I did, and learn how to apply

947
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:34,000
these principles, it really is life changing.

948
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:38,000
Now, I'm telling you this just because there's a clock on it.

949
00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:42,000
We have a one-year opportunity to make it available to you guys for the price

950
00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:44,000
we're able to make it available to you guys.

951
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:46,000
And so that one-year clock starts in April.

952
00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:50,000
So if you decide to wait six months and go, okay, I want to do this, you only

953
00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:53,000
have six months available for all the training materials and stuff.

954
00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:59,000
But I share all of that because I pray you take advantage of the tool.

955
00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:02,000
If you're not going to take advantage of that tool, do something.

956
00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,000
Do something, right?

957
00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:10,000
Learn what Scripture says and apply these things because the end result is

958
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:13,000
that we're stewarding what God has given us well.

959
00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:15,000
That's the end result, right?

960
00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:19,000
Like I said, this particular training content, it's not the end-all gospel to

961
00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:23,000
financial stewardship, but it's a tool among tools, and we want to make it

962
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:25,000
available to you guys.

963
00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:29,000
But there's truly much more that Scripture teaches about money and how to

964
00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:31,000
steward it biblically, right?

965
00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:35,000
And I pray that in your own reading, in your own devotional time, in your own

966
00:53:35,000 --> 00:53:39,000
just sitting down with the Word of God and seeking Him that you learn, that the

967
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:44,000
Lord would speak to you about what He has to say about your finances and how

968
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:47,000
to steward those things well so that you could benefit from that.

969
00:53:47,000 --> 00:53:51,000
But, you know, just as a real quick recap here, and then we'll be done, you

970
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:53,000
know, get on a budget, right?

971
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:57,000
Because Proverbs 21.5 says, the plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit,

972
00:53:57,000 --> 00:54:00,000
but anyone who is reckless certainly becomes poor.

973
00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:04,000
Figure out what you got, figure out where it's going, and then figure out how to

974
00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:06,000
tell it where you want it to go.

975
00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:10,000
Then you get on a budget so that you could learn to live on less than you make

976
00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:14,000
so you have that extra margin, and so we do that because Proverbs 21.20 says a

977
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:17,000
fool spends whatever they get.

978
00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:20,000
You learn to live on less than you make so you can get out of debt because

979
00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:24,000
Proverbs 22.7 says the rich rule over the poor and a borrower is a slave to the

980
00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:26,000
lender.

981
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:30,000
You get out of debt so you could start having money to save for emergencies and

982
00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:34,000
plan for those things because Proverbs 21.20 says precious treasure and oil are

983
00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:37,000
in the dwelling of a wife's person.

984
00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:41,000
And so now you're kind of saving and, you know, just setting yourself up to be

985
00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:46,000
safe for those emergencies, right, when the car needs a surprise repairs, when

986
00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:51,000
the kid needs to go to the emergency room or something, and so now from a place of

987
00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:56,000
financial stability and security you can start to then multiply what God has

988
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:59,000
given you through wise stewardship, right?

989
00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:03,000
The whole idea is to do more so you could bless more and on and on.

990
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:07,000
And this all takes effort and diligence and planning and focus, and you may not

991
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:11,000
like it at first, but, you know, Hebrews 12.11 says no discipline seems enjoyable

992
00:55:11,000 --> 00:55:14,000
at the time.

993
00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:19,000
But if you learn to not squander everything you make, you can not only save

994
00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:23,000
for difficult situations, but you could be in that place of leaving a legacy

995
00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:27,000
because Proverbs 13.22 says a good man leaves an inheritance to his

996
00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:29,000
grandchildren.

997
00:55:29,000 --> 00:55:33,000
And through the whole process you learn and seek and, God, I want to be generous

998
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:35,000
the way you're generous.

999
00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:37,000
Show me where to start.

1000
00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:41,000
Show me where to get started in this, and then as you grow and manage what God has

1001
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:44,000
given you well and get yourself out of debt and not be wasting all your money on

1002
00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:47,000
things that are frivolous or whatever, then you're going to find yourself

1003
00:55:47,000 --> 00:55:52,000
increasingly more able to be generous the way Jesus is generous.

1004
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:57,000
And you get to live without the worry and the fear of financial emergencies and

1005
00:55:57,000 --> 00:56:01,000
without the restrictions of, oh, I'm just paycheck to paycheck.

1006
00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:04,000
You get yourself out of debt completely so there's no more interest payments just

1007
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:10,000
leaking out the thing, and you go from just being a giver to being an

1008
00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:12,000
outrageous giver.

1009
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:17,000
Didn't be able to give a lot, which is so much fun, you know?

1010
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:22,000
When you go from, okay, God, I'm trying to find out the minimum amount I could

1011
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:25,000
give to still be obedient to you.

1012
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:30,000
When you're able to go from that to, God, I just want to give lavishly,

1013
00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:34,000
hilariously, cheerfully.

1014
00:56:34,000 --> 00:56:38,000
I want to do things for people the way you do things for people, and we seek

1015
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:40,000
that. Why?

1016
00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:44,000
Because 2 Corinthians 9.7 says God loves a cheerful giver.

1017
00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:48,000
And that's really the goal, is to steward what he has for us so that, yeah, we're

1018
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:51,000
taking care of our family, we're taking care of our business, we're taking care

1019
00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:56,000
of all those important things, but we're able to be generous as he is generous.

1020
00:56:56,000 --> 00:57:00,000
Cheerfully, willingly, lavishly, right?

1021
00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:05,000
That word hilarious when it says God loves a cheerful giver, I always look at

1022
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:09,000
that word hilarious, and it's that kind of like giving where you kind of laugh

1023
00:57:09,000 --> 00:57:11,000
nervously after you did it.

1024
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:13,000
I just gave how much?

1025
00:57:13,000 --> 00:57:15,000
Wow.

1026
00:57:15,000 --> 00:57:17,000
Whoo.

1027
00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:20,000
But isn't that our God?

1028
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:24,000
Who just gives over and above?

1029
00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:27,000
And he just wants us to be just like that, you know?

1030
00:57:27,000 --> 00:57:32,000
And I am by no means a wealthy individual by any means, but I could tell you

1031
00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:35,000
generosity is fun.

1032
00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:39,000
And many of you in here have experienced that when you're able to, you know, not

1033
00:57:39,000 --> 00:57:43,000
just hand someone a few dollars, but God brings you to the place where you're

1034
00:57:43,000 --> 00:57:45,000
able to give someone a car.

1035
00:57:45,000 --> 00:57:48,000
And they're just like, oh, my goodness.

1036
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:54,000
Can you imagine being able to pay off someone's house that's struggling?

1037
00:57:54,000 --> 00:57:59,000
A single mom who's just like praying, God, please, I mean, God could use you to

1038
00:57:59,000 --> 00:58:01,000
do that.

1039
00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:03,000
But he can't do it if you love the money.

1040
00:58:03,000 --> 00:58:05,000
It's when you stop loving the money that he gives you the money.

1041
00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:08,000
It's just a weird dichotomy of his kingdom.

1042
00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:10,000
Seek him.

1043
00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:12,000
Seek to be obedient to him.

1044
00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:16,000
Seek to do with what you have, what he is teaching you and calling you to do

1045
00:58:16,000 --> 00:58:18,000
with what you have.

1046
00:58:18,000 --> 00:58:23,000
And give cheerfully, lavishly, willingly.

1047
00:58:23,000 --> 00:58:27,000
Start wherever you're at and figure out what that is, right?

1048
00:58:27,000 --> 00:58:29,000
There's no percentage to be right and wrong.

1049
00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:31,000
There's no this is the sinful percentage.

1050
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:33,000
This is the godly percentage.

1051
00:58:33,000 --> 00:58:35,000
Start somewhere.

1052
00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:38,000
Be faithful, and I guarantee you, watch God bless you.

1053
00:58:38,000 --> 00:58:42,000
And you get to step in those shoes that he has to be just like our Lord and

1054
00:58:42,000 --> 00:58:43,000
Savior.

1055
00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:46,000
And when you're a giver, you get to experience being like him in ways some

1056
00:58:46,000 --> 00:58:50,000
people never get to experience, and it is awesome.

1057
00:58:50,000 --> 00:58:51,000
Amen?

1058
00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:52,000
Let's pray.

1059
00:58:52,000 --> 00:58:57,000
Father, oh, Lord, you are so gracious.

1060
00:58:57,000 --> 00:59:01,000
And you call us to be gracious as you are gracious.

1061
00:59:01,000 --> 00:59:06,000
Lord, you are so generous, and you call us to be generous as you are generous.

1062
00:59:06,000 --> 00:59:11,000
So, Lord, I pray, God, that your Holy Spirit would deal with our hearts, Lord,

1063
00:59:11,000 --> 00:59:15,000
that we wouldn't be consumed by materialistic thinking.

1064
00:59:15,000 --> 00:59:20,000
We wouldn't be consumed by fear and anxiety that would cause us to hoard and

1065
00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:24,000
hang on to everything because we're just constantly expecting the worst to

1066
00:59:24,000 --> 00:59:25,000
happen.

1067
00:59:25,000 --> 00:59:31,000
And then, Lord, we wouldn't be people who are expecting the worst to happen

1068
00:59:31,000 --> 00:59:34,000
because we haven't done anything to be ready in case something bad happens.

1069
00:59:34,000 --> 00:59:39,000
But, Lord, we would learn what your word says to not just get the theory of

1070
00:59:39,000 --> 00:59:44,000
giving, but, Lord, the practical application, Lord, of things like

1071
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:50,000
budgeting and planning ahead, saving for emergencies so they don't wipe us out

1072
00:59:50,000 --> 00:59:51,000
when they happen.

1073
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:56,000
Being ready, Lord, if you tarry and we're still here for another generation or

1074
00:59:56,000 --> 00:59:59,000
ten more generations, Lord, that we're able to leave a legacy to our

1075
00:59:59,000 --> 01:00:00,000
grandchildren.

1076
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:06,000
Lord, that we would be faithfully using what you give us, Lord, and that God be

1077
01:00:06,000 --> 01:00:10,000
people where you would look and say, I trust you with whatever.

1078
01:00:10,000 --> 01:00:13,000
Lord, that you would look at us as your people and say, I could trust you with

1079
01:00:13,000 --> 01:00:15,000
this because you're going to manage it well.

1080
01:00:15,000 --> 01:00:18,000
That you're going to be generous as I am generous.

1081
01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:21,000
You are going to help the poor and you're going to help the suffering and you're

1082
01:00:21,000 --> 01:00:23,000
going to take care of those in need, God.

1083
01:00:23,000 --> 01:00:26,000
And that we as a church, as we collectively pull together to do that,

1084
01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:32,000
Lord, we would not be restricted by these practical, tangible things, Lord,

1085
01:00:32,000 --> 01:00:36,000
but that we would really experience the blessing you have for us individually

1086
01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:39,000
and then as a body of Christ, Lord, that we would be able to do whatever it is

1087
01:00:39,000 --> 01:00:43,000
you're calling us to do without having to think, can we afford it?

1088
01:00:43,000 --> 01:00:46,000
But, Lord, in and through all of that, we want to serve you.

1089
01:00:46,000 --> 01:00:48,000
We want to follow you.

1090
01:00:48,000 --> 01:00:50,000
We want to trust you, Lord.

1091
01:00:50,000 --> 01:00:53,000
And so, Lord, never give us so much that we don't trust you.

1092
01:00:53,000 --> 01:01:00,000
But, Lord, also keep us out of these places of having such lack that we blame you.

1093
01:01:00,000 --> 01:01:05,000
Because we know, Lord, that we are called to be stewards of what you've given us.

1094
01:01:05,000 --> 01:01:07,000
So teach us and help us to make right choices.

1095
01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:11,000
And bless us that we would be a giver just like you are a giver, Lord.

1096
01:01:11,000 --> 01:01:15,000
Cheerfully, joyfully, hilariously.

1097
01:01:15,000 --> 01:01:16,000
We love you so much.

1098
01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:18,000
It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

1099
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:46,000
Let's worship, guys.