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00:00 Have you ever seen someone who's really, really rich
00:05 and thought to yourself, if I were rich,
00:10 I'd be better at being rich than they are?
00:13 How many of you ever thought that?
00:14 Be honest, raise your hand.
00:15 Online, you can type it in the comment section,
00:17 I would be better at being rich than they are.
00:21 I don't know what it would mean for you,
00:22 but you might think I wouldn't spend my money
00:26 on dumb stuff like dumb rich people do.
00:30 I spend my money on different things.
00:32 You might say I'd spend more on experiences
00:36 or I would spend more with people or I might travel more,
00:41 but definitely beyond a shadow of a doubt,
00:43 I would be way, way, way more generous
00:47 with the money that God entrusted to me
00:49 than those rich people.
00:51 If I were rich, I would be better at being rich
00:56 than those rich people are.
00:57 Now, what's funny to me about the subject of wealth
01:01 and generosity is that most of us think that we're not rich.
01:06 And the truth is, many of us are richer
01:11 than we think we are.
01:12 Most of us think that we're not rich and we really are.
01:16 And most of us think that we're generous
01:19 and we're really not.
01:21 Welcome to Life.Church, where I promise to step on your toes
01:26 at least once today.
01:28 What's interesting is most of us think
01:30 that we're really not rich, but I wanna tell you
01:32 that you're probably richer than you think you are.
01:35 But the reason you think you're not rich
01:37 is because you know a lot of people a lot richer than you.
01:41 And the problem is that if we do get more,
01:44 we never really know where the rich line is.
01:49 For example, if you do actually name a number
01:51 and say one day if I made this much money in income,
01:55 or if I had this much money in the bank,
01:57 if you name a number and you say, there's the line,
01:59 the funny thing is that when you come up to
02:02 and cross the line, what does the line do?
02:05 The line actually moves.
02:07 You thought if I just got to this point,
02:09 then I would have plenty.
02:11 And then one day you have that much
02:13 and the line tends to move.
02:15 The reason why most of us don't think that we're rich
02:19 is because we just don't feel like we're rich.
02:22 In fact, I can just give you real numbers.
02:23 When we started the church years ago,
02:25 I remember telling Amy,
02:26 if we could one day just make $40,000 a year,
02:31 we would be so, so rich.
02:34 And several years later with six children,
02:38 we made $40,000 a year and I didn't feel rich at all.
02:43 We were very blessed, but we didn't feel that way.
02:49 And so what I wanna do is suggest that most of you
02:53 are actually richer than you think you are.
02:56 So if you ever wake up one day and say,
02:58 wow, God has actually blessed me.
03:02 I am rich.
03:04 We wanna be rich in a way that honors God.
03:09 So let's all pray.
03:10 Father, we thank you that you're a good God
03:13 that blesses your children with good gifts.
03:16 May we honor you with wisdom and wise stewardship
03:22 as you bless us, God.
03:25 Help us be a blessing to others.
03:26 We pray this in Jesus' name.
03:27 And everybody said, amen.
03:29 All right, today we are going to conclude
03:32 our message series called "More Than Enough."
03:35 And we're gonna finish our study
03:37 in 2 Corinthians 9.
03:39 We'll start in a moment in verse 11.
03:41 But first I wanna give credit to North Point Church
03:44 who does an annual series called "Be Rich"
03:47 for the idea behind this message series.
03:50 I'm grateful to them and will be using some of their ideas
03:54 as well as a lot of my own.
03:56 I wanna start with a question.
03:58 What do you wanna hear first?
03:59 I'm gonna let you vote on this.
03:59 Do you wanna hear the good news first
04:02 or do you wanna hear the bad news first?
04:03 How many say, hear the good news first?
04:05 Raise your hands, raise 'em up, raise 'em up.
04:06 How many say no, let's get the bad news out of the way.
04:08 Raise 'em up, raise 'em up.
04:09 Okay, bad news wins.
04:10 The problem is good news isn't in my notes.
04:12 So we're going with what's in my notes.
04:13 Sorry about that.
04:14 Okay, let's start with the good news.
04:17 Are you ready for the good news?
04:18 The good news is you are richer than you think you are.
04:23 That's good news.
04:26 You're richer than you think you are.
04:27 In fact, God's Word says in 2 Corinthians 9, 8, it says this,
04:31 "God will generously provide all that you need.
04:36 "Then you will always have everything you need
04:41 "and plenty left over to share with others."
04:47 You have all that you need and you'll have some left over
04:50 to share with other people.
04:51 Yes, you will be, what, let's all say this word aloud.
04:53 Yes, you will be enriched in every way.
04:57 I wanna talk to you about the word enriched for a minute.
05:00 This word enriched only appears in Scripture three times
05:05 and each time it appears in the Book of Corinthians
05:07 and I'm gonna show you the Greek word
05:09 and here's the pronunciation.
05:11 I am not even going to try to say this word.
05:14 But what I wanna do is show you how this word is translated
05:18 in different versions of the Bible.
05:20 It's translated in the CEV,
05:22 you will be blessed in every way.
05:25 It's translated in GWT, God will make you rich enough.
05:30 It's translated in the CEV,
05:32 you will be made rich in every way.
05:35 You will be enriched, you will be blessed,
05:37 you will be made rich, you'll have everything that you need,
05:40 Scripture says, and some left over.
05:44 And that's why I wanna tell you today
05:46 that most of you, you're richer than you think you are.
05:50 And that's really good news.
05:52 It's odd that none of you are cheering.
05:55 And they're like, yeah!
05:57 Nobody leaned over to their spouse and said,
05:59 "I'm so relieved.
06:01 "We're actually rich and I didn't know it.
06:04 "I thought we were struggling, but we're really,
06:06 "I'm just so relieved."
06:07 And again, most of us don't believe that we're rich
06:11 because we don't feel rich, and that's a challenge.
06:16 I wanna say for a moment that I am aware, very aware,
06:20 in fact, very prayerful, that there are some of you
06:23 that are significantly hurting right now.
06:26 I know of some in our life
06:28 that are facing a mountain of medical bills.
06:31 We've got one friend that's been unemployed
06:32 for quite some time.
06:34 We know some single parents that are working two
06:36 and three jobs just trying to make ends meet.
06:39 And so I do wanna acknowledge that there is real,
06:42 significant financial pain, even represented here.
06:45 The same time, I wanna say just lovingly and truthfully,
06:50 compared to most people in the world,
06:53 the majority of us are doing pretty good.
06:56 I mean, when you got a thousand dollar phone
06:59 that you can play video games on and take selfies,
07:02 that's better than a lot of people around the world.
07:05 And we have choices.
07:06 When you think about the choices we have,
07:08 the options we have,
07:09 we're actually doing better than you might think.
07:12 For example, you can, you have the choice,
07:14 you can make coffee at home in the morning.
07:18 Or you can actually pay someone to make your coffee
07:22 as you drive to work.
07:24 Compared to a lot of the world,
07:25 that's really pretty blessed, right?
07:27 I think about groceries.
07:28 The fact that you actually can go to a store
07:30 that's got groceries, that's better than most of the world.
07:35 And many of you, you're rich enough
07:37 where you don't have to buy the generic.
07:40 You can get the name brand macaroni and cheese
07:43 anytime you want to.
07:44 That's pretty good.
07:46 Compared to most of the rest of the world,
07:49 when you drive a car, they're envious.
07:53 Only about one in five of the people living today own a car.
07:57 If you got here in a car,
07:59 you're in the top 20% of people living today.
08:02 Some of you, like me, we're so rich, we got two cars.
08:06 And I hate to admit this out loud,
08:07 but I'll just go ahead and say it.
08:09 Don't judge me.
08:10 We are so blessed that we have a house for our cars.
08:16 Like for real.
08:20 Like I drive up to it, I push a button, the door opens.
08:23 I drive my cars into a house for my cars
08:27 to keep them protected from the elements.
08:29 My kids are not that rich.
08:31 Their cars are vulnerable to all the extreme elements,
08:35 but my car goes into a house.
08:39 Some of you, you see where I'm going with this.
08:41 Some of you, you're so rich that you'll drive your car
08:44 to something called a restaurant
08:46 where someone else makes your food,
08:50 meaning someone else killed the chicken
08:52 and cooked the chicken and put it on your plate
08:56 and put a little green thing, decoration thing on your plate
09:00 next to when I brought it out.
09:01 And some of you are so rich,
09:03 you will literally drive by seven or eight or nine or 10
09:07 different restaurants to get to your favorite one.
09:12 And some of you, you're so rich,
09:14 you'll even fight with the people you love
09:17 about which restaurant you want to go to.
09:20 And I even know someone who's so rich, just one person,
09:24 they will eat more than they need to
09:27 because that's how blessed that they are.
09:31 And so I want to tell you some really good news
09:34 is that most of you, you're actually richer
09:35 than you think you are.
09:37 So if you're gonna be good at being rich
09:42 in a way that honors God, the first thing we have to do
09:44 is we have to admit that we're rich.
09:47 So I want you to say this with me, if you don't mind.
09:48 Everybody just say this with me.
09:50 Say it aloud.
09:51 God has blessed me with more than I need.
09:55 I'm rich.
09:58 Let's say this again.
09:59 Those of you online, you can type it in the comment section.
10:01 If you want to, but let's say it again
10:05 in a way that you start to internalize the truth of it.
10:08 Ready?
10:08 God has blessed me with more than I need.
10:12 I'm rich.
10:13 One more time, just slow it down.
10:14 I want you to just feel it.
10:16 God has blessed me with more than I need.
10:21 I'm rich.
10:22 Now, I'm guessing that for a few of you,
10:25 just saying those words, I'm rich,
10:27 probably made you a little bit uncomfortable.
10:29 If it makes you uncomfortable, I get it.
10:32 Because I grew up, I think I was actually taught
10:35 that rich people are bad.
10:37 That rich people did something wrong, that they're selfish.
10:39 I know some of you are, what are you talking about?
10:40 Like I honestly think that I was taught that
10:43 because I grew up believing that rich people are bad,
10:46 people who can't trust them, and they're selfish.
10:48 I want you to pause for a moment.
10:49 If you feel uncomfortable at all saying
10:52 that I am blessed by God, I am rich,
10:56 why do you think you're uncomfortable admitting that?
10:59 'Cause I'll ask you this,
11:01 where do all of your blessings come from?
11:03 They come from God, right?
11:06 In fact, when it comes to financial blessings
11:08 and every other kind of blessing, they come from God.
11:10 And Scripture tells us this in Ecclesiastes 5,
11:12 moreover, when who gives someone wealth?
11:15 Scripture says whenever God gives someone wealth
11:18 and possessions and the ability to enjoy them,
11:20 to accept their lot and be happy in their toil,
11:22 what is this?
11:24 This is a gift from God.
11:25 So anything good that you have
11:27 is actually a gift from God.
11:30 And so if God does bless you financially,
11:33 why would you apologize or be embarrassed
11:36 by financial blessings when you don't apologize
11:39 or be embarrassed for other types of blessings?
11:41 Like if someone compliments your jacket,
11:43 you tend to apologize for it.
11:45 Like, oh, this ratty thing, I got it on sale.
11:48 I got it at the Salvation.
11:49 You tend to apologize.
11:50 But if someone compliments your marriage and says,
11:52 oh, you've got an amazing marriage,
11:54 you don't say, oh yeah, she's just an old hag.
11:57 You don't say that.
11:57 You better not say it.
11:59 Or you're not gonna have a good marriage.
12:01 Oh, he's not as good as he looks.
12:05 You're not gonna say that.
12:07 But if someone says you're blessed financially,
12:11 we often feel embarrassed.
12:14 I want you to say it again.
12:16 God has blessed me with more than I need.
12:20 I'm rich.
12:21 And the good news is you're richer than you think you are.
12:24 Now for the bad news, and it actually is bad news.
12:28 The good news is you're richer than you think you are.
12:31 And the bad news is you're richer than you think you are.
12:35 It's actually bad news.
12:38 Because most people I know really wanna be rich
12:42 and massively rich.
12:44 But I wanna remind you that it is a significant
12:48 spiritual disadvantage to be distracted
12:52 by the wealth of this world.
12:55 In fact, there was a rich young guy
12:57 that came up to Jesus one time and said,
13:00 "Jesus, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life?"
13:03 And Jesus said, "You need to obey the commands."
13:04 The guy said, "I've done all that, I've done all that."
13:06 And Jesus, knowing the condition of this guy's heart,
13:10 looked at him and loved him.
13:12 And he said, "There's one more thing you need to do."
13:14 Jesus said, "You need to go sell your possessions
13:17 "and then give the money to the poor."
13:19 Now, Jesus didn't tell this man to sell his possessions
13:23 because the man had possessions.
13:26 Jesus told him to sell his possessions
13:28 because the possessions had him.
13:31 His heart was taken up by them.
13:32 It was a spiritual distraction.
13:34 And the man was very, very sad because he had great wealth.
13:38 In fact, we read the parable in Luke 18,
13:40 Jesus looked at him and said,
13:41 "How hard is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of God?"
13:47 Indeed, it's easier for a camel
13:49 to go through the eye of a needle
13:51 than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
13:55 It's actually a disadvantage spiritually
13:59 to be distracted by the things of this world.
14:01 And when you're rich, you never get to pray.
14:05 "Lord, give me today my daily bread
14:10 "because you already got a cabinet full
14:12 "of every kind of gluten-free,
14:15 "raisin-filled waffle toast bread that you could imagine."
14:19 And the more that you have,
14:22 the easier it is to put your trust in what you have
14:27 instead of putting your trust in God.
14:32 So if we're more blessed and more rich than we think we are,
14:36 if God has blessed us with more than we need,
14:39 why did God bless us?
14:43 Is it so you can get your nails done once a week?
14:45 Is it so you can play golf on the best golf courses around?
14:51 Is it so you can get your dream car or travel
14:54 or spend it all on yourself?
14:56 And the answer is maybe it's for some of that,
15:01 meaning God blesses you
15:02 and he may want you to get your nails done
15:05 maybe once every two weeks 'cause they're pretty expensive.
15:06 But I don't know, you do whatever you do.
15:08 You do your boo-boo, okay.
15:10 (congregation laughing)
15:12 But ultimately, the fundamental mistake
15:15 that many of us make is we tend to think
15:17 whenever God gives us more,
15:20 all the more is for us.
15:25 The mistake that we make is we think
15:27 whenever God blesses us with more,
15:29 that it's actually for us.
15:33 In fact, Jesus told a parable
15:35 about this very, very subject in Luke chapter 12.
15:37 He talked about a rich farmer that had a very, very good year.
15:41 God had blessed the farmer with a bountiful crop.
15:45 And so the farmer said, "Hey, this is what I'm gonna do.
15:49 I'll tear down my barns and I'll build bigger ones.
15:52 And there I'll store my surplus grain."
15:56 Our version of that is our closet is so full of clothes
16:00 and yet we walk by and we touch them all.
16:02 And what do we say?
16:03 I've got nothing to wear.
16:04 Our closet is so full that we put stuff in our garage,
16:07 but then our garage becomes so full
16:09 we can't drive our car into it.
16:10 So we actually rent storage places
16:13 to store all of our stuff.
16:15 And yet we think we're not rich,
16:18 even though we can't keep all of our stuff
16:20 in our closet and in our garage
16:23 and we need an additional storage place.
16:24 This is what this guy was thinking.
16:26 I'll build bigger barns for myself.
16:28 I'll store my surplus grain there.
16:29 And I'll say to myself,
16:30 you have plenty of grain laid up for many years.
16:32 Take life easy, eat, drink and be merry, he said.
16:37 But God said to him,
16:40 you fool, this very night,
16:45 your life will be demanded from you.
16:47 Then who will get what you prepared for yourself?
16:51 This is how it will be
16:53 with whoever stores up things for themselves,
16:57 but is not rich toward God.
17:02 This is how it will be for anyone
17:04 who thinks that everything is for them.
17:08 And what's crazy about this story
17:10 is that God wasn't angry with the man for being rich.
17:14 He was a farmer.
17:16 God was the one who blessed him, right?
17:19 God made him rich.
17:20 He planted seed in God's ground
17:23 and God sent the rain and the sun.
17:25 God made him rich.
17:27 God called him a fool
17:28 because the guy thought it all belonged to him.
17:33 So if we're gonna be rich in a way that honors God,
17:37 let's look at God's Word
17:39 and apply what it says to our lives.
17:41 This is our key text.
17:42 We looked at the beginning of it,
17:43 now we're gonna look at the end.
17:44 You will be enriched.
17:45 There's that fancy Greek word.
17:46 You'll be enriched in every way.
17:49 Why?
17:51 So you can buy 14 pair of shoes,
17:54 even though it's only seven days in the week.
17:57 So you can get more jewelry
17:59 than anybody that you know in your sorority.
18:02 No, you're gonna be made rich in every way so that what?
18:05 So say it out loud.
18:06 So that you can always be generous.
18:11 Why is God going to bless us?
18:14 So that we can always be generous.
18:17 And when you take your gifts to those who need them,
18:22 what are they gonna do?
18:23 They're actually gonna thank God.
18:26 Here's what's amazing.
18:27 You're richer than you think you are.
18:30 And the good news is you've been blessed by God
18:34 so that you can always be generous.
18:39 So with that in mind,
18:40 let's add to our statement that we've been saying.
18:43 We're gonna add a little line to it.
18:44 Let's say the first part, say it with me.
18:46 God has blessed me with more than I need, I'm rich.
18:51 Now, because I have more, I will do more and give more.
18:56 Let's say it one more time.
18:59 So slow it down, even quiet and just feel it.
19:04 God has blessed me with more than I need, I'm rich.
19:09 Because I have more, I will do more and I will give more.
19:14 So how do you do more?
19:17 And how do you give more?
19:20 And the answer is we actually do it together.
19:27 We do more and we give more together
19:32 through the church and as the church.
19:37 And here's what's amazing,
19:38 is nobody's ever gonna feel like they're doing a ton.
19:43 You're gonna say, hey, all I do is serve
19:46 an hour a week in LifeKids.
19:48 All I do is smile at people
19:50 and make them feel welcome on the front door.
19:52 Hey, all I do is give a portion of what God trusts to me.
19:55 It's not even a lot, but I give it back to God
19:58 through the local church.
20:00 And you're not gonna think that you do a whole lot,
20:03 but when every single one of us in the church,
20:07 as the church does our part,
20:10 we actually make a massive difference in the world.
20:15 In fact, I wanna show you how big of a difference you make.
20:22 And this is mind blowing, God glorifying truth.
20:27 How many of you have ever invited someone
20:30 to come to church with you?
20:31 Raise your hands up, raise your hands up.
20:32 Excellent, some of you brought someone today.
20:34 Almost everybody I've brought someone with.
20:35 Let me tell you how God has used your little invitation
20:40 to change lives.
20:41 The church started in 1996.
20:44 Fast forward 28 years.
20:46 How much do you think our church has grown
20:49 every year on average for 28 years?
20:53 I will answer it and tell you,
20:54 if we grew by 3% year over year over year over year
20:58 over year over year over decade over decade,
21:01 that would be amazing.
21:03 If we grew 5% on average every year,
21:07 that would be mind blowing.
21:09 If there was a church that grew 7% year over year over year
21:14 over year over year for 28 consecutive years,
21:18 average growth at 7%, people would call that a revival.
21:21 But because of your little part
21:24 of consistently inviting people,
21:26 our church has grown at an average of 21% annually
21:31 for 28 years, may God be glorified.
21:38 Through one invitation followed by another.
21:42 That alone would be worth our tithe.
21:45 That alone would be worth every single hour
21:48 that we use our gifts to be a blessing to other people.
21:52 But that's not all that God does through our church.
21:55 You take, that's physical attendance alone.
21:58 There are literally millions of people
22:01 at countries around the world
22:04 that attend Life.Church online every single week
22:07 with tens of thousands of salvations.
22:12 That alone would be worthy of everything
22:15 that we could do to impact people around the world.
22:18 (congregation applauding)
22:20 But wait, there's more.
22:21 There's a Ginsu knife with this thing.
22:24 No, that not only do we impact people in physical locations
22:28 and digitally around the world,
22:30 but our church provides free resources
22:33 to churches all over the world.
22:37 And to give you a little bit of context,
22:38 there are about 350,000 churches in the United States,
22:42 about 350,000 churches.
22:45 How many pastors around the world
22:47 do you think have downloaded free resources?
22:49 The answer is over 700,000 pastors,
22:54 more than double the number of churches
22:59 in the United States.
23:02 And we haven't even talked about the YouVersion Bible app.
23:05 People are calling it the greatest Bible engagement tool
23:08 in the history of the world.
23:10 The YouVersion Bible,
23:11 this is people opening it right now, live,
23:13 like right now, this is,
23:14 you can tell where people are awake
23:15 and in other parts of the world, they're not awake yet.
23:17 Right now, live at this moment,
23:19 opening, opening, opening, opening.
23:20 The YouVersion Bible app family
23:21 is now on over 700 million devices
23:25 on its way to a billion, funded by your little bit,
23:30 on top of your little bit, on top of your little bit,
23:32 100% funded by donors to give it away to free.
23:37 And if you don't know, as a church, we got big vision.
23:41 When it comes to the Bible,
23:42 we wanna see God's Word available to everyone,
23:45 everywhere, every day,
23:48 and we will not stop doing our part
23:51 until they have access.
23:53 (congregation applauding)
23:55 Glory to God, glory to God.
23:57 When you do your little part, say,
23:59 "Craig, what about all the other needs in the world?
24:02 "What are we doing to meet needs of people?"
24:04 Well, when you do your little part,
24:06 and I do my little part,
24:08 and 45 different Life.Church locations do their part,
24:12 we actually touch a lot of people.
24:14 Tell you some behind the scenes.
24:16 We have full-time staff members.
24:20 Their only job is to research, investigate, study,
24:25 and find the very best mission partners to work with
24:30 in the very most important areas of needs around the world.
24:35 You wanna help somebody, we have full-time people
24:37 who have looked into every ministry nearby
24:40 to find the very best,
24:42 and we don't just send money, but we send people.
24:45 Every time we send dollars, we send volunteers,
24:48 not just money, but people to help
24:51 these different ministries,
24:52 and we have 130 local mission partners
24:56 served by local people just like you,
24:59 and 13 global mission partners, and what do we do?
25:03 I can't tell you all, but I will show you.
25:06 This is a list of every different ministry
25:08 touched through the body of Christ.
25:10 Bible translations for every heart,
25:12 marriage ministry for hurting ministry,
25:13 help for exploited children,
25:14 providing clean drinking water, community empowerment,
25:17 discipleship for new believers.
25:18 I'll skip down.
25:19 Provision for experiencing daily food scarcity,
25:20 support for those trapped,
25:21 enforced marriage, ministry to gang members,
25:23 ongoing help for the homeless, human trafficking,
25:25 leadership development, leadership training.
25:28 You wanna take a picture of that?
25:29 If you wanna take a picture so you can look at it,
25:30 I'll smile.
25:31 (congregation applauding)
25:32 If you wanna, so you can look at it later.
25:33 What is this?
25:38 This is through the local church.
25:40 This is the greatest mutual fund
25:45 of ministry giving known to mankind.
25:48 When you give your time, when you give your heart.
25:52 (congregation applauding)
25:55 Here's what I want you to feel.
25:57 Let this sink in.
26:01 Because I have more than I need and can share with somebody.
26:08 And because you may have a little more time than you need
26:11 or a little more resources than you need,
26:13 blessed by God, as a church family,
26:15 we are big enough to reach the world.
26:20 Do you see it?
26:22 And we are small enough to care for the one.
26:25 We are big enough to impact every corner
26:29 of every continent, every country in the world.
26:35 And yet we're small enough
26:38 to where somebody is gonna know your name
26:40 and somebody is gonna know your story.
26:43 And you can do the same for someone else.
26:47 If we're gonna be rich, we're gonna be rich
26:51 in a way that honors God.
26:53 We're gonna be rich in a way that loves those
26:56 who are hurting.
26:57 We're gonna be rich in a way that helps those who are broken.
27:02 And I wanna try to close out with this story.
27:05 Hope I don't get too emotional.
27:08 This story's about Beth.
27:09 And Beth was not a Christian.
27:13 Her husband had cheated on her
27:14 and she ended up being a single mom.
27:16 And she said later on, she said,
27:18 "I was either mad at God or I didn't believe in God.
27:20 "I didn't know if I believed in God,
27:22 "but if there was a God, I was mad at him, furious at God."
27:24 And a friend, kind of like one of you,
27:26 maybe was one of you, kept inviting her to church.
27:29 You gotta come to church with me.
27:30 You gotta come to church with me.
27:30 You gotta come to church with me.
27:31 That's like, I'm not coming to your stupid church.
27:33 If there is a God, I don't like him, I'm not coming.
27:36 And Beth hit a really, really low point and thought,
27:39 well, maybe I'll come to church.
27:42 But she didn't want her friend to know she was given in.
27:45 So she went to a different service
27:47 so her friend wouldn't know she was actually going to church.
27:50 And when the offering bucket came by,
27:52 she said, "Well, here it goes.
27:53 "All they want is your money."
27:55 And she said, "I got nothing.
27:57 "I'm a single mom, I'm in big trouble."
27:59 And the campus pastor said the same thing
28:01 that we've said, I've said since day number one,
28:03 if there's somebody here that's in need,
28:06 you can take back out of the offering
28:08 and let God meet your need in that way.
28:10 And she heard that and she was disoriented.
28:12 She's like, "What?
28:13 "Did I just hear that right,
28:15 "you can take back out of the offering?"
28:17 And she's like, "Well, I'm in need," she told me.
28:19 And so she took out.
28:20 And she walked away going, "That wasn't that bad.
28:24 "And I got lunch paid for."
28:26 And so she thought, "I'll go back again."
28:28 And she went back again.
28:30 And she felt welcome from other people.
28:33 And the offering bucket came by and she took out.
28:36 And for week after week after week,
28:38 she came, the people growing on her a little bit,
28:40 the music growing on her a little bit,
28:42 the message growing on her a little bit.
28:44 And every week, she took back out of the offering.
28:47 And then one week it hit her.
28:48 When she was taken out, the campus pastor said,
28:52 "Feel free to take back out
28:53 "and let God meet your need in that way."
28:58 And she looked down and she realized, "Wait a minute.
29:01 "This is actually God
29:02 "loving me and meeting my needs?"
29:09 And so on that day, as she told me later on,
29:11 when I explained the gospel, that God loved her so much
29:16 that Jesus gave his life to meet her deepest need,
29:22 her spiritual need.
29:25 That the innocent one died in her place
29:27 so that she could be forgiven.
29:28 Suddenly, God meeting her physical need transformed
29:31 and she recognized God met her deepest spiritual need.
29:34 And she lifted up both hands on that day
29:35 to surrender her life to Jesus.
29:37 Well, there was a lady that was behind her
29:39 and saw it happen and came up and said,
29:40 "Hey, saw you, dude, can I pray for you?"
29:43 And she's like, "Yes, you can."
29:44 She said, "Can I take you to lunch?"
29:45 She's like, "Yes, you can."
29:46 And they became friends.
29:47 And that lady invited her to her small group
29:49 and helped her find a better job.
29:51 And 18 months later, she married a guy from the life.
29:54 How good is that that God brought someone
29:57 from the life within which...
29:58 (congregation applauding)
30:00 Really, really cool is to this day, she's now a tither.
30:05 And every week she worships God with a tithe.
30:08 And every week she and her husband
30:09 take out a $20 bill in cash
30:11 and put extra as an offering into the offering plate
30:16 because she said, "If God could use someone else
30:18 "to meet my need, I wanna do the same thing
30:21 "for someone else."
30:25 That's who we're gonna be as a church.
30:27 And so without apology or reservation,
30:29 I wanna ask you, inspire you to give often,
30:33 give big, meet needs wherever you go.
30:38 I would encourage you to start with the church,
30:41 start with the tithe.
30:42 The first 10% goes back to God
30:45 as an act of worship through the local church.
30:47 And I'll tell you why I believe this.
30:49 Because Jesus said, "I will build my church
30:52 "and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
30:55 "If Jesus was building his church,
30:56 "if the church is plan A,
30:58 "I wanna be a part of building what Jesus is building."
31:01 Do you see it?
31:02 When we all do our little part through the church,
31:06 God does big things all over the world through the church.
31:09 That's why we are not spiritual consumers.
31:13 We're spiritual contributors.
31:15 The church doesn't exist for us.
31:18 We are the church and we exist for the world.
31:20 And one day you recognize it.
31:23 My little small part is actually a very big part
31:28 because our church is big enough to impact the world.
31:34 It's small enough to care for the one.
31:40 And so yes, scripture says,
31:44 "You will be enriched in every way."
31:48 Why?
31:50 So you can be generous on every occasion.
31:53 You can always be.
31:54 And when you take your gifts to those who need them,
31:58 they will thank God.
32:02 So I hope you see it as a responsibility.
32:08 You're richer than you think you are.
32:12 And the reason you are is so you can be generous
32:14 on every occasion.
32:15 And when you are, people around the world will thank God.
32:19 So one more time, very softly, let's all say it together.
32:23 God has blessed me with more than I need.
32:29 I'm rich because I have more, I will do more,
32:34 and I will give more.
32:37 And that's how you're rich in a way that honors God.
32:41 So Father, thank you that we're a part of your church,
32:46 your body.
32:48 Help us to be rich and be blessed in a way that honors you.
32:52 As you're reflecting today at all of our churches,
32:56 I wonder how many of you would say,
32:59 "I really wanna be blessed in a way that honors God."
33:04 Would you lift up your hands right now?
33:05 I hope every hand goes up.
33:06 You can type it in the comment section.
33:08 I wanna be blessed in a way that honors God.
33:12 Father, I thank you for what your Holy Spirit
33:14 is doing in all of us.
33:16 (gentle music)
33:18 Help us to realize, God, just how good you are
33:21 and just how blessed we are.
33:23 And God, I do pray for those who are facing
33:28 significant financial burdens,
33:30 and God, I pray that in community,
33:32 you would help meet those needs.
33:35 And God, I pray for the rest of us that really are blessed,
33:42 that really do have more than we need,
33:45 that we wouldn't see it as all just for us.
33:48 Sure, we'd enjoy a lot of it as a gift from you,
33:51 but we would take a portion of it
33:54 and use it in a way that honors you
33:58 and blesses and meets the needs of others.
34:01 God, help us as a church to grow in irrational generosity
34:07 because we know it's truly more blessed
34:09 to give than to receive.
34:11 As you keep praying today at all of our different churches
34:15 and those of you online, nobody looking around,
34:17 I want you to hear the story of Jesus
34:20 in the same way that Beth did years ago.
34:23 God doesn't just wanna meet your physical needs,
34:27 but more than anything else,
34:30 he wants to meet your spiritual need.
34:32 If we sat down and had a conversation,
34:34 I said, "Hey, how are you doing with God?"
34:36 Some of you would say, "Ah, I don't know.
34:38 I'm trying to be good," whatever.
34:40 I'd say, "How are you doing in life?"
34:41 You're like, "Ah, I'm looking for that thing
34:42 that's gonna make me happy.
34:43 I'm looking, I'm trying, I'm trying, trying to."
34:45 What's the problem?
34:47 You've got a spiritual void.
34:50 There's something missing.
34:52 And it's not a thing, it's a who.
34:54 It's a relationship with God.
34:56 What did God do?
34:59 He loved you so much
35:01 that he sent his one and only son, Jesus,
35:06 who died in your place.
35:09 The innocent died in the place of the guilty,
35:12 the perfect sacrifice.
35:13 And the good news is our God, who is so good,
35:16 raised Jesus from the grave so that anyone,
35:19 and this includes you, who calls on his name,
35:22 God would hear your prayer, he would forgive your sins,
35:25 he would make you brand new.
35:26 Today, there are those of you, you're not here by accident,
35:29 it's not a coincidence, God is loving you
35:31 because you need him.
35:32 What are you gonna do?
35:33 Let him meet your need, receive his forgiveness.
35:36 Let him give you eternal life.
35:37 Wherever you are today, those of you who say,
35:39 "I have, I've sinned against him,
35:40 "I know I need his forgiveness."
35:42 We're stepping away from the old life,
35:43 we're stepping into the grace of God.
35:45 Today, those who say, "Yes, I need Jesus,
35:47 "I need his forgiveness, I give my life to him."
35:50 That's your prayer, lift your hands high right now,
35:52 all over the place and say, "Yes,
35:54 "I give my life to him today."
35:56 We thank God for hands going up, oh gosh, there.
35:58 Others of you that say yes.
36:00 Praise God for all of you online,
36:02 you can type in the comment section,
36:04 "I am giving my life to Jesus."
36:07 And as we have people today all over the world
36:10 saying yes to the grace of God,
36:12 would you pray aloud with them?
36:13 Pray, heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins.
36:17 Jesus, save me, fill me with your Spirit
36:21 so I could know you and serve you.
36:25 You have blessed me with more than I need.
36:28 I am spiritually rich.
36:31 Because I have more, help me do more
36:37 and help me give more to show your love
36:40 and share your grace.
36:43 Thank you for new life, you have all of mine.
36:47 In Jesus' name I pray.
36:49 I need some people to worship God.
36:51 Let's welcome this boy into his family.
36:53 (audience applauding)
36:56 (audience applauding)