Build by Giving Ep #3

if you've got a bible tonight say amen make sure you've got access to it we have been this is our third session tonight in the month of february our focus is building by giving build by giving uh we have been digging into many of the scriptures a whole stack of bible verses you can go to when it talks of talking about giving right it's a whole lot of stuff uh as part of the 2022 series we have been looking into the blessings of giving amen i mean you know just more blessed to receive than to give somebody heard it yeah it's more blessed to give than to receive right uh and basically guys what we're talking about on wednesday nights this month is contradictory to human nature we like to get things don't we we like to receive things and uh the truth is is that it's all part of the nature of humanity is to to to want things right even if you work for you're working because you want to buy something for an example we want thank giving in and of itself takes a great discipline and practice everybody say giving you can't it's an interesting thing about giving is basically you can't give on accident i mean you could you could you could wish you hadn't have but it's got to be something you think about i mean you don't just walk up the side i'm not what i'm doing here is a thousand dollars and turner walk away now you've thought it out haven't you and it's even true on the other side if someone walks up to you and hands you something what what do you instantly start doing one way what do they what do they want what are they trying to do they give this to me like when somebody gives you a gift and you didn't ask for it you're like i must have forgot something and they're trying to be christian and forgive me and or my wife and i when i buy her something she looks at what'd you break what'd you tear up why why it's got to be that so bad because i know you anybody else in that come on herb help me don't don't leave me out here by myself here's the truth giving has to be by nature decided on before you release it you consider it you think about it you budget for it you've already processed it so you realize that giving is something that you have to work at in the session tonight i want to talk about it with the help of the lord i want to talk about probably one of the most i don't know misunderstood misrepresented i don't call it what you want to but it's something that's a great challenge and that is when we give sacrificially sacrificial giving a true sacrifice in giving now by definition according to the webster's dictionary to sacrifice basically means to surrender something for the sake of something else okay now we understand by the scriptures biblical history there was a whole lot of sacrificing that went on from the book of genesis forward agreed uh when when you go into the old testament you find that sacrifice was something that was accomplished even by the first humans that we have written record of adam and eve and and their boys there was a sacrifice that was made we we know that story to be true but here's a question i'll ask for in our 2022 environment and and this might just be a thought to ponder for a moment when when was the last time you gave something to someone or to something in an attitude of sacrifice it wasn't a requirement you didn't have it in your budget line item but something that you possibly you went beyond what would be expected or what would be the norm and you stretched to a place to say i will make a difference this way so that i can make a difference that way you decided to do something in addition to is anybody in here and again if this is tough for you you don't have to raise your hand does anybody have a budget anybody have a budget what what what's your purpose in the budget that you have why do you have a budget for what save money sure what else spend wisely what else make sure you don't miss a bill that's right what else why would you budget your money make sure yeah make sure that by the day before payday always interesting to me when i was in the military day before payday i was dumping out my painting jar two four six eight ten twelve to sixty eight two three what's it take again when it was a monday i went several times to a little pizza joint outside the the barracks when i was stationed in germany it was a little pizza joint one the size of this half of this great pizza calzones were perfect it was like 12 marks for a calzone yeah i don't know how many times i'd walk up there i need a calzone and they cook it and all right that'd be 12 pe uh marks and i'd poor god standing looking at me he wouldn't even count it brother danny into the drawer i trust you i don't trust me can you recount that i may have left another mark in there i shouldn't have um because at the end of the month you don't want more month than money right you want to make sure that somehow somehow things work now y'all hang on to me for just a minute in the biblical sense of the word sacrifice we understand that the word sacrifice basically meant follow me something's gonna die something's gonna burn and blood is gonna be shed that about summoned up sacrifice we understand though also that god required the shedding of blood god required a lamb a goat a ram a turtle of a pigeon fruits or grains or whatever it was for certain types of methods and and mythology if you will of how you were going to connect with god you do realize out of the sacrifices the offerings that were mentioned in the scriptures the feast that some of them were simply because you love god you may not have had sin in your life or trespass you simply wanted to give to god because you had a relationship with him all of this was established by god's plan for humanity god knew if you don't take time to give thanks and you don't give time to make make a place for god to set to give to bring the sheep or the goat or the turtle of whatever it is then you as a human have the likelihood to think that all the things that you possess and all the things that you've gotten control of are because of who you are when the fact of the matter is the children of israel by and large was not a huge huge populace of people but yet god would time and time again when they followed his law and his plan what would god do for them when the battle would rage god would step in same thing in 2022 for the life of this whole world these big countries are scratching their heads saying why is the smallest nation the most productive nation why is it that israel is is always always on top of things oh man they got some of the best doctors the best technology you know they got some of the coolest things that they do why is that the case we need to get rid of this little country here stay with me the fact is is because god established a relationship with his chosen people all of this was done because god wanted to make sure that humanity knew without him involved in their life they would not be blessed benefited by the things that god was giving to them humanity was the one who sinned and transgressed against god's law but god made a way through sacrifice where they could bring an offering and he could then one more time interact with them somebody who didn't follow the required details of the law they would have to offer the sacrifice of a blood and an animal because god said i need you to commit to me the best that you have and if you'll do so then my blessing will continue to be on your life the fact is humanity sinned look at your neighbor and said they sinned they transgressed they sinned there was something in there in their nature there was something that caused them to do things contrary to the law of god now god was very specific with them you understand the details that god went through to make sure that his people had a way to fulfill the nature of god to be able to interact with human nature an animal was going to be killed in place of the person who deserved to die because they transgressed against the law of god in the book of leviticus there's something that's very interesting here now again you guys know that i enjoy reading the levitical laws it's very intriguing that that god was so careful loving kind and faithful to humanity that he would establish everything that would be required of them in order that they could have a relationship with him when we look at the requirements made for any of the sacrifices any of the offerings that were made we have to understand that god did not leave it to their own device question you had to bring a ram a goat a lamb a pigeon a turtle dove fruits grains flowers we talked about a flower we talked about this the other day who provided that animal who you're in a quandary how to answer because they wouldn't go out in the backyard and say rub-a-dub-dub three guys in the tub i'm gonna make a big lamb for the man poof no they couldn't produce that could they god would give them the animals that they would be required to bring back to him aren't you thankful when adam and eve sinned how did they get their first coverings god took one of his creations and killed it for them stay with me if that's the case god knew exactly how to interact with humanity so that they would know it is of god's blessings that i get to do this you realize that there it couldn't be just one of those those those rams or that kind of goat it would have to be a spotless intentional no blemishes no no sores no mites in the skin it couldn't be that three-legged old busted up lamb that got half eaten by a wolf and barely live his ears gone his wool all fallen off scraggly looking coming in could you imagine a family dragging this thing to the here we go that's all i got what do you think that priest would have said anyone not right now nor ever i don't i've never seen one of these not even sure what it is but it ain't coming in this place why not st follow me guys follow me because god made sure that the levites who were the priests that would do all of the sacrificing the killing the cleaning the preparation all that stuff he made sure that they to the detail were prepared for this sacrifice and everything you listen to me that they had to go through to make sure there was no scars on themselves to make sure there was no blood under their fingernails when they washed in the labor to make sure that if they got messy that there was some way it had to be cleaned there was no way that they could go into the holy place with all this junk on them they they intentionally lived their lives according to the law of god because they knew that if god found some kind of indictment against them they could die now you tell me you're going to bring his beat up sheep to me inspect i'm going to go in here and try to put it on an altar where god has already made me go through all of this i don't think so you get you and you'll bust it up lamb gone next are you with me because if if i'm the priest and i'm doing this work you better know that i'm the one standing here about to kill this thing to the honor of the lord god i want to make sure first of all that it's ready it's prepped it it's exactly what god requires y'all hang on to me a minute if that's the case god knew what it was going to take to make sure humanity connected with him sacrifices and offerings would be the communication between humanity and god because god is holy everybody say god's holy god is righteous we as humans we want to identify with him but yet we have a sinful nature we have the ability to fail faltering and literally mess the law up and because of that god said but i'll make a way now hang on to me a moment that said we know that in our day it is no longer required for us to bring an animal to the church to kill correct thank you not even in the south i don't want to see your possums or your raccoons or none of that we know that because of the sacrifice that jesus christ provided as the ultimate if you will it made a way for the sins of all of humanity to be dealt with so here we are in a position 2022 why is it then necessary for us as humans to continue to give to god in whatever state it is and whatever reason and purpose it is should we have not already come to a place as humans that where we could say you know what two thousand years ago jesus died on a cross therefore all the debt is paid therefore i don't really need to do anything therefore if i'm baptized in his name and those sins are remitted therefore i'm in a position to where nothing else should be required now the fact of the matter is is as simple-minded as that sounds we live in a world that very much embraces that theology if i just believe that's all that's required if that were the case then why did jesus not only die on a cross but go to a grave and then go to the depths of the earth why did he go into hell and get the keys to death hell in the grave and then come out and on the third day rise again and then show himself 40 days many infallible proofs why is that whole story there it could have been where all he had to do was die on a cross and then step off the cross there it's done hang on to exodus let's look at something here the book of exodus chapter 36 again when you get into the torah the pentateuch this is such an incredible incredible series of books this is god interacting with humanity letting them know his plan for them this is not if you will the new testament law this is not the new testament grace and mercy this is old testament this is the one of the first five books where god is establishing by communicating with his men this is how it's to be done make sure you let the people know exodus 36 verse number one then wrought bezalel and a holiday and every wise-hearted man in whom the lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary according to all the lord had commanded and moses called bezale and a whole life see that and every wise-hearted man y'all tried in whose heart the lord had put wisdom even everyone whose heart stirred up him up to come to the work to do it verse three and they received of moses listen to this all the offering which the children of israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary to make it with all and they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning and all the wise men that wrought all the work in the sanctuary came every man from his work which they which they made and they spake unto moses saying the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the lord commanded to make verse 6 and moses gave commandment and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp saying let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary so the people were restrained from bringing verse seven for the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it and too much when have you ever been told you know what we don't need no more our government does that often you know taxes are enough we we don't need any more of your tax money keep it we did we did recently receive an incredible blessing you don't have to have your car inspected for nine dollars and then the fuel price goes up anyway listen to me the the children of god desired to do a work for god in fact they were so zealous about it that that every morning they would bring an offering for the work of the kingdom now we just spent the last 15 or 20 minutes talking about blood sacrifice talking about bringing an animal to the to the to the house of worship and watching it be killed and watch it be sacrificed because man had transgressed against god we understand in the purpose of sacrifice we understand then that blood had to be shed but when it comes to the point of where they are building the house of god the bible says that the wise guys who god had given the wisdom to do it says to moses these guys are just overwhelming us with income with stuff it calls it stuff we have more than enough to do what we're doing please tell them to refrain here i am tonight month of february talking about build by giving you see all of us understand the purpose in a budget we understand that if your rents this much your car payments this much your insurance is this your groceries are that your whatever your starbucks bill is this whatever it is that you got to make sure you cover those bases are we do we agree in fact on probably if you are the person that does the budgeting in your family you probably even have a line item that is for your offering and your tithe because you want to make sure that you don't forget that you already know that if you do not pay your offering and your tithe or what you feel like god has asked or spoke to you to obligate to you to give to the things of god you already know what possibly could happen huh has anyone in here ever attempted to rob god lord i'm gonna i'm just not gonna give this month or i'm not gonna give this week you'll find out very quickly that god will not come down and take money from your pocket he will not go to your bank account and withdraw thousands of dollars that you don't have he's not it's not how he works what he will do is he will allow you to be human and where you thought you had sufficient it will become as sand in your hand and it will slide between your fingers it will be as the pebbles in your pocket with a hole in it they will simply disappear and you'll be the one standing there saying oh i don't know what happened and i don't know and one of your well tending brothers and sisters in the church will probably come up to you and very gently say what happened was you left god out of the equation now hang on to me a minute we understand that then about the sacrifice to the temple we understand that our sin and transgressions have to be dealt with we also understand the blood and all that is required bring it back to where we are today but jesus died on a cross so that we no longer are required to bring it and so what we can do in this hour is we can justify ourselves by our financial institutions in our brain to say as long as i am fulfilling the 10 with my giving and tithe and as long as i am helping with an offering when i can and when it's it's possible to do so i am fulfilling what god is requiring of me that is true and god will indeed honor your obedience to his word but friend of mine there is a place in god where someone decides i will go that mile and i will allow god to use me for his kingdom and it's called giving sacrificially it's where you understand your limit it's where you comprehend very well that this is all that i've got in the budget for what i am doing this is what i'm going to do for god i am making sure that my tithes are covered the first the first part 10 given to god i got no problem with that and i'll even drop a 20 or 50 or whatever in the offering because i can but what about the time when you can't but yet you decide if i give sacrificially be above and beyond something that takes the place of something else then i can see the hand of god work in my life like i never have before you see god is good to you if if god's good to you would you wave a hand god's good to you because of your commitment because of your connection because of your your responsibility your your action of connecting with god and what he's doing what would it be like though for you to decide maybe tonight or maybe in the next few days you know what god i i'm thankful that i can pay my tithe to you and i i know that lord that's that's a requirement it's what i it's what i'm going to give to you you can call it what you want to but lord it's there i'm going to do that and lord i'm going to give in the offering because i believe in supporting sunday school i believe in supporting ladies ministry and and youth work and me i'm going to give to to missions and i'm going to give to the building program because i believe in the things of god but but god i believe that there's a level that i need to get to in you and i i believe lord that there's a way that i can get to that level and that is when i sacrificially give to you some of us would only identify this with our dough and we would forget about anything else we could give the fact is you can sacrificially give of your time some of us are very weak in ministry because we don't sacrifice our time to give it to god if it fits we'll do it if it can fit into my schedule i'll have it done but when it comes to the place where you might have to sacrifice something now that that's that's a that's that's a little tough because because there's so many folk depending on me there's so many folk that that i'm trying to make sure they get it and they understand it hear what i'm telling the church tonight in our giving we gotta understand something we can have a church here on cromwell we can meet every week we can come together and if everybody gives a little bit we could probably make up enough to pay our rent we could probably make up enough to make sure the lights stay on and the water stays connected but the fact of the matter is this the kingdom of god is full of people who decide i will go the next mile i will decide sacrificially i will give i'm going to show up at prayer meeting not just at seven o'clock on two wheels but lord i'm gonna get there 30 minutes early i'm going to sacrifice some time at work so i can get to the prayer meeting a little early some of us need to make a sacrifice of of what we think we need in the world and instead of walking in at church time it might be good to walk in 20 minutes early and find your way to the carpet just a little learning say lord i don't know what you got tonight i've sacrificed some of my time at work or some of my time out at i'll come and i'm going to give it to you some of us we we consider sacrificial giving when a missionary walks through the door friend i got to tell you i've been that missionary i know what it's like and we didn't sacrifice a thing we simply dedicated and gave to god who we were and god called us to go do that see some of y'all don't understand what it's like to live to that last moment until decisions made and only to watch god come in waiting on me to make that choice for everything else to unfold i had to sacrificially do this so that god could come in and open that door i could tell you the stories of how we couldn't sell the house we couldn't sell the cars we wanted to our desire was right and here we were we had this going and that and it wasn't until the night my wife and i sat together and said you know what if we're waiting on this to happen it may never but let's buy our tickets let's let's secure our transportation and we'll go to the mission field and whatever is left here stays here it was that week that they called and said somebody wants to buy your house it's been on the market six months and all of a sudden yeah in fact they're afraid it's going to be sold out from under them can they leave a deposit not only that my wife and i are like well sure then they call the real estate agent and say but we got we don't want nobody else to have this house i'm sitting there saying what about this house that's better than different than any other house i'll tell you what god saw a sacrifice and the real estate agent calls me she said this is going to be a great challenge she's divorced her husband's paying the child support to pay for this and until all the documents are done until all this is done she would the agent told me all this stuff it's going to take 30 to 60 days and we were like a week from leaving i said well i don't know what else to say we gave power of attorney over to my mother-in-law she can sign the papers we're headed out hear what i'm telling you that next week the agent calls and says not only when we had to go to a judge because it had to go through the legal system because of her marital situation the person says or the judge says you know what we've got to have this letter the lady went i got that one okay well we've got to have this document signed by this and this and that hang on i got that one all right we're going to need 10 to make sure that hold on i got that too she says to me my wife she said oh how this happened but everything that the judge asked for the lady pulled it out of a stack i said now what she said the greatest question is this can they move in this weekend we were moving our refrigerator out while they were moving theirs in now y'all listen this preacher i know what i'm saying it wasn't on us god was already demonstrating his goodness and mercy we were headed out for deputation loaded up ready to roll i had a van i needed to sell do you want to know something somebody called me said i understand you got a vehicle for sale i need it today we're leaving tonight can i meet you this afternoon they came to the church with the money we sold it to them took the cash got in our vehicle with a trailer and we took off to deputize you tell me that god wasn't he was waiting on for me to get to a place that i sacrificially said i don't know what else but in lieu of me staying here ringing my hands god we're gonna make preparations to go that's my testimony that's my testimony it's the same thing that maybe some of you had maybe some of y'all want one of those miraculous things to happen in your life but you're too afraid to step out or you're not really sure if it's all you or if it's the preacher or if it's god i challenge you this you'll never out give god number one number two is god will never tell you to do something bad the enemy will but god won't so it might be right now that the lord is speaking to you saying i need you to sacrificially give one more hour of your week to the things of god and you don't know how it's going to happen but if you'll decide i've come to tell somebody god will come through and god will make a way and he will bless you somebody's sitting here tonight saying you know what i i need a financial miracle in my life then you need to sacrificially give and look at what god is going to do out of that the problem with sacrificial giving is we want to write the ticket now lord this is how this can work no no no really check it out i got this figured out if i can do this and you know i know somebody's got this can help me with that if you'll just speak to them to write me a check for this then i'll give that and see there you go it all works there you go they just do it and all the while the lord's sitting there saying first of all your name is not god and you don't even know how to sit on this throne you have no idea what you're asking me to do because if i were to do that the way that you have asked me to do it you don't realize somebody over here is praying for a way to be blessed looking for somehow to give something and all i need to do is let you need to get on board so that i can use them this other one they're not going to do it they're going to act like they don't understand but this one over here is already hungry and waiting on it sacrificial giving i'm reminded when i'm preparing for this this week i was again i can tell the stories because we've deputized twice of the little old lady who came up to my wife with a ten dollar bill 10 bill everybody say 10. sweetie this is for your children's education fund my wife said well that's so nice of you ma'am ten dollars our education fund was twenty thousand what's ten dollars lady said ma'am this is not just another ten dollars short time ago my mother called and asked if i'd come and take her to the store yeah mom i'll come get you it was hard it was tough but i made the time and i went and picked her up she didn't she didn't have the strength to carry her pocketbook y'all remember pocketbooks she said baby if you hold this money for me then when we get to the store i'll buy what i need and then i can get back home headed to the store mom got sick had to take mom to hospital she said mom didn't last but a few days and she died she said after we buried her and after we did everything i was going through my pocketbook and i found mama's ten dollars and she said lord what do i do with ten dollars from my mom the lord said i'm going to show you and when the time is right you need to sacrificially give it she said i came in here tonight in this service discouraged and upset not sure why uh where i was in life and when i saw your babies get on that stage the lord tapped me on my heart and said give your ten dollars and you tell me how do you accept that from someone i tell him my wife says sweetheart she hugged her i want you to know that i receive this from you and god is going to honor you that might not mean anything to you but understanding the power of sacrificial giving my wife and i walked away from there that night broken in our hearts and enlightened in our spirits to know a ten dollar thing we don't know what the future was for that lady i have no idea i do know this it changed us it changed us ten dollars is that what i don't know it could have been twenty thousand it didn't matter that wasn't the point the point was somebody said lord i can sacrificially do this and i'm going to i just don't i just want to know your timing i want to know how ready so at one of those conference services where they're taking up money for missions yeah don't go to those leave your checkbook at home and your wallet in the car because they're going to get it so they're taking donations or or commitments for the missions i've already learned i ain't going that service um lord you speak to me at coffee shop is that right to be real because i already know what's gonna happen i already know way up in the balcony way up in the balcony voice screams out in the middle of that sacrifice seven thousand three hundred twenty one dollars and twelve cents whatever it was the place there everybody ten thousand one thousand five hundred whatever the guy up with the mic said whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa what is that that's what is that number the guy stood up and yelled seven thousand five hundred forty two dollars or twelve cents whatever the number was let me be quiet say it again seven thousand cents why that number because that's all in my checking account preacher turned around and looked he said oh my lord come here the guy comes down there and he says what are you doing he said god spoke to me say empty it and i'll feel it he did and on his way back to the seat somebody grabbed his arm ten thousand dollar check in his hand there's no way that man knew there's no way that other man knew until somebody decided to give sacrificially now i'm not telling you that if you bring a hundred dollar bill here god's gonna look at you and say yeah i'm good for a thousand on that one that means your motive is wrong if we're going to build a church in chattanooga it's going to be people like you and me that just do what god requires but something is going to have to happen in this hour to where we realize the miraculous hand of god and giving if you'll give time and talent and treasure to the things of god sacrificially god is going to bless you god is going to multiply it back to you some of you want your grandbabies to be saved you know what god might be waiting on you to step out with faith and say lord i sacrifice this to you some of you might have backslidden kids that need to come home you know what god might be saying you know what if you'll trust me with the things you have i'll bring back to you the things that you lost brother john would you come i'm convinced that it is the day in day out loving and living for god that god blesses us daily right but there are some of us that are now in a position of desperation that we want to see the hand of god move but it is going to take sacrificial giving i'm convinced that god already has everything that the church needs isn't the name of jesus all we need preacher are you saying that i need to empty my wallet and i didn't say that come on i remember the i remember my little fella at one of those mission services asking mom for his wallet at a one dollar bill and a five to michelle's gives it to him and he reaches in and gets money out hands the wallet back to her and takes off to the front he's eight or nine years old he's running through the crowd runs up on the to the stage and throws his money down stops for second turns and runs back because his mom is a good mom she looks and they say look he he gave him his money ain't that pretty whoa whoa he only has a dollar in his wallet he took his five i wish he'd ask me i just said you know what god can bless the one just like the five but he stephen was happy he come back and he got back in the road shell's like he gave away his money now you know i gotta explain all this to him and you know trying to be a good mom the next day at conference i'm standing in the missions booth area two ladies walk by are you a missionary no ma'am i'm just standing here because it looks good yes i'm a missionary what do you ask me that oh goody goody goody she sets your pocketbook down her pocketbook and she opens it up and she flips her through there she says my sunday school class takes up money all year long coins and stuff and then i come to general conference to give it away to missionary kids so i have two children she said here's twenty dollars for one and here's twenty dollars for the other you're so nice thank you talk to her a second i was there by sellers during the day service and i went home to get michelle and the kids that night and i walked in and i said come here stephen comes over and i said look how much did you give last night in that offering i don't know it was like five well look what god did it took a twenty you know at math that money man that's four times i said ain't god faithful he said if i'd given a 10 i said but it's not not that god could take the ten or whatever he was trying to learn to fix this and then understand this and i don't mind saying to y'all i stepped back and i lord let him never lose the sensitivity to realize i came into this world with nothing i will leave with nothing but if i open my hand to you god and i open my hand to to the church and to humanity you will use me god because there will be times lord that it's going to be a and sacrifice i'm going to build my family if i'm going to build my life if i'm going to build the church i've got to do it sacrificially sometimes i'm almost done how do you give sacrificially number one give as unto the lord number two you allow the blessing to come from god and not man although man will respond as god speaks to them number three when giving sacrificially it is determined above tithe and normal offerings also when you pray for number four you follow the spirits leading because your motive matters pray about what you're doing some of us it's going to hurt but god is going to move i'm done with this we never would have had a samuel if we had not had a hannah who said god you give it and i'll bring him to you she was already fulfilling the law she was already coming with her husband right every year the bible said it's just she didn't have her heart's desire but when god heard her prayer and what man said she's drunk the priest said whatever you ask for it'll be done and guess what happened she had a child she did not forget that pledge she made to god and you imagine the size of a sacrifice when you've got to bring your child to the house of god and wave as you walk away you don't believe god honors sacrificial giving the bible specifically says she had three other children she also came to the church how often once a year at the required time with a coat that would fit the child as he grew because the sacrifice requires something of us it's wednesday night i'm teaching building by giving giving sacrificially stand with me would you please i realize that when when i when i reminisce about stories on deputation and mission stories there's there's so many to to share but it can pull it a heart it can it can because it it speaks through the emotion of the after and the before the truth is friend when you give sacrificially you only have the story to the of the before you don't yet have the story of the after that's the faith part because i'll be honest with you i've given sometimes my time talent or treasure and i thought it was sacrificial and it never came back to me in fact i went deeper and dead or my time got chewed up in other ways and i'm standing there saying wait a minute god god and his kindness and his gentleness simply looks at me and says your motive matters your motive was wrong raymond okay okay god guess what if the motive is wrong where do you have to go back to to an altar repentance again again lord i'm sorry i didn't mean to do it that way this altar is open tonight it's 806. surely you've got time on a wednesday to come to an altar and spend a few moments with the lord i want to invite every one of you that will would you come come on build by giving sacrificially some of you right now are ready for a miracle god's simply waiting to see your sacrifice some of you right now you are you are standing primed ready for the miraculous to transpire in your life god's simply saying let me see the sacrifice lord i'm not sure what i'm supposed to do with it or how i'm supposed to do it but lord i want you to know that if if you'll put it in my heart god if you'll put it in my spirit lord i will i will trust your word i will trust what you're saying god and i'll reach to you i will reach god and i will reach inside of me and i will reach out to you lord and i'll give i'll do lord what you know god come on some of y'all need to pray that prayer lord jesus i am willing to be a vessel for you i'm willing god to move on your behalf lord to do what you're calling me what you're asking me to do god is going to take a step of faith but i believe that you own the cattle on a thousand hillsides i believe god that you have all things in control i believe lord you can return and restore it to me god come on somebody pray over your finances right now pray over your health right now pray over your family right now pray over your time right now pray over the talents and abilities god's given you come on in the name of jesus lord i'm going to trust you with it i'm going to believe you for it come on some of y'all need to right now make up the decision oh god i'm going to give i'm going to give i'm going to trust you i'm going to honor you i'm not holding back lord but by faith i'm moving forward in you hallelujah would you lift your voice to him right now come on making a prayer of commitment tonight lord you lead me lord you guide my footstep lord you show me the road to take the path to walk and i will in the name of jesus in the name of jesus lord i don't want to be what hinders a revival but i want to be lord useful in your hand god help me tonight to yield to you the leading of your spirit lord jesus in the name of jesus to give to you god is such a great honor and privilege in jesus name thy kingdom come lord thy will be done oh come on somebody make it a prayer come on begin to let god work in your life let him move in your spirit in the name of jesus i'm trusting you lord i don't know how i don't know where i don't know why i know what time lord but i'm i'm reaching for you i just need the faith to step out i just need my faith dear god to help me lord as i lift my foot show me where to put it next in the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah glorify glorify i glorify your name jesus i mean you know god's a faithful god come on i realize that when the preacher starts talking money and all we get nervous because we work for it what about your time or your talent that's yours something you can give god last one started raising funds for helping new churches so we asked the whole work all the churches to give a peso a day in an offering 30 pesos a month that's about exchange rate was about two dollars anybody could give stephen and i built little churches put money in took them to all the churches gave everybody one made off envelopes you know the whole presentation so i heard this bible school student was going to try to start a church in this little community and he went there two or three people meeting in a house and he gave him this program peso a day he said they don't have anything it's just in a little poor village but i wanted to present it to him because everybody can do something a month or two goes by and he comes to me at bible class bible school pastor 30 pesos to give something that's wonderful he said no wait a minute a little church i'm starting i presented it i don't have a lot but i want to give him a chance i said well that's cool he said wait a minute the little girl in the house that we met in seven or eight years old says can everybody give well yeah so a month or so goes by she hands him 30 pesos for her monthly offering he said well sweetie where'd you get this she said my dad who doesn't go to church doesn't love god doesn't know god drunk sometimes he'd give me a peso to run down to the store and get candy you get one of those little pieces so i decided you know what i'm not gonna buy the candy i'm gonna save my peso so she said dad gave her peso she said i'd go to down to the store i come back with it and put it in the bag jose the guy who's starting this church said really took you 30 days she said no no no listen to me for whatever reason after a couple days i'd hide that in the bag my dad would say here's two pesos jose said what what'd you do i went got candy put one in the bag then just two three weeks i had 30 pesos and i said can i give this now i'm standing here okay you've been listening to this story and i'm looking at this going are you kidding me this little girl figured out figured it out and i'm teaching college kids and they're looking at me like i don't make sense this little girl all she knew was what i got a peso for jesus and i got a peso for andy now y'all listen to me you want to know the lesson i learned in that as i received that offering that day put it in the thing i said all right lord if you can make a way for a child on a peso you could do that to a multi-millionaire you could do that for ten dollar bill you can do it lord it's all in the heart of the giver now you tell me god's not faithful did the little girl get the holy ghost said her dad come to church i don't know you know what i do know if she could believe god for that there's no telling where she is today no telling grab a hand pray with me lord we have come together tonight to look into your word and we read by example lord that when people have a mind to give when they have a spirit to give they can give i'm thankful lord god that we have the ability lord to be faithful with tithe and offering and our time and our talent thankful for that lord jesus i believe that the miracles from heaven will open god when people will trust you and will build by giving sacrificially looking for ways god to honor you and love you lord as your spirit speaks to them god they will open up as the voice of god speaks in their heart lord they will they will respond and they will do what the spirit is telling them to do i pray lord for our church family let us grow and prosper in you pray lord that we be able to help churches and help missions guide it and do lord what you're calling us to do for this hour i pray for the church family for every heart and home that's represented here tonight let the glory of the lord rest upon everyone lord give us a desire to understand and to grasp the spiritual indication lord by giving in jesus name in jesus name i pray right now god that you protect and keep us speak into our hearts lord lead us in the plain path we hunger and thirst for you lord thank you for our time together tonight we'll come back lord jesus this weekend rejoicing in you loving you serving you and blessing your name in the name of jesus we praise you and love you and we thank you in advance in jesus name come on love him before you leave here in jesus name i love y'all thank you for being out tonight greet one another shake hands be friendly pray for be nice to someone might be the only chance you get i love you guys see you this weekend