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 Today, I'm really excited you're with us.
SPEAKER_00: Today I'm starting a new series of messages that, if I could just be honest with you, is probably my life message.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, if you said to me, Pastor Jason, I just became a Christian, I want to know what it means to follow Jesus, help me.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I would teach you because what I'm going to teach you for the next four weeks, God has used to radically transform my life.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the truth.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want something in this series from you.
SPEAKER_00: I want something for you.
SPEAKER_00: I want something for you, not from you.
SPEAKER_00: The series we're entitling Open Handed, because I want to teach you how to live when it comes to your finances in a way that God blesses.
SPEAKER_00: Because you start to see yourself not as a reservoir that holds back what God has, but you see yourself open-handed, saying, God, everything I have came from you.
SPEAKER_00: It's by you, it's for you, and it is to be used for your purposes.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 24, verse 1, David says, The earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof.
SPEAKER_00: That literally means everything you and I have came from God, it belongs to God, and God invites us to steward it and to use it in a way that furthers what He cares about.
SPEAKER_00: Now, now here's my heart in this whole series.
SPEAKER_00: I really do want this for you, and I really don't want something from you.
SPEAKER_00: But about 20 years ago, God got a hold of my heart in a way that I can't even begin to describe to you.
SPEAKER_00: And over these next few weeks, I want to talk to you about your money and how to handle your money in a godly way.
SPEAKER_00: But up front, I want to give you a couple disclaimers that may not be important to you to hear, but they feel important to me to say.
SPEAKER_00: Here's one of them.
SPEAKER_00: I make a promise in our next steps class, which by the way, every single month we invite you to join our church through a two-step series called Next Steps class.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I talk about when I talk about money is how we will always be a church that operates with full integrity.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we're gonna be the kind of church that if money's tight, we're never gonna push that back on you because you're not our source.
SPEAKER_00: God is our source.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the cool thing.
SPEAKER_00: I make a promise in the series that I'll never preach a message needing that Sunday's offering.
SPEAKER_00: For the last about two years or so, if I could just be real, money at our church has been unbelievably tight.
SPEAKER_00: Like so, so tight, and our staff's been amazing and they've limited spending, and we've just cut every corner we can.
SPEAKER_00: The reason it's been tight is not because people haven't been giving, it's because God has blessed us to open two amazing locations of our church.
SPEAKER_00: And I am so thrilled about what's happening in North Lakeland and what's happening in Bartow.
SPEAKER_00: It's amazing.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, one Sunday, no matter where you're joining us, you should just go to a different location and see what God is doing in your church.
SPEAKER_00: It's amazing.
SPEAKER_00: But to do it, we went all in financially and then God dropped Bartow on us, and we went all in a second time.
SPEAKER_00: And so money's been tight, but we've never made it your responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: God is gonna be the one who provides.
SPEAKER_00: Every two years or so, I like to do a series on giving, and I was getting worried, like, God, am I gonna be able to keep my promise and talk about money in a way when we don't need it?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we've had a financial miracle about the last three months.
SPEAKER_00: Starting in September or October, all of a sudden, unexpectedly, our giving took a major jump forward because of your giving and faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Finances are so much more free now, and I just want to tell you this.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you don't give, we're gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: But if you don't give, I think you're gonna miss out on what I would call the greatest adventure of your life.
SPEAKER_00: For the last 20 years or so, I've been on an adventure with God, and I'll never forget the moment it started.
SPEAKER_00: I was uh working at a different church.
SPEAKER_00: I was I was a giver, but I was like a giver if it was convenient.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember I read a book and I watched some sermons, and it so wrecked my heart that when I finished the book, I felt the voice of God say to me, write a check for a thousand dollars.
SPEAKER_00: A thousand dollars then might as well be a million dollars now.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was so much to me then, but I called my wife and we just said, God, if you say it, we say yes, and I wrote the check.
SPEAKER_00: And ever since then, I have been on the wildest adventure with God.
SPEAKER_00: He has blessed, and I've just chosen to live open-handedly.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the thing there's a lot of messages where I'll tell you up front, like I'm still in process, I'm still working on this.
SPEAKER_00: This is an area where God has blessed me, and I want you to experience everything I have.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what I'm gonna do today.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes when churches talk about money, people get all weird.
SPEAKER_00: They like grab their wallets and they're like, grab your purse, Margaret, like they get worried about it.
SPEAKER_00: We're not gonna manipulate you.
SPEAKER_00: There's no bouncers in the back.
SPEAKER_00: They said it was a snow day, they couldn't get here, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Like there.
SPEAKER_00: No games.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I'm not even gonna tell you any of my stories today.
SPEAKER_00: I'll save those for the next few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Today, I just want to go to the Bible and tell you what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_00: Now, one of the things that Christians do as a means to not give is one of the things Christians do is they'll say, Well, you know, tithing is an Old Testament principle, it's not a New Testament thing.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't talk about it.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he did.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 23, 23, Jesus said, You ought to tithe.
SPEAKER_00: It's something you should do, but do it and don't neglect the other things that God invites you to do.
SPEAKER_00: It should be both and not just one.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus talks about it.
SPEAKER_00: The New Testament is written from the perspective and the assumption that you are going to be open-handed and generous because you serve a faithful and generous God.
SPEAKER_00: But to the people who use the Bible as a tool to talk themselves out of giving, today I want to show you what the New Testament says about giving.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, every verse I have is from the New Testament except for one, which is a prophetic verse from Isaiah that talks about what's happening in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: You ready to go?
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be lots of information, and I want to challenge you to say, God, what would you have me do with this?
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: A few weeks ago, it was a Wednesday night, right before Access Youth.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, parents, if you have a middle or high school student and they don't come to Access Youth, they are missing the best night of the week.
SPEAKER_00: It is awesome here.
SPEAKER_00: Come to any of our locations, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Wednesdays at 6 30, it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00: But I was working kind of in the office, and one of our amazing staff pastors' daughters was there.
SPEAKER_00: She's this amazing 16-year-old.
SPEAKER_00: She's just so smart, so amazing.
SPEAKER_00: And she came up to me, she goes, Pastor Jason, you're good with money.
SPEAKER_00: She asked me this question.
SPEAKER_00: She said, Uh, what's some good financial advice for a 16-year-old?
SPEAKER_00: I thought, that was cool, good job.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Okay, um, now if I was answering this question today, I would say, write a jingle for Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Pepper.
SPEAKER_00: Did you guys see this story?
SPEAKER_00: This lady wrote a jingle about Dr.
SPEAKER_00: Pepper and apparently got two million dollars for it.
SPEAKER_00: That's good financial advice, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But here's the three that I told her.
SPEAKER_00: The first one is just brilliant advice.
SPEAKER_00: Just marry someone rich.
SPEAKER_00: That's what you should do.
SPEAKER_00: Lock it down.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I did, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Um number two, learn the power of compounding interest.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't know what this means, if you can start investing early, over time it'll grow, but it grows very slowly, but at some point it hits a massive curve and your money begins to grow for you so fast.
SPEAKER_00: Learn the power and take advantage of that.
SPEAKER_00: And I told her that and she was good.
SPEAKER_00: And then, like, an hour or two went by, and I was here in Access Youth, and I saw her and I thought, I didn't give her the right answer.
SPEAKER_00: I really didn't.
SPEAKER_00: I should have given her a different answer.
SPEAKER_00: I called her over and said, Come here, I may I gave you the wrong answer.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, marry someone rich, but the real answer is number three, be an extravagant giver.
SPEAKER_00: Like, learn to live open-handedly with everything God gives you and watch what God will do in your life and in your finances.
SPEAKER_00: So many Christians don't get this, and I would think we would nail this by now, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because, like, if we're trying to become more and more like God, we should be people of faith and people of integrity, people of honor, but we should also be the most open-handed people.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because God is generous.
SPEAKER_00: Like, from cover to cover in the Bible and from the rest of time forward, we see that God is a God who is a generous giving God.
SPEAKER_00: That the most popular verse in the Bible, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he he gave.
SPEAKER_00: God is a giver.
SPEAKER_00: And if God's a giver, I think you and I should be the most open-handed giving people imaginable.
SPEAKER_00: And I would, I would think that by now Christians would get it.
SPEAKER_00: But we we just we just don't.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want to do.
SPEAKER_00: Today I want to take you right to the Bible, and I want to show you what the Bible says, and I'm gonna step on your toes and challenge you, and I'm gonna end by asking you to pray and say, God, what would you have me do?
SPEAKER_00: And then I challenge you to be obedient.
SPEAKER_00: The book of 2 Corinthians, Paul writes a letter to a church in a city called Corinth.
SPEAKER_00: Corinth was this major uh capital of the world.
SPEAKER_00: It was literally this mega city that exhaled culture.
SPEAKER_00: The world followed what was happening in Corinth.
SPEAKER_00: And he writes them these three verses.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, this is the New Testament, written with the assumption that you're gonna live open-handed.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what he says 2 Corinthians 9, verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, remember this.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just pause here for just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says that he uses this agrarian language and he says, I want to teach you what it means to sow what you have, because there is a multiplication effect that happens when you sow.
SPEAKER_00: If you plant apple seeds, you get a tree that's full of apples.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the same thing is true with your finances.
SPEAKER_00: When you learn to sow what God has entrusted to you back to him, there's a multiplication effect on it.
SPEAKER_00: I'll talk about this in a few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what's interesting to me there's the God part of this, but what's fascinating to me about this is social scientists have also studied this principle.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just true in church and for Christians.
SPEAKER_00: I read multiple reports this week that said the average American for every dollar you give to some sort of charity or nonprofit, three dollars comes back to you in the short term.
SPEAKER_00: Like there is something about giving that unlocks giving back to you.
SPEAKER_00: And if social scientists see it, I mean what what could God's people see?
SPEAKER_00: So then Paul takes it a step farther.
SPEAKER_00: He says, each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, and here's why.
SPEAKER_00: For God loves a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_00: I think giving should be the most joyful thing we do.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, let me hit pause here for just a moment and say this to you.
SPEAKER_00: If you come to church faithfully, and if you are a tither and you give, but every time you write the check, you find yourself angry at God.
SPEAKER_00: If every time you type your money giving in on church online or giving online, you find yourself being angry about it and thinking what you could do with it, don't you dare give it.
SPEAKER_00: Because giving isn't a money issue, giving is a heart issue.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to challenge you.
SPEAKER_00: God is after your heart and he wants us to be joyful.
SPEAKER_00: It should be a gift.
SPEAKER_00: Everything you have came from God.
SPEAKER_00: Giving is bringing back to God what belonged to him in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: It should be a joy for us to give.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to notice this note.
SPEAKER_00: He says, You should give what you've decided in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Well, this is interesting because God already decided for you, not reluctantly or under compulsion.
SPEAKER_00: This is the reason that like there's no games at access.
SPEAKER_00: There's no manipulation, there's no there's no tricks.
SPEAKER_00: Um, quarterly we do the special offering that we call the legacy offering.
SPEAKER_00: And if you paid attention to it, I for weeks will say, hey, it's coming up in three weeks, it's coming up in four weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I want you to pray about it, and I don't want you to come to church, see a video of a sad child who's starving on the other side of the world and think, oh, if I don't give, someone's gonna like that's not how we roll.
SPEAKER_00: Like, be the kind of people who give what God has placed in your heart and be obedient to what he says.
SPEAKER_00: And when you do it, do it with a joyful heart.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why the next verse is so powerful.
SPEAKER_00: It says, And God is able to bless you abundantly.
SPEAKER_00: Pause here for just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: All of us spend our money on all kinds of things, and like none of those things can bless us.
SPEAKER_00: Like, if you have a mortgage payment, I'm happy for you.
SPEAKER_00: If you got a car payment, good for you.
SPEAKER_00: You pay the light bill, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: And none of those things are good, none of those things are bad, but none of those things have the potential to bless you.
SPEAKER_00: It's that when we give open-handedly and cheerfully, it says God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things and at all times, having all that you need, like God, your provider, he goes by the name Jehovah Jirah, the God who takes care of his children that so you have everything you need, you will abound in every good work.
SPEAKER_00: It's like God wants you to have what you need, and I would say God wants you to have more than what you need, but it's not all for you, and it's not all about you, it's so that you can further what he's about.
SPEAKER_00: Now remember we said it a moment ago, we said that that God loves a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is fun.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek word for cheerful is this fun word, it's the word Hilaron.
SPEAKER_00: Hilaron, there's two definitions.
SPEAKER_00: The first one is joyous, cheerful, and not grudging.
SPEAKER_00: God loves a giver who gives with a smile on their face and a heart full of gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: God, you gave it to me.
SPEAKER_00: What a joy to give back to you.
SPEAKER_00: But there's a second definition that I love.
SPEAKER_00: The second definition for Hileron is one who is won over or already decided.
SPEAKER_00: Because God gave us a plan for how to give.
SPEAKER_00: And God loves it when his children say, God, I'll just I'll just do whatever you say.
SPEAKER_00: You ask me to do something, you always have my yes.
SPEAKER_00: This is what God loves.
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, I've said this a few times.
SPEAKER_00: I would assume by now that Christians would get it.
SPEAKER_00: I would assume we'd be locked into this.
SPEAKER_00: I would assume that Christians would far surpass the giving of people who are not in the church.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, in 2024, which is the last year we have records for at this point, Americans, not Christians, Americans gave$592.5 billion to charities.
SPEAKER_00: So that would be charities, nonprofits, NGOs, and churches.
SPEAKER_00: So we we gave almost$593 billion, which is a huge amount of money.
SPEAKER_00: But what that represents in terms of the percentage of income for the average American is 2.2%.
SPEAKER_00: Now again, I would assume Christians would far surpass this.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the Bible teaches tithing is 10%, and it's the first 10%, and it belongs to God.
SPEAKER_00: But the average American church-going Christian, check this out, gave 2.8% last year.
SPEAKER_00: And this blows me away.
SPEAKER_00: The God of the universe who saved our soul, the God who so loved the world that He gave, invites us to live open-handedly with our resources, and we're no different than the world.
SPEAKER_00: If I could just be honest for a moment, after pastoring for almost 20 years now, for whatever reason, there's just two areas in our life that for whatever reason we say, God, I love you, God, I worship you, I want to do whatever you say, except for these two areas.
SPEAKER_00: For single people, it's the area of their sexuality.
SPEAKER_00: God, I want to do whatever you want me to do, except in this area because I want to have my fun.
SPEAKER_00: But God, I love you so much.
SPEAKER_00: And the other area for every other Christian is for whatever reason it's in the area of your money.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because we think we earned it.
SPEAKER_00: We think it's ours.
SPEAKER_00: We think it was the sweat of my brow and the strength of my arms.
SPEAKER_00: I put the blood, sweat, and tears in.
SPEAKER_00: I earned it, therefore it belongs to me.
SPEAKER_00: But can I tell you the truth about your money?
SPEAKER_00: Money just tells the story of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: If you were to do an autopsy on me someday, a hundred years from now when I die, and you were to open my heart, you wouldn't know anything about what I care about.
SPEAKER_00: But if you want to know what I care about, just open my bank accounts.
SPEAKER_00: Because my bank account will tell you what I care about.
SPEAKER_00: So does yours, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Like I care about having a house, so I have a mortgage payment.
SPEAKER_00: I care about having a car, so I have a car payment.
SPEAKER_00: I care about my electricity working, especially when it gets to 24 degrees at night.
SPEAKER_00: I care about that, so I pay my electric bill.
SPEAKER_00: I care about entertainment, so I buy fun things.
SPEAKER_00: I care about food, so I enjoy eating out.
SPEAKER_00: I spend money on all kinds of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: The issue isn't do you spend your money on things?
SPEAKER_00: The real issue of your heart is this question it's who or what is first.
SPEAKER_00: Because first is a declaration of trust.
SPEAKER_00: First says, God, everything I have you gave to me, everything that I have is yours in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: So before I trust myself, before I trust my abilities or my provision, I'm choosing to put you first.
SPEAKER_00: So some 20 years ago or so, I made this decision that God, this is how I'm going to live my life.
SPEAKER_00: And every time there's any sense of increase in my life, the first 10% or more is given to God.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to tell you something that if I could just be vulnerable for a moment, it feels super awkward to tell you.
SPEAKER_00: Um, my board at the church has asked me to tell you this.
SPEAKER_00: It feels weird to me, but I feel like you should know.
SPEAKER_00: Around the same time that we were starting our church, I started my own separate for-profit organization, a company, and God has so blessed it.
SPEAKER_00: In the early days, that's the only way my wife and I were able to have food for ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: The church had no money, and so I had to earn the money on the side somehow, and I worked really hard at two different things.
SPEAKER_00: And God blessed it, and that business took off and grew.
SPEAKER_00: And as God has blessed, I have lived open-handedly.
SPEAKER_00: I have way more than tithe on my personal income, way more than tithe on my business income.
SPEAKER_00: I have way, way, way more than tithe.
SPEAKER_00: And I just don't, I think 10% tithing is the starting point, and we go up from there.
SPEAKER_00: And I have lived this way for years to the point, and this is the thing that my board wanted me to tell you, that for like over the last six years, I have given way more than my whole salary from the church back to the church every year.
SPEAKER_00: Like this, this isn't about me.
SPEAKER_00: This is about you saying, I listen, people say you can't trust the church, can't trust the church with money.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't accrue anything to me whatsoever.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to live like this, and I'm gonna lead you in integrity because I want you to experience the greatest thrill ride of your life, which is saying, God, everything I have came from you, so let me live open-handedly with it.
SPEAKER_00: College students, high school students, look at me.
SPEAKER_00: Start now.
SPEAKER_00: Start now, opening your hands and saying, God, any increase in my life, I bring it back to you and see what he'll do.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some people say, Well, Jesus, why would he care?
SPEAKER_00: Like he's he's good, right?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus cared a lot.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible cares a lot.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, in the Bible, topics like prayer and faith get mentioned about 500 times, topics like love get mentioned about 700 times, topics like money, stewardship, and giving over 2100 times.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because your money is inextricably tied to your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus talks about it a lot.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I'm gonna read you three different sections of scripture from what is called the Sermon on the Mount, greatest sermon ever.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says this in Matthew chapter 6, verse 24.
SPEAKER_00: He says, No one can serve two masters.
SPEAKER_00: Come back to that word.
SPEAKER_00: Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
SPEAKER_00: And then he drops this bomb on us.
SPEAKER_00: He says, You cannot serve both God and money.
SPEAKER_00: And we really try hard, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: We show up to church, oh God, I love you, I love you, I want your will, I want to do your plan and purpose for my life when it comes to our money.
SPEAKER_00: But we're like, but that's that's mine.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the one who did it, I'm the one who earned it.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus comes out and he's like, when it comes to your money, you have to make the decision who sits on the throne of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Is it you and your ability to earn, or is it God and his ability to provide?
SPEAKER_00: And he uses this word, he says, no one can serve two masters.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek word is this word, kyrios.
SPEAKER_00: Kyrios is um, it's a difficult word, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Now, we live in a country that has a really difficult, dark history with slavery and people trying to own people.
SPEAKER_00: Let me be abundantly clear.
SPEAKER_00: We believe at Access that every single human being was created and designed in the image of God and is worthy of love and respect and honor.
SPEAKER_00: That there is no one that stands above any other person.
SPEAKER_00: That's not how we roll.
SPEAKER_00: But this language, curios for the word masters, literally means to own someone.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus comes out and he's like, something's going to own your heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's either going to be God and his plan and purpose for your life, or it's going to be your resources, your bank account, and how much you have.
SPEAKER_00: So the question I think you have to answer based on Jesus' statement is this it's do we have money, or does money have us?
SPEAKER_00: Do we have it?
SPEAKER_00: Do we do we earn it and do we live open-handedly, or does money have us?
SPEAKER_00: Now, why does this matter?
SPEAKER_00: Here's why.
SPEAKER_00: Because money is the chief competitor of my heart when it comes to God.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want to live in any way that dishonors God.
SPEAKER_00: If it's all from him, anyways, I'm gonna make it all about him.
SPEAKER_00: And I wonder, would this be easier if we didn't have social media?
SPEAKER_00: Would this be easier if I didn't know what all of my friends had?
SPEAKER_00: Would this be easier if I didn't know about my friends' vacation or the trip they took or the car they just bought or the upgrade of a house they just got?
SPEAKER_00: Would it be easier for me if I didn't know what everyone else had?
SPEAKER_00: I think the answer is yes, and here's the lie.
SPEAKER_00: All of those things we see causes me to live dangerously discontent.
SPEAKER_00: So what I think is I've got to spend every dollar I have on me.
SPEAKER_00: People tend, when they get discontent, to do one of two things.
SPEAKER_00: They either tend to lead towards hoarding, which is like I've got to hold on to everything so I have enough for me, or they tend to lead to the other side, which is I'm gonna spend every single thing I have and then some so I can appear that I'm keeping up with the Joneses.
SPEAKER_00: In either case, there is this sneaky little subversive sin that creeps into your heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's the sin of greed.
SPEAKER_00: A greed's a funny one, because there's lots of sins that we do that you can see, but you can't see greed in the mirror.
SPEAKER_00: You just can't.
SPEAKER_00: Like you think it's just normal, you think it's just how I'm living my life, you can't see it.
SPEAKER_00: You can see it in others, but you can't see it in you.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the definition.
SPEAKER_00: Greed is the assumption, it's all for my consumption.
SPEAKER_00: Greed is the assumption that everything I have, every dollar in my bank, all of it belongs to me, so it's all for me to consume.
SPEAKER_00: Now remember, Jesus said you can't serve two masters.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a litmus test to know if you're mastered by your money or if you are mastering your money.
SPEAKER_00: Here's this it's how you spend your money.
SPEAKER_00: When you're mastered by your money, you tend to live, spend your money on you, save some for you in the future, and then if there's anything left over, if there's any crumbs left over, we we give a little to God, right?
SPEAKER_00: This is how most people live.
SPEAKER_00: It's like we spend as much as we want.
SPEAKER_00: Most Americans spend between 103 and 105% of their income every single year.
SPEAKER_00: We live it up and we spend it all on us.
SPEAKER_00: If there's anything left over, we save, and saving is good, it's just for future us, and then we give.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're going to do what Jesus said and not be ruled by the master of your money, you've got to flip the script, master your money, and here's how it works you flip it upside down.
SPEAKER_00: You give first, save second, and you live on the rest.
SPEAKER_00: You give first, save second, live on the rest.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is important.
SPEAKER_00: Why do we give first?
SPEAKER_00: Because number one, we're honoring God.
SPEAKER_00: It all belongs to Him, anyways, and here's a little side note you can't give to someone's That already belongs to them.
SPEAKER_00: It's not even giving, it's bringing back to God that which belongs to Him.
SPEAKER_00: We bring the first 10% of any increase in our life back to God.
SPEAKER_00: Why do we do that?
SPEAKER_00: This is important.
SPEAKER_00: Hear me on this.
SPEAKER_00: Giving when you don't know how it's all going to work out is a declaration of trust in God.
SPEAKER_00: It takes the onus off of you, it takes the pressure off of you.
SPEAKER_00: God, if this is your will for my life, I'm gonna live the way you ask me to live and trust that you're gonna take care of me.
SPEAKER_00: I think you should give first, save second, be wise with your money, be invested in things, and then live on the rest.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason this order matters so much is this is the area you can actually scale down.
SPEAKER_00: You can find ways to cut corners.
SPEAKER_00: If you live first, you will always scale up.
SPEAKER_00: If you live last and spend your money on you last, you can always find ways to scale it down.
SPEAKER_00: Now, every time I show something like this, I'll hear from someone that says, I want to, I really do.
SPEAKER_00: Like I just don't have enough.
SPEAKER_00: Like I can't figure it out.
SPEAKER_00: I just the math doesn't math.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have enough.
SPEAKER_00: I can't figure out how to do it.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the thing I've learned in talking to so many Christians when it comes to the giving it's that we're not stingy.
SPEAKER_00: We're just scared.
SPEAKER_00: Like we're not stingy.
SPEAKER_00: We we want to be open-handed, we want to live this way.
SPEAKER_00: But the truth is it freaks us out.
SPEAKER_00: And so what we do is instead of pushing the chips into the middle of the table and trusting God and saying, God, I'm all in, we we hoard it all for ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: And in the same sermon Jesus taught about not serving two masters, just seven verses down, here's what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_00: He says, So I tell you, do not worry.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about your money.
SPEAKER_00: And he gives some examples.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about what we should eat and what we shall drink or what we shall wear.
SPEAKER_00: Don't don't worry about these things.
SPEAKER_00: And let me let me tease this out.
SPEAKER_00: To the people he was talking to, food was a huge deal.
SPEAKER_00: Like there were no refrigerators, so the only food and drink that wouldn't spoil would be wine and wheat.
SPEAKER_00: Everything else had a very short shelf life.
SPEAKER_00: If you didn't have it in your hands then, you don't know what you're gonna eat tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: To those people, he says, Don't worry about that.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about what you're gonna drink.
SPEAKER_00: And clothes were unbelievably expensive in the time of the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about these temporary things that come and go.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Do not worry.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why does he say don't worry?
SPEAKER_00: Because I think this picture makes perfect sense.
SPEAKER_00: When we worry, we hold on tight.
SPEAKER_00: When we worry, we go from open-handed trusting God to closed fist trusting me.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus takes it a step farther.
SPEAKER_00: He says, For the pagans run after all these things.
SPEAKER_00: The pagans are the ones who do this.
SPEAKER_00: Now, pagans in modern culture is kind of like the devil worshippers.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what Jesus was saying.
SPEAKER_00: He was saying the pagans, meaning all of the non-Jewish people that are not following me.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus saying, like basically, everybody else lives this way.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody else lives me first, my needs first.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody else lives closed-fisted.
SPEAKER_00: But you don't need to live that way.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why you can live open-handed.
SPEAKER_00: He says, and your heavenly father, he knows that you need them.
SPEAKER_00: Your father in heaven, he knows that you need the food and the drink and the clothes.
SPEAKER_00: Your father in heaven, listen to me, knows that you have bills.
SPEAKER_00: Your father in heaven knows, college student, that you're trying to figure out how to pay for this semester so you can get to next semester.
SPEAKER_00: Your father in heaven knows that there is that medical test that's so expensive, and he's gonna come through for you in some way because he loves you and he's good.
SPEAKER_00: Your father knows what you need.
SPEAKER_00: And then he hits this conjunction.
SPEAKER_00: He says, But here's what I want you to do with all that.
SPEAKER_00: Your father in heaven knows what you need.
SPEAKER_00: He says, but see, first he uses a word that's about priority.
SPEAKER_00: He uses a word that says, when you put all of your finances in a certain order, but first, which means move it off the bottom of the list, elevate it to the top of the list, but seek first what his kingdom, his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Essentially, he says, seek first or care first about what God cares about, and then look at the promise.
SPEAKER_00: When you seek first, all these things will be given to you as well.
SPEAKER_00: All what things?
SPEAKER_00: The clothes you need, the food you need, the drink you need.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me, the provision you need, the money you need, everything you need is promised by your Father in heaven if you will seek first or put him first.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're a note-taker, write this down.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not, we gave you notes, write this down.
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to put God first.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to make this decision to stop saying with your mouth, God, I love you, and allowing your bank account to call you a liar.
SPEAKER_00: Told you I had one verse from the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Here it is.
SPEAKER_00: In the book of Isaiah, this is some 700 years before Jesus lived.
SPEAKER_00: There was this prophetic moment where God says, These people come near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips.
SPEAKER_00: But their hearts are far from me.
SPEAKER_00: It's nothing but lip service to God.
SPEAKER_00: We say all the right things, we lift our hands in the right moments in church, we do all the right stuff, but it is possible for our money to call us a liar and for our heart to be a million light years away from God.
SPEAKER_00: He says their worship of me is based on merely human rules that they have been taught.
SPEAKER_00: It's like you're going through the motions and you're missing the heart of it all together.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about your money.
SPEAKER_00: It's about your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, I said earlier, God knows that your heart is inextricably tied to your wallet.
SPEAKER_00: Your money and your heart.
SPEAKER_00: There's something happening, and if you get this right, it'll change everything in your relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: In the same sermon that we read earlier, where Jesus said, You can't serve two masters, and don't worry about all these things because God, your Father, will take care of you.
SPEAKER_00: Earlier in it, here's what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_00: He says, For where your treasure is, where your money is, there your heart will be also.
SPEAKER_00: Now a lot of us read this and we think, okay, I get it.
SPEAKER_00: What I care about is where I'm going to put my money.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus goes, No, that's the way it makes sense to you, but my way is an upside-down way of thinking.
SPEAKER_00: It's not what you care about gets your money.
SPEAKER_00: It's what gets your money is what you care about.
SPEAKER_00: So I can explain it like this.
SPEAKER_00: Um I've been really blessed in my business.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so blessed to be able to just give really hundreds of thousands, potentially millions of dollars now, open-handed giving.
SPEAKER_00: A few years ago, I was like, I gotta take this money and make it work.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I gotta put this money to work for me.
SPEAKER_00: So I invested a lot in the stock market.
SPEAKER_00: Like a lot.
SPEAKER_00: And it was funny, before that, I never cared about the stock market.
SPEAKER_00: I never woke up and thought, I wonder how the NASDAQ is doing.
SPEAKER_00: Never cared at all.
SPEAKER_00: When the news, the 6 30 news would come on, they'd say, Today in the stock market, the Dow Joneses.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't care at all about any of that stuff.
SPEAKER_00: But then I put my money in it.
SPEAKER_00: And as soon as it got my money, I started noticing that I thought about it a lot.
SPEAKER_00: And I have an app on my phone that shows me how it's doing all the time.
SPEAKER_00: And I check it on my computer during the day.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because when it has your money, it gets your attention, and when it has your attention, it has your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a question you need to wrestle to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: Does God need your money?
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't.
SPEAKER_00: Because He's He's God.
SPEAKER_00: God's not worried about the stock market or the price of gas or the price of eggs.
SPEAKER_00: God's not worried how the real estate market's doing.
SPEAKER_00: God is good, He's fine.
SPEAKER_00: God's not after your money.
SPEAKER_00: If you think that you will think the church is after your money, and you will always be stingy mindfully and you hold on closed fisted.
SPEAKER_00: God's not after your money, He's after your heart.
SPEAKER_00: So how do we do it?
SPEAKER_00: We have a courageous moment of faith.
SPEAKER_00: We say, God, if you've called me to it, I just it doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm choosing to let go of control, I'm choosing to open my hands.
SPEAKER_00: As believers, we would say this, we say we live by faith, not fear.
SPEAKER_00: And we say this all the time when it comes to other areas of our life.
SPEAKER_00: It's true about your money too.
SPEAKER_00: I heard someone say this years ago, and for the life of me, I can't remember who said it, but the quote was faith is knowing and not knowing at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is knowing.
SPEAKER_00: What is knowing?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, God, I know that you're a good father.
SPEAKER_00: I know that you come through for your children.
SPEAKER_00: I know that when you make a promise, you can't help yourself.
SPEAKER_00: You always keep your promise.
SPEAKER_00: I know that.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know how you're gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00: I know you're gonna take care of me.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how it's gonna work out.
SPEAKER_00: I know that you're my source and my provision.
SPEAKER_00: I can't see it right now, but faith is saying, God, I trust you even when I know and don't know at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: So let me get really practical at the end, okay?
SPEAKER_00: If I were to ask you today, has God changed your life?
SPEAKER_00: Has he saved you from your sin?
SPEAKER_00: Has he been good to you?
SPEAKER_00: We would get in a roar of applause.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I want you to understand a heart touched by God is generous, and generosity starts with the tithe.
SPEAKER_00: Told you I wasn't gonna tell you stories over the next few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Please come to church.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you some stories that you will be like, I can't believe it's true.
SPEAKER_00: Come to church.
SPEAKER_00: Tithe is an old word, it's not a Bible word, it's an old word.
SPEAKER_00: People think it's a Bible word, it's not.
SPEAKER_00: Tithe simply means 10%.
SPEAKER_00: What tithing is, is not giving God 10%.
SPEAKER_00: It's not.
SPEAKER_00: It's bringing back to God the first 10% of everything that He's given and entrusted to you.
SPEAKER_00: That's tithing.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just 10%, it's the first 10%.
SPEAKER_00: That's what belongs to God.
SPEAKER_00: And what's cool is in the Bible, uh, this is for Bible nerds, I like this, 10 is always seen as a number of testing.
SPEAKER_00: So, like God gives Moses the 10 commandments, it's a test of will you live up to the standard I have for humanity.
SPEAKER_00: God sends Moses to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh won't let God's people leave captivity.
SPEAKER_00: So God sends ten plagues as a test to Pharaoh.
SPEAKER_00: Jacob has a moment with God of ten.
SPEAKER_00: There's ten things that happen over and over and over in the Bible, and it's always a test.
SPEAKER_00: And you know this from school because to get from one grade to the next, to get the promotion, you always have to pass the test.
SPEAKER_00: Same thing's true with the things of God.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to take a hold of what God has for you in the next season of your life, you have to pass the test when it comes to your money.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the point a heart touched by God passes the test.
SPEAKER_00: It does.
SPEAKER_00: So let me let me end with a couple thoughts.
SPEAKER_00: First one is this generosity that's not a money issue.
SPEAKER_00: Not about your money.
SPEAKER_00: Generosity is a lordship issue.
SPEAKER_00: I think we have a wrong definition of generosity.
SPEAKER_00: I think we think if I leave 22%, I'm like, woo, check me out.
SPEAKER_00: I'm generous.
SPEAKER_00: That's not that's not that.
SPEAKER_00: Generosity is saying, God, everything I have came from you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to live like this.
SPEAKER_00: Not worried and living close-fisted, I'm living open-handed.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a money issue, it's a lordship issue.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the question that I want to ask you to wrestle with.
SPEAKER_00: Who do you think is actually the Lord, which means in charge of you?
SPEAKER_00: Who do you think's in charge of your life and your thoughts and your work and your finances and your job and your family and all the things that you have your hands in?
SPEAKER_00: Who's in charge of all of it?
SPEAKER_00: Spoiler alert, you're not the Lord of any of.
SPEAKER_00: So why don't you look go from this to this?
SPEAKER_00: If you come to our church, you know this about me.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I am an insatiably practical preacher.
SPEAKER_00: I want to teach you the Bible, I want you to dig in deep with me, but then I want to make it something you can go home and work on today.
SPEAKER_00: I want to challenge you to do three things for me.
SPEAKER_00: First one is this when it comes to this message, I just want you to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Say, God, what would you have me do?
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what I believe God's gonna ask you to do.
SPEAKER_00: It's not to just start somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: That's what cowardly pastors will say.
SPEAKER_00: I challenge you to start at the tithe and work your way up.
SPEAKER_00: I challenge you to start at the tithe, and I've got news for you.
SPEAKER_00: If you start at the tithe, God will bless you in ways you can't imagine your giving won't stop at 10%.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find yourself on an adventure with God where you're giving 10, 20, 30, 40, but you'll just live open-handedly.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Second thing I want you to do is I want to challenge you to move God to first place in your finances.
SPEAKER_00: What does this mean?
SPEAKER_00: It means you stop putting yourself at the top of your list and making everything with your money about you, and you say, God, anytime there's increase in my life, I put you first.
SPEAKER_00: Can I give you a very practical challenge?
SPEAKER_00: We automate the stuff that's important to us, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: Like my mortgage payment, it's such a big deal to me to put God first that literally the first of every month, which is today, by the way, I tithe on the first of the month.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not legalistic about it, but I literally this morning, my tithe came out because I give on the first of the month every single week.
SPEAKER_00: God, you're first.
SPEAKER_00: My mortgage is also due on the first, but there's a five-day grace period.
SPEAKER_00: So what did I do?
SPEAKER_00: I paid my tithe, my mortgage on the second day of the month.
SPEAKER_00: God is always first.
SPEAKER_00: Well, then years ago, I figured out that with through our church giving, we can automate it.
SPEAKER_00: So literally, I I literally have it set up to automate.
SPEAKER_00: Some people are like, well, doesn't that remove the heart of giving and generosity?
SPEAKER_00: No, it doesn't.
SPEAKER_00: It literally prioritizes and says, God, I've literally already made the decision.
SPEAKER_00: So that next month, if next month comes and there's some surprises financially, I don't have to worry about it because I've already honored you first.
SPEAKER_00: It's a declaration of trust.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to pray.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to move God off the bottom of your list and move him to first.
SPEAKER_00: And then here's the best one I want you to rest.
SPEAKER_00: People worry about money so much.
SPEAKER_00: A couple years ago, 20% of divorces name money as the number one reason for the divorce.
SPEAKER_00: It causes anxiety, it causes restlessness.
SPEAKER_00: We're worried, we're worried, we're worried.
SPEAKER_00: But when you've moved God to first, check this out.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so why wouldn't you trust him?
SPEAKER_00: Listen, for 20 years I've been on the greatest adventure of my life with God.
SPEAKER_00: For 20 years I've lived open-handedly, and I want to challenge you to this too.
SPEAKER_00: Will you move past saying, God, I love you and I trust you with my mouth?
SPEAKER_00: And will you be the kind of person who allows your finances to tell the true story of your heart?
SPEAKER_00: May we never become the kind of church that just settles for lip service to God, but our hearts call us liars.
SPEAKER_00: May we be open-handed and generous, and may the world around us see that we've passed the test and our lives have become a testimony.
SPEAKER_00: Can I get a good amen, church fam, on that?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Stand up with me everywhere you are.
SPEAKER_00: Stand up with me.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna pray.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna ask you to bow your head and close your eyes all over this place.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you came to church today, and it's hard to say, God, I want to honor you with my money when you haven't even made the decision to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're here, no one's looking around, but if you say, Jason, I want to start this relationship with God by putting my life, my trust, my heart in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: I want to choose to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If that's you, would you just raise your hand right now at all of our locations?
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking to you.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: So cool.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna pray this, and if this was you, would you pray this with me?
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to hear me on this.
SPEAKER_00: Praying changes everything when you mean it with your heart.
SPEAKER_00: But don't feel ashamed.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to pray it out loud, and we're gonna pray with you.
SPEAKER_00: Our church doesn't let anyone make these big moments and these big decisions alone.
SPEAKER_00: So, all across this church and all across our locations, would you say this with me?
SPEAKER_00: Say, Jesus, I give you my life.
SPEAKER_00: Save me, change me, make my life new.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, I confess that I have sinned and I need a savior.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for loving me.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for giving your life for me.
SPEAKER_00: Today, I give my life to you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, I love you.
SPEAKER_00: I choose to follow you in your name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Stay there for just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Just stay there.
SPEAKER_00: Your head still bowed and eyes still closed.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna ask you to ask this question of yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Is Jesus actually first in my heart?
SPEAKER_00: Is he?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of you need to have an awkward conversation with the person you rode to church with.
SPEAKER_00: Is he first in your heart?
SPEAKER_00: And if he's not, I'm gonna pray for you, but I'm gonna pray that you have courage, but courage requires you to take a step.
SPEAKER_00: So, God, in this place, we we want to move past saying we love you with our mouths, but our hearts calling us liars.
SPEAKER_00: God, may we be the kind of church who loves you with everything we have.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that everything we have came from you, it's for you, it's from you, and it's by you.
SPEAKER_00: God, we choose to make the decision to let go of the tight grip of greed in our lives, and we choose to live open handedly.
SPEAKER_00: God, I thank you that you're a good father, and when we trust you in this way, you meet the needs of your children.
SPEAKER_00: So we declare our trust isn't in our ability or our strength, it's in Jehovah Jira, our provider.
SPEAKER_00: We love you, we thank you for it.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, if you're thankful for that, what you say, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.