“Back on Track: From Our Hearts to Others” | Sunday AM | Tyler Moss

And this week's topic uh is back on track from our hearts to others, from our hearts to others.

And we're gonna start from the book of 2 Corinthians, uh, chapter 9, verse 7.

You can you can stay seated this morning.

And when you are there, say amen.

All right, that's about everybody.

Okay.

Um it says, every man according as he purpose in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Amen.

And this idea this morning, when our hearts are aligned with God, generosity becomes more than something that we do, it becomes part of who we are.

It becomes a part of who we are.

So getting back on track isn't only about what God wants to do in us.

A life that is truly aligned with God begins to affect the people around us.

Because yes, we grow, but how does our growth extend to the lives of the people who we affect every single day?

So the first uh section we're going to talk about is back on track with what we have, the things that we have that God gives us.

And our focus scripture for this section is John chapter 6, verses 5 through 13.

John 6:5–13

This is about the boy with the loaves and fishes.

Um, when Jesus was preaching to the crowd of what it says, 5,000 men, he had compassion on them because they had been standing and listening intently for quite a while, and people were hungry.

And so Jesus saw a need.

He saw a need.

And it starts here, when Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw that great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, When shall we buy bread that these may eat?

And this is he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do.

Philip answered him, Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them.

It's not enough, that every one of them may take a little.

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here which have five barley loaves and two small fishes.

But what are they among so many?

Seems very insignificant, very small.

And Jesus said, Make the men sit down.

Now there was much grass in this place.

So the men sat down in number about five thousand.

That's a lot of people.

And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had gave thanks, he likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

So he divided them, and amongst the crowd, God multiplied the little that they had.

When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain.

So not only did he give them what they needed, but he exceeded their expectations.

He had overflow of what he blessed.

That nothing be lost.

Therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

And the boy seemed like he didn't have enough from the scriptures to meet this need, but he offered what he had.

When it comes to what we have to give in this life, it will always seem like we are just talking about money.

And it's not always just talking about money.

We are talking about our time, we're talking about our abilities, our resources, our home, our family, our mind, our body, our spirit, everything that we have, and everything that God has put so much potential in, who we are, and what we have been blessed by God with.

In His hands, nothing is impossible, but only if you surrender it.

And sometimes that's the difficult part in our own lives, in the world that we live in, that's such a uh run by economics and and sometimes social status and what we see and what we have and what we do.

Uh people look at us and judge us, and and sometimes because of that, we tend to hold on to things a little bit tighter.

And sometimes that can cause some trust issues.

But he's not worried about the amount.

He's worried, are you willing to surrender it to him?

Are you willing to give it up to him?

No matter the size or the amount, whatever it is, are you willing to give it up?

Because our human nature is to compare our amount of something to its significance.

If it's a small amount, it must be insignificant.

If it's a small house, oh, they must be poor.

Or if it's a big house, oh, they must be rich, they must have a wonderful life.

Because it's not a great size, or may seem like what I have to give may not seem as significant of an impact to the need.

Well, we'll just remain quiet because it may not seem like it's gonna have an effect on anybody.

It's not gonna change someone's life, it's not gonna change my life.

So I feel a little bit hesitant on letting go of those things.

Because what can I do with it?

Because a lot of times that's what I'll say.

I'm like, well, what can I do about the situation?

That's the first thing I always say, it's me.

But when we put our hands, when we put our needs in the hands of God, he can do the possible when something seems impossible in our lives.

How can how can a regular human being uh duplicate five loaves of bread and two fish?

We can't do that.

It's impossible, but in God's hands, nothing is impossible with God.

It may seem limited, you may feel like you're insignificant, but when you put it in God's hands, God has a way of doing the impossible.

Amen.

When we give, when we put it in his hands, it will be an abundance.

He will make an abundance so much that there is even more left over for you to have and maybe distribute to somebody else.

But in God's hands, generosity begins with recognizing that we possess ultimately belongs to God.

Everything we possess, everything that we have, everything that's been given to us belongs to Him, anyways.

So we shouldn't hold on to it so quickly when it wasn't ours to begin with.

There may be some things that you earn, and you there may be some things that you go to work for every single day and you earn that money, you earn that cash.

But who gave the ability and the energy to go earn that money?

Who gave you the knowledge and the wisdom to understand how to do that job well?

It all belongs to him anyway.

Amen.

Because we often focus on what we don't have instead of surrendering what we do have.

And that can become the difficult part.

And sometimes for me, there may be some things that in my life that I may never have, and that's fine.

So I have to learn how to be content with that.

Because again, I always look at material things.

And sometimes that's important because we have to provide for our families, we have to do things, but the point is, what are you willing to put in God's hands?

What are you willing to give up?

Because we can't underestimate what Jesus can accomplish with something willingly placed in his hands.

And that's the part.

Are you willing to do it?

And that's where you gotta have the trust and the faith to be able to say, okay, God, I can't do anything with this.

I'm putting it in your hands.

I need you to multiply it and do your perfect will in this.

Amen.

So God doesn't ask us to give what we don't have because we already have everything that we need.

He asks us to surrender what we what he has already placed in our hands.

And I'm pretty sure that when you place it in his hands, he's gonna start giving you things that you didn't realize that you needed.

And then you're like, wow, I didn't know I realized that I needed that.

I remember one time there's a situation recently where I had I had to work on my car.

And uh, brother in the church, uh uh Jesse uh Velegas, he he works on cars, and I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna see if you can work on my car.

And there was actually a certain amount of money left over that was the exact money I needed to fix my car.

Sometimes God will just bless you and you don't really realize that you need it until the need is there.

But when you place other things in your life, uh in your situation, your home, your family, all whatever the need is, whatever the situation is that you put in the hands of God, God will begin to fill the gaps that you didn't realize that you needed in a future date and time.

Because he's the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.

In him there is no time.

So he can see things before we even know that we need it.

So we don't realize the work and the faith that we're putting in early on, just trusting in him.

We don't realize what he's preparing in the future.

Amen.

So there's a benefit to that.

Amen.

So and the second thing is back on track with how we give.

That means our attitude.

That's a big one.

I have four boys, so I have all kinds of attitudes all the time in my house, including mine.

So I'm probably the fifth kid, you know, sometimes, that we have to deal with, right?

And that's the way I have to handle my boys.

But it's it's about how we give our attitude in the situation.

2 Corinthians uh 9, 6 through 8.

We talked about verse 7, but a few more scriptures around that.

And it says this but this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly.

And he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity.

So there's grudgingly, there's one attitude.

Or for God loves a cheerful giver, to have a cheerful attitude, a willing attitude, and God is able to make all grace abound toward you, because you have the right attitude when giving, that you also always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work.

So that means that whatever well, let me let me backtrack.

Paul connects generosity with the condition of the heart.

The condition.

So, how much are you able and willing to give?

So then you start to think about it, and then if the breaks start coming on because you think about all these other things that have to happen, does that mean that you're not able to give as much as you did before?

That it means your heart condition is not right?

He's talking about your attitude and when to give.

If you can only give a little bit because that's what you're able to give, but you give it cheerfully, that's enough for God.

Because you're doing it as a cheerful giver, as God has led you to give, your attitudes in the right place, and this is all you have to give to Him, then that's enough.

That's enough.

He's talking about your heart condition.

No, the point is the point is as you are led to give for whatever purpose, do it cheerfully.

It's not about the amount, it's about what you feel led to give and doing it with the right attitude.

Because a lot of times we begin to compare a price or as a money thing, or what your ability, or your whether you have physical, if you're trying to help someone physically at their home, well, I can't help them physically, so I can't do it.

Well, can you pray for them?

Can you call them on the phone?

Can you can you visit them?

Can you maybe buy them some groceries?

You may be able to do certain things physically.

Maybe you can do it fiscally with money, or maybe you can go talk with them and visit them in the hospital.

Whatever you're able to give, whatever you can place in the hands of God, he will bless that.

Because you have the right attitude.

And your giving is purposeful, it's with purpose.

It's not pressured when people tries to pressure into something, that's not the right way to give.

That's not the right way to do it.

I'm so thankful that our pastor doesn't do that, he doesn't make you give.

He encourages you, he prompts you, he corrects if he needs to, as a pastor should.

But he's gonna lead by example.

Reluctant or motivated by guilt, that's not the way to give.

I personally, me, I personally don't like being led into guilt to give of myself.

I don't, and when someone's trying to pressure me into giving something, I remember one time I was downtown and um usually when I give and someone's in need of food, I'll I'll I'll buy you a meal.

I'll buy you all the food you want.

And then he was like, Yeah, but I also want 20 bucks too.

I was like, I'm gonna buy you a meal so you can eat.

So that's how I like to give in that way, because I feel like that's fulfilling a need more than, but but that's just me.

But if your heart is sensitive to the need, then God will lead you to what you are able to do, not what somebody else is doing.

Don't compare the way you should give and how you give with somebody else, because it's gonna look different for everybody.

Because God will bless what you have given, just like the little boy who was able to give all that he had.

And God desires that cheerful generosity because it reflects trust in him as our provider.

When we have that right attitude, it shows that we trust him.

And so sometimes, like I was talking about at the very beginning, when we begin to hold on to things and we feel that lack of trust, then you know, maybe we need to take a step back and get our relationship right with God for a moment.

Maybe we need to pray about it, which you should.

Get into his word.

Maybe some things need to be a realign with you and your relationship with God.

And then you'll begin to affect your attitude because now you're aligning yourself right with him, and then you'll be able to make all these right decisions spiritually because you're making it right with him, and that trust is developed because he will never leave you, never forsake you.

He's the same.

So if he's the same and I'm not, who's the problem?

It's me.

So I've got to learn how to correct some trust issues in my life if I'm going to let go of some things and give it to him.

Does that make sense?

If our attitude is wrong, how does that bring God glory?

And it's not just in the way we give, because I think sometimes, in a practical sense, in our job, we give God to glory in the way that we work.

If our attitude is right, if something doesn't happen the way it should at our job, are we gonna act uh emotionally like everyone else around us may be acting emotionally about a situation, or are we gonna stand firm?

Like, you know what, yes, I get how you feel, but you know what, we're gonna we're gonna dress this right and we're gonna make the right decision on fixing this problem or whatever the case is, we're gonna come with it with the right attitude.

Because we're gonna give God glory in that because when they realize that you behaved yourself right in this situation, when you give with the when you give cheerfully, when you give with the right attitude, people are gonna see that.

Despite the circumstances, despite what's maybe going on around us, as we're led to give and learn to release those things, that's a reflection of our heart condition.

And we're able to bring him glory because our heart honors God.

Amen.

And we're able to bring him glory in that.

So we must be careful that we don't allow the enemy to tempt us to react from our emotions when giving to him, but allow the spirit to touch our hearts and to lead us to where and how we give.

Does everybody understand that?

Because sometimes, again, you know, if if our heart is not right, our heart is not going to be prompted to want to give anyway.

And sometimes we may be prompted to pull someone aside and speak to them.

Uh uh we may be prompted to, if you feel led to, give some money to someone in need or buy somebody groceries.

Whatever the need is, we have to be sensitive to that and allow the spirit to work in us and through us to bless somebody else.

And that comes from our heart to feel led to do that in the first place.

So Paul uses the point of sowing because if if you only plant a little, you will only get a little back from your harvest.

If you're only gonna give a little bit of yourself, you're only gonna get a little bit back from what you put into it.

Now, that does that doesn't mean you're trying to gain like a checklist on God's, you know, this list that He has.

You know, of course He doesn't have that, but that's not how it works.

If you put into something little, then you're gonna get back a little bit.

If you put something in abundance, if you plant an abundance, you will receive an abundance from what you planted.

The same thing when it comes to the gospel, it's the same thing to what you invest in.

You're gonna get it back, and it's not the amount, it's about the heart.

The reason why is because there is a woman that only had two mites, and we'll talk about a little about how much of that value is.

But in Mark 12, 41 through 44, Jesus talks about this, that he observed somebody with this attitude, the right attitude.

And Jesus sat over against the treasury and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury.

And many that were rich cast in much, because they have a lot to give.

They have an abundant, they're rich people, so they have abundant to put in.

And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow has cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury.

All the rich people who cast in an abundant amount, she cast in more than they did, because she gave everything, and the rich people did not.

That's all she had.

She gave everything.

Now two mites made a farthing, which compared to our money, is 0.0013 US dollars.

A fraction of a penny.

That's all she had.

That's it.

We don't even have pennies anymore.

But she gave less than a penny.

The rich cast in much, but compared to how much they own was nothing.

And what she had, she gave it all.

Everything that was less than the value of a penny.

So then where's so then does the amount that we have to give matter?

If God leads you to give everything and all it is is two mites, then that's all you give as you're led to give.

In this case it was money.

But whatever it is, biblical generosity is much bigger than money.

Amen.

Because we can be generous with our time, encouragement, hospitalities, our abilities, our resources, and attention.

But generosity asks how can God use me to bless?

Somebody else.

How can God use me to bless someone?

Are they only worth some of what I can give?

Was I worth that?

The person who invested in me and my soul and my life.

As a parent, I'm gonna invest all my time in my children and my wife.

Everything that I have, I want to give to them.

Sometimes it's harder, yes.

But I'm gonna put all my energy into them because I love them.

And they mean a lot to me, and they're important.

And the same thing in the kingdom of God, lost souls, people are just as important.

And so, what are you willing to give to them as God leads you to give?

Whatever God has led me to give, I will pour everything I have into them.

Because that's what God is leading me to do.

A generous life isn't measured only by how much we give, but by how willing our heart is to give.

Are you willing to devote yourself to God?

Are you willing to be obedient to his word?

It's all about what you're able to let go of and put in the hands of God.

What are you willing to let go of?

If you're not willing to let go of something, you need to ask God to pray to help you let go of whatever that is.

And to let God use you to bless somebody else, to help you, to lead you, to give you direction.

But you've got to learn to have faith and trust in that.

So we can have that heart to give.

And the third, why we give.

Back on track with why we give.

Proverbs 1125 says, the liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that waters shall be watered also himself.

It's not talking about politics here.

It's not talking about someone who is a liberal that you will be fat.

But the modern English version says, the generous soul will be made rich.

And he who waters will be watered also himself.

So, in other words, when we give of ourselves and we pour into others, we will also be poured into and be full.

That's what that means.

God's people were never intended to live only for themselves, but to steward what we have been given to use in our lives into the lives of others.

And I always like to think about, you know, when we are supposed to, you know, bear the fruit of the spirit in our own lives, but like a tree, that that tree is not meant to be used just for ourselves.

It's meant to be to be used to bless other people from that tree.

So I'm able to live my life out with the fruit of the spirit in my life so that others can see God's work in me and be blessed by the love of God, and be blessed by the hope and the patience and the kindness and the love, all those fruit that Galatians talked about.

Because Luke 6.38 tells us something very interesting.

It says, Give and it shall be given unto you.

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, runneth over, shall men give unto your bosom.

For with the same measure that you meet withal, it shall be measured unto you again.

God blesseth us so that we can become a blessing to others.

Pastors talk about this.

Whenever God blesses us, it's not just meant for us to hoard and to buy with whatever we want.

Because if we're going to do that, we're going to be very disappointed when we either pass away or raptured from this place and we take nothing with us.

Sorry to disappoint you, you're not taking anything with you.

Unless the souls that you've invested in.

That's it.

You're not taking anything with you.

Amen?

So let's just get that out right now.

But we can enjoy the blessings of God while we're here.

And God gives us those blessings of God to not only enjoy in our own life, but to bless others with.

We want to bless others with the blessings that God blesses us with.

Because generosity turns our attention outward.

It should turn our attention outward.

But I guarantee you, for me, every time I'm blessed with something, I'm like, wow, I just think of all these things.

Oh, I could buy this, I could buy that.

And I'm like, whoa.

I gotta, I gotta, I gotta step back and I say, okay, Ashley, what do we need to do?

Right?

And we talk about it with okay, what is God leading us to do?

Where do we need to put this?

Where do we put that?

And start being a good steward of what God has given us.

But it allows us to participate in what God is doing in someone else's life.

Because we can be a blessing to others.

Because that's what it's about.

The bull with the five loaves and two fishes had no idea who it affect.

And his giving blessed 5,000 men, as it said.

5,000 men, five loaves and two fishes.

This is a normal day lunch for this kid.

And that may have been his whole day.

I don't know.

But 5,000 people God used this boy who was willing to give his lunch.

And God blessed 5,000 people with it.

Size is of no significance.

His heart was right, and he was willing to give to bless somebody else that he probably didn't even know.

Acts 4, 32, 35 talks about the book of Acts church.

At the day of Pentecost, church was coming together.

They're forming kind of some strategies on how to send people out and gather things together and bless those in need as they felt led to give.

And it says, in the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.

So they were all, everybody had the right mindset going forward, like this is what we're going to do.

We felt led to give.

Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own.

So God was already dealing with everybody about this.

Well, this is all God's anyway.

We need to start.

Whatever I don't need, I'm going to give it out.

I'm going to bless people with it.

And even to the point where, if it was a need for you, if God led you to remove something that you feel prompted, people were giving up pieces of land, food, money.

Because they were led to give it for the kingdom of God.

Because the kingdom of God become greater than their own personal needs and wants.

Remember the disciples when they went, Jesus said, Don't take anything with you.

I will provide everything that you need when you go.

And if anyone doesn't receive you, says, Wipe the dust off your feet, don't worry about it.

Keep going.

I will provide what you need.

So if someone tries to give you a bad attitude about what you're trying to do, don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it.

Be calm.

Be patient.

I will take care of everything that you need.

And going on, it says, They had all things common.

And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

So they had the power and the authority of what God was doing because they were all unified.

Neither was there any among them that lacked.

Even as they gave up things, they lacked nothing.

And I would say, if they gave up something, they didn't worry about it because they didn't feel like there was a void and emptiness in their life because they gave up something.

A lot of us will feel that.

Oh man, I got to give this up.

Oh, what am I going to do?

God will fill the void because he is sufficient for you.

It says his grace was upon them all.

And if his grace is sufficient for you, then you will be full because he's going to fill the void.

Amen.

And as you give to somebody else, as you pour your heart into somebody else, you will have no lack in what you're doing.

You will not feel like, oh no, I feel empty.

That's not the right attitude.

Oh, I'm giving all this money out.

What am I going to do?

He's not telling you to be unwise.

Be wise.

But when you give, your attitude will be right.

You're giving to somebody else, and whatever means that is, and your heart's going to be right because he's going to fill that void.

You will lack nothing when you're led by the Spirit of God and you give as God leads you to give.

For as many as were possessors of lands and houses sold them, they sold their homes.

I don't know where they lived.

Maybe they put houses together and like bunked up or something.

I don't know.

And brought the prices of things that were sold.

So as they would go out and sell things their own, they would bring the money into the treasury of the church.

However, they did that.

And laid them down at the apostles' feet.

It was not theirs.

And distributed was made unto every man according as he had need.

It wasn't their own.

Their lands, their homes, their houses, everything was laid at the apostles' feet.

It's for the kingdom, it's for the church.

It's for those who are in need.

However, you see fit to give this, I'm willing to let go of it.

They had a heart, they had a good heart, they had the right heart.

Because what our culture does, it encourages accumulation.

As we talked about before, that's why there's so many storage buildings.

Because we are afraid to let go of things.

Because scripture teaches stewardship.

And I don't know, sometimes I think I'm so thankful for Ashley because growing up, she growing up in the military with her dad traveling around, they got rid of things every time they moved.

And when she married me, I was like, what are you doing?

I mean, I still have a container in my at the house.

I go through every time, like every year we go through, we purge, and things like that.

We'll sell stuff and give things are broken.

And there's some container, I'm like, ah, no, we want to let go of some things in there yet.

Things that are pointless.

If you're at my house one day, I'll show you and you're gonna be like, Really, Tyler?

I'm getting there, I'm getting there.

But he teaches us stewardship, stewardship over our homes, everything that God has blessed us with.

We have to be good stewards over our money, our family, our time, our food, everything.

We have to be good stewards over.

I remember the story, uh, not just the story, but actually happened to Joseph when when he went and they he had the dream of the famine coming, he brought everything in for those first seven years.

He said, There's a famine coming, and he's gonna bless us.

We need to store everything because once this famine comes and kills everything, we need to be able to distribute this.

And he listened to him, and God had favor upon him.

And because of that, there were the they were able to distribute this.

So when God blesses you in a season, don't just start spending it all because, well, he blessed me, so I'm gonna start spending all of my money.

Be careful, be wise, pray about it because you don't know when you may need that in emergency.

I know we're just talking about financial things here, but whatever God gives you, let's be good stewards of what we have.

Because that reflects your heart, that reflects your attitude, and you want to be a good steward because you want to be able to bless, use the blessings God has given you to bless somebody else.

We hold on to too much when we should be giving.

When we see a need to serve others, what happens is if we don't have the right attitude, it interrupts.

Well, I should say this.

When we see the need, if we are self-centered, it interrupts that.

When we learn to give of somebody else, it's gonna interrupt the self-centered living.

Those who are self-centered and it's all about me and you're not willing to give, guess what?

When you're willing to serve others, it's gonna interrupt that big time.

Because it's gonna take something of you.

And a lot of you may not, we're not just thinking money here, a lot of you may have jobs that serve others.

There's nurses, there's caretakers, there's firemen, there's policemen, there's there's jobs where you're having to serve somebody else under your position.

We have, we understand what it means to serve.

Well, because you're earning money and you're getting something back out of it.

Right, but what happens when you serve and you get nothing in return?

That's what we and we're not doing it just to, it's a great feeling, yes.

It doesn't earn us salvation.

Excuse me.

But what it does, it allows us to be a witness because we begin to give, God blesses us, our heart is right, and then we return that to somebody else.

Sometimes the greatest gift we can give isn't financial, it is simply noticing someone's need and responding to it.

Responding to the need.

When we go every day and we're at our jobs, or if you're retired, you're home, and you're kind of doing your daily steps, you go out, whatever you're doing.

I think we need to be praying constantly, God, how can I help someone in need today?

And whatever that need is, I know that you're gonna have have what I need to supply for that need.

Whatever that is.

Be willing to bless somebody, be willing to be sensitive to the Spirit as He leads you.

Even if you feel like you had a rough morning, you know what, Lord?

It's been rough today, but God, help me be a Christian example.

Help me have a heart of giving.

And whenever we have a heart to give, it calls us to action.

On the back of your paper, there's some practical things that we can do to give something.

Ask God to show you something you can give this week.

Financially, materially, spiritually, praise the Lord.

Got some music going there already, helping me out.

Whatever it is, give it.

And don't do it with the wrong attitude.

Serve somewhere, look for a need rather than waiting to be asked.

So if there's a need, and a lot of times we see that there's a need, oh, we need to do something about that, or oh, I need to go help that, then get up and go do it.

Don't even don't even hesitate, don't even wait, just go do it.

And help a need.

Whatever that is.

Bless someone, encourage, call, visit, help, invite, pray intentionally, make someone else's day better.

Because you never know what someone's going through, and if you're led by the Spirit to talk to someone, to encourage someone, to pray for someone, you never know how that can be an impact on somebody.

Because your heart is right.

And last thing, surrender something.

Identify one source: your time, your ability, your finances, your home influence, your possessions.

You've been treating primarily as the mind.

This is my stuff, I don't want to get rid of.

How would you like to use this, God?

Who can I bless this week?

Whatever it is.

So use these.

Put it on your mirror.

Think about it every single day.

How can I how can I fulfill these roles this week?

How can I give of myself?

I mean, Jesus did it when he washed the disciples' feet.

He said, Oh no, you're not gonna wash my feet.

If you're gonna wash me, cleanse cleanse all of me.

He's like, if I don't do this, how am I gonna set the example?

I gotta set the example.

So he washed his own disciples' feet.

He came to them as a servant, because that's what he did.

He came to serve, to give himself for many, for all.

And with that kind of attitude, we have to give ourselves, all of ourselves, to God, and whatever he wishes to do through me, let it be.

Here am I, Lord, if you're gonna use someone, use me today.

If there's nobody else in this place you can use, I'm ready and willing to be used to bless someone.

Getting back on track means moving from a life focused primarily on what do I need to a heart that asks the Lord, Lord, who can I bless today?

Can we stand this morning?

And going back to the first scripture, every man according as he purposed in his heart.

Whatever you purpose in your heart, give.

Let him give.

Don't do it grudgingly, don't do it with the wrong attitude or of necessity, like, oh, okay, here.

But do it cheerfully, for God loves a cheerful giver.