This Is The Time (Jonathan Josephs)

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.080 gives your perspective to see God is moving. 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:18.760 In your life. Enjoy the message. What an awesome atmosphere 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:22.560 of thanksgiving and praise today. And I'm so grateful to 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:24.239 be able to be here with you today to share 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:26.400 God's word. My name is Jonathan. If we haven't got 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.880 the chance to meet, everybody calls me a lot of 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.559 love from over here at Valentine. I have the privilege 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.199 of serving here as the Valentine Campus pastor. I've had 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:38.280 the honor of serving under Pastor Stephen and Pastor Hawley 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.360 for twelve years now, almost thirteen years now, and it's 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:43.120 been the joy of our life. How man, You're grateful 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.360 that pastor of Stephen and Pastor Hawley gave God there 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.000 yes and created a place for us to live out 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:54.800 the calling and mandate on our life. And and I'm 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:57.080 so grateful I get to share God's word with you today. 0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:58.960 I've been praying about what to share, and I felt 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.360 like the Lord gave me a real clear assignment. I 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.000 was asking God to give me a word that would 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:06.440 inspire you to give as we are in this special 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:08.720 time in our church, and the Lord said, don't inspire them, 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:11.160 instruct them, And so I came with a word of 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:13.720 instruction today. How many you know that God's words serves 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.440 different purposes in our life. He can encourage us through 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.360 his word. He can inspire us through this word. Sometimes 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.120 this Holy Spirit will give us an insight. But I'm 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:24.880 growing more and more grateful for the times the Lord 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.800 shows up with an instruction for me. And that's my 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.160 assignment for today. And this really is a special time 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.399 a year for us here at Elevation Churches. We're getting 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:35.880 ready for our expansion offering. In just a couple of weeks. 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:38.520 We got a new building coming in Raleigh, North Carolina. 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:43.400 Shout out through our Raleigh campus. We just opened a 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.120 brand new Greenville campus. We're about to launch a campus 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:49.440 in Somerville, South Carolina, outside of Charleston. And can we 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:56.520 thank God for all the outreach that's happening Goodest Ministry. Well, 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:58.760 I want to read this scripture to you today from 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:01.000 Hey Guy, Chapter one. If you haven't heard of Hagai. 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:04.520 He's a minor prophet that the Lord uses in a 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.680 major way. And one thing that caught my attention was, 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:11.200 you know, in your Bible there's the inspired word, and 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:13.280 then there's the parts the publishers kind of put out 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:15.160 the top of each section to give you an idea 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.760 of what that chapter's about. Well, right at the top 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:21.120 of hey guy, chapter one, it says, this a call 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.760 to build the House of the Lord. And I just 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.120 thought that was so fitting for the season that we're in, 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:29.240 because whether you've been a part of this church for 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.000 just a little while, or whether you've been a part 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:33.880 of this church for over a decade or all twenty years, 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.800 maybe there's a call on each of us, an assignment 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.520 from God right now to build the House of God. 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.040 And while, of course, you know this offering will go 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:44.720 towards helping us launch new campuses, y'all know this. It's 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.680 never been about new buildings. The Bible says God does 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:49.840 not live in houses built by men, but we are 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.280 the temple of the Holy Spirit. It's always been about 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.560 seeing people far from God raised to life in Christ. 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:58.280 But there's something powerful that happens in our lives when 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:03.280 we connect our purpose to the purpose and priorities of God. 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.360 So let's look at Hagui. Chapter one says in the 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:09.880 second year of King Darius, on the first day of 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.320 the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:16.720 the prophet Hagui Ti Zerubabyl son of schieltial I worked 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:20.160 really hard on pronouncing that the governor of Judah and 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.760 Joshua son of Josephac the high priest. This is what 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:28.160 the Lord Almighty says. These people say, the time has 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:32.040 not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house. Then the 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.640 word of the Lord came through the prophet Hagi. Is 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.240 it a time for you yourselves to be living in 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:42.080 paneled houses while this house remains a ruin. Now, this 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.320 is what the Lord Almighty says. Give careful thought to 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:50.080 your ways. You applanted much, but harvested little. You eat 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:54.560 but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:57.920 You put on clothes, but you are not warm. You 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:01.200 earn wages only to put the in a purse with 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:04.680 holes in it. This is what the Lord Almighty says. 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:07.720 Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:13.600 mountains and bring down timber and build my house. Go 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:17.320 up into the mountains, bring down timber, and build my 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:20.480 house so that I may take pleasure in it and 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:26.599 be honored, says the Lord. Title of my message today 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.400 is this is the time. This is the time. Touch 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:32.200 your neighbor as you take your seat, say this is 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:37.400 the time. Last week Pastor Stephen preached this is then, 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:40.000 what a powerful word for us, and today I want 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:43.520 to stay in that spirit. This is the time. I 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.640 thought about opening up this message with a little bit 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.840 of audience participation, but then I decided against it because 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:51.280 I was gonna ask the question. I was gonna have 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.200 you raise your hand and self identify if you are 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.159 a procrastinator. But the more I thought about it, I 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.680 realized you wouldn't be honest, and so better way would 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:02.480 have been to say, raise your hand if you're sitting 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:07.800 next to a procrastinator, and then I'm like a yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:09.240 But the more I thought about it, I thought it's 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:11.440 not really a fair question to ask, because the more 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.880 I gave a thought, the more I realized that, well, 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:16.200 each of us have certain areas and aspects of our 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:20.359 life that we treat with urgency and diligence. At the 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.440 same time, all of us have areas in our life 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:26.359 where we procrastinate. So what you treat with diligence and 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:28.720 urgency might not be the same thing as someone else. 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:31.640 But there's something you procrastinate on that's probably driving your 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.200 spouse nuts. And I thought about. Just a couple of 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:36.839 weeks ago, I got really aggravated with my wife Ann. 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:38.839 And now before I know, I don't get the preacher 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.080 all that often. All of you know us, so trust me, 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.760 I say, we're good. We've been married fifteen years. She's 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:48.240 the love of my life. She's obsessed with me ever 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:50.560 since I grew out my hair. She calls me her Maui, 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:55.640 her Canadian, Chinese Jamaican Maui. I don't know, and uh. 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:58.120 I always like to make the message weird right at 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:00.400 the top. But a couple of weeks ago, got real 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:05.840 aggravated because one thing I can't stand is subscriptions. And 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.440 there's nothing worse than looking at my bank account and 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:10.839 realizing that I've been paying for something that I haven't 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:14.560 even been using. And the other day I open up 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:16.440 my inbox and I see an email that says that 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:21.719 we had subscribed to Apple TV through Amazon Prime. Help 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.160 me make sense of this. We'd subscribed to Apple TV 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:28.640 through Amazon Prime. They're all in cahoots, and I said, Anna, 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.520 did you subscribe to Apple TV? And she said, yeah, 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:33.120 I did. There was a movie I wanted to watch 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:34.800 with the kids and it was on Apple TV, so 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:36.600 I subscribed it. I said, well, that's not the problem 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.280 that you subscribe to Apple TV. The problem is we 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:43.839 already have Apple TV and Amazon Prime. And she's like, 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:46.080 oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that. 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:47.880 She said, don't worry. I already put a reminder in 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:50.400 my phone to cancel it. I said, we'll go ahead 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.760 and just cancel it right now, and she's like, well, no, 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:54.599 I'm busy right now, but don't worry. I put a 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.680 reminder in my phone to cancel it. And y'all, I 0:06:57.760 --> 0:06:59.960 know how this goes. We've been married for fifteen year. 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:03.320 That reminder might go off when our daughter's having a breakdown, 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.719 that reminder might go off when she's in the middle 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:07.840 of a conversation, and next thing I know, I might 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.960 be paying another to nine ninety nine for Apple TV 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:13.560 through Amazon Prime when I already have Apple TV. So 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:16.679 I said, no, cancel it. Now. This is the time. 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.640 This is the time. Now I can share that story 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.840 because I'm the one with the microphone. But Anna could 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:28.400 give you hundreds of examples of when my procrastination cost us, 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.160 Like when she kept telling me to make sure I 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.040 added her engagement ring to our insurance policy in case 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:36.240 it ever got lost, and I didn't add the engagement 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.560 ring to the insurance policy. How many you know that 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:40.600 that ring that got lost costs a lot more than 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:44.920 a subscription. But all of us have places in our 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:48.520 life that we procrastinated on, And that's really what the 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.760 Lord is addressing in the hearts of his people in 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:53.240 this passage. You see God, of course, you know, had 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.800 delivered his people out of Egypt, taken them into the 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.720 Promised Land through King Solomon. He built a temple for 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:00.840 the Lord in the Promised Land. Along the way. Through 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:04.360 their disobedience, they get invaded by foreigners, they get taken 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:06.320 into exile. And now when we pick up in the 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.160 Book of Hegui, God has brought them back into the 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:12.480 Promised Land and he's giving them this charge to rebuild 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:16.480 his temple because they have been procrastinating on it. Because 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.840 what is not a priority to you, you will always 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:23.600 procrastinate on. And so when God sends this word of 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:26.360 instruction to his people, it's because he is trying to 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:31.200 make important to them what is important to him. And 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:34.040 he's frustrated. And how do I know they're frustrated. He's frustrated. 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.160 Look at verse two and verse two. It says, this 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.360 is what the Lord Almighty says. These people say, not 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:43.040 my people. These people say. It's like when Anna says, 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.920 your daughter has an attitude today, these people say. And 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:49.320 the Lord sends this word in his grace and and 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:51.800 his mercy, through the prophet Hagui, to the leaders of 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:54.760 the nation, saying, it's time for you to get back 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:57.839 to work. It's time for you to prioritize in your 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.400 life what is important to me. Now, it's important to 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.520 know that one of the ways the devil keeps you 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.959 stuck in your life is by getting you to procrastinate 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:09.920 and push off the things that God is calling you to. 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.520 He's smart, you know. So if the enemy just tried 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:16.120 to get you to disobey, hey, just ignore what God said. 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:17.840 You're too smart for that. And he knows that you'd 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:19.240 be like, Ah, that's the devil. I'm not going to 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.040 listen to that. So when the devil can't get you 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:26.320 to disobey, he'll get you to delay. And we have 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.720 a way of putting off the things that God has 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.680 called us to over and over and over again. And 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:34.120 they're saying, now is not the time. Now is not 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.480 the time. They've set a reminder in their phone, and 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:39.320 God's saying, you can't keep putting this off anymore. Now 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.760 is the time to build my house. All the parents 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:43.760 can testify with what I'm about to say, and it's 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.080 true of the scripture. How many you know that delayed 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:50.360 obedience is still disobedience. All the parents make some noise, 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:58.080 delayed obedience is still disobedience. And the real premise of 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.160 this whole text that I want to encourage you with 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.400 is the truth that you see in the principle that 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:05.480 you see in this passage of when I build God's house, 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:10.559 He'll bless mine. When I build God's house, He'll bless mine. 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:13.640 And so no wonder the enemy wants to keep us 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:16.360 in this cycle of delaying and putting off the very 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:20.000 things that God has asked them to do. And if 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.560 the enemy can keep us stuck in these cycles of 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:26.000 delay in procrastination, then he can keep us back from 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:27.800 the things that God has in store for us. If 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:30.959 he can delay our sowing, he can delay our reaping. 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.120 So God, in his grace sends this word to his 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:36.320 people saying no, no, no, You've been saying the time 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:39.120 is not yet calm, but he's saying, now is the time. 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:42.240 It is a call to build His house. And that 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:44.720 is really the invitation in the season that we have 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:48.160 before us as a church right now. It's not about buildings. 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.040 It's not just about this offering. It's about aligning our 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:56.199 priorities with the priorities of God. So much of spiritual 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.720 growth in your life is simply that God getting you 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:01.240 to care about the things that matter to His kingdom 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:04.360 and getting you to deprioritize the things that the world 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:07.600 tells you are important. That is spiritual growth. The more 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.920 I align my priorities with the priorities of Heaven, the 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.280 more peace I have, the more joy I have, the 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.400 more blessing I walk in, the more favor I have. 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.320 And so God is always calling us into something, and 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:20.319 the enemy will get you to say, ah, it's not 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:22.760 just the time yet. So there's a few things in 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:26.160 this passage of Scripture that I think we're keeping the 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.920 Israelites in this moment, in this cycle of waiting, in 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:32.520 the cycle of putting off. See, most people never say 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:36.760 no to God. Sometimes we just say not yet. One 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:38.400 of the things that I think they were waiting on 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:42.280 is that they were waiting on peace. They were waiting 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:46.560 for peace. Now, when I first read this passage, I thought, 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.920 what is the problem with They've just come out of exile, 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:52.360 They're back in the land. What's the problem with them 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.000 putting together their own homes and making sure that they 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.760 have shelter over their heads and for their families. And 0:11:58.280 --> 0:11:59.920 once they get through that, then of course they could 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.000 the temple. But there's an important detail in this passage. 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.680 In this passage, in hey Gi, God says, is it 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:09.559 a time for you to be living in paneled houses? 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.720 That's an important detail because the panel was not functional, 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.800 it was aesthetic. And so what the Lord is saying 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:20.440 is that you are continuing to live in comfort and 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:25.000 luxury while my house remains and ruins. And listen, God 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:27.280 is not bothered when we have nice things. God is 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:30.160 not upset by our comfort. But sometimes we get so 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:33.920 trapped in comfort and we call it peace. Some of 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:35.920 us are waiting for peace. And when we say the 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.480 word peace, we don't mean the peace of God, the 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.960 peace that God gives, because the peace that God gives 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.240 means the presence of God, even in the midst of trouble, 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.160 even in the midst of difficult circumstances. And so sometimes 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:51.520 when we say peace, what we really mean is when 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.720 things feel comfortable. I just didn't have peace about that. No, 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:58.320 things just weren't comfortable yet, things just weren't easy. Sometimes 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:00.560 when we say peace, we mean that we're waiting on 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.959 the ideal circumstances for everything to line up. And hey, 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:07.040 when I get all my stuff figured out, then I'll 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.120 prioritize the things that mattered to God. And so they 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.120 stay stuck in this place, saying if then, if I 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:14.760 can just get to this, if I can just get 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:18.040 the kids graduate, then then then we'll prioritize the things 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.720 that matter to God. But the other interesting thing is 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.120 that this wasn't one year or two years or three 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.400 years after they'd been in the land that God sends 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.800 us word through Hagui. When God sends this word through 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:34.000 his prophet Hagui to Joshua and to Zarubabel, they had 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:39.480 been back in the land for eight teen years. Eighteen 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:41.560 years they've been living back in the land. That's like 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.480 Anna asking me to take the trash out, and I say, oh, 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:46.120 I'll get to it, and I finally do it when 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:50.040 my son is twenty nine years old. Eighteen years then 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.040 been waiting in the land. In the Book of Ezra, 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:55.120 it tells us the account of when they got back 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:57.439 out of exile as well, and how they begin right 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.640 away rebuilding the temple. And in the first two years 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.920 they built the foundation of the temple. But then there 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:08.319 is external attacks from nearby enemies, there was internal discord, 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.520 they had pressures from the outside, pressures from the inside. 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.640 And after two years of building the foundation and Ezra 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.280 chapter four it ends with this horrible verse where it 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.760 says that the work on the Lord's house came to 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:25.920 a standstill when the circumstances got hard. They stopped. And 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:29.160 somewhere along the way, we've convinced ourselves or brought into 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:32.040 this idea that following God was supposed to be easy, 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:35.360 and so we say things like, oh, the Lord just 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.520 shut the door, the Lord just shut the door, or 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.120 you just gave up because it got hard, Because I 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:41.960 know a God who can open up doors that no 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.320 man can shut. And if you would just keep moving 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.480 in accordance to His word, he could open that door 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.640 for you. And so all of us have a decision 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:51.320 we get to make in our life when it comes 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.800 to how we live. I can either base my decisions 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.720 on my circumstances, or I can base my decisions on 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.160 what God says. When and I choose to build my 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:05.200 life on what he says, then I can't consult my circumstances. 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:08.160 And the moment things in their life got difficult, whether 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:10.240 it was a tax from the inside or at tax 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:12.800 from the outside, they stop on the work that God 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.440 had called them to do. Two years they built a foundation, 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.600 and then for sixteen years it sat there while they 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:22.520 continued to work on their houses. Some of us in 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.240 our church we built some of you have built a 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:28.600 foundation of faith. Yeah, there was a time where you 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:30.640 trusted God and you were pushing through and you were 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:32.600 diligent about the things that He had called you to 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:35.480 and you sacrificed and you were living by faith. And 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:37.600 somewhere along the way you said that's good enough, and 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:41.280 you stopped building. What I love why this is a 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:43.640 tradition for us as a church is because this is 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:45.520 not a one time thing. We invite you to be 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:47.880 a part of every year. When we have this year 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.680 end offering, it's an opportunity for you to decide is 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:55.720 God finished or is this just the foundation. I don't 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:57.640 want it to be said of me what was said 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:00.000 in Ezra chapter four that the work of the Lord finnish. 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:02.560 I want to continue to see God take me from 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:06.440 glory to glory, to strength to strength. And whether that's 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.000 in your own life, or your own family, or your business, 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.160 or certainly this ministry. I don't believe that God is 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:15.160 done yet, so I can't keep waiting for the perfect 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:18.840 circumstances and the ideal scenarios before I say yes to 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.920 what God has asked us to do. God has asked 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.840 us to see people far from God raise to life 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:27.920 in Christ, and that is the invitation before us. Now, 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:30.280 they were waiting for peace, but not the type of 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.960 peace that God gives. Because one thing I've just learned 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:37.000 in my life is that very rarely did peace precede 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:41.360 my obedience. Often it was when I obeyed, then I 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.720 experience the peace of God. And so when someone gets 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:47.360 up and says we're getting ready for our year end 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.800 offering on December fourteenth. Someone might say, I just don't 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:53.040 have peace about that. But what if you sought the Lord, 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.080 listen to his voice, and obeyed what he said. I 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:59.240 promise you would experience the peace that God gives on 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:02.640 the other side. The other thing that I think had 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:05.440 them stuck, Thank you, Praise the Lord, everybody. That's a 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:09.879 good word. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because the enemy keeps 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.080 us in this cycle because we're saying, ah, it's just 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:14.800 not the right time. The economy's hard. When I get 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.080 this deb paid, no, no, no. If the Lord speaks 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.120 to you, today is the day to obey. And Hebrews 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.040 says today when you hear God's voice, do not harden 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:24.840 your heart. And every time God speaks to you, it's 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.480 an opportunity for obedience. Y'all. If you think this message 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:29.800 is just about money, you're missing the point. This is 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:33.840 about obedience to his voice. The other thing that kept 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.400 them stuck was that they were waiting for more. Look 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.840 at this description that the Lord gives in verse six. 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:44.479 You planted much, but harvested little. You eat but you 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.680 never have enough. You drink but you never have your fill. 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:49.080 You put on clothes, but you are not warm. You 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:52.199 earn wages only to put them in a purse with 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:54.919 holes in it? Does that not describe our lives in 0:17:54.960 --> 0:18:00.159 so many ways? Sometimes that cycle of discontentment that we 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:02.439 live in, where it feels like no matter what we do, 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.000 it's never enough. You look at your bank and you're like, 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:07.280 I know, I got paid. Where did it all go? Target, 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.440 that's where it all went. Put it in a purse 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:12.440 just to have holes on it? Where did this end up? 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:15.960 And the Lord is addressing one of the excuses that 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:17.800 so often we care because how many of you have 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:20.200 found yourself in one moment or another in your life 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.320 simply saying well, if I had more, I would do more. 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:26.760 If I had more, I would give more. And that's 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.520 the place that the Israelites find themselves in. They keep 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:34.400 saying they feel economically frustrated, and they're using that as 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:38.000 a reason not to rebuild the Lord's temple. So they 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:41.520 keep saying, well, we just don't have enough. And it's 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:44.040 interesting how what the Lord is describing here is the 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:46.600 very thing that they use as a reason not to give. 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:49.240 But what the Lord is trying to get them to 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.199 see is that what they are calling a reason is 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:56.320 actually the result. Let me say that a little more clearly. 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.520 They're saying, well, Lord, if we had more, we would 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:01.080 build your house, and the Lord saying, no, no, no, if 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:08.680 you built my house, you would have more. Because it's 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:12.399 about priorities. His temple represented his priority amongst his people, 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:15.440 his presence amongst his people, And so he's saying no, no, no, 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:17.560 you keep waiting to have more, But when will you 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:21.000 prioritize me and your presence. When you begin to do that, 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.760 you'll see that it's better to have God in a 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:26.480 little with me than to have much without God. Amen. 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:32.000 When I was in high school, I spent a month 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.760 living on a missions trip in Namibia, Africa. And while 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:37.000 I was there, I met a pastor who had a church. 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:39.080 His church was just a piece of sheet metal off 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:41.280 the side of his house where his church met, and 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:43.359 it made such a profound impact on my life, and 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:45.880 we developed a great relationship. And then when I went 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:48.679 off to college, he actually ended up living with my 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:52.080 family in Canada while he was attending school in Canada, 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:53.600 And so when I was home for the summers, we'd 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.040 spend all the time together and we'd go to the 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:58.080 church that I grew up in, and no matter what 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:00.240 the pastor preached on, we'd get back in the car 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:02.720 after church and Kamati would always say to me, John, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.760 why don't they talk about giving? No matter what the message, 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:08.000 why don't they talk about giving? And eventually said, I 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:09.600 don't know, Kaman, I don't know. I don't know the 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:12.399 reasons why they're not talking about I said, sometimes people 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:15.639 feel weird or get upset when you talk about their money. 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:18.679 And he said, John, it's better that they'd be angry 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:25.199 for a day than frustrated for a lifetime. Because what 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.280 Kamati knew with just a piece of sheep metal over 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:33.280 the side of his house for a church and unreliable electricity, 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:37.240 what he understood is that without God, it's never enough, 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:41.080 but with God it's always enough. 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:42.040 Right. 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:46.360 Just ask the disciples when Jesus asked them to feed 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:48.240 a crowd of people, and they said, all we have 0:20:48.440 --> 0:20:52.480 is five loaves and two fishes. It's not enough. It's 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:59.560 not enough, but with God there's leftovers. And the enemy 0:20:59.560 --> 0:21:02.760 will keep us delaying and delaying on stepping into the 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:05.480 things that God has called us to as a people. Why, 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:07.600 because He wants to keep us in the cycle of 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:11.040 discontentment where it always feels like I just can't get ahead. 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:13.600 I just can't get ahead. And the principle of the 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:16.320 tithe is simply this. Every time I give to God 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:20.640 through my tithe, it reminds me that God is my source, 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:24.280 God is my provider. So no matter what I'm looking at, 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.760 I know that God is in it with me. And 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:30.159 so they were waiting on more. The last thing I 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:31.800 think they were waiting on is I think they were 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:35.320 waiting on an instruction. Look at this what happens after 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:41.119 God confronts their excuses. He says, go up into the 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:44.439 mountains and bring down timber and build my house so 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:46.760 that I may take pleasure in it and be honored. 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:49.360 Says the Lord. I love that, so that I may 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:52.520 take pleasure in it and be honored. Because so much 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:54.919 of this offering is not just about new buildings and 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:58.960 outreach efforts, It's about honoring the Lord with our lives. 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:01.159 He says, build my house so that I may be 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:04.520 honored in it. And after the Lord gives this instruction, 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:07.760 something miraculous happens in the story that I want to 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:10.720 show you. The Lord gives this word in verse eight, saying, 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:12.919 go bring down timber and build my house. And then 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:17.640 look in verse twelve. Then Zarubabel son of she she had, 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:20.960 she had, Oh man, I worked on it, y'all. Sheltyel 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:24.439 Joshua son of Josephac the high priest, and the whole 0:22:24.680 --> 0:22:31.080 remnant of people obeyed the voice of the Lord. There. God, 0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:34.760 did you see that miracle in that text? Did you 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:41.080 miss it? It says that the people obeyed, y'all. There's 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:43.480 only a few times in scripture where God sends a 0:22:43.520 --> 0:22:47.120 word to his people and they actually obey, And this 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:50.359 is one of those times. And I'm being a little facetious, 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:54.280 But we underestimate the power of obedience, y'all, Lord mark 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:57.040 my life with signs, wonders, miracles. What about if the 0:22:57.080 --> 0:23:00.360 Lord marked your life with just simple obedience of being 0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:03.120 a follower of Christ. Look like you being someone who 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:05.879 sought his face and when he spoke, you gave him 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:10.400 your yes. So the Lord delivers this word through his leaders, 0:23:10.600 --> 0:23:13.439 and it's amazing. It says that as Joshua obeyed and 0:23:13.480 --> 0:23:16.879 as Zaruba Bell obeyed, that the whole remnant of people followed. Y'all. 0:23:16.880 --> 0:23:19.320 That just made me grateful for the leaders that God 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:22.119 has given us at this church, leaders who didn't settle 0:23:22.160 --> 0:23:25.480 at year five, or at year ten or at year fifteen, 0:23:25.520 --> 0:23:28.919 but twenty years into this ministry, Pastor Stephen and Pastor 0:23:28.960 --> 0:23:32.360 Holly continue to say yes to God and walk and 0:23:32.359 --> 0:23:35.760 surrender to His voice into his ways. Because God speaks 0:23:35.800 --> 0:23:38.160 to the leaders and then the people followed. And I'm 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.320 so grateful for the example of faith that they've given us. 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:45.520 And there's an invitation before us now to prioritize the 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:48.440 things that matter to God in our lives and simply 0:23:48.480 --> 0:23:50.720 obey them. That's why, as we talk about this offering 0:23:50.800 --> 0:23:53.399 over and over again, we'll say, pray about what the 0:23:53.440 --> 0:23:56.000 Lord would have you give, because it's not just about 0:23:56.040 --> 0:23:58.640 an amount. It's about being a people who know how 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:01.239 to seek his face, being a people who know how 0:24:01.280 --> 0:24:05.320 to hear his voice and obey when he speaks. Isn't 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:08.159 that what Jesus said, My sheep know and hear and 0:24:08.240 --> 0:24:12.080 recognize my voice, and they obey. That's the sign of 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:14.520 a follower of Christ. They were waiting on instruction, and 0:24:14.560 --> 0:24:18.639 when the Lord spoke, they obeyed. And I believe that 0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:21.120 maybe there are some people here today that in your heart. 0:24:21.160 --> 0:24:22.840 You're like, I want to trust God in this way. 0:24:23.160 --> 0:24:25.320 I want to grow in this way. I just don't 0:24:25.320 --> 0:24:28.280 always know how. In twelve years of pastoring, I can't 0:24:28.280 --> 0:24:30.840 think of a single time where I talk to someone 0:24:30.840 --> 0:24:32.600 about giving and they said, Nope, I don't want to 0:24:32.600 --> 0:24:35.080 do that. Had people say I just don't know how 0:24:35.119 --> 0:24:38.240 to right now. People say, show me what steps I 0:24:38.240 --> 0:24:40.520 can take. I want to get there one day. Never 0:24:40.560 --> 0:24:43.879 had someone just say no. But sometimes we're putting off 0:24:44.000 --> 0:24:45.720 what God has called us to put on. But they 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:49.560 received an instruction from the Lord and they obeyed. I 0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:52.520 remember so vividly when my grandfather sat me down in 0:24:52.600 --> 0:24:55.239 his office and he first gave me the instruction of 0:24:55.280 --> 0:24:57.879 what it means to trust God and my finances. And 0:24:57.920 --> 0:25:00.880 he sat down and he said, the first ten belongs 0:25:00.920 --> 0:25:02.480 to God. In my memory, it was like he was 0:25:02.560 --> 0:25:05.800 using an abacus, but it was probably just a calculator. 0:25:05.920 --> 0:25:09.280 Wasn't that old. I was just a kid, though, And 0:25:09.320 --> 0:25:13.000 he said, the first tenth belongs to God. The second 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:15.960 tenth is what you pay yourself in the future by saving. Now, 0:25:16.200 --> 0:25:18.320 I know there's some financial advisers in the room who 0:25:18.359 --> 0:25:21.640 could give an more nuanced approach to personal finances. But 0:25:21.680 --> 0:25:24.679 my grandfather was a blessed man, and so I listened 0:25:24.680 --> 0:25:27.160 to him and it stuck with me. The first tenth 0:25:27.240 --> 0:25:29.720 belongs to God, the next tenth is for my future. 0:25:30.520 --> 0:25:31.720 And I was just a kid, so what was I 0:25:31.760 --> 0:25:33.800 going to do? Give God a tenth of my legos? 0:25:33.840 --> 0:25:37.080 But it instilled something in me right there that the 0:25:37.080 --> 0:25:39.840 first tenth belonged to the Lord. And then when Anna 0:25:39.880 --> 0:25:42.679 and I got engaged, my in laws who are here today, 0:25:42.720 --> 0:25:44.480 they gave us the gift of signing us up for 0:25:44.560 --> 0:25:48.320 Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course, and we went through Dave 0:25:48.400 --> 0:25:52.080 Ramsey's course, and that was powerful instruction in our life. 0:25:52.119 --> 0:25:54.880 You know, most couples fight over finances more than anything else. 0:25:54.920 --> 0:25:57.120 And I'm so grateful that at the start of our 0:25:57.119 --> 0:25:59.080 marriage that we got to go through that course to 0:25:59.080 --> 0:26:01.080 get on the same page about how we would approach 0:26:01.400 --> 0:26:03.920 our finances. And Dave Ramsey talked about a lot of things, 0:26:03.960 --> 0:26:06.160 and he talked, of course, about giving to God, giving 0:26:06.200 --> 0:26:08.080 a tenth to him. So every time a paycheck would 0:26:08.080 --> 0:26:09.800 show up on our account, you know, you just move 0:26:09.840 --> 0:26:12.120 the decimal over a couple times, and that's what you give. 0:26:12.600 --> 0:26:14.399 And from the beginning of our marriage, we made the 0:26:14.400 --> 0:26:17.320 decision that we would be Tithers. God gave us an 0:26:17.320 --> 0:26:20.160 instruction and we walked in it. But I was thinking 0:26:20.200 --> 0:26:23.359 about the first time we ever visited Elevation Church, our 0:26:23.440 --> 0:26:26.240 very first time. It was the end of twenty twelve. 0:26:26.560 --> 0:26:29.560 And this year our offering is called trust in God, 0:26:29.600 --> 0:26:32.160 but in twenty twelve it was called our banner year offering. 0:26:32.640 --> 0:26:34.560 And me and Anna drove all the way to Charlotte. 0:26:34.560 --> 0:26:36.399 We drove like three hours to be at church, and 0:26:36.440 --> 0:26:39.160 we're so excited to come and hear Pastor Stephens speak. 0:26:39.160 --> 0:26:41.080 And we get to church and guess what. Pastor Stephen 0:26:41.200 --> 0:26:45.679 wasn't speaking, and the guest speaker was talking about money, 0:26:46.040 --> 0:26:53.679 so I can empathize with you all today. And the 0:26:53.720 --> 0:26:55.960 pastor preaching that day got up and he was talking 0:26:55.960 --> 0:26:59.080 about generosity, and he was talking about tithing, and he 0:26:59.160 --> 0:27:02.000 taught about the Prince the first fruits. So he always 0:27:02.040 --> 0:27:03.800 knew that a tithe meant tenth, that I give a 0:27:03.840 --> 0:27:06.600 tenth to God. But he taught about the principle of 0:27:06.600 --> 0:27:08.679 the first fruits. What meant that not only is a 0:27:08.720 --> 0:27:13.720 tithe of tenth, it's the first tenth, the first tenth, 0:27:13.840 --> 0:27:15.840 and so all my life I had learned like, well, 0:27:15.840 --> 0:27:17.919 I'll give to God off my net. Whatever shows up 0:27:17.920 --> 0:27:19.520 in my bank account, I'll give a tenth of that. 0:27:19.560 --> 0:27:21.719 And he taught, no, No, it's the principle of the first fruits, 0:27:21.760 --> 0:27:24.720 meaning before the government takes their share, and before you 0:27:24.800 --> 0:27:27.800 contribute to your retirement account out of your gross, you 0:27:27.840 --> 0:27:30.639 give a tenth to God. And our heart was open 0:27:30.720 --> 0:27:33.080 that day, and we received the word of instruction from 0:27:33.080 --> 0:27:36.240 that pastor and made a decision to obey. I'm so 0:27:36.359 --> 0:27:39.200 grateful for the instruction of God in my life. There's 0:27:39.240 --> 0:27:41.359 been so many times where God spoke things to me 0:27:41.400 --> 0:27:43.280 that I didn't always understand in the moment, but you 0:27:43.359 --> 0:27:46.080 know when it's his voice, and when you obey, you 0:27:46.240 --> 0:27:48.639 begin to walk in a new level of blessing. And 0:27:48.680 --> 0:27:51.480 I thought, maybe there are people here today that you're saying, man, 0:27:52.960 --> 0:27:55.200 I want to make God the center of my finances, 0:27:55.280 --> 0:27:57.720 because when you prioritize God in one area of your life, 0:27:57.760 --> 0:28:00.440 it's amazing how things fall into order in every area 0:28:00.440 --> 0:28:04.040 of your life. So I said, seek first the Kingdom 0:28:04.080 --> 0:28:06.680 of God and his righteousness, and all these things will 0:28:06.680 --> 0:28:10.040 be added. Unto you. It's about priority. You put God first, 0:28:10.040 --> 0:28:13.360 things just start to fall into order. The other day 0:28:13.400 --> 0:28:15.119 I was on Instagram and a friend of mine, he 0:28:15.119 --> 0:28:18.840 pastors a church out in Sacramento, a church that all 0:28:18.880 --> 0:28:21.399 of you have been able to help support over the years. 0:28:21.680 --> 0:28:23.600 He had this clip where he was talking about the 0:28:24.119 --> 0:28:29.119 myths and truth of tithing, and I asked, I texted him, 0:28:29.160 --> 0:28:30.280 I said, can you send me that? I want to 0:28:30.320 --> 0:28:32.000 share it with the church. And it was so powerful 0:28:32.040 --> 0:28:33.600 what he said, And these are his words I'm going 0:28:33.680 --> 0:28:35.400 to read, so if you don't like it, you can 0:28:35.440 --> 0:28:38.680 email him Jared ls at E two church dot. I 0:28:38.720 --> 0:28:40.520 don't even know. I don't know if that's his real email, 0:28:40.560 --> 0:28:45.920 but but he said, look at this myth tithing his 0:28:46.000 --> 0:28:50.280 Old Testament law. Truth. Tithing predates the law. Both Abraham 0:28:50.320 --> 0:28:52.800 and Jacob tithed out of gratitude. The law made tithing 0:28:52.840 --> 0:28:54.760 a rule, but the Cross returned it to an act 0:28:54.760 --> 0:28:57.840 of worship. Myth you're cursed if you don't tie. Truth, 0:28:57.880 --> 0:29:00.480 you're not cursed if you don't tithe. Christ remove the 0:29:00.480 --> 0:29:02.680 curse on the Cross. Under the New Covenant, we don't 0:29:02.680 --> 0:29:05.640 tie to avoid a curse. We tie because in Christ 0:29:05.720 --> 0:29:11.360 we are exceedingly abundantly blessed. Myth, I don't need to 0:29:11.400 --> 0:29:14.880 tithe since I'm a generous person. Truth tithing is in generosity, 0:29:15.040 --> 0:29:19.520 its obedience. Myth tithing is outdated and no longer needed. Truth. 0:29:19.680 --> 0:29:22.000 If God's kingdom is still advancing, and as people are 0:29:22.080 --> 0:29:25.040 still gathering, his house still needs building and your treasure 0:29:25.080 --> 0:29:29.600 still needs investing. Myth, I don't have to tithe ten percent. 0:29:29.640 --> 0:29:31.560 I can give what I want. Truth. Tithing is not 0:29:31.640 --> 0:29:34.080 a have to, it's a get to under grace. Ten 0:29:34.120 --> 0:29:36.920 percent is a floor, not a ceiling. Myth. I can 0:29:36.960 --> 0:29:40.040 tie to an organization of my choosing. Truth. The tithe 0:29:40.040 --> 0:29:42.760 belongs to the house of the Lord. Malachi three says 0:29:42.800 --> 0:29:45.360 anything else is robbing God. Myth. Someone else will tithe 0:29:45.360 --> 0:29:47.760 and take care of my part. Truth. All Christians are 0:29:47.760 --> 0:29:50.640 called to tithe, yet only a few church members do. 0:29:50.880 --> 0:29:53.400 Churches don't die because of too much money, they die 0:29:53.440 --> 0:29:55.280 because of too little. Myth. I should be able to 0:29:55.320 --> 0:29:59.320 attend church and experience for free. Truth. Biblical worship always 0:29:59.360 --> 0:30:02.320 includes a set sacrifice. As a member of the family, 0:30:02.400 --> 0:30:05.880 I have a responsibility to contribute. Guests eat for free, 0:30:06.160 --> 0:30:14.800 but family puts food on the table. Myth I've worked 0:30:14.840 --> 0:30:16.720 too hard for my money to give it away. Truth, 0:30:16.760 --> 0:30:20.080 you worked hard, but God provided. Tithing reminds you that 0:30:20.160 --> 0:30:22.400 God is your source, your job has a purpose, and 0:30:22.440 --> 0:30:25.360 your money is making an eternal impact. Myth, I can't 0:30:25.400 --> 0:30:29.080 afford to tithe. Truth, my friend, with hundreds of promises 0:30:29.120 --> 0:30:33.760 and scripture concerning your finances, you can't afford not to die. Myth, 0:30:33.840 --> 0:30:36.000 I don't trust the church to handle my money. Truth. 0:30:36.200 --> 0:30:38.600 If you trust your church and your pastor to dedicate 0:30:38.640 --> 0:30:42.560 your babies, counsel your marriage, support your children, shepherd your soul, 0:30:42.960 --> 0:30:46.520 Visit your family members, evangelize your lost loved ones, Pray 0:30:46.560 --> 0:30:49.720 for your future, answer your emails, bury your dead, write 0:30:49.760 --> 0:30:55.040 your obituary, endure election seasons, preach through global pandemics, send 0:30:55.080 --> 0:31:00.560 out missionaries, finance outreach, organization, build buildings, smile through all 0:31:00.600 --> 0:31:04.920 the while, maintain integrity. How much more do they need 0:31:05.000 --> 0:31:10.680 to do for you to trust them with your tithe. 0:31:12.200 --> 0:31:14.440 I'm getting a little jealous y'all are shouting for Jared 0:31:14.520 --> 0:31:16.040 more than we But it's a good word. It's a 0:31:16.040 --> 0:31:20.080 good word. If you don't trust your church, then find 0:31:20.080 --> 0:31:22.560 a trust you do trust. Find a church you do trust. 0:31:22.880 --> 0:31:26.200 But if the fruit is evident. Souls are one outreaches accomplished, 0:31:26.240 --> 0:31:29.920 children are equipped, families are champion scriptures preach, and God 0:31:30.040 --> 0:31:34.760 is glorified than church. This is the time to tithe, 0:31:35.280 --> 0:31:39.440 This is the time to tie. But could your neighbors 0:31:39.440 --> 0:31:44.480 say this is the time, This is the time. God 0:31:44.520 --> 0:31:47.840 gave them an instruction and they obeyed. Be seated for 0:31:47.920 --> 0:31:50.760 just a moment. I'm not quite done yet. So powerful though, 0:31:51.760 --> 0:31:54.000 and they obeyed, And then look what happened in verse thirteen. 0:31:54.080 --> 0:31:57.120 Then hey guy, the Lord's messenger gave this amazing word 0:31:57.160 --> 0:32:00.959 to the people, gave this message from the to the people. 0:32:01.480 --> 0:32:05.600 I am with you, declares the Lord. What's greater than that? 0:32:06.920 --> 0:32:09.320 What's greater than the assurance of his presence. I don't 0:32:09.360 --> 0:32:11.160 give to get. I don't get, so give so I 0:32:11.160 --> 0:32:12.960 can have more to eat or more clothes to put 0:32:13.000 --> 0:32:16.440 on my back. I give because more than anything, I 0:32:16.480 --> 0:32:19.760 want his presence. Yes, And when you prioritize them in 0:32:19.760 --> 0:32:22.440 his life, when you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, 0:32:22.440 --> 0:32:25.200 it's amazing as you create space in your heart to 0:32:25.280 --> 0:32:28.840 trust them more. The assurance of his presence is provision 0:32:29.160 --> 0:32:31.320 his protection. Isn't that what our pastor preached on a 0:32:31.320 --> 0:32:34.720 couple of weeks ago. That comes when we trust in God. 0:32:35.560 --> 0:32:37.400 And then it goes on to say, so the Lord 0:32:38.240 --> 0:32:42.160 stirred up the spirit of Zeruba Bell, he stirred up 0:32:42.240 --> 0:32:45.520 the spirit of Joshua, and he stirred up the spirit 0:32:45.920 --> 0:32:49.360 of the whole remnant of people. They came and began 0:32:49.440 --> 0:32:53.000 to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God. 0:32:53.760 --> 0:32:56.760 He stirred up their spirit. I love that language because 0:32:56.800 --> 0:32:59.160 I'm excited to be able to open new campuses and 0:32:59.480 --> 0:33:02.280 launch new buildings and all the ministry that's going to 0:33:02.320 --> 0:33:05.360 happen through through those opportunities as the Lord continues to 0:33:05.440 --> 0:33:08.120 expand our church. But more than anything, I want to 0:33:08.160 --> 0:33:10.880 see God stir up the spirit of our people. I 0:33:10.920 --> 0:33:13.680 want God to stir up my spirit. I want the 0:33:13.680 --> 0:33:16.040 Holy Spirit to just begin a work in me that 0:33:16.240 --> 0:33:20.560 overflows and touches nations. I want God to stir something 0:33:20.640 --> 0:33:23.640 up in our church that proclaims the Gospel all over 0:33:23.680 --> 0:33:26.600 the world. And it's a really simple progression that happens 0:33:26.640 --> 0:33:31.280 in this story, but it's so powerful. God spoke, they surrendered, 0:33:31.960 --> 0:33:37.120 God stirred, God gave him a word. They said yes, 0:33:38.000 --> 0:33:40.360 and God, by his spirit stirred up their faith to 0:33:40.400 --> 0:33:43.880 do something incredible for him. And that's the same invitation 0:33:44.000 --> 0:33:46.160 that God is giving each of us. It's amazing, though, 0:33:46.200 --> 0:33:49.280 what God can do with your simple yes. It's amazing 0:33:49.320 --> 0:33:51.400 what the Lord can do with your obedience. He spoke, 0:33:51.480 --> 0:33:55.240 when we just say yes to him, regardless of our circumstances, 0:33:55.440 --> 0:33:57.440 regardless of where we feel like we don't have enough, 0:33:57.480 --> 0:34:00.000 when we simply give him our yes, he'll stir up 0:34:00.440 --> 0:34:03.360 our spirits. And they went on to build this temple. 0:34:03.440 --> 0:34:05.760 And the temple that they rebuilt was the very temple 0:34:05.800 --> 0:34:08.719 that Jesus himself would sit in one day. And there's 0:34:08.760 --> 0:34:11.640 a story in both Luke and Mark where Jesus is 0:34:11.640 --> 0:34:14.560 sitting in the temple and he calls the disciples over 0:34:14.600 --> 0:34:16.840 to himselves. And as they are in the building, this 0:34:16.960 --> 0:34:20.399 interaction between Jesus and his disciples, the disciples there, they're 0:34:20.400 --> 0:34:24.440 making comments about the building. They're saying, look how magnificent 0:34:24.520 --> 0:34:26.960 this temple is. Look how look at these stones. But 0:34:27.080 --> 0:34:30.040 Jesus isn't interested in the stones. Jesus is about this 0:34:30.080 --> 0:34:34.640 witness something much more powerful. Jesus's attention is on sacrifice, 0:34:35.520 --> 0:34:38.399 because he calls the disciples over to himself, and while 0:34:38.400 --> 0:34:40.720 they're thinking about the stones, he points out a widow 0:34:41.160 --> 0:34:45.440 who has just two small copper coins, and Jesus points 0:34:45.440 --> 0:34:47.719 her out to the disciples as she goes to give 0:34:48.120 --> 0:34:50.279 her offering in the temple, and the scripture says that 0:34:50.400 --> 0:34:53.399 she gave all that she had. It wasn't a lot 0:34:53.440 --> 0:34:56.480 of money, but it was a lot of faith. It 0:34:56.520 --> 0:34:59.120 wasn't a big amount, but it was a lot of trust. 0:34:59.640 --> 0:35:02.520 And while other people were giving larger amounts, Jesus wasn't 0:35:02.520 --> 0:35:04.799 as interested in that because he was drawn to her 0:35:04.840 --> 0:35:08.440 trust in God. She gave all that she had, and 0:35:08.480 --> 0:35:11.120 the disciples were so focused on the house of worship, 0:35:11.560 --> 0:35:14.120 but what Jesus was drawn to was the heart of worship. 0:35:15.160 --> 0:35:17.200 And I'm so grateful that through this offering we're going 0:35:17.280 --> 0:35:19.480 to get to build new buildings. But when Jesus steps 0:35:19.480 --> 0:35:22.080 into this room, he's not impressed with stages or screens. 0:35:23.040 --> 0:35:26.360 He sees our sacrifice, he sees our heart for worship. 0:35:26.880 --> 0:35:29.959 And God is honored and and takes pleasure in when 0:35:30.000 --> 0:35:33.560 we as His people, we as his temple, develop a 0:35:33.600 --> 0:35:36.799 heart of worship that says, Lord, you are everything to me, 0:35:37.280 --> 0:35:40.400 and I give you everything, all that I have is yours. 0:35:41.040 --> 0:35:43.080 It reflects the heart of the Father, because that's what 0:35:43.120 --> 0:35:45.960 Scripture says in Romans, that he who did not even 0:35:46.000 --> 0:35:47.920 spare his own son, yet gave him up for us, 0:35:48.120 --> 0:35:51.279 had given us all things. All things. Your God is 0:35:51.280 --> 0:35:53.799 a giver. And because your God is a giver, you 0:35:53.840 --> 0:35:56.880 can trust in him. So at the beginning of this series, 0:35:56.880 --> 0:36:00.440 our pastors said that trust is tangible and ready to 0:36:00.440 --> 0:36:03.279 bring this offering in just a couple weeks. It's an 0:36:03.320 --> 0:36:07.000 opportunity for us to tangibly demonstrate our trust in Him. 0:36:07.360 --> 0:36:10.239 And as you seek his face and he speaks to you, 0:36:10.640 --> 0:36:14.360 and as you obey his voice and surrender, God stirs 0:36:14.360 --> 0:36:16.879 something up in your spirit that I can say, I'm 0:36:16.880 --> 0:36:20.040 a house of worship. This is my heart of worship God. 0:36:20.480 --> 0:36:24.200 I live for you, I honor you, I worship you. 0:36:24.200 --> 0:36:27.960 You are my Lord, You are my God. So that's 0:36:28.000 --> 0:36:30.200 the invitation before us. In just a couple of weeks. 0:36:30.200 --> 0:36:33.080 I feel like I said everything I was anointed to say. Today. 0:36:33.080 --> 0:36:35.040 Can we thank God for that word? If it was 0:36:35.080 --> 0:36:42.319 a word of instruction for you who wants a heart 0:36:42.360 --> 0:36:44.560 of worship, stand up on your feet for just a moment. 0:36:46.040 --> 0:36:50.520 I want to give an invitation right now to someone 0:36:50.520 --> 0:36:52.400 who needs to make a decision to give God the 0:36:52.440 --> 0:36:55.120 most important thing that you'll ever give to him, and 0:36:55.160 --> 0:36:58.360 that's your life. The amazing thing about the Gospel and 0:36:58.400 --> 0:37:01.239 the amazing thing about his grave is that He's done 0:37:01.280 --> 0:37:03.319 it all for you. All you have to do is 0:37:03.320 --> 0:37:06.360 give them your yes, if you'll receive the gift of 0:37:06.400 --> 0:37:09.680 His salvation and grace by faith today. The scripture say 0:37:09.680 --> 0:37:11.279 that he'll come into your life and he'll make you 0:37:11.320 --> 0:37:14.760 a new creation. Jesus died so that you could be forgiven, 0:37:14.880 --> 0:37:17.160 and he rose again so that you could have life. 0:37:17.600 --> 0:37:19.480 And maybe you're here, or maybe you're joining us at 0:37:19.520 --> 0:37:22.239 one of our campuses right now or watching online, and 0:37:22.239 --> 0:37:25.440 you've never made the decision to surrender your life to Jesus. Y'all, 0:37:25.719 --> 0:37:27.840 this wasn't a message just about giving. This was a 0:37:27.880 --> 0:37:31.120 message about surrender. And today is your day of salvation. 0:37:31.280 --> 0:37:33.840 God wants to make you new with heads bowed and 0:37:33.880 --> 0:37:36.600 eyes closed. All over this place. Want to lead you 0:37:36.680 --> 0:37:38.759 in a prayer if that's you today, if you want 0:37:38.800 --> 0:37:41.319 to make a decision to make Jesus the Lord and 0:37:41.400 --> 0:37:43.600 savior of your life, We're going to pray out loud 0:37:43.600 --> 0:37:46.520 together as a church family for the benefit of those 0:37:46.800 --> 0:37:48.799 who are coming to God right now. Pray with me, say, 0:37:48.800 --> 0:37:53.080 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God 0:37:53.880 --> 0:37:56.799 and the savior of the world. I believe he died 0:37:57.640 --> 0:38:02.600 and rose again to forgive myself sin and give me life. 0:38:02.760 --> 0:38:06.960 I receive your grace by faith. Come into my life, 0:38:07.719 --> 0:38:11.560 make me new. I'll follow you, head still bowed, eyes 0:38:11.560 --> 0:38:13.480 still close. If you just prayed that prayer to begin 0:38:13.560 --> 0:38:16.080 a relationship with God. Today, when I count to three, 0:38:16.400 --> 0:38:17.920 I want to ask you to shoot your hand up 0:38:17.920 --> 0:38:19.759 in the air, whether you're at this campus or another one, 0:38:19.800 --> 0:38:21.400 shoot your hand up in the air. We want to 0:38:21.440 --> 0:38:25.120 celebrate what God has done in your heart today. One, two, three, 0:38:25.160 --> 0:38:27.319 shoot your hand up. Hold it up hot. While we're 0:38:27.320 --> 0:38:31.920 celebrated new beginnings around this room online, let us know 0:38:32.000 --> 0:38:33.480 in the chat we want to call to you. We 0:38:33.520 --> 0:38:37.360 want to pray for you. Keep your hand up for 0:38:37.520 --> 0:38:39.560 just a moment. Our ushers are coming around with the 0:38:39.600 --> 0:38:42.279 Bible that we want to give you church. Can we 0:38:42.320 --> 0:38:44.080 thank the Lord for those who made a decision to 0:38:44.120 --> 0:38:45.360 give their lives to Jesus. 0:38:45.520 --> 0:38:55.279 That that's one invitation today, But the other invitation is 0:38:55.320 --> 0:38:57.560 for some of you in this room to step into 0:38:57.640 --> 0:38:59.600 a new level of trust in God this year. 0:39:00.160 --> 0:39:02.200 In a couple of weeks, on December fourteenth, we're going 0:39:02.280 --> 0:39:03.960 to bring our year end offering. We're going to get 0:39:03.960 --> 0:39:06.560 to come forward and bring a gift above and beyond 0:39:06.560 --> 0:39:09.720 that goes towards expansion and outreach as a church. But listen, 0:39:09.800 --> 0:39:12.520 you don't have to wait till then to obey the 0:39:12.560 --> 0:39:15.520 instruction the Lord gave you today. And if that word 0:39:15.560 --> 0:39:17.759 convicted you in any way, or God was stirring something 0:39:17.800 --> 0:39:19.000 up in your ear, I want to encourage you to 0:39:19.040 --> 0:39:21.120 go home and have a conversation. But what does it 0:39:21.200 --> 0:39:23.799 mean to honor the Lord and our wealth? To honor 0:39:23.840 --> 0:39:26.640 the Lord in our finances? And you can begin tithing 0:39:26.680 --> 0:39:30.120 today That first ten percent belongs to the Lord. It 0:39:30.160 --> 0:39:32.160 belongs to the Lord. On the way out, you're going 0:39:32.200 --> 0:39:34.680 to get one of these envelopes with the offering card inside. 0:39:34.719 --> 0:39:36.600 This is what you're going to bring back with you 0:39:36.680 --> 0:39:40.040 on December fourteenth, in just a couple of weeks. In 0:39:40.080 --> 0:39:41.920 a couple of weeks, and on this card you can 0:39:42.360 --> 0:39:45.640 begin praying about a word that represents what you're believing 0:39:45.680 --> 0:39:48.439 God for as you're seeking his face and asking God 0:39:48.440 --> 0:39:50.320 what he wants to do in and through your life. 0:39:50.600 --> 0:39:53.040 Ask God to give you a word. I really believe 0:39:53.040 --> 0:39:55.719 if you ask him, he'll speak something to you. Ask 0:39:55.800 --> 0:39:57.680 him for a word that represents what he wants to 0:39:57.719 --> 0:39:59.719 do in you or what he wants to do through you, 0:40:00.080 --> 0:40:02.919 and write it down on this envelope and put into place. 0:40:02.960 --> 0:40:04.560 As we go into this new year, we want to 0:40:04.600 --> 0:40:07.640 believe God for what he spoke, and as he speaks 0:40:07.640 --> 0:40:09.799 to you about what he's stirring up in your heart, 0:40:09.840 --> 0:40:12.640 we get to also bring a gift and offering to 0:40:12.760 --> 0:40:15.040 him and offering to him to make space in our 0:40:15.040 --> 0:40:17.520 hearts to say, God, you are my Lord, You are 0:40:17.560 --> 0:40:20.520 my source, You are my provider, and my trust is 0:40:20.560 --> 0:40:24.840 in you. So that's the invitation before us. Now he'll speak. 0:40:25.360 --> 0:40:28.600 If you surrender, he'll stir. Amen. Can we thank the 0:40:28.640 --> 0:40:36.800 Lord together? Connect hands quickly with someone around you, and 0:40:36.840 --> 0:40:43.040 then we'll dismiss Connect hands, connect hands. So Father God, 0:40:43.120 --> 0:40:45.800 right now, I pray for my brothers and my sisters 0:40:45.840 --> 0:40:48.800 all over this place. God, many of us are facing 0:40:48.880 --> 0:40:51.800 circumstances that are difficult right now and hard right now. 0:40:52.040 --> 0:40:53.640 We don't always know how to make a way, but 0:40:53.680 --> 0:40:55.440 I thank you for the assurance of your word that 0:40:55.520 --> 0:40:59.320 tells us that you are with us. You are with us, God, 0:41:00.080 --> 0:41:03.040 that you're in it with us, fighting for us God, 0:41:03.120 --> 0:41:04.719 and that you are the Lord of our lives. And 0:41:04.760 --> 0:41:07.200 our trust is in you. Today. God, I pray for 0:41:07.280 --> 0:41:09.600 this church family, for every person under the sound of 0:41:09.600 --> 0:41:12.719 my voice, for every person who calls Elevation Church their home. 0:41:12.760 --> 0:41:15.319 I believe that You've set our church apart for such 0:41:15.360 --> 0:41:17.960 a time as this. I believe there's a mandate on 0:41:18.000 --> 0:41:20.520 this house to reach the nations with the hope of Jesus. 0:41:20.800 --> 0:41:22.759 And I believe what we're standing in today is just 0:41:22.800 --> 0:41:25.759 the foundation, not the finished product. And I thank you 0:41:25.840 --> 0:41:29.160 God for the invitation to join our lives to your cause. 0:41:29.920 --> 0:41:32.319 We attach our hearts to the cause of Christ. As 0:41:32.320 --> 0:41:35.520 we give, as we serve, as we pray, as we 0:41:35.560 --> 0:41:37.960 preach the Gospel. God, we thank you for the blessing 0:41:38.000 --> 0:41:41.040 that flows that when we build your house. I believe 0:41:41.080 --> 0:41:43.880 God that you are going to bless ours. So bless 0:41:43.920 --> 0:41:48.360 each home, bless each family, bless each individual, bless each business, 0:41:48.400 --> 0:41:51.680 all in the mighty name of Jesus. We pray, Amen, 0:41:52.960 --> 0:41:54.080 thank you for joining us. 0:41:54.360 --> 0:41:56.840 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:41:56.880 --> 0:42:00.359 this ministry is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:42:00.840 --> 0:42:03.040 You can click the link in the description to give 0:42:03.120 --> 0:42:07.279 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:42:07.280 --> 0:42:10.960 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:42:11.360 --> 0:42:12.680 You can share it with your friends. 0:42:13.000 --> 0:42:15.279 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:42:15.320 --> 0:42:17.439 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:42:17.440 --> 0:42:18.319 Elevation Church. 0:42:18.360 --> 0:42:25.000 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.