Can God Trust Me?

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

And I've always wanted to have a voice sound like this.

I've always wanted to be a deep bass voice.

So uh I just want it to last through this message.

But if you're here this morning, I hope everyone's got a worship guide.

If you do not, please raise your hand.

We want to make sure we put a worship guide in your hand.

And again, for those in the overflow, uh, if you don't have a worship guide, make sure Brother Bob gets you one.

But uh again, we got plenty of room.

Love for you to come on in here.

Uh it's just uh I like it better when we're all together because it just makes me feel better.

And uh we can't wait in a few months.

We're gonna be we're doubling the space.

Can I get an amen?

We're doubling this space, and then it will help us.

We'll be able to sit back up out there for lunch.

And uh it helps us and everybody we have plenty of room for everybody in here, so it's gonna be exciting.

It's gonna be a lot larger ceiling, bigger place.

We're gonna get our Brooklyn Tab choir going.

It's gonna be exciting.

Uh boy, that music.

Wasn't that great this morning?

Let's give the team Amen, B and G.

Beautiful.

What a way to end it with what can wash away my sins.

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Well, you know, around this place, I want you to turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Luke chapter 16.

Luke 16 · chapter mention

And I know we always have the Bible uh up on the uh screen for you, but let me encourage you to bring your Bibles every Sunday because I don't know about you, but I love to mark my Bible, especially when the Lord speaks to me.

In fact, look right here.

Now, this is what I'm preaching today, and look at all the marks in my margin where the Lord, uh, as I was studying all week, speaks to me.

And now I just don't write down anything.

He's got to grab my heart.

Toddy's got to grab my heart.

And then when he does, I know that's a word for me.

So when I die and go on to be with the Lord, and maybe God calls my little grandson Braden to preach.

Uh he'll have Poppy's all his Bibles and all my footnotes if he can read them.

Nanny will probably have to interpret them, but uh anyway, it's gonna be a joy and a blessing.

So again, around here, we've got a little saying about this book.

Let's say it together.

One, what?

We love it, we learn it, and we live it.

Again, we love it, we learn it, and we live it.

And boy, that is so exciting.

And you know, I I was telling David, I almost called David last night.

Um, I told Susan, I said, Man, I just I can't I my my head was just sinus just messed up.

And I said, I might better call David and tell him to get ready to because he in our covenants class, by the way, our covenants class is in two weeks.

If you've been thinking about, I'm still echoing Garrett a little bit.

So what uh work with me on that if you can, thank you.

Huh?

Gotta take the base out of you.

I don't need any base.

I am the base this morning.

Thank you, Garrett.

But uh you know what's exciting?

As I was getting ready, I knew it.

I knew Satan when I started getting hoarse.

I said, Yep, yep, yep.

Because this is one of the most important messages out of the four on stewardship that I'm gonna preach.

And I knew it.

I said, Satan doesn't want us to hear this because as I told you last week, this series, if you follow with me and don't miss a message, it will radically change your life forever.

Ever.

This changed my life forever as I was a student at Liberty University and I heard my first stewardship messages, and God spoke to my heart directly.

And I was about 22, 23 years old at that time, and I said, that's exactly what I'm gonna start doing the rest of my life.

And I want you to know, for the past 34 years, God has so opened the windows of heaven and poured us out a blessing.

Amen.

Yes, yes, yes.

God has used me and Susan together in an unbelievable way, and uh I'm telling you, I can't preach it hard enough, I can't preach it long enough.

The only way you will experience this what I'm talking about, is when you start doing it.

No other way.

I wished I could, I wished I could do it for you.

In fact, you know what I almost did?

And I still may do this, I'm praying about it.

I need to talk to the council about it, but you know what?

How many of you you've been on during Christmas or you get on some of those shopping, uh oh, I'm meddling now, some of those shopping channels, or or you start to buy something, and they say, guaranteed, or you're what?

Let's say that again.

Guaranteed or what?

You know what I told Susan?

I'm tempted to say, and I was thinking about this stewardship, to challenge every one of you here to become a tither in 2015.

Now that means you'd have to put, you'd have to fill out an envelope or put a check so we got record of it.

And for the next three months, I guarantee you God will open you a window of heaven and bless you in so many ways that you don't know what to do, or we'll give you your money back.

Hallelujah.

Hello.

You never heard of that in a church before, have you?

Or we'll give you your money back.

I'm serious about that.

I'm really thinking about that, Darren.

I really am.

So that you could just see what God could do in your life in three months.

It would radically change your life.

And so you pray with me about that.

But anyway, last week we asked the question can God, hey, can we trust God?

And then we looked at last week how we can trust God.

It's a matter of trust.

We know the verse, quote it with me, Proverbs 3:5.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord.

And he will direct thy path.

So we saw last week that God's gifts are generous.

He's been mindful of us to bless us.

Good to see Sylvester back there.

Hey, now, just because you're in the back doesn't mean you still on call?

No?

Okay.

Well, why aren't you up here?

Oh, okay.

Okay.

All right.

We miss you when you're not here, man.

He was all our guys have been working.

Oh, they have been working with Surpro, but praise God.

That's a blessing.

Amen?

That's a blessing.

But anyway, we said that he's been mindful of us to bless us.

Say this with me, church.

God wants to bless me.

Again, God wants to bless me.

And then we saw that God's care was constant.

He'll never leave us nor forsake us.

Say that with me.

God will never leave me nor forsake me.

Come on.

God will never leave me nor forsake me.

Hebrews 13, 5.

So the biggest issue we're dealing with is the issue of trust.

In fact, one of the greatest examples that is so applicable.

How many of you have raised teenagers or you have teenagers right now?

For you that yours are going to be teenagers, God bless you.

Oh, I am so glad that is over.

But I and I had two girls.

They were gorgeous girls.

They were smart girls.

They were athletic girls.

So I had boys at my house all the time.

In fact, I built a basketball court in my backyard, a real basketball court, because I wanted the boys in my yard.

Hello.

And I'd go out there, and if I didn't like one of them or saw something I didn't like, I'd go out and play, and I would just take them out on a layup.

That's just the way I did it.

You know, they didn't know I was doing that, but I was sending a message.

Don't mess with my girls, okay?

Or you're gonna mess with me.

And I I back then I was pretty good in pretty good shape, pretty strong, and I just take them out.

And they used to tell my girls, they said, Man, your dad plays rough.

Oh, yeah, he's always been that way.

Well, I was sending some message.

Don't mess with my girls.

But as they became teenagers and started driving, don't you love the driving years?

Oh my soul.

Well, it was the issue of what?

Trust.

I used to teach them this all the time.

And both of my girls would say, Daddy, you don't trust us.

No, I do not.

Hello.

You don't trust me, Daddy.

No, I do not trust you.

You're 16.

You don't have a clue what's going on.

You're inexperienced.

You're not mature enough.

You don't understand it.

No, I do not trust you.

But here's what you can do: you can earn my trust.

Amen.

You can earn my trust.

When I tell you to be in at 11, don't be in at 11:30.

When I tell you to call me, when I tell you this, when I tell you to do the dishes, when I tell you to take out the garbage, when I tell you to cut the yard, when I tell you, and you do all that, you earn trust.

You earn trust by being obedient.

Amen?

To what your parents ask you to do.

Teenagers, I'm helping you here.

I promise.

I'm not lamblasting you.

I'm helping you.

Because the more they would obey Susan and me, the more trust they had from us.

Guess what?

It's no different with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And today we're going to look at probably one of the most powerful parables in the New Testament about that trust.

But also, we're going to be looking at one of the parables that's probably one of the most misunderstood out of all of the 38 parables in the New Testament.

And you'll see why as we go through it.

But first of all, I want you to look at this.

The question that God has for every one of us today is can God trust Danny Lovett?

Can God trust you?

Now, the story of the foolish steward in Luke 16, and boy was he foolish.

But Luke 15 and Luke 16 go together.

In fact, we see two attitudes.

In chapter 15, we see wrong attitudes.

Are you ready?

About people.

Fill it in.

Wrong attitudes about people.

Now, Luke 15's the great parable we all love.

It's the parable of the prodigal son going and foolishly, by the way, he was a foolish steward too.

He took all his money and within a year he had lost it all.

And you know the story.

He was in the pig pen eating the husk that the hogs were eating in one year.

And he, hey, he lost it on foolish, righteous, uh, not righteous, but uh immoral living and all kind of uh probably gambling, whatever.

But he lost it all, just like that.

All his inheritance, inheritance, just like that.

So there's a parallel here.

But that's the one we love.

We we see the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and then the parable of the lost son.

So, and those deal with wrong attitudes.

It really does.

That whole parables, that parable does.

Now, when we get to 16, we see it's the wrong attitude or attitudes plural about wealth, about our possessions.

The reason a lot of people don't allow God to be the total manager, oh, excuse me, the total, the total master, we're the managers.

The reason we don't allow God to have everything we have is because we don't trust him.

And I've got good news and bad news.

Good news is we can change that.

Amen.

Bad news is if we can't trust him, how can he trust us?

Can't do it.

Amen?

Can't do it.

And we're gonna see this in this parable.

So, chapter 15, wrong attitudes about people.

Chapter 16, wrong attitudes about wealth.

In fact, remember the Good Samaritan?

Remember the Good Samaritan parable in uh uh Luke 10 verses 25 through 37?

Luke 10:25–37

We see three attitudes there.

We see the attitude of the robbers.

Remember the robbers?

What was their attitude?

Here was their attitude.

What's yours is mine, and I'm gonna take it.

Sound familiar in America?

I mean, we are living in a society where people are just killing people over minimal amounts of money and things and just kill them.

Because they think it's they're they have a right to it, even though they don't work for it.

I'm telling you, what's yours is mine, and I'm gonna take it.

That was the attitude of the robbers in the Samaritan parable.

Then we have the priest and the Levites.

The priests and the Levite.

You know what their attitude was?

What's mine is mine, and I'm gonna protect it.

Hello.

What's mine's mine, and I'm gonna protect it.

In other words, they were not gonna lose their time, hey, spend their money to help, hey, the Samaritan.

I meant the well, actually, not the Samaritan, but the lost Jew.

They were not going to spend their time or their resources to help the Jew.

Man.

But then we see the good Samaritan.

And you know what he said?

His attitude?

What's mine is God's, and I'm gonna give it.

Wow.

What's mine is God's, and I'm gonna give it.

Amen?

Now that's the right attitude.

That is the attitude that God can trust.

Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that gives thee power to what?

Get wealth.

Deuteronomy 8.18.

So, with that, let's look at what the Bible says about money.

I have people tell me all the time.

Well, here's what they say.

Why is it that preachers talk about money?

Let me ask you something.

Why is it that Walmart asks you for money?

Why is it publics ask you for money?

Because you are getting stuff that you buy and you purchase and it costs money.

The gas station, they ask you to pay for your gas.

Amen.

Yeah.

In fact, we when it gets a little warmer, we're gonna go up here to Jesse's.

Uh he's such a sweet man right up here.

Jesse been witnessing, sharing with him.

Uh he about once every six, seven weeks.

He said, Pastor Danny, come, come.

And I'll come in, he'll put a hundred dollar bill in my hand.

Say, go feed the people on Sunday.

I love that.

I love what you do.

And pray for me, Pastor Danny.

Pray for me.

And uh, but but with the gas coming down, can you believe the gas prices?

It's been in Chattanooga, we paid$1.83 a gallon.

I thought to myself, wow.

But one of the things that that Steve and I have been talking about, we want to do for our community when we do a community service, we're gonna go up there and church, set aside around$500,$800, and we're gonna pay a dollar a gallon with people that come in there.

We're gonna give them a dollar toward their fill-up or whatever, watch their windshields, give them a track and say, God bless you.

God loves you, and CCW loves you.

What a blessing that will be.

Amen.

To be a blessing to our community and things like that.

That's what we're gonna be doing.

And that's what we do do, but we're gonna do more of it.

And have the ice cream truck there.

Give them the ice cream too.

I mean, hey, dollar towards your gat uh per gallon, hey, I meant toward you, yeah.

Uh, and then, and then, hey, an ice cream cone too, good grief.

Wow.

That's I don't know about that, but I think I'm gonna go visit that church.

But anyway, what we're seeing, and what we're saying here, the foolish steward saw everything as his.

It was all about him.

It was his and he was going to protect it.

Just like the scribe and just like the uh priest and just like the Levi.

They're his attitude, every what I've got's mine, and I'm gonna protect it.

So, with that said, but the Bible talks a lot about money.

He wasn't willing to give his money away.

Now, listen, sixteen out of the 38 parables, Jesus talks about money.

Sixteen out of 38.

Listen to this.

One out of ten verses in the gospel, one out of ten verses in the gospel talks about possessions and money.

Wow.

Listen to this.

The Bible devotes 500 verses to prayer.

The Bible devotes 500, less than 500 verses to faith, but over 2,000 verses to money and possessions.

You think God's interested in your money and possessions?

Absolutely.

Can I tell you why he's interested in it?

Because he's given it to you.

See, when you understand that, the conflict is you don't understand that.

Because it's yours, it's not his.

It's yours.

What's mine's mine, and I'm gonna protect it.

So until we settle that attitude and that hey, that conflict, you're always gonna have conflict.

Amen?

You are.

I promise.

I promise.

I know I did.

So let's look at three things that I think are very important.

The Bible and money.

Number one, with the foolish steward.

Number one, the accountability of the foolish steward.

He was accountable.

Look at verses one and two.

And he said also unto his disciples.

Now, by the way, he's not talking, he's not talking to the scribes and Pharisees.

He's talking to the, hey, his main his main guys, the guys that he's discipling.

He's trying to teach them one of the most important lessons they could ever learn.

So here's what he says.

There was a certain rich man which had a hey, which had a steward, and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

Now, and he called him and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee?

Now, underline these next three words.

Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer a steward.

In other words, he says, What I'm hearing, I believe to be true.

But if it's not, you can disprove it by you giving me an account of everything you've done.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, don't you miss this.

One day, you and I, as Christians, are gonna give an account of all we've done for the Lord Jesus Christ since we've been saved.

Payday's coming.

Can I get an amen or an O me?

Payday's coming.

Every knee's gonna bow, every tongue's gonna confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We are going to give an account of all that we've done since we've been saved.

Good, bad, and ugly doesn't matter.

We're gonna give an account of it.

It does matter.

Hopefully, it's a lot more good than bad and ugly.

Can I get an amen?

So we see that.

And notice this the accountability.

Boy, this is unreal.

When the owner came back, look at what the foolish Stuart said.

Unwise manager of the possessions, and he was brought into accountability.

Oh, this is awesome.

He said, A rich man once, hey, he said, had all this wealth.

Now let me tell you something about this Stuart and this manager.

He was in a very powerful position.

It's co-equal with the same position that Joseph was in in the Old Testament with Potiphar.

He had power to sign checks.

He had power to control any everything the owner had.

Would you not say that's trust?

Amen.

Is that not trust?

So this is a very powerful, powerful human being.

But he had, hey, he was brought into accountability just like you and I are brought into accountability.

Two reasons.

The manager was brought into accountability.

Here it is on your outline.

Two reasons you and I will be brought into accountability with God one day.

This is powerful truth.

Reason number Number one, God is the owner and we are the manager.

Can I get an amen?

God is the owner and I am the manager.

You remember last week, but you need to sit again.

What is the verse?

It's James 1.17.

What does it say?

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom there's no, hey, there's no discrimination, there's no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

In other words, God doesn't just say, Well, I'm going to bless you and I'm going to bless you and I'm not going to bless you.

He doesn't do that.

You know why I'm convinced the older I'm getting, the more I'm studying the scriptures and now have lived these scriptures for almost 33 wonderful years in my life, the more God can trust me, the more God blesses me.

Man, that's somebody say that's good.

Let me say it again.

The more God can trust me, the more God blesses me.

Now it makes sense and it fits the scripture.

Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall men give back unto you.

And Jesus, and then Peter says, I meant Paul said in Acts 20, 35, it's more blessed to give than it is to receive.

Amen.

So we see that right here.

Right here.

And by the way, until we settle that issue, till we settle that issue, we're always going to have conflict with the stuff that we have.

Hello, come on.

Until we settle that issue, we're going to have problems with who's the owner and who's the manager.

Who's the owner?

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

I have people all the time, I don't understand why God's not blessing me.

Well, I can tell you, I can help you.

It's because he can't trust you.

Woo, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

Come on now.

Come on with me.

That's tough.

I understand.

But if you're willing to listen, you can radically change your life.

Now watch.

Now just watch.

Here it is.

Till we settle that issue.

Hey, everything I have, listen, my help.

My help.

My wife.

My children.

My home, my job, my pastorate, my everything, my house.

Everything's not mine, it's God's.

Now watch this.

If you don't have a conflict with that, then guess what?

If God tells you to give it away, you don't have a problem with giving it away.

Because it's not yours.

Hello, it's not yours.

That makes sense.

You say, well, I'm afraid if I did that, he would ask me to do that.

Now see, that's the wrong mentality.

God's not going to do for you.

Hey, what's not good for you, God's going to bless you.

In fact, probably you being selfish, we're being selfish, and we're being tight wads, and we're holding on to what God's given us is why we're not being blessed.

Amen.

So, man, that's good.

Let me give you an example.

Let me give you an example.

Okay.

This week you made$400.

Okay?

Alright, you come to church today.

How much of that$400 is God's?

$40?

Okay.

Some said all, some said$40.

I had a guy just ask him about this.

I was using this illustration on him.

He said, Well, I've got this figured out, preacher.

And I said, all right, tell me.

He says, Well,$40, 10%'s God's,$40.

So, and$360 is mine.

So I'll tithe off the$40.

So that means I give God$4 a week.

And then he laughed.

He smiled.

He said, You know I'm joking.

He says, No, I realize that all of that$400 is God's money.

I do realize that.

And so, so, I meant, folks, he's the one that allowed you to get the job.

Now I know what you're taking.

Oh, no, he didn't.

No, he didn't.

I went in there.

I'm qualified.

I'm I'm if it's all about I, I, I, that's your problem.

And I'm not saying you don't have a good job.

All I'm saying is you don't have a clue what you could have if you let go.

Let me say that again.

You don't realize what you could have if you let go with what you do have.

God's just waiting.

God's just waiting to trust you so He can bless you in an unbelievable way.

Notice the second thing.

Not only the accountability of the foolish steward, but the hey, the owner, the master had expectations of the manager.

The owner has expectations of the manager.

When the master came back, when the owner came back, notice what he says.

Man, this is good.

Verse 2.

He says, I want an account of all the possessions, my possessions, that I have given to you.

I want to see how you are using what I have allowed you to use.

Woo!

Checking the books.

Checking the books.

That's good.

Yeah.

Hey, that's what he said.

Now, if you remember, Jesus said that same thing in Matthew 25 when he said, if you remember, he said, God, you remember the parable of the talents?

One got five, one got two, one got one.

He says, I have delivered my goods unto you.

Do you realize when you and I get saved, God delivers goods unto us.

He gives us our gifts, he gives us our talents.

He gives us everything.

Can I get an amen?

Ben, that's good.

Yeah, our bill.

All of it.

All of it.

You've got, God has delivered his goods to you and to me.

And he wants us to be accountable.

He expects us to be accountable.

Now look at the areas that he expects.

I'm going to give you a few of them.

Oh, there's so many, but these are the main ones.

Number one.

Several areas.

Number one, ourselves.

Romans 12, 1 and 2.

And by the way, Jesus said, You can receive nothing except it be given to you from heaven.

Can I get an amen?

John 3.27.

You can receive nothing except it be given to you from heaven.

Folks, that settles it.

That settles it right there.

James 1.17.

But now notice Romans 12.1 and 2.

The first thing the owner expects from us is consecration and dedication.

Can I get an amen?

We gotta sell out and give him everything we are.

He says in Romans 12, 1, you know it, I beseech you.

What does he say?

I beg you.

That's a pretty powerful word there.

I beseech you.

Let me tell you.

That's not just saying clay, think about it.

Would you think about this?

No.

Let me tell you what he's saying.

He grabs clay and he says, Clay, look at me, look at me.

Please understand what I'm about to tell you.

This is so important.

And these principles will change your life.

I mean, he have you ever had your kids, you know, you're trying to tell them something and they're looking.

You grab the face and turn it around and say, Look at me, look at me, look at me.

Susan's done me that way once or twice.

Look at me, look at me.

That's one of these times.

Look at me.

God's grabbing our face through the apostle Paul.

And Paul is saying to his brethren, I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God.

Again, it's God's mercy, God's love, God's grace that we have what we have, that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is a reasonable service.

That's it.

Everything that we have, everything that we are.

1 Corinthians 6.19.

What know you not that your body's a temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you and you're not your own, for you bought with a price, therefore, glorify God in your spirit and in your body, because it's all his.

Can I get an amen?

And then you know verse 2, he says, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

Now, so he says, first of all, right here, it's ourselves.

You gotta come here and you gotta get saved, and you gotta say, Lord, I don't no longer want to control my life.

Lord, I want you to control my life.

Can I say something?

That is real salvation.

A lot of people get saved and you see them for a month or two and you don't see them again.

Can I tell you why?

Because they came down, they said a prayer, but they didn't make Jesus Lord.

They really didn't get saved.

Somebody said, Well, I got saved, then I make him Lord.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You don't make Jesus Lord.

He's already Lord.

You just surrender to the Lordship.

Amen.

You surrender to the Lordship.

You don't make him Lord.

He's already curious Lord, owner, controller, controller, governor, president.

He's the man.

Amen.

Hey, the God man.

Amen.

So, secondly, look at what he says.

Areas of expectation.

Our possessions.

He has an exhortation for what I'm going to do, what he wants you and me to do with what he's given to us in our life.

Look at Luke 14, verse 33.

Luke 14:33

So likewise, whoever he be, of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Wow.

Wow.

In other words, nothing can come before you and your relationship with God.

Not your mama, not your daddy, not your children, not your job, not anything.

He's got to be Lord and number one in your life.

But let me tell you, when he is, guess what?

You experience a greater relationship with your family, a greater relationship with your wife, a greater relationship with your job, a greater relationship.

Now you said, prove that.

Watch.

Turn over just a few pages to Luke 18, chapter 18.

I don't know if I had to put it up there.

Yeah, I did.

Good.

Verse 29.

Luke 18, verse 29 and 30.

Luke 18:29

And he said unto them, Jesus is speaking, verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house or parents or brethren or wife or children for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive, watch, who shall not receive manifold more in this present right now and in the world to come.

Wow, life everlasting.

You're going to be blessed more right now, and you can't imagine.

I can only imagine what you're going to be experiencing when you go to heaven.

You see that, say amen.

I'm not leaving until you see that.

My daughter and son-in-law that's a youth pastor in Sacramento, California.

Now she's a mama's girl.

She's a daddy's girl.

And when she wants something, she says, Diddy.

And she knows I'm going to give it to her.

But recently she picks at me and I say, You remember, I said, Stephanie, I love you so much.

But remember what I told you before you got married?

She said, Yes.

I said, What did I tell you?

I said, if you marry that boy, hey, I'm no longer supporting you.

I'm through.

It's his responsibility.

And I ever and all of the men said, Hallelujah.

Now we have, we did help them some.

But but but you know, I pick at her with that.

But you know what I realized?

They moved 5,000 miles away.

They've been there two and 3,000.

Well, three feels like 5,000.

3,000 miles away.

And they their relationship, they lived here, should we go to school, changed overnight.

Overnight.

Why?

Because they forsook all to go do what God called them to do.

For her to be a PA out there and him to take a youth pastor job.

And they're the happiest they've ever been, even though they're not right under mom and dad.

You know what I thank you, so doesn't that bother you?

Absolutely not.

To God be the glory.

Because God's blessing them in such a great way.

Because they're doing what God's called them to do.

And that's what he meant there.

He's not saying to act ugly and leave your parents.

No, but if God tells you to go to Africa, go to Africa.

I've had parents say I don't want them to go.

I'm scared.

You're interfering with what God's asking them to do.

You're on dangerous grounds.

Amen.

Can I tell you something?

If you're in the perfect will of God in Africa, New Zealand, or wherever, or Sacramento, California, you're better off there than at home out of the will of God.

I'm telling you, you better listen.

Amen.

Amen, church.

So again, we see the importance, the expectation right here of all our possessions are his.

Now look at the third thing.

The expectation of our time.

Look at Ephesians 5.

Boy, this is good.

Seeing then that you walk wisely.

That's what the word circumspectly means.

See that you walk wisely.

Ephesians 5, 15.

Act like people with good sense is what that means and not like fools.

Can I get an amen?

These are evil times, so make every minute count.

Don't be done a dummy.

Instead of, hey, instead, find out what the Lord wants and do it.

Can I get an amen?

Find out what the Lord wants and do it.

See, a lot of times people don't want to come to church or they don't want to sit still long enough because they really don't want to know what God wants them to do.

Hello?

You okay out there?

Because they know once they know they better do it.

So they use the excuse, well, you know, I don't understand.

That's not gonna work when we stand before an awesome guy.

Amen?

That's not going to work.

Now listen.

Time.

How many hours are in a week?

You've heard me do this.

Alright, 168.

Okay?

Now, you sleep seven days.

Let's just say seven days a week, eight hours of sleep.

That's 56.

That brings it down to 111.

Okay?

You got 111 hours a week.

112 hours a week.

I'm a Bible student, not a mathematician.

112, right?

Okay.

Now, 10% of 112, if you just gave him 10%, but again, how much is how much is God's time?

All of it.

All of it.

Not just 10%.

But 10% is a good beginning.

You know, this ought to be a good starting goal for us.

So 10% of that's how many hours?

11 hours a week.

You spend two hours on Sunday in church, two hours on Wednesday, that's four.

You spend 30 minutes a day reading your Bible, praying together.

Then you're going to get up to about, you know, what?

Four, about seven, six, seven.

So you still got four or five hours that week to do something for God.

And that's just if you're shooting for 10%.

But let me remind you, every minute of every day, it's God's day, redeeming the time.

Amen.

So we need to be about God's business.

When you're playing basketball, and I look at Sadakhan, they're out there, and he coaches.

Whatever you're doing, that's why you wear the Jesus is awesome.

That's why you wear the t-shirts, Jesus is awesome.

Because you're a living testimony, you're witnessing your attitude.

And by the way, if you're coaching, act like a Christian.

Don't lose your temper while you're coaching if you're a Christian.

Amen.

You say, but those Ralphs, well, I know we'll pray for them.

I used to be a Ralph.

I need help.

Pray for me.

Amen.

I used to do that.

I'd have some guys giving me a hard time, and I'd finally just stop and say, you know what?

I am, sir.

I'm having a bad day.

Bad evening.

Would you pray for me?

They'd go, he'd go.

You know, he quit down in me so much, he'd back off.

I'd say, Yeah, you're right.

I'm having a bad night.

Help me, pray for me.

But anyway, our attitude is so crucial.

So we see that.

And we see it with our time and then our expectation with our gifts.

Look at our gifts.

1 Peter 4.10.

The owner had expectation that we're going to do something with the gifts that God has given us.

Can I get an amen?

Some of you, God, you got gifts, you got talents, uh, you can play, uh, you can sing, you can.

Can I tell you everybody can wash dishes?

Can I get an amen?

We can set up tables, we can take down tables.

I mean, do something for the Lord.

Just do something.

Just do something.

And and say thank you.

Thank you.

We love feeding everybody here every week.

We love that.

That's part of our our intimate fellowship right there.

We got to put up my Benji, you gotta put your vibrant worship sign back up.

So Benji said, yeah, the worship's on the floor.

But but anyway, we we gotta, you know, do something.

And and be be what?

Be sweet about it.

Enjoy it.

I mean, but we love that.

But, you know, you get through eating, take your chair, maybe put the chair up, wipe your table off, make sure the garbage.

Just just be sensitive to other people, especially those that are here at 7 o'clock every morning.

Can I get an amen?

I'm not fussing at you.

I love you.

I'm just reminding us.

We all need that, don't we?

Amen.

Okay?

So, again, you've got gifts.

Look at what he says.

As every man has received the gift, every one of us.

Even so ministers the same one to another as good what?

Stewards, managers of the manifold.

Romans 12, 6, having the gifts differing, we all have different gifts according to the grace that's given to us.

We all have different gifts.

Let me tell you why you're a member of Body.

You've got gifts that I don't have.

I got gifts that you don't have.

All over 200, we average 227 people every Sunday last year.

That's unbelievable for a new church.

But say, let's say 200 of us.

We all have different gifts.

We come together and we help each other by executing the gifts that God's given us.

Can I get an amen?

That's it.

It's exciting.

You are it's kind of like playing ball.

I love ball.

I love football.

I'm in Green Bay, and hey, it doesn't get any better than Dallas Cowboys today in 15-degree weather and uh Green Bay Packers playoff.

It doesn't get any better.

I can remember watching Bart Starr go do the quarterback sneak over Jerry Kramer to win the first Super Bowl.

The first of all.

Oh, he's an Alabama boy.

Can I get an amen?

Actually, he lives right here in Birmingham right now.

So it doesn't get any better than.

But see, once you get saved and you join this church, that's why hopefully you've been thinking about joining.

We want you to join.

Be at our New Covenants class so you can become part of the team.

Until you join, you're not part of the team.

Now you can be involved in the team, you can play.

But don't you want to be a part of the team?

You want to be a part.

That's why.

Get your jersey.

Get your jersey in.

Yeah.

And say, here am I, coach, put me in.

I don't care where it is, put me in.

And one of the things we're going to do on Wednesday night after I get through with the basic discipleship, we're going to do gifts.

The next thing we're going to do is gifts.

So you can see what your gifts are.

And so you can use them in the body of Christ.

That's going to be a great study.

And I'm going to let Susan teach that.

She's great.

We're going to teach on the gift in this and take a gift test together and see where you can be plugged in.

That's going to be exciting.

Don't miss.

Hey, Wednesday night's going to be, we had a great time for our first service Wednesday night.

So come on if you can.

Hey, I was through at a quarter to eight.

So you get in, you get out.

I really was.

So I won't keep you all night.

In fact, uh Stephen was longer-winded than I was.

But amen.

Now notice the other thing.

The last thing.

Hey, the expectation.

The expectations of the gospel.

Now, here's what you got to realize.

Look at what he says in 1 Thessalonians 2.4.

Paul is writing into the church at Thessalonica, and here's what he says.

But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, woo! When you got saved, God has put you in trust with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When the Holy Spirit came, man, I'm about to have a spell.

When the Holy Spirit came down into your heart, you are now a living testimony, an ambassador of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ radically changed your life, and you need to tell everybody you see.

Can I get an Amen?

Give Jesus a clap offering.

Amen.

You will be held accountable for these five areas and a lot more when you stand before.

Or the beam of judgment seat one day and face the Lord Jesus Christ.

So now that ought to get you excited.

Now you know what he expects of us.

Man, that's good.

Now notice the second thing about this foolish Stuart.

Not only do we see the accountability of the foolish Stuart, but number two, the assessment.

Look at verse 3.

He made an assessment of where he was.

Uh-oh, he's gotten caught.

Hello, he's gotten caught.

Hey, let me say something here.

You can be sure your sins will find you out.

Amen.

Numbers 32 23.

Can't get away with it.

You say, Well, I've been getting away with it.

Uh-uh.

You think you have.

But I'm telling you, payday someday.

You are not getting away with your wrongdoing.

You may think you are, but you're not.

I guarantee it.

Or God's word would be a lie.

Hey, you're going to get caught.

Because they're squealers.

Somebody's going to tell on you.

Every time.

This thing about, oh, I'll keep a secret, there's no one keeps a secret.

If you don't want your secret known, you better not tell anybody.

Hello.

Hello.

And I've learned a long time ago, sometimes my sin is between me and the Lord, and that's who I talk to.

Now, if I've hurt somebody, it's between me and the Lord and that person I've hurt.

Now I need to make that right.

Amen?

But if it's just you and the Lord and you hadn't hurt anybody, well, now it's your, it's between you and the Lord, and you need to fess up.

And you need to repent and you need to turn from that sin.

Can I get an amen?

And quit doing it.

Okay?

Because if you don't, guess what?

It's going to be made public pretty quickly.

Amen.

Hey, hey, hey, notice in this passage what happened.

Some of the people that I'm sure he was cheating.

Okay?

He was making them pay more than they were supposed to.

Or he was somehow skimming off the top.

And maybe he wasn't paying the people under him.

So they said, well, if you're not going to give me any, I'm going to tell.

Ever been there?

Well, bless God, that not tricked me right, I'm on tail.

So you always got squealers.

So, be prepared.

You can be sure your sin's going to find you out every time.

We see that right here.

Right here in this passage.

So, uh, he knows he's in trouble.

He knows he's been cheating.

He knows he's been mishandling the uh owner's money.

So he said, uh oh, I'm caught.

Now watch what he said.

You got to give the old boy.

Now here's here's, we're going to get into the part in a minute that everybody doesn't understand.

But so hang with me now.

For you, when I say something, when I say the Lord commended, or the owner, it's not the Lord, but the owner.

Owner.

It's a parable.

Okay?

Now it's it's a relationship.

You can use it as a parallel.

But the owner praised the guy that was cheating him.

That's the problem everybody has with this passage.

How in the world would the owner praise somebody that's been swindling from him maybe for years?

Okay?

Now hang with me.

Don't say, uh-oh, I don't believe that.

Wait, you hadn't heard the whole story, okay?

Just hang there.

That kind of perked you up already.

You look, yeah.

Hey, he commended.

Hey, he commended the what?

The foolish steward.

He didn't commend him.

Listen to me.

He didn't commend him for his evil doing.

Hello, come on now.

You got to hear this.

He didn't commend him for his evil doing.

He didn't commend him for his cheating.

He didn't commend him for his dishonesty.

Okay?

You know what he did?

He commended him.

When he found out he was in trouble, he took action.

Hello.

Hello.

Now, you're going to see that in a minute.

Man, this is good.

This is good.

Really good.

Watch what he said.

He made an assessment, verse 3.

He says, What shall I do now that my master's going to fire me?

He knew what was coming.

And he didn't do one thing.

He didn't do one thing.

And one of the things he didn't do, you know, he thought, I can do this, I can do this, I can do that.

But one of the things he didn't think he could do was turn to God, ask for forgiveness, and that his master may have shown mercy.

See, that didn't wasn't even in his thinking.

That's why we know he was a heathen and he was foolish.

He wasn't thinking about God.

He that covers his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesses and forsaketh him shall have mercy, Proverbs 28, 13.

Okay?

But that wasn't in his thinking process because he was lost.

Okay?

But now watch.

Watch what he says.

What shall I do now?

My master's gonna find.

He said, well, one thing's I can't dig ditches.

He says, I'm not into this physical labor.

Sorry, Darren.

He wouldn't have been a good helper for you.

I can't dig ditches.

Okay?

Well, now if you learn how to use that big equipment, you might can.

And then notice what else he says, I'm not gonna beg.

I'm not gonna beg.

In other words, and by the way, back then they didn't have government substitute.

Amen.

Amen.

So he couldn't turn to the government.

And he couldn't turn.

Hey, couldn't turn to the government.

He didn't want to turn to God.

So what'd he do?

He started thinking worldly.

He started thinking like he was craftily, manipulatively.

You listening?

He said, Oh, I know what I'm gonna do.

All the people that owe the master, I'm gonna call them in, and whatever they owe, I'm gonna cut some of it in half.

I'm gonna cut some of it down, and I'm gonna give them a big break.

That way they'll be indebted to me.

And when he fires me, I can go to them and they'll take care of me.

Not bad thanking for worldly me.

Huh?

Amen.

And you know what's so amazing about this?

You know what's so amazing about this?

I want you to see this in verse 7 and 8.

After he said, How much you owe?

The hundred barrels of oil, cut it to 50, the bushels, cut it to 80.

Then look at verse 8.

And the Lord commended the unjust steward.

This is what throws every theologian off.

They don't understand this.

Because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of lightning.

Here's what's powerful.

You know what he said?

He said, it is a sad day when people that are lost and worldly have more insight to action and doing something than the church.

Hello! In other words, let me put it in another way.

The world is better at sometimes taking care of their own than the church is.

Hello.

God help us.

Amen.

God help us.

Now remember, he's teaching the disciples.

Now you bring it into context, you understand it?

He's teaching them, hey, the church has got to be better than the world.

When we have a problem and we assess a problem, we can't sit back and pray that God's gonna do something.

Yes, we pray that God will do something, but we take action.

I'm about to sit back and go, well, we've got to pray about it.

Foot, yes, pray about it, but bless God, do something.

Well, you know, we need to reach this city.

Well, do something.

Go help Clay take the van out and go get him.

Hey, I I I need to reach my trailer park.

Do something.

Go door to door and say, I got a van.

We'll pick you up.

Do something.

Amen.

Don't just sit there.

Do something.

And this is what we see.

Now, quickly, I want us to look at the lessons learned.

Woo, my voice.

Am I okay?

Am I bothering you?

Is it, am I okay?

Lessons learned from the story.

I walked in, David said, Well, we may have a short, short sermon.

I said, Not on your life.

I don't study so many hours just to come up here and give you a little 15-minute sermon.

All right.

Now listen, this is awesome.

Lessons learned from the story.

Number one, here's lesson number one.

Use your opportunities wisely.

Man, that say that's good.

Use your opportunities wisely.

And we see that in verse 8 and 9.

Hey, again, hey, you got to give the old boy credit.

He had a problem and he went to work thinking through it.

How am I going to solve this problem?

Okay?

I mean, he didn't waste the opportunity.

In fact, the Greek word there means he made haste.

He immediately started calling everybody in.

And you know what you got to give the master credit for?

And if this doesn't bless your heart and you get excited and make you want to say hallelujah, praise the Lord.

The master, the master, the owner, gave the old boy, even though he knew he was guilty of cheating him, he gave him a chance to get his act in order.

Amen.

Woo! That's good.

Somebody say that's good.

He gave him a chance to get his act in order.

He said, go get the books and let's work on them.

Wow.

That's grace.

Can I get an amen?

That's grace.

If he had gotten what he deserved, he should have kicked him out, fired him on the spot, and said, Bye, you're not even getting any severance faith.

Get out of here.

But he didn't do that.

He didn't do that.

Aren't you glad God doesn't give us what we deserve?

I'm so selfish and self-reliant sometimes.

I'm so glad God doesn't give me what I deserve.

In fact, he gave me what I didn't deserve when he gave me Susan.

Amen.

Amen.

She deserves better.

And don't say amen, honey.

You're happy.

She tells me every year she'll get out her little tape.

What you don't realize when we got married.

Guess who had laryngitis that week?

Wasn't me.

It's her.

I made a lot of promises.

She didn't make one.

But she always says that in her in her uh quiet timing when she was talking about, if I had it to do all over again, would I marry Danny again?

So far, 33 years.

It's been yes.

So keep praying.

I'm doing pretty good.

I'm doing pretty good.

Amen.

And I, oh, listen, I know I got a good thing.

And Bob, I know you've married way married above yourself.

So with Miss Jewel back there.

So, and David did too, Christy, way above himself.

So, with that said, we got to use our opportunities wisely.

Our time, our possessions, all of that.

Um, you know, remember the little poem I read here a few weeks ago?

And I said this we cannot go back and start over.

But we can start right now where we are and have a brand new ending.

Can I get an Amen?

We're not interested in your past, we're interested in your future, and God's got a fantastic future for your life.

Can I let's give Jesus a clap offering for that?

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

New beginning.

You know, Jesus said, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth in Matthew 6, 19 and 21.

He's talking about store up, hey, treasures in heaven.

How do you do that?

Let me tell you how you do that.

You do that by giving to God's ministries, by giving to your church, giving to our missions where.

Do you realize, Deedris, she's speaking in a church this morning, but do you realize out of all the mission trips, and we got a great group going to Honduras in April, do you realize everybody in Africa and Tanzania, all the people that's been saved, all that, do you realize you are part of this church and you're giving?

You have a part of that.

Do you realize when you get to heaven, woo, glory, when you get to heaven, you're gonna have people that come up to you and say, I know you don't know me, but because of your giving through CCW or you're giving personally, individually, because you're being kind, you stopping and fixing a flat tire, you gave me a track, you left a.

Do you realize I got saved?

And I just wanted to say to you, thank you.

Come on.

Wow.

I thought to myself, you know, wouldn't that, hey, what if what if it's heavens like this?

Just a big old screen.

And after we get through the beam of judgment seat, oh, and we're sitting there, and man, after we've been royal, we just see movie after movie or situations of all the people that have been saved through the part of the ministry that CCW's had in Chelsea, in Westover, in Harpersville, in in uh all this other surrounding towns.

Uh, can you imagine that?

And we just see how many people were reached with the ice cream truck and and with Stephen's uh activities, going out, washing cars, whatever, making a difference.

Saying God loves you and we love you, and he wants to be your savior.

Wow, folks! That's what it is.

You've got a purpose here.

You got a purpose, and it's stewardship of all that God has given you.

You can't take it with you.

You can't take it with you.

Amen.

But you can send it on ahead.

I'm gonna do my giving while I'm living so I know where it's going.

Told you that.

I'm gonna keep telling you that.

And then number two, look at what else.

Man, this is so good.

Second lesson, trust must be earned.

Verses 10 and 12.

The big question why would the master give me more if I misuse what I have?

Why would the master give me more if I'm misusing what I have right now?

Second lesson right here.

Trust must be earned.

Notice what he said.

Verse 10 through 12.

Anyone who can be trusted in little matters can also be trusted in important matters.

There it is.

But anyone who is dishonest in little matters will be dishonest in important matters.

If you cannot be trusted with wicked wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?

Wow.

And if you cannot be trusted with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something that will be your own?

He talks here about the fact that we need to earn our trust.

Hello, come on.

We need to earn our trust.

That's why when people say, Pastor Danny, pray that I'll win the lottery.

I'll give half of it to the church.

You know what I tell them?

No, you won't.

You're not gonna give a dime to the church.

What do you mean, preacher?

I said, Well, are you giving now?

Not a dime.

So, what makes you think you win a million dollars?

You're gonna give half of it to the church.

Hello.

Yeah, but but I have it then.

No, no, that's not the way God works.

He wants to see what you do with the little things.

Is that not what it says?

Church, help me here.

Help me.

Uh owe me if you can't say amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Hey, I didn't start out making a great salary.

I started out as a little pastor in Tuscaloosa, where on Wednesday night, sometimes Jack Wade would come up to me and say, Pastor Danny, we don't have enough money to pay the light bill and the rent and to pay you.

And he said, I vote that we pay you.

I said, Amen.

And you know, and he'd say, if we don't get a good offering, you know what I'd do?

I'd get up, I'd tell the church what we needed.

Every time the right amount came in.

Every time.

Every time.

You know what God was doing then?

He was testing us to see if he could trust us.

And then we went on to watch God build one of the greatest churches in I've ever been a part of.

And he's doing the same thing right now here.

See, we're in the we're in the earning trust stage right now.

Amen.

We're in the earning trust stage right now.

Hey, you know what?

That 90 acres, God's given us that 90 acres.

And listen to me.

I'm being honest with you now.

Listen to your pastor.

I'm sharing my heart.

You know what's going to depend on what happens out there?

How much he can trust us in here.

Amen.

Come on, come on.

I'm going to repeat it again.

You know what's going to happen out there?

It all depends on what he can trust us with in here.

I'm telling you, if God gets a hold of our hearts and we radically do what I'm preaching my heart out, and it's not what I say, what God's Word says, you ain't seen anything yet.

Every megachurch, and I'm not saying that's what we ask God to make.

We want God to build a church He wants, not what we want.

But they all started with a handful of people.

And how did it get that big?

Because God could trust those people there in the church and in leadership.

He could trust them.

That's why we go through the covenants class.

So you can understand your responsibility.

Because we want our covenant members to truly be all that God wants us to be.

Yeah, that's good.

Am I trustworthy with what I have right now?

You know what?

Because the man with the one talent in Matthew 25 couldn't trust God.

Because he feared God.

He was afraid.

You know why most of us never see me included what God really wants to do?

Is we really we have this fear that Satan places in our heart.

And fear keeps us from absolutely trusting God.

Amen.

For God's not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and a love and of a sound mind.

And then number three, trust can be measured.

Our Lord says, I want to tell you how I measure trust.

Here it is.

He says in Matthew 25, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

You've been ruler over a few things.

I'm going to make you ruler over many things.

When Mary and Stephanie would be obedient to the curfews and all that we asked, we gave them more opportunities.

When they were disobedient to the curfews and what we asked them to do, we took more of their privileges away.

Amen?

That's the way God works, folks.

He wants to trust us.

But if he can't, he will not give it to us.

I want to do close with a couple of stories.

This is awesome.

A parable about three turtles, three little turtles.

Ha ha.

Man, I'm deep with my theology.

I want to read it.

Three little turtles.

I hope you can intellectually handle this parable.

Okay.

Hey, three turtles were going out on a summer afternoon for a country picnic.

One carried a basket with the food, and the second a jug with turtle aid.

And the third, nothing.

Just have a picnic without an umbrella.

Hey, we can't.

And then as they started the picnic and got out there, uh-oh, rain started dropping on their little shells.

We can't have a picnic without an umbrella, said the first, who will go back for one.

They made the choice, and the empty hand-handed turtle was chosen.

He said, I won't go.

He said, As soon as I leave, you're gonna eat the food and drink the turtle aid and cut me out of everything, right?

Wrong, they said, We'll wait for you no matter how long, no matter how long, asked the third turtle.

No matter how long?

Yes, the other turtle replied.

So he turned back.

They sat waiting an hour, two hours for a day, two days, a week, two weeks went by.

One turtle turned to the other and said, Maybe we should go ahead and have the picnic.

Just then the voice of the third turtle came out from the bushes behind them.

If you do, I won't go.

Is that not the way we do, God?

Huh?

Is that good?

I won't go.

Well, praise the Lord.

And then the last thing: be wholly devoted to God.

That's the fourth lesson.

Jesus said in verse 13, you cannot serve two masters.

You will like one more than the other, or you'll be more loyal to one than the other.

You cannot serve God and you cannot serve money.

Isn't that amazing how he said that?

Who are you and I slave today to?

You know, my appetite when I die, I want it to say basically, I want my children to be able to say, my dad was faithful to the things of the Lord.

I want my wife to be able to say, my husband was faithful to the things of the Lord.

I want every place I've been, whether it was open door, Liberty, Tennessee Temple, on the road as an evangelist for all those years, to say that Pastor Danny was faithful.

CCW, you'll be able to say Pastor Danny was faithful to the things of God and his book.

That's my goal.

In fact, my goal, Gary, throw throw up Acts 13, 22, and then 36.

I know I didn't put that in there because God gave it to me later.

I want you to see this as I close.

Here should be our goal.

I apologize for my voice this morning.

And if you don't mind, I am not gonna stay around to talk today.

I'm gonna go home and goggle and put my pajamas on and sit by the fire and watch Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packer.

Is that okay?

Can I go?

Can I go?

Yeah.

Acts 13.

I do.

I do.

A day like this is just sitting by the fire drinking hot apple cider from a voice, amen.

Here's what David said.

Boy, this is so good.

In Acts 13, 22, God said, I have found a man after my own heart.

What's this?

Son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.

Wow.

Ever since I've been working on this in mid-December, every morning I ask the Lord, I say, Lord, I really want to be a man after your own heart.

But there's so much junk in my life that I need to get out.

Amen.

I really do.

And I'm not perfect.

Guess what?

David wasn't either.

Can I get an amen?

In fact, this statement was made after he had blown it.

Okay?

So don't think you got to be perfect.

This was after he had made some major boo-boos in his life.

Okay?

That's why I love this that verse.

But I want to be a man after God's own heart.

And the way that I prove that is not that I just say that, but I do it.

You know how God can trust you.

It's not what you tell him you're gonna do, it's what you do.

Amen.

And look, when David got ready to die, look at verse, I want to say, what did I say?

36, I think.

Go to 36.

Basically, David said, for David, after he had served his own generation, look at this.

By the will of God.

In other words, David had fulfilled the will of God in his own generation.

Then he died.

That's what I want.

I want to fulfill God's will in my generation.

And then I want to go to be home with him.

Don't want to stay any longer.

You know why?

I'll mess it up.

I'm serious.

When I get through, when God gets through with me, and I really believe this is my last hurrah right here.

CCW.

So I'm hoping I'm here a while.

Go ahead and let you know that.

I'm not planning on going on the bus tomorrow.

Amen.

Because I have a vision God's given me for all that land out there.

I really do.

But it won't take place if he can't trust us.

Can I challenge you this 2015 to let God have everything?

Start tithing and watch what he does.

And I'll tell you what I'll do.

I'll tell you what I'll do.

Okay?

You come up to me personally and say, Pastor Danny, I'm gonna take you up on that three-month.

Okay?

I'll do that with you.

I'll do that with you.

You tithe for three months.

We gotta have a record of every, you know, whether it's once a week, twice a week, once a month, whatever.

And you, if hey, if God doesn't bless you, we'll give it back to you.

Now the Lord just said, do it.

Amen.

I'm telling you, you'll never go back.

Right?

And the only reason you're not doing it now, fear.

No trust.

I can't trust him.

You can't trust God.

And if you can't trust him, how can he trust us?

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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Send us an email at office at the church at cw.com.

We hope you have a wonderful day and again, God bless you.