A Call to Partner

[0:00] All right, church, we are considering on in our series about life on mission, the ultimate walk with Christ. That's a big statement. Thank you, buddy.

[0:11] You're doing your job because I'm not doing mine, so got to have that little thing. There we go. Yep, it's working. All right, that's good. We are going to be in Philippians chapter one, so if you'd like to start making your way in the Bible over to Philippians one, we'll read from it in just a moment.

[0:30] But before we get there, let's do a little recap of what we learned last week. So last week, we talked about a call to minister. The ultimate walk with Christ, that's kind of a lofty goal, right?

[0:44] That's setting the bar pretty high. Say, this is the ultimate walk with Christ. Well, you better have something pretty strong to back that up with. Well, I can truly tell you that life on God's mission is the ultimate way to walk with Jesus.

[0:59] So if we are believing that we're walking with Jesus, but we're not on mission for him, part of his mission in this world, actively engaging in that mission, then our walk with Jesus isn't as close as we might think it is.

[1:16] So last Sunday, we tried to break that down a little bit and said we see a call to minister in Philippians chapter one, a call to minister. Our takeaway was, am I willing to go on mission for God by preaching the gospel and by praying for the lost around me?

[1:36] When we said a call to minister, we said a call, the call to minister specifically was a call to preach. All of you are called to preach. So anybody else want to come up here and preach this morning?

[1:49] We're all called to preach. That doesn't mean God has placed a call on every one of us to get up here on the stage in a local church and preach the sermon, but we are all called to preach the gospel that is actively with our mouths and passively through our lifestyle, both and not either or.

[2:12] We don't get an option of just saying, well, I just try to live nice and that's how people know I'm a Christian. Or we don't get the option of saying, well, I'll tell people about Jesus, but I'm not going to live in a holy way.

[2:24] We have to do both. And we preach the gospel both actively and passively. And that is our call to minister. We also have the call to pray. And that's specifically about praying for the lost, praying for those without God.

[2:40] That is something God commanded us to do, urged us to do time and time again. And it makes a difference. When we pray, when God, when God's children pray, God shows up.

[2:52] God works. God acts. We can move the hand of God through prayer. So our call to minister is a call to preach the gospel and pray for the lost around us.

[3:05] So let's look at today. You never know what pictures you're going to see on the screen when you come to church. All right.

[3:16] Now, anybody want to guess who is the guy in the lower left hand corner? Y'all can do better than that. Michael Jordan. He hadn't been played in years and we still know who he is.

[3:28] How about the guy in the lower right hand corner? Kobe Bryant. We heard some more younger voices in there. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Two of the greatest basketball players who ever lived.

[3:40] Now, who is the tall guy in the middle? What's that? Phil Jackson. I heard some older male voices saying that. Not being discriminatory, I guarantee you there were some women in here who knew who that was too.

[3:56] But, you know, you're starting to get a little more niche in your basketball knowledge when you know who the guy in the middle is. He was the what for both of those guys? He was the coach, right?

[4:07] Phil Jackson is the most championship winningest coach that there ever was. He holds the most NBA championships as a head coach of anybody else.

[4:21] How many does he have? Anybody? Very close. 11. Somebody said 10. He has 11. Six of them. He won with Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

[4:32] And five of them he won with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. So, the guy could take superstars and he could turn those teams into championship winning teams time and time and time and time again.

[4:47] So, Phil Jackson knows something about bringing a team together. Because you know what the funny thing is? There have been a lot of superstars in the history of the NBA and all these other sports.

[5:02] And you know what they haven't all done? They haven't all won championships. And very few of them have won multiple championships. So, how did Phil Jackson take a team of stars, maybe one big star, one or two big stars, and then just a bunch of other guys who weren't stars, and build a team that it was really, really hard to beat.

[5:29] And year after year, they would win it all. He said, he taught the principle, give up the me for the we. Give up the me for the we.

[5:42] It's nice and cute. You can remember that. It'll stick in your head. But what does it mean? Well, he said this. The strength of the team is each individual member.

[5:56] The strength of each member is the team. Michael Jordan was great. How many of y'all remember watching Michael Jordan play basketball? Now, we can have a LeBron discussion at another time.

[6:11] But if y'all are right with God, then you know Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player who ever lived. All right? Thank you. I don't want to hear from you young people down here, all right? Just kidding.

[6:22] It's LeBron, man. And if there's anybody else's name, you just don't know what you're talking about. You can take these guys who seem to be one-man teams. They are transcendent athletes.

[6:34] You can take these. We're watching the Olympics right now. And if you've watched any of that, you know, you've seen some incredible individual performances as they win their gold medal, sometimes blowing away the field.

[6:45] You watch Katie Ledecky in the pool and she's just, you know, there's nobody even on the screen with her as you watch her winning. It's like, wow, how is she so much better than everybody else? But when you're playing team sports, even a guy like Michael Jordan, who is as close as probably will ever come to saying he was the greatest who ever lived in his field, even he could not win the championship by himself.

[7:13] He needed the team. He never won a championship until Phil Jackson came on board and brought his philosophy of the strength of each member is the team.

[7:25] The strength of Michael Jordan was the team around him. Was he the best player? Undisputably. But he couldn't have done it without the team.

[7:39] He needed his partners. He needed the partnerships. And that's what we're going to talk about today is a call to partner. So last Sunday, we talked about a call to minister.

[7:50] Today, we're talking about a call to partner. Let's look back at Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. If you are able to join us in standing, would you do it one more time?

[8:04] I know it feels like we've been up and down a little bit during the service, but we're just trying to wake you up and get you some exercise. All right. In Philippians chapter one, let's look down in verse three. Philippians one in verse three.

[8:14] I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible. I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you. Skip down to verse five. Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it out, carry it on.

[8:37] So to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Verse seven. Indeed, it is right for me to think of this way about all of you because I have you in my heart and you are all.

[8:51] What's that word? Partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

[9:02] Would you pray with me? God, I pray that you would show us what it means to be partners in the gospel. What it means to be partners together with you and your mission in this world. Give us wisdom from your word today.

[9:14] In Jesus name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Thanks for standing. We're going to talk about two different kinds of partnerships, two different ways to partner with God and his mission and our local church.

[9:27] All right. So let's clear that up real quick. We have God. We have his kingdom or his mission on this earth. He is building his kingdom through his mission on this earth.

[9:38] And then we have his chosen tools. The things he's using to build his mission and his kingdom on this earth. And that's you and me. That's us.

[9:50] Okay. And he has organized us into churches around this world. I've had the opportunity and advantage of traveling all over this globe. Been in different continents in Asia and Europe and Central America, South America, different places.

[10:03] And I have seen churches, different, way different kinds of churches from each other. But they're all doing the same thing. They're all trying to advance the mission of God, build the kingdom of God with the word of God, by the power of God.

[10:19] Okay. So that's what they're all trying to do. It's the same thing. Their music might sound different. The way the pastor dresses might be different. The buildings in which they meet, if they have a building, might look different.

[10:32] The color of the people sitting there might look different. The language they're speaking might sound different. But they're all preaching the same Jesus, the same message, with the same mission.

[10:48] So we are partners in this mission. So what does it look like to be a good partner? Number one, we partner through giving.

[10:59] We partner through giving. Paul repeatedly, throughout his letters to the early church, praised people for their financial investment in his ministry.

[11:17] He told them that is how God set it up. To support what God is doing on this earth through God's people, through God's church.

[11:31] So how do we partner financially? I don't know why that. Yeah, that's weird how that ended up. But y'all just forgive me on that.

[11:42] Okay. Got the financial and then the colon underneath it. Wasn't supposed to look like that. That's okay. All right. So we get past that. We'll look at the actual ways. Very practical ways. How do we partner through giving to First Baptist Henrietta?

[11:55] That's our church, right? We tithe. In the Bible, the tithe meant 10%. We are in the New Testament age. If you want to continue that on, I do that with my family.

[12:06] We try to give 10% of our income to the ministry of this church back to God, right? If God leads you to do a different number, that's up to you. But it's setting aside before anything else.

[12:17] It's setting aside a portion of what God has given you to give back to him. Before we spend it on ourselves or anything else, we say, I'm going to give my first fruits, the Bible uses that term, back to God.

[12:29] So that's what I call the tithe. That's what the Bible calls the tithe. Offerings. Offerings would be something above and beyond that. We have our Texas offering that we support here in Texas.

[12:41] Our Mary Hill Davis. I couldn't remember the name. But we have the Mary Hill Davis offering that supports missions across the state of Texas. We have the Annie Armstrong offering that supports missions in North America, right here in our home country.

[12:58] And we have the Lottie Moon offering that we give around Christmastime that supports missions going on all around the world. Those are all names for great women of faith that God used mightily in the area of missions.

[13:10] So these are additional to our regular tithe. We have opportunities to give offerings. Now you don't have to wait for those three times a year to give something extra to God.

[13:21] God can work in your heart and move you to say, you know what? There's a cause right now that God has placed dear on my heart. I'm going to give a little bit extra to that, to see that happen.

[13:32] And we'll talk about why in just a moment. But that's another way to invest financially, partner financially in what God's doing. Of course, we pass the plate on Sundays, right? There are people who still put money into the offering plate.

[13:45] And we're grateful for that. And God will bless you for that. Then we give, personally I give through the church app. That's a really handy way for me. Got my bank account linked to it. And I can just push those buttons and give right to the church through the app.

[13:59] There's a way to do that. There's another link on the church website when you go on there. So if you're not sure how to give, there's all these different ways to do that. There's also a couple of drop boxes, one in the lobby and then one back by the back entrance.

[14:11] So those are just very practical ways to partner with our church financially. But let's get to the why. Let's get to the why.

[14:22] Number one. Number one. This is the principle. These three principles that can help guide. Why should I give financially to God?

[14:36] Because you need to. God doesn't need it. But you do. God doesn't need my 10% of my income every month.

[14:47] But I need to give it to God. So that's why I wrote down, God doesn't need my money. But I need to give it to him. Oswald Chambers wrote one of the great devotionals that's ever been written on this earth.

[15:01] Morning and evening. I'm sorry. My utmost for his highest. It's one of the great, great books. And a lot of people turn it into devotional reading. He said, worship is giving God the best that he has given you.

[15:13] Now that should be across the board. Our emotions. Our talents. Whatever God has given us.

[15:25] But that includes our finances. We give to God the best that he has given us. We don't save for him the least. We give him the best.

[15:37] God doesn't need my money. Psalm 50 reminds us that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. All the world is his.

[15:51] And he even says in Psalm 50 that he wouldn't come to us if he needed anything. Of course, God doesn't need anything. But the point he's making is if he had a need, we would not be able to fulfill it.

[16:04] If he needed a loan, he wouldn't be getting it from us. If he needed anything materially, he wouldn't be getting it from his created beings. He owns the world and all that is in it.

[16:16] God doesn't need our offerings. God doesn't need our tithe. But we need to give through worship to God. And say, God, I recognize that all I have received comes from you.

[16:31] And I recognize that you have a great and grand mission on this earth. And I recognize my role, my responsibility in investing in that mission, in being a part of it.

[16:43] Partnering with you in that mission. So I'm going to invest in it. So, worship is giving God the best that he has given you.

[16:56] God doesn't need my money. But I need to give it to God. Then secondly, God blesses a grateful sacrifice. God blesses a grateful sacrifice.

[17:10] 2 Samuel 24 teaches us, David wrote, I will not offer to God offerings that cost me nothing. Y'all, I think that is an incredible principle to live by.

[17:23] Something I had to learn as an adult in my own ministry. God called me to vocational ministry, serving him.

[17:34] And this wasn't an area that I was strong in. God had to teach me. You need to give sacrificially. Give in a way that costs you something.

[17:46] Every year when I do my taxes, I look back at all the donations that I gave to the church. And I think, what are the things I could have done with that money? Man, we could have gone on a vacation. We could have invested it.

[17:57] We could have saved up, built up our savings. There's all kinds of things that I could have done with the money that I gave back to God. But then I realize, the investment that I am making in what is eternal, not what is temporary, what is going to last forever, not what's going to vanish away or break, that is priceless.

[18:24] That investment is priceless. And God promises blessings on us for the sacrifices we make for him. In his world, that little bit of money that I gave means very little.

[18:40] In my world, it means a lot. It's a sacrifice. It costs me something. It costs you something when you choose to give. And I know that.

[18:53] Our financial committee, our financial staff, we know that it costs you when you give. We thank God for the sacrifice that you make when you choose to support the ministry of this church and this place.

[19:12] But more than our appreciation, God promises his blessings. Because he loves it. He appreciates it. It warms his heart. It fills him with joy.

[19:24] It puts a smile on his face when his children take their relationship with him so seriously, they're willing to give something back to him. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 10.

[19:35] Would you look at it real quickly with me? It's the last book of the Old Testament. You got Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And right before Matthew is Malachi. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 8.

[19:45] For sake of time, I'm going to go ahead and read Malachi 3 and verse 8. Will a man rob God? Rhetorical question there. Kind of a deep philosophical question.

[19:58] Do we rob God sometimes? Will a man rob God, yet you are robbing me? This prophet Malachi is writing to God's people Israel.

[20:09] Will a man rob God, yet you are robbing me? Well, how do we rob you, you ask? They're asking back to God through the words of his prophet Malachi.

[20:20] How do we rob God? By not making the payments of the tenth. There's that tithe we talked about. Back then it was a tenth. The tenth and the contributions, the offerings on, above, and beyond just the tithe.

[20:36] Verse 9. You are suffering under a curse, yet you, the whole nation, are still robbing me. How many of you think this world is cursed? Anybody?

[20:47] I do. It's called sin. The curse is sin. It's going to destroy it eventually. Read about that in Revelation. Yet we still rob God.

[20:59] Verse 10. Bring the full tenth into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way, says the Lord of armies, and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.

[21:18] Now there have been pastors who have read this passage and said, see, if you give a tenth of your money to me and my ministry, so I can go get my second private jet, then God will return that to you tenfold.

[21:31] If you give $100, he'll give you $1,000. Well, that was never said. And if you put those kinds of words in God's mouth, then you're speaking on God's behalf, and I would never want to do that except for what he says in his word.

[21:46] So certainly that can be abused. But the principle is strong, and it is there, and it's very applicable for you and for me to say, if we will set aside sacrificially for God, then God will bless us for that.

[22:00] I don't know how he's going to bless you, but I promise you he will. It might be in your bank account. It might be with health. It might be keeping you from something.

[22:13] It might be letting your children be reconciled to you. You never know how God is going to intervene on your behalf, but when the Lord of armies, when the God over heaven and earth says, I will pour out blessings on you, I want to be under that waterfall, right?

[22:30] I want to be under that spout where the blessings come out. You like that? Get under the spout where the blessings come out. Probably heard that from somewhere else, but I liked it.

[22:45] That's where I want to live. I want to live right there where the blessings come out. So, we are to give sacrificially, because that is what God blesses.

[23:01] God doesn't need our money, but we need to give it to God. God blesses a grateful sacrifice. Don't give in a way that costs you nothing.

[23:11] Give in a way that costs you something. Costs you something meaningful. Give your best to God. James 1 teaches us that every good thing comes from God.

[23:27] So, why would we not give back the best to the one who gives us every good thing? The last reason. The last reason we partner through giving is because the Holy Spirit stirs us to give to God's mission.

[23:46] Apologize for how the slide's cut off there on the bottom. There's some kind of disconnect between how it looks on my computer and how it looks on the screen. So, we're going to figure that out, all right? Before next Sunday, we'll figure it out. But if you can bear with me here, the Holy Spirit stirs me to give to God's mission.

[24:01] Exodus 36 and 2 Corinthians 9, I believe it is. Double check on that. Yep, 2 Corinthians 9 and Exodus 36. They both show us instances where the Holy Spirit stirs up someone to partner, to give sacrificially, okay?

[24:20] I'm reminded of another instance where there was a woman with a box of expensive perfume and she came and she didn't, she was a poor woman. She didn't have much, but she came and broke it and poured the perfume over Jesus.

[24:36] She gave it all to him because the Holy Spirit of God moved her to do that and that was all she had. That was the best. That was everything she could do.

[24:47] So, she came and gave it to God. There's the story of the widow, the widow's mites. Anybody remember that story? The widow had mites, the two small coins. She had two small coins and she came and gave it and Jesus said that is so much more meaningful than the rich person who gives far much more money but they're not giving it in a sacrificial way because this woman was moved by the Spirit of God to do what she had.

[25:14] She hath done what she could, the Bible says. She has done what she could do. So, our question in giving is have we done what we could?

[25:31] Maybe there comes a point where God wants to move me from giving 10% of my income to giving more than 10% because I could do more.

[25:42] Maybe God wants to move you from not giving to giving something because you could give something. This poor, poor woman gave two coins because that's all she could do and God said she will be blessed for that.

[26:04] That is meaningful. That is sacrifice. God looks on the heart. Man looks on the outward appearance and the outward appearance means very little to God.

[26:16] It's the heart that matters because usually from the heart is what eventually will come out. What's on the inside will come out on the outside.

[26:28] So, God is always concerned with dealing with our hearts. He's dealt with my heart a lot over the years. He's brought me through some hard lessons that I had to take to heart.

[26:42] And now the Holy Spirit stirs me to act on God's mission. To partner with God. So I try to listen to the Holy Spirit.

[26:55] I'm not perfect in it. If any of y'all ever get perfect in it teach me your ways. But we all need to take our next step in partnering with God through giving.

[27:07] So, we partner through giving. And we partner through serving. We partner through serving. How do we partner through serving?

[27:18] Philippians chapter 2 gives us a wonderful illustration of that. Philippians 2 it says let this mind be in you. Which was also in Jesus Christ.

[27:30] who being in the form of God did not think it robbery to be equal with God. But instead made himself of no reputation took upon him the form of a servant.

[27:46] And was made in the likeness of men. Talking about how Jesus laid down his throne in heaven stepped down to this earth keeping 100% God but also becoming 100% man.

[28:03] And he laid down his life as a servant for you and for me. So he is our example. We must follow in his steps and so we partner not just through giving but we also partner through serving.

[28:15] You see you might be the kind of person who says man I don't want to get out there and do anything in the church. I'll just sit back there and write the checks. I'll sit back there and pay the bills. Number one thank you for partnering and giving.

[28:27] God will bless you for that as long as your heart is to give sacrificially to God. But we need your service too. We need your service too. That doesn't mean you have to do the most physically strenuous thing if that's not the stage of life you're in where you can do that.

[28:43] But it means you can partner in prayer. It means you can partner in giving advice to those who have maybe not walked in those steps yet and you have. Maybe there's something you have to give a way you have to serve and God is keeping you in this church in this place for that reason don't miss it.

[29:02] Don't miss the blessing of doing God's work according to God's call. So we partner through serving and we do it by serving God and by serving people.

[29:16] Would you take me to the next slide because this just stopped working for some reason. There we go. Got it. Got it back. How to partner through serving we serve God and we serve people.

[29:29] The mission statement of this church says and we'll read it toward the end of the service here the mission statement of this church says we are here to love God to seek truth and to serve people. So we can summarize that by saying we serve God and we serve people and we do it because we love him because he first loved us.

[29:46] Right? So we do it from a heart out of love and appreciation for God and so if we love God we will then serve. You look at the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus came to Bethany to visit his friends Lazarus, Mary, and Martha and we watched them in The Chosen just a couple of weeks ago and you see that Mary just wanted to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to him soak in his teaching.

[30:12] She, Jesus was the most important thing to her in that moment. Martha, Jesus said was all worried about serving about doing all the things preparing the food for them getting everything ready cleaning the house fixing everything up.

[30:26] She was all worried about that kind of service. She wasn't serving God in that moment. It looked like she was but Jesus made it clear.

[30:43] He said, Martha, you are worried about many things. Mary, your sister, is worried about the most important thing and that's sitting at my feet. So you say, we're talking about serving.

[30:58] Why are you using Mary as an example? Because she's the one who didn't serve. Because she spent time with Jesus. You know what happens when you spend time with Jesus?

[31:09] Jesus, then you begin to think how he thinks. You begin to look where he looks. The things that are important to him become important to you.

[31:21] And we see a picture of that. When Jesus had talked to the woman at the well, this adulterous, wicked woman was at the well drawing water and Jesus stopped and talked to her and showed her the truth and she placed her faith in Jesus and she went back to tell her whole city about how God had changed her life.

[31:42] And the disciples came up and they said, what happened here? We went to find lunch and you talked to this woman and now she's back there telling everybody all about you.

[31:57] Jesus said, lift up your eyes and look on the fields around you. And they're looking around like, are you talking about the cornfield over there? Jesus said, no, no, I'm not talking about crops.

[32:07] I'm talking about people. Lift up your eyes and look on the fields of people. He said, they are white already unto harvest. Like they're showing signs that they're ready to be harvested.

[32:19] He said, my priorities is always going to be the people seeing them turn from darkness to light.

[32:31] Paul said, my heart's desire and my prayer to God is that the lost would be saved. He had spent enough time with Jesus to get Jesus' heart's desire, to get God's heart's desire.

[32:44] So when, like Mary, you sit at Jesus' feet, you will begin then to get up from your seated position and to go out with Jesus hand in hand following in his footsteps and carrying the gospel to the lost around you.

[33:00] And you'll do that through the ministry of your local church. church, this church has a mission to carry the gospel to those who need it. The good news of Jesus.

[33:12] And you can go on mission by serving in this church. That might be singing in the choir. That might be teaching a Sunday school class. That might be serving on a team.

[33:24] That might be greeting people when they walk in the door. That might be joining a prayer ministry. That might be whatever God lays on your heart to do. Might be going out and inviting somebody to come on Sunday and see what God's doing in this church.

[33:38] But you can partner through serving. And when we do that, we are serving God by serving people. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 58. It will be done.

[33:49] Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

[34:01] We got two words in this verse. Work and labor. How many of you think you gotta work your way to heaven? You gotta work to pay for your sins? It's the labor that you do for God that earns you eternal life in heaven.

[34:16] Thankfully, no hands were raised. I'm glad because that is not the gospel, right? There's nothing we can do to get to God. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2, there's not by works of righteousness that we have done.

[34:27] By His mercy, He saved us. So, we can't work our way into favor with God, but we can work to see God's mission accomplished on this earth to earn up crowns in heaven.

[34:39] And someday, when we stand before God, we'll be able to say, Jesus, this is what I did for you because you did everything for me. So, God is challenging us through this verse in 1 Corinthians to always abound in the work of the Lord.

[34:55] Keep growing. Keep overflowing. Not just a little bit, right? Maybe you start with just a little bit of service. Man, I showed up to church today. What more do you want from me, right?

[35:07] But then you take another step. Okay, now all of a sudden I'm coming down here and passing the plate during the offering time. I'm an usher. Now I'm on the greeting team. Now I'm helping out in the children's ministry or the youth ministry.

[35:20] Man, these youth workers have been in this youth ministry for a long time, some of them. Some of them might need a break and some of you might need to step into their place. So, what's the next step for you in service?

[35:36] What's the next step for you? Back in Philippians chapter 1, verse 3, I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you because of your partnership in the gospel.

[35:49] And then down in verse 6, I'm sure of this, that he who started this good work in you, he's going to carry it on to completion. That's that always abounding.

[36:01] Okay? What's your next step in God carrying on to completion the good work he started in you?

[36:14] So, how do we abound? How do we carry it on to completion, this partnership with God through serving? God, what do you want me to give?

[36:27] How do you want me to serve? Two questions, I pray that every person in here, young, old, and everybody in between, would ask ourselves as we leave the church today.

[36:40] That God would bring it back to our minds tomorrow morning when we wake up. God, what do you want me to give? God, how do you want me to serve? You know, if you ask God those questions, he'll give you answers.

[36:54] He'll give you answers. And then it's our privilege to respond and say, God, I will give what you want me to give. Not what Pastor Sam thinks I should give.

[37:06] Not what my parents think I should give. Not what my, whoever thinks I should give. God, what you want me to give. Not what my financial advisor thinks I should give because he may want you to cut out that charitable giving.

[37:20] You don't have enough money for that. It's not charitable giving when you're giving it to God. It is in the eyes of the IRS, but God doesn't need our charity. But we need to give it to God.

[37:31] So God, what do you want me to give? And then God, how do you want me to serve? Maybe I've been serving in a way that's been draining me. God, maybe you prepared me or equipped me to do something else.

[37:42] Show me what it is you want me to do at this moment in my life and then whatever it is, I will do it. So our takeaway for today, what is my next step?

[37:54] What's my next step to go on mission for God by partnering with his church? Can we pray together? God, I ask that you would show us what that next step is.

[38:04] There are people all across this room whose hearts are willing. I know it. I believe it. I've seen it. Show us what you want us to give to you and then show us how you want us to serve you.

[38:23] So many people in this room can point back to a time when they placed their faith in you for the forgiveness of their sins. they repented and they turned to you and said, God, I'm turning from my sin and I'm turning to Jesus.

[38:37] I believe that he alone can save me because he died for me. He rose from the dead. He is God. He has the power to save me. Since that day, many of the people in this room have been serving you.

[38:54] They've been growing. They've been trying to do what you want for their lives. God, there's tired Christians in this room. People who have been balancing family and work and relationships and hobbies and all that while also trying to be faithful in church and be faithful in serving God and the Bible tells us not to grow weary in doing well because if we don't give up, we will reap a great harvest.

[39:31] You'll do something great. We know that your strength is enough. Your grace is enough. God, I pray over every man and woman in this room, every teenager, every child, that they would taste how good you are.

[39:52] As they leave here today, this week, that they would taste how good you are. that your goodness would inspire every one of us to give a little more back to you, to do a little more out of our love for you.

[40:14] I can never out give you, God. I can never out serve you. thank you for the privilege of being your children, being on mission for you together.

[40:26] It's in Jesus' name we pray. llamod Vailletteợp over the earth they areiar시