WEBVTT 00:00:01.864 --> 00:00:04.269 We're going to be in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8 this morning. 00:00:04.690 --> 00:00:05.852 2 Corinthians, chapter 8. 00:00:05.852 --> 00:00:14.948 And have you ever had something in your life where you thought something and, over a period of time, you changed your mind about what you thought? 00:00:14.948 --> 00:00:16.553 That ever happened to you? 00:00:16.553 --> 00:00:19.420 It's happened to me before, many times, in fact. 00:00:19.481 --> 00:00:34.866 Growing up, I did not like sushi Raw fish, yuck but y'all, can I just say things have changed, I have seen the light. 00:00:34.866 --> 00:00:36.884 Are there any sushi lovers in the house this morning? 00:00:36.884 --> 00:00:38.390 Come on, let's go, let's go. 00:00:38.390 --> 00:00:39.171 You are my people. 00:00:39.171 --> 00:00:48.487 The other day I was reminded that I have been converted to being a sushi lover when I walked in a place in Vacaville, a sushi restaurant called Fuji Sushi. 00:00:48.487 --> 00:00:50.229 Anybody Fuji Sushi? 00:00:50.229 --> 00:00:50.970 Anybody been there? 00:00:50.970 --> 00:00:54.061 Okay, yeah, fuji Sushi, I walk in. 00:00:54.061 --> 00:00:56.490 No joke, the bro knows my name. 00:00:56.490 --> 00:00:59.506 He's like Nate, welcome back. 00:00:59.506 --> 00:01:00.228 How you doing, man? 00:01:00.228 --> 00:01:04.990 I was like okay, maybe I frequent this place a little bit too often. 00:01:07.061 --> 00:01:09.891 I think all of us, we change our minds over time. 00:01:09.891 --> 00:01:13.310 Things we used to like, we don't like anymore. 00:01:13.310 --> 00:01:17.971 Things we used to not like, now we like. 00:01:17.971 --> 00:01:29.414 This is kind of part of life, and it also happens in our relationship with God, as God changes our hearts and God changes our minds. 00:01:29.414 --> 00:01:34.423 That's what God does I think about. 00:01:34.423 --> 00:01:46.721 When I was in Bible college, I was fully convinced that if you were a good pastor, when you got up to preach before the people on a Sunday morning, you needed to wear a suit and tie. 00:01:46.721 --> 00:01:54.322 Now you could be a pastor and not wear a suit and tie, but you couldn't be a good pastor and not wear a suit and tie. 00:01:54.322 --> 00:02:09.193 The irony what happened is I studied scripture and this is what I learned that while wearing a suit and tie is not a bad thing, it's not a biblical thing either. 00:02:09.193 --> 00:02:15.590 And my mindset changed as I studied scripture. 00:02:15.590 --> 00:02:24.073 And the reason why I bring these things up is because we're going to talk about a place today in scripture that, for some of us, our mindset needs to change. 00:02:24.073 --> 00:02:34.812 We're actually going to talk about a place that's the difference between some of you staying where you are spiritually and moving forward into maturity, into spiritual maturity. 00:02:34.812 --> 00:02:41.548 We're going to talk about a place that's the difference between you trusting yourself and trusting God. 00:02:41.548 --> 00:02:48.921 A place that is the difference between you seeing what you can do versus you seeing what God can do. 00:02:50.764 --> 00:03:01.790 But I have to warn everybody in the room as soon as I say this word, some of us are going to have some emotions creep up in us. 00:03:01.790 --> 00:03:08.221 Have some emotions creep up in us. 00:03:08.221 --> 00:03:09.042 You guys ready for this? 00:03:09.042 --> 00:03:14.329 We are going to look at what does the scripture say about money. 00:03:14.329 --> 00:03:18.533 I told you, I told you, some of y'all are like ah. 00:03:19.776 --> 00:03:28.793 For some of us, the reason being is because we've been in unhealthy church environments where it's like guilt and manipulative maybe the prosperity gospel preacher that we're like ah. 00:03:28.793 --> 00:03:46.111 For others of us, just honestly, because it's just us here, some of us, money just has a really tight stronghold in our life and money has so much of our heart that if anybody even touches that, it's like for some of us, our self-worth is determined by our net worth. 00:03:46.111 --> 00:03:51.010 So if we talk about finances, it's like you're talking about my personal self-worth. 00:03:51.010 --> 00:03:54.104 But I got good news for everybody here. 00:03:54.104 --> 00:04:01.941 We're going to be in a passage of scripture this is going to put everybody at ease when Paul says I'm not commanding you to do this, I'm not commanding you to give. 00:04:01.941 --> 00:04:04.604 So we can all like just breathe a sigh of relief. 00:04:04.604 --> 00:04:07.569 In fact, can we just do this on the count of three? 00:04:07.569 --> 00:04:14.584 Can we just all take a deep breath, a really good deep breath on the count of three One, two, three in out. 00:04:14.584 --> 00:04:15.145 That's a little better. 00:04:15.185 --> 00:04:16.971 Now this therapy session is going to begin. 00:04:16.971 --> 00:04:20.136 No, I'm just kidding. 00:04:20.136 --> 00:04:21.322 So Paul says this. 00:04:21.322 --> 00:04:26.781 Paul says, hey, you don't have, I'm going to be in a place where I'm not telling you. 00:04:26.781 --> 00:04:28.747 You have to do this. 00:04:28.747 --> 00:04:33.564 And I also want to say this if you're new here, you kind of walked into a family Sunday today. 00:04:33.564 --> 00:04:42.240 But I'm actually really glad you walked into a family Sunday today because you're actually going to see how Jesus, when we follow him, he touches every single area of our life. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:48.365 There's not like, there's not this disconnect between there's me on Sunday and me the rest of the week. 00:04:48.365 --> 00:04:50.831 That's called religion, that's not Christianity. 00:04:50.831 --> 00:04:55.771 So we're going to see this and we're going to be in a passage called in 2 Corinthians 8,. 00:04:55.771 --> 00:04:57.625 If you're ready for the word, say amen. 00:04:58.185 --> 00:04:59.410 Okay, here's the context. 00:04:59.410 --> 00:05:00.420 Let's talk about this, all right. 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:02.524 So you got this guy named Paul. 00:05:02.524 --> 00:05:04.589 Everybody say Paul, ready Paul. 00:05:04.589 --> 00:05:08.245 Paul had been in Jerusalem and there were some people in Jerusalem. 00:05:08.245 --> 00:05:13.430 They were struggling financially because of persecution, because of things they were experiencing. 00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:15.959 So he goes to the city called Corinth. 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:19.065 Everybody say the word Corinth, ready Corinth. 00:05:19.065 --> 00:05:20.730 This is in modern day. 00:05:20.730 --> 00:05:23.483 Does anybody want to take a guess where this is at in modern day. 00:05:23.483 --> 00:05:26.391 This is in modern day Greece. 00:05:26.391 --> 00:05:26.831 That's good. 00:05:26.831 --> 00:05:28.185 Y'all know modern day Greece. 00:05:28.185 --> 00:05:29.846 So you see Corinth right there. 00:05:29.846 --> 00:05:31.466 So he goes to the city of Corinth. 00:05:31.466 --> 00:05:33.466 They're real people, just like me and you. 00:05:33.466 --> 00:05:35.848 They have real struggles, real challenges, real life. 00:05:35.848 --> 00:05:37.720 They got real headaches, real issues. 00:05:38.081 --> 00:05:48.125 He goes to the city of Corinth to these Jesus followers it's a church there and he says hey, in Jerusalem they're going through some hard times. 00:05:48.125 --> 00:05:49.170 So we're receiving an offering. 00:05:49.170 --> 00:05:52.670 I'm writing this letter so you'll receive an offering so we can help out these people. 00:05:52.670 --> 00:05:57.524 And this is what he tells the people in Corinth in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8. 00:05:57.524 --> 00:06:06.077 He says guys, I want you to know that the brothers and sisters, about the brothers and sisters, I want you to know brothers and sisters, about the brothers and sisters. 00:06:06.077 --> 00:06:11.773 I want you to know brothers and sisters about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia. 00:06:11.773 --> 00:06:20.028 So he calls them brothers and sisters because if you are a follower of Jesus, you've trusted in Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, then you are a brother and sister. 00:06:20.028 --> 00:06:24.084 He says I want you to know about the grace that was given to Macedonia. 00:06:24.084 --> 00:06:27.108 Macedonia was a region. 00:06:27.108 --> 00:06:31.175 So if you look up north there at the top of the map, that would be Macedonia. 00:06:31.175 --> 00:06:38.185 So think like the Bay Area is a region, macedonia is a region, he says. 00:06:38.185 --> 00:06:53.043 I want you to know about the people there, the churches there, the churches in Macedonia, are some of the churches we read about in scripture Thessalonica 1 and 2, thessalonians, philippi, the book of Philippians, berea we see that church in Acts 17. 00:06:53.043 --> 00:06:56.410 Those were churches that were in the region of Macedonia. 00:06:56.410 --> 00:06:59.742 So he wants them to know about these people. 00:06:59.742 --> 00:07:02.668 What does he want them to know about? 00:07:03.509 --> 00:07:05.173 Paul says God's grace was given to them. 00:07:05.173 --> 00:07:05.494 How? 00:07:05.494 --> 00:07:23.553 Because verse 2 says during a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their let's say those two words and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity. 00:07:23.553 --> 00:07:29.492 These people of Macedonia, they were poor. 00:07:29.492 --> 00:07:34.129 The word extreme here means as deep as the ocean. 00:07:34.129 --> 00:07:37.846 That's some poor folk right there. 00:07:37.846 --> 00:07:47.110 They were in poverty and even though they were poor, they gave generously. 00:07:47.300 --> 00:08:03.233 He says in verse 3, I can testify that according to their ability, even beyond their ability of their own accord, they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry of the saints. 00:08:03.233 --> 00:08:05.800 Sharing in the ministry of the saints, sharing the ministry of the saints. 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:08.528 The ministry is the way we're going to serve the saints in Jerusalem. 00:08:08.528 --> 00:08:12.911 Saints are anybody that's trusted Christ as their Savior, not just the select few. 00:08:12.911 --> 00:08:16.007 They want to be a part of this ministry. 00:08:16.007 --> 00:08:18.528 So they begged Paul. 00:08:18.528 --> 00:08:22.170 They said, paul, we want to give. 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:27.267 Like, let us give to this, please, please, please. 00:08:27.267 --> 00:08:30.473 Paul's like, y'all are broke. 00:08:30.473 --> 00:08:35.384 Why should you give Verse four? 00:08:35.384 --> 00:08:39.149 They begged Paul, please, please, please, let us give. 00:08:39.149 --> 00:08:41.451 And they gave. 00:08:44.958 --> 00:08:48.488 And what this shows us is a couple of misconceptions I think we have. 00:08:48.488 --> 00:08:52.926 It's when some of us think that only people with the lots can give. 00:08:52.926 --> 00:08:56.823 We think, man, if I just had a little bit more than I could give. 00:08:56.823 --> 00:09:04.643 And I think there's this other misconception that we think is that I'll be happy, I'll be joyful once I get a little bit more. 00:09:04.643 --> 00:09:11.546 These people didn't have anything, any resources, and it said that their joy was abundant. 00:09:11.546 --> 00:09:26.905 And this is why Because generous people are joyful people, generous people are joyful people. 00:09:26.905 --> 00:09:38.022 And the reason why these people were willing to give of their resources, their financial resources, was because something in verse 5 that's a little bit uncomfortable for some of us. 00:09:39.004 --> 00:09:39.886 Verse 5 says this. 00:09:39.886 --> 00:09:42.464 It says not just as we had hoped. 00:09:42.464 --> 00:09:47.655 Instead, the underlying portion says this it says what it says. 00:09:47.655 --> 00:09:53.087 They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, by God's will. 00:09:53.087 --> 00:09:58.686 These people didn't have a compartmentalized version of their faith. 00:09:58.686 --> 00:10:04.044 They said God, we're giving our entire selves to you. 00:10:04.044 --> 00:10:12.376 How many of you know it's easy to give, like some of us, ourselves to God, like I'll give you some of that over here. 00:10:12.376 --> 00:10:14.722 I'll give you a Sunday morning every now and again. 00:10:14.722 --> 00:10:22.139 God, I'll give you maybe this over this, but to give all of ourselves to God, it's not easy. 00:10:22.139 --> 00:10:23.640 To give our attitude to God. 00:10:23.640 --> 00:10:35.010 It's not easy to give our attitude to God, to give thanks to God when people mistreat us, these people, they gave themselves first to God. 00:10:35.010 --> 00:10:42.315 So verse 6, this is what it says, paul writes. 00:10:42.315 --> 00:10:42.676 So we urged Titus. 00:10:42.676 --> 00:10:44.418 Titus was the one that was receiving the offering to give to the people in Jerusalem. 00:10:44.418 --> 00:10:50.990 We urged Titus that, just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace. 00:10:53.475 --> 00:10:54.761 Verse 7, paul goes on. 00:10:54.761 --> 00:11:08.066 He says now, as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence and in your love for us, also excel in this act of grace. 00:11:08.066 --> 00:11:11.163 So Paul tells the people in this church. 00:11:11.163 --> 00:11:12.057 He's like guys. 00:11:12.057 --> 00:11:13.942 He's like you're filled with faith. 00:11:13.942 --> 00:11:15.647 You have faith. 00:11:15.647 --> 00:11:17.660 You find out somebody has cancer. 00:11:17.660 --> 00:11:19.261 You're like God's gonna heal them. 00:11:19.261 --> 00:11:22.543 You hear Project 33 offering. 00:11:22.543 --> 00:11:23.860 You're like God's gonna provide. 00:11:23.860 --> 00:11:25.798 He's like you got faith. 00:11:25.798 --> 00:11:26.782 You got speech. 00:11:26.782 --> 00:11:28.155 You guys can talk well. 00:11:28.155 --> 00:11:33.399 He said you have knowledge, you guys know about God, you guys understand the gospel. 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:37.202 You understand this, he said, and you're diligent. 00:11:37.202 --> 00:11:38.264 Like you serve. 00:11:38.264 --> 00:11:39.945 You're intentional. 00:11:39.945 --> 00:11:43.847 He says you're love for us, you care about us. 00:11:43.847 --> 00:11:47.410 Paul's like you're excelling there. 00:11:47.410 --> 00:11:48.532 You're excelling there. 00:11:48.532 --> 00:11:49.493 You're excelling there. 00:11:49.493 --> 00:11:53.296 You're excelling there. 00:11:53.296 --> 00:11:58.082 If you look at your Christian life, you're thinking I'm doing pretty good. 00:11:58.123 --> 00:12:00.586 But Paul also loves them enough to tell them the truth. 00:12:00.586 --> 00:12:03.791 Which can I just slide in there? 00:12:03.791 --> 00:12:06.822 A lot of pastors don't love the people enough to tell them the truth. 00:12:06.822 --> 00:12:09.638 But Paul loves the people enough to tell them the truth. 00:12:09.638 --> 00:12:12.225 And he says this I want you to excel also in this grace. 00:12:12.225 --> 00:12:13.758 What's this grace Giving? 00:12:13.758 --> 00:12:19.448 He loves these people enough to say you need to grow in this area. 00:12:19.448 --> 00:12:23.505 Yet God has changed you here and changed you here and changed you here and changed you here. 00:12:23.505 --> 00:12:28.224 But I love you enough to nudge you into this place. 00:12:28.224 --> 00:12:30.148 And this is why he says this. 00:12:30.187 --> 00:12:34.485 He says in verse 8, he says I'm not saying this is a command, paul's like. 00:12:34.485 --> 00:12:36.216 I'm not telling you you have to give. 00:12:36.216 --> 00:12:51.155 I'm not telling you that people at Corinth, but rather by a means of the diligence of others looking at the people in Macedonia, look at their diligence I'm testing the genuineness of your love. 00:12:51.155 --> 00:12:57.081 He says this is showing your love. 00:12:57.081 --> 00:13:08.049 Because of this, you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. 00:13:08.049 --> 00:13:18.256 You can give without loving. 00:13:18.256 --> 00:13:18.697 You can do that. 00:13:18.697 --> 00:13:21.847 I can give somebody five bucks doesn't mean I love them, but I cannot love somebody without giving. 00:13:21.847 --> 00:13:22.831 And this is what Paul says. 00:13:22.831 --> 00:13:27.701 Paul says I'm testing the genuineness of the love that you have. 00:13:27.701 --> 00:13:30.748 And he gets to verse number nine. 00:13:30.748 --> 00:13:37.024 And I really think verse number nine is the key that unlocks the door of generosity. 00:13:38.317 --> 00:13:42.039 He says you know this, that the grace of our Lord Jesus. 00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:51.525 Though he was rich for your sake, he became poor so that by his poverty you might become rich. 00:13:51.525 --> 00:13:56.261 Here's the gospel, corinthians, people of Corinth. 00:13:56.261 --> 00:13:57.865 Jesus left all of heaven. 00:13:57.865 --> 00:14:00.501 He left the beauty, he left the comfort, he left the splendor. 00:14:00.501 --> 00:14:02.591 He was rich, he had everything he wanted. 00:14:02.591 --> 00:14:07.163 He came down to this jacked up, messed up world that the rest of us live in right now. 00:14:07.163 --> 00:14:11.701 He was denied, he was betrayed, he was beaten, he died a cruel death. 00:14:11.701 --> 00:14:14.288 And he did that for you. 00:14:14.288 --> 00:14:21.381 He did that so you could be spiritually rich, so you can have a relationship with God. 00:14:21.381 --> 00:14:29.746 He did this so you could be lavish with God's love, so you can be fully accepted by God, so you can be a child of God. 00:14:29.746 --> 00:14:30.961 This is who you are. 00:14:30.961 --> 00:14:35.186 You're rich because Jesus became poor for you. 00:14:35.186 --> 00:14:36.979 Do you see it? 00:14:37.038 --> 00:14:45.009 Corinthians, and in the text here we see three important facts about giving. 00:14:45.009 --> 00:14:48.442 That allows us to change our mindset. 00:14:48.442 --> 00:14:51.037 When we see what does the scripture actually say? 00:14:51.037 --> 00:14:57.609 In verse 2, we see this that giving number one isn't dependent on how much you have. 00:14:57.609 --> 00:15:07.278 If you're like me, a lot of times I'm thinking, if I just had more, I would be able to give more, or I would be able to do this. 00:15:07.278 --> 00:15:11.797 This passage really kind of shows me that. 00:15:11.797 --> 00:15:15.705 Ain't the case, nate, you can give no matter how much you have. 00:15:16.787 --> 00:15:18.235 Paul challenges this thinking. 00:15:18.235 --> 00:15:20.662 Paul says these people were destitute. 00:15:20.662 --> 00:15:22.386 I wish he wouldn't have said they were destitute. 00:15:22.386 --> 00:15:25.701 I wish those people had a lot of money and they could be like multi-millionaires. 00:15:25.701 --> 00:15:27.703 And then he could say look at these multi-millionaires. 00:15:27.703 --> 00:15:30.688 They gave and I could sit here and say, okay, well, I'm not even a one millionaire. 00:15:30.688 --> 00:15:35.721 So he says, nope, they were so poor, it was as deep as the ocean. 00:15:35.721 --> 00:15:39.969 Really Reminds me of this guy. 00:15:40.009 --> 00:15:42.376 His name is a guy in American history. 00:15:42.376 --> 00:15:43.839 His name is JD Rockefeller. 00:15:43.839 --> 00:15:45.581 Anybody ever heard of a guy named JD Rockefeller? 00:15:45.581 --> 00:15:56.284 Okay, so this guy was in the oil industry and he did all the oil stuff and he actually a lot of people don't know this, but he actually was a devoted follower of Jesus and he was an incredibly generous person. 00:15:56.284 --> 00:15:57.595 And this is what he said. 00:15:57.595 --> 00:16:12.591 He said I would have never been able to tithe to give 10% off of my first million dollars if I didn't tie it off of my first salary, which was $1.50 a week. 00:16:15.975 --> 00:16:28.043 And I think Rockefeller knew something that I think some of us don't realize, and it's this is that giving isn't about our money, but giving is about our hearts. 00:16:28.043 --> 00:16:32.049 Giving isn't about our money, but giving is about our hearts. 00:16:32.049 --> 00:16:33.091 And what giving does? 00:16:33.091 --> 00:16:40.855 Number two and our finances do? 00:16:40.855 --> 00:16:41.677 Number two is they reveal our hearts. 00:16:41.677 --> 00:16:42.278 Giving reveals our heart. 00:16:42.278 --> 00:16:43.539 They gave themselves first to God. 00:16:43.539 --> 00:16:47.044 He had their hearts first. 00:16:47.044 --> 00:16:53.822 Now, giving yourself first to God begins when we turn from our sin and we trust in Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. 00:16:53.822 --> 00:16:58.078 We understand the gospel that he was buried, that he died. 00:16:58.078 --> 00:17:01.967 He was buried, he resurrected the third day and we put our trust in him. 00:17:01.967 --> 00:17:03.899 This is how we begin a relationship with him. 00:17:03.899 --> 00:17:12.340 In fact, if you're new here and somebody dragged you here and we can see your heel marks in the parking lot, this is what you need to know this morning. 00:17:12.340 --> 00:17:17.499 Know one thing Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship. 00:17:17.499 --> 00:17:23.429 Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship. 00:17:23.429 --> 00:17:50.494 And as our relationship with God grows, what happens is God shows us places in our life, as we grow, where he is not first place, where maybe he doesn't have lordship in our lives, and as we learn, as we grow in our relationship with him, sometimes he'll show us some things about our finances and really it kind of reminds me of this, about our finances, and really it kind of reminds me of this. 00:17:50.694 --> 00:17:56.347 One of the things I absolutely despise is when I'm driving and a light comes on right in my dashboard, right in front of me. 00:17:56.347 --> 00:18:08.448 When I see the check engine light come on In fact, anybody like me when you see the check engine light come on, you're just like frustrated, annoyed Anybody like me. 00:18:08.448 --> 00:18:08.626 Some see the check engine light come on. 00:18:08.626 --> 00:18:09.548 You're just like frustrated, annoyed Anybody like me. 00:18:09.548 --> 00:18:13.695 Just have a moment with us, anybody. 00:18:13.695 --> 00:18:16.594 Your check engine light is on right now and I can just give you, okay, empathy. 00:18:16.594 --> 00:18:23.498 I love you, bro, okay, yes, yes, I'm here and when I see that thing come on, I'm just annoyed. 00:18:23.498 --> 00:18:39.222 I'm like what's going on and what I could do and I've actually been tempted to do To go on YouTube and say yes, michelle has Tell me afterwards, okay, the light is the problem. 00:18:39.222 --> 00:18:40.519 I just didn't turn that light off. 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:42.105 The lights are on. 00:18:42.105 --> 00:18:46.066 Is there a button around here where I can flip the switch and the light goes off? 00:18:49.296 --> 00:18:52.762 Here's what I know and here's what you know and here's what we don't like to think about. 00:18:52.762 --> 00:18:54.240 The light isn't the problem. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:58.266 The light's just an indicator of what's happening under the heart, under the hood. 00:18:58.266 --> 00:19:05.741 The light is just an indicator of what's happening somewhere that we don't even see, and you know what our finances are. 00:19:05.741 --> 00:19:10.124 They're just an indicator to show where our hearts are, for good or for bad. 00:19:10.124 --> 00:19:11.968 That is what Jesus said. 00:19:11.968 --> 00:19:26.340 He said where your treasure is in Matthew 6, there will your heart be also, isn't my finances show me, for good or for bad, what does Nate truly value, what actually matters to us? 00:19:26.340 --> 00:19:27.384 Where are our priorities? 00:19:27.384 --> 00:19:50.957 This is why Jesus, in half of the parables, he talked about money and possessions, not because he wanted people's money and possessions, because he wanted people's hearts, and their hearts are shown by money and possessions, and in a world that invites every one of us to take, we have a God of grace that invites us to give, and really the crux of all this is. 00:19:50.957 --> 00:19:56.248 Number three is that giving is a response to what God has given us. 00:19:56.248 --> 00:19:58.978 Is that giving is a response to what God has given us? 00:19:58.978 --> 00:20:00.881 He became poor so we could be rich. 00:20:01.721 --> 00:20:04.285 I kind of want to give a silly illustration. 00:20:04.285 --> 00:20:07.368 Is it okay if I give a silly illustration today, is it okay? 00:20:07.368 --> 00:20:07.469 Okay? 00:20:07.469 --> 00:20:09.250 So here's how we're going to illustrate this. 00:20:09.250 --> 00:20:15.867 We're going to illustrate this with a balloon, but I need somebody to help me. 00:20:15.867 --> 00:20:18.756 Michelle's going to help me. 00:20:18.756 --> 00:20:19.637 You don't even know what I was going to ask. 00:20:19.637 --> 00:20:21.382 I just need you to blow and tie up this balloon. 00:20:21.382 --> 00:20:22.443 Just blow it up. 00:20:22.443 --> 00:20:25.758 Somebody at the 845 service put their mouth. 00:20:25.758 --> 00:20:30.387 No, I'm just kidding, just kidding, so just kidding. 00:20:30.387 --> 00:20:30.828 I love it. 00:20:31.394 --> 00:20:36.986 Did you guys, when you were a kid ever play the keep it up game where you had to keep the balloon up in the air, right, and you had to. 00:20:36.986 --> 00:20:41.865 Okay, you guys played the game, so you had to hit it and it would go up in the air and then it would go back down. 00:20:41.865 --> 00:20:46.605 And you hit it and go back in the air and wonderful, just like that. 00:20:46.605 --> 00:20:48.308 This is good. 00:20:48.308 --> 00:21:02.617 So, to keep the balloon afloat like this, like the game that we played as a kid, you got to kind of hit it and then it goes back down, hit it again, goes back down. 00:21:02.617 --> 00:21:03.461 Yeah, hit it again, goes back down. 00:21:03.461 --> 00:21:04.082 Got to kind of hit it again. 00:21:04.082 --> 00:21:07.130 Now there's another way we can keep a balloon afloat is you can put a gas in the balloon that starts with an H. 00:21:07.130 --> 00:21:09.556 That keeps the balloon up. 00:21:09.556 --> 00:21:10.817 What is that gas called? 00:21:10.817 --> 00:21:11.298 It is called. 00:21:11.298 --> 00:21:15.305 In fact, we have a balloon. 00:21:15.305 --> 00:21:18.829 Thanks to my friend, dan Dow brought this. 00:21:18.829 --> 00:21:21.684 We have a balloon that is filled with helium. 00:21:21.684 --> 00:21:36.415 Now, the only reason why this helium-filled balloon isn't going up is because something's tying it down, like this thing would go all the way up this thing. 00:21:36.415 --> 00:21:39.586 It would fall to the ground, it wouldn't stay afloat. 00:21:40.515 --> 00:21:42.900 And what happens in our lives is some of us. 00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:56.381 We have moments of generosity in our life where maybe what happens is we see a GoFundMe from somebody that maybe they're struggling or having a hard time, and like our generosity goes up and then it goes back down. 00:21:56.381 --> 00:22:00.458 Or how about this? 00:22:00.458 --> 00:22:04.827 We see one of those sappy, emotional commercials where the dog is like limping. 00:22:04.827 --> 00:22:05.375 You know what I mean? 00:22:05.375 --> 00:22:07.182 It's like give and save the dog. 00:22:07.182 --> 00:22:08.846 We have this moment of generosity. 00:22:08.846 --> 00:22:10.720 It goes back up, then it goes back down. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:18.667 We have Pastor Cody come up here and he's like, because you give these things happen, it's like that's amazing Moment of generosity goes back up and then it goes down. 00:22:22.855 --> 00:22:28.067 But the reality is is this is what the gospel does get this. 00:22:28.067 --> 00:22:37.785 The gospel is the helium that allows us to live a generous life and not just have generous moments. 00:22:37.785 --> 00:22:50.560 So what the gospel does is when I realize all that Jesus has done for me and who he is, my generosity doesn't go up and then down, and up and then down. 00:22:50.560 --> 00:22:55.209 It's not there, it's here and I don't have to do anything. 00:22:55.209 --> 00:23:03.026 And in moments in my life when I have a hard time being generous, it's because I have forgotten the gospel. 00:23:03.026 --> 00:23:07.442 I have forgotten what Jesus has done and what the gospel causes us to do. 00:23:07.442 --> 00:23:11.161 It causes us to let go of the grip that money has on our hearts. 00:23:11.161 --> 00:23:13.903 It causes us to not have a scarcity mentality. 00:23:13.903 --> 00:23:24.891 It causes us to stop being penny pinchers and every little no, and just have this lifestyle of who can I bless others? 00:23:24.891 --> 00:23:25.755 How can I bless other people? 00:23:27.615 --> 00:23:31.490 Now, here's what I want us to do quickly as we kind of wrap this up is we talk about tithing sometimes here and I want to kind of explain it biblically. 00:23:31.490 --> 00:23:32.132 Like what is tithing? 00:23:32.132 --> 00:23:33.175 Why do we tithe here? 00:23:33.175 --> 00:23:34.598 Where does tithing even come from? 00:23:34.598 --> 00:23:41.484 First of all, in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was commanded to give a tithe. 00:23:41.484 --> 00:23:42.779 This was in the Old Testament. 00:23:42.779 --> 00:23:45.630 It actually wasn't 10%, it was 23%. 00:23:45.630 --> 00:23:47.102 That's no joke, y'all. 00:23:47.102 --> 00:23:51.265 In the New Testament, Jesus affirmed the tithe. 00:23:51.265 --> 00:23:55.196 So there were people that were standing there and they tithed. 00:23:55.196 --> 00:23:58.343 But there was also some other places where maybe it wasn't what they should have been. 00:23:58.343 --> 00:24:02.518 Jesus said you tithe, that's good, but you're forgetting about this over here. 00:24:02.518 --> 00:24:11.421 Also, number three, in the New Testament we're called to grace giving, which always calls us to go above the law. 00:24:11.421 --> 00:24:14.644 So what the law causes us to be here? 00:24:14.644 --> 00:24:15.986 The law requires things. 00:24:15.986 --> 00:24:19.990 Grace allows us to go beyond the law. 00:24:21.714 --> 00:24:25.686 Now, I remember when I was in high school and I got my first real job. 00:24:25.686 --> 00:24:27.721 You guys remember when you got your first real job? 00:24:27.721 --> 00:24:32.586 Oh man, when I got my first real job, I was like I'm on top of the world. 00:24:32.586 --> 00:24:33.961 I make minimum wage. 00:24:33.961 --> 00:24:42.420 It's great, I don't need to ask my mom for something, I can go buy it myself, right? 00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:47.608 And I knew what the scripture talked about giving and things of that nature. 00:24:47.608 --> 00:24:53.537 And I got my first paycheck and I kind of did the math on what would it actually look like if I were to give 10%. 00:24:53.537 --> 00:24:58.659 This is when this is a little bit, a little bit right around. 00:24:58.699 --> 00:25:00.865 When cell phones first started coming, there wasn't any smartphones. 00:25:00.865 --> 00:25:02.300 I had to pull out an old school calculator. 00:25:02.300 --> 00:25:03.499 You guys remember the calculators, right? 00:25:03.499 --> 00:25:04.844 Some of you also have those. 00:25:04.844 --> 00:25:06.381 There's something called a smartphone now. 00:25:06.381 --> 00:25:15.868 So I pulled out my calculator, I did the math on it and I was like whoa, that's a lot of money. 00:25:15.868 --> 00:25:20.942 I was like I don't want to give this. 00:25:20.942 --> 00:25:22.119 I don't know. 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:24.359 I talk to my parents about it. 00:25:24.380 --> 00:25:27.027 It's like Nate, this is an opportunity for you to trust God. 00:25:27.027 --> 00:25:29.584 I don't want to trust God this way. 00:25:29.584 --> 00:25:35.628 This is an opportunity for you to trust God, and no different good followers of Jesus disagree on this. 00:25:35.628 --> 00:25:35.863 It's like no, no, literally. 00:25:35.863 --> 00:25:37.320 We see this principle, this example in scripture you to trust God, and no different good followers of Jesus disagree on this. 00:25:37.320 --> 00:25:38.278 It's like no, no, like, literally. 00:25:38.278 --> 00:25:45.876 We see this principle, this example in scripture and when we put God first, this is what's happening. 00:25:45.876 --> 00:25:47.882 Man, god's going to abundantly bless us. 00:25:47.962 --> 00:25:54.797 Now I want to wrap this up and, guys, we're not going to do the next slide, we're going to do the last slide, just for sake of time. 00:25:54.797 --> 00:25:59.626 I'm going to ask you to respond to this message this morning in one of three ways. 00:25:59.626 --> 00:26:06.642 See, when we tithe, what it does is it really allows us to say, god, you're first place in my life. 00:26:06.642 --> 00:26:08.914 It really allows us to say, god, I trust you. 00:26:08.914 --> 00:26:11.417 It really allows us to say, god, you're the owner of everything. 00:26:11.417 --> 00:26:12.519 Already, I'm just going to give to you. 00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:13.861 Here's what I'm going to invite you to do this morning. 00:26:13.861 --> 00:26:19.188 I'm going to invite you this morning to begin to maybe give something to God's church. 00:26:19.188 --> 00:26:25.363 I fully believe that whatever local church you're a part of, that God wants you to give to that local church. 00:26:25.363 --> 00:26:26.405 That's God's plan. 00:26:26.405 --> 00:26:28.436 This is way before I became a pastor. 00:26:28.457 --> 00:26:30.519 This is just a biblical thing and maybe some of you are like man. 00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:33.222 I know I've never done this, no judgment, you're just the normal person. 00:26:33.222 --> 00:26:35.926 Yes, ma'am, oh, that's super gracious of you. 00:26:35.926 --> 00:26:36.827 Yeah, that's great. 00:26:36.827 --> 00:26:38.770 That's awesome. 00:26:38.770 --> 00:26:41.679 That's super gracious of you. 00:26:41.679 --> 00:26:46.488 I'll go to Project 33, if that's your heart, if that's what your heart is for that, I love that. 00:26:46.488 --> 00:26:49.078 Wow, some of you. 00:26:49.199 --> 00:26:52.286 For your step is to begin tithing 10% of your income. 00:26:52.286 --> 00:26:54.656 Guys, I know it's hard. 00:26:54.656 --> 00:26:56.242 I live in the same stinking world you live in. 00:26:56.242 --> 00:27:00.744 I get it and say I'm just gonna start giving, I'm gonna start tithing. 00:27:00.744 --> 00:27:08.625 I know, I know, and if you were to come and show me your finances, I'd probably be like man, that's really hard, but somebody, that's your step you need to take. 00:27:08.746 --> 00:27:10.595 I was talking to somebody this past week, actually yesterday. 00:27:10.595 --> 00:27:11.773 This dude's 60 something. 00:27:11.773 --> 00:27:13.238 He's 61, 61. 00:27:13.238 --> 00:27:13.979 And he said hey, nate. 00:27:13.979 --> 00:27:15.201 He said can I tell you something? 00:27:15.201 --> 00:27:18.489 He said you can never out give God. 00:27:19.934 --> 00:27:21.198 He's talking to a younger dude in the faith. 00:27:21.198 --> 00:27:21.779 I'm 35. 00:27:21.779 --> 00:27:25.468 He's like bro, give and see what God can do. 00:27:25.468 --> 00:27:27.979 He said I just give. 00:27:27.979 --> 00:27:33.336 He said I've been giving for decades now and I just can't explain it and I'm like, bro, that's good stuff. 00:27:33.336 --> 00:27:37.101 Can I just say some of you are missing on what God can do in your life. 00:27:37.101 --> 00:27:38.282 Some of you, god wants to bless. 00:27:38.282 --> 00:27:40.384 But you gotta give guys Like you gotta give. 00:27:40.384 --> 00:27:40.924 I'm not here. 00:27:40.924 --> 00:27:42.227 Like God doesn't need your money. 00:27:42.227 --> 00:27:43.607 Frankly, the church doesn't need your money. 00:27:43.607 --> 00:27:46.471 God's not up on the throne saying, man, if you don't give, I'm going under. 00:27:46.471 --> 00:27:51.382 Nah, it's not like that. 00:27:51.382 --> 00:27:57.153 It really what we are doing is what they did in second corinthians, chapter 8. 00:27:57.212 --> 00:28:03.990 Part of project 33 is giving to people in need, people that want to be a part of our church, people that want to do this stuff, and they come to us like we just can't and we want to be a church. 00:28:03.990 --> 00:28:06.500 That's just generous and we have a posture that says we're going to give. 00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:08.065 That's what project 33 is going to do. 00:28:08.065 --> 00:28:08.976 It's going to help that. 00:28:08.976 --> 00:28:14.683 So maybe god's put on your heart to give to project 33 and wherever you are in your life. 00:28:14.683 --> 00:28:19.830 This is what we would just ask you to do to respond to the goodness and graciousness of God. 00:28:19.830 --> 00:28:30.005 Because remember what 2 Corinthians 9, verse 9, says, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake, for my sake. 00:28:30.005 --> 00:28:35.460 He became poor that by his poverty you might become rich.