Skip to content When King David Prayed for Me - Generational Influence, Part 6 Dec 14 · 49 min ...more
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
156K followers
Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
156K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
0:00 You're listening to Waters Church podcast, where faith meets real life. Where 1 church, many locations, and 1 mission, to see lives changed by Jesus. No matter where you're listening from, you0:12 are a part of Waters Church family. Now let's dive into today's message from our pastor.0:20 Part 6, when king David prayed for me. By the way, we've been talking about money for quite some time, giving generosity, big week next week, 10 week offering. We've been asking you save0:32 to give. We do not do pledges in this church. What is a pledge? Where we ask you to sign up to give for a number of weeks or a number of years. I don't like that. I do not like compulsive compulsory giving. I don't wanna0:43 put pressure and burden on you. I want you to prepare and make a plan. That's what we've been talking about for several weeks, several months now. And this next week is our 10 week offering. If you're not prepared, do0:54 not do not be worried about that. We will have a 20 week offering March 20 first. But 10 weeks, good number. That's next week. And next week, I pray that we gather1:06 together. We rejoice. We're gonna sing some extra songs, some Christmas songs. Praise God, next week. So come on in and worship Jesus with us. A little bit of extra worship as it is the Christmas season,1:18 and we remember that the only way that we can gather in this place, and the only reason why we do gather in this place is because God gave his gift, the gift of his son Jesus for us 2000 years ago. Amen, somebody? Amen.1:30 Let's talk about this subject. Let's talk about this this the name of this message. When we go to first Chronicles chapter 29, you'll notice it's the last chapter in the book. It's the1:42 last moment of David's life, and he prays. And he prays for you and for me. And the reason why I know that he's praying for you and for me is because1:54 he asks that god the the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel will keep forever purposes, such purposes, the purposes that he enunciates earlier in this passage, and thoughts in the hearts of2:06 your people. Quick question. Everybody, Water Church, every location. Are you God's people? Yes. If you're God's people, this prayer is for you. He prays that God will keep purpose these2:18 purposes and thoughts in their hearts. Now, let me give you what those purposes and thoughts are, but I wanna back up and tell you the context of this chapter, first Chronicles chapter 29. Last2:30 chapter in first Chronicles, here's what else it is, is the last chapter in David's illustrious life is coming to an end. David who slew Goliath when he was2:42 just a shepherd boy. David who wrote over half of the Psalms in the bible. The Psalms is the prayer and praise book of the bible.2:53 David was a praying man. David was a powerful man. But here's how those 2 things go together. And listen to me, every other man in the house. We need powerful3:05 men of God in our church. You get power through prayer. By the way, in January, I am so excited. It is the holiday season.3:17 Eat up, everybody. Because we got 21 days of prayer and fasting coming up on January fourth to the 20 fifth. By3:29 the way, I plan on having not 1, but 2 Tuesday night worship experiences during those weeks. And we will have prayer and praise every weekday at3:40 6 AM at 1 of our locations and broadcast on our YouTube channel. Don't even bother to clap if you're just gonna do it that bad. I mean, come3:52 on. 6 AM praise and prayer rotating at our 5 locations, and I believe it would be Woonsocket leading us off on Monday and North4:04 Attleboro or Tuesday. I don't know. We'll we'll set you out the schedule, but 21 days of prayer and fasting so that we have in 20 26 our greatest year of power in Jesus' name.4:17 David was a praying man, that's why David was a powerful man. So he killed Goliath, he wrote 73 psalms, he prayed, and 50 of his prayers were answered in his lifetime. I don't know about you, but I'll take 50 prayers4:28 answered in my lifetime. How do I get that number? I punched it into chat GPT. That's what chat GPT told me. We'll see if it's true, but nonetheless, he's a praying man, and and and he ends his4:40 life praying for you. Think about that. By the way, this is his last moment before the people of Israel. He will go into seclusion. He will get old and weak and he will die. Scripture will4:52 tell us that he's get he gets so old and so weak that he can't even keep warm. And they cover him with blankets. And just like everybody else, he dies in weakness. But the last visual that the people5:04 of Israel will see is recorded for us here in first Chronicles 29, and here's what he does. He spends that chapter preparing the way for his son, Solomon, to build5:16 the temple for Israel's worship. And he gives of his treasures. He gives of his bounty. So we're gonna take it from the top. I wanna give you some perspective here on5:28 what's happened in this chapter. He gathers the people of Israel together, and it says, in verse 1 of 20 of first Chronicles 29, he said to all the assembly, Solomon, my son, whom God5:40 has chosen is young and inexperienced, the work is great. For the palace will not be for men, but for the Lord God. This is not about us. It's not about me. Waters Church, our generational influence,5:52 Generational influence is not about me. This is this is by the way, David is setting up David is setting up the next generation to build the temple. Well, guess what we're doing? We're setting6:04 up the next generation with funding Waters Academy, with funding other locations, with funding locations in Waters Church Woonsocket, Waters Church Apollo Beach, Waters Church Orlando6:16 someday, Waters Church Beyond These Walls in Jesus' name. Setting up the next generation. Well, that's what this chapter is about. That's what chap this first chronicles where'd it go? Oh, first chronicles6:28 chapter 29 is So he says, I have provided for the next generation. I wanted to build the temple. God said, no. That's what David's testimony is. God said, no.6:39 You've killed too many people. The temple is the house of peace. The man who builds it must be a man of peace. Solomon's name means peace. By the way, Solomon is the true son of Solomon is the son of David who6:51 builds a temple for all nations to know the God of Israel. Well, guess what? About 800 years after this moment well, actually, 1200 years after this moment, the7:03 true son of David, Jesus Christ, who this season we remember him as the prince of peace, has come, laid down his life, rose again, and he builds7:15 the true temple, the house of God, not a building made by man's hands, but our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit wherein God dwells, and through us, the world, the nation might know the God of Israel.7:29 Ain't that cool? Yes. So, this is all pointing to Jesus, but Solomon is, you know, a prefigure of this. So, David says, so as far as I was able, I provided the gold7:40 for things of gold, silver for silver, bronze for the things of bronze, iron for the things of iron, wood for the things of wood. Besides great quantities of onyx and stones in setting, all these precious stones and7:50 marble I have provided. And in addition to all that I provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and he's gonna give this8:02 to the nation so that they might build a beautiful temple for God's glory. And what David exhibited in the last moment of his life think about this.8:14 And he's gonna give a ridiculous amount, and we're gonna talk about that in just a moment. A ridiculous amount of gold he's gonna give away for the temple. This is his last visual before the people. Now8:28 David is also a picture of Jesus. The last thing Jesus did in his earthly life does anybody know? The last thing that he did was give8:40 his all for us. He gave his body. He gave his blood. He gave his life. And so just like David, in the last moment8:52 before the people gave his all, so Jesus even more so gave his all to establish a temple, to build a place where people could come and know the Lord.9:04 It's kind of incredible that this is his last moment. But it's important for us to take note of that because here's the last thing you're gonna do. I don't know what plans you have. I don't know if you've scheduled your9:16 vacation for 20 26 yet. I I don't know if you're trying to put a a kid through college like I am right now. I I don't know if you're planning on having a baby. I I don't know if you're at the back end of your life or at9:27 the front end of your I don't know where you are, but here's what I know. We all end our lives doing the exact same thing. Do you know what it is? Dying. Well, yeah, dying, but Good9:40 answer. In dying in dying, here's what we do. Are you ready? We give it up. It's all gone. By the way,9:52 get yourself to a lawyer and decide where it's going to go when you're gone so that the government doesn't come and take it. But this is what our last this is what our last job is on earth.10:04 And and so appropriately, we should talk about it before we actually have to do it. Get into the business of giving before you're dying because when you die, you give it all.10:15 Get good at it. David models this for us in first Chronicles 29. And what I'm gonna unpack for us in this chapter is the 5 virtues of giving. I've got 5 points.10:28 I'm gonna get them through them quickly because I'm gonna jet over to Woonsocket and install a new elder in that church this afternoon. So let's go. The 5 virtues of giving. Write this down. Number 1, giving10:39 is an act of devotion. Giving is an act of devotion. So David says, I've given all this gold and all this silver and all this iron and this wood, But then10:51 he says, and I have a treasure of my own. This is his own personal bank account. David managed the finances of the people from taxation, but then he also had his own money. And David was exceedingly rich. And11:03 look what he says, and because somebody say, because Because. Because of my, what? Devotion to the house of my God,11:15 I give. Tie these words together in your notes, underline and circle them. I give. Because of my devotion to the house, I give to the house. You have devotion to the house, you should11:27 be giving to the house. I love my church. I should be giving to my church. Listen, write this down in the margins. I didn't have time to put this in the in the notes with blanks. You can't have devotion11:39 without demonstration. Anybody with true devotion demonstrates their devotion. The young man who falls in love with Fair Maiden eventually gets himself to11:51 the store in the mall that he never previously entered. Walks in deer in the headlights. Salesman sees him coming. He knows what that boy is coming to do. He's coming12:03 to buy the ring because of what? His Devotion. Devotion. You don't have devotion without Demonstration. Demonstration. Or in the12:15 words of 1 of the great prophets of the 20 first century, up in the club, we just broke up. I'm doing my own little thing. You decided to dip, now you want a trip because another brother noticed me. I'm12:27 up on him, he up on me. Don't pay him any attention because I cried my tears, gave you 3 good years. You can't be mad at me because If you like it, then you should have put a ring on it. If you like it, you should have12:37 put a ring on it. In the words of the great theologian Beyonce, If you're devoted to12:49 something, you demonstrate it. Whatever it is. Now this is what God does for us. Let me just show you a couple passages. 1 of them, the13:01 most familiar passage in the New Testament probably in all the Bible. John 3 16. This is 1 probably everybody's got memorized. For God so loved, and by the13:13 way, this word so is not about quantity. It's not, God was so desperately in love with the He loved the so much. No. That's not the word. That's not the word. That's not the sense. The word13:24 sense is not quantity, but quality. In other words, this is how. This is how God loved the world. God loved the world that13:36 he gave. I just find it amazing that in the most quotable, well known Bible verse in all of history, The verb is13:47 give and the subject is God. And he does it to show us how13:59 he loves us. You don't have devotion without Demonstration. Demonstration. Let me show you another passage of scripture that under that unpacks this for us in Romans chapter 5, 1 of the greatest14:11 passages in all the Bible, Romans 5 8, but god, what? Shows. Shows. In another translation, it says, he demonstrates. He demonstrates his love for us in that while we were14:23 still sinners, Christ died for us. We didn't deserve it. We didn't earn it. Some of you are like, I don't know. God can't possibly love me. Oh, my friend, he doesn't love you because you're14:35 pretty. He doesn't love you because you're good. He loves you because he's a loving God. Amen. And he chose to demonstrate his14:47 love. He shows you how he loves you in that while you didn't deserve it, while you were running after your own sword of life, God sent Jesus to die for you without a thought of you14:59 of him in your head. He had you on his heart, and he laid down his life for you. We have salvation because God15:10 chose to demonstrate his devotion to us. And so back to the heart of David in this chapter. I am devoted15:23 to the ask of my god. Now, I've been talking about money for several weeks, and some of you have complimented the message, but some of you have had a problem with the messages. Not many. In fact, I think they've15:34 left. 1 person said, how long is pastor gonna preach about money? I wanna let you know. Every time you ask that question, the series gets 1 week longer.15:48 I'm kidding. But but but the the reality is is what I've learned. You know you know what happens when the pastor preaches about money? And this is a fact because we measure everything in this year. We measure everything.15:59 And what's happened over the last 6 weeks is our attendance has gone down and our offerings have gone up. Yes. This is amazing. Now16:11 here's why I say that to you. I share that with you because there are 2 kinds of people that show up at church every Sunday. Givers and takers. Givers16:22 and takers. And I don't know about you, but I'm okay with the takers leaving. That leaves the givers behind. Now ask yourself a very simple question.16:35 What kind of friends do you want? Givers or takers? What kind of spouse do you want? Some of you are like, I married a taker, but I wish I16:49 What kind of children do you want to raise? No parent in their right mind says to their children, now keep, keep. No. What do we say?17:00 Share, give. Right? That's what God wants for us. It's okay. This is a I would consider that we are17:12 a more healthy church right now than we were 6 weeks ago as God has removed the takers and only the givers remain. But that's not because you want17:24 to, I don't know, show off or impress me. No. It's not. It's because you're devoted, and you can't have devotion without demonstration. Here's norm number 2. Write this down. Giving17:36 is an act of consecration to God. People can say all they want about being committed to Christ. The rubber17:48 hits the road when you give. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. Okay. Wonderful. These are statements that we can throw out. Oh, I gave17:59 my life to Jesus. Uh-huh. Now show us by what's in your hand as you come before him. This is what David does in this18:11 moment, and check this out. He says 3000 talents of gold. The gold of over this is special gold. Now, David, you wanna talk about consecration.18:23 3000 talents. Let me just do some math with you. Are you ready? A talent is 65 pounds. Does anybody know what the price of gold is18:35 right now? Some of you know, wow, this is a very very financially savvy congregation. Okay. Right now, it is about 4300 dollars per18:48 ounce. How many ounces in a pound? 16 ounces for 1 pound. Now, just check this out. Do the math. Dollars 430019:00 times 16 times 65 times 3000. Estimates are that David gave somewhere in the vicinity of 500000000019:12 dollars, our money, to the house of God. That is devotion. He gave it all,19:24 and so did Jesus. Amen. And so what do we give to him? We give it all. It's all on his now, of course, we need to help our families and pay for19:36 food and housing, and you must provide for your own house. And, yes, even enjoyment, things that you want, things that you like. First Timothy chapter 6, God gives us all things for our enjoyment, and there's nothing19:47 wrong with that. But where do you present your gifts to God and and and put it in your hand? This this is what consecration means. Because now after David provides19:59 all this of his own treasure, he asks the question in verse 5. He says, who then will offer, what's this word, willingly. And if you got your Bibles out, please circle willingly because I'm giving you20:10 notice today. I'm putting you on Notice Waters Church all locations. Next week when you come and you give above and beyond your regular giving to generational influence, I don't want you to give out of guilt.20:24 I don't want you to give because you feel pressured. In fact, if you're coming and you're just gonna give because you feel guilty and pressured, keep it. And I'm absolutely serious here.20:35 Go to Longhorn Steakhouse and buy yourself the most guilt ridden rib eye steak you will ever have in your life.20:47 I'm looking for people who wanna do it. And you wanna do it because you love the Lord. And more importantly not more20:59 importantly, but almost as importantly, you love letting people know about the Lord because that's what this is about. This is about locations growing, our church21:11 expanding, parking lots being made possible so that people no longer have to turn around when they can't get into our building. This is for the next generation to be raised21:23 knowing their 1, 2, threes, and a b c's, and not wondering during their formative years what gender they are. This21:36 is about making Jesus known. So this word that David uses after willingly, what is it? Consecrating himself. When we give, we21:48 consecrate. Now, this word consecrate in the Hebrew, it means fill the hand. That's what it means. So, when you are consecrated, you're filling the hand. Now,22:02 consecration involves action. Devotion requires action. Man man man, you can't get away with just saying that you22:14 love your wife. It's quiet. You've got to show her. You got to maybe empty the dishwasher and22:26 fill it. Throw a load of clothes in the laundry. Clean up after yourself. Go and buy her some22:37 flowers just because. Yeah? What are you doing in all those situations? You are filling your hand with objects that require participation in your22:48 devotion. Next week, when you come, you fill your hand with a gift and you bring it to God. Next week's offering, by the way, we're going old school at Waters Church. Some of you have been here only so long,23:00 and so you probably have noticed that we do not pass a plate. We do not take an offering in our church service. We used to, and we stopped. Next week, we're gonna do it just next week.23:13 And the reason why, God laid it on my heart, I want this to actually be something that we physically do next week. Physically do. Now I also had a thought. Instead of passing the bucket, we put23:24 the buckets up here on the front of the stage, and we have a dance off competition where you dance all the way to the buckets, drop your money in, and then dance back to your seat. And the less23:36 money you give, the longer you have to dance. Kidding. We'll just pass the buckets. We don't want to see you dance. But what what23:48 we're trying to do here is we're trying to get your hand involved. Look, I hear there's big football games going on today. But at a football game, there's 2 kinds of people that show up.24:01 There are people who are involved in actually deciding who wins. We call them the players. And then there's everybody else. We call them the consumers, the water24:13 watchers, the spot the spectators. The difference between a player and a spectator is the player has got something in his hand. A ball, a bat, a stick, whatever.24:25 The the player is committed. The spectator is just observing commitment. So which are you? That's good. In the field of god's glory, in the field of god's, not24:36 gain, but military spiritual conquest of the nations, which 1 are you? Are you a contributor? You got something in your hand,24:48 ready to use it for God's purposes, or are you just a spectator watching other people participate? Next week's your opportunity. Get involved in the kingdom work.25:00 Let's go to number 3. Giving is an act of worship. Giving is an act of worship. So David gives an exorbitant amount, and notice this, in verse25:12 6, when he says, who's gonna who's gonna get involved? Who's gonna put it in their hand? Verse 6 says, then the what? Leaders. Say it out loud. Leaders. The leaders of the father's house25:52 Some of you want to be important in the house of God, but you never contribute. You just consume. I'm all I'm all for26:04 you consuming. I want you to consume as much spiritual content as you possibly can in this church. I want you to have relationships that matter. I love the fact that we have over 10026:16 small groups where you gather together and you get to know each other, and I want you to absorb and receive from people as much as you possibly can. And if anybody in any of our locations26:28 has been blessed by relationships in this church, can I just hear a good amen? Amen. Okay. Great. Wonderful. Now contribute. Be26:41 a leader. Leaders set the table by exemplifying giving, not taking.26:53 Yeah? Oh, guys, get out on that field today. Get on that field and give it all. Leave it all out there. We we never we never root them on and say, now, get out there27:04 and take. Get out there and absorb other people's accomplishments. No. Contribute. Be a part. How can we say we are the church if27:16 all we do is watch other people participate in the ministry of Jesus? So they give. The leaders exemplify giving. And then27:28 all these people give all this money, and whoever had precious stones, they gave them. And look at verse 9. Then after all the giving, after the giving, then the people27:40 rejoiced. They were happy. Why? Well, scripture doesn't leave us clueless. Because they had given. They rejoiced because they gave them27:52 willingly, for with a whole heart, they had offered freely to the Lord. And then David, the king also, rejoiced greatly. And the words rejoice greatly means that he spins around wildly. In other28:03 words, David did what I would like you to do. Come and dance your way to the altar and give. But we're not gonna do that. But anyway, he was excited. Joyful giving to God.28:16 And then he blesses the Lord in all the assembly, and he says, blessed are you. He just breaks out into praise. Blessed are you, oh, Lord God of because giving is an act of worship.28:28 Worship, the phrase the name the word worship comes from an old English term means that that that that's that's worth ship. Worth ship. In other words, is it28:40 worth it to you? At what point or at what value of of your life is is your church, is your local church? I I believe that 1 of28:52 the best blessings you can have in your life is a church that preaches the unadulterated, not uncompromised word of the29:04 living God. I mean, how many of you that's what you love about our church? No matter who's up here, they're preaching from God's word,29:16 and they're saying it like it is. They're not tiptoeing around. They're not going with the flows and the ebbs of culture, but they say it like God said it, and they make no compromise29:28 and no apology. Thus saith the Lord, let God be true and all men be liars. I'm standing on the truth of this book, and I'll never apologize for29:40 it. And I believe that's 1 of the best blessings you can have in your life and your worship next week. When we come next week, more songs, more singing to celebrate. When we give, we should celebrate. Here's what I'm29:51 doing. There's something about letting money go that brings joy to your heart. The problem is getting to the point of letting it go. Right? We don't we30:03 don't pass the bucket anymore. You know why there's a spiritual principle behind that? I was tired of seeing people give out of guilt. I was just tired30:15 of it, and I I wanna I don't wanna pastor a culture like that into any of our locations. Listen to me, all locations. I don't wanna pastor you into this idea of you you didn't plan on giving. You just showed up at30:26 church. You you you barely got there. You know, your hair's kinda and everything's, like, kinda messed up. And just, you know and and you just had a hard struggle with the husband on the way to church, and the kids are30:34 great. And you're sitting there, and now the bucket comes, and you're like, oh, I forgot. That's right. Ah. Oh. Ah. Oh. Ah. And you're reaching him. Here's a, you know,30:44 lint y 5 dollar bill. There you go, God. There's my lint and 5 dollar bill.30:51 Just keep that. Just keep that. Make a plan to give instead. In other words, it's something that you've thought through. It's something that you've put into your mind. You've put into your hand, and it's an act of31:03 worship because worship is intentional. When it's worth it, it's intentional. You you gotta find how to give at Waters Church. You gotta go to watershurch dot org slash give, and you31:14 gotta figure it out. By the way, ever since we stopped passing the bucket, our income has gone up, not down. And and and and and God has poured into our head because the atmosphere31:26 matters. That when we work, when we give, we give joyfully and gratefully because God has been so good to us. It's31:38 worship. God is worth it. The kingdom is worth it. These kids coming to Christ, worth it. Baptisms, people saved from addiction, slavery to sin, it's31:50 worth it. Amen. Now here's number 4. Giving is an act of thanksgiving. And that's what David epitomizes here in this chapter as well.32:03 He goes on this long worship moment. Yours is the kingdom, oh lord. You are exalted. All these worship phrases. And then look at this verse 12. What an important32:15 text. Okay. Ready? Both riches and honor, everybody, the last next 3 words come from you. Riches come from32:27 God. We've got to get our theology right. We've got to get this right. Income inequality is a huge problem in our world right now, and I get it.32:39 And Charlie Kirk was on this, by the way. If young people can't afford to buy a house, they won't care about the country. I get it. That's 100 percent right. But the problem is is how we talk about it. We32:50 immediately just label rich people as evil. Can I just pastor you for a moment and say, please do not fall into that trap? There's a lot of evil rich people.33:02 There's a lot of good rich people. There's a lot of evil poor people. There's a lot of good poor people. We don't make you know, for a33:14 culture that is so obsessed with not judging everybody, we do find it awful easy to judge people based on what amount of money they have. I don't know. Kinda kinda sounds33:25 hypocritical. Here's the theology we gotta get to. Riches are not evil. Abraham was rich. Abraham had33:37 138 armed soldiers in his house. Hundred and 38 bodyguards. That's 1 stinking rich dude. David was33:49 rich, 5000000000 dollars to God's house. Solomon, exceedingly rich. Nicodemus, who helped bury Christ with Joseph of of Amarathea, rich people. By the way, there's a case to be made that34:00 2 of Jesus' disciples, We have this image that they're all poor, poverty stricken people that had nothing else to do, so they followed Jesus. That's not true. James and John, the bible says when Jesus called them,34:13 James and John left their father with the boats and the servants and followed34:24 Jesus. What I'm trying to say is these were not schlubs just fishing to eke out some subsistence of a life. These are men, they had an enterprise. They had a34:36 fishing business, and they left it for following Jesus. So they could possibly have been rich. Get your theology right about riches. God gives34:48 honor. We got no problem with this word. God gives honor. Yes, Lord. But God also gives riches. And and by the way, it's important because if you wanna live faithfully before the Lord, you gotta remember that. In fact,34:58 when God is about to send the people of Israel into the will into the promised land, he tells them through Moses in Deuteronomy 8 17, he says, beware. Lest you say in your heart, my power and might of35:10 my hand have gotten me this wealth. The problem is not the wealth. The problem is your heart about it. The heart. You shall remember35:22 verse 18. The lord your god for it is he. It is who? The lord your god. It is he who gives you the power to get35:34 wealth. No. There's I got more verses for you just so that we're clear. The bible's not vague on this subject. Proverbs 22 verse 4. The reward35:47 for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor in life. Fear the Lord, you will35:59 succeed. Fear the Lord, you will be blessed. Oh, I got another passage. Again, it's all over the bible. First Samuel chapter 2. This is Hannah's song. The Lord makes poor, the36:11 Lord makes rich, he brings low, he exalts. God blesses people. And sometimes he blesses them with exceeding wealth. Oh, I got it even I got even more verses, but I'll just do 136:23 more. How about 1 more? You got time for 1 more? James 1 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from the father of36:34 lights. He's a giving god. So where are we at in our notes? Giving is an act of worship. Giving is an act of thanksgiving.36:46 I thank you, God. And David, back to his thoughts in this chapter, he says, in your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we,36:58 what? Thank you. We praise your name. This is an atmosphere of thanksgiving. God, all that we can do next week is because of you. You are the37:10 giver of every good and perfect gift. And then he says in verse 16, skipping down ahead, we'll we'll we'll circle back to verse 14 and 15 in just a second. He says, oh lord, our god, all this abundance that we37:22 have provided for building you a house for your holy name, it what? Comes from your hand and is all your own. You will never give God37:34 something that is not already his. And and that's why tithing for me has never been an issue. Oh 0, I've got issues,37:46 but I've never had an issue with this 1. The first tenth of my income comes back to this house. The first tenth. And I did something this week.37:58 Maybe I shouldn't tell you this, but I did. I looked up my tithing record over the 27 years I've been your pastor. I've given back the first 5 to38:10 6 years of my income back to this house. Even more than that, actually. And I'm just guesstimating there on some issue on some on some numbers. The the point of the matter is this has never been38:22 an issue for me to say, God, you first, because it's all his anyway. The issue is my wallet.38:35 My wallet speaks. Does anybody have a wallet that talks to them? A purse that just kind of cries out, there's not enough.38:49 I need more. And you have to speak back to your wallet. You have to speak back to your wallet with action.39:01 Put it in your hand, consecration, devotion, and you have to say, you're not in charge. And everything in you is from God anyway. So39:14 here's how we're going to do that. I'm going to take 10 percent out of you. That's what happens. I take it out and he goes, and I say,39:26 no. This is God's. And my wallet learns to shut its blessed mouth39:39 and trust that God is able. I mean, at some point, you've got to tell the wallet what to do instead of listening to what the wallet tells you do, and39:51 that's how you do it. Thank you, God. Thank you, God, for all that you've given me, and I'm going to tell myself every time I get paid that it is God's anyway,Show more
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.