The Issue is Ownership

Luke 19 28 when he had said this he went on a head going up to Jerusalem and it came to pass when he drew near to bethphage at Bethany at the mountain caught all of it that he sent two of his disciples saying going to the Village opposite you whereas you enter you will find a cult tied on which no one has ever sat loose it and bring it here and if anyone asks you why are you losing it thus you shall say to him because the Lord has need of it so those who were sent went their way and found it just as he had said to them but as they were losing the cult the owners uh-oh the owners of it said to them why are you losing the cult and they had memorized their lives very well and they said the Lord has need of him then they brought him to Jesus and they threw their own clothes on the cult and they set Jesus on him from this story I'd like to minister today on this theme the issue is ownership the issue is ownership God bless you please be seated well I've got some really really good news for you today is the day that you won't forget today you are the proud owner of a brand new car it was not a gift you bought it I know we're in the middle of an imagined Vision campaign and if you're conscientious every purchase has been more carefully screened than several months ago but you needed a new car you just signed a ream of papers in the finance office a business manager turned the keys over to you through the salesman the salesman is taking you to the car to explain all the great features of it this thing has everything you could imagine in a car Power everything seeds and moon Reef has that new car smell from Deluxe leather four-wheel analog braking system in equipped with GPS navigation Bluetooth technology hands-free phone of course it's got intelligent cruise control with Lane assist to control your life even more right as opposed to channel 10 speaker premium audio system MP3 playback capability Radio Data System with speed sensitive volume as you go faster it gets louder intelligent cruise control but that lane of sense I was telling you about Advanced parking push a button and it parks for you you know you can't parallel park but it can oh I know you can sorry just defended four guys in the house it's got a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection so you don't hit anybody we're all thankful for that no one has ever ridden in this car not even for a test drive not even you the keys are laying on the center console the car was remotely started from sitting there getting ready to get in your ride and ride away this is your car it's the car of your dreams I'm saying your final farewell to the salesman has been your closest friend for the last two or three or four or five hours so you hammered out the deal of a decade for you by the way we have some wonderful car salesmen in our church no offense intended but this man almost lost his job getting this deal for you he talked to the business manager the finance manager the owner of the corporation to get this deal for you today so you could have the car of your dreams and you're pretty excited about it they're getting ready to get in your car and drive away You're so excited you can imagine the power of this Beast eating up miles and miles of pavement and finally the salesman quit shaking your hand long enough for you to walk toward your car but as you look toward your car you're stunned by what you see there's a stranger behind the wheel of your car he's smiling waving at you as if to say goodbye he's revving up the engine wasting precious unleaded fuel no this is not a Tesla he's sitting in your car he's adjusting the mirrors to fit him you're kind of panicking now so you run over to the driver's side you're not sure if you should throw yourself in front of the car throw yourself on the hood you're not sure exactly what to do this guy does not seem to be in a hurry it doesn't seem to be upset at all so you motion to him to roll the window down and he does and you ask him hey what are you doing with my car and he says the Lord has need of it any waves drives away and he watched the taillights go out of sight and you're standing in there thinking now that was a good Bible story it's not so great in real life you want to know like should I call 9-1-1 be borrowing it will I get it back how many miles is he going to put on it how long will he keep it that's my car but the chauffeur of the car they didn't have any hesitation at all just saying goodbye the Lord has need of it now I don't know about you you're probably a lot more spiritual than me but if that happened to me I would have to really pray for God to give me Grace because you know this doesn't happen in real life does it have you ever thought about this in the days of his flesh Jesus Christ did not own much at all most of what he used he borrowed from other people he wanted to teach a lesson he barred a boat pushed it out from Shore and taught from there he needed to uh teach in a house he borrowed a house and that's where he ate his last supper with his disciples he stayed with friends like Lazarus when he traveled one day he told a prospective follower what is Luke 9 58 records Jesus said unto him the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head you could say that he was mostly homeless at the time of his crucifixion Jesus probably only owned the clothes that were on his back When They Crucified him they divided his garments they cast lots for them and they took even that away but it was time for Jesus to be buried he was buried in a borrowed tomb he didn't even own that of course he only needed it for three days but on this day that we read about today it is a triumphal entry in the city of Jerusalem where Jesus Will present himself as the Messiah of the world the king of the Jews and since he didn't own a donkey and he planned to ride one into the city his only option was to borrow one that's the story now in one of the villages near where Jesus was there's a man who raised donkeys he he had donkeys he had a nice one that had been born a couple years ago and this cult is progressing nicely I think it's probably about two based on when you can ride most riding animals and uh so this guy is getting ready to saddle break him teach him to carry a burden he's a beast of burden and once this cult is broken it can be sold for a prophet or it can be put to work he's like your kids he's eaten enough now it's time for him to earn a little bit back by doing some chores that's how he's seeing this cult he's going to have to work now that he's just eaten for two years and hasn't done a thing so that's what's in the mind of this owner well I don't know if you know about unbroken horses and Colts and animals like that they don't like to be ridden they don't like the weight of a saddle on their back they don't like your way on their back some more and less than others they're not used to it and so it takes patient pretty tough owner to break a cult a donkey so it can be written by a full-grown man like Jesus so that's going on in bethphage most likely not too far away Jesus is planning this triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem this is a high point of his entire Ministry that will turn into a low Point analysis whose disciples everything's all set except I need a ride I'm not going to walk in the city I'm going to ride he picks two disciples we don't know their names two of the twelve and he says here's the plan you guys go into this Village this nearby and when you get there at a place where two ways meet Mark says the public place you're going to find a cult tied there he's tied because he has to be controlled he has to have somebody to tie him to the Hitching Post Jesus tells them there's not a saddle not a bridle no man has ever sat on this coat when you get there and you find this cult I've got some instructions for you Luke 19 Verse 30 tells it going to the Village opposite you or in as you enter you'll find a cult tied on which no one has ever sat it is an unbroken Court which is significant to the story in case you haven't figured that out yet he tells them I just want you to untie the cult and bring it to me don't ask anyone don't tell anyone and if anyone stops you verse 31 anyone asks you why are you losing it just tell them the Lord has need of it see ya the disciples go into the city it's a little town they find a cult tied just like Jesus said they're feeling a little conspicuous they're wearing hoodies well I don't know about that they untie the cult and the owners are standing by not that excited about this sacrificial offering and they asked Mark 11 says what are you doing Luke 19 33 says they asked him why are you losing the cult not your call what are you doing but this is what they did now the Bible says that this isn't a public place the two disciples any way you look at this it looks like a theft they're stealing a toll basically right and so when the owners ask what are you doing why are you doing this they just say what Jesus said memorize those lines the Lord you deal with a straight face the Lord has need of it see ya and they walked off with The Unbroken call and the owners let it happen whoever they were we don't know who they were and they just understood if the Lord needs it it's his principle is pretty clear in the Bible that God is the owner we're the manager and if he needs it we give it to him it belongs to the Lord but the owners did not say was you go Colt stays we're calling the police they didn't go out there and try to take it back I I don't know how this happened ladies and gentlemen I just know it happened just like the Bible says and the owners let the cult go and the disciples took the call to Jesus and on that amazing day Jesus rode that unbroken cult the man who had all authority in heaven and earth sat on an animal that had never been written and that animal submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ it didn't Buck it didn't bite it didn't bolt and it let the almighty God of Eternity in flesh ride him into the city of Jerusalem where they said Hosanna they welcomed their King this is an amazing story of Jesus the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the story of The Unbroken borrowed cult the Lord has need of him now everything in the New Testament fulfills what was prophesied in the old and this little incident is recorded in Zephaniah excuse me Zachariah chapter 9 verse 9 Rejoice greatly o Daughter of Zion shout o daughter of Jerusalem behold your king is coming to you he is just in having salvation he is lowly and riding on a donkey a cult the full of a donkey that Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus wrote that unbroken cult into the city of Jerusalem that day what an amazing story in the Bible that Jesus Christ rode that cold and had authority over nature now I want to ask you a few questions today how do you react when the Lord chooses to saddle you but the ministry responsibility do you say wait a second this is my gift and my time not yours how do you respond when the Lord wants you to carry his burden he didn't feel like praying but a burden of prayer came on you or a burden to help someone who needed a friend in that moment how do you respond when the Lord needs you and how do you respond on a day like today when we're building the kingdom of God and the Lord says I need your money to build my kingdom do you Buck and bite do you bolt or do you submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ I hope that we would have a better Spirit even than an unbroken cult that we would submit to the way to the burden of Jesus Christ when he trusts us and entrust us to do something for his glory amen The Unbroken cult story and the new vehicle that you thought you were going to get today that you didn't get today are really very similar something that you owned that the Lord needed that he used for his purpose the issue is always ownership you know the Lord may need your vehicle just a seat or two in it to bring somebody to church with you that's never been saved they're worth it that extra seat that extra time some of you have heard this but I grew up like that my parents picked up Sister Johnson for 17 years when I got old enough to drive we picked up people for church Johnny and Vince and Hima we just always did that because that's what we did you grow up in church as a Saints kid and you use your stuff for God's glory it's amazing that the Lord who needs nothing asks us for our time and our talent and our treasure there should be no hesitation no resistance no argument we know that the Lord owns US he's the owner we're the managers that makes us accountable to God the issue is always ownership and when the Lord asks us to return to him what came from him we're just really returning what God blessed us with David spoke of this and this famous chapter of the Gathering of materials and money to build the temple First Chronicles 29 14. David pray but who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer so willingly as this for all things come from you and of your own we have given to you all we've done God is returned to you what you gave to us now there's something about the Lord that he doesn't really need our stuff the Bible said in Psalm 50 that the Lord said I will not take a bull from your house or goats from your phone for every beast of the force is mine and the candle of a Thousand Hills I know all the birds of the mountains and all the wild beasts of the field are mine if I was hungry the Lord said I would not tell you for the world is mine and in all of its fullness but the amazing thing is that God chose to need us and God shows giving as a test of our faith and trust in God that's why we return our 10 to the Lord because it came from him it goes to him it is the first step of lordship in our lives and trust that God can make 90 percent go a lot farther than a hundred that's the time the test of faith and trust is the test of stewardship it always has been always willed Jesus talked a lot about money and its importance in our lives as symbolic of our commitment to him and if you're squirming right now then this is more true than you even know because that preacher is talking about money we don't always talk about money but when we do we do like today the Lord has need of it Brother jury spoke about this this past Wednesday something he felt like the Lord spoke to him about this campaign that as we release things into God's hands the Lord replenishes it I was thinking about I looked over his notes this morning I was thinking about that Brother jury King David gave of all of his substance I calculated in today's money when this happened first Chronicles 29 David gave something like 6.6 billion dollars of his own money but in the same chapter when David died the Bible said that David died he was full of years and he was full of riches David died of very wealthy man because God replenished what David relinquished into the hands of God when Jesus Christ speaks to us it's always the issue of ownership First Corinthians 6 19 and 20. or do you not know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God and you are not your own now this chafes Us North Americans a lot because we believe in rugged individualism but that's not the kingdom of God the Bible teaches us that we are not our own for a good reason verse 20 for you were bought with a price therefore glorified God in your body and in your spirit which are gods Paul was teaching some leaders in Acts Chapter 20 The Ephesian retreat Acts 20 28 he tells him take heed to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God which he has purchased with his own blood he bought the church he created the worlds but he bought the church and he bought our soul with his precious blood disciples in that early church that book of Acts Church they understood ownership very well acts 4 32. now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and of one's Soul neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own that's not an oxymoron that's not a contradiction I possess it but it's not my own I understand biblical stewardship but they had all things common and with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all nor was there any among them who lacked for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold and laid them at the apostles feet and they distributed to each as anyone had need they owned it but they sold it Barnabas was that Chief example of a guy who owned possessions he sold it and he brought the money to advance the cause of Christ when I was a teenager reading this past message I wondered if God would do in the last days of the church what he did in the first days of the church because in those days not many years from this time Titus the Roman general would come in and he would level Jerusalem Jesus said there would not be one stone left upon another so what if you owned a house that was going to get leveled by the Roman Empire why not sell it put the money to work I'm not saying that God will do it I don't believe it is by coercion by a pastor or a spiritual leader but the Holy Ghost may move on you to give something that you're not going to keep anyway and you certainly cannot take it to heaven you can only lay up Treasures in Heaven by what you invest there you can't give what you don't own but you can give what you do own and you liquidate for the kingdom of God that's why in our church for many years we taught Financial Peace University encouraging people to get out of bad debt get out of all debt as soon as possible the borrower or servant to the lender Free Yourself where you can give and provide and plan for the future and for the Next Generation amen we believe in that at Atlanta West that crushing debt is not the place for a Christian to live their life if you're there now get out of that debt as quickly as possible so you can be a blessing and you can be blessed by the Lord you see we believe that the Earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof and that the heavens belong to the God for the Lord as the psalmist said the issue is always ownership and if the Lord needs my time it really belongs to God if God needs my money it belongs to him to start with if the Lord needs my life it belongs to him if the Lord calls your children to serve in Ministry in the kingdom of God don't plan their life for them and ruin it let God design the future he has called them to whether it be a secular vocation or spiritual Ministry vocational calling my parents live that out wage earners Blue Collar raised us in church and then my mom and dad got to see us leave to go do the work of God my wife and I have lived to do that with our sons to release them into the kingdom of God here is God who owns everything but allows us to be a part of his kingdom he's not trying to steal your car it's his car that he bless you with he's a gentleman but he really doesn't have to ask in a moment of time your breath can be gone your life can be gone your possessions can be gone the Pagan person in the Bible said their life is set in Slippery places and in a moment all the accumulated wealth of greed is disappears just like that that can happen but I believe the Lord has come to untie us from The Hitching Post of life where we have all the control and he has none and he said I have need of this and it's time for us as a church to recognize that God is the owner and we're the manager and that we release into the hands of God whatever he asks for without question and without hesitation that's what we're here to do today we're here to return to God according to good stewardship to make sacrifices and to take steps of Faith to believe God to do what we've never dreamed in our lives we could ever do by being a blessing to the kingdom of God this is a vision campaign to raise money to build a 1200 seat Sanctuary that's our project but the sanctuary is for people like you saw in the video a while ago the the project is for the kids that are in chips right now that are growing up in this church it is for the next generation of unsaved people and our kids who are going to be raised here that's what this is all about you may have seen this treasure chest in front of the church on August 31st 2009 I set a treasure chest in front of the church there was no giant subwoofer here at that time I did it for a reason from 1997 to 2013 I have had the privilege of serving on the global missions board as a pastoral board member we were appointed missionaries for all the upci missionaries around the world in 2009 my wife and I were at the school of missions brother Harry sism was retired global missions director lifetime missionary to India his father ellicism gave his life there came home with broken Health to not even walk off the plane when he got back to the States had to be assisted off that plane brother cism was teaching the missionaries most sacrificial people I know who's teaching them about the missionary problem and he asked them a question if you're supporting North America dried up but you come home or would you stay on the field and trust God sitting there as a North American Pastor a lot younger than I am now listening to this story and asking myself do I even know what sacrifice is this brother cism ministered to that missionary family something amazing happened to me that's unusual but it happened nonetheless and if you've been here 27 years you know I don't make this stuff up the lord gave me a vision and I saw a treasure chest much like this this Treasure Chest that I saw in this vision was locked chained and then I saw this guy he was hovering over this treasure chest and he had like a real Panic he looked on his face it was like someone was coming for it and he was scared to death that someone was going to take his money and the Lord spoke to me in that Vision this is my church in North America my people are afraid that I'm going to get into their money and take more than they can afford to give was blown away and humbled by what I saw and what I felt I thought about Jesus watching people give the rich casting in of their abundance and the Widow casting in her two pennies all she had even her living it's not a matter of how much you give it's how much you keep that determines ownership we were coming home that Friday and on Sunday it was our Chiefs for Christ sacrificial offering now it's moved the mission same project we're flying home my wife said how much do we need to make the goal for move the mission she's for Christ I said seven thousand dollars were seven thousand dollars away she said that's a whole lot of money back then it was a lot of money we had not had seven thousand dollar offerings in our church and I said you know what it's really nothing let me tell you what happened to me and I related to her what the Lord showed me in that Vision at the school of missions and I said I believe God is going to do like blow our minds Sunday whatever I said like that on that particular Sunday brother Robert Tisdale was preaching and I came up in the offering part of the service I took about five minutes and I told what I just shared with you and then I came down to that treasure chest and I did what I'm going to do now I unlocked it and I pulled the chains off of that treasure chest and I opened it up and I left it just like that and walked away we went on with the service brother Tisdale began to preach and he preached the message of faith and as he preached after a while brother Doyle Tanner walked back from right over there he's not able to attend any more due to his health and he put some money out of his wallet in the treasure chest and and then brother Josh Austin senior came and put some money in the treasure chest I just remember those two people coming first and and then it was like a flood of people coming in our ushers told me that people were going to their cars and getting their checkbooks and coming back in they were giving offerings putting them in the open Treasure Chest it was an amazing breakthrough day in our church it's part of the history of this church of a culture of generous giving of generosity in that offering that day seventy thousand dollars was given 55 000 designated to move the mission seven thousand dollars was nothing to what God had in mind and it broke something in our church about giving and about ownership and about what God can do through us [Applause] I'm thankful to say that we've blown away those don't giving numbers last year our church gave 757 thousand dollars to external missions I said 744 in the first service 757 since 1996 you have given seven million dollars a little over seven million dollars to World missions to fund the kingdom of God all over the world I tell you it's time that we open up our hearts and open to God everything [Applause] thank you thank you but please be seated I appreciate those of you who have come but the best is yet to come we're going to come give in just a few minutes we have been blessed unbelievably blessed to be a blessing that's what God told Abraham I will bless you and I will make you a blessing God has made us a blessing to bless the kingdom of God around the world and I appreciate your generosity but we also are the kingdom of God and I believe the Lord wants to bless the kingdom of God at Atlanta West I didn't even think about this until this morning but we've given seven million away what if we raise seven million nine million dollars for Imagine to build the kingdom of God you might think that that's a lot of money and it is but I just want to tell you to God it's nothing he owns everything and he uses us as conduits all we need to do is untie that cult we just need to untie ourselves from our possessions when the Lord said I have need of it I shared some good news last Sunday I want to share it again today last week our leadership of our church committed two million 648 716 dollars to the imagined campaign over 2.6 million dollars and before we got to last Sunday it was already over 3 million dollars there are three million dollars plus already committed to imagine [Applause] God is enlarging our vision we're just getting started we haven't even allowed you a chance to make a commitment till today we ought to thank the Lord five million seven million nine million there is nothing too hard for God if you'll just untie yourself from what you possess and say whatever the Lord asked for amen amen if I give it he'll replenish it [Applause] that's what today is all about it's about taking the lock and chains off and not being afraid I've been afraid before not being afraid that God is going to come and ask for more than you can give it's then that the trigger of the miraculous takes place and God begins to give good measure pressed down shaken together and running over amen would you please take the card out of the seat back pocket no obligation the card is free does not cost you anything to look at it praise God pray that the Lord would give us faith today that he is more than able we recognize the issues ownership and when we let God be the owner of our life that He blesses more than we can fathom amen so here's this card this is the giving process he received an email this morning if you click the link on that it takes you to this commitment card digitally online if you're watching online if you're part of another Apostolic church we don't want you to to give what belongs to your church but we have a lot of our people who watch online by faith over the next 36 months that's the wording at the top I'm going to go through this painfully slow I know you're smart but sometimes people are distracted starting in May that's this month we're going to commit to a financial gift above our ties and offering it's monthly annually one time trusting God for a total 36-month commitment and then there's the QR code here our app also has a giving link where you can make a commitment you can give now or you can leave a testimony I received a testimony by email yesterday of a family in our church that just received several thousand dollars in money that they did not know they would ever get back they didn't even know they were owed this money several thousand dollars so that's a testimony place you can do that on the website on the app if you don't have our app you need to download it it's free of course and it's a great tool and a way for us to stay in touch with you so let's look at this okay the first is a monthly commitment this is like many of us do for Faith promise and have for 20 something years for us 40 something years whatever you want to give a month and you write that number there that's what my wife and I did we wrote A number that we're going to give every month for the next 36 months we put it in that first column that's based on stewardship and sacrifice and faith and many of our people give like this they give because that's how you are paid bi-monthly monthly or whatever that frequency is that's just an easy way to give based on what you know you can give so if you're making a monthly commitment that's where you would write that and these are 36-month commitments and annually we'll renew this if in a year you can't give what you committed you can reduce it if in a year you want to give more you can do that we'll do this annually then the second the second rectangle there is for annually this might be based on bonuses or that you get quarterly monthly some businesses at the end of the year we have some business owners that they don't really know what they could do until the end of the year and they'll give a larger lump sum so my wife and I made that commitment that annually we're going to give a certain amount of money for the next three years in fact we gave our first lump sum last year before the campaign started and then there's this one time this one-time block in two weeks we're going to receive a sacrificial offering sacrificial offering will be on that day if you do it by your bill pay it will take several days for that to come through but we're asking because of the amount of money that so many people have already given that you do this through your online bill pay or buy a check you want to we want to save as much money from fees electronic fees as possible because we're talking about millions of dollars already committed and millions more that will come in in this campaign so give as smart as possible or the church is not paying that three percent or whatever that may be let's do it smart for the sake of the campaign but this one time that might be the sale of an asset or a will or a stock or something that you come in and that May 21st that might be that or might be something you do every year for us we're going to do that every year and then there's this block about trusting God for maybe this is an investment someone told me at the end of the first service they've had an investment that just hasn't sold it's been just sitting there for several years and they said Okay God if if this will sell I don't remember if they're going to give it all or a portion but it's one of those things my wife and I don't have a lot of external assets but we have one thing he sought our house and it's a story that I won't tell now but we decided we're going to sell that and when we do that's going to be our trusting God for we don't know how much we'll make off of that or whatever it is we're going to give to imagine that's what that is so when you total up your monthly commitment or if you may do it bi-monthly bi-weekly rather an annual commitment a one-time commitment trusting God for our church has been amazing about collection whatever we give we pay but this may be a time to stretch your faith or something that God's put in your heart you have no idea how you're going to get that we want to have integrity with the way we report everything you do and if you've been there very long you know the way we handle money if you're not sure how that is you can go back to the last Wednesday of January you can watch our business meeting our brother David jury walks us through how we handle money and give full Financial accountability the total commitment whatever that number is if you could write it there okay so monthly annually one time and trusting God so I hope you're doing that right now give you another moment you've been praying I hope you've heard the voice of God preached about that last Sunday but the jury spoke Wednesday on the fact that God is Worthy we've been praying for weeks about this so today is a day to make a 36 month commitment we're going to pray and then we're going to stand and what I would like to ask you to do I know some people are a little reluctant to walk to the front you may not be physically able to come to the front but I'd like for you to just come put your commitment card those of you that gave cash offerings that I thank you for that we're going to do that in a big way in two weeks but but if you obey the Lord then you did the right thing and we thank you for that we're going to bring these commitment cars and we're going to put them in this treasure chest we're just going to say to God that all I have belongs to you amen