God Will Provide

Bring us thankful for this Sunday. Thankful for God's faithfulness, and a lot of what we're doing today is celebrating God's faithfulness to us as a church.

Genesis chapter 22, the reading of verse number one. It says, "Now it came to pass, after these things, that God tested Abraham." Look at your neighbor, if you're comfortable, say, "It's a test." It's a test. "He said to him, 'Abraham!' And Abraham said, 'Here I am.' Then he said, 'Now take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on the mountains which I shall tell you.'" And look at your neighbor and say, "Oh my." Well, it's not a good day to be Isaac, is it?

"So Abram — Abraham arose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then, on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to this young man, 'Stay here with a donkey. The lad and I go yonder and worship' — say worship — 'and we will come back to you.'" This interesting use of that word worship, in it. But that's what Abraham called it.

"So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took the fire in his hand, and the knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, 'My father!' And he said, 'Here am I, my son.' And he said, 'Look: the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' And Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering.' So the two of them went together. And they came to the place of which God had told him, and Abraham built an altar there, and placed the wood in order, and he bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abram — Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son."

Now, if we had music right now, this is when we'd be hitting the minor notes. "But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham! Abraham!'" There we go. That's awesome. We should have planned that. "He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.' Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there, behind him, was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The Lord Will Provide — or the old King James says Jehovah Jireh."

To me, a look at this story, this passage, and as a father, I think to myself, wow, how — how powerful of a moment that must have been. Now, I have teenagers. So I'll be honest with you: if they catch me on the right day, we'll drag him right up there and we'll have us a sacrifice. You're raising teenagers, or have raised teenagers, then you — you know there's some days you're like, no issues. But you got to keep in mind that Isaac, at this point, from the best I could do research, was between 20 and 30 years old. See — see, this was not so much a test to produce faith. This was a test to reveal faith. I'm gonna say that again: this was not so much a test to produce faith, but this was a test to reveal faith. And I feel like that's what God has for us today, and this, in this commitment service here, is — it's not a proven of faith, so much for us. It's just a —

Revealing of, where is your faith? Where are you at today? God — God was building Abraham slowly, because that's what God does. He builds our lives slowly, as we develop our relationship with him. I have been involved in that process now for so many years that I've had the ability to look back, and I can say completely with this statement: God, I'm a work in progress. I am. I'm a work in progress. And look at your neighbors, say, "You're a piece of work." You got to be careful there. Now, what tone did you say that with? Yeah, yeah.

We're all a work in progress, each and every one of us. We are. And what God is trying to do is piece by piece, and year by year, he's trying to turn us into the man of faith or the woman of faith he wants us to be. And along the way there's opportunities for us to have our faith grow, and then there's opportunities for us to reveal the faith that we have. And this is what was taking place here.

Abraham is spoken to by God to take his son Isaac and to sacrifice him on top of the mountain. This flies in the face of self-preservation. For those of you who know the story, know that Isaac was the son of promise. Abraham and Sarah's — wife had been without child, yet he was known as the father of many nations, and that's kind of a hard title to live up to if you don't have any heirs. But God had told him, I'm going to give you a son, and it's from that son, through your heritage, will pass. But we now see this moment where God is saying, I want you to take your promise and go sacrifice it. Well, I don't know about — but you, God — but as I'm trying to think through that logically, that seems to be counterproductive. If the promise is there for me to go on through, and you tell me to take the promise and kill it, that seems like we're not going to accomplish the end that we desire. But that's what happens when we think about things using our own minds.

Abraham had to learn the difference between trusting the promise and trusting the promiser, and there's quite a bit of difference. We can put God's promise before God sometimes, and feel it's our responsibility to bring the promise to pass. That it's our responsibility to bring the promise to pass. That's not what God ever asked Abraham to do. He simply asked Abraham, why don't you trust me? I gave you my word. I told you what I'm going to do. There's a promise, and I will keep my word. Instead of you trying to figure out how you can do it, why don't you just trust the instruction that I'm giving you in the moment? Trust the promiser, no matter what, and the promise will be taken care of.

During this time — it's hard for you and I to read this story and think to ourselves, what is God thinking, go in and sacrifice that? You think every parent would be like, there's no way I can do that. But in those times, there were — there were a lot of pagan cultures that it was not uncommon for them to sacrifice their children to their god. So this wasn't a foreign concept, even though we have no record that Abraham himself had ever subscribed to this. But in the day and age, for there to be child sacrifice was not an uncommon thing. So the shock factor is there for you and I. There wasn't that shock factor of it being revealed to Abraham.

This passage of scripture, to me, is so intriguing, because it carries a profound message that I feel like oftentimes gets missed. We are introduced to a couple of words for the very first time in scripture. Did you know that this is the first instance the word love has ever been used in the Bible? We're 22 chapters in before love ever comes in. And I — I think —

It's interesting that we're introduced to the word love, and we're introduced to — to the word worship, in the same chapter here, Genesis 22. As God is testing Abraham in this, he's introducing some new things and some new concepts. It's in this passage we find this — this passage could almost be one-sided. It could almost be viewed and considered to be a little bit heartless, if you remove the fact that there's an all-knowing God who's a part of what's going on.

Notice during this passage: there's no mention of Abraham asking Isaac — isn't his opinion about it? There's not a moment where he goes over and says, uh, "So son, I got something hard to talk to you about. Um, it's kind of difficult for me to lay this out. You know I love you, right?" "Yeah." "Well, Dad, I know you love me. You know, I've always tried to take care of you and — and give you the best of everything that I could afford, you know." "Yeah, I know that, Dad. I know you've been a real good dad." "All right. Well, here's the deal: I've been talking to God, and God's laid something on my heart, and I want to share it with you, because it involves you." "Oh, really, Dad? I get to be a part of this? I'm excited. What do I get to do?" "Well, here's the deal: I'm going to take you up on top of the mountain, and I'm going to kill you."

I — I — I — we — we — we have no record of that conversation taking place. See, what we have is proof that Isaac wasn't asked at all. He wasn't given an option of whether or not he wanted to participate in the little field trip. We have no — no record at all that he had any opinion in the matter. Isaac, we see here, is instructed by his father: where is they going? Isaac is burdened by his father's instrument of worship, and then, ultimately, he is bound by his father, for worship's sake. And as a matter of fact, this entire episode is not about Isaac at all, as much as is about Abraham and God. Isaac is a victim of somebody else's decision. And this decision, his father called it worship. Isn't that interesting? He's caught up. But the word that is used here for the very first time is worship.

Worship always involves sacrifice. The only way worship ever really works is, it has to cost something. There's a price that must be paid. That's why there's a difference in you and I coming into an atmosphere like this, into a sanctuary, and as they begin to sing songs of worship, there's a difference in going through the motion of the thing. In other words, if you've been around an Apostolic church at all, oftentimes we get referred to as the hands-up church, right? Because you come in here and, at some point, we're going to raise our hand. Usually it happens when the music starts playing. Usually we stand up. There's something going on, because we're trying to engage in worship.

Now, let's just be honest: if you've been around here for — for — for a few weeks, uh, it's not hard for you to figure out what's going on. People start standing up, you stand up. People raise their hands, you can raise your hands. People can start singing real loud, you can see him real life. But let me ask you: is it possible to do those things and you not worship? Yeah. See, the point of worship, real worship, is to get your mind off of you and to get your mind onto him. Now there — here's the — don't let me say something just because — here in this environment, we — we are exuberant in our worship at times. Doesn't mean that that's what you have to do to worship, because you can worship and not actually be loud. Now, don't throw a rock at me. I know I'm in — I'm in an absolute church, and I said that. But you can — there are plenty of times, alone by myself, that I —

Am worshiping God, and I'm not being loud at all. So it's not about volume, even though some people think that Apostolic church is all about volume. Our amplifiers go to 11. Some of y'all catch that later.

Worship is something that I must engage in. Worship is something that I must participate in. Worship is something that requires not just my body, but requires my mind. Worship is something that — that when I do it correctly, I'm truly focused on the one who has the ability to change the circumstances in my life.

Here we see that Isaac, again, has no choice in what's being called worship. Verse number five of chapter 22: "And Abraham said, as young men, stay here. The lad and I will go yonder to worship." You know, when I was growing up — the house I grew up in — my mom and dad are here. I love my mom and dad. I was not given an option when it come to church. I didn't wake up on Sunday wondering whether or not we were going to church. I didn't wake up and think to myself, I wonder if maybe we might miss today. No, that was never, ever — my brother or not, we never had to worry about that. If we were breathing, we went. Right? We went, and we didn't have a choice in the matter. In fact, my dad spelled it out this way: you — if you stay here, live here, eat my food, sleep on my bed, the roof I put over your head, you go to church. If you don't want to go to church, that's fine, but you're not going to stay here. Man, he was mean. He was harsh. There were days I would have agreed with that statement. But he was teaching something. He was teaching my brother and I something, that there are some non-negotiables in life. There are some things you just need to settle: that we were going to go to the house of God.

Now, when I look at this, there is no hint in Abraham that he is including Isaac in his decision. In fact, we see that he's placing the burden of the wood for him to carry it up. So I see that making a decision ultimately involves — Isaac has nothing to do with it. Abraham never asked his opinion. He never even includes him in the part of the process. He just says, you're going to go. We're going to be there. But how does Isaac feel? Isaac arrives at a point in his life — to me, he wasn't a young boy. It wasn't like he was dragging a small child up there, like I was telling you before. Best I could tell, he was somewhere between 20 and 30 years old. He should have had the ability to say, I don't know that I want to do this. But we have no record of that. But it's a decision. Isaac arrives at a point in his life when he's — when he is a critical element in the decision he didn't make, carrying a burden he didn't ask for, in a bondage, with a knife to his throat, for somebody else's purpose.

Now, there's a lot that we don't know. We cannot know the mind of God, and that lies outside the text of our reading. We know that God was testing Abraham, right? That's what the word says to us. But you and I — we are on the other side of the story. You and I have the luxury of knowing how this ends. You and I know there's a ram caught in a thicket. But Isaac doesn't know that. You see, ladies and gentlemen, there was a lot more at play than we realized. See, for Abraham, as he's walking up the mountain, he had an established relationship with God already. He already understood that he was a good God, that he could be trusted, he could be faithful. Abraham had already made some — some concessions and consents in his life. Abraham was already been — had been willing to be obedient when he was Abram, living over in —

Iran, the counties, when God spoke to him and said, I want you to leave everything that you've ever been familiar with. I want you to leave your family. I want you to leave all that you're accustomed to. And I want to — I want to take you and show you a land that I'm going to give you, that's going to belong to you. And — and Abram, out of you I'm going to form a nation that's going to belong to me. Abram had already went through that process. His name had been changed to Abraham at this moment. But he had experienced some things in life.

There are some of you in this room today — you've been through some experiences. God has brought you through some stuff in your life. You're not — you're not unfamiliar with him being Jehovah Jireh. You're not unfamiliar with him being Jehovah Rapha. You're not unfamiliar with him being the banner over your life. But there are those in your family, there are those sitting beside you, that don't have that kind of a relationship with God yet. You've got faith for the moment that you're going through, but there are those in your household who have not yet experienced those things. They — they have not seen that God can be trusted completely. And what I see in this moment is an opportunity, that Abraham understands: God's asking me to do something, and he's asking me to take my son. And I believe that Abraham — yes, he was in a test, and yes, his faith was on the line. But I also believe there was something inside of Abraham that said, my son's going to be changed through this process.

There's no doubt in my mind that Abraham did not fully comprehend or understand all that was going to take place on that mountain that day. But I — I also believe that there — one, he was 100% committed to this reality: whatever happens, my God is going to take care of me. Whatever happens. When he answered Isaac's question, was simply this: God will provide. I don't know what's going to happen on top of that mountain, Isaac. I wish I could explain it all. We're going up there to worship, and there may be some experiences that are going to be a little uncomfortable for you and I both. But I know this: God will provide. God will provide.

I can look backwards in my life, and I can tell you this: he has been faithful time and time and time again. My God can be trusted to be a faithful steward of every part, every aspect of my life. But Isaac couldn't say that. Isaac had not been through the things that Abraham had been through.

Today, it is going to reach a point in this service where we're going to be asking for some commitments out of you. And for some of you, you went through the last commitment, you remember, and you know that God was good and faithful to us. You yourself have testimonies, and — and — and — and things that God had done, because you — you stretched your faith and trusted that God was going to do it. I didn't know how this was going to happen. I'm telling you, we're standing inside of a miracle that was in my mind five years ago. I've seen this place in my mind before we ever walked in here. And God was telling me that he was going to do something special here, that there had been promises, and there had been prophecies that had come across the pulpit, specifically about this church and what was going to happen. But I'm going to tell you: it's one thing to get excited in the middle of a service when there's another man of God saying those things, and to be the one who's actually in charge, and look at God and say, that's a big number. I remember I had one man of God that — that I trust, spoke to me and said — before we were getting ready, and I was — I was really dealing with a lot of mixed emotions —

About starting this building process. My wife is here to tell you that she — she bore the brunt of that at home, because I'd smile at you, and I'd get home and cry. I don't know how it's going to happen. But I had multiple men speak to me direct words: just build it, the money will be there. Had one guy tell me — he said, I'm coming up to you, because I see — I see heavy equipment. I see dozers and massive dump trucks, and they're clearing ground right now, and I just feel like God's doing something. I don't even — and all these things are taking place. Now, fast forward to where we are right now: we're — we're in a miracle, right here.

So — so why am I bringing this up? Because — because some of you were there, and some of you were a part of that first initial commitment that we had. But — but here we are, and this service is a little bit different, because I'm not coming to you looking for a long-term commitment. I'm coming to you today to talk about a one-year commitment that I want you to pray about. God delay on your heart what you can do in one year. And I know some of you — I've already had conversations with a few of you, and you've been telling me about the things that God's been laying on your heart, that he's going to do in this place. But I'm trying to get across in this message today, as God was talking to me about preaching this service, that there are generations that are going to be changed. The need to know about what's going on today, much like what was going on here in Genesis 22, where we have two generations represented in the story. One generation had already weathered some storms. One generation had already been able to say, I know he's a faithful God. He's — he's proven himself to me. He was — he was having a conversation with his miracle, with his promise.

So as — as Abraham's going up there, I'm not trying to take anything away from Abraham. It had to be an unbelievably difficult task at hand, to walk hand in hand with your promise up a mountain, knowing I'm about to kill it. But Isaac — Isaac hadn't weathered any of those storms. Isaac had not experienced a level of faith commitment that Abraham had. But that was about to change on the mountain that day. Often times, this story gets caught up so much in what — what Abraham's going through, and it's discounted the fact that Isaac is the one staring at the knife. Between the two of them, I would have preferred to have been Abraham, just being honest. If I get the option between being bound or having the knife, I'll take the knife. But know this: something changed in Isaac that day. God knew that there was another generation that needed to understand that he's Jehovah Jireh. And I'm here today, speaking to this church, to let you know, as families, there's another generation that needs to know that he's Jehovah Jireh. Those of us who live through the — through the past, and we can come in here and say he's good and he's faithful, and we're enjoying the miracle, there's still some in our household right now that don't fully comprehend all that God has done.

And this is what I feel like God was leading me to today, in this message, is that it's time for us as families to talk about God's goodness. So, as we have this commitment of service today, there's going to come a moment where — where it's important, as family units — if you're — if your children are age appropriate, where they can begin to understand and comprehend what it is you're doing — it's important that they know, that Mom and Dad, that the family, is making a commitment today. In fact, when it comes time to turn those commitments in, here in a little while, I want you to come as family units, and turn your commitment in as a family. This is the family —

Thing we're doing today, because families are changed. In fact, we — we have our little rally cry, our mantra, that we go by here at this church, is: we are an Apostolic church. We grow Apostolic families. That's what God has us to do.

As this story is unfolding, as — as all this is beginning to transpire, we — we — we — we see that — that Abraham looks at his son and says, "God will provide." Because here's the deal, ladies and gentlemen: there's going to be times you're going to find yourself in a situation where someone else is seemingly making decisions, but you are bound and burdened by the decisions they make. Abram — Abraham had the call from God to go up. And when Isaac was loaded down with the wood, he asked his question: Lord, where is it going to happen? Dad, where's it at? God will provide. I need somebody to know: God will provide. You may not be understanding fully what God has laid on your heart. I feel his spirit moving right now. He is — he's laying some things in our heart, and there may be a few of you who are trying to process what it is God is laying on your heart. But I want you to know: he's going to provide. We don't have sufficient resources for — for the project, but God will provide. I have questions. God will provide. I don't know how it's going to turn out. God will provide. In the hour when we need confidence and power that's beyond ourselves, I'm here to tell you — God gave me this — he will provide.

Here's the deal: we don't just go home when we don't understand. We — we climb the mountain, because God will provide. We don't quit when we — when we can't comprehend how it will work out. We climb, because God will provide.

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." That means it's not seen. That means you don't see it, but you have faith. You're hoping in things that you have not yet seen, knowing that God will provide. It helps you get up the mountain. Knowing that God will provide helps you continue down the path. And every decision you're making, that there comes a point when all you have is the ability to simply follow.

If I were to ask you here, who has more questions than answers — that'd be me. I got both hands up. I'm an inquisitive mind, and I sit around and I have an unending supply of questions for God. He doesn't always answer my questions, but it doesn't mean I don't have questions. So I'm asking again: who here in this room has more questions than answers? Yeah. But here's what I know: God will provide. God will provide. Just because I don't understand it doesn't mean he can't do it. Just because I can't figure it out doesn't mean he doesn't know how to do it. My God is good. My God will provide.

See, here's what's going on: God has a will and a purpose, and God's will will always be done. God's will will always be done, regardless if I agree or not, regardless if I want to be a part of it or not, regardless if I choose to fight it or not. His will will always be done. God had a will for that moment, and he told Isaac — I want you to take your promise, and I want you to go kill it. That doesn't sound right. I didn't ask your opinion on whether it sounded right. What I asked you to do was to take your promise and climb up that mountain and sacrifice it. Abraham, you don't understand: I've already got provision over there that you don't know about. I'm not looking for you to comprehend the moment. I'm looking for you to be obedient in the now.

When I was thinking about what was going on today, thinking about Jason saying, just because my kids and my grandkids will attend church here — we're going to think about that. Myself and —

As process said. I know there are some of you who have been praying for children. You don't have children yet. But I'm wondering, why don't you sow a seed? Because you know God will provide.

God's spirit is moving, and I feel like I'm fighting a few things in this — in this place right now. But I'm telling you, we — we — we use a — a flawed throb, uh, thought process. We — we do. We do this: if it's good, it's of God. If it's bad, it's of the devil. That's how we approach things. If — if it's good, then God's in it. If it's not going my way, then man, I'm fighting every dale devil that's around. That — that — that's human logic. That's how we — we — we approach things. And we spend our time in our days, and our weeks, and our years, praying away the will of God, because it doesn't make any sense by my logic.

But God told Israel in Deuteronomy 30:15, "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil." He put some things into our life for a reason, and he takes some things out of our life for a reason. And it may not make sense in the moment where we are. And oftentimes we find ourselves questioning and fighting the very will of God being trying to push down into our life. I'm here to tell you, there are some things in my life that I prayed for that God didn't answer those prayers, and it frustrated me, and it aggravated me, and it caused me to struggle in my right relationship with him. But I've lived long enough now that I have the ability to look backwards in my life, and I can see that that was — the unanswered prayer was actually what needed to happen in my life. Because what I was asking for was detrimental. What I was asking for, I didn't need in the first place. And God, and being loving God, didn't answer some prayers. And when we cannot decide what is life or death or good or evil, then we just redirect our trust in the Almighty.

See, the truth is, God will provide. And there are some times we'll try to pray away the very thing God's trying to use to get us to where we need to be.

What would have happened if Abraham would have been disobedient? What would have happened if he said, I can't do that? I — I can't. It — it goes against everything in me, for me to take the very thing that you said you were going to give me, and now kill it. I feel like things are just now starting to go down the right path. So — so why — why would you be a loving God and ask me to do this? How is it possible that this makes any sense, God, that the thing that's going to carry me on, the thing that you promised me, that you are now asking me to give back? But I'm telling you, there was more at play. There was another generation at stake. Abraham could have been selfish and thinking only for the moment that he was in, and I promised you that he would have caused a — a — a stumbling block for his son further down the road. You can't convince me anyway otherwise, that Isaac needed that moment on the mountain just as much as Abraham needed that moment on the mountain.

You see, up until this point, Isaac had never heard the voice of God before. We have no record where he's heard God's voice. Abraham has had conversations. Abraham has lived through some things. Abraham has proof. Abraham has something to fall back on. But Isaac doesn't have that — that doesn't have that resume that he can operate out of. But when he gets on top of that mountain, bound down by somebody else's burden, fixing to lose his life for a decision that he had no part in, all of a sudden he hears the voice of God for the very first time. All of a sudden he sees —

The ram and the thick. And all of a sudden he understands, that Dad says Jehovah Jireh. I know all about him being a God that can provide, because I was about to lose my life. And in that moment, I heard God cry out. There was a generation that was changed on that mountain. They went up not having full understanding, but they come down hand in hand together, understanding that worship is sacrifice.

There are some things that you may never understand in your life. There's some circumstances that you may never fully get your mind around why. There are things that go on, and I ask God, I don't know why you won't do this. I know it's not because you can't, because you can, but you're not. Somewhere, because of this, Isaac settled in his heart that his father's attempt at worship, even though they were unorthodox and appeared risky and counter-cultural, it was through that experience he understood who Jehovah Jihad really was.

Why do you do what you do? Why do you do what you do? Why do you have this in you, to be here? What is it that's causing you to try to develop a relationship with God? Do you know why we — we pray to, why we give, while we fast, while we teach, while we preach, while we study and live out the word of God? We do that because God will provide. I dedicate my life, and you dedicate your life, because God will provide. Why do we do some things and not others? Because God will provide. And because we simply want to please our God.

You know, I'm pastoring now in a post-Christian culture, and I continue to — to — to re-dig wells, because the flow of those wells are my heritage. And it's through those wells that God provides. And that's exactly what Isaac did. We'd have no record of Isaac doing any major well digging on his own, but we have instances where he went back to Dad's well and said, I remember my God — my father drew water from this well. I'm gonna draw water from this well. There were some things that were settled and established in Isaac's mind, and it all happened on that mountain that day. On that mountain, God proved himself faithful to his father, and God proved himself faithful to Isaac too. Isaac understood that I can have a relationship with God. There are some things that I don't have to go back and do something new, that I can go back to what has worked. I can go back to — to the old ways and the understanding that God will provide. I don't have to re-dig the well of God's word, or re-dig the well of God healing, or re-dig the well of holiness, or re-dig the well of doctrine. I can just understand that those wells will bring provision in my life, because they have always brought provision to my life. I don't have to try to comprehend it fully. I just need to understand this reality, that my God will provide.

I don't know about you, but I'm — I'm not concerned about my name being in lights. I don't have to be an innovator. I don't have to have my own way happen. Instead, I choose to embrace what has taken place, to embrace that my God is good, and that my God is faithful.

I was praying this week about my own commitment, my own, as a family. Chastity and I began to talk, and I began to think through what — what I wanted to have is a commitment for myself. She — she and I talked, and we've always been on the same page with this stuff, which usually goes this way: "What do you think you should give?" "I'm still praying about it." "Okay. I trust you. Whatever it is, just let me know." It goes about that way. And I'm thankful that I've been coupled with a — with a wonderful wife, who — who, whatever we feel like God wants to do, we just go with it. And there's sometimes we have those eyebrow —

Conversations — you know what I mean by that — where you say something and your eyebrow goes way up. That's how you usually know God's involved: God moves your eyebrows. No eyebrow movement, man, I begot just saying. So I didn't even — I didn't even tell her to this morning. I just — I said, I'm not complete. I — I had a couple things in my mind, but man, God brought me clarity in my prayer time this morning. And I bring my commitment, and I — and I brought some cash. Wasn't a lot of cash — a lot of cash for me — but make sure, I guess for some of you, to give my pledge. Because here's the deal: I'm not asking you to do anything that I'm not willing to do first. I'm going to do first, because this — this isn't about my kingdom, okay? This is about his kingdom, and what I know he wants to do through this church.

You guys are good. You are a giving church. We are — we are blessed. But what I — what I have seen through the first campaign, and what I know is going to take place in this one, is this — is — is that there have been individuals and families that have been radically changed because of their obedience to God. And God raped me over the coals a few years ago and said, your refusal to preach and teach about money is causing me the inability to bless my people, because you won't talk about it. See, because this is how I feel: whenever time — every time I get up here to talk about money, it feels like it's self-serving, because this is my job and I get paid from here. It's just — I'm just being transparent with you. And honestly, it was one of my least favorite things to ever do, is get up and talk about money, for a couple of reasons. Number one, if you say it, everybody just — that's number one. It's like we passed out, you know, sour patch kids or something. And the other thing is, because it feels self-serving. But I refuse to stand in the way of what God wants to do with you. And this is what I know: I know God has already started the process of blessing people. I've had — I've had multiple conversations before we even had this service — once we talked about it a month ago, that we were having a service — of individuals who say, God has laid this on my heart to do, and I know I'm going to be a part of something amazing. And it's because of that, I know they're going to be a part of something amazing, that — that when you approach — if this isn't something I have to do, this is something I get to do. I get to do. I get to do it.

And if you're a guest here, I want you to know, we — they just ask anybody attention — we don't talk about money much, because I don't like talking about it. But I know this: it's a truth in the scriptures, that God honors when you and I step out and trust him.

So here's what's going on. If you got your card there, I want you to look at that — that card. This is your home church. If I'm your pastor — if you're feeling led in this moment to give, this — this card, we try to make this card as simple as possible. Because — because a few years ago, several years ago, we did one of these for missions, and it got a little confusing. And there was one individual who thought they signed up to pay a thousand dollars every week. So I told him, I thought God was working through them. But they didn't see it that way. So here's the deal: the — the — the first part is your name. And if you're doing a family, like I wrote on my card right here, "Kevin and Chasti Allen Family," like, you can write that. That's what you want to do. And then that second line, that's right there — that's open. That's for you to —

Put in how much that you feel like you, as an individual or you as a family, are willing to commit to, for one year. This is a one-year commitment. So if you're willing to — to commit for whatever amount — if it's going to be, if it's ten thousand dollars for one year, then you put ten thousand dollars right there in that mark for 12 months. And then, at the bottom right corner, that's how you think you're going to do it, right? You're not bound by that. If you select weekly and you can't do it weekly, it needs to be monthly — like, this is just so we have an idea of how the money might be coming in, okay? So I'm gonna say that again: name; second line is — is amount. In other words, how much amount you're willing to commit to for one year, a one-year commitment, that — well, that's one year from today, when your commitment — and then how — how you feel like you're going to give.

Now, the musicians are — again, they're going to come out here, because God still desires to do something in this service. Somebody asked them to come on out and get ready. And well, I've asked the church board. Church board, where they at? If your church board — come, and they got the baskets. Yeah. Church board, you guys make your way down here. If you don't know, this is almost all of our church board. We're missing one member. One of them is preaching out at one of our daughter works in Hartsville today. Perry, if you'll stand right in front of this. Justin, if you'll get right here. Stand in front of this. Isaac, if you stand right in front of this one. Jason, if you'll be in front of that.

So what I want you to do — I said this before. I believe this is important. I feel like God gave me this in prayer this morning, that as families we need to come. Our kids need to know that what we're doing here. So if your kids are still living there in the house with you — you know, now, if they're, you know, 65, you may need to talk about moving them out one day. This is what I want to do: they're going to start singing, okay? We're going to do this in two parts. Here's what I want you to do. Justin, I want you to step forward up. Just move one up. A little bit more. A little bit more. Keep going. Keep going. A little bit more. Right there. If you guys will kind of match that. Because here's what I want: I know some of you also want to come on down to salt, and we're going to pray with you. So if you desire to be prayed for, you can drop off your pledge and come up here, or you can just come down for prayer. But I'm going to say a prayer, and then after I get done praying, they're going to sing. And then I would like you, as family units, just to start making your way down. If you don't want to stay in the altar, it's fine. You can return back to your seats. But here's the way we're going to do this, okay?

Everybody hold up your left hand. If you don't know what that is, look at your — all right, everybody got their left hand? All right, we're going to go left out, and then loop back in this way. Okay? So you're going to go that way. So if you're over here, yeah, you'll go this way. Alex, that means you get up and walk this way, and you go back in down over there. Everybody understand? You're going to go left, and then loop around. That'll cause a lot of confusion, I know, at first. But if you just follow the leaders that go left, and then loop around, we can try to do this all together. Now, I'm excited, because God's a part of what we're doing right now.

Will you stand with me? Jesus, I'm so thankful that you've brought us to this moment in this service, God. And I am unbelievably excited about the wonderful things that you're about to do, God. I thank you for everybody here who's been sensitive to the movement of your spirit, God. As you are laying things in their mind and on their heart, about what it is that they can do, as a family, as an individual, Lord, to further your kingdom, God, I pray that your blessing will be upon them, Lord, that you would honor what it is, their sacrifice and their dedication they're committed to today. Lord, I know that we are going to experience an outpouring, not only of your spirit, God, but — but — but also with abundance of living that you called us to. You called us to an abundant life. And God, through obedience, I know those things come. God, we don't give because we expect, but we give because we desire to be obedient to you. But you come on the back side and bless our life with it. So, Lord, I pray that you'll bless it, God. Those that are needing and touching their body, needing healing, needing salvation today, God, I pray your spirit and move with us in the altars. In Jesus' name we pray. They're gonna sing. If you'll make your way down on —