Generous Part 2 | Aim At Your Legacy with Chris Schlotterbeck

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected or to give online, go to hcv.church or give.htv.church.

If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text

change me to 970-00. Thank you and enjoy the message.

Joining us from home or Hagerstown Healthcare, thank you for welcoming us into your space.

And just like I said earlier, you saw the kids up here on stage. We had nearly 60 volunteers

help us last week. We had nearly 100 kids fill this place. And I tell you, they met Jesus last

week and that's the most important thing that we could ever do. And not only did they meet Jesus,

but they had a lot of fun as you could tell by their dance. Now yesterday, as many of you know,

there was an assassination attempt made on Donald Trump. And just being honest and upfront,

in my own will and in my own strength, I wasn't going to mention anything about it because I'm

not political. I don't want to get politics mixed up with church and I believe it has no place there.

However, this morning, I felt a prompting in my spirit that the Holy Spirit was challenging me

to pray for unity. See, I believe the enemy wants to continue to divide our country.

But I feel that as a community of faith, as the church, we need to come together and pray for God

to bring our country together through a situation like this. Because see, the Bible tells us that

what the enemy meant for good, God turns around and brings about for good. Or did I say good?

Yeah. What the enemy meant for bad. There we go. Sorry. Got bad and good mixed up.

And I just wanted to pause for a second and invite you to come together as the church

and to simply just pray for our political leaders. The negativity, the evil, the arguing,

the bickering that we see in our country that has no place, that through this, they would be

able to come together and begin to solve some of the issues that many of us are facing. So let's

pray. Holy Spirit come. God, we just give our country to you. You tell us, God, through the

Bible, that when people come together and call on your name, when we cry out for forgiveness, God,

forgive us. Forgive us for not putting you first. Forgive us for walking off course.

We humbly come before you and cry out and ask you to heal our land, heal our country.

God, bring about unity between Republican and Democrat and independent God. May this one event

that was meant for evil be turned around and meant for good and send our country, set our country

back on a course where we can put you first and worship you and you become the center of our lives.

So as a church, we cry out, may we be vessels of this change. Help us, God, to just say the right

words. Help us to do the right thing and give us wisdom in everything we do. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. Now for the last several weeks, we've been looking at what it means to be generous

in God's kingdom. Two weeks ago, I kicked it off discussing kingdom generosity and how it's so

vastly different than the world's economy. Last week, we looked at the kingdom money mindset.

We discussed tithing and we discussed what it means to give back to God. And why is it important

to discuss money in church no matter how it makes us feel? Again, just as I shared last week,

remember two out of three, right, or two-thirds of the parables that Jesus taught or 66% of them

deal directly with finances and possessions. In the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,

one in every 10 verses speak to money and finances. So Jesus thought it was important

to teach about. And for those of us that are following him, especially the leaders within the

churches, we believe that's important. Therefore, we are going to teach about it and we're going to

share about it. We're going to challenge you to live your best life when it comes to money

and giving. Because here's the reality. Kingdom generosity is a heart issue. And Jesus wants all

of our heart. Everything we have in this life comes from God. It's all His. He gave us everything

that we have. And when that truth hits, when it sinks in, listen, giving becomes exciting, right?

It becomes a privilege, an opportunity to turn around and give back to God a little of what He

has given to us. With kids camp happening this week and being around 100 young people the whole

week, it kind of got me thinking about how Jess and I give our younger kids money to buy us

Christmas presents. Any other parents like that? Right? Every year, Jess and I supply our children

money to go out and buy us a present. Think about it. Do we need whatever it is that they're going

to purchase? No. Right? We could just go out and buy it ourselves. The only reason they have money

is because we gave it to them. And the whole idea of giving them money is so they can give something

back to us. It isn't for us. It's for them. And I think this is what God wants us to learn today.

See, the principles that He established around giving, He doesn't need our money. Right? None of

it is for Him. It's for us. Right? Why do we give our kids money to give us something back? Because

on Christmas, we want our kids to experience the joy of giving to others. We want them to experience

the simple excitement of going out and purchasing something that they think will make us happy.

And then when we open up that perfectly wrapped present lying under the tree, we smile so big and

are excited about the gift. See, we're trying to change the way our kids experience Christmas.

And when it comes to giving, God is trying to change the way we experience life. He says,

if you give back part of what I've already given you, watch your joy grow. If you give back,

you'll experience more peace, more financial freedom, more purpose. And did I mention that

He promises to open the windows of heaven for us? More than anything, it gives me and you the

opportunity to leave behind a legacy that every person on this earth dreams of leaving. See,

when this life ends, more than anything else, we desire that other people feel that we mattered,

that we made a difference by giving, by helping, by serving, by inviting people to our community

of faith, by building our community of faith to see others give their lives to Jesus and

experience new life. We all want that sort of legacy. And see, God gives us the opportunity

to experience some of that through the way He set up the giving of our resources. See, when our

hearts, when our hands line up with God's, when they're open and we give back our first and our

best to Him, He can bless us by loving on those, those other lives afterwards. He says, we are

never more like God than when we give. Jesus challenges us to give freely, motivated by love,

not expecting anything in return, which leads us to our first and only thought this morning.

See, our attitude counts more than the amount. Our attitude counts more than the amount. Mark,

Mark 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, Jesus sat down near the collection box in the temple and watched as the crowds dropped

in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in

two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I tell you the truth. This poor widow

is given more than all the others who are making contributions for they gave a tiny part of their

surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on. Now, could you

imagine just for a second, if I walked out on this stage today and said that Jesus was coming to HCV

next week, right? There would be a buzz in the air, but see, that is literally what is happening

in these verses that I just read for you. Jesus is visiting the temple in Jerusalem and word gets

out that Jesus is coming to church. And could you imagine the feelings that would go through your

mind? Right? For some of you, be honest, you're thinking, finally a good preacher will be sharing

next week. Thank goodness. So you arrive with anticipation. You look around the room. Where is

he? Worship begins. As you look for Jesus in the room, he's not on the stage singing.

And as the prayer happens, you're like, you peek out one eye and you think Jesus is going to be

praying. You think Jesus is going to be praying, but no, he's not on stage. And suddenly you begin

to rush through your mind, but I thought Jesus was coming. And then finally, when it comes time to

collect the offering, Jesus shows up and he sits down in your row right beside you to watch what

out to put in the offering. Wouldn't that be a little awkward? Make us a little uncomfortable.

But see, this is what is happening in those short verses that I just read. Like verse 41, it says,

Jesus sat down near the collection box in the temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their

money. And as I was reading about this encounter last week, I began to ponder why Jesus would do

this. Why sit and watch what people are giving. And the Holy Spirit led me to Jesus's famous words

in Matthew 6, 21, wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

See, Jesus was not watching for the person that gave the most money. He was watching for the person

that gave from the heart. Because we are naturally generous to the things that are closest to our

hearts. And Jesus was looking for the people that had a heart for his father's house, who had a heart

for the kingdom of God and its causes. Because that's what God cares for desperately.

And as Jesus was watching the offering, he saw many rich people, and now other translations say,

throw in large amounts. They were throwing in the money. See, in the Jewish temple,

brass offering baskets that looked like upside down tubas were built into the walls of the temple.

You know, for those of us that are a little older, think about the way tolls used to be collected on

the throughways before easy pass. Right? There was these large metal baskets, and to get on the turnpike,

you had to drive by slowly and chuck in your change, hoping it would go in the basket so you got the

green light. Well, the offering in the temple would have been very similar to that. And as people

walked past the basket, they were throwing in their coins, and the more money that was given made more

noise. So the wealthy would be throwing in all of their coins against the brass, and people would be

looking around thinking, wow, that person is rich. See, that would have been impressive to every

person in the temple except for Jesus. See, Jesus pointed to the widow that only gave two cents,

two coins. And think about it, he actually calls the disciples over, he says, come over here,

come over here, look at this woman. This woman gave more than anyone else combined,

because she gave from the heart, she gave everything. And Jesus is shining a spotlight

on generosity. See, in God's eyes, our attitude is worth so much more than the amount. And when

it comes to our finances, friends, it's a trust issue. Jesus highlights this woman because of

her faith that God would continue to provide for her even in her poverty. We must remember this

woman was a widow, and in that culture, there was no social security. There was no husband to provide

for her. There was no government support. All she had was God. And when it came time for her to give,

Jesus celebrates her and says, yes, it's all about the heart and her attitude towards giving.

Which leads us to reflect on a simple question this morning.

Where is your heart when it comes to giving? See, if Jesus were sitting beside you today,

would he applaud your giving, celebrate your attitude, or would it kind of make him wince?

And as I was reflecting on this series, and please understand, every week that I share,

I try to put myself in your shoes. Because I want to be just as impacted by God every week by the

words God speaks through me. Especially when it comes to being generous and giving. Because

I know it's a very difficult subject to navigate. So as I put myself in your shoes or sat in your

seat this week, I began to think about all the different emotions that comes along with giving

and finances, especially being discussed in church. Because you learned that last week, Jess and I

give back to God first, just like many of you do, with the desire to give above and beyond what God

asks for. But if I'm being honest, when it comes to sharing about giving and finances in church,

the two emotions that are loudest in my head and my heart are first, excitement, and second, scared.

I'm excited to give back to all that God is doing in our community of faith.

I shared about all the things that Hub City Vineyard did in 2023 last week, if you missed it.

I want to encourage you to go back and listen in. Because when you hear those things, it brings about

excitement and buzz and energy. I like to be a part of all that kingdom stuff. But the scary part

of giving, when it comes down to it, just like the widow gave, is the emotion, that feeling,

well, what if God doesn't come through this time? Even though He's always provided for me and I have

testimony of His faithfulness, of how He's provided for my family, what if? What if there's not enough

money to pay the bills? What if someone gets sick? What if they're sick? What if they're sick?

What if someone gets sick? What if the car breaks down? What if? And I don't know why it's in there.

I don't know why it's in our thought patterns, but it is. And the best thing we can do in regards to

those feelings is to be honest with God about them. Because it's in our honesty that God can change

our heart and our outlook on giving. See, Jesus speaks directly to us and our emotions on giving

in a parable in Luke chapter 12 verses 15 to 21 that I would like to read for you. Then He said,

Luke 12:15–21

beware, guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you earn.

And unfortunately, we are human and all too often, that's what we think life is about.

The more we make, the more success we have. Then He told them a story. A rich man at a fertile farm

that produced fine crops. And you can see Jesus immediately pointing back to God from the very

beginning. Where does the harvest come from? It comes from God. Right? God created the ground.

He provides the rain. He created the sun so this harvest can be fertile. The man though said to

himself, what should I do? I don't have room for all my crops. Then He said, I know. I'll tear down

my barns and I'll build bigger seed containers. Then I'll have enough room to store all my weed

and other goods. And I'll sit back and say to myself, my friend, you have enough stored away

for years to come. Now take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry. See, the target for this man was

what? Was possessions. The target for this man was more, more money, bigger barns, store more food,

make more because there's going to be a day coming when I can live it up. See, it was all about

his kingdom. It was all about my kingdom. Then God said to him, you fool. You will die this very night.

Then who will get everything you worked for? Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth

but not have a rich relationship with God. See, Jesus is describing two targets when it comes to

our money. And He says, this is how humanity chooses to give. Either they are rich to themselves

building their kingdom in what's best for them or they're rich towards God in His kingdom,

focusing on seeing others set free, healed, and delivered so that they can live an abundant life.

So friends, when we realize that it's all from Him anyways and I'm just the steward of what He has

given me, we have to determine which target we are shooting at, which leads us to our first point.

Aim at something that matters. Again, Luke 12, He said, I know I'll tear down my barns, build

bigger ones. I'll have enough room to store up all my weed and my other goods. I'll sit back and say

to myself, eat, drink, and be merry. Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not ever

have a rich relationship with God. So in honor of this being an Olympic year, in the 2004 Olympic

Games in Athens, there was an athlete by the name of Matthew Emmons and he was competing in the 50-meter

rifle shoot. This guy was an amazing athlete and I was reading this week he had the ability to slow

down his heart rate in pressure situations so he was able to focus on the target and pull the trigger

for the shot between heartbeats so that he was perfectly still. See, he didn't even want the beat

of his own heart to impact the precision of the shot. And please understand this guy was amazing.

By the time it came to the final round of competition for the Olympic gold, it was already over.

Matthew was so far ahead of the competition, all he had to do was simply hit the target and he would

have won. And he could have did that with his eyes closed. All of the other competitors were

shooting for second place. This guy already won. But picture it, okay? He steps up

for his final shot and in your mind you can see it. He looks through the scope,

he takes aim, he slows his heart rate down, pulls the trigger. Bullseye!

He got it! But wait, but wait, every time a bullseye is achieved in the competition there's a horn

that sounds, but the horn never sounded and he was confused. As he stood up from his position,

he realizes he hit the bullseye on the wrong target. Matthew shot at the neighbor's target,

hit a bullseye on the wrong target, lost the gold and ended up in eighth place.

Olympic dreams crushed. But friends, that's so much like life. See, we have to be careful that we

don't spend our whole life trying to hit a bullseye on the wrong target. And that is what Jesus is

saying about this guy in the parable. He's saying, no, the target was on him in his kingdom building

it, growing it, so he had more money, more stuff, and one day, one day he could retire and live the

good life. But Jesus is like, oh, you hit a bullseye on your target, but that target doesn't matter.

And that's a problem. Listen, I've performed many funerals or celebrations of life because of

pastoring this church. And friends, it's very easy to tell what people focused on or what their target

was while living on this earth. I have performed funerals where the person made a lot of money,

was very successful, but had very little friends with not much to say. And I've been able to

tell you that I have performed funerals for young people that died way too early because they were

focused on themselves and their needs and their pain, and they made a wrong decision.

But I have done funerals where people stood in line to share about the good deeds, the positive

attitude, the difference this person made while living on this earth. He or she was so generous.

It's very, very different. We don't want to hit a bullseye on the wrong target.

King David was different. Yes, he made many mistakes in his life, but he also had a lot

of great qualities and he knew where his target was. David is sharing about what he was going

to give to build the temple of God. Because remember, before Jesus, the people didn't have

the presence of God living within them. God's presence resided in the Ark of the Covenant,

and David was making plans to build a temple to house God's presence. And David says,

I'm going to be the first one to give. Look at 1 Chronicles 29. The work ahead of him is enormous.

For the temple he will build is not from your mortals, it's for the Lord God himself.

Using every resource at my command, I have gathered as much as I could for building the temple of God.

Now there is enough gold and silver and bronze and iron and wood, as well as great quantities of

onyx, other precious stones, costly jewels, and all kinds of stone and marble. And now,

because of my devotion to the temple of God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold

and silver to help in the construction. See, David was focused on God and His kingdom. But how?

It's easy to talk about being generous to God's kingdom, but also get it. You work every single

week. There's bills to pay. There's food to buy. There's gas to put in the car. Chris, how do we

pay the bills and put God first? Well, verse 14, a little further down, answers that question. It

says this, but who am I? And who are my people that we could give anything to you? Everything

we have has come from you and we give you only what you gave us first. See, David understood that

everything he had came from God. So it was a privilege to give back to God first. David was

focused on the right target. And friends, that target changes your legacy. The guy that Jesus

spoke about in the parable, he hit his target and was successful, but no one really cared when he

died, except for maybe his family that would be fighting over all the money that he left. But when

David died, it's recorded in the Bible that he was a man after God's own heart. David wrote many of

the Psalms that we read every single morning. Think about that. More than 3000 years after David

died, we are still being encouraged by the recorded words that God spoke through King David.

David is still changing lives 3000 years after he lived. And friends, that's the

way he lived. And friends, that's what a legacy looks like. And it was determined by the target

he chose to focus on. We need to aim at something that matters. D.L. Moody says it this way,

our greatest fear should not be a failure, but it is succeeding at something that doesn't really

matter. Which leads us to point number two. Give something that costs you. See, every now and then

God offers us the opportunity to give abundantly. Many of you know that last week I shared about the

tithe and why God invites us to give back to him first. And remember, I challenge those of you that

question the tithe or is it biblical or do I really need to file it? I said, hey, challenge yourself.

Tithe or give 10% somewhere else. Keep coming to HTV. We're going to love on you. We're going to give

you coffee. We're going to worship together. We'll pray for you. We'll teach your kids all about Jesus,

but give your money somewhere else. That's how much I believe in tithing. God is always taking

care of this church. And we believe that as we continue to follow the Spirit's leading and

prompting, he will do so. David, right, in another passage we're about to read, is about to get an

offer. See, David unfortunately made another bad choice and he needed to make a sacrifice for the

sin he had committed as an offering to God. So David approaches a man offering to buy his property

and animals to make the appropriate sacrifices to God. But when the guy realizes it's King David,

he offers his property and animals to David for free. But listen to David's response in 1 Chronicles

21. But King David replied to Aruna, no, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take

what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing.

See, David says, I won't bring an offering to God that costs me nothing because it's not really an

offering. It's not a sacrifice. But when it costs me something, then I get to feel excited and scared.

And I think that is where God wants us to be when it comes to giving and generosity.

He wants us both excited to give, while at the same time a little scared because that's where faith

comes in. See, giving is never about the amount. It's about our faith and our obedience to God.

It's all about our hearts. It's not about how much we have. It's about trusting God with what he gave

us. And we learned earlier in Mark Chapter 12, everyone has a different situation in this life.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

Jesus, sitting down again at the collection box in the temple, sees many rich people throwing in

lots of money. He also sees a poor widow who drops in two small coins. And we learn quickly

that they gave out of their surplus, their extra, but she gave everything.

She gave everything. It cost her something. And what did Jesus do? He applauded her for the action.

It's never about the amount. And it's crazy as I talk to people about their giving, I've come to

notice that there's four different stages of giving that I want to quickly look at. But also

want to challenge you that if you identify with one of these stages, take the next step

and continue your growth of generosity. So the first stage is the person that gives occasionally.

It's that person that every now and then when the baskets pass, you have to have 20 in your pocket.

You drop it in. Or while you're checking out at Walmart, you feel a little prompting in your heart

to give the extra dollar to round up. So you give to St. Jude's to make a little different.

You want to give something. To those of you that give occasionally, I want to say thank you.

Thank you for giving something when you feel God telling you to give, because that's a great first

step. If you're not giving occasionally, start there. The next step is consistently giving.

And this is the people that recognize how God wants them to live when it comes to their finances.

And I'm going to stop just throwing a tip into God, because sometimes we can misconstrue. When

we tip God, that's like going out. When we go out to eat, that's when we tip the server based on

their performance. So sometimes when we're just occasionally giving and we give God a tip, it's

out of the wrong heart place. But if you want to give consistently, you begin to set up a certain

amount that you're going to give to God every week or every month or whatever you determine.

And you can write a check and have it ready, or you can set up reoccurring giving online

to whatever amount you choose to do. And that's a great next step if you're just giving occasionally.

You can move to consistently giving, which leads us to our next step, the tithe. And I talked about

this last week. This is giving 10% of our first back to God. And I want to challenge those of you

that believe that if you give 2% back to God and call it a tithe, that's not true. And the only

reason I want to challenge you on calling it a tithe is because I don't want you to get frustrated

when you give a small percentage of your income, like 3% or 4%, and then you don't receive the

blessings back that Chris promised from God. And then you get mad at God, mad at the church, mad

at Chris, and leave. So don't call 3% of your income a tithe. Call it giving regularly. But a tithe

is 10% of our first, which leads us to the fourth step, and that's excelling. And that's those people

that have the gift of giving. You just love to give and give abundantly, and you experience joy

in it. And it's above and beyond the tithe of what God asks. That's a gift for some of you.

Walk in that gifting. I encourage you in that. Many of you know that we're trying to raise

$10,000 to build a kitchen in Kenya at the school that Jess and I visited a few months ago.

Right now, I asked Tracy, we're halfway there. We're about $5,000.

Right? Yeah, it's awesome. In like two weeks. I mean, it's incredible. It's a miracle in my book,

but some of you, just being honest, you have the ability to walk out to the welcome hub and write

a $5,000 check, and it's done. And if God's putting that on your heart, do it. Because that means

you're excelling in giving, and you're just walking in what God's telling you to do. And I want to

challenge you. Take a step of faith in this next season of your life and move forward. And if you

take a step of faith in this next season of your life and move closer to God, because God set up

this system for giving, not for him, but for who? For us. It's not for him. It's for us to grow in

our generosity, leading us to our next point. Then you watch God work. You're like, Chris,

wait a minute. That was your point last week. It sure was. And I'm going to repeat it. Because

it's so valuable and important. And don't get it twisted. I'm not promising a heavenly Rolex or a

Mercedes. I am simply saying that God is going to take care of you and meet all your needs when

you put in first. I mean, Malachi 3 tells us that. Bring all the ties into the storehouse so there'll

be enough food in my temple. If you do so, says the Lord of Heaven's army, he said, I will open,

here it is, the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out blessings so great you won't have enough

room to take it in. Try it. Put me to the test. And the only way we fail that test is if what?

Don't give it all. So take a step of faith. Proverbs 3 tells us, honor the Lord with your wealth,

and with the first part of everything you produce, then he will fill your barns with grain and your

vats will overflow with good wine. See, God doesn't want the leftovers. Because if we're honest,

we're human. And quite often at the end of the month, there's very seldom anything left over

because we like to spend money. That's why God wants the first and the best. And this verse is

inviting us to trust him and to view life differently every single day. See, in the 18 years

that I've pastored this church, listen, we've been a generous church. We've always looked to serve

the community. We always looked to make a difference in people's eyes. Heck, I've been accused of being

an evangelist. Oh, Chris, you're just an evangelist. You just want to see people saved and set free,

healed and delivered. Last time I checked, that's the mission. True or false? Chris, you just want

to see people saved. You want to see people come into God's kingdom. Yeah, I do. And you should too.

So if you want to accuse me of being an evangelist, keep giving me compliments. I received them.

And I felt like I needed to share with some of you, right, the reason that we have a 1970 tie-dye van

sitting at our entrance way that we call our sign. Okay, no, it's not because we're trying to be the

cool church or the hip church on Oak Ridge Drive. Okay, there's a story behind it that I want to tell

you because for some of you, you came here for the first time, saw that tie-dye hippie bus, drove

through our parking lot and just kept going. You're like, I'm not quite sure about that place.

But the reason we're called the hippie church goes all the way back to 2006 when I planted this church,

right? And we weren't even a church yet. I had like 20 people. We were watching the last time

the Washington Redskins were in the playoffs. I'm sorry for you Redskins fans. I pray for you

every football season. But we were watching Redskins playoff parties as a means of getting

the church started. And we got this information that the cold weather shelter needed volunteers.

They didn't have enough people serving the homeless during the winter months, right? And this was in

January. So I said, hey, let's go. Right? So I gathered our 20 people in our big thriving church,

right? We hadn't even taken an offering yet and we were going to go be generous.

But on the way to going to be generous, guess what? We decided to grab a karaoke machine

and board games to take along with us because we wanted to have a party when we went to serve the

homeless, right? Because HGV likes to party. Okay? So we wanted to have fun. So we rolled into the

cold weather shelter, still in the same place. I still remember walking up the steps, walked

through the front door leading our group of 20 misfits. And I said, hey, we're here to serve.

And they're like, oh, you're a Hub City Vineyard? I said, yes. And they said, well, who's the pastor?

I said, oh, that's me. They're like, aren't you a little young to be a pastor? I said, no,

just the pastor. And they said, well, what's all this stuff you brought with you? Why do you have

these board games and this karaoke machine? I said, oh, we're all excited. We're going to cook dinner

and then we're going to sit down and play board games and have dinner with the residents. And

we're going to sing karaoke. We're going to have a lot of fun. And they said, well, you can't do that.

I said, what do you mean you can't do that? They said, well, you're not allowed to eat with the

residents. You have to cook their food in the kitchen, give them the food, put the gate down

and just walk away. And I said, excuse me, are they in prison? Last time I checked, they're just

people needing some help. Why can't we play board games and sing karaoke? They said, well, you just

can't. We don't want to get them riled up. And then they might want to go out and smoke an extra

cigarette and it's just a complete mess. And I'm not making this up. So I looked back at them. I

said, well, I tell you what, you don't want all this to sing karaoke and play board games. We won't

cook. We're leaving. So they got in a little huddle and started talking. I saw a lot of gray hair.

I have gray hair now. Okay. I get it. I have gray hair now. They turned around and they said,

okay, we don't want you to leave. Just don't get them riled up. I said, oh, we won't. I promise.

You know me. Trust me. So we cooked the food and had dinner with them. That good conversation was

playing Stratego and then the karaoke machine got out. YMCA. We were going at it. Everybody had a

great time. There was laughs. There was fun. There was joy. And as we were leaving, as we were leaving,

one of the reach leaders looked at us and said, man, you guys are just a bunch of hippies. You

love everyone. I said, oh, I said, really? Yeah. I said, okay, I'll adopt that. That's why we got

tie dye shirts and tie dye flags and a 1970 Volkswagen van that we pulled out of the woods.

We're not trying to be cool. If people are going to call, if people are going to call Jesus a hippie,

that's who I follow. And I don't have a problem being a hippie. All right. So grab a tie dye shirt

and embrace us. But the point is, it's just because we were generous. And then you fast forward to

today, guess what? It's now a requirement at the reach cold weather shelter that you have dinner

with the residents. And all that happened because some hippie church wanted to sing karaoke one

night with the residents at the cold weather shelter. Right. So the point is, that's the point.

God rains down his blessings. He opens windows of heaven, which leads us to our fourth and final

point. Just realize life is not a game. Life's not a game, friends. Heaven is real. God is real.

Satan is real. And our life is real short. And eternity is for eternity. Look at Matthew 25.

Then the king will turn to the one on the left and say, away with you, you cursed ones into the

eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry and you didn't feed me. I was

thirsty. You didn't give me a drink. I was a stranger. You didn't invite me into your home.

I was naked and you didn't give me clothing. I was sick and in prison and you didn't visit me.

And they will go away into eternal punishment. With the righteous will go into eternal life.

James 4 14 tells us, how do you know what your life will be like tomorrow, church? Your life is

like a morning fog. It's here a little while and then it's gone. See, when we decide to trust God

with everything that he has given us, he uses us to change people's lives for eternity. And HCV will

continue to work and serve and invite and include because we desire more than anything else to reach

people and see lives transform both in the tri-state area and around the world. Call me an

evangelist. It makes no difference to me, but I'm going to challenge you to get out there and do the

same because that's the most important thing we could do. And I believe that if we ask this simple

question and invite God to do this simple statement that we read from David in Psalm 90,

teach us to use wisely all the time that we have.