The Blessings of Giving

All righty, you guys can be seated. I don't know what's going on here. Well, they just keep breaking me in and telling me, "Hey, we need you to teach." Yes. Okay. Y'all gave me the mic. So, you know, just if I get out of hand, just tell me and I'll back out of the way. I know. I got tickled at Bonita and I were just out somewhere eating and I got a message on there for service. I thought, well, it's probably Justin sending for me to play keyboard or do something for for the uh uh Tuesday night CR or it was brother Don sending me something for music for for Sunday. Well, then I look on there when I get it, it says Tim Robinson and it says teaching Wednesday night. And I told Bonita, I said, "I don't know anything about this. What's going on?" But Sam has a way of u just kind of putting it out there. And so I came to church that Sunday. I He says, he was grinning when I was walking up to him. He said, "I know why you're coming up to me. I think he was with you guys when he did it, Sister Sloan. Was he?" And he he said, "Brother Tim was going to come up to me and say, 'Hey man, what's going on here?" "Well, how do you know I was teaching?" And he says, "Are you okay with it?" I said, "Well, what am I teaching about?" I said, "I don't know." I said, "Tim, what what what am I supposed to be doing here?" Then he said, "It's about giving." And I said, "Yeah, I think I can talk about that a little bit. We can do that." But anyway, we're going to be talking about the blessing and giving. And we're talking about greater giving. You know, Brother Sloan mentioned quite a few things and we probably will be crossing over each other with some scriptures because some of the same things will be said throughout this this series of lessons we're going to be doing for the month. But um but tonight we're not just talking about money. We're talking about giving as a spiritual as a spiritual discipline and how generosity affects our relationship with God. Um, so many times when you start talking about giving, people just kind of get a little uncomfortable with it, you know, because they're like, "Okay, I'm I'm trying to fight my bills and keep things paid and I'm trying to do this and that and other and I know this is a young church and we got a lot of those bills and we're raising kids and and says, "Boy, I don't know if I can do." But when we get finished with this tonight, hopefully we'll it will shine some new light on giving and how it works for us and how it's a part of God's plan and learning to trust him more than anything. Um just going to speak a little bit on generosity and uh I looked up the the word generosity and then if you look it up, it's just the quality of being kind and generous. But then I wanted to know what it meant in the Bible from the Bible aspect of it. And it says in the Bible, generosity is freely given good things, time, talent, treasure, love, forgiveness with a cheerful sacrificial heart, re reflecting God's own abundant nature and love, especially seen in Jesus gift of himself. It's more than just giving money. It's a lifestyle of sharing, serving others, trusting God as the ultimate provider, bringing blessings to the giver and others. Bible had a little bit more to say about generosity, you know, than than Webster, ever who this was, but uh or Google or Safari, whatever it is, where I pulled it from. Uh the key aspects of biblical generosity is reflecting God's nature. God is generous, creating the world, giving Jesus. So, believers are called to be generous as a spiritual discipline. Giving should be reluctant or or forced but done should not be reluctant or forced but done with a joyful spirit. um sacrificial. It involves giving beyond just what's easy sometimes at personal cost reflecting Jesus ultimate s sacrifice uh not just money. It includes giving time, hospitality, friendship, forgiveness, service, and not just material wealth. And I think that's one of the things that we're going to probably highlight on more than anything is the fact that we money is a part of the giving, but the most important part of it is when you give of your time and your talent and you understand how God blesses that. I know he's done it in our lives over the years of serving the Lord. He has blessed us beyond measure through giving of our time, talent, and treasure. Uh there there the example of the good Samaritan, the outcast Samaritan showed radical generosity to a stranger in need. The widows offering a poor widow gave two small coins a significant sacrifice showing her heart. And Jesus the ultimate example giving his life for our humanity. John 3:16 said, "For God so loved the word that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." God took giving very important. He he it he look what he gave. So giving is an important part of our life. 2 Corinthians and it may show this up in here. 2 Corinthians 9 and7 every man according to his purp per purpose my goodness in his heart so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful giver and then we got Acts 20 and35 I have showed you all things how that so laboring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. And the meaning of this particular passage here with Acts 20 and35 is the apostle Paul is speaking to the church of Ephesus when the quote when he quotes Jesus by saying it's more blessed to give than to receive. When Jesus says our giving is more blessed, he is telling us that there is more happiness or joy to be found in God when we give rather than when we receive. And I found that to be true in my own life. Um, we talked a little bit about this about a week or so ago with the business meeting. Some of the things we may overlap there too as well because we talked a little bit about giving that night. Uh, but in

Malachi and this is the part where we'll just we won't stay on this very long, but this is another part that we have to talk about and understand the difference between tithing and offerings. Um Malachi 3:8-10 says, "Will a man rob God, yet you have robbed me, but you say, wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offering? You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. bring you all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now herewith, said the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour out pour you out a blessing. And we're talking about the blessings of giving tonight that there are there that there shall not be room enough to receive it. God says and what he's saying here is that go and try me. You know, try me. I will bless you beyond measure. He will he will bless he will give it back to you. Um and and then and then again we are talking about the blessings of giving. Uh while some interpret this as a strict requirement for modern tithing, others argue it was a specific covenant promise for Israel. However, it is widely viewed as a principle for prioritizing God with one's resources. In other words, I it's it's tithing matters today too because sometimes we look in the Bible and we say that was for the you know for the in the Old Testament talking about tithing and stuff but you know uh let's see if I put that in here. Yeah. from a common sense standpoint. When I was sitting here reading this and just right before I got here tonight, and it's like it came to mind, you have some that say, "I don't think we should have to do this." But my common sense question has always been, "How does the church work?" I have not I mean I I know I'm I'm kind of working in in the financial side of the church and the building wasn't given to us and I we don't call the electric water and gas and them give us all that for free. So I always wonder from the common common sense aspect of it how would anybody think that you're not supposed to give? I I never could I could never could make sense of that because if you're in any kind of club or exercise program, whatever you go to, you're going to pay fees for where you go. And and to think, well, I just don't think that's for today. Well, then we wouldn't have a place to worship. It's it's not the pastor and his wife to work five jobs to cover our bills here at the church. And I know you guys don't want to do that, but you know, or the leadership doing that. So that's always been a question of mine. Would people question that? Even if you don't get into the the part of of the biblical aspect of it, that's just a common sense side of it. It takes funds to make this thing work. Um spiritual meaning beyond money. It highlights the need for obedience, faith, removing stinginess, and giving back to God. The context of robbing God. The Israelites were neglecting to bring the 10% tithe of their produce and livestock to the temple, which was used to support priests, Levites, and the poor. The act symbolized a lack of trust and obedience. We want to hang on to the money. A lot of times people give, like I said, they'll give their time and their talent, but boy, that money, it's hard to give that up. We work hard for it, and we don't want to let it loose too quick. the promise. God challenges the people to test him. The only time God invites this regarding their generosity, promising agricultural prosperity and protection from destruction. There again, he speaks of it in there about the fact that if you don't tithe, your finances will be cursed. And that's just talking about the tithing. We've not got into the offering yet. You remember me talking about uh my friend Bobby Allen and you know I remember him getting up if it was one time it was a thousand times. You will never ever outgive God. Go ahead and try to outgive God. And when he used to say that I had never really read this verse where God said test me, try me. Go ahead and try it. He says you will not do it. And it that is the truth. you will not outgive God. If you're given in the right man and the right spirit, God will bless you. Um, and you know, a song came to mind when I was going over this today, and uh, it's a song that our worship team does sometimes, and it's merely watch what he will do. And you know when you talk about giving and you're sometimes you're giving that last little bit and God I've got this but but God says watch what I will do. Watch what I will do. Let me show you what I'm going to do. Let me control it. Get your hands off of it. Give it to me and let me show you what I can do. Um but the verse in here that that stuck out the most, it says, "Bring your passions, every treasure, lay them all down. lay them all down at the empty tomb. At the empty tomb. Watch what he will do. Watch what he will do. And not only that, when we get into the giving part of it, we're going to understand hopefully by the end of this and you may already know that it's all spiritual and it's all a part of the relationship with God. It's not just of giving of your funds. I make money, I give. But it is spiritual. it. When you give, you become closer to God. You allow God into what you've got going on in your life and far way of your finances. And then in this song, it says, "Better get ready for a miracle. Better get ready for your joy." And he just spoke and it was in his word here talking about the joy of the Lord of giving. You you'll experience the joy of the Lord through your giving. You better get ready for revival. So the giving part of it is for our revival, for our time. We give of our time and our talents and our funds, but our time and our talents is a part of our giving that prepares us and has us ready for revival. Has us ready to move to our next level with what God is doing here at CAC. God's God is doing a work. And I said it this morning to our men. God is moving. And I feel like and just just feel we're on the verge of something to where it wouldn't surprise me at all if we weren't running 200 people by the end of this year. It would not surprise me at all or maybe more because God's blessing and look at what he's blessed us with here. This building, Brother Sloan talked about it last week. I talked about it the week before. This doesn't make sense. None of it makes sense, but that's how God does it. That's how he does it. uh Malachi 10 3 and10 teaches that faithful stewardship and giving are linked to God's blessings which is often interpreted not just as financial gain but as a as spiritual and prodical abundance practical abundance. Tithe is a requirement in the Bible. If we don't tithe, our finances will be cursed. I mean, it's just simple as that. God don't pull no punches about that in his word. God knows how money can get a hold of us. And if we're not careful, we will begin to gain a love for money. And we know the word of God says the love of money is the root of all of it. The love of money, not money, but the love of it. God doesn't need our money. He's more concerned about how our money will affect our relationship with him. Because sometimes we'll lean more on that than we will God. We'll lean on those finances more. We'll lean more on our money than we will God. And God is a jealous God. You don't want nothing put before him. Not even your money. God doesn't Sometimes if we're not careful, we will allow our relationship with our money to take the place of our relationship with God. We'll say, "God, I got this. Look what I'm making. Look what I'm doing. I've hit it. I've hit it big. I've got plenty. You're good, God. I've got it." But there are things in this life that money can't buy. We've learned that throughout our lives. No matter what how much money you've got, there's things that money can't buy. It can't buy peace. It can bring peace for a moment, but a life of peace comes from a relationship with God. There are blessings that only come from God. They cannot be purchased. Um

Timothy 6:10, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after they have aired from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:10 is talking about the love of money, not money itself. It's a root of all kinds of evil. It highlights that a unhealthy obsessive desire for wealth leads people away from their faith, causing severe spiritual and emotional pain. pierced himself through with many sorrows. It encourages contentment and warns that greed acts as a source for many types of spiritual behavior. Um, and I think there's the last part on the ties I will say that about and it says I don't believe that tithe is a part of the the good measure pressed now shaken together and running over. Giving tithe is a direct requirement from the word of God. God says in it now I read it today and I was reading in his scripture you will be blessed by giving of your tithe it would be a blessing but then when you start getting into the press down shaken together and running over part of the blessings that's what you're giving above and beyond tithe that's your sacrificial giving you will be blessed when you pay tithe but you will also eliminate a curse on your finances by paying tithe um my bishop in Murphy'sboro brother the priest he used to tell the story because he he would do a a yearly financial month for for giving. And one of the stories he told was a a gentleman coming into his pastor and he said, "Pastor," he said, "I need to talk with you. I need to meet with you." And he said, "Okay." He says, "My finances are so bad." He said, "I'm working overtime. I'm trying my best to pay to pay bills. I'm doing this and that and the other." And he said, "I just can't get it together. I don't know what the problem is." is. And he said, "Well," he said, "U, are you paying your tithes?" Well, no, pastor. I'm not paying tithe. I just told you my finances. I don't have any money. I can't afford to pay tithe. He said, "Okay, bow your head. Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you curse this gentleman's finances." And he said, "No, no, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait a minute. What are you doing?" He says, "And then he begins to explain to him Malachi 3:8-10. You will not, you cannot forget God in all of what you're doing." And he he he went on forward to tell the man, give your 10% and watch God what God will do with the 90. And then down the line, watch what will he do. He will do when he will allow you to be able to give even more of that 90 in the way of offerings, special offerings. So, I always think about that. I thought, man, a pastor said, "Bow your head. He's fixing to really hit God with this." And it sounds like, "No, no, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, don't no. Wait a minute."

Luke 6:38 says, and this, we've talked about this a little bit already, but it says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye meet with all, it shall be measured to you again." Brother Sloan talked about this too again last week. I said we'd be overlapping a little bit, but he's going to you're going to get it back. God's going to he said it in his word. He said try there again. Try him. See if he don't focus on the need. Prefer your brother. Be a cheerful giver. This means your heart is in the right place when giving. I have found in my own experiences in giving that when I give what God moves upon my heart to give. I never miss it and I never question it. You just do it. Did that many times I my dad and I were in business together. He and I could eye one another what we're going to do on this and he we be on the same page thus and so amount and give it. We just write the check and do it. Don't think nothing else about it. Business might have been tough at that time. May not have been selling any cars. might not be anything going on, but when God speaks, you give. You don't you don't question him. And when you start working that in your life and you see what God does, it won't be near as hard to do it from then on because you know God's got you. He's going to take care of you. Um see if I can find out where I was here. and and and and I uh God is orchestrating things from a higher level. His ways are so much higher than ours. He is not thrown off by anything. He already knows about that bill that's coming due next week. He already knows about the house payment the next month. He's not sitting there going, you don't have to explain to him all that stuff. If he moves on you to give, you give. God will take care of and he will handle that for you. He will take care of it for you. I've seen it many times over and over again in my life. Y'all remember me talking about a few weeks ago about how that God almost like envisioned him looking down and said, "Tim, you've got this in your emergency fund and I need that over here right now and you're not going to need your emergency fund because I'm going to take care of you." And that is kind of scary. But then you're like, "Oh, okay, God." But you trust him. you trust him that he's going to take care of and he did and like he said, "Watch what I will do." And look what the Lord has done. Not only did he bring that back to me, but he brought an amount of money back from my business that I had lost and covered that for me. And it and and it it reminded me and God meant for it to remind me. See what I'm talking about, Tim? This is what I'll do. This is what I'll do. Just trust me. Um, it all belongs to God. If we could ever wrap our minds around the fact that God blesses us with all that we have. God is the one who gives us the talents and the abilities to work our jobs, to make our money, to meet our financial needs. If we could ever wrap our mind around that and not think it's us, but God's given us that ability to do that. Um he allows he allows it all to pass through our hands first trusting that we will make the right choice and give what has been required of us in tithes but to also go beyond that and giving offerings. He trusts us with it. You know you know I said it the last time when I was talking about finance a few weeks ago about the fact that it's not that we only get 90%. We get to have 90% of the hundred. God just asked for 10%. And then you give above and beyond that in your tithes and offering, which is where the press the the good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over comes into play. You will you will see it happen. I'm telling you, you will see it happen in your life. God will do it. Remember, we're furthering the kingdom of God in our giving. Giving of our time, talents, and treasures. And I want to continue to emphasize on the time and talents and treasures because the time and the talents is something that goes on in this church every week. Everybody's either teaching, they're doing music, they're greeting, they're, you know, you know, security, media, music that's given of your talent and your time. God blesses that. Um 2 Corinthians 9:6, "But this I say, he which seweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which seweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." Uh reaping bountifully doesn't always come in the form of cash. Money given back. Okay, I gave a 100, God's going to give me a hundred back. It don't always happen that way. It's the things that we don't see that God is doing in our lives. You know, I was and God reminded me whenever I was talking to some of my neighbors there in Murphy'sboro. We've been in our house for quite some time and I noticed that some of them had to have the servicemen out on their air on their HVAC system numerous times having all kind of trouble. Had to replace it at five to seven years. They said, "Tim, how's yours doing?" I said, "It's fine. It's doing good. Ain't problem." Then it pushed and ended up, I thought, at 10, 12 years. It ran to 19 years. didn't have to do nothing, just replace it. Didn't have to work on it. And God reminded me, he said, "See, you might have not seen the cash come back to you, but look what I did here. I let that last a whole lot longer than everybody's." And that's because I'm watching over here. I'm watching you. You know what? I'm going to let that old car run another two or three years for you. It was fixing to go down, but I'm going to let it run another two or three years. But God does those things for us, and we don't even know it. We don't even see it. Now, we'll wonder how in the world the the old clunker still going. You just say, "Thank you, Lord." And you keep driving. You just keep going. Um, but

Colossians 3:23, "And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men." The core message is to use whatever s resources, time, and skills God has given to serve him, others, him, and others faithfully rather than hiding or wasting them. When we give of our time, talents, and treasures, that automatically makes us feel a sense of gratitude. We're, you know, it just makes you feel good to do what you're supposed to do. You've been obedient. Even when we work tirelessly here at the church, sometimes I've come over here and done a little work. I ain't did near what some of these men have done here. They've come here and just worked hours on in. But I've come in and I'm I'm part of the old people now. And uh and I feel it. I come in here and help with some of this floor and I got up. Bonita said, "You okay?" I said, "I will be." It'll take me a day or two. But when I leave here tired and wore out, aching and pained, I still It's a good tired. My dad used to say that all the time. It's a good tired because you've did something that's pleasing to God. And you're giving of your time for the Lord. And so God God blesses you beyond measure for that. Um, there's something about doing work for the Lord that's hard to explain. Most of the time we're having to make time for it, but when we make the time for it and do it, it creates such a rewarding feeling and we feel closer to God. That is the blessings of giving. We're talking about the blessings of giving. You have a desire to do more for the kingdom of God. You want to do more. uh faithful stewardship. The servants who used their talents were called good and faithful and were rewarded with more responsibility and we think more responsibility. But what you have to understand is when you're taking on a responsibility and it's a part of the work of the Lord, that's a privilege. It's not it's not a responsibility in the fact that you're having to do more work. It's that God has has trust in you that you can do more for his kingdom. And that's it. And you know, because when you look at that, you think, "Wow, man, I've got enough respons." No, but God is he has given you that, you know, that okay to come on in and do more for his his kingdom. Uh

Matthew 25 and 21, his his lord said unto him, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant. Thou has been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord." And you know, in all the times that I've read about giving and then it brings into the joy of the Lord, what a joy it is to give. And God kept just really moving on me whole time that I was studying this because I I've I've through doing this, I have learned a whole lot more about what it's about in giving. And that I've said it once, but it is a part of your relationship with God. It's a part of the relationship with God. The meaning of Matthew 25:21 concludes the parable of the talents, emphasizing that God rewards believers who faithfully use their talents, resources, and opportunities for his kingdom. It promises that stewardship over earthly task leads to greater responsibilities and eternal joy in the presence of the Lord, highlighting faithfulness over sheer ability, just doing what God would have you to do, just following after his will. When we willingly uh when when we give willingly to further the kingdom of God, I believe it draws a draws us closer to the Lord which brings us eternal joy in the presence of the Lord. Giving is spiritual. Let us not forget the example of the ultimate sacrifice of giving was when God gave his only begotten son for our salvation. And you think about how if you want to know how important giving was to God, that that right there shows you he gave more than we've ever given. Relationship with our resources. We don't need a relationship with our resources such as money, time, energy, and material possessions. They should be treated as tools to be used, managed, and deployed for a purpose rather than entities to be emotionally attached to, nurtured, or in relationship with. Don't be in a relationship with our resources. They're just a thing that just keeps things running and going and doing, you know, I mean, it is everything we do every day. Them resources come in handy, but you don't have a relationship with them. Uh the love of money is a relationship with your money. Faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. God God rewards consistent responsible management of small earthly opportunities with larger spiritual or eternal responsibilities. We just got through talking about the fact that when you when he sees that you can do it on a smaller scale, he takes you to that that larger scale. Um, giving with an attitude of gratitude. Having, have you ever given someone a gift and it just felt right. It was just something that you felt led to do it and then when you did it, something just felt right. It felt good. We experience joy when we give with an attitude of gratitude. Just God's blessed us. You know giving with an attitude of gratitude means intentionally offering time, resources or kindness from a mindset of abundance and appreciation rather than obligation. It is a conscious daily practice of recognizing blessings big and small which shifts focus away from personal selfish or negative perspectives to foster joy, compassion and positivity. Um in the Bible given with an attitude of gratitude means in 2 Corinthians 9:7 states being a cheerful giver rather than giving reluctantly or under compulsion. It is a joyful generous and voluntary response to God's grace and blessings acknowledging him as the ultimate source of all resources. Make sure I'm okay here. What time we supposed to get out of here? Okay. All right. Um, ideally gratitude prepares the way for us to give sacrificially and generously as cheerful givers who sow and reap bountifully. Uh, when we release ownership of something and realize it all belongs to God, it makes it a lot easier to share the blessings of the Lord. If we release it, let it go. It's all the blessings of the Lord. There is faith in giving. It's uh it's having faith that God will supply your needs even when you give your last dime. I've heard that said so many times over that God moved on me to do it and it was the last I had. And a lot of times people would say that before they got out of the church, somebody doesn't give it back to them. It just happens. God sees it. He makes it happen. You will never regret giving your time, talents, and treasures. never. There's so much spiritual fulfillment when we pour ourselves into the work of the Lord. You know, uh, and in

Colossians 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men." We've done read that once, but when we pour time into the work of the Lord, we need to make sure we're not doing it to please man, but to please God. This is where we can get in a little bit of a trouble if we're not careful. Sometimes when we would we would get weary and tired and then strike out at our leadership and say things like, "They don't care if I'm here or not. They never show appreciation for the efforts I make." But let us not forget we're not doing it for man. We're doing it for God. It's not for man. We're doing it for God. This building doesn't belong, as I said earlier, to the pastor and his wife. This this is our place of worship, you know, and we have a responsibility to do what we can to keep this building, you know, serviced and keep it and Lord knows it needed a lot of work, but it's happening. But look at the space. We prayed for space. God give it to us, but now he said, "Now y'all going to have some togetherness now. Have some togetherness and and putting it back together, making it work." We don't need man's affirmation when giving. We just need to know that God's speaking to our hearts and we do what God tells us to do and our time, talents, and treasures. God knows and he's seeing what we're doing. The same goes with what we give in the offering plate. The efforts we are making will be blessed by God. Whether man takes notice or not, God's going to bless it. As long as we're doing it wholeheartedly unto the Lord, his blessings will follow. God knows the heart of the giver and the receiver. I remember, you know, a few times people saying, "Well, you know, I don't I don't know if I should. I don't know what they're doing with it. I don't know what how they spending it, how they handle it and stuff." But once your offering have been given, the blessings of the Lord coming your way will not be hindered by how the receiver handles it. It's between the receiver and God at that point. And God knows the heart of the giver and the receiver. So once it leaves your hand, your blessings are coming your way whether it gets handled the right way or not. Now here we don't have nothing to worry about that. We know that it's getting handled in the right way. We need to be careful to keep our heart in the right place, cheerfully given unto the Lord and the blessings of the Lord will be good measure pressed down, shaken together and running over. Giving is a part of our relationship with God. Now, I want to tell a little story about my own life back years ago before Bonita and I met. I was I had my business. I've been in my business for a few years. I started a car lot when I was 20 years old and I'd gotten it started. It was rolling pretty good. Had a had a pretty good little nest egg in the bank to pay down on a house. I was ready to get my family started, but God hadn't sent me a wife yet. And um I was getting a little bit discouraged. Then the enemy started telling me, "Team, it probably ain't gonna work out for you. That ain't happening." And so I got a little bit discouraged. Of course, I used to talk to my mom. Mom was mom, but she was also my friend. And she was a man, just a powerful woman of God. She spoke to you. You felt it. You knew God was in it. My two older children remember it. Of course, my wife, but Carly didn't remember it as much because she was younger. her mom. My mom had gotten sick over the years and wasn't able. But she could speak things into your life and you just walk off just feeling better. She was one of them that brother the priest said yes I could go to the hospital to visit her and he said before I left he said I was uplifted because she wouldn't talk about herself. She was laying there and said didn't know if she was going to make it through the night but she would say how are you doing brother de how is your health? How are you doing? You look tired. Are you okay? And I'm sitting there going, "Okay, you're laying in the hospital bed and you're asking me." But that was mom. That was mom. But she said, "Tim, it's going to work out. God's going to bless you. It's going to happen for you." And so for for, you know, and and over the next few years, uh, you know, I was I I decided at that point, and this is what brought this all back to mind when I was going through all this giving. I said, "Lord, I'm going to pour myself into whatever you want me to do." I was a part of a youth committee and I was youth leader at that time. I was doing music in the church. I was involved in probably was on the board uh board of deacons at that time. Had a lot of things going on. I was working with the camps going and helping them out at the campgrounds and and I said, "God, I'm just going to pour myself into you and God. It's going to it's going to happen when you're ready ready for to happen." And that's just what I started doing. It went just a little time down the line at a at one of those youth retreats when I was the youth leader. I met this beautiful lady right here. God saved. He saved that best for me. And she's been a blessing in my life soon to be 36 years this year. And then this week on Monday, I'm going to have a slide to come up here and I'm going to show you how God blesses. This is just this is just one of the blessings that God has blessed us with. We was over at Chesy and Justin's Monday night. Our whole clan had to come together to have time with her. And I'm going to show you where the devil is a liar and the father of lies when he tries to tell you it ain't going to be. Can you show that next one? That next picture. I think they're trying to listen. Do they hear me? We need the next slide. Are they going to get it up here? Come on. We need the next slide. Okay, maybe they didn't get it in there. Maybe they didn't hear. But anyway, the next slide is a picture of 15 of us all together with the new baby in the picture with us. And God said it would never happen. And when you look at that picture, when I look at that picture, I said, "Look what the Lord That last picture didn't come through." Oh, you didn't? Oh, really? Yeah. Well, I Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll send to Logan. He can do it. Yeah, he he make it happen. He's He's good at all that high tech stuff or whatever. I don't know where to send it. Here, Logan. It's coming to you. Can I send it to something here? We got a minute or two. Move all that stuff. It's coming. It's coming. But there it is. And so when I looked at that picture and I thought about what the enemy was telling me back a number of years ago before I met Banana and I said look what the Lord has done and and you know the blessings that's blessings. That's right. When you give your time, talent and treasures and you you you keep God first. This is what God does. And God knew this was my this was my dream. This was what what I wanted in my life. And I look at this and I do this quite often. If you want to see old pawpaw get a little bit of emotional, this right here does it because we sit around every year at Christmas time and my number one thing I say more than anything is I'm thankful for this circle of people in this room and what God has blessed us with. I I tell Bonita quite often, I'm a blessed man. God has blessed me beyond measure and I'm thankful for that. And in giving of your time, talents, and treasures will bring you blessings. And we're talking about the blessings tonight. That's what we were talking about tonight. And and I truly believe that with all my heart. God will bless you. When you line that up and get that set right with God, with your giving, it will happen. God will bless you. He's proven it time and time again. I've lived long enough now that I can go back in my history and look at all the times throughout where God has just shown himself in my life throughout. It's though mo those moments I shared in Sunday school a few weeks ago when God says let me and then he brings that blessing of that healing in my life. He heals my body. He heals me of something that's not supposed to happen. Just like this church don't make sense. My doctor still a little puzzled by it. How's this happen? I said because God's greater. He knows what he's doing. He He will He will do it every time for us. And I am so thankful that God he he will stand by his word and he will bless us. And that's what I have tonight. Hopefully, it's something that will go with you guys and help you to see it clear if you if you needed that. But I am thankful for God and all his goodness.