SPEAKER_00: This podcast is presented to you by Pastor Jason and Liz Burns in Access Church in Lakeland and Bartow, Florida.
SPEAKER_00: For more information, visit Access.tv.
SPEAKER_00: I am so glad you're at church today.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Access, everybody.
SPEAKER_00: If you are new to this place, you may not know this, but we are one church that meets in three physical locations and really hundreds of other locations at Church Online.
SPEAKER_00: And right now we are joining our church family in North Lakeland, in Bartow, in Church Online.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, no matter where you are, would you put your hands together and welcome our church ma'am to church today?
SPEAKER_00: So, so glad you are with us.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be a great day today as we go to God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you missed last week, we kicked off a new series of messages that is so important to me.
SPEAKER_00: It's a series called Open Handed.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the honest truth.
SPEAKER_00: If I had a series that has most changed my relationship with God and ultimately changed my life, it would be this topic.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, if if I if I had only like one message to teach you, it would be this topic, this idea of living open-handedly.
SPEAKER_00: If you missed last week, we said this that Paul said that one of my responsibilities is to teach you how to give and to give the way God invites us to give.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, not under compulsion or reluctantly, but cheerfully.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because God loves a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_00: God loves someone who treats their resources open-handedly, not closed fists and holding on tightly.
SPEAKER_00: This is a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: To get us started today, I want to take you to one of my favorite passages in just a moment, but to get us started today, um, one of the fun things in my life is watching my kids grow up.
SPEAKER_00: And I love being a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: And I, if you have a baby at church, I'm probably gonna steal the baby.
SPEAKER_00: Like I love holding people's babies, and I really love it because you can hand them back.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I love that.
SPEAKER_00: And um one of one of my favorite memories of my little son Joey when he was little, Joey's now a college student, but when Joey was a little guy, uh, I could tell he was my son because this boy was addicted to cookies, and uh I didn't need a DNA test.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, that's my son right there.
SPEAKER_00: And um, and I remember at three years old, he got invited to a kid's birthday party at Chuck E.
SPEAKER_00: Cheese.
SPEAKER_00: Now, um, every once in a while, someone asked me, Pastor, what is hell like?
SPEAKER_00: And um I think hell might be like I4, stuck in traffic, and when you get off, you go to a kid's birthday party at Chuck E.
SPEAKER_00: Cheese.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's what hell might be like.
SPEAKER_00: So Joey was a little guy, and we go to this birthday party at Chuck E.
SPEAKER_00: Cheese, and because it's a kid's party, they had cake and they had, you know, tokens for the kids to play the games, and then they had the pizza served by a rat.
SPEAKER_00: That should be the first sign that not everything's on the up and up there.
SPEAKER_00: And and then as the kids were playing, they brought out a tray of these little cups that had five animal crackers in them.
SPEAKER_00: And my my son freaked out because he he loves him some animal crackers.
SPEAKER_00: And so he took the five, and the first four, I don't think he even chewed them.
SPEAKER_00: I think he just put them in his mouth and swallowed hard like he loved animal crackers.
SPEAKER_00: But then he got to that last one and he held it in his hand.
SPEAKER_00: It was like a giraffe.
SPEAKER_00: And instead of eating it like he did the other four, he just kind of nibbled on it, licked it.
SPEAKER_00: Pretty soon there was like giraffe cookie carcass all over his hand, the neck slunching over a little bit, but he wouldn't eat it.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember thinking that's weird.
SPEAKER_00: So I went over and I got him another cup of cookies, and as soon as he saw there was more, he took that that giraffe, slammed it down his mouth, and then took the other.
SPEAKER_00: He ate four quickly and he held on tightly to the fifth one.
SPEAKER_00: Why is that?
SPEAKER_00: It's because to Joey's little three-year-old world, all he knew that he would get was what he had in his hand.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's funny, you and I understand this.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm not rich, but as his dad, I wanted to be like, Joey, you can have more than this.
SPEAKER_00: I'm your dad and I'm not rich, but I am animal cracker rich.
SPEAKER_00: Like I can I can hook you up, I can give you more animal crackers than you could ever eat because I'm your dad and I'm gonna take care of you.
SPEAKER_00: Now, to us as adults, we hear that and we're like, of course, that makes perfect sense.
SPEAKER_00: The funny thing is, we do the same thing when it comes to our money and our resources.
SPEAKER_00: We hold on tightly to everything we have.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because we somewhere along the way decided that whatever we have, number one, we earned it, and number two, it's all we're gonna get.
SPEAKER_00: So we hold on tightly as possible.
SPEAKER_00: Today I want to teach you some stuff about money.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing is this write these things down.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, you need to know when it comes to your money and generosity, generosity is a mindset, it's a way of thinking about your money.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of us have this idea of generosity that if I tip 21%, I'm a generous person.
SPEAKER_00: And that's good, but biblical generosity is more than just money, it's it's a mindset.
SPEAKER_00: Let me show it to you like this.
SPEAKER_00: Generosity is not about what I have, it's about how I think.
SPEAKER_00: Today, I want to try to use the Bible to help you reorient your mind around God's way of thinking about your money.
SPEAKER_00: To get us started in the book of Proverbs, Solomon, who's the wisest man to ever live, said this about money.
SPEAKER_00: He said, the world of the generous gets larger and larger.
SPEAKER_00: Conversely, the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
SPEAKER_00: Can I tell you the truth as your pastor?
SPEAKER_00: I want you to live a big life.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to live a life that leaves a legacy, that leaves a difference.
SPEAKER_00: And the world of the generous gets larger and larger, but conversely, the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
SPEAKER_00: Here's why money's a magnifier.
SPEAKER_00: Money is neutral, it's not good or bad, but it is a magnifier.
SPEAKER_00: And what that means is money will make you more of what you already are.
SPEAKER_00: You say, what does it mean?
SPEAKER_00: It means if you are stingy and you're not really a giver, and you get money, you'll be more stingy.
SPEAKER_00: But if you don't have a lot right now and you're generous with what you have, when you get more money, it'll just make you more of what you always were.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to have this big life.
SPEAKER_00: So today, I want you to think about what you think about when you think about your money.
SPEAKER_00: Now, all of us live between two extremes, two mindsets.
SPEAKER_00: It's the mindset of scarcity versus the mindset of abundance.
SPEAKER_00: Scarcity is like Joey with this cup of animal crackers.
SPEAKER_00: It's this belief that I have to hold on tightly to what I have because I don't know if there will be any more.
SPEAKER_00: What scarcity does is it removes God from the throne as my provider and it puts me in the throne as my own source and my own provider.
SPEAKER_00: But the the mindset of abundance is, God, everything I have is yours.
SPEAKER_00: It all came from you in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: And so because it all came from you, of course, it is my privilege to honor you with the way I handle my money.
SPEAKER_00: Billy Graham, who is the most famous evangelist in the history of the world, said this about our money.
SPEAKER_00: He says, God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.
SPEAKER_00: If I could just be real for a moment, a lot of people I know are really good with the hand that's about receiving.
SPEAKER_00: They're really good at receiving gifts and receiving money and receiving blessings.
SPEAKER_00: But when it comes time to release the other hand, we just hold on tight.
SPEAKER_00: Somewhere along the way, we bought into this lie that scarcity is true, and all I have is all I'm going to have.
SPEAKER_00: So today, I want to take you to two places, the Old Testament and then the New Testament, to show you God's idea of how our minds should be wired when it comes to generosity.
SPEAKER_00: If you were here last week, one of the things I said was this said a lot of Christians, for whatever reason, go to the Bible and they try to find a loophole or a way out of obeying God when it comes to the area of giving with their money.
SPEAKER_00: They'll say things like, Well, tithing is an Old Testament principle.
SPEAKER_00: It's done away with in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Let me offer you two thoughts.
SPEAKER_00: Number one is this the New Testament never gets rid of the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: The truth is, grace always adds to the law.
SPEAKER_00: But the second thing is more of a personal jab at you.
SPEAKER_00: If you go to the Bible looking for ways out of honoring God and being more like him and being generous, you've gone to the wrong source altogether.
SPEAKER_00: So today I want to take you from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Let's see what God says.
SPEAKER_00: In this first series of scriptures, we're going to go to the book of Malachi chapter three.
SPEAKER_00: Malachi was an Old Testament prophet, and he is the last book we have in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: And God is speaking through this prophet to the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to highlight five words as we read this, and then I'll come back and explain all of it.
SPEAKER_00: Malachi chapter 3, verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: God says, return.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first word.
SPEAKER_00: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty.
SPEAKER_00: But you ask, How are we to return?
SPEAKER_00: And I love this next line.
SPEAKER_00: It feels like James Earl Jones should read this.
SPEAKER_00: Will a mere mortal rob God?
SPEAKER_00: Yet you rob me.
SPEAKER_00: How do we rob God?
SPEAKER_00: But the next verse goes on, but you you ask, how are we robbing you?
SPEAKER_00: Like you're God, how do we do that?
SPEAKER_00: And God says, in tithes and offerings.
SPEAKER_00: And you ever um you ever read a verse and you're like, I don't like that one.
SPEAKER_00: This next verse is weird.
SPEAKER_00: You are under a curse, your whole nation, because you were robbing me.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I I didn't put that there, but God did, and there's a reason, and I'll explain it in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what you do He says, Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.
SPEAKER_00: And then God takes it a step farther.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
SPEAKER_00: And then God makes a promise.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe, says the Lord Almighty.
SPEAKER_00: And then people are gonna notice it.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, says the Lord Almighty.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to notice, as we read these verses, five words really define what God's idea for giving is.
SPEAKER_00: Let me show you these five words.
SPEAKER_00: The first one is the word return.
SPEAKER_00: God says, When it comes to your money, I want you to honor me by returning.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's an interesting word to use because we think of our giving as giving.
SPEAKER_00: We think of our money as like I'm giving to God, but he uses this word return.
SPEAKER_00: Later in the verses, he uses a more direct word, which is bring.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why does this matter?
SPEAKER_00: Psalm chapter 24, verse 1, David says, The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
SPEAKER_00: So what that means is everything you have, all of it belongs to God.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't belong to you.
SPEAKER_00: Let me try to explain it to you like this, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh my wife and I have a house.
SPEAKER_00: We have lived in this house for nine years.
SPEAKER_00: We love this house, we've made improvements to this house, we we love, we love our house, we do, and every single month we make a payment on the house to pay the mortgage for our house, and we're just a few years away from paying this thing off.
SPEAKER_00: We love our house, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Are you with me?
SPEAKER_00: Every once in a while, though, we we leave our house and we have two dogs, and because we have two dogs, we have a sweet lady in our church who will come to our house, our house, and she'll stay at our house and she'll watch our dogs.
SPEAKER_00: She's the best.
SPEAKER_00: She buys our dogs toys and plays with them, and she's wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: Now imagine this.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine if my family went out of town for a few days and we came home, but while we were gone, the sweet lady who was watching our house for us had this idea.
SPEAKER_00: We get home, and when we get home, our driveway is blocked off by a big bus.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody remember the TV show Extreme Makeover Home Edition?
SPEAKER_00: Anybody remember this?
SPEAKER_00: And imagine we get there, and as we drive up, we're like, what's going on?
SPEAKER_00: And the lady comes out, she goes, guys, oh, get out of your car, you gotta see this.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you how much I love you.
SPEAKER_00: You're the best.
SPEAKER_00: Best pastor.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you're so wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: I love you.
SPEAKER_00: And because I love you, I wanted to do something to show my love and gratitude to you.
SPEAKER_00: Bus driver, move that bus.
SPEAKER_00: And the bus moves, and it's just our house.
SPEAKER_00: Like the one with the grease stains in the driveway, the one that's got that crack above the garage because someone wheeled a refrigerator right into it.
SPEAKER_00: Like, like my house.
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, here's the keys because I love you.
SPEAKER_00: I'd be like, girl, I I will choke you.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00: Like, what?
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you can't give something to someone that already belongs to them.
SPEAKER_00: Why does God say return or bring to me?
SPEAKER_00: It's because it's all his, anyways.
SPEAKER_00: At best, all you and I can ever do is return to God what belongs to him.
SPEAKER_00: Then he says, Will you rob me?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, How do you do that?
SPEAKER_00: Like a gun?
SPEAKER_00: Like, what do you how do you rob God?
SPEAKER_00: And God says in tithes and offerings, and I was like, how do I explain this?
SPEAKER_00: And it hit me, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Imagine this.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine you had a side hustle that went really, really good and you earned$10,000 at it.
SPEAKER_00: They paid you cash, big old envelope full of hundred dollar bills.
SPEAKER_00: You thought, God, thank you for this blessing of this$10,000.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tithe on it.
SPEAKER_00: Tithe is an old word that just means$10.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tithe on it, and so um, I'm gonna give you 10%.
SPEAKER_00: 10% of$10,000 is, oh guys, come on, the Polk County School system is failing you.
SPEAKER_00: $1,000, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I did it as easy as I could, everybody.
SPEAKER_00: And so you take$1,000 in cash and you bring it to church with you.
SPEAKER_00: Now try to remember this.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you go back in church before COVID, the way churches received offerings was they would pass something in the services, a bucket or a bag or a plate or something, and people put their offering in it.
SPEAKER_00: And imagine you're at the end of a row, and the plate comes and you pull your thousand dollars cash out, and you say, God, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: You've blessed me.
SPEAKER_00: What a privilege it is to bring back to you this tithe.
SPEAKER_00: And you put it in in the bucket and you pass it down, and three or four people down, you see someone reach their hand in, look around, take the money and put it in their pocket.
SPEAKER_00: I would come unhinged, everybody, wouldn't you?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because that money belongs to God and they're taking something that doesn't belong to them.
SPEAKER_00: That feels like robbing God, taking something from God that belongs to him.
SPEAKER_00: Here's another definition of robbing God keeping from God something that belongs to him.
SPEAKER_00: So that means if there's money in my bank account or your bank account that God has entrusted to us, and we haven't brought back to him the first 10% by keeping it, we're robbing God.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody likes that definition.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, when you do this, what you're under is a curse.
SPEAKER_00: And I told you I don't like that verse, but here's what that verse means.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine carrying a sack full of rice through a through a path on the way home, but it gets a hole in it.
SPEAKER_00: And as you're walking, it's like the rice just continues to leak out over and over.
SPEAKER_00: When you get home, it's like you're gonna have way less than what you started with in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: You ever felt like that when it comes to your money?
SPEAKER_00: You ever felt like there was more month than there was money?
SPEAKER_00: You ever get to the 23rd of the month and you've still got eight days to go, but you are completely broke at that point.
SPEAKER_00: You ever have this?
SPEAKER_00: This is what he's talking about, and God is saying, I want to provide for you, but don't rob me.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what you do: bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.
SPEAKER_00: Now we said this last week.
SPEAKER_00: Tithe is an old word, it's not a Bible word.
SPEAKER_00: Tithe means tenth or 10%, but as a Christian, tithe means more.
SPEAKER_00: Tithe means the first ten percent.
SPEAKER_00: Why is the first matter?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's saying to God this beautiful declaration of trust.
SPEAKER_00: God, before I know if you're ever gonna, if there's gonna be any surprises in this week, I'm trusting that you're gonna be the one who provides for me.
SPEAKER_00: Like one of the names of God that we sing about sometimes and talk about is He is God who is Jehovah Jirah.
SPEAKER_00: He is my provider.
SPEAKER_00: God takes care of his children when we put him first.
SPEAKER_00: And it says the word whole.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of Christians come to church, and if I could just be real, we tip God 10 bucks, 20 bucks, five bucks, fifty bucks, and that's wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: I I challenge you to be a generous person and start somewhere, but real biblical generosity starts at the whole tithe.
SPEAKER_00: It says, return to me and I'll return to you.
SPEAKER_00: Don't rob me.
SPEAKER_00: Bring the whole tithe in the storehouse and then test me in this.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is fun because this is the only place in the whole Bible God invites you to test him.
SPEAKER_00: I've talked to people over the years, these you know, young adults, college students who are like, oh, Pastor Jason, I'm dating this girl, she is the cutest thing ever, she's got dimples.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna put God to the test in this relationship.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, you do you, boo-boo, but that's not in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Not at all.
SPEAKER_00: But money's an area where you can test God.
SPEAKER_00: He says, test me in this, and then I love this next line.
SPEAKER_00: He says, and see.
SPEAKER_00: Like you can put him to the test and see that he's going to come through.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, see if I won't throw open the floodgates of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: That's a phrase that doesn't make a lot of sense to us.
SPEAKER_00: The word floodgates in Hebrew is this fun word, Arubat.
SPEAKER_00: And Arubat is this phrase that means two things.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, it means floodgates, and it means window.
SPEAKER_00: You need to remember the Bible was written in what's called an agrarian time, which means like farmers were growing food just to keep everybody alive.
SPEAKER_00: And they they relied on there being good sun and rain to take care of their crops.
SPEAKER_00: So they're talking to God's talking to Malachi, and he's like, listen, I'm I'm gonna provide the water that you need from heaven, I'm gonna take care of you.
SPEAKER_00: But this word also means window.
SPEAKER_00: And I love this idea that God wants to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing on his children.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to correct some bad theology for just a moment because a lot of people want to take that and twist the words to reduce God into a cosmic slot machine, cosmic vending machine, or a heavenly lottery where it's like we put our money in and we pull the lever and we hope that he's gonna give us back money.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what the verse says.
SPEAKER_00: It's not what the verse says at all.
SPEAKER_00: It says that God's gonna open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings.
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it means this that heaven has a window to it.
SPEAKER_00: I got this window for us, and what God is saying is this on my side of the window in heaven, there's some stuff that I want to get to you.
SPEAKER_00: There's some stuff that if I trust you, I will put in your hands.
SPEAKER_00: Now, maybe for you it's money and resources, but maybe it's not.
SPEAKER_00: There are things that God wants to give us that I would say are things of heaven, things like joyful relationships.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, you ever have a relationship that goes sour?
SPEAKER_00: In heaven, I think there will be so much joy, and our relationships will be characterized by joy.
SPEAKER_00: And God's like, I've got it in heaven for you.
SPEAKER_00: I want to pour it out for you.
SPEAKER_00: There's other gifts in heaven like this, that you don't have to live in anxiety and fear.
SPEAKER_00: Your life no longer has to be characterized by depression, but in heaven we will live with perfect peace.
SPEAKER_00: Your mind can be at rest.
SPEAKER_00: And God's like, I've got it here in heaven for you, and I want to pour it out for my children on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Here's another promise from heaven is that in heaven we will have healed and perfect bodies.
SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the promises of Jesus that was prophesied in the book of Isaiah before Jesus lived is by his stripes we are healed.
SPEAKER_00: Healing is available on this side of heaven, and God's like, I've got all of it here for you, and I want to pour it out to you if I can trust you.
SPEAKER_00: Here's another one.
SPEAKER_00: I believe that God has ideas for you of businesses that you can start, of dreams in your heart that you can accomplish, and he's got it for you.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, Let me trust you with what you've got, and I'll pour out the blessings of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Here's one more.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, this is a fun one.
SPEAKER_00: God's like, I've got favor for you.
SPEAKER_00: I've got favor.
SPEAKER_00: In that conversation you have to have this week, the favor of God can go before you.
SPEAKER_00: In that difficult decision you have to make, the favor of God can be there.
SPEAKER_00: That promotion you are praying for, the favor of God can go before his children.
SPEAKER_00: And God's like, I've got all of it on this side of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I want to give it to you.
SPEAKER_00: I want to pour it out to my children.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because God is a God who blesses.
SPEAKER_00: God is a God who blesses his children and he wants to open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing on you that you can't contain it.
SPEAKER_00: Well, be careful for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people hear something like that out of context and they say, Well, there it is.
SPEAKER_00: Prosperity theology.
SPEAKER_00: God, God's gonna bless his children.
SPEAKER_00: You're making a promise that God won't keep.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: I never said that God wants to give you more money.
SPEAKER_00: I never said that once.
SPEAKER_00: God has some stuff on his side of heaven that he does want to get to his children.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, you know what the Hebrew word for prosper means?
SPEAKER_00: It means a gentle push forward.
SPEAKER_00: Like pushing a child on a swing.
SPEAKER_00: It's like getting the wind of heaven at your back.
SPEAKER_00: And who wouldn't want that?
SPEAKER_00: See, God can't help himself.
SPEAKER_00: This is who he is.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, one of the pictures we have of God in the scripture is that God is a multiplier.
SPEAKER_00: And this is true about your money, but it's true about your dreams.
SPEAKER_00: It's true about all kinds of stuff in your life.
SPEAKER_00: He can't help himself.
SPEAKER_00: When God created the world, he spoke the world into existence and he created more stars in the solar system than there are grains of sand on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Try to get your finite mind around that.
SPEAKER_00: He's a multiplier, he grows things, he's unbelievable at what he does.
SPEAKER_00: Let me show it to you in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was teaching one day, and he it's getting the day's going on, it's getting kind of late, and the disciples realize that there's these thousands and thousands of people who are listening to him and they're hungry.
SPEAKER_00: There's no Chick-fil-A anywhere nearby, and they've got to do something for the people.
SPEAKER_00: So here's where the story picks up.
SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 9 says this.
SPEAKER_00: Late in the afternoon, the twelve, talking about the disciples, came to him, Jesus, and here's what they said.
SPEAKER_00: They said, Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus replied, Cool, you give them something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: And they they answered, We we only have five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we go buy more food for all this crowd.
SPEAKER_00: About five thousand men were there.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is interesting because this story is recorded in Luke and it's recorded in the book of Matthew.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew affirms that and says, the number of those who ate was about five thousand men besides the women and children.
SPEAKER_00: I was trying to figure out how do I show this to you in a way that you'll understand.
SPEAKER_00: This is interesting.
SPEAKER_00: Um, if if it was in the ancient times, they only counted the men.
SPEAKER_00: That means women and children weren't included in that number.
SPEAKER_00: That means this miracle that Jesus is gonna do is way bigger than we could even wrap our minds around.
SPEAKER_00: To show you context, if you've ever gone to an Orlando magic game, they play at the Kia Center in Orlando.
SPEAKER_00: This stadium seats uh some 20,000 people.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a picture of it full for a concert, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So imagine Jesus is teaching.
SPEAKER_00: He's got the Sea of Galilee at his back, giving a natural amplification to his voice, and there's 20,000 people, and the day is wearing on, and the disciples are like, Jesus, we gotta figure something out.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta do something so these people can leave and get something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: The story goes on in chapter Luke, and it says this.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus said to the disciples, have them sit down in groups.
SPEAKER_00: Of about fifty each.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples did so and everyone sat down.
SPEAKER_00: Watch what Jesus does.
SPEAKER_00: It says, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.
SPEAKER_00: He gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.
SPEAKER_00: They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we read this, I want to say it one more time to you.
SPEAKER_00: This is from the book of Matthew.
SPEAKER_00: The number of those who ate was about 5,000 men besides the women and children.
SPEAKER_00: This is a miracle on unbelievable proportion.
SPEAKER_00: It's unbelievable scale.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does this miracle.
SPEAKER_00: Now, to help you understand it, sometimes I like to imagine that I was there.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, do this with me for just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine you were sitting out on a hillside listening to Jesus talk.
SPEAKER_00: He's probably standing on a boat just off of the shore there on the Sea of Galilee, and he's teaching, and the day is going long.
SPEAKER_00: Um, did anybody grow up in a church that the services were like three hours or more?
SPEAKER_00: You know, you ever sat through a sermon where you're like, oh God, I will I will never sin again if you would just let this preacher land the plane.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody ever have this?
SPEAKER_00: Not me, right?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_00: Um so so just just imagine this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is teaching for a long time.
SPEAKER_00: And the disciples get together and they're like, boys, we gotta do something.
SPEAKER_00: Like, we if we don't figure something out, we we're gonna we're gonna really upset these people.
SPEAKER_00: We got we gotta tell Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And they say, Peter, you go talk to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Peter goes over it.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, hey, Jesus, look, this has been great.
SPEAKER_00: I've loved this.
SPEAKER_00: This has been so good.
SPEAKER_00: But like it's getting kind of late.
SPEAKER_00: There's no food nearby.
SPEAKER_00: We should dismiss the people.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus goes, okay, cool.
SPEAKER_00: Why don't you give them something to eat?
SPEAKER_00: And Peter has to go back and tell his boys.
SPEAKER_00: Peter goes back to the disciples and they're like, Did you tell them?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: What did Jesus say?
SPEAKER_00: He um he told us to feed them.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, What do we do with that?
SPEAKER_00: And as they're talking, a little boy walks by with a bag from Long John Silvers.
SPEAKER_00: Peter grabs the bag and he takes it to Jesus and he's like, Look, and he opens the bag, and all that's inside is five pieces of bread and two fish.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Jesus, look, he told us to feed these people.
SPEAKER_00: Here's all that we have.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does something crazy.
SPEAKER_00: He takes the food.
SPEAKER_00: Remember?
SPEAKER_00: It says and he lifted it towards heaven and he gave thanks for it.
SPEAKER_00: He blessed it.
SPEAKER_00: And then he broke the food that was in his hand and gave less back to the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Write this down.
SPEAKER_00: Principle number one if God's gonna multiply this area in your life, it has to be blessed before it can multiply.
SPEAKER_00: How is our finances blessed?
SPEAKER_00: We read it earlier.
SPEAKER_00: Bring the whole tithe to the storehouse.
SPEAKER_00: Then I'll open the windows of heaven, then I'll pour out blessing on you.
SPEAKER_00: It has to be blessed first.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus takes the limited supply that the disciples give him and he lifts it to heaven and he breaks it and he gives them back less than what they started with.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that kind of what tithing is?
SPEAKER_00: Like you earn or get 100% of your money, but tithing says, God, I'm giving you the first 10%, so I'm actually operating on even less than what I started with.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples have this limited amount in their hands.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says to them, I want you to set them in groups of 50.
SPEAKER_00: Now I think for them, maybe this is the moment they were like, oh, maybe a miracle is gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: In 2 Kings chapter 4, I think it's verses 42 through 44, there's a story when Elisha the prophet, God does a miracle and multiplies some food and feeds his army of people.
SPEAKER_00: They thought, maybe, maybe he's gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00: But they were still dealing with what you and I deal with, which is all they could see was the blessed, broken, smaller amount that they had in their hands.
SPEAKER_00: This is you feed them.
SPEAKER_00: So the people are in these groups, and I just imagine they go up to the first person and say, take just the tiniest little bit.
SPEAKER_00: I said, I said tiny, just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so just take just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: And as they're starting to feed people, all of a sudden their minds were blown.
SPEAKER_00: Because all of a sudden, that little bit that was in their hand began to multiply.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a question that you need to understand In whose hands did the miracle take place?
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't Jesus' hands, Jesus blessed it and broke it and gave them back.
SPEAKER_00: It's when the food was in their hands and then given away that the multiplication happens.
SPEAKER_00: So, number one is it has to be blessed to multiply, but number two, it must be given away before it can multiply.
SPEAKER_00: If the disciples took this food and ate it for themselves, the miracle never takes place.
SPEAKER_00: But because they have it blessed by Jesus and they hold it in their hands open-handedly and give it away, a miracle happens.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me, church fam.
SPEAKER_00: This is how God operates.
SPEAKER_00: I said this last week.
SPEAKER_00: For the last 20 or so years, I have been on the wildest giving adventure with God.
SPEAKER_00: I have purposefully not told you my stories yet.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you some next week because I don't want you to feel like I'm manipulating you or tricking you.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to see what God's word says.
SPEAKER_00: God is a multiplier who takes our limited resources and he can multiply it in a way where it's blessed to be a blessing.
SPEAKER_00: One of the mistakes Christians make is we give and we think that if I give, it forces God to give me more money, and that reduces God to nothing more than your marionette puppets.
SPEAKER_00: He's not a bull that you jerk around by the ring in his nose.
SPEAKER_00: He is the God of the universe who sits on the throne of heaven watching his children.
SPEAKER_00: So, what do you do?
SPEAKER_00: You make this decision to say, God, when it comes to my money, even when I don't understand, I trust that you're my source and not me.
SPEAKER_00: I choose to move you to the top of the list.
SPEAKER_00: I choose to reorient my finances to honor you because I want the blessings of heaven to follow me.
SPEAKER_00: I want to walk in your divine provision, your divine health.
SPEAKER_00: I want to walk in the promises that you have for me.
SPEAKER_00: So when it comes to my money, instead of living with the scarcity mentality, choosing to live open-handed, to have a heart and a mind full of abundance, and to believe that if you ask me to do something, it's all yours anyway.
SPEAKER_00: So all I could ever do is bring back to you what belonged to you in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: Would you stand up with me all across this place?
SPEAKER_00: Hope you'll come next week.
SPEAKER_00: Next week, let me tell a lot of stories of God's faithfulness to encourage and inspire you.
SPEAKER_00: For today, let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Let's invite God into this place in our heart.
SPEAKER_00: So, God, here today at Access Church, give us a supernatural dose of courage to not just hear your word, but to believe you.
SPEAKER_00: To trust that you are the God of multiplication.
SPEAKER_00: God, we really do believe that we can do more on 90% that's blessed by you than 100% in our best efforts.
SPEAKER_00: God, for some of us, we've played games, we've made excuses, we we've moved you to the bottom of the list, and we've just tipped you or given you a little bit here and there.
SPEAKER_00: God, forgive us if that is true of us.
SPEAKER_00: God, if the the national average is something like five to eleven percent of Christians tithe, may that not be true here, but may this be a place that walks in the open windows blessings of heaven because we've chosen to trust you in this way.
SPEAKER_00: God, we thank you.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you that we can trust you because you're a God who comes true on your word.
SPEAKER_00: We love you.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for it.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name, with your head still bowed and eyes still closed at all of our churches today.
SPEAKER_00: If you're with us and you would say, Jason, I'm I'm here and I hear you talking about trusting God, but I've never made the decision to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I've I've either never followed him or I just feel like I've walked away.
SPEAKER_00: And today's the day I need to restart that relationship with him.
SPEAKER_00: If that's you, no matter where you're joining us, would you raise your hand right now if you need to start or restart following Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: So cool.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Wow, wow, thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If this is you, I'm gonna invite you to pray this prayer with me and hear me.
SPEAKER_00: Praying a prayer changes everything when you mean it with your heart.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna ask you to pray this out loud.
SPEAKER_00: But we're not gonna let you pray alone.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, our whole church fam is gonna pray this out loud with you right now because we believe that Jesus wants to save and change you.
SPEAKER_00: So at all of our locations, everywhere, would you repeat this out loud with me?
SPEAKER_00: Say, Jesus, I give you my life.
SPEAKER_00: Save me, change me, make my heart new.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, today, I choose to follow you.
SPEAKER_00: Would you forgive my sins?
SPEAKER_00: Make my life new.
SPEAKER_00: From this day forward, I choose to follow you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, I love you, and I give you my life for the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, church man, let's celebrate together.