Speaker 1: 0:00

Just got lost in the moment. What's up? Free Church, how good to see you today. Listen, what a powerful moment, what a powerful time of worship and as we were singing, and one thing that I love about the atmosphere in this house, how God is moving in such a powerful way, is that no matter how much volume we put in the speakers, you're out singing the sound system, which is incredible, and maybe I felt like I needed to just share this. If you're relatively new into this kind of atmosphere, why do we sing so loud with everything that we've got into us, that we have in us? Why do we clap our hands and why do we raise our hands and why do we make such an expression in praise and worship? And I can tell you, it's scriptural number one. So it actually is the Bible.

Speaker 1: 1:06

The Bible says that we should sing a new song. The Bible says we should sing songs together. In other passages of scripture in the New Testament it says we should sing psalms, like the psalms, and that's what a lot of the worship songs that we sing. And then the Bible says we should clap our hands and that we should lift up holy hands, and the Bible says that we should shout to God with a voice of triumph that God actually arises. With a shout, god enthrones himself in the place where people praise him. But when we shout there is something that happens in the heavens that it causes God to arise with the shout. And then the Bible says we should praise him on the cymbals and the loud cymbals. The Bible says we should praise him on the strings, the stringed instruments. The Bible says we should praise him with 10 strings. That's right here. When we clap our hands, that's 10 strings.

Speaker 1: 2:11

The Bible declares that we should praise him in spirit and in truth. And let me show you that the spirit is the expression. It's not a capital S in scripture, it's my spirit, my desire, my aim in life, everything that I am. In spirit I praise him and worship him. And then it says and in truth, which means not just the biblical truth of God's word, in my life do I praise and worship, but in the truth of who I am.

Speaker 1: 2:41

I come into this house. I am just a sinner saved by grace, but when I get into his presence I cannot help. A sinner saved by grace, but when I get into his presence I cannot help but think of all the things he's done for my life, and so that's why we get a little bit excited. And I would say to this I would say this that you know, I can go into an athletic arena and I can watch a game and I can cheer and be crazy and be loud, and at the end of the night I can go home and my life has not changed, because the outcome of that game does not change my life. But when I come into God's presence and I lift my voice and I surrender by lifting my hands and I express myself in praise and worship to my God and King, my life changes every time, every time. So that's why we have such an expression in this house.

Speaker 1: 3:37

And listen, we're not gonna apologize for that and it's good for you. I'll tell you another thing you want a free church hack. It's why we turn the lights down, because we love to hear you, but we don't have to see you. But I love, I do, I love looking around and seeing the expression of praise and worship all through this room. But what I would say is we do that so like you could just kind of step back from yourself for a minute and you don't have to be so prim and proper and so stately and so churchy, like I just feel, like some of you, if you would just lose yourself in worship, all the things you thought you were looking for would disappear and you would have an encounter that would say man, this is so good for me, I need to express it and share it with somebody else, and that's what God's doing in this house. And so I felt like I needed to teach that just for a minute. But, man, what a great day in God's house, amen. Hey, anybody paying attention? Last Sunday in March, that means you're one quarter into the best year of your life. Huh, I'm ready to preach god's word. Are you ready to receive it? Today?

Speaker 1: 5:13

The year was 2024 and uh, we were, uh, prepping for a vacation, my family and I and we have. We have kind of two vacations we do in alternating years. In one year, we go north to the woods in Wisconsin and we love it up there because we can bring our dogs with us and it's like nobody's in the woods and we're on a lake and so we ski and boat and have so much fun just our family, and it's a great vacation. Now, in the alternating years, we go south to the Hot Springs area of Arkansas where Urshana's family, her brothers, live and we vacation with them and we bring the boat with us. But it's a little bit different, because in northern Wisconsin in the first week of August it can be 58 degrees and then when you go to Hot Springs Village the first week of August it'll be 118 degrees. A little different. A little different.

Speaker 1: 6:10

So we were prepping for the trip and I realized that the battery on my boat wasn't charging properly, and so I made a few calls, made a few checks and we figured out that the alternator was not working. It wasn't charging the battery and the alternator is not working, wasn't charging the battery, and the alternator is what charges the entire system while the car's running, but then it also recharges the battery so that you're not just running everything on the battery, because if you do that for too long the battery's gonna go dead. So we figured out we think we could make it work. Because it is the northern vacation, we don't spend the whole day on the boat, you only ski and you get out of the water. You don't float around in 58 degree water when it's 113 outside. You float all day long, you don't get out of the water, but when it's 58 degree water you get in and out as fast as you can. And so we were like, well, we won't be floating around all day, so we think we can make it work. And so we kind of nursed that boat and charged the battery every other night or so on another charger and we made it out of vacation. Well, we were there.

Speaker 1: 7:16

My brother-in-law was with us on vacation and he was like I think I think we could change the alternator together, let's do it. And I was like, absolutely Well, in northern Wisconsin you don't just find whatever part you need. You're like in the north, like there's like two stores to pick from and nobody had it. So he was like listen, I'm telling you, you could change it by yourself. Now you've heard me share stories of me fixing things, repairing things, trying to build things. Listen, I struggle with Ikea sometimes, and so do you. So don't even act like you're better than me. So so we. So I was like all right, I'll do it. So we get the boat back home from vacation it's in our driveway and I decide I'm gonna switch out the alternator. And so I start working on it and take off the plugs that need to be taken the wires, I get the new alternator.

Speaker 1: 8:11

Now, in retrospect, my boat is a old boat. It's a 1992 boat, so it's older than some of you, but I still love it. It's a classic vintage we like to call it. And so what was on there and what they sent me were two different things. So it wasn't like I could just look at it and go, well, this plug matches here. I had to kind of like guess and so I guessed and I was like I think I got it. I turned it over. I didn't try to start it cause I wasn't in the water and you don't start a boat if it's not in the water Long story. But so I tried to start. I just turned it over and it it sparked. It had. I was like I think I'm going to be good.

Speaker 1: 8:49

So I talked to Urshan to take me down to the river so I could ski and test it all out. And we pulled in, dropped the boat into the water on the trailer, still try to start. It wouldn't start, tried everything, battery, jump. The mechanic from the marina came down, tried to get it started, couldn't get it started and I was just feeling like a failure because I was like man, I thought I knew what I was doing to change this alternator. I thought I read the directions, followed directions. I called my brother-in-law when I needed help and I was like, man, I thought I got it. So I had to leave the boat with the mechanic at the marina and they don't just look at it that moment Like I would have put it in the shop that moment, fixed it that moment and gotten back on the water. But he was like I'm busy. So he called me a few weeks later and he was like hey, I got your boat running. I was like, yes, so it's still time in the fall to ski. And so I was like all right, good, I'll be down Friday. He's like you actually did the work right. You did the alternator, it was right. I was like it was huh, how about that? First thing I said to her she says I got it right. She just nodded her head a little bit. So he was like you got it right, he said.

Speaker 1: 9:57

But you know, the crazy thing is is the boat every boat has this, every watercraft has this. It's called an, an auto engine cutoff switch. We call it a kill switch, which you're supposed to wrap around your arm and it's to protect you in case you would fall out from where you're driving or fall into the lake without with the boat still running. It would immediately shut the boat off because boats don't have brakes brakes. So that kill switch had a bad connection. So, even though the alternator was right and the battery was right, the kill switch was not connected with enough current through it to allow the motor to start. And he's like. All I had to do was push the kill switch in just a little bit more to make the proper connection and the boat ran fine.

Speaker 1: 10:47

I was like imagine that it's the year I learned no matter how good the source or how good the receiver, if there is a broken current it will end the power of what's happening, of what's happening. So turn and tell your neighbor and just say, hey, don't forget the kill switch. And turn to the neighbor next to you you've been ignoring all service and just say, hey, we're living in overflow. That was a long story, sorry for that. Thanks for going with me. That was a long story. Sorry for that. Thanks for going with me. Had to get it all out. So we're in this series Overflow. It's week three and we're gonna wrap this up in a couple of weeks. Next week, pastor Robbie Emery is gonna be with us preaching Overflow. The week after that is Palm Sunday and the week after that is Easter Sunday.

Speaker 1: 11:46

And if you remember last week's message, if you weren't here I would go back and listen to it on podcast or YouTube or even Facebook, because it was a powerful day in God's house and what we talked about was this God provides belonging in abundance so that we can be overflowing with invitation to others and on every seat. Today there was a seat drop for you, an invite card, and I would ask you to take more than one. If there's an empty seat around you, take extras and let's invite everybody we can. Why? Because God's been so good, he allowed me to belong and I don't want to belong by myself. I want everybody in my world to come with me, so invite your neighborhood. I want everybody in my world to come with me, so invite your neighborhood, invite your coworkers, invite everybody in the marketplace, at the grocery store, at the gym. Come on, don't shy away from inviting people to church for Easter Sunday, not because we want a lot of people in the house although that would be fun but because people need Jesus and people need to get to meet a Jesus who died on a cross for their sins, and that is why we want to fill this house up so people will be saved and people will get to know God. It's the vision of our church Get to know God better on Sunday. So that's, that's been the space that we've been in and, man, I have a lot to say about overflow, but I need to just dive straight into my message because I have some important stuff that I want to share with you.

Speaker 1: 13:13

I felt like I wanted to start with giving you this practical expression of giving at Free Church In years past. If you've been a member of Free Church for a while and given to anything, you can know that if you went to the giving page online, you could select tithe or general offering. You could select monastery, witness, youth. You could select, I mean just local missions, global missions. You could select just about anything in order to give to. But I felt like could select just about anything in order to give to. But I felt like closing out last year and starting this year, the Lord, just really with the people that are in my world and the people that I've been learning from and growing with and just kind of having expression and conversation, of simplifying things, I felt like the Lord just kind of leaned in and just kind of helped me to give you a better understanding of giving at Free Church and the importance of giving, and so I wanted to just bring this expression and when I brought these home I said, well, are those the new giving baskets? I was like, yeah, by faith, absolutely by faith. Oh, it's just so you can see it.

Speaker 1: 14:27

But the tithe we are a church that lives by the tithe. And what do I mean by that? Well, we both live on the receiving and the giving side of tithe. So what is the tithe, the word tithe, so what is the tithe? The word tithe actually means 10, 10. It's a, it's a percent. It's what we do is we give 10%. But we don't just give 10%, we give the first. The tithe is the first 10%. So every time you're paid, there's it's a, and God is testing you in an area of trust and he's like do you trust me to give me 10% so that I can bless the 90%? And I thought about it even in this basket. I'm not going to do it, but it's almost big enough when you just put your first 10% in, it's actually like you're putting your whole self in to this bucket, because God takes that 10 and blesses it beyond what you could do with the whole. And so tithing actually breaks the spirit of greed. In my life, tithing actually breaks the spirit of I can do it on my own or I'm in charge.

Speaker 1: 15:47

When we tithe, we're saying God, you are in charge and we will live in covenant with you regarding our finances. And we've challenged people over the years. Last year, free Church, you took an incredible step of faith and confidence and you tithed better. Last year, many of you tithed for the first time in your life and lived by that principle. And I'd say, if you're not tithing, you know it'd be easy for me to say, well, why don't you just start with giving, like start with 3% or start with 5%? But the reality is, pastor Ben has showed us and taught us so many times that really that's a good way in, it would be a good example. But start with the 10, because it's what belongs to God. And so when we tithe, we're saying that God is in charge.

Speaker 1: 16:36

And what's interesting is sometimes we like to do this in church life. We say, well, I'm going to pay my tithe but I want to direct it to the youth. Or I want to pay my tithe and I want to direct it to monastery. Or I want to pay my tithe and direct it to kids or to missions, or maybe any of these things you see listed and we say, well, I want to take my tithe, but I'm going to tell God where to put my tithe. Well, is that living in control or is that allowing God to have control? Is that living in trust or really trying to tell God what to do with what you give? So when we give tithe, we give.

Speaker 1: 17:08

And now look what the tithe does, look what we do with the tithe. I mean, it allows us to buy this incredible building. It helps pay the mortgage, it helps pay for our staff, employee expenses and what a great do. We have a great team church Incredible. It helps fund Witness, youth and Monastery. It helps fund Free Church Kids. It helps put equipment in this room and just really I like to say this way kind of the things that we have to do as a church. The tithe really helps make space, for it's the vision of the church. The tithe helps make space for the vision of the church.

Speaker 1: 17:48

So when you go online to give, you're going to have the opportunity to choose. Are you going to tithe? And I would encourage you. If you've never tithed, I would definitely try it out because I think you'll be surprised. It may seem like a stretch at the beginning, but God will bless you beyond what you thought possible and if you really trust him, I think it's incredible. We trust him with our whole life. We trust him with our eternity. But sometimes it's difficult to trust him in our current situation and we think, well, I'll get to tithe the next time around. But really God wants to know do you trust me or not? Are you in control, or I'm in control, and that's the tithe. And so tithe does all the things that I've said. Well, then we have other things that we love to give to. I mean, who doesn't love? We help plant churches when we give out and above and around from Free Church. We help plant churches through the ARC Association of Related Churches. We help with One Hope, who provides Bibles around the world. They've given away millions of millions of Bibles around the world in all languages.

Speaker 1: 18:50

We love to do serve events. In a couple of weeks we're going to serve the village of Oak Park and the surrounding area as we do the Easter egg. It's an Easter hunt, easter egg hunt, but they call it the Dash and Scramble, and so we'll be there serving coffee and donuts. We've done this for years. We give away gallons and gallons of coffee and we give away hundreds and hundreds almost 1,000 donuts every year. We've done this for a number of years and we'll be doing that again. Or sometimes we wanna give to Convoy of Hope, who we partner with to do incredible things around the world, but especially nationally on disaster relief, when there's a hurricane or flooding or the fires in California. We don't just give into random spaces, we give to people who know what they're doing. So who doesn't live to give to that University of Michigan Missions, that is, the University of Michigan football team. This year we saw so many players baptized. Pastor Robbie will give you an update about that next week.

Speaker 1: 19:45

And then the building fund. Like the things that we do, we used to call it free forever, but it's how we expand the space of what we're doing here in this house, if we're gonna do the lower level remodel and we're gonna put classrooms in proper classrooms for our kids, if we're doing here in this house, if we're gonna do the lower level remodel and we're gonna put classrooms in proper classrooms for our kids, if we're gonna install the sound system, that's the building fund. So in the past you used to be able to pick all of it, but now it's like now we're just gonna say it's the tithe, it's what I trust God with, and then any extra giving above and beyond. So here's what happens Generosity, tithing is not generosity. Tithing is a covenant with God regarding my finances. Above and beyond is generosity, and what we're going to call above and beyond giving is kingdom builders.

Speaker 1: 20:32

So for many of you that gave is Puerto Rico on here.

Speaker 1: 20:34

Yeah, there we go.

Speaker 1: 20:35

I missed it. Where is it? Oh, right in the middle. I couldn't reach it. So a few weeks ago we challenged everyone to give and you guys stepped up and gave $5,000 that one single Sunday for our kids to travel, young adults to travel to Puerto Rico. Someone else matched another 10,000. So that got them off and running and they're gonna raise the rest of their support. In fact, today there's a bake sale downstairs and you can buy a brownie for $150. It's going to be the best brownie you ever had made by one of these students or one of these young adults, and well, you don't have to leave if you didn't like it, evan Jeez, it's a joke. So they're gone, they're out. I made one joke about you, witness me.

Speaker 1: 21:30

But instead of giving and sometimes we'll do that where we do individual giving but what I thought was it'd be so much easier if you go on our website and you can give tithe or you can give above and beyond generously, and what happens is, instead of just having to choose one, you just give to the greater fund and everything kind of fits right in here. It makes it so simple Tithe and kingdom builders, and we're actually going to preach about kingdom building in a couple of months, a series that I'm gonna do as we go into our fall season, as we prepare. You guys wanna take this table down? Thank you, you should set it over on the side. We love Julian, or what Love that kid? So I felt like just that practical expression.

Speaker 1: 22:21

Now let me give you the bible for it. Will you stay with me for 15 more minutes, maybe more? So let's look in scripture. So here's the scripture I want to share with you. Second corinthians, chapter 9, verse 8, says and god is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things at all times, everybody, say all things at all times. In all things at all times. Having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Verse 10,. Now, he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

Speaker 1: 23:02

This week's main idea is this God pours out blessing in abundance so that we can overflow with generosity to others. And I just want to share with you quickly just this idea of overflow principle, because I can tell you this Anybody who lives practicing the tithe in their life and living above and beyond in generosity for God's house and for God's kingdom, they live in overflow. You ask any person who has tithed faithfully over the course of years and they will say I can't, it's not. And you might say, well, how can you afford to tithe? And they will tell you I can't, it's not. And you might say, well, how can you afford to tithe? And they will tell you I can't afford not to tithe because there is an overflow in my life and it is a principle of overflow. And I want to share these principles with you today. Are you ready? Let's go, let's lean in and let's hurry and get through this today so we can go buy some good treats from our young adults and students.

Speaker 1: 23:58

First of all, giving begins with trust. Giving begins with trust. I shared a little bit about trusting with a tithe. But look what the scripture says, proverbs 3 and 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding. That is a famous passage of scripture. In fact, if you've ever spent any time in a Sunday school class, a youth ministry and an internship program, you learn this verse first trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean that to your own understanding. But in the same passage of scripture we read that and then we skip down to verse. I think it's verse 10. And the next verse says this and honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part or the first part of everything you produce, then he will fill your barns with grain and your vats with overflow, will overflow with good wine. Man, what a promise.

Speaker 1: 24:49

When we honor God with our wealth and give him the best part or the first part of everything, then he fills our barns with grain, our vats with overflow, with good wine, and that is just do I trust God enough with what he's given me to give it and see what he will do with the rest of it? And God says listen, I'll do better than you thought possible when we're singing, you've been good, so good, so good to me. That's what I'm thinking about, god. Every single time I do something. You do it better than I thought possible. Every time I have an idea of how you're gonna bless my family. You bless us beyond what I thought possible. Every time I think you're gonna heal my family, you heal us beyond what I thought possible. Everything he does, he does beyond, in abundance and overflow. So it's the honor part.

Speaker 1: 25:48

And I want to just let you know this God, really God doesn't need your money and God doesn't want your money, but he wants your heart, and where your heart is is where your treasure is, and where your treasure is is where your treasure is, is where your heart is. My spiritual father, he, used to say this. He used to say you can tell a lot about what's most important to you by looking at your checkbook and your date book when you give or what you spend your money on, and then where you put your time. And I just wanna tell you, giving begins with trust. I can trust God that when I do my part, he will abundantly do his part. The second principle is this God gives to the givers, god gives to the givers. It's amazing to me when I think about this, just like the engine cutoff switch in my boat that keeps the current flowing and keeps that motor running.

Speaker 1: 26:37

That water is a similar water is a similar conduit, and as long as the river is flowing, it brings life. But when the river becomes stagnant, or when the water becomes stagnant, it becomes lifeless. If you've ever seen just a section of water when it floods around here, when it rains in the spring and it floods down the river and we see the river over here, I think what is that river called this Plains River and it floods every year. I always feel bad for the people at Jude and Jeans. Oh, so sorry Chicago, gene and Jude's. Well, I feel bad for both of them either way. But when the water floods like that and then when the water is received, there'll be pockets of water that stand and stay. Nothing lives in what stands and stays. It only lives when it keeps flowing. Nothing lives in what stands and stays. It only lives when it keeps flowing.

Speaker 1: 27:45

And so when God blesses you, he blesses you in order that you would be a blessing. In fact, in Luke it says this give and it will be given to you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together and running over, it will be poured out into your lap. For the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And the reality is this passage of scripture. If you read through the book of Luke, chapter six, the chapter six, that Jesus is not only talking about financial giving in this moment. He was actually talking about forgiveness and he was talking about mercy and he was talking about all the other characteristics of our life. And the reality is it. It plays in all of the categories. If you're merciful, you'll receive mercy. If you're gracious, you'll receive more grace. If you forgive others, you yourself will be forgiven. And if you give, it will be given back to you. It will be given back to you. So when we don't let what God gives us flow through us, it's like we're pulling the engine cutoff switch on God's overflow of blessings. Will he still bless us? He can bless us, but he can't bless us the way he would bless us if we were actually living in the covenant and giving what he's asked us to give.

Speaker 1: 28:58

I like to say this Giving is not transactional, it is transformational. If it's only transactional, it's just I give because I'm expecting something back, or I pay my bills, so my lights stay on. Bills are transactional. New sweaters are transactional, new shoes are transactional. Giving in God's house is transformational. It will change your life because it changes your priority. All right, we're almost done.

Speaker 1: 29:32

Next one God provides seed to the sower. The sower sows and reaps, and I just want to tell you this In everything that God puts into your life, there is a seed. That's why this tithe is so important, because the 10% God's not saying I'm going to give you, I'm going to bless you, and then you just turn it all over to me. No, god's saying there's a seed in what I'm giving you and when you sow the seed, actually it allows me to put more seed in your life 2 Corinthians 9, 10. Now, he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. That is such a powerful principle that God gives seed to the sower, and you know what? God doesn't give seed to the stingy. He gives it to the sower.

Speaker 1: 30:36

Amen, god's like I said, every time you get paid, it's a test of trust. Are you going to sow seed or are you going to hold on to it and eat the seed? And when you sow the seed, god's like listen, I'm going to bless the 90% and I'm going to make sure there's more seed in the storehouse for you to do it again. There's seed in everything that you do. And listen, we don't give in order that we get. We give in order that we grow, because when I give, I'm growing more like him. My heart is more like his heart. When I give, I'm growing more for the things in his house and in his kingdom. It establishes the pattern of my life that he's first and everything else will come in its place and priority is him.

Speaker 1: 31:32

When I read about the miracle of the feeding of 5,000, and I don't have time to preach this whole message today or this whole story I would love to spend time in this, but we were with our friends Pastor Chris and Audrey a couple weeks ago and he brought up this idea that the little boy had a lunch and it was just a few loaves and a few fishes, and there's 5,000 people on the hillside, 5,000 men the Bible says very clearly 5,000 men plus women and children. And the boy has just lunch and that's the only food they could find on the hillside that day. I'm going to tell you what I have a house of a couple of teenagers and two loaves and a few fishes will not be enough For two, let alone 5,000. Can I get an amen from a parent of a teenager, or even an upcoming? Even the little ones out eat us now.

Speaker 1: 32:30

But the reality is, when it's given, then it can become more than enough. As long as it's in that boy's hands, it is not enough. But when he gives it, the Bible says Jesus broke it and blessed it and it multiplied to more than enough. Even beyond feeding 5,000 plus women and children, there were baskets full left for the disciples to take with them. And that's what God wants to do with you. He gives seed to the sower and you're like well, I don't know. Well, listen, every time you sow the seed, he blesses what you, what is left in your hand, and it's enough to feed you, take care of you, to prosper you. And then he's like I'm going to do it again. And let me tell you my dad used to always preach it you cannot out give God, you cannot give him.

Speaker 1: 33:17

And then the last one we model the greatest gift when we give. We model the greatest gift because Jesus did not hold back. God did not hold back when we needed a savior, god sent his one and only son the greatest gift ever given. We would all agree. God gave that gift because he knew if he held back the gift, there would be no hope for humanity. And he gave his son, even all the way to the cross, for our sins. And it is the greatest gift ever given. In fact, we're going to preach about it Easter in a couple of weeks and set the table for hundreds and hundreds of people to be saved on Easter Sunday. But I'm just going to tell you it's the greatest gift ever given. And when we give financially, when we live in covenant with the Lord and our tithe, and then we give above and beyond to bless and to build the kingdom of God, let me just tell you something it is modeling the greatest gift ever given. And this is how you know. It models the gift Number one it's selfless.

Speaker 1: 34:22

When I give. I don't give for my own personal gain. I give because I know even the little part that I play becomes a greater part of what all could be done when we do it together. Like, really, my little bag of loaves and fishes is really not seemingly in itself going to make that much difference. But when I give it and then it comes all together with how god multiplies all of our gifts together, then it is. But I don't give it for me, it's selfless.

Speaker 1: 35:00

The second thing is that sacrificial, youificial. You know I was thinking about this. The tithe is a covenant that we live in relationship with the Lord. It's not really. It's not really a sacrifice. It's what we're asked to bring to the house. Bring the tithe to the storehouse so that the barns may be full and people will be fed. That's, that's what the Bible says. It's not like, hey, this is a neat little idea that will help build buildings and pay for staff members. No, this is how people are fed, for the kingdom of God is by bringing tithe to the storehouse. That's not a sacrifice, church, that is just our rightful act of worship and service in regards to our finances. So that's the tithe.

Speaker 1: 35:45

The sacrifice is when we go above and beyond tithe. The sacrifice is like listen, I know I was going to do this, but I feel like I want to sow this into kids ministry. I want to sow this to build the lower level out and one of you could write the check one time for us to do that and we would build that lower level out with proper permitting and everything. I think you could write the check one time. We need to hang these speakers and get them off the stage so it sounds better in this house, and get the clutter off of this stage. One of you could write the check for that. That's 100 grand. I didn't tell you the kids number because it's flexing If we build it ourself as it's designed right now, it's about 15,000 before equipment and furniture. But our kids deserve better furniture and better equipment. You could one of you could do that right now and it would go right in that kingdom builders basket and then we'd listen. Y'all did it for the ACs. We didn't have to get a loan for that, so we don't really wanna get a loan. I think it could be done in this house.

Speaker 1: 36:55

We'll preach about that going into the fall, but some of the stuff will hopefully get done before that because you're so generous, but it's selfless, it's sacrificial. And then the next one it's abundant. You know what? Generosity is not tied to a dollar amount, it's tied to the heart, because what's generous out of my heart is different than what's generous in your heart, because it's the principle of the seed.

Speaker 1: 37:25

In the storehouse you're working with, and some of you God is blessed I had somebody come up to me and say I feel like there's more I can do. What should I do? I'm like well, you're serving, you give tithe faithfully. Maybe what you're expressing is you have a gift of giving and maybe you wanna give above're expressing is you have a gift of giving and maybe you want to give above and beyond the tithe because you have a gift to give. Some of you have that gift in this house, the gift to give, and you move not just the vision of the church, but you, like. This is sometimes.

Speaker 1: 37:59

I feel like tithe is the things we have to do and kingdom builders are the things we want to do. You know we have to pay the bills, we have to have lights on, we have to have insurance, we have to. We're going to have to replace roofs up on top. We got about an $85,000 quote right now to do that. We have to do that. But, man, we get to send kids and young adults to Puerto Rico. We get to build out the lower level. We get to help Convoy of Hope and Disaster Relief and build centers and feeding centers in Columbia and we get to do all that. We have to do that, we get to do this. And it's really just the principle when God pours out abundance of blessings in our life, he does it so we can overflow in generosity to others. Can you receive that word today?