Sermon
Keys to Increase - Kingdom Expansion with Pastor Mike Krulcik
Publisher transcript
Transcript
-
I want to talk to you about Kingdom expansion keys to
-
increase tonight. So I want you to.
-
We're going to. We got 4 openings, so stay with
-
me. We got First Chronicles chapter
1 Chronicles 29 chapter mention
-
29. I'm gonna read 24 verses from
-
that. And then we're gonna go to 1st
-
Corinthians chapter 3 verse #16 Then we're gonna go to 1st
-
Corinthians chapter 6, verses 19 through 20.
-
And then we're gonna finish with our key text in First Peter
1 Peter 2 chapter mention
-
chapter 2, verse #5 So it's important that you, as I read
-
it, that you fall along with me with your eyeballs.
-
Alright? So find First Chronicles chapter
1 Chronicles 29 chapter mention
-
29. And we're going to start in
-
verse #1 this is the life of David.
-
As I'm bringing up these verses, I just want you to keep in mind
-
the temple, the people, and the resources to build it.
-
OK? So keep in mind the temple, the
-
people and the resources to build it.
-
So starting to verse number one of First Chronicles chapter 29
1 Chronicles 29 chapter mention
-
and I'll repeat the other Scriptures as we get to these
-
next three after this one, it says, furthermore, King David
-
said to all the assembly, my son Solomon, whom alone God has
-
chosen is young and inexperienced and the work is
-
great because the temple is not for man, but for the Lord God.
-
Now for the House of my God, I have prepared with all of my
-
might gold for things to be made of gold, silver for things of
-
silver, bronze for things of bronze, iron for things of
-
ironwood for things of wood, Onyx stones, stones to be set,
-
glistening stones of various colors, all kinds of precious
-
stones and marble slabs in abundance.
-
Moreover, because I have set my affection on the House of my
-
God, I have given, I have given to the House of my God.
-
Over and above all that I have prepared for the Holy House my
-
own special treasure of gold and silver. 3000 talents of gold of
-
the gold of Fr, and 7000 talents of refined silver to overlay the
-
walls of the houses, the gold for things of gold, the silver
-
for things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be done for
-
the hands of Craftsman. Who then is willing?
-
Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to
-
the Lord? Then the leaders of the Father's
-
house, as leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of
-
thousands and of hundreds, with the officer over the King's
-
work, offered willingly. They gave for the work of the
-
House of God 5000 talents and 10,000 derricks of gold, 10,000
-
talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze, and one
-
100,000 towns of iron went, and whoever had precious stones gave
-
them to the treasury of the House of the Lord, into the hand
-
of jail. The Jesuit.
-
Then the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly,
-
because with a loyal heart they all had offered willingly to the
-
to the Lord. And King David also rejoiced
-
greatly. Verse #10 Therefore David bless
-
the Lord before all the assembly.
-
And David said, Be blessed. Are you Lord God of Israel, our
-
Father, forever and ever? Yours, O Lord, is the greatness,
-
the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty for all
-
that is in heaven and all in earth.
-
Is yours. Yours is the Kingdom, O Lord,
-
and you are exalted as head over all.
-
Both riches and honor come from you.
-
You reign over all. In your hand is power and might.
-
In Your hand it is make, it is made great, and to give strength
-
to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank
-
you, and we praise you, and we glorify your name.
-
Who am I and who are my people, that we should be able to offer
-
so willingly as this. For all things come from You,
-
and of your own we have given you.
-
For we are aliens and pilgrims before you, as we are, as as
-
were all of our fathers. Our days on earth are a shadow
-
and without hope. Oh Lord our God, all this
-
abundance that we have prepared to build you a house.
-
For your holy name is from your hand, and it's all your own.
-
I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have have
-
pleasure and uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of
-
my heart, I have willingly offered all these things, and
-
now with joy I have seen your people who are present here to
-
offer willingly to you. Oh Lord God of Abraham, Isaac
-
and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of
-
the thoughts of the heart of your people and fix their heart.
-
Fix their heart toward You, and give my son Solomon a loyal
-
heart to keep your commandments and your testimony and your
-
statues, to do all these things and to build the temple for
-
which I have made provision. Then David said to all the
-
assembly, now bless the Lord your God.
-
So all the assembly bless the Lord, the God of their fathers,
-
bow their heads and prostrated themselves before the Lord and
-
the King. And they made sacrifices to the
-
Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the next day.
-
1000 bulls, 1000 Rams, 1000 lambs and their drink offerings
-
and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.
-
They so they ate and drank before the Lord with great
-
gladness on that day. And they made Solomon the son of
-
David king the second time, anointed him before the the Lord
-
to be the leader and Zadok. To be the priest.
-
Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of
-
David his father, and prospered, and all Israel obeyed him, and
-
all the leaders and the mighty men, and also the sons of King
-
David submitting themselves to King Solomon.
-
Now we're going to flip over to the New Testament First
1 Corinthians 3 chapter mention
-
Corinthians chapter 3 verse #16 it says, do you not know that
-
you are the temple of God and the the Spirit of God dwells in
-
you? Now a couple chapters after this
-
in in chapter 6, Paul says this First Corinthians chapter 6
-
verses 19 through 20 says, or do you not know that your body is
-
the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have
-
from God, and you are not your own, For you were bought at a
-
price. Therefore glorify God in your
-
body and in your spirit, which are gods.
-
And then first Peter chapter 2 verse #5 says, and now you have
1 Peter 2 chapter mention
-
become a living building stones for God's use in building his
-
house. What's more, you are his holy
-
priest. So come to him.
-
You are acceptable to him because of Jesus Christ and
-
offer to God those things that please Him, the temple, the
-
people, and the resources God used to build it.
-
God cares about you. God cares about His church, His
-
temple, and God desires to build both.
-
As we grow, so does His Church grow.
-
As we expand, so does His church expand.
-
David didn't start with everything in the bank.
-
The reason I brought up First Chronicles 29 'cause you got to
-
trace back how David started and then you need to reminisce of
-
where you started and where God wants to bring you.
-
But as you grow, guess what? The church will.
-
Grow. 'Cause you are the temple, but
-
God's also building a temple, his church.
-
Jesus said, I will build my church in the gates of hell
-
shall not prevail against it, right in First Samuel chapter 16
1 Samuel 16 chapter mention
-
verse #13 we see that King David is anointed at that time by
-
Samuel in First Samuel chapter 17.
1 Samuel 17 chapter mention
-
Just giving you a quick overview of the life of.
-
David And listen, he was just a teenager.
-
You could say he didn't have a dime to his name, so to speak,
-
right? And but he was anointed.
-
He had a call on his life just like God.
-
When you make Jesus Lord, guess what?
-
He has a call on your life. He has a purpose for your life
-
and it's up to you to cooperate and participate with him.
-
If you're going to, if the church is going to grow, you're
-
going to have to grow. Turn your neighbor and say grow
-
up. Turn the other one on the other
-
side and say grow up. Now look straight ahead and say
-
grow up. So in First Samuel chapter 18
1 Samuel 18 chapter mention
-
through 21, we see just a a conflict with leadership, a
-
relationship with Jonathan. As David goes through First
-
Samuel 17, let me back up. There's a community problem.
-
Called Goliath and guess what? God's called us to solve
-
community problems, but you can only perform in public to the
-
degree you're willing to practice in private.
-
And we see that David, we practice in private and he kept
-
the predators away from the sheep that he was responsible
-
for. His brothers despised the day of
-
small beginnings. When he came in, First Samuel 17
-
said. Why don't you take care of those
-
few little sheep, that Dad? Left for you.
-
Well, he that is faithful and a little be faithful with much.
-
And David learned in private how to take on the lion, right?
-
And so when the community problem come, it was time for
-
public performance. Guess what?
-
King David was anointed. And guess what?
-
He didn't try what other people tried.
-
He tried what he knew worked because he practiced in private
-
and therefore he could perform in public.
-
That's why he took the slingshot and the stone, because he knew
-
by the grace of God that would work.
-
And he took care of the community problem.
-
Goliath. And then in First Samuel chapter
1 Samuel 18 chapter mention
-
18, we see him still called. But there's a process that you
-
go through to grow. Say there's a process.
-
To grow. And so we see he develops his
-
relationship with Jonathan. But Saul becomes increasingly
-
jealous towards David. David goes on the run and seems
-
like all hell is breaking out. But but listen, your life is
-
composed of your choices, constructed by your words and
-
revealed by your character. And David made the right
-
choices, said the right words, and had the right character to
-
grow. And if you want to be a real man
-
or woman of God, you need to have the right words, you need
-
to make the right choices, and you got to develop the right
-
character if you want to do all that God's called you to do in
-
this life. Could it be decades down the
-
road that God has grown you so much that we, we are like King
-
David and his leaders where we can give abundantly to the work
-
of the Lord 'cause you know, it takes resources.
-
The gospel is free, but it takes resources to get that word out.
-
Pastor Earl's books cost money to produce, right?
-
Curriculum is on paper. We have print machines.
-
We have 3 printer machines. Praise the Lord, we have
-
expanded as a ministry. There's a time when we had one
-
printer machine. Let me even expand on that
-
expansion. We have two printer machines and
-
one production machine. It's really long and not many
-
people see it except for Todd Fouchet.
-
And my wife always knows when it's production day 'cause it
-
gets really cold in those back offices because he doesn't want
-
the machine to get too hot. And then I I'm jumping ahead of
-
my sermon on the management side.
-
I'm like, why are the little heaters running for Miss Jan and
-
my wife and the ACS We're, we're like contradiction our, our
-
energy budget going on right now.
-
So I had this brilliant idea. I've seen Reverend Randy with a
-
coat that he can turn on the heater.
-
And I thought we could save the ministry some money if I just
-
bought these electric coats and gave them to Jan and my wife.
-
And Hallelujah, you could say Amen or me.
-
We'll get to finances more in just a second.
-
But yeah, we've expanded and it takes, guess what?
-
It takes money to pay for those printers.
-
But guess what's being produced? Do you know we've went from
-
ordering in him the new birth and wide tongues to produce in
-
our own material that we print in house now.
-
I'm just giving you a little taste of it.
-
It does take money to get the gospel out, even though the
-
gospel's free, right? Guess who we support every month
-
in missions? We got about 28, I think,
-
different missionaries. And listen, I this is say this
-
is not to make me feel bad. Everybody say this is not to
-
make me feel bad. We give more than comes in out
-
of our general operating budget. And that's not to put pressure
-
on you, 'cause God's faithful. But I'm saying, you know, we
-
give out more than comes in, but that's an investment and God
-
sees that. And we've been able to sustain
-
that. Hallelujah.
-
And God's been able to increase this 'cause we got one.
-
Two printers and a production machine now.
-
Hallelujah. Just one example.
-
Of that so but in first Samuel chapter 22 if your life's only
1 Samuel 22 chapter mention
-
about you it's too small and so in first Samuel 22 is David's
-
called and God wants to grow him build his temple.
-
He's going to use David Guess what guess what God assigns to
-
David in The Cave of Adulum men, disciples, people.
-
Now these were not perfect people when they started out.
-
First Samuel chapter 22, if you read the account, when these men
1 Samuel 22 chapter mention
-
came to him in The Cave of Adulum, it says these men had
-
three qualities and what a way to start a church.
-
They were distressed, they were in debt and they were
-
discontent. Lord, I want to start a church.
-
Please send me the distress to the people that are in debt and
-
discontent. Hallelujah.
-
That means they they were in anguish, they were bitter of
-
soul, they had no money. But guess what?
-
They didn't stay that way because they got into a cave
-
with a giant killer and they became giant killers.
-
If you could track the story from the time this First Samuel
-
22 happens of Second Samuel chapter 23 verses 8 through 39,
-
you'll see that these men went from distressed and debt and
-
discontent to be labeled. They were labeled mighty men.
-
And in Second Samuel 23, not only, you know, the works of
-
King David, you get to see the lives of these men and the
-
exploits that they did, but you're on display right now in
-
2025. What does God want to do through
-
you and what exploits does he want to get glory to his name
-
through you? So they those that were
-
distressed and debt and discontent, guess guess what,
-
They became mighty men that that means they became strong, brave,
-
courageous and champions. But that was a process.
-
You realize they had to learn how to fight, how to lean in on
-
God, understand his grace and his goodness.
-
And they went through some battles, but they got better.
-
And the Bible tells us to fight the good fight of faith.
-
Listen, we need a, you need a, a crowbar for your backbone, not a
-
spaghetti noodle. To be a real man or woman of God
-
and be a champion, it takes conviction, it takes commitment.
-
And I like First First Chronicles 29 because guess
-
what? It wasn't just David that gave.
-
It's these men that came alongside that grew with him as
-
he grew. And the Bible says they had so
-
much resource, they all willingly gave.
-
Why? Because of the temple.
-
God wanted to see his word complete.
-
God wants to see His Word complete and you as the temple,
-
so He wants to bless your household.
-
But as your household is blessed, guess what?
-
The church should be blessed. So these men gave willingly in
-
First Corinthians 21st Chronicles 29.
-
Let's look at 2nd Corinthians Chapter 9, verses 6 through 8.
-
In the Amplified Bible it says, Now remember this, He who sows
-
sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sews
-
generously that blessings may come to others will also reap
-
generously and be blessed. Let each one give thoughtfully
-
and with purpose, just as he has decided in his heart, not
-
grudgingly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver,
-
and delights in the one whose heart is in his gift.
-
And God is able to make all grace, every favor and earthly
-
blessing come in abundance to you, that you may always, under
-
all circumstances, regardless of the need, have complete
-
sufficiency, and everything, being completely self-sufficient
-
in Him, and have an abundance for every good work and act of
-
charity. Sounds like First Chronicles 29
-
to me. These men and I'll say women
-
knew how to go into the equivalent, the we call, I'll
-
call it the marketplace in the new covenant.
-
They knew how to go into the war in the old covenant and get the
-
spoils and bring it back so the temple could be built.
-
John 1412 says this most assuredly.
-
I say to you who who believes in me?
-
The works that I do, He will do also in greater works than these
-
He will do because I go to my Father.
-
God has called His church to do greater works.
-
King David and his mighty men did some great works, but He's
-
called us to do great works. Say I'm built to do great works.
-
Say God built me to do great things.
-
I want to give you 4 ES, the Golden Corral.
-
Then we're going to jump into the message.
-
Just a thought and they'll have this up.
-
Engaged, employed, enlarged, and evangelize.
-
It's a process. What is engagement?
-
That means you're greatly interested.
-
That means you're actively involved.
-
That means you're participating. Guess what?
-
When you meet that someone and you start going on dates and
-
then all of a sudden you're really actively participating
-
and you decide she's the one, what do you do?
-
You get engaged, right? But then you get after that, you
-
get married. So after you're after
-
exploration and engagement, now you're employed.
-
That means you have purpose, that means you're useful, that
-
means you're occupied with what God has called you to do your
-
assignments in life. I went from engaged through
-
exploration to man I employed. I'm all in and I am they.
-
God has put me to work. And you know the first thing
-
that God put me to work as is a man.
-
And for you ladies, as a woman. And then if you're married as a
-
husband, ladies, if you're married as a wife and then he's
-
put you to work as a parent, then he may have put you to work
-
in, in other areas, whether you're called a full time
-
ministry business, working for somebody else.
-
We're getting some of these other things soon.
-
But that's employment. And you will know what it says
-
in Luke chapter 1913. Luke 1913 says he called his 10
-
servants, He delivered them 10 lbs.
-
And he said unto them, occupy or be employed till I come.
-
Occupy means to work until everything feels the impact and
-
influence of your presence. Occupy means to work until
-
everything feels the impact and influence of your presence.
-
If you're married and your husband and you leave the house
-
in the morning, your wife should be like something's missing.
-
She shouldn't rejoice Hallelujah.
-
Just look straight ahead if you're we're on the other end.
-
If you're if the man's home and the wife comes home, the man
-
shouldn't be sad, right? You can say man or O me.
-
It's truth nonetheless. So you need to work.
-
If you don't show up for three consecutive churches services on
-
a Sunday, would we even know that you were gone?
-
Well, nobody talks to me when I go to church.
-
My my Bible says to have friends you must show yourself friendly.
-
Why don't you go smile and shake somebody else's hand, right?
-
Do we walk by faith or by sight? And then enlargement comes after
-
you've been employed for a while.
-
That means you have become or been made large.
-
You've extended and expanded what God has given you.
-
It's like the parable of the talents.
-
He gave one to what, 51211 to five.
-
What'd he do? He was engaged, he was employed,
-
but then he expanded. He extended and he took what God
-
gave him and he doubled it. And the one with two, guess
-
what? He doubled in.
-
And there's no competition in the Kingdom of God.
-
We're all in our own lane with our own assignments.
-
All God is asking you to do as this child is take what he's
-
given you. And King David rightfully said
-
it, it, it was all yours to begin with God.
-
Did he not say that first? Chronicles 29 several times It
-
was. It's all yours anyways.
-
We're just giving back to you what you gave to us.
-
And in the parable of talents, he said he divided under them
-
His abilities, his grace. So God wants to expand and
-
extend and stretch your life where you make a great footprint
-
and a great influence, where you do great things for a great God.
-
First Chronicles chapter 4 verse #10 says this.
1 Chronicles 4 chapter mention
-
This is about Jabez. And Jabez, you know, his name
-
meant, sorry is what his name meant.
-
But he said, I don't want to be sorrowful anymore.
-
So he prayed this prayer. He said Jabez called on the God
-
of Israel saying, oh, that you would bless me, indeed enlarge
-
my coast, and that thy hand might be with me, and that would
-
keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me.
-
And God granted him that request.
-
Do we have enough tenacity and faith and conviction and courage
-
to say, Lord indeed, bless me, enlarge me Now when you pray
-
that, guess what? There's a process for that to
-
manifest. And then we always need to keep
-
evangelism in mind. As we are engaged, as we're
-
employed, as we are enlarged, we need to evangelize.
-
I brought up the term marketplace before because guess
-
what? We are not or should not be
-
running around swords and Shields today at Walmart.
-
You will get arrested, right? That's not the fight we're
-
fighting today, but there is a modern day fight in the
-
marketplace. Listen, I, I've, I've been with
-
a church since 2009. But before that I was with
-
enterprise Rent a car, which is a secular, secular organization,
-
right? And that was the marketplace.
-
And what did, what did I do? And Marcus went, was there too,
-
the same time I was, I ran 4313. He ran 4321, which is Palm
-
Coast. But you know, all we had was
-
buy. We didn't have college degrees.
-
We had Bible college degree, but both he and I, because of the
-
grace of God, guess what? We were engaged, we were
-
employed, we enlarged, we both became branch managers.
-
Matter of fact, we used to battle back and forth from
-
Northeast Florida who was like #1 and #2 of the best branches
-
in all of Northeast Florida. But that took work.
-
But God will grace you for what He's called you to.
-
But in the marketplace, guess what?
-
I was able to increase the enterprise.
-
Guess what happened? My tithe increased, my influence
-
increased. I remember Costa who was from
-
Russia, He gave me a little micro fish of the Bible, but we
-
used to evangelize to him all the time.
-
Actually came to church once or twice.
-
But I wasn't this there there just for a paycheck.
-
Although my paycheck increased because God was increasing me, I
-
was able to evangelize there too.
-
So God wants to use you the same way he used David as mighty man.
-
You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
-
So I want to give you keys to increase.
-
This is primarily about finances tonight, although it impacts a
-
lot of different areas for what God desires to do through his
-
church. So when I said the Golden
-
Corral, this is going to be like a fire hydrant tonight.
-
Now you know, or let me say, let me use my when I go to the
-
Golden Corral, everybody know what the Golden Corral is.
-
Thanks, Christopher. Lord, we pray for a golden
-
crown. There's space up front in the
-
mall. No, I don't eat like that all
-
the time. But when I go to the golden
-
crown, and some of you may relate, the first plate that I
-
get is a little bit of everything.
-
You know, I do that 'cause it's a sampler and I get more
-
specific on the second, third plate in greater quantities with
-
what I got from the sampler. There's there's like an extra
-
compartment in your stomach for dessert.
-
Christopher yes, I do the same thing when it comes to 1st plate
-
on dessert. Guess what?
-
It's a sampler. Second, third is the large
-
quantities of what I liked on the sampler.
-
So what I'm saying I'm going to throw out a lot tonight, but
-
with the help of the Holy Spirit and the sampler, He's going to
-
give you something to chew on for a second, third, and 4th
-
plate for the weeks and months to come.
-
Because God knows where you're at and God knows what you need
-
and the adjustments to increase where you're at to where He
-
wants you to be. Some of these things you might
-
be doing, some of these things you might not be doing well.
-
Some of these things you might not be doing at all.
-
And as we minister tonight, the key is you're going to take this
-
away. It's not just for yourself.
-
There is a lost and dying world out there and we need to.
-
God cares about you. God cares about your church, but
-
we need to care about the world. So this will be Golden Corral
-
for the remainder of the night. Work is not a dirty word.
-
Work is not part of the curse. Work, as the Bible teaches us,
-
is the ability God gave you to establish dominion in the earth.
-
Let me say it again, Work is the ability that God gave you to
-
establish dominion in the earth. Genesis chapter 1, verses 26
-
through 28. God said let us make man in our
-
image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the
-
fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over every cattle,
-
over all the earth, every over every creeping thing that creeps
-
on the earth. So God created man in his own
-
image, in the image of God. He created him, male and female.
-
Female was not an afterthought. Praise the Lord, He created
-
them. God blessed them, male and
-
female. God said to them fivefold
-
command, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, have
-
dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air,
-
over everything that moves on the earth.
-
Then we go to the next chapter, Genesis chapter 2, verse 15,
-
before the fall, before sin, God took the man that he had made.
-
He settled them, settled them some, some of us need to be
-
settled in work and He put them in the Garden of Eden to
-
cultivate it and to keep it. Work is a gift that God gives
-
you to establish dominion in the earth.
-
Five points on work. Remember, this is just going to
-
be a sampler to stimulate you 'cause I believe the Holy Spirit
-
is going to tailor this word to you and what you need you're
-
going to feed on, like I said, for weeks and months to come.
-
Putting yourself to work is called employment.
-
Putting others to work is called an employer.
-
Putting your money to work is called an investment.
-
Putting your knowledge to work is called consulting.
-
Putting a creative idea to work is called an invention.
-
What work has God called you to? And let me say this, Zechariah
-
14 says don't despise the day of small beginnings.
-
So the work you're doing now may not be the work you're doing in
-
five years. But as we look at these five
-
points, what is it and the passion and purpose that God's
-
put in you that He wants to get you to 'cause if you decide the
-
spa is working at McDonald's, but God's got a greater work for
-
you, 'cause He said greater works, will we?
-
Do you want to get out of McDonald's?
-
Be faithful, be a blessing. Work your tail off, Work with
-
the anointing, work with grace. You may be putting the fries in
-
the oil right now, but don't stop there.
-
You're faithful with that. They may let you run the cash
-
register. You're faithful with that.
-
You may become a shift manager. You're faithful with that.
-
You may become the manager of McDonald's.
-
You're faithful with that. God may call you to work your
-
own business 'cause now you have the knowledge base on how to
-
operate a fast food restaurant and now you know how to actually
-
take care of people because you love them.
-
Feed them real food, not genetically modified fries that
-
are golden brown in your car after 20 years.
-
But what work is God called you to?
-
Remember this, The greatest in the Kingdom is servant of all.
-
Serve your gift to humanity and the work that He's called you to
-
do. Servicing clients builds
-
business. Servicing congregations in
-
people builds churches. Servicing friends and family
-
builds relationship. What work has God called us to
-
as a church? I want to give you some basic
-
guidelines on money. Money is amoral, which means
-
there's no morality in money. Whoever holds the money
-
possesses the morality of the money.
-
You put money into the hand of a drunk.
-
It's drunk money. You put money in the hand of a
-
gambler. Guess what?
-
It's gambling money. You put money in the hand of an
-
unrighteous person. It's unrighteous money.
-
You put money in the hand of a righteous person.
-
It's righteous money. Money is not evil.
-
The Bible says the love, or we really say the lust of money, is
-
the root of all evil. Here's a guideline for money.
-
Money was made for loving and giving, not lusting and taking.
-
Money was made for loving and giving, not lusting and taking
-
and taking. Money is a resource.
-
It's a resource. Say money is a resource, that's
-
why it's called currency too 'cause there's got to be a flow,
-
we say resource 'cause you have to go to the source again to get
-
more of the resource. But here's 10 guidelines on
-
money, and number one goes with what I just said.
-
Money's a resource, but God is the source #1 if you really want
-
to be blessed in life, you know, you heard this term quality of
-
life. It's, it's, it's, it's really a
-
term I think the secular world throws around a lot.
-
But I'll say in a spiritual aspect, we should have a quality
-
of life cause the world seeks after money.
-
But Proverbs says the blessing Lord makes 1 rich, but he adds
-
no sorrow with it. So if money is your source,
-
you're gonna have sorrow, but if God is your source, you'll have
-
resource. Did you get that?
-
If you just chase money, you're going to have sorrow?
-
Read Proverbs 23 it it says, you know, he says eat and drink, but
-
his heart's not with you. And it says money makes wings
-
and it flies away. It's insatiable, like you can
-
never have enough when that's all you're seeking.
-
But when God is your source, you're going to have no sorrow.
-
But you'll have you'll have a thing called wealth, not riches
-
'cause wealth comes. This is why Deuteronomy says
-
I'll give you the power to get wealth.
-
There's a difference between wealth and riches.
-
I want to stretch your thinking. Riches is just accumulated
-
goods. Wealth is more than that.
-
Wealth is well-being. Wealth is wisdom, knowledge, and
-
understanding, all working together to create economic
-
solvency, stability, and security.
-
Wealth is wisdom, understanding, knowledge, all working together
-
like ingredients to create economic solvency, stability and
-
security. And God said, I'll give you the
-
power to get not just riches, but wealth.
-
I saw an NFL player some years ago who had millions, but he
-
burnt down his mansion. I can't remember if there's
-
domestic things going on or drugs, but that, that's riches,
-
but not wealth 'cause you're broken your mind.
-
And when you're in the Kingdom of God and operating under His
-
laws, not only can He get you the riches, but He gives you
-
wealth. Your marriage will be
-
successful, your kids will be acting right.
-
Your body won't be broken down, your mind won't have a vice grip
-
around it, you won't be depressed #2 Seek God first in
-
everything. Seek God for He has an amazing
-
way of getting resources to you. You know the woman that died or
-
her husband died in the Old Testament.
-
And this is a sad statement, but when that woman died in the Old
-
Testament, somebody could probably find their reference.
-
I think it's over in Kings. And it said the only thing it
-
said about the man was he left me in debt.
-
So I'm going to challenge. If you care about your family,
-
you should have a life insurance policy in place.
-
We're talking primarily about finances tonight.
-
Does that mean you're going to die?
-
No, but I just believe it keeps the devil at Bay, 'cause it's
-
wise, right? But the only thing they said
-
about that man. But guess God.
-
When you see God first and everything like she did, He gave
-
her a creative idea that became an invention.
-
That was her work and it was the most unusual thing.
-
Go get the pans from your neighbors.
-
Remember that. And then start pouring oil into
-
it. And then she asked the prophet,
-
what do I do after that? He put her into business, he
-
said go sell all of it and now listen this live off of the
-
rest. That was like the lottery.
-
Seek God first in everything #3 decisions require
-
responsibility. For those of you that are
-
married, decisions cannot be unilateral in the marriage
-
covenant. Husbands, you may like to fish,
-
you may like boating, but you do not pull up on a Saturday
-
morning with a brand new boat without consulting your wife.
-
That's a unilateral move and decision in the marriage
-
covenant. Now, if you're single, you got
-
some fluidity. Hallelujah.
-
There are pros and cons of being married, and there's our pros
-
and cons of being single. You can get the no new boat with
-
your single as long as God says 'cause you're still consulting.
-
Decisions require responsibility.
-
God, should I get this boat? But if you're married, you
-
better have that conversation or you may not see her for several
-
days and then then when your eyes, the swelling starts to go
-
down, finally you'll see her again #4 Tithe and offerings are
-
basic visible evidence of faith. You say you believe in God.
-
This is a fundamental in the Kingdom of God.
-
It's an evidence you're not really giving anchor faith
-
church. When you give, it's really a
-
release of faith towards God, saying you trust him.
-
And when you don't give, you know, what you're saying is I
-
really don't trust that you'll do what you say.
-
When it comes to finances #5 it's what I call the good plan.
-
GOOD. Get out of debt.
-
You know, there's nowhere in my Bible where I see Jehovah visa
-
number six. Start where you are with what
-
you have #7 goes with #5 Live within your means.
-
Too many buy people, buy things with money they don't have, to
-
get things they don't need to impress people they don't like
-
#8 To obey God today is to trust Him for tomorrow #9 Keep
-
detailed records. I'm going to follow up with this
-
when we get to another sampler #10 be generous with God and be
-
generous with others. Don't have the American mindset.
-
The American mindset is get all you can, can all you get.
-
Sit on the can. Proverbs 11/25 says this though.
-
The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will
-
also be watered himself. And I'll follow up with that.
-
starting in verse #13 this just goes along with being generous
-
with others and being generous with God.
-
Not hoarding, right? Not storing up to the point
-
where all you do is trust in your riches and not God.
-
So Luke chapter 12 verse 13 says this.
-
Then one from the crowd said him, teacher, tell my brother to
-
divide the inheritance with me. So he's talking to the Lord
-
about finances. He said, but, but he said to a
-
man who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you.
-
And he said to them, Jesus said to them, take heed and beware of
-
covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the
-
abundance of things he possesses.
-
Verse 16 Then Jesus spoke a parable to him, saying, the
-
ground of a certain rich man yielded plentiful.
-
And this rich man thought to within himself, saying, What
-
shall I do since I have no room to store my crops?
-
And this rich man said, I'll do this, I'll pull down my barns,
-
I'll build, I'll build greater ones, and there I will store all
-
my crops and my goods, and I will say to my soul, So you have
-
many good years laid up, take your ease, eat, drink and be
-
merry. But God said, fool this, not
-
your soul be required of you. Then whose will those things be?
-
What you have provided? So this person was only rich
-
towards himself and not rich towards others.
-
So we need to be generous with God and we need to be generous
-
with others. I want to give you 5 keys to
-
increase, 5 keys increase. So we've looked at work, we've
-
looked at these guidelines, and I want to take this last
-
sampler, 5 Keys to increase. And as we go over these, I just
-
want you to review and evaluate your life and see if there's
-
anything lacking or underperforming in any of these
-
five years 'cause I guarantee you this according to the word
-
of the Lord, if you do these five things, the blessings are
-
going to flow. Now with finances, it doesn't
-
always happen overnight, but it will happen.
-
And I, I know and others in this room know that if practice these
-
five things, it will take place. Listen, there was a day when our
-
sons were in the house and all we could do was the dollar menu
-
when we ate at McDonald's. That was a long time ago and all
-
they could do was get all we could afford was to get 4 things
-
for each of them off the dollar meal, which they probably don't
-
have a dollar meal anymore, but that's where we were at that
-
time. Now in life, I tell my household
-
we are going, we are going to aim to not eat out more than
-
twice a week. Do you see the flip on that?
-
So there's one time when we're driving a red it used actually
-
it was a, a Quest. Remember the Quest, Nissan
-
Quest, but it wasn't really a Nissan Quest because the
-
domestic manufacturer made it. Did you know that it's a fake
-
Nissan with a we, we thought, you know, this is pretty cool.
-
We had AVHS in it with, you know, in between the the driver
-
and the passenger seats in the front and there was a console
-
right now they have the everything.
-
It flips down from the roof. It's on the back of the seats
-
and everything. But but God has delivered us
-
from the quest. It was a good quest.
-
That thing got to Albuquerque, NM to visit my brother.
-
Praise the Lord and back, because if you do this one thing
-
and tithe, it'll rebuke the devourer.
-
Hallelujah. All right, so the first thing is
-
tithe and offerings. First key to increase is tithe
-
and offerings. What's the tithe?
-
That's 10%. So if you make $100, what's the
-
tithe of $100? What's a tithe of $105?
-
So I can get so many mathematicians to think real
-
quick, what's a tithe of $111.00?
-
What's a tithe on $10,000? You can participate.
-
What's a tithe on $1,000,000? What's a tithe on a billion
-
dollars? What is it, Red and Randy, $100
-
million Done. You got it.
-
You dropped an offering bucket. Praise the Lord.
-
Malachi chapter. In all seriousness, Malachi
Malachi 3 chapter mention
-
chapter 3 verse #10 says this. Bring all the ties into the
-
storehouse. Not Christian radio, not
-
Christian television, not a minister you may like listening
-
to online. Is it right to give you those?
-
Yeah. But what?
-
What would that be considered? Good.
-
You all are trained up. That'd be an offering, right?
-
He said. Bring it to the What's the
-
storehouse where you primarily get fed?
-
The local body church. I want to give a testimony on a
-
side, well it's 836. My wife's preaching in the
-
current. So I think I got like an extra
-
30 minutes tonight. So I had to create an idea, but
-
I didn't invent it. She's talking on the Holy Spirit
-
cause Pastor Chase was praying and said man, we need a
-
minister. So he got my wife in his spirit,
-
said I want you to minister on the Holy Spirit.
-
So they were coming up with all these titles with my daughter
-
yesterday like goat and all these other ones, but they
-
settled with something about Dove.
-
And I said you should get some Dove chocolates.
-
So she's passing out Dove chocolates tonight.
-
You're getting no sweets but the word of God.
-
Now I won't go till 9:30, but I do want to say this, 'cause I
-
make, I want to make sure I get through everything that the Lord
-
desires to get through. Your storehouse is where you get
-
fed, equipped and trained and in in our evaluation today, we have
-
evaluations for all areas within the ministry that we do annually
-
and we're working through Washington Classical Christian
-
School right now, but we had the privilege of doing it with
-
Theodore Moreland. Is Ted in here Ted everybody
-
know coach Ted Well, his little baby June just had some trials
-
with some health issues, right. And but we're doing this
-
evaluation. I didn't, I didn't know the
-
whole story, but I'm bringing this up because you bring all
-
the ties into the storehouse. And so when they couldn't figure
-
what was wrong, she had a fever and they took her to Flagler.
-
But then end up going to Wolfson's on 1616, the new one
-
up by Texas Roadhouse, which I forget who was it was Pastor
-
Bradley was pulling out the same time that Ted was walking in.
-
So Ted said it was amazing 'cause I'm getting text messages
-
from Pastor Earl. Like, how do these people know
-
where I'm at? Like, well, Bradley just
-
happened to be in the right place at the right time and
-
asked Ted what was going on. All of a sudden, Ted's he's
-
like, dude, I'm so glad I'm part of Anchor Faith Church.
-
And it's not us. It's God's system, it's God's
-
plan, it's God's purpose. It's just us during our role and
-
we're like a family. And so he just loved the
-
support, the prayers and everything.
-
But he when he, when they were trying to figure out what's
-
wrong, they, they want to do a Spinal Tap on baby June.
-
And so in doing that, one of the adults, they couldn't take both.
-
One of the adults could go into the room, but not both.
-
And he asked Kaylee, do you want to go?
-
She's like, I don't want to be in there for that.
-
And Ted's like, I'm not going to let my little go going by
-
herself. So I'm going in with her.
-
But he said, thank God for this church.
-
He said, because I've learned to listen to the Holy Spirit.
-
And when I was taking baby June in to go into that Spinal Tap to
-
get that, he said, the Holy Spirit checked me pray for the
-
baby. And so he was getting ready to
-
lay the baby on the table for them to do the operation.
-
And the Holy Spirit said, again, pray for the baby.
-
You know what he did? He's he's he put back up.
-
He said, everybody bow your heads.
-
I want to pray nurses, doctors. It wasn't a Hannah prayer, which
-
is silent prayer. He with the boldness he, he
-
said, he told the doctor and the nurses, bow your heads.
-
I love it. And he prayed the power of God
-
down on that and said, man, this is going to take the first time.
-
It's going to be successful. You're going to guide the
-
doctors. You're going to give wisdom to
-
the nurses and he read through the whole thing.
-
They make you sign a a release form of everything that could go
-
wrong, and then they say it normally doesn't take on the
-
first time. So he prayed that they got it on
-
the first time. The next day we talked about
-
being engaged, employed, enlarged and evangelized.
-
This is evangelism. The next day the nurse comes
-
back and says to Ted, I went home and told my husband about
-
you praying today in the power of prayer.
-
And he said, do you worship anywhere?
-
She said no, but there was power in that prayer 'cause they never
-
take the first time. So really an unbeliever told a
-
believer there's power in prayer and witnessed it.
-
That's the storehouse that you're pouring into right where
-
you're primarily trained. In the clip he said bring all
-
the ties into the storehouse that there may be food in my
-
house and now try me on this says the Lord of hosts.
-
If I will not open up the windows of heaven and pour out a
-
blessing for you that you will not have room enough to receive
-
it the the tithe. We could pass the mic right now.
-
What are you saying back there? Oh, you want me to read verse
-
11? I don't have verse 11.
-
My notes for Randy and you're interrupting.
-
I thought he was giving me the love sign back there.
-
Love you too, brother. 11 OK, so here's your homework assignment.
-
Per Reverend Randy, read verse 11 on your own.
-
Now. You messed me up.
-
I forget what I'm saying. The storehouse.
-
I could pass the mic. But I know like things that have
-
opened up for us. We have a business called
-
Kinderfit and all five of these keys, I'm telling you we did,
-
but this is one of the ones that opened up for us.
-
Angie was employed. Or worked for.
-
The previous owner who wanted to get back into teaching, this was
-
her baby. Her creative idea, you know,
-
that she put into, gave life to basically create a business
-
called Kinderfit. She actually started in
-
Oklahoma, which is ironic 'cause we're from, well, Angie's from
-
Oklahoma, but moved to Florida and has had success in this
-
business. Angie worked for her, but back
-
in, I think it's 2018, she wanted to get out of the
-
business and she was going to give it to her sister.
-
But she, she knew Angie's work ethic, which is our next point,
-
and she knew her heart for God. And they end up giving us the
-
business at a really good deal and actually working on a
-
payment plan for us. So we didn't have to pay
-
everything upfront, but that's what the tithe that did open up
-
that business to us. The house that we're in right
-
now, it was a fight of faith to get into, but this is how good
-
God is. We didn't, we wanted acreage,
-
but I didn't want to drive 20 minutes, Hallelujah, 'cause, you
-
know, to get acreage usually way out.
-
And with everything we do and responsibilities at the church,
-
I want to be close, But I believe with all my harp tithing
-
and offerings open up to get the house we're in currently.
-
And I, I, we could go around this room of testimonies of what
-
the tithe and the offering has done in your life and will
-
continue to do 'cause God is not God puts no limits on faith.
-
Faith puts no limits on God. How big can you dream?
-
Don't let anybody else create your world for the you.
-
They'll create it too small. The tithe will open up things.
-
The offerings is really where you get to invest in the Kingdom
-
of God and this you go back to the guidelines seek God first
-
and everything we review every year when I go over goals with
-
Angie, you know what, what is our giving goals this year?
-
Tithe is standard, but we are way above the tithe and we we
-
pray and we seek and we ask God, what do you want us to do?
-
And so we've done that for years now and I've seen God just open
-
up amazing things through the tithe and offering.
-
Matthew 2323 says this woe to you scribes and Pharisees,
-
hypocrites, for you pay tithe of men a nice and cumin and have
-
neglected the weightier matters of law, justice and mercy and
-
faith. These you have ought to done
-
without leaving the others undone.
-
So even Jesus pointed back to the tithe.
-
He said, now you need to have mercy, right?
-
But you still need a tithe. In Genesis chapter 14 verses 18
-
through 20, it says then Melchizedek, king of Salem
-
brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most
-
High and he blessed him and said blessed be Abraham of God Most
-
High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most
-
High who has delivered your enemies into your hand.
-
And Abraham gave him a tithe of all predates the Mosaic economy,
-
the Mosaic law, and Abraham just knew he was to give God 1/10.
-
So that's the first key to increase is giving your tithe
-
and your offerings. What is God saying above the
-
10%? What is God telling you to do
-
right? And that's something you need to
-
communicate with God and let God communicate with you his will
-
when it comes to offerings beyond the tithe.
-
But I tell you what, God is faithful.
-
You can't out give God. And when you do give, He gives
-
back to you a good measure, pressed down, shaken together
-
and running over Second ingredient and increase of these
-
5 keys is work ethic. Proverbs chapter 24, verses 30
-
through 34 from the Amplified Bible says this.
-
I went by the field of the lazy man and by the vineyard of the
-
man lacking understanding and common sense.
-
And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns, and nestles were
-
covering its surface. Its Stonewall was broken down.
-
When I saw, I considered it. Well, I looked and I received
-
instruction. A little sleep, a little
-
slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and Daydream.
-
And then poverty will come you as on on you as a robber, and
-
you're want like an armed man. So listen, if you give tithe and
-
offerings but you don't work hard, you're going to miss God's
-
best. Proverbs 1819189 second
-
reference on this. He was slothful in his work as a
-
brother to him was a great destroyer.
-
I was at a checkout line one time and there was probably a
-
teenager or somebody in their early 20s on their cell phone
-
disengaged with the customers. That's not Scott's standard of
-
work ethic. Showing up 10 minutes late to
-
work with a bad attitude is not God's standard for work ethic.
-
Complaining about your employer is not God's standard of work
-
ethic. Sleeping on the job is not God's
-
standard of work ethic. Proverbs 2819 says this.
-
He who cultivates his land will have plenty of bread.
-
That's work ethic. I was reading one time was it,
-
was it Hagar when the baby is getting ready to die and, and,
-
and, and he said there's, there's water.
-
She thought it, I thought, God, it's provisions all around us.
-
We're complaining. And he's like, just cultivate,
-
just cultivate, plant the seed, water it work.
-
Second Thessalonians chapter 3 verse #11 says we hear that
2 Thessalonians 3 chapter mention
-
there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not
-
working at all, but they're busy bodies.
-
Hallelujah. Now don't get me wrong, there's
-
some legitimate needs. So understand when I say this,
-
that could be communicated via social media.
-
But then we're also know there's people that are busy bodies on
-
there that are raising funds because they don't work.
-
Are you with me? Deuteronomy 1510 says you shall
-
surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when
-
you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God
-
will bless you and all your works and into which you put
-
your hand. If you read Psalms chapter 1
Psalms 1 chapter mention
-
verses one through 3, you know talks about blesses a man that
-
don't walk in the council ungodly, nor stands the way the
-
center, nor seats in the seat of the scornful, but his delights
-
in the law of the Lord, and that law he meditates day and night.
-
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of living water,
-
and whatever he does with his hand will prosper.
-
What are you putting your hand to every day?
-
What do you put in your hand to in parenting?
-
What do you put in your hand to in praise?
-
What do you put in your hand to as an employer and employment?
-
What do you put in your hand to in a creative idea?
-
What do you put in your hand to with investing money?
-
Right. Whatever you do with your hand,
-
if it's in God's will, it's going to prosper.
-
The hand is the instrument of instruments.
-
It's the symbol of human action. It's the symbol of power and
-
authority. Jesus has sat at the right hand
-
of the father. Whatever you put your hand to as
-
a spiritual believer to do, it will prosper.
-
If it's in a with the word of God, anointed by the Spirit,
-
whatever you do, a prosper. What a great confession for you
-
to have when you go to work tomorrow and say, Lord, whatever
-
I put my hand to, it will prosper.
-
I didn't even put confession on the sampler, but confession is
-
important when it comes to prosperity.
-
If you say I'm broke, I'm never going to have enough.
-
The third key is management. Proverbs chapter 27, verses 23
-
through 27 sees it says, be diligent to know the state of
-
your flocks and attend to your herds, for riches are not
-
forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations.
-
When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself, and
-
the herbs of the mountain are gathered in, the lambs will
-
provide you clothing, the goats the price of a field.
-
You shall have enough goats milk for your food, for the food of
-
your household and the nourishment of your maid
-
servants. You know what this verse is
-
exuding with is knowing what's coming into your house and
-
what's going out of your house. If your outgo is more than your
-
income, then your upkeep becomes your downfall.
-
Luke chapter 14 verses 28 through 30.
-
I told you this is kind of like a fire hydrant tonight, but I'm
-
believing you're going to get what the Holy Spirit needs to
-
give you to have increased in your life.
-
Amen. Luke chapter 1420 through 30
-
says for which of you intended to build a tower does not sit
-
down 1st and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish
-
it, lest after he has laid the foundation he's not able to
-
finish all who see it begin to mock him saying this man begin
-
to build it was not able to finish first.
-
Timothy 35 from the Amplified says for if a man does not know
-
how to manage his own own household, how we take care of
-
the Church of God. Management is taking care of
-
what God is giving you. It's being wise with the
-
resources and the wealth that he's given you.
-
It's stopping to ask God, what do you want me to do with this?
-
Management is having a plan in place.
-
Management is knowing what's in your account and working and
-
counseling for years I've I've realized some people don't know
-
what's in their account. All they they do is look at
-
their online banking. They have no budget, no
-
spreadsheet. Listen, people, friends,
-
congregation, family of God, Hallelujah.
-
We live in such a modern technology.
-
There is no excuse that you can't find your flavor or your
-
style when it comes to having something in place.
-
Nothing's changed mathematically as there's debits, there's
-
credits. Now, how you record that you and
-
your wife, if you're married, come together.
-
If you're single, make your own decision, but record it.
-
You should know your what your break even is.
-
Each month there's a question for you.
-
I won't have many. Raise your hand.
-
Do you know what your break even is?
-
What? What do you mean break even?
-
What does it take between rent, mortgage insurance, cell phone,
-
utilities, Netflix, DoorDash, Instacart to meet to meet Uber?
-
Thanks, Christopher. To meet your budget each month,
-
right? You know what management is?
-
I've saved $1170 since April 2024.
-
How did you do that, Pastor Mike?
-
Because I manage. What did you say of that?
-
Because I was paying $65 a month on PMI.
-
What's PMI? It's private mortgage insurance.
-
But once you hit a certain value on your house, you can get that
-
removed. Have you looked at your PMI?
-
Do you have PMI? Do you know what PMI is?
-
I'm just giving examples, right? I read a book recently just on
-
paying a little extra in principle over.
-
I do this weekly because everything's so easy with
-
technology now. But right now I'm just giving
-
you examples so you and your household could help manage
-
better because sometimes your income may need to come up or
-
your overhead can go down. I remember years ago when we're
-
State Farm, just calling around, I got Farm Bureau to get a
-
better insurance rate. So I went with them, right?
-
So there's things you can do and management that can help you
-
out. Now I joke around about DoorDash
-
and Instacart, but do you really need that?
-
Because part of listen, temperance is part of the fruit
-
of the spirit. What's temperance?
-
It's called self-control. Restraint, temperance, and
-
self-control are all characters of disciples of Jesus Christ.
-
Just cause the bank says you can borrow $100,000. self-control
-
may say no, and that's good management.
-
Remember that one. Live within your means. 7 out of
-
10 Americans live paycheck to paycheck and some of this is
-
obviously they don't know tithe and offering.
-
They're not walking in that blessing.
-
They don't know work ethic, they're not working that
-
blessing. They don't know management,
-
they're not walking in that blessing.
-
So all I'm saying is get a plan in place.
-
If you don't have one, then I encourage you and listen for
-
you. Married couples, let me help you
-
out 'cause I helped myself out. I would frustrate Angie because,
-
you know, I, we are aims to get together once a month, although
-
that doesn't quite happen. That's my goal.
-
But we, we try to get together frequently because I want the
-
next thing called unity. That's the fourth key.
-
But early on, and this helped me, I would just rattle off
-
everything because it's in my mind like a Rolodex.
-
And I, I just saw her eyes go crossed and I realized real
-
quick, if I'm going to communicate with her, it's got
-
to be on paper. So in my household, when it
-
comes to management and in your household, listen, there's
-
always a spender. There's always a saver.
-
So for the husbands that are spenders, raise your hand.
-
I'm kidding, but God didn't put you together to frustrate one
-
another. Listen, here's me in management
-
when it comes to Christmas time. I've become a better manager
-
because I never planned for that.
-
But Angie loves to give. So in my saving and her
-
spending, we balance each other out really well.
-
We break even. Thanks, Rafael.
-
But I've learned, guess what she's done?
-
It's learned. It's taught me how to be more
-
generous and not so tight. So I'm just saying, God, when we
-
get to this next principle, which is unity, He didn't put a
-
husband and wife together to frustrate one another, but to
-
complement one another. Can you say Amen?
-
Do you know that men and women don't think alike?
-
And do you realize there's one that's a savor and one's a
-
suspender? So just settle it now.
-
This is not frustration. God did this for us so that we
-
could unite because the 4th key is unity.
-
The place of disagreement is the pace place of powerlessness.
-
The place of agreement is the place of power.
-
Amos 33 says how can two walk together unless they be agreed?
-
Matthew 18 what's it? 18181819 says how if any 2 of
-
you on earth touch and agree about anything according to my
-
father's will will be done. Is this a key that's missing in
-
your household if you're married?
-
Is this a key that you're missing if you're single because
-
you're not united with God? Remember when it said David's
-
heart and hand were together? They were united.
-
So whether single or married, there's still a unity principle
-
of cooperating either with your spouse or with the Lord to
-
experience God's best. But unity is important, and
-
unity comes through a thing called communication.
-
Reliable communication permits progress, but an unreliable
-
messenger causes a lot of trouble.
-
So if you want to get unified, you got to learn how to
-
communicate, not shut down. You got to be able to
-
communicate with God, let God communicate with you.
-
If you're married, you got to be able to communicate with your
-
spouse. And really, if we're training,
-
this is just another side thought and side nugget, another
-
sampler. It is the cheesecake.
-
We have a responsibility to train our children up in the way
-
that they should go. So just a side thought.
-
When Abby and Chloe were little, we got Dave Ramsey's 3 little
-
bags to give save and I can't remember the other one.
-
Give save and I'm looking at you Pastor Vanessa Spin yes, so that
-
when they got money they used to have these little bags which in
-
management I could have made these a lot cheaper myself.
-
Now I'm thinking about it and just got a little envelope and
-
not gave Dave Ramsey $24.00. But you have responsibility to
-
train your children, right? So it's not just for you.
-
You're training. And then what if God wanted to
-
use you as a mentor to help train other people?
-
Because what as you grow, so does His church.
-
So if you're blessed, you should be a blessing.
-
What I'm saying is it should be working in your life so you can
-
help other people's lives. So unity is important.
-
Y'all doing all right. We are to our last point,
-
vision. So the five keys were tithe and
-
offering work ethic, management, unity, and vision.
-
There is no fullness of provision without vision.
-
Vision is the ability to romance and dream about your future
-
while embracing the present. Vision is the ability to romance
-
and dream about your future while embracing the present.
-
Dream is a pictured goal really in the Kingdom God wants you to
-
be successful and success in God's eye is the predetermined
-
goals, dreams, and visions that He has in store for you.
-
I'll say it again, success is the predetermined goals,
-
visions, and dreams that God has in store for you.
-
Proverbs 2918 says where there's no vision is the people perish.
-
Habakkuk 22 says then the Lord answered me and said, write the
-
vision down. Make it plain that he that he
-
may run. Who reads it?
-
So really you think about vision and provision.
-
In order to have provisions you need vision.
-
I'm going to give you one more scripture, 2 examples and a
-
final statement and then we'll close.
-
It's going to go really quick. It's like the end of a roller
-
coaster ride, you know, I almost hesitated, but I felt like
-
there'd be a grace tonight to pour out so much and so little
-
time. But I really, the Golden Corral
-
set me free because that's when I was praying about.
-
It's what the Holy Spirit gave me.
-
If you just preface it with that, even though it's a lot,
-
the people are going to take what they're need.
-
The Holy Spirit's going to minister that to you and you're
-
going to feed off of that second plate, third plate, 4th plate
-
into dessert plates. So Genesis 1515 says, and he
-
brought him outside his tent into the Starlight and said,
-
look now toward the heavens and count the stars.
-
If you're able to number them. Then he said to Abraham, so
-
shall your descendants be. So with vision, God told
-
Abraham, look up. So I just want, I just want
-
everybody to close your eyes without falling asleep 'cause it
-
is 9:00. If your head hits the seat in
-
front of you, it's not my fault. But real quick I'll go real
-
fast. Vision.
-
OK, Pretend you're coming in on old Moultrie or US1 right now.
-
What does our parking lot look like right now in your mind?
-
But can you see it with black top and yellow lines?
-
OK, let's go to this. As you're pulling on the parking
-
lot right now for Moto US1, what does our building look like
-
currently? Can you see the building painted
-
black the way there's plenty of the marquee sign out there
-
black? Let me ask you one more
-
question. What does your life look like
-
with the mortgage right now? But what would your life look
-
without like without a mortgage? Can you see it?
-
All right, open up your eyes. That's vision.
-
I I want you. I I am closing right now so the
-
worship team can come. Mediocre men settle for good,
-
which is enemy of best. And there's really 3 levels of
-
living survival, success and significance.
-
I want God wants Anchor Faith Church to be a significant
-
church. So if you enlarge yourself and
-
you grow, guess what? So does the ministry grow?
-
And what I want to leave you with tonight is you should dream
-
when you come on the parking lot and be a part in the
-
participation of seeing the parking lot with brand new
-
asphalt all over it. You should be able to pull up
-
into your driveway and dream about going to your house and
-
your dog acting right and your kids excited to see you.
-
Are you with me? That's vision and that's what I
-
want to leave with you tonight is what has God put in your
-
heart to be engaged with, to be employed with, to enlarge and to
-
evangelize? Very last thing Sunday is
-
service and I want to leave with evangelism is because envision.
-
Can you invite somebody to church this Sunday?
-
Can you believe God that you pull up to a gas station or
-
you're at Publix or wherever? May your journey may take you
-
this week and God's going to set up a divine appointment for you
-
to connect with somebody who needs Jesus.
-
Can you see it in your vision? And in that moment, you get to
-
be like Coach Ted and be bold. You may even lead into Christ
-
right there at the pump. But then you can follow up and
-
say, listen, come to Anchor Faith Church.
-
We'll do you good on your spiritual journey.
-
I'll meet you in the parking lot at 9:30 AM whatever.
-
But I want to leave you with that tonight because I believe
-
that God is building his your life and the life of his church.
-
But there is a lost and a dying world out there.
-
We need to be mindful as we go through our day-to-day duties
-
and responsibilities that God is going to connect us with people
-
because we are called to ignite this city, impact this nation,
-
and influence the world.