Money Talks // First and Best - Week 4

in church today. And now I want to give a special welcome to the men and women watching behind bars in a correctional facility. Calvary Church, will you give them your best welcome this morning? You're not a project to us. You are family. Love what God is doing behind bars. Come on. It's a great day to be in church. I want you to turn to your neighbor today and say something really spiritual to them. Look them in the eyes and say you got issues. You got issues. You got issues. You got issues. Here's the reality. Everybody has issues and everybody has issues as it relates to money. Some people have issues because they don't have enough money. Other people have issues because they have plenty of money but they're constantly worried about losing it. Some people have spending issues. Some people have saving issues. Some people have debt issues. Some people have generosity issues. And some people are convinced that they don't have any money issues which, listen, that means that's their issue right there. Come on. So let's check out these stats that I came across this last week in preparation for this message. In America right now, 51% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck right now. Think about that. 51%. 27% of Americans have zero dollars in emergency savings right now. Just think about that idea right now that if something happens that they literally have no money to help them out of that situation. 43% of Americans can't cover at a thousand dollar emergency. The total US credit card debt has just crossed over 1.3 trillion dollars. 1.3 trillion. The average household carries $11,500 in credit card debt with an average interest rate of 21%. How many know we've got a problem here in America? We've got a problem. Think about this. 28% of Americans have nothing saved for their retirement. That means that they're literally going to have to work for the rest of their life because they have nothing saved for retirement. 52% of adults say they worry about money. So what do we do with our issues? What do we do with our money problems? I've got really, really good news for you today, Church. The Bible is not silent about money. Oh, I know that people want the Church to be silent about money, but let me just tell you how the Church works. Here's how the Church works. The Church preaches the Bible and the Bible is not silent about money. Come on, someone. Did you know that there are over 2,000 verses in the Bible that deal with money and deal with possessions? That's more than prayer and faith combined. It shows us that God has a very, very high priority on how we spend and steward our money. 11 of the 39 parables that Jesus talks about with the own words of Jesus deal with money. So it shows us then how we should deal with money in our lives. Jesus addresses it head on in one out of every 10

verses in the gospel deals with money in some ways. So how you handle money is one of the best indicators of the priorities of your heart. Listen, you can say that you care about something all day long with your lips, but you actually show what you care about based upon what you spend your money on. That's why Matthew 6, 21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." And I want you to think about that. Jesus connects our treasure with our heart. Jesus connects our treasure with our heart. Think about it this way. How many in the room have ever purchased stock in a company before? Let me see your hands. Many in this room have purchased stock in a company before. You know that the moment that you purchase stock in that company suddenly you start caring about what that company is doing. You ever bought some stock in Walmart before? Buy some stock at Walmart and then you show up at Walmart next week and you see all these things that are going on. You see the mess. You see the chaos. You go, they better get their act together at Walmart. You're like pointing to the worker there. You're like clean up on aisle three. They're like, "Who are you?" You're like, "I'm an owner. I'm a stock owner at Walmart. Come on, someone." Why do you care? Because your money is now invested there. And I wonder what would happen if we began intentionally investing more of our resources in the things that actually matter to God. What matters to God is lost people. What matters to God is making disciples. What matters to God is helping those in need. What matters to God is the millions of people that have never even heard the name of Jesus before because somebody has not been able to go and reach them. And I wonder if our hearts started to break for the things of God, then our hearts will be more connected with His plan and His purpose. And here's what I want you to hear today. And I just want to say this to all of our guys. Or even all of those that have been attending Calvary Church for six months or less. Really today, I am so glad that you're here. Please come back next week though. We're starting a great series called Giants, How God Takes Ordinary People, and use them for a great thing. This is really for people that have decided that Calvary Church is their home today.

So I just apologize for this message today. But here's what you need to hear. What you need to hear today, if this is really your church, and you're really planted here, and you've been here more than six months, God isn't after your money. Calvary Church isn't after your money. God's after your hearts. But he knows this, how we handle our money reveals what we're trusting and what we're prioritizing. And so today I'm just gonna jump right into it. I wanna give you four biblical principles. From the Bible, four principles that will help us master our money instead of allowing our money to master us. And I believe this, if we begin applying these principles, we'll exercise greater wisdom, greater freedom, greater generosity, and ultimately greater trust in God. Come on, is there anyone in the room today at the 930 service that says, "I wanna trust in God with my heart and my life." I know you do, I know you do. So point number one is this, if you're taking notes, and I sure hope you are, go ahead and pull those notes in, search out and start taking notes. Point number one is this, you gotta see yourself as a steward, not an owner. I talked about this last week,

so I won't spend a lot of time here today. But I need to review this again, because this is foundational. This is not just about your money today, your life, you gotta see yourself as a steward, not an owner. There's a big difference between being a steward and an owner. The Bible says who the owner of all things is. Psalm 24, verse one, says, "The earth is the Lord's." The earth is the Lord's. In other words, it's not yours, it's not mine, it's his, and everything in it. In other words, your house is actually not yours, your house is the Lord's. You didn't say amen to that. Your car is not yours, it's actually the Lord's. The clothes and the jewelry you're wearing right now, they're actually not yours, they're the Lord. Your dog is not yours, it's the Lord. Notice I didn't say cat, because those are of the devil, come on, someone. The earth is the Lord's and all who live in it, the world's. So God is the owner and we are the steward. God is the owner and we are the steward. Now here's why that matters. When you own something, you feel like you have the right to do whatever you want with it. Why? Because you own it. But when you're managing something that's been entrusted to you,

you handle it in a different way, and you understand that you're responsible for the way that you take care of it. So I know that your name might be on the deed of your house, but God's name is on the universe, come on, someone. Someone lived in that house before you. Somebody owned that land before you bought it, and some day should the Lord teary, someone else is gonna be living in your house that you call your house one day. Come on, someone. We're not owners, we're merely stewards. And you gotta get this in your heart today, because if God owns it all, you gotta trust that God can provide it all. But just because that God can provide supernaturally doesn't mean he's removed the responsibility for you and I to manage wisely. And I wonder how differently our approach to our finances would be if we really believed this, that every single dollar in our hands actually belongs to God. That instead of saying, can I afford this, we would say, is this really the wisest decision and purchase to make right now? Instead of asking, do I want this, we'd say, does this thing actually align with the priorities that God has given me? Instead of spending without thinking, we'd become intentional,

because stewardship isn't just about what we give, it's about what we do with everything. Listen to me today, some of you are asking God for more. You're asking God for increase in your job. You're asking God for more finances. You're asking God to move up the chart, it's your job. You're asking God for more and more and more. Don't ask God for more if you're not stewarding well what you've been given right now. Now someone might say, well, Pastor Dan, I don't believe what you're saying today, because I built my business. I started it from the ground up. I worked so hard to start that business. I worked so hard, you have no idea the hours of work that I put in. You have no idea the people that I gathered around me, the team that I built. You have no idea how hard it was to post all that content and build all of those followers. You have no idea the amount of hours that I put in. I worked hard for what I have. And I believe you, some of you have worked incredibly hard. You're putting in long hours, you're raising a family, you're running a business, you're doing everything that you can do to make ends meet. But let me ask you something. Who is the one that gave you that ability to work? Who is the one that gave you that mind to be able to think? Who is the one that actually gave you those gifts?

Who is the one that gave you that promotion? Who is the one that gave you that opportunity? Last time I checked, who is the one that placed breath Come on, the Bible says, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." And because God put His breath in you, your life exists to bring glory and honor to Him. Deuteronomy 8, 18 reminds us that it's God who gives us the ability to produce wealth. So yes, you worked for it, but God gave you the ability to work from it. Come on, is anyone thankful for a God today that gives us the ability to think, the ability to process, the ability to work today? How many of you want to be faithful with everything that got us placed in your hands? Then you've got to see yourself as a steward, not an owner. This is foundational. Talked about that a lot last week. Pick up on that again just shortly today. Number two is this. Number two, this brings us to the second principle. Today is going to be probably the most practical message that you've heard in this message series. I'm just going to get right to it. I'm just going to tell you the things that you need to do to live a blessed life. Number two is this, you've got to practice the discipline of giving. You've got to practice the discipline of giving.

I want you to write this down. You've got to practice the discipline of giving because generosity doesn't just happen automatically. It's something that you have to learn to develop. It's a discipline, it's a muscle. It doesn't come natural to anyone in life. Think about physical exercise. If you want to get stronger, you've got to train. You've got to be more consistent. You've got to make decisions even when you don't feel like doing it and generosity works the same way. Generosity is a muscle that grows when you begin to use it. My wife and I have two kids. My daughter, Andy Rose, just got to celebrate her fourth birthday yesterday. Come on, she had the best birthday and she got to not only get showered in gifts and get cake, but come on, she got to dress up and we just go, it's all for your birthday. Baby, it's all for your birthday and she got way too much candy. Come on, someone. But when Andy Rose and Samuel first started to learn to talk, their first couple words were dead dad. And then mama was always dead dad first. It was dead dad first, very clear on that. My wife and I will fight about it, but it was dead at first. And then it was mama and then the next word was ball. And you know it was the next word that both of them,

we didn't even teach them this word, but they just somehow knew it. Was the word mine? It's mine, why? Because we all have this gravitational pull to selfishness and greed. To making life all about ourselves. And scripture is very clear that we're not to make our lives about ourselves, but rather we're called to die for ourselves. And we overcome greed by becoming generous. Generosity is the key to true joy in life. The key to overcoming greed is giving because giving is in the heartbeat of every single believer. And sometimes I'll hear pastors, people say, "Pastor Dan, when I make more money, "then I'll become more generous." I've learned this, that's not true at all. If you're not intentional about the generosity with what you have today, making more money doesn't automatically change your heart tomorrow. Because generosity isn't primarily determined by the amount you have, it's shaped by the priorities that you developed. Look at 2 Corinthians nine, verse seven. 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.

I love that phrase, decided in your heart. In other words, it's intentional. It's something you determine, it's something you plan, and it's something you build your life on. So I believe in this church today, there's many that wanna become generous people. I wanna answer that question for you now. How do we become generous people? Three ways, if you're taking notes. The first is this, number one. As I see commanded in scripture, biblical principle, the first is you gotta start to tithe. You start with the tithe. The tithe predates the law. Some of you would say, tithe thing is just an Old Testament law. It's not for us today. The tithe actually predates the law. Abraham tithe in scripture, even before the law was a thing. The tithe predates the law. The tithe is in the Old Testament law, and then it's endorsed by Jesus in the New Testament, which shows that giving to God our first, because it ultimately all belongs to him, we give him our first through the local church that we are planted in. It's a command that says, when I get paid, the first thing I'm going to do, the first check that I'm going to write,

the first purchase that I'm going to make, before I do anything else. God, you are first in my life, because as you give first, you're saying, God, you're the first in my life. You did this this morning by coming to church. You made a really, really wise decision to be here in church at the 930 AM service. What are you saying on the first day of the week, whether I feel like it or not, I'm in the house of the Lord, on the first day of the week, before I do anything else, God, you get my first. You get my attention. You're the first of my week. You do that when you spend time in prayer and worship and the word, because you're saying, God, before I do anything else today, every single morning, you get the first of my day and God is big on first. When you honor him with the first, you'll live a blessed life. The first is this, you gotta start the tithe. That's how you break the curse of greed over your life and you step into generosity. The tithe is through your local church. The tithe is not taking someone out to eat, who goes to our church and blessing them and paying for the meal. That's not a tithe. That's generosity, you're just blessing them.

The tithe is not giving to some mega church pastor that you like watching on YouTube and you enjoy their sermon so you wanna fund their ministry and bless them. That is not the tithe. The tithe is not giving to a homeless person in need as you drive down Route 130. That is not the tithe. Those are all things of generosity that are not bad to do. But the tithe according to scripture is the first 10%, no strings attached, you don't get to designate it or tell it where to go, the first 10% to the local church you're planted in. Then we move into number two, it's called generosity. Generosity is where you give to Christ-centered causes that impact eternity. Now I wanna lean into this for a second and I'm gonna be a little bit more stronger and maybe clearer than I've ever been before. Because listen, there are a lot of incredible causes all over the world. There's a lot of great charities today. And most of them are really, really good. Maybe there's some bad ones, but I'd say for the most part, they're all really, really good. My challenge for you as the church of Jesus Christ is this, is that America is the wealthiest nation in the world. There are enough millionaires and billionaires that are not Christians that are funding

a lot of these good causes because they need to take write offs for their business or for their taxes, okay? Let's as the church of Jesus Christ determine that if our money beyond the tide is gonna be given to something, it's gonna go to world changers. It's gonna go to Christ-centered causes so we see more people reach. So we see more people rescued out of sex trafficking. So we see more churches planted. So we see more Bibles translated around the world. And through world changers, we get the opportunity to get to participate in this work both in local mission, global mission, and to see more future Christian leaders raised up. Come on, someone. And every time we do those opportunities, we're declaring that our resources have a greater purpose than ourselves. Now listen to me today. I want to be very strong, very clear. Some of you love what we do with world changers. And let me just say this. We believe so much in the principle of tithing. We as a church and I as your pastor will never ask you to do something that we won't do. We really believe that this is a biblical principle, a command of scripture, that we as a church tithe off of your tithe.

We take 10% of every dollar that comes into our general fund, actually more than 10% honestly, our giving is about 24% now of every single dollar that comes in goes out the doors. And it's not towards our programming, our staffing, our ministry just goes out the door to bless people around the world. We believe so much in this principle of tithing that we take 10% off of every dollar that comes into our general fund. And we place that in our world changers fund because we just believe in impacting our world for Jesus. But I wanna say this today. Some of you love world changers. Some of you love that we're supporting 140 plus missionaries. And you love that we're rescuing people from sex trafficking. And you love that we're planting churches around the world. And you love that we're helping benevolently, locally in our community with homelessness and people in need. But if you're not tithing according to scripture, you should not be given to world changers. You start with the tithe first and then after the tithe, then you give to world changers. So it's tithe, then it's world changers. And then here's the third level. The third level is this is called alms. The third expression of giving is what scripture often describes as giving alms. This is simply a traditional world for giving and extending to people in need.

Extending with help to reach people. And this is so important. That's why above the tithe and above world changers, we do a year-end offering. It's called miracle offering where we help people locally in our community in need because it's not just about supporting our ministry programs and it's not just about going around the world. We love to be the hands and feet of Jesus even to our neighbors. It's a number one, you gotta see yourself as a steward, not an owner. Number two, you gotta practice the discipline of giving. Number three, I'm gonna get even stronger. I'm gonna step on your toes a little bit more this one. You ready? Number three, you gotta get out of debts. You gotta get out of debt. Now here's the third principle. And I want you to lean into this one because it's incredibly practical. Some of you are like, I'm trapped and drowning in debt and it's wild, the amount of debt you've collected. You're like, I just wished I had a solution to this. There's a lot of solutions to this. I saw this video the other day of this guy. He's going through Disney World while other people are on vacation and he's interviewing them, figuring out how much debt they have. Now you would think if they're on vacation

in one of the most expensive, I mean, sorry, I'm at happiest places in the world that these people are out of debt, that they manage their finances are well, that their house is in order. You think that they're living a financially healthy life. Let's have a little fun. Go ahead and check out this video and see people that are in Disney World and how they spend their money. - Are you guys in any kind of debt right now? - Mine's pretty minimal, I think, credit card and vehicle. 53. What are you driving a 24 Toyota tundra? How about you? How much debt do you have? Probably 75,000 credit cards and then a car loan as well. What's your car loan? Yeah, like 60 60. What are you driving? I was terrible. You rolled over negative equity, didn't you? Yes, I did. Yes. Honda Pilot 25. What's your car payment? 1200. How much your car payment? 982. I mean, you're just giving away the income every month at this point, right? Yeah. Yeah. How much student loans we have left? I probably have 100,000 in student loans. Okay, add it all up in your head. I think we're doing this for the first time. How much debt do you have total, total, total? I'm going to say at least 180 grand. Can you tell me, did you guys pay cash for the trip? For half of it. The other half is on what? The Disney credit card. What do you get for putting it on the Disney card versus any old other card? It has a six month special financing. So there's no interest for like six months. Okay. So is your plan to pay it off in six months? Yes. That is the plan if we can do that for sure. Yeah. That doesn't instill confidence. Because otherwise it's going to like crank up to what? 29% APR or something crazy. Yeah, absolutely. Do you guys have any debt right now? Yes. How much? My student loans, they're about 100,000. What was your degree? Business administration. How much total do you have in debt? Probably around 128,000 I'd say total. Do you ever feel like I'll just die with the debt?

Like is there a game plan to back? I'm going to pay this off in three years or is just kind of like I'll make my payments. It's going to be probably in about 15 years. I'm assuming I'll get it paid off. I don't know. How old are you now? I'm 22. You know what? That's not uncommon at all. And you know where all these people are at? They're at Disney World. Come on, someone. Getting rained on in the heat. Invisible Orlando because they bought into the lie. Just swipe it and you can live the life that you want. Here's the problem. The reason why many of you are not free today is because you lack self-control to do money God's way. The Bible is very clear. Romans 13, 8. Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another. Whoever loves one another has fulfilled the law. You've got to get a plan to get out of debt. Look at Proverbs 22 verse 7. It says the rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender. That's a really strong statement right there. And I want you to understand what Scripture is teaching us that Christians should aggressively make a plan to get out of debt. Now I'm not talking about your mortgage, although that would be great if you have the ability to get out of debt quicker on your mortgage. But all other debt outside of your mortgage, you need to have a plan to get out of debt because the Bible is clear that the borrower is slave to the lender. The debt is not just a money problem. It's a slavery problem. That the minute that you place something on your credit card that you cannot pay off, you have sold a piece of your future to the lender and you cannot freely follow and obey what God has commanded you to do when your master is Visa or MasterCard or American Express. You can't freely tithe when you owe so much in minimum payments that you can't do anything else. You can't go on that mission strip in 2027 that Calvary Church is going to announce the mission strips that are happening because you're so strapped financially. You can't get out of that toxic relationship that you got in with that person when you're strapped financially and you didn't do things God's way but you got in that relationship and you realize it's not right. Now when you need each other, here's the reality, if you want freedom, you've got to get out of debt. And my challenge for the body of Christ is this, let's start taking this subject seriously. Figure out a game plan, lean into it, get a second job or a side hustle, figure out a way so you can truly be free and follow the Lord and say, "I will only have one master who is Jesus Christ

instead of any other master that will lead you down a hole to a life in which you'll never be fulfilled." And let me give you a phrase and I hope you remember this phrase this week. The phrase is this, "at your wage," don't act your age, act your wage. But seriously, some of us are spending money that we don't have to try to impress people that we don't even like. There's nothing wrong with nice stuff, it's not wrong to have stuff, it is wrong with stuff as you. It's not wrong to have nice things, but there's a problem when the desire to look successful keeps us from being financially healthy. Listen, just because you can afford the payment doesn't mean you actually can't afford that purchase. And while we're here, every dollar needs a name because money without a plan has a way of disappearing. Listen to me today, a budget isn't punishment, a budget is permission to tell your money what matters most. So I'm trying to help you today. I'm trying to be honest with you today, because I love you. My heart is for you. I'm trying to help you as a church this season. If you don't know how to get out of debt, and you don't know how to set a budget, your next step is to join us in January for Financial Peace University. It's one of our small groups that we offer. We've already had hundreds of people in the life of our church. Go through that, and I'm telling you, Financial Peace University is amazing. You can scan that QR code right now on the screen behind me, or in your bulletin, you can sign up for January. If you can't afford it, there's a cost to test you with. If you can't afford it, I will cover your cost, because I want more for you than from you. I want you to live a healthy life.

I want you to live a free life. I want you to find victory over your finances, because whom the son is set free is free indeed. Come on, can I hear an amen from somebody who's ready to act their way? That's gonna say, I will have no other master, but Jesus Christ will be my Lord and my Savior. You gotta get out of debt. You gotta get out of debt. Number four, lastly, today's this. You gotta trust God to supply. You gotta trust God to supply. Here's the fourth and final principle. In church, I believe this is where everything actually comes together. You gotta trust God to supply. So we talked about being a steward instead of an owner. Then we talked about the practice of the discipline of giving ties, world changers, alms to the poor. We talked about getting out of debts, but underneath all of these principles is one very, very important question, and the question is this, do I trust God? Do I trust God? I'm going to trust God to supply, because a lot of our money issues at the root are really trust issues. Let's be honest, at the root of all of our money issues is really the root issue of trust. And the reason that I believe that some of us

is struggling is that we just don't trust God enough. You don't really recognize that God really is your heavenly Father, and he's going to come through for you. Listen to me today, God is for you, not against you. So let me remind you of this, God has your back. This is why Jesus says these words in Matthew 6, 25. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than close? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet our heavenly Father feeds them. He takes care of them. Then he says this question, are you not much more valuable than they? Hear me out today, you are much more valuable than the birds of the air. God wants to take care of you, God loves you. So do not worry them, verse 31, seeing what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear. For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But Matthew 6, 33, one of my favorite verses, it says, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Put God first, in all things will be given to you. Philippians 4, 19, and my God will meet all of your needs according to his riches and his glory. I don't know who you think that your source is today,

but let me tell you who your source is today. God is your source, and God is my source. The government is not your source. My job is not my source. My spouse, as great as she is, is not my source. God is your source, and he's gonna meet your needs. Not according to your character. Not according to your ability. Not even according to your paycheck, but according to his riches and his glory in Christ Jesus. Come on, God's been faithful in the past. I've seen him be faithful in my life, and he'll be faithful for you again. God's been faithful, and he'll be faithful again. And so in conclusion today, I wanna just show you a picture of what this looks like. A heart touched by God is obedient in the tithe, and you gotta trust him. You gotta trust him. You gotta trust as you give him the first that he will supply the list. Okay, I got an illustration for you today. Okay? So we've got two tables right here. We've got two tables. The first table is God. Everyone say God's? - God's. - The second table is mine. Everyone say mine.

God's and mine. And Malachi 3.10 says bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, the first 10%. Test me in this, and see that I will not throw open the windows of heaven. So I'm gonna illustrate this, talking about giving our first fruits, the first 10% with fruit today, all right? So here's what we got first. These guys are helping me today. We've got 10 bunches of bananas. Now I need your participation with me, all right? You gotta participate with me, all right? So we got 10 bunches of banana. Now according to scripture, one bunch goes to, who goes to God and nine, we get to keep. All right, what do we got next? What do we got next? We got lemons, come on, someone. When life gives you lemons, what do you do? You make lemonade. And so we got 10 bags of lemons. According to scripture, one goes to who one goes to. And nine, we get to keep. Next we got cantaloupes. I don't really like cantaloupes. Does anyone like cantaloupe in the room today? All right, I am greatly outvoted by that cantaloupe right there. According to scripture, we've got 10,

The first goes to who the first goes to. And we get to keep nine cantaloupes. Then next we've got 10 bags of apples. Can we just agree this morning that the apple is the most versatile fruit? Come on, someone, you can make apple sauce, you can make apple pie, you can make apple jam, you can make apple cider. I hope an apple pie is on your Thanksgiving dinner table this season, come on. But according to scripture, what is it? We've got 10 bags of apples. One bag goes to who goes to, and nine, we get to keep. Next we've got pomegranates. Can we just agree that pomegranates are the messiest fruit I've ever seen? You try to peel a pomegranate, it gets all over your table, it gets all over your ceiling, and that juice stains. But according to scripture, if God blesses you with 10 pomegranates, the first goes to who it goes to. And we get to keep nine pomegranates. Think the Lord he lets us keep nine. Next we've got oranges. Come on, who loves some vitamin C from these oranges? Come on, orange juice, oranges. However, they're being given to us, God is good. And I'm thankful when he gives us 10 oranges, we get to give the first to God, and he lets us keep nine. Next we've got grapefruit. Come on, grapefruit with some cinnamon sugar on that.

Come on, someone. Top tier right there, that's pretty good, right? Good breakfast right there. But according to scripture, if God blesses you with 10 grapefruits, the first goes to who? The first goes to God, and then nine come. Next we've got pineapple. Come on, pineapple. I think pineapple are one of the best fruits right there. Come on, give it up for pineapple. If you like pineapple, hard outer shell takes some work, but come on, that inside is so smooth. Don't eat it with water though, because it makes your tongue taste kind of weird, right? You know what I'm saying? So according to scripture, if you get 10 pineapples, the first goes to who the first goes to, and then we get to keep nine. Now I wanna ask you a question today. Again, you have to participate with me. Whose table has more? Is it gods or is it, oh, I didn't hear you today. Whose table has more, is it gods or is it, gods or am I? Can we all just agree that this table is absolutely filled, and it's even overflowing? Yet that's a biblical principle that when you trust God with the first, your table, your barn scripture says will be filled to overflowing. And I know some of you are all bent out of shape. Some of you are so mad about this type.

Why does God command me to tithe? Why does God command me to tithe? You better thank God that he only takes the first and he still lets you keep 90. Come on, someone, stop touching God's table and start living a blessed life. I want more for you than from you. I'm not standing out of here today in a place of need. I'm here to tell someone today, you're not walking in a blessed and victorious life because you're touching God's table. You're touching God's table. And I'm telling you, when you do things right and give him the first and you steward the west, your barns will be filled to overflowing. Pastor Dan, I can't afford to tithe. I live in New Jersey. It's so expensive. I can't do it. You're talking about tithing. That's for people to have money and riches and resources. Listen to me today. I know this is not everyone in the room, but I would say this is a lot of people in the room today. Listen to this statistic. We are rich. We are wealthy. 80% of the wealth of American, of the Christian faith is found in America. If you make over $50,000 a year,

you're in the top 1% of wealth in the world. You're rich. You're rich. You're rich. Stop touching God's table and start living a life. It says, you know what? I can do it with a little bit less on my own, but I'm gonna honor God with the first. And so I'm inviting you into this. We're at church, your next steps. Here's your next step right now. Your next step is this to either scan the QR code on the bulletin or on the screen. I'm inviting you to a 90 day tithe challenge. Would you try it for 90 days? Would you just test the Lord in this for 90 days? And watch, if God does not show up in some unexpected way, and sometimes it's not just money, come up sometimes it's joy and peace that the world can't manufacture. Sometimes it's that our cars and our appliances last longer than they're supposed to last. Sometimes it's favor in your home. It's favor with your boss. But if God does not show up in some unexpected way, come find me, talk to me. You don't have to tithe again. But I'm telling you, as you place God to the test, and you place him first, and you stop touching his table, and you give to God when it says,

"Watch how you lived a blessed and victorious life, and if anyone in this room was ever tied before and seeing God show up," just say, "Hey, man, to that right now." Amen. Best principle of the tithes is this. While we were lost in our sins, God didn't give us his leftovers. He didn't give us an afterthought. He sent Jesus. You could say that Jesus was God's tithe for humanity. He said, "I want all of this redeemed, and I'm gonna offer my first and give my best." That one sacrifice, we're deemed all people. Come on, I'm so thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus that God gave his first and best to us, and now we get to return our first and best to him. 90 days, try it, and watch what God will do in your life. Let me pray for you today in the book loads. Father, thank you for every person that's here. Thank you for the picture of Jesus, And so God, we just honor you today. We bless you today. And Lord, I pray for all these people, Lord, I pray that they would learn to walk by faith and not by sight. So Lord, we offer you faith. We offer you our trust today. Get your with us and your force. Look for anyone in this room today

that's just wrestling with us. I pray that they would just test you in this, that they would try it. February 1st, November 1st to February 1st, and they'd watch what you would do in and through their lives. And get on now for those today that are struggling financially, those that are in need. Would you bless them, Lord? Would you provide jobs? Would you provide housing? Would you provide resources? You know their needs, and you're a good, good father. And I thank you for these things. In Jesus' name, we pray.