REWIND
The podcast "REWIND" features a collection of past sermons from Organic Church. Each episode takes listeners on a journey through the teachings and messages delivered during previous worship services. The content is a retrospective look at the spiritual guidance and insights shared by Pastor Michael and visiting guests!
Listeners can expect to revisit powerful sermons, meaningful scriptures, and impactful messages that have been shared in the past. The podcast aims to provide a convenient and accessible way for the church community and new audiences to engage with the timeless wisdom and spiritual teachings presented during earlier sermons.
Whether it's a reflection on a particular theme, a series of teachings, or a selection of sermons covering various topics, "REWIND" offers an opportunity for individuals to deepen their understanding of the faith and find inspiration in the timeless messages.
The podcast may also include commentary or reflections on the historical context of each sermon and how it continues to resonate with the present-day congregation.
REWIND
The Dreaded Tithing Message (May 4, 2025)
Money talks—but what is it saying about your heart?
Tackling one of Christianity's most challenging topics, this episode dives deep into the spiritual significance of our financial decisions. Drawing from Matthew 6:21, we explore how our use of money serves as a mirror reflecting our true priorities and values. Far from a typical "give more" message, this conversation reframes tithing not as losing 10% but as returning what was always God's, while genuine giving flows from a transformed heart that can't help but express generosity.
Through powerful stories and practical demonstrations, we distinguish between tithing (a foundational act of obedience) and giving (an overflow of love and worship). Witness a moving moment when the congregation surprises a faithful family with financial support, exemplifying how a giving community becomes the hands of God. The only scripture where God explicitly challenges us to "test Him" relates directly to tithing—a divine invitation to experience supernatural provision firsthand.
The episode shares raw testimonies of God's faithfulness during financial struggles, including how the church nearly closed during COVID but experienced miraculous provision. We explore the difference between treating church contributions as investments (expecting returns) versus sowing seeds (trusting God's timing and purposes). Whether you're financially comfortable or struggling to make ends meet, this message offers a fresh perspective on aligning your resources with your faith.
Ready to move beyond financial fear into spiritual abundance? Join us for this transformative conversation about money, meaning, and the mystery of God's provision when we honor Him first.
you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus. Father, right now, I pray that the hearts of the people sitting in this room are softened, that their ears are opened and prepared to hear. Lord, I know that the word that you have set upon my heart is a word for today and, lord, I thank you for that. But, lord, know that I am going because you have already gone before me. Lord, I trust that the words that will be spoken today will be directly from you and not of me. Father, god and Lord, I thank you for the anointing that's going to rest, for the move that's going to happen on the hearts of those who are sitting in this room. Father, I thank you and I praise you for just how wonderful you are. Praise you for just how wonderful you are. Lord, we come not seeking your hand today, but to seek your face, that we might find ourselves in fellowship with you in the most genuine way, because, lord, that is what we are truly after. Father, I thank you for the classroom workers and for the students. Lord, I pray that you move just a mighty, mighty way inside of those classrooms today. Lord, I thank you and I praise you, I give you all the honor and glory in the mighty name of Jesus, and the church says Amen, Amen, amen, amen, name of Jesus, and the church says amen, amen, amen. I'm going to walk you through the lights real quick. Is the center button lit up? Okay, hit the blackout button for me. Hey, we got lights. Did you hit the record button on the podcast thing? So we're good. Did you hit the record button on the podcast thing, so we're good? I know half the congregation just left. Hey, roger, real quick, once all those kids are kicked out, I need you to do a real quick count for me on the number of adults that are in the room. Just adults, okay, so don't count. Courtney, sorry, I didn't realize she was still in the room, courtney. Courtney, sorry, I didn't realize she was still in the room. Well, I know, I know. Listen, you've got plenty of time. I'm not going to need it right away.
Speaker 1:This is one of those Sunday mornings that just about any pastor well, I shouldn't say that many pastors dread this Sunday morning, and here's the reason, because at some point you have to give a message that you know you don't want to give because it makes people uncomfortable. I know that I am called to offend not to offend the flesh, but to convict the spirit. And I'm here this morning and I am hoping and when I said that I'm believing that God is going to go before me this morning, I genuinely believe that. So much so I got here at 6.30 this morning to pray over each and every one of these chairs. To pray over each and every one of these chairs, because I believe that the people sitting in those chairs are going to need to be on the same page with me this morning. I'm going to need you to be in agreement with me this morning.
Speaker 1:Now here's the thing. Some of you may be visiting for the first time, or maybe you've only been here a couple of times. I want to tell you something. I'm not talking to you this morning. Now you can hear the message and it is for you, but if you have a storehouse that you go to regularly, this message I'm speaking it on their behalf today. Okay, thank you, jesus. We're all in agreement. Can we shut that back door, pretty, please. I don't know why that's distracting to me, but it is.
Speaker 1:Today is the dreaded tithing message Right Like? It makes people uncomfortable, but you guys need to understand it and the importance in it. Amen, okay, see, praying over your chair has worked. Everybody's in agreement that we need to understand the importance of tithing, right, okay? So then, I need you to just bear with me this morning as I deliver this message, because I promise you this is not from me, this is from God.
Speaker 1:I'm kind of thankful my wife left. The reason I am is because sometimes, when her and I talk about these things, I lose a bunch of money because she just gives it away and I always think, can you imagine what we could have done with that money? And she says, yeah, but can you imagine what God can do with that money? I don't like that logic, right? It's hard to compete with God. He's omnipresent, he knows your needs before. I don't like that. Amen. Can we agree on that? That it's hard to trust God with our finances? Only some of us are okay with that. Hey, listen, if you are confident, trusting God with your finances is good for you. I sometimes wonder what would be different if I didn't give the way that I did, if I didn't tithe the way that I did.
Speaker 1:But I want to do something real quick. Hey, look, I went to the bank this morning, got a little bit of money. Anybody want some? Dylan, how much you want? Buddy, how much does it fix your car? $1,000, enough, $1,000, enough. Come here. Oh, I am joking right now, but you're going to come here anyway, because here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you $10, $100 bills. Now, these are fake, but I'm going to give them to you and I need you to hold on to it for me for just a minute. Okay, because then I'm going to have you do something with it in a minute.
Speaker 1:Anybody else need some money today? Okay, how much do you need? All right, you want $500?. Hopefully that will be enough to get him through the rest of the course. There's $500?. There's $500 for you? Okay, you hold on to that. You're just going to keep that. I know it looks real, don't? If you guys go and spend that, I want you to know it says copy on there. It is fake. All right, you try to spend that. That's on you.
Speaker 1:Anybody else need money today? No, you can go back to your seat. How much you need? $3,600. I'm not going to have enough to give it to you in $100 bills. So how about I just give you a big old stack of money. I don't even know how much is there. How much do you need? I'm not going to be able to give that to you, so here I'll just give you that. What do you need? $500 for. You don't even pay bills. She's going to Florida. She needs spending money.
Speaker 1:Jenny, I'm going to just give you the rest of this. All right, I need you guys to just hold on to that money for me for just a second. Okay, now, I just gave away that whole stack of money. It's not real, but I just gave away that whole stack of money freely. That was easy to do because it wasn't real money, right, it's pretty easy to do when it doesn't mean anything. Jamie, I need you to come up here for a second. I need you to help me with something. Yeah, yes, right now. Yeah, yes, right now. So, as Jamie's coming up here, he must work for the government because he comes at his own pace.
Speaker 1:We know that money can be a sensitive subject, but not because money can be a sensitive subject, but not because God needs our money, but because our money reveals our hearts, right? So money is not sensitive to talk about our finances with people, because it's our money. But when we talk about money, it reveals our hearts. And when we start to reveal our hearts to people, it gets real very quickly, doesn't it? Matthew 6, 21 says I've got it here. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will be also. What does that mean? That's where your heart is going to be. Wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart is.
Speaker 1:If all of your money is tied up in your car, I can probably guess that you love your car. Is that a fair statement? Courtney's not in here, but all of your money is tied up in chickens. I can assume you love chickens. Amen, I can assume you love chickens. Amen. If your money is tied up in worldly things, then we know that you love worldly things Amen. But when your money is tied up in the kingdom, then we know that you love Jesus. Now, I'm not saying that if you don't give to the church or if you don't give to a ministry, that you don't love Jesus. I'm saying that if we follow the money trail, we know where our hearts are at Amen.
Speaker 1:Jamie, I've got an envelope with $10. I want to give it to you, but I need you to give me back $1. Are you willing to do that? I'll let you keep the other nine, but I want one back. You'll do that for me. Okay, do that for me. Just give me $1 back. That's a $1 bill. Yes, that's correct. Yes, I want it back. Now, why do I want this $1 back? It's 10%. Was it hard to give me that $1 back? Because you're walking away with $9, right? No, no, no, no, no, no, I'm good. I'm good with that $1. But see, I actually have another $50 that I want to give you. But when I give you this $50, I'm going to need $5 back. Are you willing to do that? I appreciate that, but I want to give it to you.
Speaker 1:See how easy this is. This is such an easy game, isn't it? How about 500? If I give you 500, okay, well, I'm going to give it to you, and then I want you to give me $50 back. I think you can handle that, right, he's already got the idea. You do 10%.
Speaker 1:Look at that $50 bill. How easy was that? I got one last one for you. It's $1,000. Will you give me $100 of this back? I'll give you the envelope regardless. I'm not going to make you give me $100 back, but if I give it to you, will you give me $100 in the back?
Speaker 1:Okay, how easy was it for you to hand me that money this morning? Because it was free money, right? That money was not really yours to begin with. I gifted it to you, right, and so it was easy to turn around and give me a small portion of it back because it was found money. Can we understand that? Tithing is the exact same way? Every dollar, thank you, you can sit down for a minute. Every dollar. Was he trying to get my money back? Was he Every dollar that you earn? And I know that you might go out and work for it, but you're earning that money because of what God has given you, and the word asks us to give him a tie, which simply means a tenth, one tenth of whatever you earn. He wants it in return. It's not because he needs your money.
Speaker 1:I'm going to tell a story and I'll try not to get emotional for those of you who weren't here during this period, and I'll try not to get emotional for those of you who weren't here during this period. First of all, I didn't sign up to pastor a church through COVID. Is that fair? When I signed up to pastor. I signed up to pastor a thriving church. Was it my second year? I mean my first year. It started, but by the time we were in our full-blown second year, we weren't even allowed to meet in the building.
Speaker 1:You guys were watching my bin Laden terrorist videos while I stood up here on a stage with a blank wall trying to figure out how to live stream and how to do all of these things so that you might be able to get the word in your own home. It was awful and let me tell you, if you thought it was bad to watch, you should have been here preaching it. It was miserable. Roger would sit there in the back with his mask on. Pastor Holly might be here with her mask on, and we're trying to and we're like why can you see up his nose Right? They were terrible and we had never live streamed before. But we knew that if we didn't do something, the church wouldn't survive. I don't mean this building, I mean the body of Christ. Because they were. I'm not saying they were trying to, but we would have been separated for so long that we would not have been able to be a unified body any longer. And it was hard and it was scary, and yet I did it.
Speaker 1:And when we got through the end of that season, my wife and I were sitting at home and we were running the church finances and we realized there was no way we could pay the electric bill that month. We are fortunate not to have a mortgage on this building. This building is paid for. The ministries that came and have gone before us took care of all of those things. Do you know how much it costs to operate this building, not including paying any people, but just to run the building Gas, water, electric insurance it's $4,000 a month. You know how much our electric bill is alone $750 a month to operate this building. And so there is an expense that goes with having ministry in a building. Can we turn the air on, please, lord Jesus? Yeah, yeah, give me some of them $100 bills back.
Speaker 1:What I know is that God saw us through that. I remember the Sunday morning that I had to tell you guys that we were going to lose this building. We cried in the prayer room how hard it would be to walk away from this. Now I'll tell you. At the time I was like, hey, you know what I just got through a year of absolute torture. If we lose the church, we lose the church. Because my spirit was tired at that point, we walked into that prayer room and I said you know, this is just the way that it is. It's where we are. We came out of that prayer room on fire. We hit this sanctuary yelling and screaming and we were believing that God was gonna do something great and somehow, in three months, we raised $25,000. Praise God, praise God. We put together fundraisers and we did all of these things in order to save this building Amen.
Speaker 1:Now can I tell you that that money doesn't last very long, because I don't know for any of you who have ever counted tithes and offerings at this church, it's never consistent. On Easter Sunday, we had a hundred people in this building, a hundred people. On Easter Sunday, our tithe was under $1,000. There are Sundays we can come in here with 40 people and have $4,000 or $5,000. Figure that out. What that tells me is we are not consistent. What that tells me is that we don't understand the importance.
Speaker 1:I will tell you there are some of you sitting in this room who, when you are unemployed, you are tithing. There are some of you sitting in this room when you've got nothing left in the refrigerator. You're still giving. You are still tithing because you know that you cannot outgive God. But there are some of us sitting on our hands saying I'm too afraid to give up what I think is mine, and I need to tell you it was never yours to begin with. It was never yours to begin with. God gave it to you so that you might bless others, pay your bills, make sure you got gas in your car, but you need to be blessing other people, amen. The word tithing simply means one-tenth. Tithing is giving 10% of whatever you earn back to God, not because he needs it, but because it acknowledges that everything we have comes from him. Amen. My health comes from him, my good looks come from him.
Speaker 1:Okay, getting deep in here, folks, getting deep in here, lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy, malachi, 3.10,. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple. If you do, says the Lord of heaven's armies, I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in. Try it, put me to the test. The only time God says try it. Test me. Listen, he is a mighty, mighty God and there are a lot of things I will not test. I am willing to test his blessings all day, every day, if he tells me that he will open the windows of heaven have got to be opulent, they have got to be huge. I can imagine wheelbarrows full of money just pouring out of there. Good health, prosperity, favor in the workplace, all of those things just being poured out upon me and I thank you, lord, for that favor. I thank you, lord, for that favor. I don't want favor with you, I don't want favor in the flesh, I want favor in the heavenlies. Amen. And I am willing to do whatever it takes to get that. If that means cutting off my arm to save the rest of my body, I am willing to do it. I am willing to lose 10% so that God can continue to bless me, amen.
Speaker 1:Tithing is a test, amen. It is our. It is a test of our trust and who God is and what he says he's going to do. If God tells you he's going to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing, don't you want to find out? I want to find out. I want God to look at me and go oh, you're really going to do that, huh. And I'm going to say, yes, I am, because I know you're going to do better. I will continue to test that mindset as long as I can.
Speaker 1:Now here's the thing. Sometimes I test it and I get disappointed. Is that fair to say? Sometimes God says give and I give, and I don't feel like what I expected to see happen happened. I hear it. He says stop what you're doing, write a check. I write a check. I hand the check off. Six months later I haven't. God, why did you have me do that? What was the? What was the point? And then one day you wake up and everybody in your house is sick. You think you're gonna lose everything because you've lost your job, whatever might happen. And then God, god says not today. And all of a sudden everybody's starting to feel better, real fast. How many of you guys have been sick this year? Not my house.
Speaker 1:I am blessed and highly favored, and I'm claiming that because that's what I want in my life right Now. I'm not saying that I am blessed and highly favored because I give above and beyond. I'm saying I am blessed and highly favored because I believe it Now. I'm not saying if you got sick you ain't blessed and highly favored. I want to be clear. I want to be clear but I won't proclaim that sickness in my life because I want God to do something great with whatever little I have right, and if my health is all I've got today, then I am going to be blessed in it. Amen. My home I want my home to be blessed beyond compare. I want my children to be blessed beyond anybody else's children. Listen, I know we all love our children dearly and some of us have some real snots of kids, right. Hallelujah, thank you, jesus. But let me tell you that I still want my children to be blessed and highly favored. The only way to do that is to speak it, to test God by saying I am going to believe you for greater than what I've given you, because I know that you can and I know that you will Amen than what I've given you, because I know that you can and I know that you will Amen.
Speaker 1:Tithing is not about losing 10%. It's about honoring God with the first 10%, not just off the bottom, not what's left over. Right Off the top, off the top. How many of you guys keep a budget. How many of us on the top line of that budget says giving, says tithe. Listen, we don't even see ours. Because we know that that belongs to God. At the first of every year, we give above and beyond because we know that it is the first fruit of this year and, lord, I want you to have more than anything I have ever asked for. I want to continue to pour into your house. Listen, we don't always just give to this house.
Speaker 1:Every year, my family and I'm not bragging. I want to be very clear. I am not trying to brag on what my family and I do. I just want you to understand that sometimes we look at things a little bit differently. I'm also going to tell you something that's going to get me in trouble, probably in a week, but that's okay, I don't mind. Every year at Thanksgiving, my wife and I find a family in need and we donate in an entire Thanksgiving dinner. Do you know what that costs us? Less than $100. But there is a family that would not be able to have a thanksgiving dinner if it weren't for us being willing to do that.
Speaker 1:How many of us are willing enough to to step out in faith and go out into the world and look for somebody who is hurting or in need and help to lift them up. Not many of us. We want to help in the house, right, because we know you, it's easy. All of those things that's not what god has called us to do. We are to love the unlovely and to help those who cannot help themselves.
Speaker 1:I am so excited about what God is doing here because I'll tell you, you know, there are some Sunday mornings I wake up and I'm like God, I know you're gonna be there, I know you're gonna be big. And then he shows up, bigger and better than I thought he was going to, and I always trust that there's a reason for that and I think that he has led us to this moment for a reason. But now, see, I need to talk to you about something else, because sometimes we get wrapped up in tithing and we think that tithing buys us favor, amen. So when I give 10% to the church, I have an opinion. No, you don't. God does. That's the only thing that matters in this house. When he casts a vision, when he sends a vision, whether it's to Pastor Roger, pastor Holly or myself when he sends that vision, we move forward with that vision. We look for confirmation and we move forward. We don't sit around and wait for everybody to be in agreement with us. We pray that everybody sees the vision that God has. Amen.
Speaker 1:We treat our tithe like an investment. We expect a return, right? How many of us expect? How many of you guys dabble in the stock market, marcus? I know he does Not anymore, he doesn't. We, some of us, dabble in the stock. You ain't looking at your stocks right now, are you? No, because that make you throw up. Right, so did mine. But I'm still lower than anything I put in there right now and it doesn't feel good because right now it's not so little on the iffy side.
Speaker 1:But let me tell you something when I invest in the kingdom, I'm not looking for a return on that investment because I'm not investing. Do you know what I'm doing? Pastor Holly knows what I'm doing. Pastor Holly knows what I'm doing. I'm sowing. I'm sowing seeds that I may never reap the harvest from when you give 10%, every Sunday morning you drop your 10% in the offer. You don't come to me and ask me what that money went to pay, do you? Do you know why you don't ask me that? Because that's sowing. You don't always see the harvest.
Speaker 1:But some of us take our money and we put it in the plate and we say that's an investment, because the money that went in here this one's a little light. Anybody got some cash. None of that fake money either. Sometimes when we put money in there, we expect God to bless our finances because we have given financially. It doesn't always work like that. This is not an investment that you get back 10% just because you put in 10%. Now, sometimes you do. Sometimes God blesses you abundantly. I'll tell you.
Speaker 1:You know, when God sent us on a mission to buy a house the first time, my wife and I had a plan. We wanted four bedrooms, at least two bathrooms, a garage. We wanted all of these things. We had a list. We walked into that house in Dover and we went. This is the one, and this thing hadn't been updated since the 1970s. It had green carpet. It had mint green walls, it had peach walls. It had these I'm not going to say they were ugly, but they were really ugly curtains hanging all through the house that were floral print, right, I don't know how didn't have a garage. It had one tiny little closet of a bathroom right. And God said this is the one. And we said we agree, we bought the house. I don't know what we were thinking.
Speaker 1:Covid hit, house prices skyrocketed. We sold that house and had a hundred thousand dollars in equity. It was the only reason we were able to buy the house we live in now house and had $100,000 in equity. It was the only reason we were able to buy the house we live in now. But that was because we believed what God was calling us to do in that moment. Right, I stopped trusting my own decision-making when we started to seek his face in the decisions that we were about to make in our lives. That was a financial blessing like I had never seen before.
Speaker 1:When that money came, I was like, is this for real? Like did they make a mistake? I called the real estate agent. I'm like are you sure he's like dude? Yes, I'm positive, stop calling me. And he blocked my number.
Speaker 1:I knew that God was up to something when we bought that house. We just didn't know what it was. I kept telling Alyssa I was going to die in that house, we were going to live there forever. I was never moving again. And then God said, yes, you are, and he lit this fire that I could not contain. How many of us see God's hand work like that? But we can't admit that it's God working like that. We want to go.
Speaker 1:Oh well, that was just good luck. I'm going to tell you I have never had good luck a day in my life. Never had good luck a day in my life. Mel, mel, I don't know. We won't call it luck. She is blessed and highly favored, but that woman wins every drawing she puts her name into. I haven't figured that one out yet. It's true, she is blessed and highly favored. You can call that luck if you want to, but I'm not willing to do so right Now.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing. So, everybody that got stacks of money today, everybody that borrowed money, here's what I want you to do. I want you to use that today before everybody leaves, and I want you to bless other people in this congregation. Okay, it's not yours to keep, sorry. What I want you to do is I want every person in this room, before they leave here today, to be able to walk out of here with some amount of money. You give them, whatever you feel led to give them, but I want you guys to keep that money and I want you to pray over it and I want you to say, lord, show me what I'm missing in your word. Lord, this is an item of activation. I don't care if you stick it in your mirror at home or tape it. Don't spend it. You will go to prison. Do not spend it and I'm saying it on the podcast, I'm not liable for this. All right, yeah, exactly. You guys are going to be telling everybody. Our pastor gave it to us. I want you to pray over that because I need you to understand how important it is to be blessed and highly favored, but to be able to bless those around you. Amen To bless. Because there are some people sitting in this room too proud to ask for money, too proud to ask for help, but they're sitting there thinking, man, I wish I would have taken some of that man, I wish I would have taken some of that.
Speaker 1:How many of you guys play the lottery? Some of us. Terrible investment. You bet on the horse yesterday, on the yeah, you lost, didn't you? What were your odds? Five to one. Not terrible, but terrible. She walked away with nothing. Right, he walked away with nothing. But can I tell you something. Five to one odds in the kingdom are pretty darn good, because I'm telling you that God is going to do something great.
Speaker 1:All right, now I'm done with tithing. I need to talk about something else. Are you guys okay with that? We need to talk about giving. Some of you are wonderful givers but you're terrible tithers. Is that fair, right? That's the kind of person that walks up and puts $10 in the offering plate, but they made $3,000 this week.
Speaker 1:We don't want to admit that, do we Not? Many of us want to admit to that. That is giving. That is not tithing. There is a difference. Giving is anything beyond that 10% right? So if you drop less than 10% in that offering plate but you put less than 10% in there, you're like well, but I'm a giver, I'm not a tither, I'm a giver.
Speaker 1:Listen, you're living outside of the will of God. Is what you're doing right? Living outside of the will of God is what you're doing right, because God calls you to give 10% first. Everything else you give is above and beyond. It is a free will gift motivated by love, compassion and generosity. Generosity is a big word. I probably couldn't even spell that generosity.
Speaker 1:How many of us consider ourselves to be generous people. I give of my time, I give of all of these things. But when I see that homeless man standing on the side of the street, I say if I give him money he's just going to go buy booze. Right, there's a song that says what if Jesus came back like that? What if he was taking attendance by the number of people that gave him a dollar? If you gave him a dollar, you inherit the kingdom of heaven. If you give him nothing, you receive nothing. That can't be your 10%, but that can be above and beyond. That is what we consider giving. 2 Corinthians, 9, 6, and 7. Remember this a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop, but the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.
Speaker 1:You must each decide in your heart how much to give, and don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure, for God loves a person who gives cheerfully, cheerfully. Giving is voluntary, it is joyful, it is an overflowing heart, amen. But tithing is joyful. It is an overflowing heart. Amen. But tithing is obedience. Giving is an act of worshipful love, amen.
Speaker 1:I hear everybody's checkbooks rustling right now. I'm kidding, everybody's just chomping at the bit to just give above and beyond. Some of you, hopefully, are sitting there going. I didn't give 10% this morning, lord. I need to change what I'm doing, because here's what we want to break down. Tithing is returning 10% to God.
Speaker 1:Giving is anything above and beyond. Obedience and trust is what comes out of tithing. Love, generosity and compassion are part of giving. Malachi 3, leviticus 27 tell us exactly what we need to understand about tithing. And then, when we talk about giving, it is encouraged through the entire New Testament, the entire New Testament. Tithing is faithful responsibility and giving is cheerful spirit led generosity. Tithing is the foundation. Amen, tithing is the foundation.
Speaker 1:I don't know. I don't know if it's just my heart attitude, if it's just my heart posture to be able to be so willing to give because we have been blessed so abundantly. Listen, there were times when my wife and I and even before my wife and I got married, when I was in previous relationships, you know, I was writing on a pack of ramen what day of the week I was allowed to eat it because I didn't have enough money to buy groceries. Right, I was too young to know. I was too stupid to understand, if we're being honest with each other, what it meant to budget your money. You know, I live in a $600 a month apartment, but I only make $1,000 a month, can't afford a car payment. Put gas in the car or buy groceries right, we've been there. Buy groceries, right, We've been there. Some of us been there. Some of us might still be living in that that's a problem, right.
Speaker 1:But at the end of the day, we have to understand that when we give our 10% first, god will always bless us. My heart posture has always been that if God will bless me, then I will give him whatever he needs in order to do so. Some of us sit here in fear of what we will go without. I promise you you will go without nothing. You will go without nothing Because God will provide it. God is not after your money, he is after your heart. This church is not after your money. This church is after your heart, because Jesus Christ is the foundation that we stand on. If Jesus wants, you wants your heart, that's what we want too. But in order to get to your heart, we have to operate a building. Is that fair? We can agree to that.
Speaker 1:If you guys want the air on right, you guys remember when the air conditioner broke in the gym Cost us $5,000 to replace that air conditioner. Any of you that were over there when that air conditioner was broken? It was hot right, it was miserable. It was muggy. Nobody wanted to be over there. What we did, was it the murder mystery or the crime solvers night we did over there with New York Holy smokes. That place smelled like a gym. Everybody just over there just sweating. It was like being in a sauna. It was disgusting. We want certain things and we want the church to be comfortable, but, man, we don't want to give to the church so it can be comfortable, can be comfortable.
Speaker 1:Blessings follow those who are generous. You can't outrun them, you can't. You know, ray Porter said to me one time I'd gotten a flat tire and he called me and he said I got an air pump, I'm going to bring it over to you. I'm like, oh no, don't worry about it, I'm going to get something else. I mean, I got another plan. And he goes you aren't going to bring it over to you. I'm like, oh no, don't worry about it, I'm going to get something else, I'm going to get another plan. And he goes you aren't going to rob me of my blessing. Listen, dude shows up at my house with this air pump and I'm like I appreciate it, but I mean, there's a screwdriver sticking out of the sidewall. That ain't going to help me at this point, right. But he knew, and he, that he was giving of his own, free will, joyfully, willingly, happily, because he knew that he was going to bless somebody else. Amen. And I'm sure Ray was blessed because of that. How he was blessed, I don't know, that's between him and God, but I can assure you that he would have been blessed.
Speaker 1:Since that happened, our lives overflow with purpose, not just possessions, right. If you're always worried about what are you going to buy next, you've missed the point. You're worried about possessions, you're worried about things, you're worried about the tangible, you're not worried about the purpose. Giving is not about what God wants from you. It's about what God wants from you. It's about what god wants for you, for you, what does god want to have happen in your life? There are some of you praying for some pretty big things to happen in your life today. Amen. I know I am, I know I am, but I know this too, if I don't continue to believe what god has told me and if I don't chase after his own heart, those blessings may not come. Those blessings may not come.
Speaker 1:Both tithing and giving are vital parts of a vibrant faith, of being a good steward of our finances. Tithing is the floor, not the ceiling. That should be the bare minimum, not the maximum. Giving is a heart posture, amen. That's where we're testing your heart. It's not just a transaction out of your wallet. This is you giving from your heart. Amen. When we give, we reflect the nature of a generous God who gave his very best to us, jesus Christ on the cross. If that was only 10% of what God would do, lord have mercy. We are blessed and highly favored. Even in the valley, you are blessed and highly favored. You know, listen, we've been.
Speaker 1:The young adults have a Bible plan that we're reading. It's the Bible in 365 days, and I love it, even though Stephanie gives me terrible crap about not always being on top of it. But anyhow, she's like well, you don't have anything else to do, I'm gonna fight her in the parking lot. That's what I'm gonna do. But we were in Job and you know I don't think we give enough time to the book of Job. Now we get to the part where he's scraping off his boils with an old piece of clay and we're like that's gross right, and we kind of stop there. We don't get into the back and forth that he has in all of those 452 speeches that he gives, but it's important to understand that Job, even in those valleys, is saying that my God is still good. I may be miserable in the flesh, but my spirit is still healthy. Because of who God says I am, I will not change because I'm in a valley. I will still give praise to God, amen.
Speaker 1:Some of us are living in a valley today. Some of us have been living in a valley for a long time. Some of us don't understand why we can't get out of the valley. I'm going to ask you a simple question Are you tithing? I know that sounds silly and people are like oh, you just want my money. Listen, I don't care about your money. But I'm telling you, my life changed when I started to tithe. My life changed even more when I started to give Amen.
Speaker 1:Here's my challenge for you today. Oh, I'm sorry, I have one more passage of Scripture that I need to read. It's John 3.16, and I know that none of you know this one. It says For this is how God loved the world. He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world. Amen For God. So loved the world. Amen for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten son that whosoever should believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Thank you, jesus, for everlasting life. I'm going to tell you right now I stand on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus is who he says he is, that when he walked the earth he did all of the things that he needed to do. Jamie, can you come back up here with your envelopes for just a second?
Speaker 1:I believe that we serve a church and the church serves the congregation and our community greatly. You know we talk about the Easter egg hunt. It's one of our biggest community outreaches. I don't know that we've ever gotten a physical person to show up to church after an Easter egg hunt, but that's okay, because we're sowing seeds that we may not ever see right. It's not an investment, it's sowing right Hallelujah. That costs us about $5,000 plus every year to do that. It's a lot of money, but you guys come through every single year and make it happen. That is a blessing to our community, right? We get to preach the gospel to all of those children. We get to see all of those parents, and some of it is reconnection for us. There are some of those people who have attended church here before in the past and go other places or are no longer church. That is a time of reconnection for us so that we can tell them that they are still loved. But I believe that we serve the church wholly. I believe that we serve the body of Christ wholly, not just the people in our house, but the people elsewhere.
Speaker 1:Now, jamie, you saw that all that money was fake, right? But so here's the thing I want to exchange it for you. Can I have that back? Will you give that back to me? I've got something for you, but this isn't just for you, it's your entire family. Okay? Inside of this envelope is a check for two months' worth of rent. This church last week knew that you guys needed a little bit of extra help. You know you just got a new baby right and it's hard to bring home a new baby and have to worry about money and try to figure out what you're going to do. This church decided that we were going to cover two months' worth of rent for you guys, so that is for you and your family. We love you guys and we thank you for your service to us. Right, that is giving amen. That is above and beyond.
Speaker 1:Now I need to explain something to you. We didn't just do this because we're like, oh, they had a baby. Do you realize how much they serve this body? Sis is on hiatus from the tech booth and if you turn around and look, she's standing in the tech booth. I couldn't keep her away with a stick if I wanted to, right, and I appreciate that. How many of you have ever called Jamie to help you work on a car? Amen, right, and every time he does it willingly. This man works third shift and he still finds time to come and support us. Amen, I'm telling you that we are blessed and highly favored because of people like this, and we wanted you guys to be blessed as well. All right, thank you so much. You can sit back down.
Speaker 1:Guys, I need you to understand something. This message wasn't just written because I wanted you guys to understand about tithing. It wasn't written so that we could give them money. The Bible tells us not to do it in a boastful way. I needed you guys to see the importance of the contribution that you make to this ministry. When I send out a call to say that we need to bless a family, you guys show up. But now I've got a new call. Are you ready? I've got a new call. It has been on my heart for a long time. Some of you know this, some of you do not. Some of you buy this vision, some of you do not. That's okay, I don't need you to. I just need you to understand that it is what God has called in this house. I wish Beth were here because I'd love to poke fun at her a little bit. I had this vision it's probably been Holly. What three years ago At least three years ago For greater, that something bigger was happening in this building.
Speaker 1:At Easter we realized at 100 people, this sanctuary is full. There's no room to move. I can't even pray for you guys because you hit the floor and you're knocking kids out of seats Right, because you hit the floor and you're knocking kids out of seats Right. God called me to begin something that I knew was a Goliath of a challenge. It was huge. He had told me that we were going to move out of this space. We're not selling the building, everybody can take a deep breath, but we are going to move from this space to the other side of the building.
Speaker 1:Now, as I said earlier, the tithes in this building are not consistent. They're always a little upy-downy. Told you guys, I'd get you. I promised it was. On the podcast last week there was a whole bit about upy-downy I was fixing a garage door. I'm not going, I'd get you. I promised it was on the podcast last week there was a whole bit about Uppy Downy I was fixing a garage door. I'm not going to get into it, I know, I know. Here's what I know. Was that what you were going to point out earlier Was the Uppy Downy?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, god has called us to be greater. God has called us to reach people that have never been reached before. I love this building. We've been blessed to have it. Some of you have been across the other side of the building and you've noticed that there's fresh paint, that the stage looks different. All of those things are going to come to pass in a season, but here's the problem.
Speaker 1:The money's just not there. Our church has never been flush with cash. When my wife and I took over this ministry, there was $3,000 in the checking account. I think today we've got about $20,000. It's not a lot of money it sounds like a lot, but one offering under $1,000, we honestly can't operate the building. There's not enough money flowing through the building.
Speaker 1:And so today I want to challenge you with something I want to say. If you have never tithed, I want you to take a step of faith and start tithing, amen. If you have never done it, I want you to take a step of faith and I want you to start tithing. And if you're tithing already, I want you to ask God what and where are you asking me to give above and beyond? Can you pull up my slide for me real quick, please? This is a big ask, guys.
Speaker 1:We are going to start a capital campaign for the building. Our goal is to raise $10,000. $10,000 will finish the other side of the building for us. But I want to tell you something Council has agreed to match, dollar for dollar, whatever our congregation can raise, meaning we have money set aside for different things that happen in ministry, if this church can raise ten thousand dollars, they will, out of the general fund, give us another ten thousand and we will have twenty thousand dollars to make repairs to this building. Twenty thousand dollars. We don't need twenty thousand dollars, but we do need a new air conditioner on the other side of the building. Again, it's not quite broken yet, but we're going to get there. We know that we need a buffer for what God is doing in this place. We are putting pressure on this building every day. We are literally bursting it at the seams. I can't tell you how many times I've been electrocuted by light switches that aren't grounded properly I'm not joking that aren't grounded properly. I'm not joking. This building is in disrepair. It was built in the 1980s. It was added on in the 1990s. This building has not seen great repair for a very long time and I'm telling you that if we don't do this at some point we're going to find ourselves without, and I know you guys don't wanna be that way, amen.
Speaker 1:Now I did some quick napkin math, roger. How many adults are in this room right now? 61. I did my math at 60,. I was guessing. If 60 adults in this room would give $200, we could raise $20,000. Now, $200 might sound like a lot of money. Right, break that down over the next six months. How much money do you need to give every month for the next six months? It's nothing. It's less than Connie's coffees. It is, I promise you it is. Let's do the math. Let's just do it real quick.
Speaker 1:I brought my phone with me because I think you guys need to understand the importance of what it is that God is going to do in this place. So we said $200. It's $33 a month. Listen, it's like I'm giving you a sales pitch. For only $10 a day, for only $10 a day, right? $33 a month? $33 a month. $33 a month. If every adult in this building gives $33 a month over the next six months, we can put $20,000 into this building.
Speaker 1:Do you realize what $20,000 can do for a building like this? We don't need a new roof yet, thank you Jesus, but when we do, it's going to be a lot more than $20,000. And I don't know about you, but I ain't got the money to write that check. Amen. Anybody want to pay for the new roof when it comes time? I didn't think, so I'm calling you to action today that money that you're going to get from those people who took it. I want you to pray over it, lord. What is it that you would have us do, lord? I need you to open my eyes to tithing Lord. I need you to open my eyes to giving Lord. I need you to show me, help me, lead me, guide me, direct me, father, god, amen. Did you hear what I said? 60 adults, $200. I'll give my $200 right now. I don't have a problem doing it because I know that what I'm doing is serving the kingdom.
Speaker 1:It's not about this building. It's not about moving a sanctuary, it's not about any of those things. It's about being positioned to grow when God says move, it is being about. It's about being positioned to move. When God says move, I'm ready to move. Amen, my heart is on fire for what comes next in this house, for what comes next in our community.
Speaker 1:Listen, we had that beautiful mother-daughter brunch. I leaned into Holly and I said wouldn't this be nicer if it had carpet in it? And she said it's coming, it's coming. We're believing that together. Now, listen, I'm going to tell you. I know there's some of you that was praying against that plan. That's fine, pray against it, whatever. God's bigger than you, and I know it, and I know it. And when God gives me a vision it's not just something I go. Oh yeah, let's do that. I go back to Holly and Roger for confirmation. Listen, I want to. Just I'm going to let you guys go. I promise One more thing.
Speaker 1:One time I was telling Beth about it and Beth said to me she's like that's stupid, that's crazy, it's never going to work. Like well, what are you going to do with? What are you going to do with? I said, listen, god's given it to us Slowly but surely. And one day she walked in there after some work had been done and she goes I see it. Sometimes you have to see it to get it. I'll show it to you. You tell me when. I'll walk you through that whole side of the building as I pray.
Speaker 1:Listen, I prayed over every one of these chairs this morning. I hope your butts are nice and anointed today Because let me tell you, I believe that you guys have to hear and see what God is doing in this place in order for you to be able to be activated, is doing in this place in order for you to be able to be activated, amen. Yeah, you know what. We almost did it for Easter Sunday because we'd already set up the chairs for the Easter egg hunt, and I said I don't think I'm ready for that stress just yet. Here's the problem we don't have any sound equipment over there. If we did that, we would have to take one whole week where we move this entire sanctuary to that side of the building. It would be a huge undertaking, even if it's just setting up the other chairs, but all of the sound equipment, all of that would have to move. It is a huge undertaking.
Speaker 1:Listen, I love you guys so much, but I need you to understand that God's will comes in time. It comes in time and I know, I know, I know I know over the next six months we're gonna raise more than enough money to do this. I believe, I genuinely believe, that there will be an abundance of money flowing through that project. Listen, if you wanna give to that specifically, you grab an envelope and you just write offering or, I'm sorry, building on that envelope and you drop it in there, all right, we will keep track. Building on that envelope and you drop it in there, all right, we will keep track. And on that slide, this will be on the announcements every week. Every week, you'll have an update on what we raised for that. I will tell you that there was a family in our church who donated $5,000. Now that money is being set aside by council in order to be able to double whatever it is that we raise. Okay, so we already have a great start to this project.
Speaker 1:But I'm telling you God is doing something good, he's doing something big, and it's something I don't even begin to understand. I don't know how he's called somebody like me to lead a group of people as wonderful as you. I don't. I can't figure it out, because sometimes I look at you and I'm like what is wrong with all these people? And then I look at myself and I'm like is there something wrong with me? That's what it is right. I know that God has called each and every one of you here for this season. Each and every one of us are going to build the kingdom together, amen. I thank you guys for just continuing to believe in that. I want to do communion real quick. Yeah, here, hold on, come up here. You have to come up here. No, you have to come up here. Come on. No, that's okay. Check one, two, testing one, two. Does it work? You don't look a day over 21. Thank you, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Just another thing that Don had shared with me. You know she started, she took financial peace university not because she needed to get out of debt, but more because she needed to understand. She wanted to be able to teach her grandchildren and her children what it meant to save and to invest and all of those things. And she told me that, you know, she was able to put money into her savings account and then, all of a sudden, that money just wouldn't stop growing and she was like Pastor Michael, I need to give something to the church because God just keeps giving it back to me. Let me tell you something you cannot outgive God. You can't do it. It's impossible. It is completely impossible.