Love God, Not Money

And we're talking about thanks and giving as we enter into the season.

And just to kind of give you the fair warning, the preacher is talking about money today.

As we started last week, we taught this series, thanks and giving.

I know people kind of get uptight about it, but let me tell you what I've learned in 26 years of ministry.

I love it when we talk about giving and our finances because, because it's so important.

It's important to the kingdom of God, it's important to our own hearts, and it's it's just a very tangible way for us to engage in what God wants to do locally and even globally.

And so we're using this time.

We're about to uh bust into this holiday season.

And I love the holiday season because holiday season means means it means lights and it means uh family gatherings, and some of us say amen, some of us say oh me.

Um, but it means a lot of things, uh, and it means food.

We like food, food at Thanksgiving, food at Christmas time, all the it all those things are great.

But it also as you begin to bust into this season, uh it's it's also known as a retail season.

As a matter of fact, a lot of people don't even really understand uh Thanksgiving in the context of how it came about, and and they don't understand how it was established by Abraham Lincoln, and it was uh it was uh made uh it was made into law, I think, with uh under under Roosevelt to be the fourth Thursday of every November.

But we think about Thanksgiving, we can't think about it without thinking about the day that comes after Thanksgiving, and it's what's it called?

Let's say it together.

Black Friday.

And Black Friday is no longer just Black Friday because now Black Friday starts on Thursday afternoon.

It can start at any time.

We move into the retail season, and and I I don't one of the worst things in the world, one of the things that breaks my heart is to see people rack up bills, and then we've got to do another sermon on depression and and and and soul care in February when all the bills come due and and and all the issues are there.

And so let's let's let's talk about money, let's talk about giving, let's talk about what God says about all these things.

But but it's it's that time of the year.

Listen, we haven't even got to Thanksgiving.

I've already had two Thanksgiving meals.

Now, how how awesome is that?

We had almost 70 students in here uh Wednesday night, and we had volunteers that brought, I mean, just Thanksgiving food for all of our students.

It was some of y'all made that food, and I was here.

I actually am a high school boys small group leader, so I it wasn't just that I just popped in and for the meal, I was here.

But we ate, and then on Thursday night, Jill and I lead a group, a small group for newly married couples, and and they all uh brought their Thanksgiving meals.

And so I'm going through the line and I'm looking, and there it was.

It was like this light shined down, the shekinah glory of God.

Sweet potato souffle.

It was there, it was there, and so I said, Who brought this?

And Sarah Baker said, I brought it.

I said, Yeah, Sarah, who cooked it?

And because I knew she didn't cook it.

She said, My nanny cooked it.

And I'm gonna can I can I just stop by her house and give her a hug one day for cooking me that oh did she that she cooked it for everybody, but but I'm the one that was blessed by that.

But that was so much fun.

And so, um, all right, so here's what we're talking about.

Last week we said that the heart um the the the the heart of blessing or the blessed life begins with the heart of generosity.

The blessed life begins with the heart of generosity.

Acts 20, 35 says it's more blessed to give than receive.

And so we are blessed.

I don't know if you know this, but you are blessed.

Part of the reason you're blessed is because of where you live.

And many of you have were born here, and you're blessed because you live in a culture that just has been blessed immensely.

The rest of the world lives um probably on two dollars a day or less.

Three billion people um plus in this world that live on two dollars a day or less.

And so we we live in a very, very um uh blessed area, a blessed country, a blessed way of living.

We are blessed, and and I talked about this last week, and we we opened up this this this series sermon.

Nathan was here and I was down in social circle.

We're blessed, not just for our own benefit, we're blessed so that.

Those are two words that are so important in scripture.

So that.

What's what comes after the so that?

We're blessed so that we can bless others.

We're blessed so that we can be a blessing.

We're blessed so we can be um make a difference so that we can make a difference.

And so so we we're talking about um the blessed test is this.

The blessed test is this.

Will you love trust love and trust money, or will you love and trust God?

It's the blessed test.

Will you love and trust money or will you love and trust God?

That's the blessed test.

Now, what's interesting that I found is I is I just we're just doing a little research about recent charitable giving is that charitable giving went up five percent in 2020.

Which is normally charitable giving has been on the decline for years, but it went up about 5% in 2020.

I haven't dug enough to figure out why.

I think part of it is because people couldn't go on vacation, they couldn't go spend money elsewhere, maybe they had extra money, maybe there was compassion as they saw people suffer.

There's lots and lots of reasons that charitable giving may have gone up in 2020.

I know that our church was immensely blessed by our church family in a year that was full of uncertainty.

God blessed us immensely, and he's blessing us this year immensely.

He's blessing us.

And so, as a matter of fact, I love be able to say this when I when I talk about money and giving, I'm not trying to get you to give money to church at the grove.

We're not behind budget, and I'm not worried, and I'm not concerned, and I'm not trying to coax you or or motivate you to give money to our church.

I really believe that God wants us to make sure that this part of our life, like every other part of our life, is bearing the fruit that God wants to see born out of a life of a disciple and a follower of Jesus.

And this blessed test, will you love God, love and trust money, or will you love and trust God?

Luke 16, 10 says one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

And so God has blessed us immensely.

And the question is, how will we handle the way that He's blessed us?

How will we handle everything that He's entrusted to us all through Scripture?

We are identified as stewards.

We're not owners of everything we have, we are stewards.

Everything we have belongs to God.

And so God knows that for most of us, that money and things and and and possessions can grab hold of our hearts.

They can be our number one competitor for our love and our trust and our worship and our adoration.

And so money promises security, money promises freedom, money promises power, money promises significance, but money does not make a good God.

It just doesn't.

Money does not make a very good idol.

It's a bad God.

And it'll grip your heart.

Matthew says this, Jesus, we talked about this just recently as we preached through the Sermon on the Mount.

Verse 24 of Matthew 6, he said, No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

You cannot serve God and money.

Now, a lot of us would say, if I just had a little more money, or if I had a little more income, or if I had just, you know, if I had a little extra bonus.

That's how it's just how we think.

I'm guilty of that.

But Solomon, who really probably was the richest man who's ever lived, in Ecclesiastes, he he he says it's all it's all vanity.

It's all vain.

It's really sad as he writes in Ecclesiastes, but he says in chapter 5, verse 10, he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income, this also is vanity.

Now some of you know that.

Some of you have been in situations where you've had lots of money and then overnight you didn't have lots of money.

Many of us have experienced some of that to a degree where we've had some wealth and we've lost it.

Maybe slowly over time, maybe, maybe because God, money is your God, He's it God hasn't trusted you to handle lots of it.

Whatever the the reason is, is we need to understand it will never meet the needs that we think that it will meet.

And because of that, God established this principle that we see all through Scripture, and it's summed up in this statement that I will give my first and my best, and I'll trust God to bless the rest.

I will give my first and the best, and I'll let Him bless the rest.

And the Old Testament uses this term, it's called the tithe, where it just means tenth.

It means 10%, the tenth.

And it was the the principle is you bring you bring the first 10% of, you know, back then it was an agricultural society.

So it wasn't, it wasn't like us, like writing a check, or uh which I would have may have to explain what that is for some of you, but but it or Venmo or whatever, doing doing online.

You you you are it's not cash.

It's not a cash society that we're we're looking at.

It's bring us the food, bring us the grain, bring us the produce, bring us the fruit of your of your livelihood, bring us the fruit of your fields, bring us the first, and bring us the best.

And the sacrificial system that was instituted in temple life while while the Israelites were out in the desert with Moses, it was you bring, you bring a living thing, and that living thing will have have it, it will, it will die, and it will, it will bleed, and the the bleeding or the blood would cover the sins in the place of you suffering and bleeding.

And so the sheep or the lamb or another animal that would be brought, a pigeon for the poor, or whoever, whoever it is, they bring something.

It represents the fact that there's a death and there's consequences to brokenness and to sin.

And so God says, Bring me the first and bring me the best of your sacrifices.

Bring me the first and bring me the best.

Bring the the spotless lamb.

Bring me the perfect lamb.

Bring me the best lamb.

It's kind of like when when my kids were little, and they they would go to the the uh they would go trick-or-treating or they would go to some kind of festival, one of the fall festival things, and and man, they would come back with these bags full of candies.

And I'd say, you give me your first, and you give me the best.

And they'd look up and be, Dad, I'm serious.

No, pour it out, pour it out.

Here, you keep all the all the peanut-shaped marshmallow things, all the candy corn mean people hand out.

I want the best.

Oh, there's a Snickers.

And I'm not talking fun size, full size.

I love that neighbor.

I love that guy.

He gives out the good stuff.

10% goes to the house.

You know what I'm saying?

Give me your first and best.

And I'm kind of I'm kind of joking, but but but not about taking my kids' candy, but just the the the analogy doesn't really fit, but but here's what it says in Leviticus.

It says, every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's.

It is holy to the Lord's.

It's this idea of the tithe.

Matthew 3, 6 says, For I, the Lord, do not change.

Therefore, you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

From the days of your fathers, you've turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.

Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.

But you say, How shall we return?

Will man rob God?

Yet you are robbing me, but you say, How have we robbed you in your tithes and contributions?

You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and therefore thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts.

And if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there's no more need.

Now let me say this, because here's you know, there's always some tension about the application of the tithe, because the tithe was instituted under the law.

And people will say, we are no longer under the law, therefore we're no longer obligated to tithe.

I'm not gonna argue with you, I'm not gonna argue with anybody about that, because I don't want anybody to give out of obligation anyway.

I don't want you to give according to the law.

I want you to give out of the generosity in response to a God who first gave you eternal life.

We come not giving out of compulsion, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9.

We give with a grateful, generous heart.

And he who sows little will reap little.

If you sow much, you'll reap much.

But but you give because God has given you life.

And so we aren't under the law, and and we could argue, now Jesus in Matthew 23, he kind of there's a little verse there where he says, hey, don't forget the tithe.

He's because he's he's getting on to the religious leaders.

He says, You tithe even to the smallest of your herbs and your spices, and and and he said, But your hearts are far from me.

He said, Now don't neglect the former, but bring your heart.

God wants your heart.

He wants you to bring your giving or your generosity because your heart.

And so we're not under the law.

You're listening there is no fear if you don't give.

You can be a believer and you can be given and receive the free gift of eternal life, whether you give money to a church or not.

That is not the heart of God to bring condemnation upon you because you don't give.

That's not my heart and it's not God's heart.

But when God transforms the human heart and we have been made alive after we were dead in our sins, he begins to transform how we live our life, how we treat other people, how we handle um relationships, how we handle our our um uh our our being a good neighbor, sharing our faith, all the things in our life.

And part of that is how we handle our pocketbook, how we handle our bank account.

As a matter of fact, I mean you there's two ways.

If you want to look at somebody's life and just kind of tell what's really important to them, look at their calendar and look at their checkbook or their bank account.

Where they spend their money and how they spend their time.

And so I understand this, the tithe, the principle of tithe.

There's a I I've uh I know a uh I don't want to say he's a friend, he's an acquaintance, but but I heard a guy speak.

He's he's a president of a seminary in California, and he happens to be the chaplain for the San Francisco Giants baseball team.

And so he led this baseball player to Jesus, and he said, Hey, I want you to, you know, he started discipling him, and he and he he says, I want you to read, I want you to start in Matthew, just read through the Gospels.

And so a week or so goes by, the guy comes back, he said, he said, Pastor, or Chappie, I think he called him Chappie.

He said, he said, I've I actually read through the whole New Testament.

He said, it was so, it was, I was just so hungry to read.

He said, I, and I I know you told me not to go back to the Old Testament, but I went back to the book right before the for the for the Old Testament.

That book is called Malachi.

That book, Malachi, and um, and and so it's he he's an Italian prophet.

Uh but no, I'm kidding.

Um and so he he says, he said, he and then he asked, he said, Chappie, what's a what's a tith?

What's a tith?

Well he says, well, I really, you know, that's not really, I wanted you to just focus on Jesus, but it's it's it's when you give 10% uh of everything that you make.

And he said, this guy made millions of dollars.

He said, I'm supposed to give 10%.

And he started doing the math.

He said, Chap, that's a lot of money.

He said, Well, he said, I want you to focus on Jesus.

We can come back to that.

So weeks go by and he comes back and he says, Chappie, tell me where to give.

Tell me where to give it.

My heart, God's got a hold of my heart.

Tell me where to give it.

I was like, church at the grove.

I'm trying to be chaplain for something.

I can't get past the, I can't get past the community baseball league, but I'm I'm trying, I'm kidding.

Timothy says this.

1 Timothy 6, he says, as for the rich in this present age, now who's he talking to?

As for the rich in this present age, now he's speaking to first century believers that are wealthy.

But this word applies to us.

So he's speaking to you and me, and even more than anybody else on the planet, he's speaking to us.

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

He's saying, share and be generous.

Share and be generous.

If you are rich in this age, share and be generous.

He's saying, and many of us don't think of ourselves as being rich, but in the scope of the world, we're very wealthy.

We're rich.

You know, sometimes we'll talk about what we call first world problems.

My wife dropped her phone and and and like smashed the front cover, and and and so she she's desperate about trying to make sure she has a way to communicate.

I mean, if having a phone is important, more importantly, she says, I want those pictures.

I want those pictures off that phone.

Those are more important to me.

That's a first world problem.

That is a rich person problem.

That that I've got to I've got to worry about getting a new phone.

I I'll sometimes wake up and I'll I'll walk through my bathroom and I'll stand in this room that's off my bathroom, and I'll look around and I'll think, what should I wear?

It's a rich person problem.

I actually have a house that's attached to my house where I live and I sleep.

And it's for my car.

But you know where I park my car?

In the driveway.

Because my car's house is full of more of my stuff.

I can't even put my car in its own house.

Those are rich person problems.

I mean, we could go on and on about first world rich person problems.

The internet goes out.

Oh my, what are we going to do?

What are we going to do?

I don't have a signal.

What's the internet password?

Do you have Wi-Fi?

Those are all rich people's questions and problems.

And so I will give my first and my best so he can bless the rest.

Here's three three aspects of what I want to encourage you to consider.

What I call percentage giving.

If you don't want to call it the tithe, and if you have an issue with the tithe, let's just say consistent percentage giving.

Why do we need consistent percentage giving?

Because I have found that I need to be reminded on a daily basis of the gospel.

I need to be reminded that God loves me, that He's got a plan for me.

I need to be in the Word, not on a weekly basis, not on a monthly or yearly basis, not just Christmas and Easter basis.

I need to be in the Word on a daily basis because the Word refreshes me.

It feeds me.

And so giving and generosity is a regular habit of mine because it reminds me that everything I have comes from Him.

He blesses me.

So I'm going to give my first and my best so he can bless the rest.

And so consistent giving provides for God's work through the church.

Consistent giving provides for his work through his church.

You know, he says in Malachi 10, he says, bring the full tithe, bring the gifts into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.

And he says, put me to the test.

Only place in the Bible where it says that we can test God.

Test me with your generosity and your giving.

And so bring it to the storehouse.

So what does that mean?

We give to the local church, and we believe that we can do more together than we can just alone.

We can do more together as a larger, extended family than just your individual family.

We can support, and you go check the budget.

I'm just looking over the budget this week and just looking at how we sponsor a church plant in New York City that has been through, I mean, it's been through a very, very difficult last two years because of COVID.

I mean, COVID decimated the city of New York.

And the city church, New City Church there, they they have survived.

They've made it, but it's been difficult.

We give to them on a monthly basis.

Reach the Nations is a church plant that we partner with in Clarkston.

They say it's the most diverse square mile in all of America.

And so there's 13 languages spoken at this one church.

And so when you give to Church at the Grove, you're giving to Reach the Nations as a church where they minister to the refugees that are constantly moving in from different places around the world.

We support a church plant in Covington called Clearview.

We support a church plant in Conyers called Average Breaker Church.

We support multiple church plants that are overseas.

We're connected to a church in Romania.

Y'all know that Pat planted that we planted with Pat in Aradi, Romania.

We support local ministries.

We're not going to go, we our our philosophy is we're not going to do, we're not going to replicate everything that somebody else is already doing well.

Let's support fish.

Faith in serving humanity.

We support them and our budget.

We support the fellowship of Christian athletes.

We support uh team, we support um NG3.

We support the four wins.

We support the CLC of Walton County and the CLC and Social Circle.

We support the Pregnancy Resource Center.

We support Adventure Bags, which, if you haven't heard about Adventure Bags, it's basically providing backpacks with basic needs for displaced children in the midst of their trauma, going into foster care, having to move out of their house, having to be picked up in the middle of the night.

And they're carrying trash bags around.

And so this ministry provides backpacks for specific ages and genders.

And so we want to be a church that practices what we're preaching, and we want to give.

We want to increase each year our giving.

Kevin Gibson, who is our online pastor, and he's he's at home under hospice care.

He's listening and watching, and he's he's um uh he's typing and encouraging people.

He I mean, this guy, uh God is just continuing to use him in miraculous ways.

But so he's been helping us with our budget since our church started.

He's a financial guy.

And he told us, he said, hey, we're telling people to give 10% and to increase it possibly over time as God leads, or to give to special causes or special events.

He said, we as a church need to practice what we're preaching to individuals.

And so several weeks ago, Kevin says, Hey, he's talking to me and Nathan, our campus pastor and social circle.

Nathan is the numbers guy.

He he says, Hey, we're getting get me the budget.

He said, I'm I'm not gonna be here forever.

I mean, Kevin's gotten a kind of a weird sense of humor if you know him.

And so he starts crunching numbers, helping us with our budget, making sure that we're accountable to this.

And then, number two, consistent giving or percentage giving, it teaches me to put God first in my life.

Jesus says, wherever your treasure is, your heart will be also.

He didn't say wherever your heart is, is where your treasure will be.

That's what we get mixed up.

He said, Look, you give and you're obedient, your heart will change.

You practice obedience, your heart will follow.

Your feelings, your emotions, you will engage.

Here's what Malachi says, and this is what I'm praying.

This is my prayer.

From the days of your fathers, verse 7 in Malachi 3, from the days of your fathers, you have turned aside for my statutes and I have not kept them.

Here's what he says, return to me.

Return to me and what?

And I'll return to you.

Do you ever feel, do you ever feel, do you ever feel like that that our that our nation has lost its moral and spiritual bearings?

I mean, just I mean, is it not obvious?

I mean, you it can be discouraging, can't it?

And see, we live, we live in Walt County.

This is like last night they did the tree lighting up here for the city of Walnut Grove.

Man, our parking lot was packed with cars.

It was it was really a lot of fun.

Tons of families up here.

And I just came up here to hang out.

And the mayor says, hey, actually came up to me and Katie, said, One of you want to do the do the invocation?

Katie Landris, that's our children's minister.

And Katie says, Yeah, he'll be glad to do it.

I said, Oh, yeah, yes, sir, I'll be honored.

I'll be honored.

And so this is a government event.

Now we listen, we we're we're blessed because we're this this that this ain't gonna happen.

This ain't gonna happen in a small town in Portland, Oregon, or Seattle, or Washington, or New York, or you know, so this is this and part of that's the relationship that's developed.

And so he hands me the mic, and I know that I, first of all, I don't need to pray long, but I'm gonna mention Jesus as much as I can.

And I just said, Lord, God, thank you.

As we celebrate this holiday season, as we give thanks to you, Jesus, for the birth of our Savior as we celebrate Christmas.

Thank you for his life and his death and his resurrection.

God, we thank you.

I said a few other things, and I said, in Jesus' name, amen.

Nobody ran me out of town.

Nobody was ready to burn me in a state.

You know why?

Because we're in Walton County.

So I took advantage of it.

A lot of people there are probably not gonna hear about Jesus because they're not going to church today.

90% of the people there, I promise you, are not in church today.

And so, return our hearts.

Sometimes it's gotta be it's gotta be us giving something, giving our time, giving our money, giving ourselves, and our heart follows.

Third principle, consistent giving.

Or percentage giving increases my faith in God.

It teaches me that 90% with the blessings of God goes further than a hundred percent without God.

So sometimes there's more bills than there is money, and we fight that battle.

God says, trust me.

Give me your first, give me your best, and I'll bless you with the rest.

Can I brag on my wife for a second?

She's not even in here to hear it, so please somebody tell her.

Jill grew up with a two sweet Christian parents.

And so I joke, she was she learned how to tithe before she was born.

I mean, she just she just she was raised that way.

It's it was never an issue.

I didn't all I didn't grow up in church, I came to Christ as an 18-year-old, and I began to, I was taught about giving in my young adult life.

But my wife is one of the most generous people that I've ever known.

And it's not, it's listen, it's not even an option with her.

Regardless of economic situation, regardless of having two kids at a private Christian college.

It's never an option.

We bought our first house, and people in our church said, why are y'all buying that house?

The bank said, Why, why are you why are you buying that house?

You know, you know you qualify for so much more.

And she and I said, you know what, we we want to make sure that when if God speaks to us and calls us either to go or to give, that we will be in a position to say yes to him.

And if she gets the credit for that, because I wanted the bigger house.

Like most, I make the big decisions, she makes the little ones.

She just tells me which ones are big and which ones are little.

That's the that's so I'm you know, I'm I'm the head of the house, you know, right.

And so here's what I'll challenge you to think about.

There's giving 1.0.

Giving 1.0 is is just kind of throwing or tipping when you have a little extra, when they have an event, when something's going on like Shop with the Hero, I'm I'm I'll I'll give just whatever I have a little extra.

Giving 2.0 is when you say, you know what, I'm going to give a percentage and I'm going to give it consistently, and I'm going to give the first and the best, and trust God with the rest.

And trust that if we collectively understood this, if the church in America would come back to generosity and the way of following Jesus that goes with it, we would return back to the Lord, our heart, and God would return back to us.

And listen, I believe, I believe that we're on the cusp of a revival and a renewal.

I don't know if I'll see it in my lifetime, but I think I'm hoping that I'll get to see it before I pass away.

But I believe it's going to happen.

When those of us that are here today, we bow our hearts and we plead and we beg for God.

God, would you come?

Pour out your blessing.

And then we say, God, whatever I have, this is my first.

This is my best.

I trust you to bless the rest.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for.

Thank you for giving us your best.

And giving us your first.

Thank you for Jesus.

The Apostle Paul says he is the firstborn of all creation.

God gave us his first.

He gave us his best.

And the gospel of Jesus.

We know that Jesus is an eternal being.

It's not like he didn't exist and he existed.

But the principle is that God made himself available by giving himself as a baby born with human skin.

Firstborn of all creation, his best, so that we could have eternal hope and eternal life.

And so, Father, we say thank you.

We say thank you for giving.

And Lord, I say thank you for allowing us to have the freedom that we have.

Thank you for this community.

Thank you for this church family.

Thank you for the opportunity we have for ministry.

God, may we be prepared for what's coming our way.

As we look over the horizon and know that our community is going to continue to grow, we need to be prepared.

So, Father, would you work in our hearts?

Give us compassion, give us a burden for people that are without Jesus.

People that were gathered around a lighting of a Christmas tree, but wouldn't darken the doors of a church right now for whatever reason.

For whatever reason.

Let us be a church that returns to you, Lord, that you would have our heart.

And as you have our heart, you would have everything that we have.

And God, as a result, you would return to us.

That we would see a transformation that would begin in our community.

We would see people turn to Jesus.

We would see these younger generations begin to question there's got to be something more to this life than just having stuff and just having money and building wealth.

There's got to be more.

And Lord, may we be willing to share that that hope and that that that that extra, that blessing is Jesus.

So, Father, work in our hearts.

Let me just ask you: if you have never put your faith in Jesus, there's no better time than this morning, whether you're watching online or whether you're here in this room.

The Bible says that God created everything.

But out of human rebellion, this earth has suffered the consequences of brokenness and sin.

But God, out of his love and his generosity, gave Jesus, allowed Jesus to come and to be born in human form.

And he would take on human flesh and he would live and he would minister and he would serve.

And then he would die on a cross.

He would suffer a cruel death in our place.

That if we would put our faith in Jesus and what he did on that cross, we would have forgiveness.

He was buried in a tomb and then he was bodily resurrected three days later.

If we put our faith in the real historical event that he was bodily resurrected, that we could hope for ourselves to experience a resurrection in physical form when Jesus comes back to restore everything back to the way that he wanted it to be in the beginning.

With a new heaven and a new earth.

And he says you can access all of this simply through faith and through believing.

Father, we I ask that you move upon hearts.

If you never put your faith in Jesus, just simply ask him to forgive you.

Admit that you're a sinner.

Repent and believe is what Jesus says, which means you turn and you put your faith in what Jesus did.

In his life, and his death and his resurrection.

And through that belief, he freely gives you eternal life.

And he transforms your heart.

And he will transform you from being selfish and self-centered.

Over time, he'll transform you to being someone who cares about others and wants to live a life of generosity.

So, Father, would you work?

Would you move in us?

We thank you in Jesus' name.