Generosity Shapes Perspective

Well, good morning to everybody that's here and at every one of our campuses. Today we are starting a series called, The Generous Life. Now I know what some of you may be thinking. Okay, here we go. He's coming after our money. Let me put your mind at ease. I'm actually coming for a whole lot more than that. I'm coming for your heart. Now, of course we'll talk about money and possessions because scripture does and we think about it every day. Every single person thinks about this every day. But we're also through the course of this series, gonna be talking about worry and anxiety. We're gonna talk about the investment of our lives. We're gonna talk about how the Lord provides, we'll talk about contentment. We'll even talk about how the scripture talks about how to be rich. Now, we're calling it the generous life because this is actually about a lifestyle. How do you define generous life? How do you actually talk about that? Well, if I wanted to invert it and talk about in the negative, here's what the generous life is not, it's not the selfish life, if that's one way to define it, is a generous life is not a selfish life. And we're gonna give definition as we work through this series to what a generous life actually looks like because it's so vast and multi-tiered and is encompassing of the whole of our lives. And so as we move forward in this series, you're going to hear more and more about the nature of what this building definition is of a generous life. And my hope is, is even though we're gonna cover a lot of ground over the next few weeks, you won't want to miss one message in this series. And here's why, particularly for today, here's why. Because generosity shapes perspective, and perspective shapes generosity. Let me say it again. Generosity shapes perspective and perspective shapes generosity. Now, I thought quite a bit about this. It seems to me that there is a symbiotic relationship. Did you like that word? Thank you very much. That there's a symbiotic relationship between generosity and perspective. In other words, generosity helps shape perspective and perspective also helps shape generosity. Now, I'm not necessarily talking about a chicken and an egg thing here, where we concern ourselves with which one comes first, generosity or the right perspective, because both can actually affect each other in the right direction. Now, I also realize that the more negative version of this is also true, that greed and selfishness can shape perspective and perspective can shape greed and selfishness. So I recognize that. That's why we want to look at this from the perspective of who God is and what God wants. And scripture reveals to us starting on page number one, through the entirety of the Bible, that God is a generous God who has made people, human beings in his likeness. Therefore, that means that God's people should be a generous people because we are made in his image, we are made like the great generous God that we serve. Now, if we've got a perspective of a generous God, we should become a generous people in the whole of our lives. But it's also true that if we will start acting generously, that it can begin to inform our perspective of God as a generous God. So that's why I'm saying that generosity shapes perspective and perspective shapes generosity. So I'm not so concerned with which one comes first. I'm just concerned that we realize the relationship of how generosity shapes perspective and how perspective shapes generosity. Now here's what I wanna do. I wanna inform all of this as we look at perspective. I wanna inform this with an Old Testament story that you may be distantly familiar with but maybe you haven't looked at closely. We'll be in 1 Chronicles 29 in just a few moments. If you're looking for that in your Bible, that's an Old Testament passage. And if you have trouble finding that, just look in a table of contents. Nobody's gonna side eye you for looking in a table of contents. Just find it in 1 Chronicles 29 and we'll arrive there in just a few moments. But let me see if I can put us into that space so we understand what's happening in 1 Chronicles 29. king David is the king of Israel and he's nearing the time of his death. King David reign for 40 years in Israel, and now he's coming really soon to his death. In fact, when you get to the end of 1 Chronicles 29, it actually gives us a chronicle of David's death. And what he's done here before he dies is he gathers Israel together to tell them about his heart's desire, a dream that he's had for a really long time, and that is to build a temple for the Lord. Now, I don't know if you remember how that came to be, but David was one time in his palace. In a portion of his reign, David was in his palace made of cedar. It was really beautiful. And maybe he was out on the balcony that day and he was looking over a tent or a tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. And he started thinking to himself, this isn't right. Like I'm here in this palace. And then there's just a tent where the Ark of the Covenant and the presence of God is going to dwell. So he actually talked about that in 2 Samuel 7. Beginning of verse one it says, "After the king David was settled in his palace "and the Lord had given him rest "from all his enemies around him. "He said to Nathan, the prophet, "here I am living in a house of cedar "while the ark of God remains in a tent." Nathan knew what he was talking about. Basically David was saying, you know, I need to build something for God. I'm in this nice palace and I should build something for God. And Nathan initially told him, "Hey, do whatever's in your heart." And then Nathan went to bed that night and God spoke to the prophet Nathan, and he said to Nathan, Hey, I wanna tell you something. David is not going to build me a house. I'm going to build David one. Not a physical brick and mortar type of house, but a lineage, a dynasty. That's what he said. David's not gonna build me a house, I'm gonna build him one. And by the way, I want you to know that there's also going to be a house built for me, but David's not gonna build it. His son Solomon is going to build it. And so Nathan tells David this and David responds in a very beautiful way. And from that time forward, David began planning how he would donate and facilitate the building of the temple. Now, in 1 Chronicles 29, David's nearing the end of his life and the end of his reign, and he gathers the assembly of Israel together and he tells them that Solomon is going to build the Lord a temple. And David says, "I'm gonna lead out "in generosity for this project." If you're looking through 1 Chronicles 12, you'll see this in there. I'm not going through the whole chapter. David not only gives of the spoils of war because he's won a lot of battles. David was a warrior. He not only is giving out of the spoils of war that he's amassed through the years, but he's also giving of his personal wealth. And so he leads from the front and says, I'm donating and giving all of this generously for the building of God's temple. And then he says, this, "Who's with me?" This is what he says to Israel, "Who's with me?" And the leaders and the people responded with great generosity and with great enthusiasm. And the text tells us that they did so willingly and joyfully. And so out of this response of this great generosity that's happening among the people of Israel led by David, David begins to pray and to worship the Lord. And from his prayer we're going to learn some things about how generosity shaped perspective and perspective shaped generosity by looking at when David prays what perspectives he has when he prays. Here's the first. We're gonna learn about the perspective of God. We're gonna pick up in verse number 10 of 1 Chronicles 29. Here's what it says, "David, praised the Lord "in the presence of the whole assembly saying, "praise be to you Lord, the God of our Father, Israel "from everlasting to everlasting. "Yours Lord, is the greatness and the power "and the glory and the majesty "and the splendor for everything in heaven "and earth is yours. "Yours Lord is the kingdom. "You are exalted his head overall. "Wealth and honor come from you. "You are the ruler of all things. "In your hands are strength and power "to exalt and give strength to all. "Now our God, we give you thanks "and praise your glorious name." David makes it clear. Watch this. He makes it clear that everything in heaven and earth is God's. That is a beautiful and pictorial way of saying this. God owns everything. Why? Let me say this, why is this truth so important for living a generous life? Here's why. Because we serve a God of abundance, not a God of scarcity. I want you not to miss this. It's a foundation for what it means for us to live a generous life when we have a perspective of God. God is a God of abundance, not a God of scarcity. It's all His. What's all His? Everything. If you can name it, it's His. Your stuff. What about my cars? His. My home, His. Apartment, His. Money, His. Clothes, His. Food, His. It's all His. If you can name it, it is God's. This has to be foundational for our perspective of how we view actually everything. Our perspective is if a God of abundance, a God who owns everything everywhere on earth and in heaven and it shapes everything about living a generous life. See, God doesn't just own a portion or percentage of your resources. He owns it all. He owns 100% of everything we have. That means that he's a God of abundance because everything in heaven and earth is His. I want you every campus, listen to me very carefully and this campus, I want us all to do this. I want you to repeat this statement after me. It's all yours, God.

- [Congregation] It's all yours, God.

- Say it again.

- [Congregation] It's all yours, God.

- If that is true, then why do we think that when we give at whatever percentage that we give or whatever, we sometimes are asking ourselves when we give, if I give, will I have enough? That's because your perspective of God is that he's a God of scarcity, not a God of abundance. Instead, our perspective of God should change that thinking. Instead of when we give asking this question, will I have enough? We should actually give and ask, does God have enough? Does God have enough to supply every need that I have? Yes. Why? Because he owns everything. It's all His. You see, we get a perspective of God from David immediately after he begins to talk about and he models this generosity, and his perspective of God is one that has everything in heaven and earth, every single thing. But we not only get a perspective of God, we also get a perspective of ourselves. David helps us to see that a perspective of himself and we as the people of God, a perspective of ourselves. Look at what he goes on to say in verse number 14. I'm literally just gonna be walking through this prayer. Verse number 14, David writes or he prays, "But who am I and who are my people "that we should be able to give as generously as this? "Everything comes from you." Watch this. "And we have given you only "what comes from your hand." Did you catch that? "We've given you only "what comes from your hand." Look at that phrase. What a perspective? This is a recognition by David as he's praying. It's a recognition that God owns everything and even what we give, he gave to us to be able to give. So here's what that means. God is the owner of everything and we are simply managers or stewards of resources he's entrusted to us. Did you catch that? It's really important for us to be able to see it from this passage. And it's beautiful how David unpacks this by the Holy Spirit for us. We are managing resources that the God who owns everything has entrusted to us. That's the power of perspective in generosity. We recognize that we're simply managers of God's resources that are entrusted to us. This is what our perspective starts to be shaped when we are generous people. Now in the Old Testament climate, as you probably are aware, the people of God were under an obligation, a command to tithe. Now this generous giving that we're looking at in 1 Chronicles 29, this is over and above. This is separate from that. They had an obligation to tithe. This is just generosity on display in 1 Chronicles 29. Now with the tithe, if you're like, what's the tithe? Tithe means 10%. That's literally what the word means. And it's interesting because there were a few different tithes in the Old Testament and it probably meant that the people of Israel actually would offer more than 10% in their tithe giving in their normal course of life. And I think the language is interesting in the Old Testament, when you see the language of tithing in the Old Testament, it's profound. Here's why. Listen to this. They don't talk about giving the tithe. It's brought or it's returned. It's not given. Why is that? Because it was to remind the hearts of God's people that it was God's. So you bring the tithe, you don't give it, it's not yours. You bring it. You return it. Why? It's God's. And what God is wanting to do is he's wanting to teach the hearts of the people of God that all things are His. And he gives them an illustration of that by saying, the tithe is the Lord's and you are to return it. You are to bring it. Why? It's God's. And it's something that you should grab hold of. Now, though the New Testament and the new covenant teaches willing generosity and joyful generosity and not a mandated percentage and not a mandated tithe, it still means that the New Testament characteristic of generosity is not negotiable. You see, sometimes I talk with people and they've said, man, you know, "Listen Pastor, we're not under the law anymore "so I don't have to give 10%." And I'm like, "You're exactly right. "You can give way more than that if you want." And I know I say that to kind of be funny, but it's true. Generosity is not bound by the law. Generosity comes overflowing from our hearts in response to who God actually is. You see, I find it interesting because the Old Testament tithe is actually a good set of training wheels principally to learn generosity. Because here's the thing, we can't learn to be generous without actually starting to give. You can't. You can't learn how to be generous if you don't actually start giving. This is how generosity shapes perspective. As we give the God of abundance graciously provides for us. And we see the faithfulness and the provision of a God we learn to trust even more. This is the beauty of how this shapes our perspective. We gain the perspective of ourselves as managers or stewards of God's resources entrusted to us exactly what David was praying. Now, out of curiosity, I researched how many of God's people who attend church in the United States regularly, give at least 10% of their income to the church. Now again, we're not under that mandated in the New Testament, so I'm just using it as a principle because the Old Testament gives us the principle of the tithe, I'm just using that principally. And I wondered what that would be. And I found a few different sets of research. The first one was a conglomerate of groups that had come together, organizations and they did this study called a State of the Plate. It's pretty fancy. I like that. A state of the plate, right? Thought that's catchy. And here's what they found. They found 12% of God's people actually give 10% or more of their income. Now, I also saw the Barna Group, and the Barna Group showed us that it was a little bit more than that. They came to a place of saying 21% of God's people actually gave 10% or more of their income. So you've got 12% here, and you've got 21% there. So let's just say if we looked at an average, maybe let's go 16 to 17%, maybe an average of what we could possibly say. Now, I find that interesting because I was wondering what that actually looked like for us because we actually self-reported on a spiritual formation survey that we did recently. You actually self-reported along that line. It was anonymous. I don't know who, what, I don't know any of that stuff. You just self-reported. If the national average is somewhere in the 16 to 17% range, I was curious where The Chapel was. Here's where it is, 35%. Hey, I wanna pause for a second and I wanna thank God because that's double, double the national average. Double the national average. I've always said, I've said to so many people when they ask, what's one of the characteristic natures of your church at The Chapel? And there could be a number of things that I would name. I say to people, it's a generous church. It's a generous church by and large. Now the data shows that we compare favorably to the national average. But let me ask a question 'cause this is me also being who I am. Is God a God who is interested in comparison or is he a God who's interested in obedience?

- [Congregation] Obedience.

- So could we pat ourselves on the back? And by the way, I think it's something to celebrate by the way. I think it's something to celebrate. It's why I paused to do it. But do we wanna spend all of our time patting ourselves on the back or am I also reminded that 65% of our church aren't in that category? That just means this is an area for many of us, the majority of us to actually grow in. By the way, some of the data for those that actually give 10% for whoever those people are nationally, 77% of those people give more than 10% because they're the people who've learned God provides. That he is faithful. That when they learn to trust him, that he continues to demonstrate himself trustworthy. So this is an opportunity for many of us to learn the joy of generosity and to gain the perspective of a manager or a steward of all God's resources that are entrusted to us. But here's what... Listen, here's what I want you to remember though. The idea of stewardship is not just about our financial assets that we're working out and figuring out how we manage them and how we spend them. That's not what this is actually about. It's much bigger than that. In fact, if you wanted to jot this statement down, stewardship isn't primarily about managing resources for us to spend, but about managing our lives so God can spend us. This is what stewardship is much more about. Stewardship's not just about managing our resources so that we can spend them. It's about managing our lives so that God can spend us. See, stewardship is about all of life. It's about the whole of who we are and our perspective shapes generosity, and generosity shapes perspective. And we've gotta have a perspective of God and a perspective of ourselves. But let me add a third to our mix. A perspective of life. You see this as we continue on in this prayer from David. Watch what he prays in verse 15 and 16. He says, "We are foreigners and strangers in your sight "as were all our ancestors. "Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. "Lord, our God, all this abundance "that we have provided for building you a temple "for your holy name comes from your hand "and all of it belongs to you." You see, all of what we have is God's even what we give. And this God that we give to is our only hope in this shadowy and short duration here on earth. He's our only hope. That's why friends, that's why generosity helps to shape our perspective on life because it puts us, watch this, it puts us in an eternal mindset. This is what we need. When we're generous, we're not only looking at this life, but we're looking beyond it to eternity. Jesus said as much to us. Remember when he was this great message that he was preaching this sermon on the mount or this message on the mountainside if you wanted to call it that. And Jesus makes this incredible statement in Matthew 6 beginning in verse 19. He says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth "where moths and vermin destroy, "and where thieves break in and steal. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven "where moths and vermin do not destroy, "and where thieves do not break in and steal. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." You see friends, here's what Jesus is trying to help us understand. We can use treasure to lead our hearts into things of eternal significance. There is such a thing as storing up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Are you interested in that? Because if you are, it comes as a result of how we steward our treasures on earth. If our treasures on earth are what we utilize for God's glory, for God's kingdom, and we recognize it's all his, and this is a heart posture and it's not just about that by the way. Jesus talks about we are having an ability to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, and moths and rust and vermin, they can't get in there. Thieves can't break in and steal. Isn't that great? Nobody can hack into your accounts. Ever had that happen? It's awesome, 'cause it's so easy to just get all untangled. Jesus is saying, I've got something far better than that. But too often for us, our treasure is leading our hearts away from the eternal. So what we have to learn to do is we have to learn to tell our treasure what it's supposed to do. Listen to me, Jesus is our master. And as a result, money is not, because you can't serve God and money. You've got one master, right? Jesus is our master. Therefore we take our money and we tell it what to do. You will obey me because I am obeying Him. This is what we do. It's all God's. It's all His. But we tell it what to do because God tells us what to do. Jesus talks about we are having an ability to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, and moths and rust and vermin they can't get in there. Thieves can't break in and steal. Isn't that great? Nobody can hack into your accounts. Ever had that happen? It's awesome, 'cause it's so easy to just get all untangled. Jesus is saying, I've got something far better than that. But too often for us, our treasure is leading our hearts away from the eternal. So what we have to learn to do is we have to learn to tell our treasure what it's supposed to do. Listen to me, Jesus is our master. And as a result, money is not, because you can't serve God and money. You've got one master, right? Jesus is our master. Therefore we take our money and we tell it what to do. You will obey me because I am obeying Him. This is what we do. It's all God's. It's all His. But we tell it what to do because God tells us what to do. Because too often our treasure, watch this, it's leading us into places that is not bringing us into an eternal mindset. It is not causing us to think about the nature of the kingdom. It is not causing us to think about treasure in heaven and things that are eternal in value. But if you'll tell your treasure where it should go, it will lead your heart into the right places. Do you know why I love the church so much? In part, there's a lot of reasons, you being chief among them. But do you know why else? Because so much of my treasure is here. And where my treasure is, that's where my heart will be. And I want it to matter for eternity. But let me show you another perspective here. It's the perspective of integrity. Man this is remarkable to me. This part of David's prayer. In verse number 17, watch what he says. "I know, my God, that you test the heart, "and are pleased with integrity. "All these things I have given willingly "and with honest intent "and now I've seen with joy how willingly your people "who are here have given to you, "Lord, the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, "keep these desires and thoughts "in the hearts of your people forever, "and keep their hearts loyal to you." What a profound statement David makes in his prayer. Did you catch it? I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. This is all coming from his generosity and his giving and he's praying, I know God, that you test the heart and you're pleased with integrity. Let me ask you this question. Have you ever looked at giving? Have you ever looked at generosity as a test of your integrity? You probably haven't, but David does. David talks about giving willingly and watch this, with an honest intent. What is his intent? To honor, to worship, to glorify the one true God. To declare not just with his mouth but with his resources that he loves and he trusts God. For David, it was an integrity issue. David could not say, I trust you God and not release resources tangibly that express that trust. Can we really say, this is a hard question. Can we really say we trust God if we don't act in trusting him in a real way like with our resources? If we don't give it all, let's ask this question of ourselves. Do we really trust God? That's what this is getting at. This isn't me taking a big leap. This is David saying, God, you test the heart and you're pleased with integrity and it's all within the context of generosity and giving. It's an integrity test. And let me say this to you. If you feel the pang of failing that test, then let this be instructional for you today. It's not a guilt, it's instructional. Let God help you be tomorrow what you aren't today because God in his grace will do that. He'll help you become tomorrow what maybe you're not today, because don't we all wanna be people of integrity who we say and we sing that we trust you God. But if we're not even able to do that, even in a limited way with that which God has provided for us, do we trust that he's the God who owns everything? Do we trust that we are only stewards and managers of that which he has given to us? Do we trust that he wants us to focus our minds on eternity? Do we trust that this is actually a test of integrity? It's interesting because in the 2 Chronicle, the first one we're reading in now, but in the second one, when King Asa of Judah is not trusting in God as he ought to, and instead he's looking for his stability, he's looking for his security in other nations instead of in God. God says to him, you're just gonna stay at war. And then he reminds him of this great statement. In 2 Chronicles 16, "For the eyes of the Lord "range throughout the earth to strengthen those "whose hearts are fully committed to him." In other words, it reminds us that the Lord is seeking out, the Lord is searching for, the Lord is looking for those who walk in integrity and who are loyal to Him. Listen, friends here. Lemme tell you something I want for you. I want the eyes of the Lord to stop on you. I want the eyes of the Lord to stop on me. I want the eyes of the Lord to stop on our church and see a people who are loyal, who have integrity, who trust Him, and who demonstrate that even intangible generosity. What could God do with a people like that? Well, imagine he could do what he'd already done. You see when David is talking about generosity and praying for generosity, and building a temple for God, he calls back to his mind because there was a time where there needed to be a tabernacle built for God in the time of Moses. When you look at Moses, Exodus chapter 34, 35, 36, right? There was this great building of the tabernacle and guess who was providing all of the elements for the tabernacles building? It was the people of Israel. Watch this. They gave so much Moses had to tell them to stop giving. Have you ever heard a sermon like that? Ladies and gentlemen, please stop giving. We have too much. No, you don't hear that as a sermon. Why? Because maybe we're not quite yet in a place where believers are developing in their maturity and in their trust of God to live so generously empowered by God's spirit. But this is a perspective of integrity. But let me show you a last, it's a perspective of the future. This prayer also gives us a perspective of the future. Look how this prayer ends in verse number 19, David says, he's praying to the Lord, "And Lord give my son Solomon "the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, "statutes and decrees, "and to do everything to build the palatial structure "for which I have provided." Listen to this, you're saying what does this have to do with the future? Watch. David was giving generously to something he would never see. He was giving generously to something he would never see and we can too. You see, we don't have a physical temple to build. Sure, as a congregation of The Chapel, we've invested in some brick and mortar, no question. But those were just the vehicle to house the church. This at every one of our campuses when you look around, this isn't the church. You have to look side to side to see that not up. See side to side what you're gonna see is you're going to see people, and the church is people. When we live a generous life, we will touch and impact people that we won't even live to see the outworkings of it. We can give and live generously. And David was doing that because he had a mindset on eternity and a perspective of the future. He was giving to something that he would never see. And we do the same thing. It may be lives that have been impacted through our church that we will never know about. We will never know about. We will die having invested in the ministry of the chapel. But the seeds of that, that enabled us to do various things that we do, whether it was a kids' camp in the summer where the seeds of the gospel were planted in the lives of five year olds and six year olds and seven year olds, and we die before seeing that come to fruition where their lives are transformed as a result of your generosity. We're giving to that which we may have never been able to see. When we give to kingdom come and we've got partners that are all over the world, that maybe we were invested in doing something so significant. Drilling wells for people to have water so that they continued to exist and still got to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be transformed. And we're never going to know that in this life because we're giving to what we cannot see. We won't fully see the outcomes of our generosity while on earth, but one day we will see it. One day we will see it. I love there was a sermon titled, Everything is Yours Lord. And it was from 1 Chronicles 29 by a pastor named, Dr. Ligan Duncan. This was in November of 2007. Listen to what he said. If that, he's speaking of this great generosity, giving to that which we cannot see. "If that's not a picture of what ought to be "the spirit of all of our giving, "I don't know what is. "Because ultimately the reason that we give "more money to ministry is we want to see a temple built "that we will never see built "until we're standing in glory with the angels "and the elders, and a multitude "that no man can number all naming the name "which is above every name, Jesus Christ our Lord. "And then God the Father says, "behold the temple that I have been building "from the foundation of the world. "My people, that's why we give to the church "because we want to see men and women "and boys and girls from every tribe and tongue "and people and nation made into the temple "of the living God, brought into the family "of the living God, "made to be brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, "made to glorify him and enjoy him forever." This is why we do this. So don't you want to be shaped into living a generous life? It's far more than money and possessions and financial giving, but it's not less than that. Where are you on this journey and what steps is God asking you to take? Maybe you need to sit with God and let him give you a perspective of who he actually is. That's where you need to start. Or maybe you need to repent, and remember, repentance is not a bad word. It's a good word. Maybe you need to repent of acting like God is a God of scarcity instead of a God of abundance. Maybe you need to take a holistic look at all you are stewarding and ask questions before the Lord about how you're doing that. Maybe you need to confess that what you say about trusting God hasn't actually been as true as it could be, and you want God's help to bring your life into a place of integrity, a place of wholeness. Or maybe, maybe your eyes have only been on the here and now and you haven't really considered the perspective of eternity and the future. Or maybe your great need is understanding this, that God hasn't withheld anything in order to save you. That he gave his son, and his son willingly and joyfully offered his own life. The sinless one for the sinful ones in order that we might be reconciled to the Father through his sacrificial death and his triumphant resurrection. See, the greatness of God's generosity in Jesus is more than we could ever fathom. And it means that we can be forgiven of our sin. We can be made right with God. We can have eternal dwelling with God forever. God is a generous God, and he wants his people to be made like him in increasing image of his generosity. Let's bow our heads together for prayer. I don't know exactly what God may be saying to you, and it's okay, because God knows what he's saying to you. I don't have to know that. I don't need to know that. But what I would ask is this, that you obey what He asks of you. Maybe for some of you it's to begin this journey. Great, start. Start somewhere. If you're like, well, I don't know if I could start at this or... Okay, start somewhere. Starting is better than not starting. Even if it's not where you're going to be, it's different than where you were because God wants to make you tomorrow what you aren't today. This is a part of our sanctification process and I don't know what God may be asking of you, but I want you just to do what he asks. And maybe you're here and what I just mentioned at the end, you need to put your trust and your faith in the great generous God who's given his son so that you could be saved, so that you could find forgiveness, so that you could have new life, so that you could be made new. If that's your need, we've got some men and women that are standing down front that would love to take a moment when we dismiss and everybody's kind of walking out the back. Why don't you just walk toward the front, take one of them by the hand and just take an opportunity at that point to just say, you know what, I wanna put my faith and my trust in Jesus. And they'd love to take a moment and just pray with you a prayer of faith that would recognize your need for Christ. We'd love nothing more to do that. There's men and women standing down here that would love to do that. Or maybe you want one of these men or women standing down here to take a moment and pray with you about something in your life. Maybe God getting a hold of you about what it means to be a steward in your whole life. That's great. Have 'em pray with you. We welcome that. Whatever it is that God wants, I just want you to do it. And I would encourage you, use the resource we gave you on the way in. It's a great way to continue to dwell on this, to continue to think through this, to continue to work through this. That's why we made it. So Father I pray that you would do your good pleasure among your people. I pray that we as a people by the power of your spirit would just say, yes. We would surrender ourselves and say yes to whatever it is you ask of us. Whatever it is you're calling us to. Whatever step of obedience you want us to make. I pray that we would say yes. 'Cause you are a God who is trustworthy. You are a God who owns everything in all of heaven and earth. You are a God of abundance and grace. And Father, I pray that you would do your good work among us. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.