If God Has Everything... | Selvin Cortez

Um and so, yes, uh, we're gonna start with uh with our little story.

Um I heard the story, I've I've heard it uh said a couple of different ways.

Um if you've heard the story before, I'm gonna butcher it.

I'll just tell you right now, uh I'm gonna get the details all messed up, but uh just follow me.

There was uh there was this gentleman, he's uh he's he's going on a trip, and uh and so he's at the airport, and as he's sitting there at the airport, you know, he's gonna have uh a coffee, and I think this gentleman is is from Guatemala.

Um I think he's Latino because he can't just have a regular coffee.

And if you've been around any Latinos, you know that we don't just drink regular coffee.

If we're gonna if you're gonna invite me to coffee, it has to be with a donut.

Uh it has to be with a donut, a cookie, something that I need to dunk.

Okay, so uh I am a dunker, yes.

I know it's embarrassing.

My wife is embarrassed every time I do it.

I try not to do it in public.

If you see me out in public dunking, that's who I am.

I am a dunker.

And so this man is at the airport, he buys his coffee, he buys a bag of 10 uh donuts, and they're like little timbit-sized donuts or little tiny donuts.

And he's looking around, but the airport is full, he has nowhere to sit until he finds one table, and at that table there's another gentleman sitting across, and he politely says, Do you mind if I sit at this table?

And the other gentleman says, No, go ahead, have a seat.

So he sits down, he he takes his he takes his jacket off, puts the jacket on the back, has his luggage right here beside him.

He sits down, puts his coffee down, and he's having a sip of his coffee, and you know, he doesn't care who's watching, so he leans over, he grabs uh a donut from his bag, he grabs a donut from his bag and starts dunking, and he eats, right?

And so he's enjoying his coffee and his donut when all of a sudden the man sitting across from him reaches into the bag and grabs a donut.

And so the other man grabs a donut and starts eating the donut, and this guy's like, What's going on?

Like, uh that's the strangest thing I've ever seen in my life.

Um so then he's feeling like, okay, uh a little possessive.

So so he doesn't want to say anything to be rude.

So he he extends his hand, grabs the bag, and slides it closer to his coffee cup, grabs a donut and starts dunking and looks up to see if the other guy got the message.

The other guy didn't get the message, the other guy reaches over, slides the bag back towards him, grabs a donut, starts eating it, and slides it back.

He puts it back next to him, looks up, and just smiles.

And he said, What is going on?

This went on till the tenth donut.

Like, just going back and forth, and he's irate.

He's thinking, who is this donut thief?

Like, what's going on?

And so finally the other gentleman gets up.

Uh, it's time for his flight, and as an act of insult, he reaches over, grabs the tenth donut, splits it in half, puts the half in the bag, and says, Take care, we'll see you later.

And he leaves.

And this guy's thinking, what in the world?

I'm not gonna touch that.

Like, he just broke it and left me half a donut.

And this whole time he's thinking, the nerve of people, like, what is going on?

Why are people like this?

That's why I don't like to sit across people, and he's just going on and on, and my donuts, I I bought 10, I ate five and a half.

Uh, and so what do I do now?

And so all of a sudden uh the intercom goes off, and now he's gotta go to his flight.

So he gets up, they called his flight, he gets up, he grabs his his jacket, puts on his jacket, leans over, grabs his luggage, and on top of his luggage is his bag full of donuts.

And the whole time he was thinking, the other guy is stealing my donuts, his donuts were on his luggage.

And so it just it just when when I heard that story, I'm like, what is like like the the perception that we have of of what is going on around us really depends on what's going on in us.

And and so when I when I when I heard this message, uh this story, I was thinking, that's exactly the message.

That's that's where God is leading us for today.

And today I want us to open up our Bibles, if you have your Bibles, uh, to Psalm 50.

Psalm 50 is an interesting verse uh that talks about the opposite of generosity.

And you're thinking, what?

And and and that's it.

Lori was saying, you know, if God has everything, right, then why does he need me?

If God has everything, if he is the owner of everything, the heavens, the earth, everything that's ever been come into existence, he's the owner of that.

So if God has everything, Psalm 50, watch this, watch this, watch this.

Psalm 50, verse 9.

Psalms 50:9

This is God speaking, and he says, I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens.

For every animal in the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird in the mountains and the insects in the fields are mine.

How many insects are there?

All of them are mine, all of the birds are mine, all of the animals in the forest are mine, even the cattle on a thousand hills are mine, and then God says, If I were hungry, I would not tell you.

For the world is mine and all that is in it.

The world is mine and all that is in it.

And so the central question that we are asking today is if God has everything, why does he need me?

Why does he need me?

If God has everything, why does he need me?

And I think that that what God is asking, when God asks something of us, of you, of me, he is actually inviting us into something a lot bigger than you and me.

So what if God has everything, why does he need me?

He doesn't.

That's the point of Psalm 50.

He doesn't need us.

The earth and everything in it belongs to him.

The cattle on a thousand hills.

Just think of a thousand hills and how many cattle are there.

I know that might be strange to some of you.

It's definitely strange to me.

Okay, uh, I've got a cattle experience.

Uh, I went to Peru and uh my mother-in-law, she she's from this little town called um Yama.

Okay, and in that little town, my mother-in-law, I don't know if she wants me to say this, I'm gonna say it anyway.

Uh don't tell her I told you.

Uh my mother-in-law owns a hill, owns like a mountain.

I know, my head blew up, and she owns a mountain, and I we went to that mountain on on horseback.

It was it was the worst experience of my life.

Uh, we went to that, and and there's this little house there, and my mother-in-law, my mother-in-law, what she did, um, we're gonna pretend this is a stone.

Not this one, this one.

Um uh there's a big rock there, and and in order, she's got cattle, and in order to call the cows to come, they put salt on the rock, and then she starts singing, the the rock, yeah.

I'm sorry, it's not this big, it's like massive.

And and it's a mountain, and they put rock, they put salt on the on the rock, and the cattle, they just know, and they just I guess they like to lick up the salt, right?

And so I'm standing there, I'm like, ah, this is gonna be fun.

I'm putting some salt on the thing, on the rock, and I look up, and this herd of cows start barreling down the mountain, and I thought they were gonna stampede me.

I thought I was dead, this is it, I'm done.

I came into this world in Guatemala, I'm gonna end up in Peru.

And and these cows just started coming down off the mountain, and they all just knew, they all just knew that the rock had salt and that they could lick it up, and it was just the most impressive moment of my life.

I was so scared.

I'm telling you, I was scared.

I ran out of there.

I'm thinking, what am I doing?

I need to go back to the city.

Um, and so when God says that he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, that's the image that I have.

I have this image of Yama, uh, of this little town with a big mountain and and and all these cows just coming down.

God owns that.

If I'm hungry, God says I wouldn't tell you.

I could just take from what is mine.

So God has no need for us, yet He invites us into His plan.

And that plan starts with a chain reaction.

That plan starts at a point specific in time, and that point we're gonna look together in Romans.

So let's go to Romans chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

This is the chain reaction.

Let me just find my Romans here.

Romans chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

This is the chain reaction that God is inviting you to.

So remember, God has everything.

He has no need of us, but he invites us into his story.

He invites us into the story of salvation.

What is the mission of New Life Church?

What is the mission of God's church altogether?

But specifically, New Life Church, it's found right here in Romans chapter 10, verse 9.

Romans 10:9

If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Salvation comes through two things.

Salvation is by grace through faith.

So there's nothing that you need to do in order to receive God's salvation, but there are two steps, just two, that you need to believe.

And so these two steps that you need to believe is this declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.

Declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.

What does that mean?

That means Lord, that means he is now in control, he is now taking over, he is now the decision maker in my life.

I can make decisions, I can choose what shirt to wear, I can choose what decision to make, but it's always going to be under his counsel.

He is the Lord of my life.

That means I surrender to him.

I surrender my will, I surrender my my thoughts, I surrender my desires to him because he knows best for me.

That's what it means when he says, declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.

And number two, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.

That is the pinnacle of our belief that Jesus was raised on the third day, and he is living and alive.

There is no tomb that you can go see where Jesus' body lays.

There is none.

There is for everybody else, but not for Christ, because he is risen and he is risen indeed.

Thank you.

One person that went to church.

Uh He is risen indeed, yes.

And so so this is this is the steps that Paul is is lining out for us, lining up for us, that you have to confess with your mouth that he is your Lord and Savior, and you have to believe in your heart that he is risen on the third day, that he is risen from the dead.

Amen.

Are you with me?

So then Paul goes on in that same chapter, he starts working backwards and he starts saying, okay, verse 13, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

And this is where the chain reaction happens, and this is where God is inviting you.

And this is where Paul says, okay, now how does somebody become saved?

How does somebody become saved?

It starts backwards.

Paul says, How then can they call on the one they have not believed in?

And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

And so here's how it works: people get saved, lives are changed, Jesus is known.

People get saved, lives are changed, the name of Jesus is known.

Now, Paul traces this salvation backwards.

So watch this, watch this.

Let's go to the next one.

So Paul says, okay, okay, people are saved.

People are saved over here.

Amen.

People are getting saved.

That's great.

People are getting saved, and that's what we want.

We want people to come to the knowledge of Jesus.

But how do they come to the knowledge of Jesus?

They come to the knowledge of Jesus by confessing.

We just learned that.

You have to call on the name of the Lord, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

So if you're going through a situation, if you're going through a moment, a season, a difficult time, call on the Lord and you will be saved.

Call on the Lord and He will rescue you.

Call on the Lord and He will answer you.

Amen.

So calling, calling.

So saved, called, but we've got to believe.

We've got to believe in our heart.

Believe in our heart that He is risen.

And so when we believe that He is risen from the dead, do you know what that brings to us?

That brings to us an eternal hope.

An eternal hope.

Now watch this, watch this.

And and if you're not there, that's okay.

And and I can say this because I've never been, I've never been confronted with this.

But but if death knocked at my door, I'd I think I'd be like, just open it.

Just just walk right in.

I'm ready to see my King.

I'm ready to see my Jesus.

And so there is this expectation of hope that we have when we believe that He is risen because life does not end at death.

He overcame death.

He conquered death.

And in conquering death, he gives to us the eternal hope that whatever you're living right now is not the end of you and will not be the end of you.

The end of you is in his presence.

Where there will be no more tears, no more hurt, no more pain, no more suffering.

You will be in his presence for all eternity.

That's what happens when we believe.

But how can we believe?

If we can't hear.

This is the divine chain reaction.

If you are not sent, then somebody can't preach.

If somebody can't preach, who's going to hear?

If somebody can't hear, who's going to believe?

If somebody doesn't believe, they don't know that there's salvation, that there's hope on the other side.

They can't call on the name of God.

They will not be saved.

About a year, a year and a half ago, this lady, she was going through a really, really.

This was it.

Tomorrow, she's passing away.

And then they disconnected, and it was just they called her family, and they said, you know, if you have any last words, this is the moment.

Because she's she's not gonna make it.

She's not gonna make it.

That's like that's like the end of the line.

That's it.

And then someone someone who believes.

Someone who has heard the calling.

Fred got up.

And this person is in France.

He got up and he he had just come back from a trip.

He got on the first plane to go to France.

And in that France, right?

And in that moment, in that moment, he goes right to the hospital.

Like, he this isn't a trip.

This is being sent.

He got his ticket, he went, and he went right to the right to the to the to the hospital room and said, before you pull the plug, before you lose out all hope, let me pray.

Let me pray for this person.

Let me pray for her.

And he prayed.

And and when the doctors had said, there's no more hope.

This is it.

She's not even going to live any longer.

She she didn't she can't even recognize.

She he started to pray and he said, No, there's still hope.

I still believe.

I am here.

I will pray because I believe I've heard the message.

I believe God can save her.

He didn't go to Paris.

He didn't go see the sights.

He left the very next day.

Came back.

Got a testimony that Monday.

Then she started responding.

And her eyes started opening up.

And she started to respond to her family, and her family went to go visit her thinking it was the last time they were going to see her, and it wasn't.

Because somebody went.

Now let me ask you something.

Let me ask you something.

Would you have gone?

If you have a friend that's dying, would you have gone?

Yeah, you know what it takes to go?

Will.

We all have the will.

You know what else it takes to go?

Yes.

Yes.

It's not just the will.

We all have the desire to go and see somebody that is dying.

We all have a desire to go see and say goodbye or pray or do whatever God is calling us to do.

But that requires us to be invested.

That requires us to have the funds in order to do it.

That's exactly what Paul is saying.

The chain reaction starts with somebody being sent, but in order to send that person, there needs to be, there needs to be the financial resource, there needs to be the human resource, there needs to be a generosity.

And that's where God is inviting us, all of us, because your your giving, your generosity, you might not know what it's going to do, but God does.

God knows.

And there's this old proverb that I that I heard, it's not in the Bible, but it's this old story that says, for want of a nail, a shoe horse horseshoe was lost.

And for want of a horseshoe, a horse was lost.

And for want of a horse, a rider was lost.

And for want of a rider, a message was lost.

And for want of a message, the battle was lost.

And for want of the battle, the war was lost.

All because they were missing one nail.

And so your gift, your offering, your generosity, no matter how small you think it is, it is part of a larger chain reaction that can happen in the life of somebody that you don't know.

Or you might know them.

I want to tell you this right now.

You have no idea how many people, New Life Church, not Nouvelle V, okay?

Nouvelle V blesses on top of blessings, and they have Action Nouvelle V, and we have Action Nouvelle V.

And your tithes and your offerings and your generosity help for that.

I'm talking specifically New Life Church.

How many people that you have blessed, that you have blessed with a gift card to go buy food.

You don't know.

I do.

My administrative assistant, which is somewhere, there she is, she knows how many times we have given out gift cards for families so that their kids shouldn't go hungry.

And let me tell you, there is no shame in asking.

If you are going through a situation, ask.

We are here.

That's what the church is about.

And the reason I can boldly say that is because of you, is because of your generosity, is because you have a heart to serve and help others.

Now we've got this vision, and and yes, sometimes I dream and I go a little bit too far, and my wife has to bring me back a little bit down to earth, and my team also has to bring me back down to earth because I'm up here dreaming and thinking of New Life Church helping out our English community, whether they're Muslim, whether they're agnostic, whether they're atheist, whether they're Catholic, whatever they are, we want to help them.

We want to help them, and we want to spread the love of Jesus.

And and I'm already envisioning this team, and I already know who's probably gonna lead this up.

And so I'm envisioning this, and I think that we can do it, but we can only do it through you.

Through you.

All of that takes and requires from your generosity.

It takes and requires you, your hands.

You don't know what's happening right now with our kids, but they are being ministered.

There's a child right now that is hearing the name of Jesus for the first time.

And once upon a time, that was me.

And once upon a time, that was you.

And that's why you're sitting here today.

And and and God, it's it's so impressive how God works.

See, He has everything, He can do everything, and yet He invites us into His story.

The Bible says in John 20, verse 21, as the Father has sent me, Jesus is speaking, he says, even so I am sending you.

John 20:21

Even so I am sending you.

This is this is impressive that we get to be a part of the story of God.

And that's the invitation for today.

You get to be a part of that invitation.

And and watch this.

God is so awesome at this.

There's a there's a man in Acts chapter 10 that had no idea how far his faithfulness would go.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

And this man, his name is Cornelius.

And Cornelius, you're thinking cornflakes?

No, no, nobody.

Um, that's the first thing I think of is cornflakes.

Cornelius, cornflakes.

That's the that's that's that's what we had growing up, cornflakes.

Um, with a little bit of sugar, warm milk.

Um Cornelius, Cornelius had no idea.

Cornelius was an amazing man.

Now, watch this.

Cornelius is at the time uh right after right after uh Jesus uh ascends, uh now comes the book of Acts, and now comes Paul, Peter, and they start, they're they're they're uh filled with the Holy Spirit and they're preaching all over the place.

And Cornelius is not a Jewish man.

You see, Peter and the disciples, the apostles, they're preaching to Jews mainly, and they're converting Jews only.

And so salvation is only for the Jews in this point in time.

But there's one man by the name of Cornelius who was a Roman centurion, a Roman soldier, a Roman soldier, and and he's he's looking, he's he's looking to God and he praises God, and the Bible says he was so specific that he would pray at 3 p.m.

every day because he knew.

Now, the Bible doesn't tell us how he knew, but he just knew that at 3 p.m.

that's when that's when the offerings were being given at the temple.

So I would imagine that this Cornelius was on temple guard, and he knew when all the Jews would come and start praying, and he would look at the time, he didn't have a watch.

He didn't he would look at the sun, he would look at the sun, and he'd be like, Oh, okay, it's the ninth hour, the ninth hour is 3 p.m.

Right now, they're praying.

I'm gonna start the same habit.

And he started praying, and because he was a Roman centurion, he had a really, really good salary.

And so what he did with his money is he started helping out the poor.

And he started he started blessing people around him financially.

Just he was always there, and he led his family into generosity, he led his family into giving.

And in that moment, the Bible says uh in Romans, in where are we?

In Acts.

Let's go to Acts chapter 10.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

I'm going the wrong way.

Acts chapter 10.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

It says this at Caciaria there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian regiment.

Italian, he dressed really nice.

He and all his family were devout and God-fearing.

He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

One day at about three in the afternoon, he had a vision.

He distinctly saw an angel of God who came to him and said, Cornelius! Cornelius stared at him in fear.

What is it, Lord?

He asked.

The angel said, Watch this.

Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.

Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon, who is also called Peter.

Did you get it?

His gifts, his offerings, and his prayers went all the way up to heaven.

So, so sometimes when we pray, when we're praying and we're thinking, God, God, uh, answer me, God, what's going on?

God, I need to hear your voice.

God hears those prayers.

God hears those prayers, and I want you to believe me, every single prayer that you send up to heaven, he hears.

I also want you to know that at the same time as you're sending up your prayers, your generosity also goes up to heaven.

And in that moment, in that moment, Cornelius, his prayers and his giving.

See, Cornelius didn't buy salvation.

That's not what we're talking about.

He didn't buy salvation, but he got noticed by heaven through his giving and his prayers.

You know what's awesome?

The angel is standing right in front of him.

The angel is standing right there.

And and yet the angel, the angel could have given him the message of the gospel.

The angel could have preached to Cornelius and said, believe on Jesus, and you and your house will be saved.

He could have preached that, but the angel didn't.

What impacts me is the angel told Cornelius, send men to go get Peter.

Like that drives me bananas.

Why didn't he just tell him?

Why didn't you just ask him?

Salvation has not yet entered his house.

And the angel says, send men to go get Peter.

Peter comes into his house, preaches the gospel.

Him and his whole family are saved and baptized.

Because somebody was sent.

You see, that's how God works.

God is going to send us, he's going to send you somewhere to someone to preach something so that they can believe, so that they can hear, so that they can believe, so that they can call, so that they can be saved.

In Jesus' name.

God is calling you.

And God is calling you into this great salvation.

Let me tell you this: heaven hears your voice.

Heaven hears and sees your generosity, sees your heart.

See, we we we can't, when we give, we know that we are giving to God.

We are giving to his work here.

We are giving to the local church so that we can send, so that we can provide, so that we can help.

You're giving to a local church.

But in that giving, as you give to God, he sees it.

And the Bible says that he is a rewarder of those who give.

Okay, let me be super clear.

That's not how God works.

Okay?

But what we can't do is we can't shy away from the promises God has for us.

And in that promise, God says that he is a rewarder of those that seek and follow him, those that are generous.

Paul later goes on to tell us what that looks like, but he is a rewarder.

So yes, there is a reward.

What we can't do is determine what that reward is.

So I give, knowing that he's going to reward me.

When, how, and what is up to him.

But my trust is in him.

The Bible, this is the only time, this is the only time that God says, try me, test me in this.

And and listen, we didn't we didn't talk about this, but but Lori, she recited Malachi.

Malachi 3.10.

And Malachi 3.10, God says, test me, test me.

I am the rewarder of your faith.

Trust me here, obey me here.

God is a rewarder of your faith.

And that's what he wants for you.

And so he's inviting you.

And the time is is is against me right now, but but he is inviting you into a story.

He is inviting you into this story.

And and let me just finish with this.

We're gonna go to Corinthians.

So, those of you following me in the back, let's go to Corinthians.

Corinthians chapter nine says this.

Remember this.

Corinthians nine, verse six.

Remember this.

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

For God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to bless you.

Watch this, watch this.

God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things and at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Why does God want to bless you?

So that you can abound in every good work.

Why does God want to bless you?

Because when there is a need, he wants to make sure that he can trust you to go.

Why has God blessed Fred so much?

It's because he knows that those resources are for his kingdom.

And he knows that I'm going to use those resources for a need.

If there's a need, if I have to go pray for somebody on the other side of the world, I will go and I'll not think twice about how much that plank ticket costs.

Because God is calling us to be generous and to sow with with abundance so that when when there is a need, that He can count on you and count on me to fulfill that need.

You see, this place, this place is free to us.

We come in here, we enjoy the air conditioning, the sound, the music, everything is free to us.

But it's not free to Nouvelle Vie.

Hydro Quebec here is not free.

Electricity here is not free.

So it takes a people to believe that God is faithful and God is the rewarder of our souls.

And so He is calling us, He is calling us to go.

He is calling us to go, and you could have the best heart in the world, but if you don't have the finances to get there, then then what do we do?

We pray.

Yes, we pray and we ask God to fulfill.

We ask God to continue.

We ask God to continue His work.

And that's why we're here, guys.

We're here because God is calling us to go out and preach.

He's calling people to hear.

The Bible says that the harvest is ready, souls are ready, people are ready to hear the gospel of good news.

And that good news is that there is hope on the other side.

Jesus is the answer that you're looking for.

That's the hope that people need to hear.

And so today I'm going to invite you.

I want to invite you to come into our story.

Our story as a church, our story as a church is amazing.

We are growing and God is extending us and God is continually bringing new people into our church.

This is our story collectively.

Collectively, this is what God is doing through your giving, through your tithes, through your offerings.

He is giving.

Why does God need my generosity?

Why does God need my ties?

Why does God, why does God, why does God, and I think, I think we're putting the emphasis on the wrong word.

We we we ask why W H Y.

W H Y, why?

Why God?

Why does God?

Why?

And I I just want I just want you to drop the W and the H.

And this is the reason why we give.

Because when we give our story becomes your story.

Our story becomes your story.

And now you can be sent.

And now you can go out and preach.

And now you can go out and and make sure that people are hearing the word of God.

You can be a living testimony.

We want to send you.

We want to send you.

This isn't about a stage.

This isn't about microphones.

You might never have a microphone, but your generosity, your gift, your offering can do so much in the kingdom.

By the way, we are here today.

And I don't know if there's anybody that's Jewish here today, but most of us are probably not Jewish.

But we are here today because of Cornelius.

Because Cornelius was the first Gentile to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior through a message that was brought to him by Peter.

He opened up the path so that salvation would come to us as well.

How did he do it?

Through his gifts, helping the poor, and praying.

And so every two weeks, every week, every two weeks, maybe once a month, I don't know how God uh moves your finances around or your resources, but let me tell you this.

Every two weeks, you all get a bag of 10 donuts.

You all get a bag of 10 donuts every two weeks.

I know I do.

And what God is saying is simply this give me one.

Give me one of your 10 donuts and see what I can do with it.

Lord, but I need 11.

God says, I know, I know.

Trust me with one, and you don't know when, how, or why, but miraculously He provides, and He will provide for you.

The Bible says that we, we, we men, we fathers are are.

Sinful, but yet we know how to give good gifts to our children.

How much more?

How much more will our heavenly father not provide for you all that you need through the Holy Spirit?

Trust in Him.

You all get ten donuts.

God is asking for one.

And what's interesting is they're his anyway.

They're his anyway.

And David, David, in that same psalm says, We give to you.

David was one of the biggest givers to the kingdom of God.

And and in this moment, everybody just starts giving.

Everybody's just coming forward and giving and giving and giving.

And David says, I'm not going to be out given.

So he starts giving more and more and more.

And then as people start coming forward, he starts saying, God, you know what's amazing?

Is that we're giving from what you have given to us.

Everything you have comes from him.

The Bible says that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father, the Father of lights.

And he is giving you all.

You know, a couple of weeks ago, Josh, our worship leader, he uh he got up and welcomed everyone and said, New Life Church, how are you doing?

I'm grateful that I got up today.

And you know what a what a very small thing to say.

And yet it has so much power.

Grateful that today I can roll out of bed.

Grateful to have health today.

Grateful to be here today.

I am grateful that I'm in this province, in this country today.

I am grateful for the peace that we have.

I am grateful that we that we can meet together freely.

Grateful gratitude.

That's where giving starts.

With a heart full of gratitude.

And so God isn't God isn't asking you to give what you don't want to give.

If you don't want to give it, don't give it.

He doesn't need it.

He's inviting you.

We get to give.

We get to be a part of his story and turn that story into yours.

So I want to invite you to stand to your feet.

This is why we give.

We give to bless.

God is giving to you so much.

Um I heard this story that that money is like a river.

And just gotta find the right river.

This was this was at a conference that I went to, and and the gentleman that was speaking said, money is like a river, just find the right river, and and don't don't go to a brook, go to a river.

Go to somewhere where the where the water is flowing, where money is flowing.

So find the right industry for your life and just stand there.

Now, now here's here's what he said.

Now, um, you're not gonna like this, and he said this to a group of CEOs.

There was 500 CEOs in in this place.

He says, You're you're probably not gonna like this, but that river, that river is not yours.

You don't own the river, he said, you don't own the river, but this is this is what you can do.

If you want to stop the river, you won't be able to.

It's just coming at you.

If you want to grab onto the water, it's just gonna slip from your hands.

So if you see money that way, that's what he was saying.

If you see money that way, if you want to hold on to the money and say, This is mine, this is what I work for, then you're eventually going to lose it.

This is what he was saying.

But if you allow the water, the river to flow through you, there's always going to be a resource there.

And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, is this guy a preacher?

Is this guy Christian?

And so I'm thinking, and I went to speak to him after, and he said, I'm just about there.

I'm just about there.

I said, take the step, take the plunge.

Now, now I want you to jump into the river, the river of the Spirit of God.

And so, watch this.

Allow God's river to flow through you to other people.

That's what generosity is all about.

It's about giving, knowing that he rewards.

And nobody needs to know how much I give, nobody knows how much I give, but but God sees it.

Just like he saw Cornelius, he sees you.

And he sees your heart and he sees your giving, he sees the time that you come, he sees your service.

And next week we're gonna talk about serving and being part of this body that God has put on uh in the South Shore for our English community.

You are blessed, highly favored.

You are blessed by God, and in that giving, God blesses, and so we look to our rewarder.

Amen.

It's it's not it's not it's not bad to say that God rewards us.

He is the rewarder of our souls, he is the rewarder of our efforts, he rewards those that that obey him, that lead him, that go with him.

He's the rewarder of our souls.