Exodus: The Giving of Goat Hair

God has no problem talking about money because it is the primary means to reach the human heart. In Exodus, God calls for an offering to build the Tabernacle—a mobile dwelling place for His presence. This wasn't a call for funds; it was a call for a people to prioritize God at the very center of their lives. When the people responded, they gave so much that they had to be restrained. This sermon explores the spiritual reality of stewardship and the invitation to participate in God's work.

Key Points

1. Money as a Heart Diagnostic Jesus spoke about money and possessions in 1 in 10 verses of the Gospels because "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Spending habits reveal functional saviors and where trust truly lies. Giving is an act of worship that moves God from the periphery to the center of our lives.

2. The Purpose of the Tabernacle The Tabernacle served as a visual aid of God’s presence. Three terms define it:

• Tent: It was mobile, moving with the people.
• Dwelling: Its purpose was to house God’s presence.
• Holy Place: It reflected the distinct, separate character of God.

3. Principles of Biblical Giving

• Giving is First to God: We do not give to a church or a cause primarily, but to the Lord. His worthiness, not the recipient's, is the standard.
• Grace Fuels Generosity: The Israelites could give gold because they had "plundered" Egypt by God’s grace. We are stewards, not owners, of what we have.
• Obedience Over Understanding: Moses didn't need to understand why God wanted "goat hair" to obey. We give what is commanded, trusting the "God math" that multiplies small offerings.
• Giving is a Heart Issue: Giving must be willing and "cheerful" (hilarious), not done under compulsion.

4. The "Goat Hair" Principle Generosity is not an amount; it is a percentage of sacrifice. Everyone is invited into the game. Whether you have "onyx stones" or "goat hair," God doesn't need the gift—He wants the participant. Excelling in the grace of giving is for the whole body, not just a wealthy few.

Conclusion

We are called to move from being "swarms of slaves" to a "congregation" that marches with God at the center. This requires sacrifice and worship. True generosity starts with recognizing that everything we have is a gift from the God who gave His all for us.

Calls to Action

• Get in the Game: If you aren't giving, start somewhere. Don't let the inability to give a "perfect" amount stop you from giving anything.
• Give First: Make giving a priority by setting it aside on the first day of the week rather than giving from the leftovers.
• Standard of Giving: As your income increases, ensure your percentage of giving grows alongside your standard of living.

Transcript

That the Lord said to Moses, tell the Israelites to bring me an offering, and you're to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them gold, silver and bronze, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen. And then not so fine goat hair, rams skins, dyed red, and another type of durable leather that will remain unnamed.

Acacia wood, olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ford and breast. Peace. Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern that I'm going to show you.

God has no problem calling for an offering. This is exactly what he's doing here. God has no problem talking about money. Many of us and many of our pastors do. And I would include myself in that number. Many pastors hesitate to call for an offering, because we know that there are other pastors who do not hesitate to call for an offering, and we don't want to come off as one of those pastors that maybe personally gain because of the sacrificial giving of their congregations.

We're aware of the abuse that's out there, the misuse that's out there. So that makes us hesitant to sometimes call for an offering. Most pastors are very aware of the critique. The church only wants my money and I wish it were that simple. We don't only want your money. Your money is the easiest part. We want it all and we want it all because God is calling for your life, not part of it, but all that you are.

And God has no problem talking about money because it's a means to get to your heart. If you want to know what's going on inside, don't take a spiritual gift assessment. If you want to know what's going on inside, don't come meet with a pastor. If you want to go. If you want to know what's going on in your heart, Jesus would say, look at your spending.

Look at where you're putting your money, and look at where you're putting your time there. You will also find the things that you trust in and your functional saviors, the things that you're counting on when you're pressed. And so Jesus has no problem talking about money. But when Jesus talks about money. He's not talking about money. When Jesus talks about possessions, when he talks about stewardship, when he talks about generosity, when he talks about money.

He's using it as a means to get to what really is valuable and what really matters to you. Jesus told parables, which were stories that communicated a profound spiritual reality. 16 of the 39 directly correlated to money, roughly 1 in 10 verses in the Gospels. Those would be the accounts of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection. 1 in 10 verses discuss the subject of money and possessions.

God has no problem talking about this, but we would rather not. We often carry shame in this area, and I just want to say from the outset, we want the conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit. We do not want the condemnation that comes from the enemy. So we're really praying that you hear what God has to say, and not the way that the enemy harasses you in this area of your life.

But when we look at our spending, when we look at our money, like I said, we can follow a trail to our hearts and what's happening for us spiritually. How do you feel? How do you feel about money? How do you feel about God and money? Are they two very separate things that have nothing to do with one another?

Or do you see the connection between them? When the church dips into what you're doing with your wallet? How does that make you feel? And the text today God calls for an offering and man to the people respond. God says taken offering. I want the offering to be this. This offering was for a tabernacle. Remember, the people of God have been rescued from slavery in Egypt.

They have received the law of God, the ten commands, ten commandments, and now they're being asked to build a tent where they'll meet with God. How many of you are words people like? Words paint a very vivid picture for you. How many of you are just looking for the pictures?

Like these words blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Where's the picture?

I mean, when I get instructions, I don't read anything. I just immediately start looking for pictures like I need a visual aid. It's like, I don't understand what you just said, but if you just show me a picture, I think I could do this. Well, the tabernacles for you. The Tabernacle is a visual aid. They've gotten the words, they've gotten the law of God, and now they're about to build a fort.

And it's like, yeah, finally something we can get our heads around. A little visual aid for the rest of us. Three words are used to describe this tabernacle, and each one gives us a sense of why this thing is so special and why this offering went so well. The first is the word tent, and it points to the nature of the structure.

Like this thing needs to be able to move. The second one is dwelling and it points to the purpose of the structure, like it will house God. And then the third one is that it's a holy place, and it points to the divine character of the inhabitant. It's not housing just any old Israelite. This is housing the very presence of God, and his presence is holy.

It's separate, it's different. It's distinct, it's unique. So in some ways, I'm coming down to dwell in a tent just like the rest of you, just like the Israelites. And then in other ways. I'm not like the rest of the Israelites, and you need to know that as well. So the question is, why are they building this at this point?

At this point, the people of God have been at the foot of Mount Sinai for almost a year. They've been at the foot of Mount Sinai, and Moses has taken treks up and down to meet with God. God's even speaking from the mountain. They're communing with God as they're camped at the base of Mount Sinai. But they're about to take the show on the road.

They're about to head to the promised land. And so as a way of dwelling with them, God says, make for me a tent, a tabernacle, because we're about to move from the base of this mountain, and we're going to inhabit the promise land. So God's essentially saying to them, I'm a camp with you guys, and I'm going to camp right in the middle of you guys.

This is a picture that someone drew up of what it may have looked like if people camped according to the directions that are giving in Scripture. Kind of interesting that God would be right in the middle of what obviously looks like a cross, right? That place where ultimately God would come to meet with man, I wasn't there. I don't know if this is what it looked like, but many speculate that it did.

And I started asking myself the question, why a physical place?

Why a physical place? Was it God who needed a tent to dwell in, or was it people that needed that physical representation? Was God like a hermit crab with no shell? Like I can't come out naked? Or was it people who needed a visual aid? Who needed a place that represented the presence of God? Why did he provide for them something they could see?

I think it's because he's kind and he understands that we need to know that he's with us. And why did God build his own dwelling? That's another question I asked. I mean, God at this point is raining manna from the sky. Why not rain your own mobile home? Why not just drop that from the sky? Why the detailed instructions?

And I think it's really simple. I think he again, it's a lesson. I think he wants the people to know that if I'm going to stay camped at the very center and to remain in the very center of who you are as my people, it's going to require sacrifice and it's going to require worship. I'm going to reveal myself to you.

But if I'm going to stay at the very center of your life, it's going to require a sacrifice. It's going to require giving, and you're going to have to get involved. Right. You're going to need to be a part of this. And many of us know this, that when we're not making these sacrifices, when we're not choosing to worship, when we're not staying, remaining close to him, it feels like he's no longer at the center of our lives.

I'm going to read just a short section of a really long passage that I would encourage you to read all of Exodus 35 and then also at the beginning of 36 is really powerful, but I'll read the beginning of 35 in the beginning of 36. So Moses comes down.

Having heard from God to call for an offering. And then he says to the people, this is what the Lord's commanded from what you have taken offering for the Lord, everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze, blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen and goat hair, ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather, acacia wood, olive oil for the for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ford and the breast piece.

So this happens. All this stuff comes in, a wave comes forth, and then we read at the beginning of 36, so Bezalel and a holy and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary or to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.

Then Moses summoned Bezalel and a holy Abe, and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability, and who is willing to come and do the work they received from Moses. All the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary, and the people continued to bring free will offerings morning after morning.

So all the skilled workers who are doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and had to say to Moses, the people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done. And then Moses had to give an order, and they sent this word throughout the camp. No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.

We're good on goat hair. And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all of the work. Men.

This is one of two passages that's just a preacher's dream. The other one is at the beginning of acts, when a crowd of people is screaming, what shall we do to be saved? That's a dream, because most of the time you're just telling people what to do to be saved and they don't want to hear it. But it's an amazing thing when you hear from people.

Hey, what should we do to be saved? I mean, you don't even know what to do. You just kind of go, wait, what did you just say to me? This is the other dream for every preacher. Like, so much coming in that you're having to restrain people from bringing it in. No, I said that's enough. And like, there's bouncers having to enforce it.

So we learn a lot from this text about giving. And I want to highlight those things to you today. Remember, as we talk about money, we're not really talking about money.

The first thing is our giving is first to God and then to others and organizations. So Exodus 25 two says, the Lord said to Moses, tell the Israelites to bring me in offering. You're to receive the offering. But it's for me, and it's from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. When we give, we give to the Lord.

And this is really an important reminder. It's Jesus who would say, when you do things to the least of these, you do it unto me. When you give, you're not giving ultimately to a church. You're not giving to a cause. Ultimately, you're not giving to a person. You're giving to God. And you need to remember that. Because often I find people investigating the worthiness of the church, the worthiness of the person or the worthiness of the cause, and forgetting about the worthiness of our God who commanded you to give.

He commanded you to give. And when we give, we give first and foremost to him, secondarily to the other stuff.

I got off a plane at a as a 19 year old in, in Kathmandu, Nepal, and I was just taken. I mean, obviously the Himalayas are incredible, but the village in Nepal, in Kathmandu was just full of these adventurers and it was a really special place to be. As my friend and I, who are both young, are walking around.

We meet a young boy named Raji. Raj's got the biggest, most beautiful brown eyes and he looks up at us and he says, my little brother needs milk, my little brother needs milk. And so my buddy Nate and I, we do what you would do. We went and got milk. Got him milk. But he was shivering. So he also got him some knockoff North Face jacket from one of the shops and Kathmandu.

We send him on his way as we continue to stroll around this kind of kind of Main Street area. A couple hours later, we bumped back into Raji. Raji has no jacket, Raji has no milk and then he says, big man took it, the big man took it. And we're like, what kind of sicko takes milk from a kid who's taking it to his little brother?

Right. So we go back to the store, round two of the milk, then we get another jacket. Round two with the jacket. We get back to the base. And I'll be honest, I was feeling pretty good about my work as a humanitarian, as a sort of Mother Teresa. I walk back to the base and I say, man, we, you know, we did what we could, but we got Raji some milk, and then a bully took his milk.

So we got him more milk, and then a bully took his jacket. So we got him another jacket. And the base leaders are just dying laughing because they're like, you just got worked. And I was like, wait, what? He was like, the bully didn't take the milk. You got took. He just dumped it. Told you the same story again.

And I was like, no, not Raji. No. We really bonded, you know? And they're like, this guy is trying to survive. You got played. All the guys are laughing at us, and one woman in the group kindly puts her hand on my shoulder and says, God sees your heart. And I thought I was like, thank you for not laughing at us, because ultimately this wasn't about Raji.

And if Raji came back in here, you all would do even here, having heard this story, if you saw those brown eyes and they said, I need milk, you'd be like, all right, we're going to get milk, man. I don't know what you're going to do with this, but I think so often we can sometimes spend a lot of time thinking about how worthy a cause is, how worthy a person is, how worthy a situation is.

And it's our God who is worthy, and he's commanding us to give. The second thing that I find out from this text is that grace fuels are giving. There's a lot of people that are generous. Not all of them are Christians. So many people give. What's the motive for generosity in the life of a Christian? And I found myself asking the question as I read this text, where the heck or slaves supposed to come up with gold, silver and bronze?

Like maybe the spice is maybe the goat hair, maybe the oil. I'm like, yeah, I don't know. Maybe someone found a stick of acacia wood on the on the road, but like, where did they come up? Who has onyx stones? What slave who's been a slave for 400 years is parading around with onyx stones. And when you dig, you find out.

You read earlier in Exodus 12 that the Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked them to do when leaving Egypt. And they went door to door asking Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. And the Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for. So they plundered the Egyptians.

There's there's a lot that I'd like to talk about here. The first is how desperate do you have to be for someone to come to your door and say, could I have your gold and your silver? And then be like, right away here?

The Egyptians are like, whatever, just leave. And please, no more plagues. Like have it all, take it all. Just not an 11th plague. And just please go. So they go. Having plundered the world's greatest civilization. And they leave with their pockets full of gold and silver. They know what this is. This is gift.

And I think too often the way we think about what we have is that we worked really hard for this, and we're out of touch with the gift that it is. And so we don't excel in the grace of giving because we think we earned it. And I do think you worked hard for it. I'm never going to fight you on that.

Let's just say you work hard as heck you worked for it. I don't think it's that simple, because I know other people who work as hard as you do, and they don't have what you have. In fact, I know people who may work harder than you do and they don't have what you have. And so the invitation is to recognize that what we have is grace.

I was thinking about this and thinking like, who even gave you the desire to be generous? Where did you get that from? And if you're sitting here thinking like, oh no, it's me. It's from the goodness of my heart. I don't think so. You've been made in the image of a God who is generous, and even your desire to be generous was given to you.

No. I pulled myself up by the bootstraps and the arms that that function. Where'd you get those? And the two legs that work, that you put your feet in those boots and the breath. And I think when we pull back and we realize, like, no, this is a gift. And we're stewards of something God's given us, not owners of something we worked for.

It's the beginning of a generous life. But know this it's grace and humility demands that we're giving back to him what he first gave to us. We recognize this is a gift. Even the ability to work in the work ethic that you have is a gift.

Thirdly, giving is an issue of obedience.

I read this grocery list of items and I have some questions about what's on the menu.

So God's like, take an offering. Moses is like right away. What is it that I'm going to the grocery store for? And it's a little bit of a bizarre list. And if I'm Moses, I'm probably thinking in like, what's in Ford? What are we making here? And I think this highlights for us the reality that often we want understanding before our obedience.

When I understand how this money is going to be used, when I understand that I'm okay, and when I understand that this is going to work out the way I think it's going to work out, then I'll be obedient and give. But the way that the kingdom works is we're actually called to obedience. And then on the heels of that, we understand.

Does that make sense? So I'm sure Moses is looking at the list and going like goat hair.

Interesting. But the invitation is to obedience. We don't give what we want to give. We give what the Lord commanded. We don't give just what we think he wants. We give what he's asked for. And it's an issue of obedience.

It's key. Probably the the text that we've heard over and over again in reference to this obedience is the story of the kid with a lunch. He's got two fish, five loaves, and there's a crowd of 5000 people. And Jesus says, give me your lunch. And if you're that kid, you're thinking, this lunch doesn't stand a chance of feeding that crowd.

But he steps out in obedience. You know the rest. It's multiplied and it feeds thousands. But there was a real risk involved. When the young boy had to give up, what would feed him, what would have made a difference for his family? He offers to the Lord in trust, believing that obedience comes before understanding, and that he's going to understand this in a bit.

The other thing you find out as you read is that this list of things is not that random. When we read the list, we're like, man, I don't know what we're cooking. If I sent you to the grocery store and I said, I want you to get noodles, I want to get tomato sauce, I want you to get ground beef.

I want you to get parmesan cheese. I want you to get garlic bread. What are we having tonight? I genuinely believe that when the Israelites received this list of items, they knew exactly what God was cooking up.

Because this takes them right back to Eden, the Garden of Eden. The list of items includes gold and onyx. They would have immediately recognized. Oh, we're going for a little slice of heaven on earth. God's reestablishing Eden right in the middle of our camp. Tim Chester says it this way. First, the list of materials for the Tabernacle begins with gold, and it ends with onyx.

And then it describes the lampstand in the tabernacle with all its buds and blossoms. It looks like a tree. The tabernacle will look like a garden with a tree that gives light. It's an echo of the tree of life at the center of the Garden of Eden. Moreover, both accounts culminate in a description of the Sabbath. So the tabernacle is an echo back to Eden and a pointer forward to our true home.

Obedience. Even when it seems random. How many of you have been you've you've you understand what Phoebe calls God math where you're like, this doesn't actually pencil, but I think God's in this. I mean, it doesn't. There's some atrocious math in the Gospels.

Leave the 99 go after the one. Say that to your boss. Tomorrow at work, I'm going to leave the 99 and go after the one and just see how he responds. It doesn't make any sense, doesn't pencil in some ways, and it requires obedience, not just obedience. The fourth thing is that giving is from the heart. So it's not just an exercise of duty, not just we have to do this, although that's there, but this is an issue of the heart.

You're to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. It's not enough just to do what you're told. If you read the whole of Exodus 35, you're not just told once to give from the heart. You're told seven times to give from the heart. When the Bible says something once, it's important. When the Bible says it's seven times in the same chapter, it's like hitting you over the head.

It's not enough that this is duty. This is something you have to do. This is an issue of the heart. This is what Paul writes. He says this. Remember this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows generously will reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

For God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need sounds like a lot, and God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written, they have freely scattered their gifts to the poor.

Their righteousness endures forever. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed, and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. The idea here is that God loves a cheerful giver, so we don't give it begrudgingly, we give it hilariously.

We give it with a sort of chuckle, like it's better to give than it is to receive. And this isn't hard for us to understand. We don't have to tease this out, right? The difference that it makes for someone to give cheerfully or give out of duty. Mother's days next week. It's the one day of the week that you're not going to have to ride your kids to do the dishes.

What a difference it makes in the house when people are like, oh, get that?

You're like, oh, if only every day was like this. If only every day. I didn't scream at people and say, would you do the dishes? It matters. And it matters in the kingdom that we don't just do this as an act of obedience, but we do it in our hearts, in it. So the question becomes, and maybe you're sitting here and you're like, okay, sounds good.

My heart's not in it. You've still got like ten minutes left in the sermon, so maybe you're going to win me over. But I don't actually feel connected to this. My heart's not in this. What do we do? Well, you have two choices. You can one wait to feel it, or two, you can act and be obedient and hope that your emotions follow.

I want to suggest to you that you already do the second very often.

I wouldn't suggest to you that tomorrow morning, if you don't feel like going to work, you don't go. I've been waiting to feel like dieting for like 20 years.

I've yet to feel like apologizing, and I and I give it everything I got, and I do what's right because I'm pretty sure I did my wife wrong. And I say that I'm sorry. And I trust God that in my obedience, my heart is going to follow. And I would suggest to you that if you're here and you're like, okay, it's supposed to come from the heart and my heart doesn't feel moved, that the first thing you should do is begin to act, not sit back and wait.

What's really interesting, I was reading in Exodus, and as much as the willing heart is mentioned over and over again, there's also required tithes and offerings that are mentioned in a nearby text. It says, then the Lord said to Moses, when you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted.

Then no plague will come on them when you number them. Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel. So there was this free will offering. But then there were other moments where it's just like, no, this is what you got to do, right?

We're no longer under the Mosaic Law, but God's heart remains the same in the New Testament. He expects giving, and he expects that we engage in it with understanding. Right? I was thinking about this and thinking like, yeah, what if that was the case? And in prayer, like, I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait till I feel like praying.

And with Bible reading, I'm going to wait till I feel like reading numbers. I'm going to wait till I feel like worshiping again. There's probably going to be some days where you're like, I'm feeling it today. This is great, but most of the time we know in relationship that requires something more than that. Lastly, giving for everyone is for everybody here, and I fear that because of your situation, you've counted yourself out.

But the real beauty of this text is that everyone gets involved. That's the beauty, that's the draw, and it leads to an overflow. Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses's presence, and everyone who is willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of Meeting, for all its service and for the sacred garments.

This is really what sticks out to us as pastors when we look at this. It's not that they had more than enough. It's the beauty of all hands on deck that everybody's getting involved, in fact, to the point where they've got to say, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta stop this. Right? And I want to say this, and I want you to hear this, and I fear that it's just one little drop in an ocean of your understanding.

But generosity is not an amount. Generosity and giving have nothing to do with zeros. Therefore, everyone can get in on it. Therefore, everyone can participate. The widow with her two mites can give more than the person who's making it rain.

This is a beautiful truth for us. I think. Sometimes we think generosity is big zeros, but I've I've definitely witnessed through the years that those who have a lot can give, and it doesn't affect their lifestyle. And those who don't have a lot give and it affects their lifestyle and it's costly and it's generous and it is sacrificial.

Listen to this equation that comes from Paul in second Corinthians eight. Now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace God has given the Macedonian churches in the midst of a very severe trial. Their overflowing joy in their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. What an equation that is, man, I want that one. I think some of us are looking this and going, yeah, I think I might have this like you have a severe trial.

Got it. Check. And then an overflowing joy. Yeah. I mean honestly. And then they have extreme poverty check and then rich generosity. What a formula for I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people.

And they exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves look, first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. Generosity is not for the wealthy guys. It's not. And because of that, we can. All wealthy people are just wealthy and generous people are generous. And just because you're wealthy doesn't mean you're generous. Many of us know wealthy people who are still really bound by money.

Money is not going to make you something. You're not just going to pour gas on what already is generous. People are generous, and they were usually generous before they had money.

I was thinking about this because I really want to get out. One thing well, to the first is this the old 8020?

Where 20% of our church is doing 80% of the work in this area. I want at that. And I'm recognizing that some of us have decided that just because we can't maybe meet a biblical standard of tithing, we just won't give it all because we can't do what we think to be generous. We can't do what we wished we could do.

So we'll then do nothing at all. And I've just been I've been grappling with that because I've just thought about that in other areas of our spiritual growth, like, well, I can't pray for an hour, so I'm not going to pray.

And I can't show up as much as I'd like to to church. So I'm just not going to come. And I can't read the Bible. I can't read the whole of the book of Ezekiel in one sitting. So I'm not going to settle for two chapters because by the s l wrote it as one book. You know, I was just thinking about that, thinking we're not going to get anywhere.

And as I look back on my own giving record here at the church, what troubles me most is that on months when we couldn't give the tithe, I didn't give. I just decided that because I couldn't write the tithe check, that I couldn't write a check. And that wasn't true. And I wish I would have just stayed in the game.

What can you do? What I love about this offering is that someone's, like parading to the front. I got the gold. I'll bring the gold, silver and bronze and then. Oh, look at here. I got onyx stones. And then there's another guy going. I have goat hair.

And that's how some of us feel like there's. There's people who can be generous. And I'm goat hair guy. And I think what I want you to understand is that even gold, silver and onyx stones are goat hair to God. He doesn't need any of it. And so I want to free you today to be goat hair guy.

What can you give? Don't focus on what you can't. Can't you? You can't give. Well, I can't give like them. And I can't give that. And I'm not the guy I want to be. I'm not the guy I should be. I'm not the guy I could be. I totally get that. But what can you give? Because you can stay in the game.

And I wish that on those months when things were tight for us, that it would have stayed on the field, because you better believe that I still somehow found a way to go to Starbucks, which with five kids is like $800.

I started thinking about this reality and we'll put this stat up on the state, the screen. But 91 households account for 80% of the giving here. That's 15.7% of the 581 active households. So 15% of the church is doing 80% of the work in this area. And I think it's honestly because you don't love that it's goat here, but I want you in the game.

Would you get on the field with us? Would you give what you can give? Again, this is how I'd encourage someone if they were like, well, I can't pray for an hour. I'd be like, well, can you pray for five minutes? No, two. Yeah, yeah, pray for two. Well, try to double it next week. You go to five minutes.

You know, that's how we would encourage one another. I don't have the attention span to read the scriptures for that long. Well, how long can you read? What can you do? And if you do that in time, you'll be able to do what you can't do. Keep doing it. Stay in it. We have people here in this church that excel in the grace of giving, and that's the that's the words from Scripture.

They excel in the grace of giving. It's it's shocking. But I was thinking about every other area of ministry here in the church. Like we have people who excel in the grace of worship leading, and we have people who excel in the grace of teaching. And we have people who excel in the grace of serving our kids. My goodness.

Like all year with that kind of intention and passion, they excel. But because they excel, it doesn't mean that we have an out to understand. You can't look up here and be like, well, that team seems really into worship. Mo's giving it a go. Luke can't be contained on drums and Daniel sings like an angel. He's an angel, man.

That's good. I'll let them do the worshiping for me. Absolutely not. People who excel in the grace are meant to get us all involved. So, as Luke's drumming, will you better be drumming on your thighs. You bring your goat hair, man, right? And as Daniel's singing, you're like, I'm not going to let that guy sing for me. He sings a lot better than I do.

But it's your breath in my lungs, and it sounds worse than Daniel. It sounds worse than Daniel. We don't let people who excel in gifts take our place. Try, view, excel in the gift of teaching so that you don't have to read your Bible. Is that how this works? That you farm it out? Absolutely not. Well, these people, they excel in the grace of of serving kids so that you can ignore them.

Absolutely not. It doesn't work like this in any area of what we do as a church. Get in the game. People who excel in the grace of giving are meant to provoke you to action and you to go goat hair it is. Let's go. I'm in. Would you stand with me?

This. This scripture really sums up New Testament giving from Paul. It says now about the collection For the Lord's people do what I told the Galatian churches to do. So obviously this isn't a prescription just for one church. It's for churches. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income.

Save it up so that when I come, no collections will have to be made. I want to invite you to this. If you're here and giving has not been a priority. I want to encourage you to make it a priority. Like give first because when you wait and give last or give what's left, guess what's left?

Yeah, waiting for another paycheck. That's what's left. So we choose it and we choose it first as a priority. And if that's shy of the 10% that you feel like you want to give, so be it. Just get in the game. If you're in the game and you give consistently and faithfully, I just want to encourage you to give us a percentage in keeping with your income, is what it says here.

What I've noticed, and what we've noticed here, is that somehow when we get raises, our standard of living goes up and our standard of giving stays the same. So connecting our standard of giving to a percentage helps us know that we're also giving more, not just receiving more. I noticed this as we I was kind of digging around.

The median annual giving per household per year is about $2,401, which is like kind of cool. Like that's that's really, really kind and amazing. And then I was thinking, does the average house here make $24,000 a year? I don't I don't know I do know that your bills have increased and then potentially are giving has not. And then lastly I want to encourage you if you've you're here and you're tithing regularly, I just want to encourage you that that actually in the New Testament is the floor and not the ceiling.

It's the jumping off point. So it's not like here, God, here's a 10th. The rest is mine. Look, I paid you off. Just keep it down over there. I get to do what I want to do. Now, that's not the way that works. All is is his. And so I just want to encourage you. Would you take one step this week?

If you're a man? Dang. If you're new to this church, I'm sorry. Welcome.

I just I just thought about you right now and just thought, dang it.

We're going to close in prayer. And if you're a believer in Jesus, we're going to come to the table and just remember Christ's generosity towards us in when we weren't generous towards him, that he continues to extend himself to us. No condemnation.