Proof of Ownership | Dr. John Ewart

Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Inglewood

Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina.

Thank you so much for tuning in to our podcast.

You're going to hear from God today as we share from his word

about important issues facing your life that can guide you

according to the Bible. Well, good morning, Inglewood.

Take your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter 4, if you will.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

I'll catch up to you in just a moment.

It's good to see you here on Memorial Day weekend.

I know that several of our folks are out, but appreciate so much

you being here. Perhaps you're a guest here

visiting on the holiday weekend as well.

Memorial Day actually originally was called Decoration Day.

In fact, I remember some of my older relatives still calling

it. That started after the Civil War

to remember those who died in the service of our country and

continues to be that memory. Some families have also used it

as a time to go and remember relatives who've passed away,

put flowers on graves and things.

There are about 3 holidays throughout the year where we

acknowledge people who have served in our armed forces and

recognize our veterans. We have Armed Forces Day, which

passed not long ago. We have veteran's day, which is

in November. We'll celebrate and recognize

our veterans more than Today is a day to remember, to remember

those who died. You know, it's an interesting

thing to be able to gather in a place like this.

I hope we never take it for granted.

As many of you know, I've done a bit of travelling and a lot of

my travelling, a lot of my work in missions and with the

seminary. We're in places where you

weren't free together like this. I've met in secret places with

secret people and, and, and had to maneuver myself around cities

to where I couldn't be followed and, and things like that to

meet with people. And so I have friends that I

know who have died, friends that I know who've been imprisoned,

people who've had their homes bulldozed, people who've had

their churches bulldozed, people who have served in, in labor

camps, building railroads in Siberia.

I've known people who have suffered because of their faith.

And so I pray, in fact, in November, during our missions

emphasis, I have a friend who will be here.

He'll come and share his testimony.

He's testified in front of the UN as well as spoken multiple

times at the Southern Baptist Convention, where one Sunday

while he was preaching his sermon, the secret police kicked

the door down and took him to prison to kill him.

And so I'm thankful that this morning I don't have to worry

about secret police breaking down the door.

We have comfort, We have luxury. We have freedom.

But that freedom didn't come without a price.

And so we always want to thank, thank those who God used to help

secure that price for us and the opportunity for us to gather in

freedom this morning. And so I just wanted to stop and

pray, Thank God for that freedom to worship and also the

opportunity it provides us to share.

And I pray we never take that for granted.

Father, thank you so much for the way that you give us

freedom. You give it to us spiritually.

But Father, I also thank you that in this country we have

physical, political and religious freedom.

Father, I know that that should not be taken for granted.

It's a luxury. It's a, it's an opportunity.

Father, in that freedom, I pray that we will take advantage of

the opportunity to share our faith, to testify in front of

others. I pray, Father, that we will

recognize that we should never take the the opportunity to

gather in a church building for granted, That Father, we should

fill this house every week with people who enjoy that freedom.

Father, I thank you for those who you used to pay a price,

those who served in our armed forces, those who have fought in

order for this freedom to be real.

And pray, Father, for their families during these weekends.

Some perhaps you're still mourning those they've lost in

recent conflict. So pray Father, that you'll

bless them and bless our time that we might gain freedom from

your word this morning as we talk about how you worked in

your first church. Thank you in Christ's name,

Amen. Well, God is looking for a

people to respond to his spirits movement.

I often use imagery of a ship. I do that in a book I row, but

also in just thought the fact that God's spirit is blowing.

We need to catch that wind. The question is going to be

whether or not it will be us, Inglewood, if, if we'll be the

ones who catch the spirits movement because the Holy Spirit

is actually inviting us to come join the King's mission.

He, he's on mission, he has a purpose, he has a plan to bring

himself great glory and to use us in redeeming the nation's as

we make disciples and fulfil the Great Commission.

But we also have an adversary, We have an enemy who doesn't

want that to happen. He wants to stop us.

Last week in our study in the book of Acts, we saw where Satan

tried and failed to silence the church.

His first attacks come from the outside, from from persecution,

from the outside. But now he's going to move an

attack from within. And you're going to see that

pattern throughout the book of Acts.

He'll attack from the outside. That doesn't work.

He'll he'll attack from the inside to see if that works as

he and the Holy Spirit wage war over the existence of the First

Church and over the spread of the gospel.

And so as the Holy Spirit begins to move, the enemy notices that

and he seeks to stop that movement.

And I've seen him not only do that in the book of Acts, but I

see him doing that in churches. I've worked with too many in too

many places to where Satan's done exactly the same thing.

Outside pressure, inside temptation, outside pressure,

inside temptation. And I'll watch him paralyze

churches at times. So we need to be on guard

because he can't stand it when the truth is shared.

He can't stand it when the Word of God is preached.

He can't stand it when lives are changed.

Just like the testimonies that we saw this morning both

overseas and in the baptistry. He's the father of lies and he

hates the truth. Reminds me of a guy who saw an

ad one day talking dog for sale. So the guy goes and he finds

this ordinary kind of a runny black mutt standing in front of

me. He says, you talk dog says, Yep.

I discovered my gift of talking years ago and I wanted to serve

our government. So the CIA hired me and I and

jetted me around around the world, sitting in rooms with

spies and world leaders. Nobody would ever think that a

dog was eavesdropping on them. And so I was one of the most

valuable spies the CIA ever had. But I got tired of jetting

around the world. And so I took a job out here at

the local airport and security and I uncovered all kinds of

illegal things, won all kinds of awards, finally settled down,

had a had a wife, had some puppies.

And now I'm retired. Well, the guy's just amazed at

this dog. And he goes to the owner.

He says, how much do you want for this dog?

And the owner says about 10 bucks.

He goes $10. This dog's amazing.

How in the world could you sell him so cheap?

And the owner simply told him, he says, well, he's a big liar.

He hadn't done any of that stuff.

Well, Satan's a big fat old liar.

And he hadn't, he hadn't done anything good either.

And he's going to tempt people to spend the truth, tempt people

to deceit, deceive for sinful purposes, sometimes even within

the church, which is part of our story.

It's a hard text today. Remember last week they were

filled with the Holy Spirit. They're weaking.

They're speaking the word of God with boldness.

They're speaking the truth. They knew to whom they belonged.

They knew what truth to follow. They knew what truth to

proclaim. But Satan's not going to settle

for that. So he's going to press in on

them and they're going to need a strong reminder of that proof of

ownership. To whom do we truly belong?

Look at Acts chapter 4. We're going to begin in verse 32

Acts 4 · chapter mention

a little further along. We'll go on chapter 5 in a

minute. Now the multitude of those who

believed were of 1 heart and one soul.

Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was

his own, but they had all things in common.

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the

resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them

all. Nor was there anyone among who

lacked, among them who lacked for all who were possessors of

lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the

things that were sold and laid them at the apostles feet, and

they distributed to each as anyone had need.

I just want to share some real basic easy truths for us, but

challenging ones. I think the first thing that we

have to recognize is we must acknowledge God's divine

ownership. We have to acknowledge this.

These early Christians understood and they valued their

identity in Christ. They, they, they valued what God

expected of them. And, and we too, even in our

comfort, even in our luxury, sometimes we can get a little

lethargic. Sometimes we get a little too

comfortable, a little too safe. But we too must understand and

value what God expects. Don't miss this.

They were one heart and one soul.

I've told you before that that's a characteristic in the book of

Acts. There was a unity they supported

and they loved one another. And the Bible says that with

great power the the apostles gave witness to the resurrection

of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all.

There was a greatness happening here.

And part of that was because of their unity.

They were sharing the truth with great power and grace, which led

them to share with one another in powerful and gracious ways.

Sharing was a blessing. It wasn't some burden.

It was a blessing for them as they loved one another.

So in spirit filled unity, they were free to be unselfish.

It's easy to share with those you really love.

And so all things were in common with them and they gave of

themselves and they gave of their possessions.

They received even more from God as they gave.

God bless them. God gave them the ability to

have and they gave and and they brought gifts and they laid them

at the apostles feet. This is just a sign of

submission. It's a sign of trust.

It's easy to submit and trust when you really love one

another. And they even had a way of

distributing to people who had needs, kind of like a budget,

that ministry, a kind of a ministry plan in a way to

discern who really needed something, who didn't.

And so they were willing to give.

They were united, they were unselfish.

They were unafraid because they recognized the difference

between ownership and stewardship, and they recognized

that God was the true owner of everything of their lives, of

all they had, all they were, all they had, all they would ever

become. They it all belonged to Him.

So in the power of the Holy Spirit, they moved with great

power, testifying about the resurrected Lord boldly joining

the King's mission. Then Luke says, let me give you

a specific positive example. We're going to see contrast back

and forth in this story today. Let me show you a positive

example of a, of a specific individual who displays this

understanding, this acknowledgement of divine

ownership in a spirit of great generosity.

Look at verse 36 and Joseph or or probably Joseph, who was also

named Barnabas by the apostles, which is translated son of

encouragement, a Levite of the country of Cyprus having land

sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles

feet. So here's this encouraging giver

Barnabas the the son of encouragement who gave from his

heart gives obviously in the right spirit.

This is a positive example of someone who's understanding the

difference between ownership and stewardship.

But, but remember, there's a battle going on here.

The book of Acts represents battle as well as progress.

So there's a battle raging over the church between Satan and the

Holy Spirit. That battle still continues

today. And today's church, I promise

you, it continues in Inglewood. It, it might even be in your own

heart and mind today. Satan's not going to simply sit

back. He's just not going to let the

church to grow stronger and stronger and stronger and

stronger without some kind of opposition.

He's not going to let it grow stronger in this recognition of

godly ownership and lordship. So he strikes from within and

he's going to use two of their own, which is what really is

painful. So look at verse 1 of chapter 5.

But to that word. You're going to see that a lot

in this passage contrast compared to Barnabas.

Now look at this person. But a certain man named Ananias

with Sapphira or Sapphira, his wife sold a possession and he

kept back part of the proceeds, His wife also being aware of it

and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles feet.

So, so not only was we acknowledge God's divine

ownership, but we need to be very careful.

Please do not be confused by self ownership.

See, we see a contrast Ananias ironically, his name means God

is gracious what I ready and his wife's name means beautiful.

So this married couples also sold property and and and and we

don't exactly know why they did what they did, but maybe they

were jealous of Barnabas. Maybe they wanted attention,

maybe they wanted people to pat them on the back and brag about

them or look good in front of the people.

But we know from the passage and what it teaches us that their

motives were wrong. Something in their heart was not

truly submissive. See, we must give of ourselves

and our resources in a way that glorifies God and not ourselves.

And, and, and the Greek language here is very clear where it says

and he kept back part the Greek verb there means to embezzle.

It's the word for embezzle. It means to set aside for

yourself. There's selfishness here.

And what's interesting is, is they send because they pledged

something to God, then kept it for themselves.

Now they weren't obligated to do anything.

They didn't they didn't, they didn't have to sell their

property. They didn't have to bring

anything. They, they weren't being that

nobody's forcing them to give, but they chose to do this and

they sin because of the pledge that they make.

Now be careful because when you're saved, when you're

baptized, when you join at your, you're pledging yourself.

Be careful that you don't hold something back for yourself.

This same word, this how strong this is.

This same word is used in the Greek translation of the Old

Testament called the Septuagint, in the story of Jericho, where

Aiken secretly keeps the spoils of Jericho for himself, even

though he's forbidden to do that.

They were set apart, they were sacred, they were supposed to be

dedicated to God. But he keeps some of the gold.

He keeps some of the stuff himself and hides it.

And because of his sin, the entire army of Israel is

defeated. In their next battle.

The people are defeated. One person withholding can

defeat an entire people. You got to understand how

valuable your obedience is to the body.

So we see this act. The Holy Spirit was not about to

let that happen again. He wasn't about to let this

happen to his brand new people called the church.

And so this couple embezzled what was sacred out of a selfish

concept of who actually owned it in the first place.

If you ever thought now to be careful about this word, and I'm

going to harp on it and harp on it until you're going to be so

ready for the sermon to be over with, don't be confused by this

word. Stewardship.

This word is not just about money.

Be careful. But have you ever thought about

your stewardship as sacred? That that, that why you give,

why you give, why why you give is a holy act of worship.

Not just what you give, but why you give.

See that? That the motives behind your

giving or not giving indicate a recognition or rejection of

divine ownership. Now again, I'm not just talking

about money. I'm talking about time.

I'm talking about energy. I'm talking about skills.

I'm talking about giftedness. I'm talking about service.

I'm talking about your life. What God has entrusted with you

to use for his glory is holy, set aside, set apart for his

purposes. Now I want you to see the

duplicate language. It's on purpose.

It's for emphasis, the duplicate language of them putting it at

the apostles feet as an act of submission.

But this was false. This was deceitful.

This was unholy submission. They're lying.

See, it might have appeared to be some act of generosity to the

people, but God was watching. God is always watching and he

knows why He knew. He knew why they were really

giving and he knows that about you too.

So I, I'm not just preaching about money here.

Now later I'm going to talk a little bit about money.

So don't run, Lock the doors, but I'm not pay attention.

We're talking about heart issues here.

This is important. Look at verse 3.

But see there's that word again. Contrast.

But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie

to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land

for yourself while it remained? Was it not your own?

And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?

Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?

He's not lied to men, but to God.

So the Holy Spirit's revealing truth to Peter.

The Spirit had created unity and generosity, love in the church

and now he's offended at this deceit.

Have you ever thought about the way you give or don't give your

life, your resources, your time and your talent can actually

offend the Holy Spirit? Satan filled his heart just like

the Bible says he did. Judas and both of them over

stinking money. Sad.

They were lying to God and lying to his people.

They were pretending to do something that they had actually

not done as an act of worship. See, our integrity matters.

Our actions must match the the truth of His Word, but so must

our motives. So our why and our who really do

matter. That's why you'll hear me talk

about them. So what is in your heart when

you worship? What do you give?

Why do you give, right? Why do you serve or not serve?

See, we must be one, everybody on board, each doing their share

in order for God to fulfill His mission through us.

Now listen, I want you to see how much this matters to God.

This is a dangerous, dramatic passage of scripture.

Look at verse 5. Then Ananias, hearing these

words, fell down and breathed his last.

He died right there on the spot. So great fear came upon all

those who heard these things. And the young men arose and

wrapped him up, carried him out and buried him.

And that's the end of Ananias. But the thing we have to be

aware of is #3 be aware of God's discipline of selfishness.

He won't tolerate it in his church if his church is going to

grow stunning, God kills him. The the Greek word psycho.

Psycho means to literally breathe your last.

There's no question about what's going on here.

God chooses to remove the cancer from his body.

It was so important to maintain unity, so important to maintain

integrity. See, Satan brought external

trials to the Jewish leaders and now he brings internal

temptation from one of their own.

But God would not be stopped. The church is mine.

He says this is my body, this is my bride, this is my and I'll

purge her if necessary. I've seen him do it.

I've seen him do it even in the modern church.

He blessed them. Think about this.

He blessed him in the 1st place to where they could even own

property. I mean, they had all these

opportunities to use it as resources and blessings.

They they could have used it for his glory, but instead they use

it as a vehicle for selfish deceit and truth spinning.

There's no place in the church for truth spinning.

Not in your life, not from this pulpit, not anywhere.

He's not going to bless that. Look at verse 7.

It gets even more now. It was about 3 hours later when

his wife came in not knowing what had happened and Peter

answered her. Tell me whether you sold the

land for so much? And she said yes for so much.

Then Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together

to test the spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have

buried your husband are out the door and they will carry you

out. Nothing like subtle Peter.

Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her

last. Can you imagine?

And the young men came in and found her dead, carrying her

out, buried her by her husband. Now whenever I read this

passage, I imagine these poor young men who had just carried

out and buried the first body and finally returned 3 hours

later. I can almost hear him saying

before we go again, Peter anymore anymore.

Listen to me, the church can only thrive as the people of God

if we can live within the trust and confidence of our members.

That was an important thing I just said.

We have to be able to trust one another.

We have to be 1. We have to have confidence in

one another. When there's unity of trust,

oneness of heart, oneness of mine, the church flourishes in

the power of the Holy Spirit. But where there's a lack of

trust, where there's selfishness, where there's

deceit, it will fail and God won't allow it.

He'll move, He'll act. You know, as believers, we live

in two worlds and it's hard. We're torn, we're stretched

between these two worlds, and we have to decide what we really

value. Because you got to remember,

these were members, that these were believers, right?

So God disciplines for the church to protect her, to help

her. What if God chose to act that

way again, right here, right now?

How is your heart? How's your integrity of

stewardship? Not just your money, but the use

of your time, the use of your best energy, the use of your

best focus, your calling, your giftedness, your skills, your

experience, your service. We have a lot of ministries here

who need volunteers. You can go on our website, go

under ministries. Keep going down.

You'll see opportunities for service and you'll find a whole

list of ministries who need help.

What are you doing? How must we respond then to

these very, very, very dramatic examples?

Well, let's see #4 the fact that we have to submit to, to God's

divine ownership. We can't just acknowledge it.

We actually have to do something about this.

We have to give in to it. We can't just recognize it

exists. We actually have to follow it

and submit to it. Look at verse 11.

So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard

these things. See, God works in a mighty way

and there's fear not just in the church, but in the city.

So we must fear God, we must have awesome reverence of Him,

and we need to fear the ugliness and seriousness of sin.

See, it's interesting because this is actually the first time.

This verse is the first time in the book of Acts the word

ecclesia is used that that word ekklesia comes from the Greek

political system. But it was actually the called

out assembly. You might know that word and but

what that means is, is that they were supposed to be different.

They're supposed to be set apart.

They're supposed to be holy. And here's my fear because I've

worked with churches all across this country, my friend, sin is

too familiar. Sin is too normal for some, even

in the church. As one preacher said, you think

you're doing just fine while in reality you've just grown used

to the darkness. Sin cannot be normative.

We must stand upon, rely upon, be defined by the truth of God's

word. Deceit undermines the work of

the Holy Spirit. Selfishness withholds worship.

Self ownership denies his sovereignty.

So the same spirit that gave community its growth, I assure

you we'll also maintain its purity.

He protected it. There was no room for a breach.

The church is a holy, called out community.

It must be an environment of the Holy Spirit, guarded by him, set

aside by him. Inglewood, we must be set aside.

We must be holy. We must be the people of God,

and we must fear only Him. Our integrity must be submitted

to His divine ownership. Does your secret hidden life

that no one knows about but you glorify God as much as the

public face people see the the appearance that you try to

project so so do you have such a reverence in awe of God as the

ultimate owner of all that we properly fear being or doing

anything contrary to his will and word.

Everything you are, everything you possess, everything you will

ever have, any everything you will ever be, your life and time

belong to him. You might resist that.

You might not want to believe that.

You might want to reject that because you've worked hard and

you think you've earned it on your own and it's yours.

But I'm not just talking about stuff, I'm talking about you.

He created you. Your breath, your heartbeat,

your mind, your heart. And as a steward of the life He

gave you, we must be faithful in caring for and utilizing all He

has given for His glory. So we absolutely are mistaken.

Now hear me if we think the word stewardship just means

fundraising. This isn't just about money.

Let me show you a definition of biblical stewardship on the

screen. Biblical stewardship is the

intentional missional management of all God has given us,

including our lives and time out of love for Him to bring Him

great glory. We are stewards of our entire

existence, our time, our spiritual gifts and talents, the

resources with which He's blessed us.

And the right understanding of an attitude towards stewardship

is actually one of the great true marks of spiritual

maturity. So to understand stewardship as

just being about money is very short sighted.

But to not include money is also short sighted.

So since I'm here, let's talk about it for a minute.

Oh, man, he's gone to Medellin now.

They've padlocked the doors. You can't go anywhere.

I get it, I promise. Listen to me.

I've done community studies all across the United States of

America, churches, I've done them all across North Carolina,

including right here. And I promise you, one of the

top three gripes, one of the top three complaints, and almost

every single one of those dozens and dozens, doesn't matter where

it's been, all parts of the country.

I promise you one of the top three gripes that unchurched

people have about the church is that all the church is concerned

about is wanting my money. I hate that because I, I don't

know why they're hearing that. So let, let's just clear this up

for a minute. The Bible teaches a lot about

love and about the love and the misuse of money.

Jesus taught 16 of his 38 parables about dealing with

money and possessions. In the Gospels, one out of 10

verses, 288 verses deal directly with the subject of money.

The Bible has about 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses

on faith, and more than 2000 verses on money and possessions.

Yet some preachers are afraid to talk about it and some

congregations get mad if they do.

It's pretty ironic. Do you want the whole word of

God or not? Do you want to know what God

thinks about? In fact, I'm going to spend a

Wednesday night in a few weeks in our help series talking about

how do we manage money. Not I'm not trying to get your

money. I'm trying to help you

understand what we're supposed to do with this thing because

it's such a big deal. Because the irony in those

community studies is one of the top felt needs.

One of their biggest issues in life is handling money.

So I'm, I, I, the church should never talk about it.

How you doing when you talk about it?

Yet I don't know how to deal with it.

So it kind of leaves a gap, doesn't it?

I mean, money's a problem. It's one of our greatest life

needs and fears. So take a deep breath.

I'm not after your wallet factor.

Reminds me of a preacher. He was preaching one day and he

was talking about the growth of the church and trying to get a

little response from the congregation.

He says if this church is to advance, it must take up its bed

and walk. The congregation says let it

walk, preacher, let it walk. So he's encouraged now, so he's

getting a little stronger. If the church is going to get

better, you're going to throw us aside every hindrance and run.

Let it run, preacher, Let it run.

I mean, he's getting fired up now because, you know, the

congregations with if this church really wants to become

great, it's going to take up its wings and fly.

Let it fly, preacher, let it fly.

And then the preacher really getting going is if this church

is going to fly, it's going to cost money.

Let it walk, Preacher, let it walk.

I get it. I get it, right?

God knew this would be a big issue for us, and it is.

Here's what I care about. I care about being completely

selfless, teachable, and willing so that I can mature in my

faith. That's what I want.

I care that God seeks for us to submit our time, talents, and

resources to be used for His Kingdom.

I care about the fact that over 2000 verses of scripture speak

about obedience, worship, and commitment in reference to

financial stewardship. And so I care about preaching

the whole text, see? I have a much greater fear of

disappointing Him than I do, whether you like, whether I talk

about money or not. Because money becomes an idol.

It becomes an object of false worship and security for us,

see? And that, and that's why it LED

Ananias and Sapphira to do what they did.

And you see how strongly God's response is.

So biblical stewardship, including giving your money,

must be, should be an act of true worship.

And as the people of God, we give back to God a portion of

what he has given us to acknowledge that everything

actually belongs to him. That's the point.

So whether that's your money or it's your time or it's your

energy or it's your effort or it's your service.

The idea goes way back to Genesis, long before the law.

But Jesus also never dumbed down the law.

And and the law says the tithe is the Lord's, but the New

Testament giving is based on grace.

It's it's it. So the tithe isn't the the tithe

is just a beginning point. And to think about what can I

give beyond not just money, but my effort?

How can I serve? Where can I minister?

How can I give part of my life? Am I giving enough time to

prayer every day? Am I giving enough time to Bible

study every day? Am I giving enough time to

service every week? It's not just about money.

See, we give ourselves and we give of our things

sacrificially, generously, enthusiastically, lovingly, as

an act of worship, recognizing and submitting to divine

ownership in order to praise Him.

So that time talented money is then faithfully steward,

stewardess. It's distributed by leaders just

like it was then. We have leaders.

And so we will use your time and we'll thank you for your time.

We'll assign you places. We'll use the stewardship of

money to help create ministry and service to fulfill His

mission. So give yourself, your life,

your things, because you know they belong to God and you want

to offer yourself as a living sacrifice in an act of

submission, in an act of humility, in an act of

Thanksgiving for the way that He's blessed you.

Grace, not wealth, enables a person to give greatly.

Some of the greatest givers I've ever known are just some of the

poorest people on the planet financially.

I've I've been in the in literally the poorest nations in

the world and watched people serve and give sacrificially.

Someday I'll tell you about my favorite love offering after

preaching at a church. Teresa knows it was a live

chicken and I was. I stood there with a live

chicken in my arms while I shook hands with folks going out the

door. I'll tell you more about that

one day. So.

So we give, but we also receive. When we give, we receive that

blessing, but we don't give to receive.

This isn't the prosperity gospel.

See, we give from a heart of generous love.

So how and what can you sacrificially and generously

give to praise Him and declare him as your Lord?

Now, one of the things that in a traditional worship service is

often done is the collection of money by passing plates.

This is an act of worship. But I'm, I'm afraid that

sometimes we don't, we don't always think of it that way.

The the, the collection of the financial offering isn't simply

trying to get money to pay the bills.

This is an act of worship. It's a reminder that to every

one of us to rightly fear the one to whom everything belongs.

So today we're going to do something different.

Normally we just collect offering by their boxes at the,

the, the the edge of the worship center and out in the lobby

where people give their, our members give their their tithes

and offerings. You can also give online and we

appreciate you for doing that. But today we're going to do

something different. Today we're actually going to

actively collect the offering by passing the plates, just like

the old fashioned passing of the plates, not simply using the

boxes. Now, you may have already given

what you need to give and we're supposed to give.

So this, this, that's not what this is about.

Thank you for your obedience. And if you're our guest today,

we, we don't want you to put that connect card in there.

That'd be great. Love to have a record of you

being with us. Love to have your prayer request

put that in there. That's, that's not the focus.

Here's the focus. I want us to focus on what it

means. I'm asking the ushers to

purposely pass the place down every row while we respond in

our invitation time because this is also an act of worship.

And in that brief moment, in that very brief moment that that

offering plate is in your hands, just for that millisecond or two

that it's in your hands here, here's what I want.

I want you to prayerfully ask God what He would have you give

of yourself. This is a think of that plate as

an altar, a mobile altar. And in that moment, God, what

can I give you that I'm not giving you right now?

Show me, speak to me. What time can I give?

What service could I provide? How could I volunteer for one of

the ministries? Or maybe it is financial.

I don't know what, what could you give?

So this is not about whether you physically put something in the

plate or not at all. This is much more about your

prayer of submission, your prayer of commitment to His

divine internship. Yield your entire life to Him.

All of us to give all that we have as a living sacrifice

yielded to Him as an act of spiritual worship.

That's your first offering. For some of you, the very first

offering you need to make might be salvation, might be saying

yes to Him, drawing you to His grace, to the faith.

He's helping you with that you need to be saved this morning.

What an offering to yield yourself to His grace.

And for some of you, this is a moment of recommitment.

That's your offering, a moment of new dedication.

Maybe you're here and the pastors are still going to be

here up front, just like normal plates are going to be passed.

We'll be right here. Maybe you need to come and say

I, I need to be baptized like we saw the testimony.

I, I'm, I'm called to missions. I want to know more about that.

I want to join the church. I need someone to just pray with

me. Maybe you just need to come and

kneel and pray God, what do you want me to give or, or pray for

that friend. You know who's hurting?

What can you, what will you give with an honest, authentic heart?

Right now? Your life belongs to Him.

This church belongs to Him. He owns it all.

And he's looking for a people to respond to His Holy Spirit, to

catch the wind, fulfill his mission.

So I'm going to ask the ushers to come forward right now.

Pastors, you all can come to, I'm going to ask you to stand.

And as the ushers come, appreciate these ushers who work

every week to help us. I'm going to pray.

They're going to pass the offering plate the moment that

hits your hand. I want you to be praying about

what God would show you. And then the pastors will be

here as we sing, as we surrender everything to Him, You come in

response to him as well. Father, thank you.

Thank you, Father, that when Satan tempted you with the

opportunity to reign over the earth, you didn't take him up on

that because you already owned it all.

You didn't need to do that. Thank you, Father, for life.

It's yours. You're the creator and sustainer

of it. The sooner we recognize that,

the better off we'll be. I pray right now, Father, that

as we walk through this moment of worship, that Father, people

will think, what? What can I give you that I'm not

surrendering to you now? What can I give as a living

sacrifice? Others need to make decisions

for you. They they need to step forward

as the plate passes. They need to move forward and

take a passenger by the hand and say, I need to know more about

what it means to trust in Jesus. I need to become a member of

this church. I need to be baptized, or I just

need prayer. Whatever we need to do, let us

focus upon you now as we surrender all to you in Christ's

name. Amen.

Thank you so much for listening today, and I also hope that

you'll go to [email protected]

as well as our app and find many other resources that will bless

you and your families. Thank you once again.