The Danger of Transactional Faith: A Critical Review of ‘Make Room’

• Make Room 2.0 Series 00:24:46 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the series 'Make Room 2.0' as a continuation of a journey started three years ago, focusing on making room for God to move in lives, families, and the church.
• Financial Stewardship 00:28:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor and Diane discuss the correlation between faith and finances, emphasizing that giving reflects the heart's condition and that God wants us to release our possessions to Him.
• God's Concern for Money 00:30:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor cites Dr. David Jeremiah's study showing God speaks about money more than any other topic (2,350 verses) to highlight the inseparable connection between faith and finances.
• Stewardship vs. Ownership 00:37:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that believers are stewards, not owners, of their resources, referencing Luke 16 and 1 Corinthians 4 to define faithfulness as wisely investing resources for God's return.
• Faithful Stewardship and Investment 00:38:09 ▶️ 📄
  > Explains that a steward is found faithful by wisely investing resources to give a good return for the owner, specifically by investing in people and the gospel.
• The Principle of Release and Trust 00:38:57 ▶️ 📄
  > Describes the 'principle of release' where believers open their hands to give to God, overcoming fear of scarcity by trusting in His provision.
• Honoring God with Finances (Tithes and Offerings) 00:42:40 ▶️ 📄
  > Details the biblical mandate to honor God with wealth, defining tithes (10%), offerings (special causes), and alms (help for the needy), and cites Malachi 3:10 regarding the promise of blessing for faithful tithing.
• Giving Requires Faith 00:47:17 ▶️ 📄
  > Asserts that giving is an act of faith that requires taking a risk and trusting in God's character, illustrated by personal testimony and the story of Elijah and the widow.
• Trust in God's Provision 00:50:49 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that God takes care of those who give to Him, citing a story of miraculous financial provision as evidence.
• Biblical Precedent for Giving 00:51:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references King David and the people of Israel giving sacrificially for the temple to illustrate the proper attitude toward giving.
• Make Room 2.0 Commitment 00:51:53 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor applies the biblical principle to the current church initiative, urging the congregation to give to make room for more people to hear the gospel.
• Communion 00:54:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor leads the congregation in a liturgical reflection on the body and blood of Jesus during the communion rite.

• Sermon Illustration 00:28:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares an anecdote about a five-year-old boy who gave an envelope of money from the Tooth Fairy to the church for 'Make Room', highlighting the child's generosity despite his young age.
• Sermon Illustration 00:31:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical story of the widow's mite in Mark 12, where Jesus observes a poor widow giving two small copper coins, noting that she gave more than the wealthy donors because she gave everything she had to live on.
• Sermon Illustration 00:30:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor mentions a study by Dr. David Jeremiah comparing the number of biblical verses on money (2,350) versus baptism (40), prayer (275), and love (650) to illustrate God's intense focus on financial matters.
• Sermon Illustration 00:41:26 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a story about a friend who overcame her fear of not having enough by giving a large offering to 'Make Room,' resulting in God multiplying her gift fourfold.
• Sermon Illustration 00:45:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts his and his wife's early marriage struggles with debt and how they learned to prioritize tithing despite financial hardship, noting that delaying tithing only increases the burden.
• Sermon Illustration 00:48:27 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, who provided for Elijah despite her poverty, resulting in God miraculously multiplying her oil to pay debts and sustain her family.
• Sermon Illustration 00:50:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a testimony of a friend who gave her last remaining funds to 'Make Room' after feeling led by the Lord, and subsequently received two large, unexpected donations that doubled her gift.
• Sermon Illustration 00:51:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references King David's attitude in 1 Chronicles 29, acknowledging that everything comes from God and that the people gave only what came from His hand.
• Sermon Illustration 00:50:04 ▶️ 📄
  > A woman felt led by the Lord to give a specific amount she had, despite it being all she had. The next day, an unknown source sent her almost that entire amount, and a few days later, another large amount came in, nearly doubling what she had given.
• Sermon Illustration 00:51:06 ▶️ 📄
  > King David and the people of Israel gave sacrificially to build the temple, affecting their lifestyle, yet David acknowledged that everything comes from God and they gave only what came from His hand.

• Pastoral Charge 00:30:25 ▶️ 📄
  > Release possessions to God
• Pastoral Charge 00:35:30 ▶️ 📄
  > Practice daily gratitude and acknowledge God's control
• Pastoral Charge 00:44:48 ▶️ 📄
  > Bring the full tithe to the church storehouse.
• Pastoral Charge 00:42:52 ▶️ 📄
  > Honor God with finances by giving the first fruits of one's harvest or paycheck.
• Pastoral Charge 00:51:06 ▶️ 📄
  > Listen to the final homiletic point regarding King David's attitude toward giving.
• Pastoral Charge 00:54:02 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray for specific guidance on financial commitments for the 'Make Room 2.0' campaign.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:11:29] Lyrics to sing over our hearts, our minds this morning. Amen? Well, before you're seated, turn around and high five your neighbor and welcome to Lake City Church.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:11:37] Welcome to Lake City Church. We're so excited that you're here with us today. If it's your first time, make sure to fill out that guest card online or in your worship guide and bring it to the Welcome Center. We have a gift waiting just for you. Now let's see what's coming up at Lake City.
[00:12:12] First up, Iron Men is every second and fourth Saturday of the month. Men, this is your opportunity to connect with other men, grow in your faith, and encourage one another to become the men that you love.
[00:12:22] God has called you to be. Next up, our Child Dedications October 7th. This is a special opportunity for families to raise their children to know and love Jesus, and we would be honored if you would let us be a part. Lastly, we have our Lake City Marriage Conference October 16th
[00:12:36] and 17th. Whether you're soon to be engaged, you are engaged. You're newly married or you've been married for years. Take time to invest in your relationship and keep Christ at the center.
[00:12:45] Register now. Thanks again for joining us this morning. For any more information or to register for any of these events tap the seat back in front of you and remember we love you god loves you make

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:12:54] it a great day hey well good morning and welcome to lake city church today you guys excited all right well maybe we'll try that again later but uh on the screen behind me is uh four different
[00:13:07] ways to give and this is time of service we just like to give back to god but uh this is also make room sunday and how many excited to see like a building that looks like almost like a finished
[00:13:17] building out there, right? It's painted. There's glass in it. Hang on with the parking lot. I guarantee you, we'll get better in time. We'll have those parking lots in a few months. But I just want to share something with you real quick about the history of Lake City Church. You know,
[00:13:31] in 1954, First Assembly of God of Mooresville was founded. And back then, a group of people came together and they poured, stepped out in faith and combined their resources to build a church over on Wilson Avenue. And then 16 years ago, Pastor Rob and Diana came to that church and had
[00:13:51] a brand new vision for this area. They actually sold that facility to another church that's still going on there today, and we moved into a middle school. And at that time, a group of yous came
[00:14:04] together, and some of you are still here, stepped out in faith yet again, and built this facility that we're sitting in today.
[00:14:13] Fast forward to three years ago with Make Room 1.0 and a group of us came together and stepped out in faith once again and committed our own finances to seeing this building built and everything you see going on out there
[00:14:27] as a result of that campaign.
[00:14:30] But wouldn't you know, in the last three years, the size of this church has actually doubled.
[00:14:34] We are twice the size of what we were three years ago.
[00:14:38] And we just feel like there's a need to kind of finish strong and to make yet another multi-generational impact. And we have the ability to do that in the upcoming two weeks, two Sundays from now, these commitment cards are starting to
[00:14:52] go out. And what we're asking is that as a group of believers that we have another chance here to finish strong on this project. And I'm not praying to make an impact for the next 72 years, but I'm
[00:15:03] trying to make an impact for the next 250 or the next 300 years. People will be talking about this moment in time when we stepped out in faith. Can we all stand this morning? Lord, I just thank you
[00:15:17] for a group of faithful people that you have brought to this area to reach your people, the lost people of this entire region, God. And I pray as we step out in faith here in the upcoming weeks
[00:15:29] that you would just be with us, Lord. Show us the faith that we need to have for the upcoming generation. Lord, I thank you in all things. And in your name, we pray. Amen.

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:22:04] Fulfillment of this leg of the journey, and that is the opening of the brand new building.
[00:22:10] I need your help. I need every one of us to ask God, what can I do to be a part of this phase of the make room journey? And how can God not only change my life, but use the resources that
[00:22:26] He has given me and help me to share those resources so that we can complete this vision.
[00:22:33] We can finish strong for what God has for us.

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:22:37] We are making room because God has so much more He wants us to do.

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:22:41] We're making room because there's more kids in the Mourneville area that need to know there is no junior Holy Spirit.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:22:47] We make room because today's transformation is tomorrow's legacy.
[00:22:52] We're making room because we're hungry for entrances.

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:22:55] We're making room because God made room for us.
[00:22:59] Well, good morning, everybody.
[00:23:04] Good to see you all.
[00:23:06] I brought my girlfriend with me today.
[00:23:10] We are married.
[00:23:11] She says we are married, yes, and she's afraid that when I say she's my girlfriend, y'all might think that we're not married.
[00:23:18] We are for over five decades.
[00:23:21] Speaking about marriage, something really exciting is coming up a week from this Friday.
[00:23:26] Tell them about it, babe.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:23:27] Well, we're super excited. The marriage conference is coming up. I think there's a few spaces left.
[00:23:33] So if you haven't signed up, you can still sign up. It's going to be amazing. Rob and I are going

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:23:39] to be there. We're excited. Yeah. One thing we've learned after 52 years is that relationships, especially as complicated as marriage is, they don't happen accidentally. Good relationships, you have to work at it you have to learn
[00:23:56] you have to grow and so make it a point to invest in your marriage invest in your relationship you'll be so glad that you did it'll really help you okay babe I'm excited about the topic
[00:24:10] that we're dealing with and we only have a certain amount of time to do it so I guess maybe maybe you should pray us in okay yes pray us

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:24:19] Father we thank you for the privilege of coming together in your presence with your body. Lord, we are so blessed to just be in your presence and to worship. Lord, what a wonderful time. We want to be closer to you, Jesus. We want to be close to your heart.
[00:24:36] We pray that you would speak to each one of us now in Jesus' name. Amen.

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:24:40] Amen. Amen. Boy, I'm still buzzing from that last song. Wasn't that amazing?
[00:24:46] That's such a great song. Well, our series is called Make Room 2.0, and I call it 2.0 because this is a part of the journey that God started us on about three years ago. And Diane and I just
[00:25:00] want to say thank you for everybody, for your willingness to pray over this card, this Make Room 2.0 commitment card. Diane and I have prayed over this. We feel like we have received an amount from
[00:25:17] the Lord that we are to give. And we just want to say thank you to those of you who are praying over that. And two weeks from today, as Pastor Terry mentioned, we will receive these. That's
[00:25:28] October the 18th. In addition to receiving the cards, we're going to receive a special first fruits offering. That'll be the first fruits of your giving over the next two years.
[00:25:40] If you need a card, if you need a brochure, you can pick one up in the lobby today. I got to tell you, I love this series because it is a challenge to every one of us to make room for God to move
[00:25:53] in our lives, to make room for God to move in our families, our church, our community. If you're here today as a guest, our theme verse comes from Leviticus 26, 9, and 10, where God says, I will
[00:26:07] look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers. Well, God has certainly done that more than doubled in just three years goes on says you will still be eating last year's
[00:26:20] harvest when you'll have to make room to move it move it out to make room for the new harvest so we're making room for the new harvest of god's favor and god's blessing i was talking to
[00:26:33] pastor daniel a day or so ago pastor daniel is our next gen pastor and he was telling me about the The youth ministry, the high school students and middle school students, they're giving money to make room.
[00:26:47] One of the teenagers got a little job, and he's giving.
[00:26:51] He's already decided he's going to give $40 every month for the next two years to help make room for more teenagers.
[00:26:57] That's amazing, isn't it?
[00:26:59] I love that.
[00:27:02] And they've put a goal.
[00:27:03] They've made a goal for themselves.
[00:27:05] And if they reach this goal, understand that Will is going to shave his head.
[00:27:10] Where's Will today?
[00:27:11] Okay, there's Will.
[00:27:13] And Muriel is, she's not, stand up, Will.
[00:27:17] Will has a great head of hair.
[00:27:19] Muriel, don't worry.
[00:27:20] It will grow back.
[00:27:21] I'm sure that it will.
[00:27:23] And not only that, where's Brayden?
[00:27:27] Brayden, oh, you're on that side.
[00:27:29] Brayden, if they reach the goal, I understand that you're going to eat something really gross that they're going to prepare for you, and all I can say is go, Brayden, go, Will, and go, y'all.
[00:27:43] Let's hit that goal because, well, it's just going to be fun. What I'm seeing is that all across the campus, all the ministries, every different area is wanting to help make room for more people

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:27:55] to come to know Jesus. I got to give a shout out to the kids. One of our little guys, he's five, he came up to me last week and he gave me an envelope for make room and he he said pastor
[00:28:07] diana this is for um you know he was really thinking about we need to build a playground so i'm like okay i gotcha i gotcha but um he said uh the tooth fairy came last night and i decided
[00:28:20] i wanted to give this money to the church so i was like that's awesome let's say it together

[00:28:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:28:26] You know, I'm not sure about the Tooth Fairy, but I remember we used to get, we were doing good if we got like 25 cents or 50 cents back in the day, you know, now, man, this little guy gave quite a
[00:28:41] bit. God bless him. God bless. So far in this series, we've talked about the need to make room in your heart for God to move. We've talked about the need to make room in your head for God to
[00:28:54] move and for you to make room in your home for God to move. Today, Diana and I, we want to talk about the need to make room in your finances. And Diana, there's such a correlation between

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:29:06] our faith and our finances. Talk to us about that. Yeah, I think Jesus knew that our pocket was really tied tightly to our heart. And there's so many scriptures that relate to that. But I think
[00:29:22] about the three wins, W-H-E-N, that Jesus gave when he said, when you pray, which is taking time, our time to spend with the Lord, when you fast, now he's tying our stomach to our heart, and then he said, when you give, and I think that it's all about our hearts,
[00:29:44] and are we willing to give everything to follow Jesus?
[00:29:48] Are we willing to lay it before him, to release it to him?
[00:29:53] One of my favorite scriptures is in Proverbs 4, 23, and it says, keep your heart with all diligence for out of it flow the issues of life.
[00:30:04] So everything in our lives revolves around our hearts and where our heart is with the Lord.
[00:30:11] I believe God really wants to bless his people extensively, but he doesn't want us to be possessed by possessions. So we want to release it to him. Boy, that's a good one. He doesn't

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:30:25] want us to be possessed by our possessions and that can, that can happen. And a lot of people fall into that trap. Dr. David Jeremiah did a study and he, he found that God speaks about
[00:30:39] baptism, water baptism, in 40 verses in the Bible. God speaks about prayer in 275 verses of the Bible. He speaks about love in 650 verses in the Bible. But God speaks about money and personal possessions in 2,350 verses in the Bible. You might be thinking, why so many? It's because
[00:31:04] God knew that there's an inseparable connection between our faith and our finances. In fact, your attitude and your actions related to money always reflect what's going on in your heart.
[00:31:18] In Mark chapter 12, when Jesus was watching the people put their money in the box, remember he's sitting in the temple and he's watching everybody and these guys are going by and they're putting in
[00:31:30] huge checks, huge amounts of money. And then this little widow lady comes by and she drops in two small copper coins. And Jesus turns to his disciples and he says, this poor widow has put
[00:31:46] in more than all the others. She put in everything she had to live on. So what Jesus was saying is that her giving reflected what was going on in her heart, her love for God, her gratitude for God.
[00:32:02] And that's why the Bible speaks so much about giving. In fact, in the Bible, 1500 times the word give is used. And so think about this. If we talked about money as much as Jesus talked about
[00:32:17] money, we would have to dedicate eight Sundays out of every year talking only about money. That's how much Jesus talked about money. We don't even come close to that. So I think we're due talking about
[00:32:28] money and finances just a little bit, don't you? And yeah, thank you. I got one amen up here and one yeah. And the whole reason that God is so concerned about this is because he wants us to
[00:32:41] make room for his blessings in the area of our finances. So Diane and I, we want to lay out three things that we all need to do in order to make room for god in our finances so here we go number
[00:32:56] one we must acknowledge that that everything everything we have comes from god we didn't earn it on our own we didn't generate it on our own all by ourself in fact deuteronomy 8 17 and
[00:33:11] 18 breaks the news to us by saying you may say to yourself my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me, but remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the
[00:33:26] ability to produce wealth. We didn't do it on our own, did we? No, we sure didn't. John 3.27 reminds us that, quote, a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.
[00:33:41] And if that doesn't humble you, well, this next verse should, because 1 Timothy 6, 7, and 8 says, we brought nothing into this world and we cannot take anything out of this world. Everything we

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:33:55] have comes from God. That's so good. I think if we would remind ourselves of that every morning when we get up, everything we have comes from God. You know, when you go to another country like Peru
[00:34:10] and you see how little these people have and they're content and they're joyous and they actually want to give you the little bit that they have. Isn't that right, John? Yeah, he just came from Peru. And it just reminds us that we have so much. Sometimes we forget everything we
[00:34:31] have comes from God. And what does that mean? That we're supposed to hold on to it? I don't think so. I think God intends that we be a river, that we continually flow out his goodness. But
[00:34:43] as I was thinking about it, I was thinking, if we think, meditate on how good God is and everything he's given to us, we will be filled with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving. And when we're
[00:34:57] filled with thanksgiving and gratitude, we're opening our heart to the presence of Jesus in our atmosphere. So many times, if we're thinking about ourselves and what our problems are and what our needs are, the Lord can't be close to us because we're like, we've got this wall, you know,
[00:35:17] that kind of keeps him over on the other side. But when we open ourselves up, Psalms 100 says, enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. We can do that in a moment.
[00:35:30] We don't have to go to church for that. We need to do that every day. And all these little moments in our lives, we need to just give them to Jesus and say, Lord, thank you. I acknowledge that
[00:35:44] you're in control, which is something we have to remind ourselves. We're not in control. He's in control. And that changes our mental focus. So when we start taking our mind off of us and start
[00:35:59] thinking about he's in control that totally changes not only our focus but our priorities and we begin to think about okay what does god want me to do with what i have and um i was
[00:36:13] thinking about make room and it's it's way more than a building it's not about a building it's about building a spiritual inheritance a legacy for our young people we want to grow because we want to give more. We want to reach more people for Jesus. We want to support more
[00:36:33] missionaries and we support dozens right now. We support all kinds of missions that you probably don't know about, but we want to do more. Like I'm always thinking, okay, who can we help? Who can we do for? And so that's what make room is about to expand and to grow this ministry to

[00:36:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:36:52] people. Yeah, that's so good. Thank you for reminding us of that. Everything we have comes from God. We've got to acknowledge that. Number two, the second thing we've got to do is we've got to acknowledge that we are stewards, not owners. In Luke chapter 16, Jesus refers to us
[00:37:13] as stewards. A steward is a person who is responsible for another person's property and finances. In other words, they manage another person's finances. And so that means that they don't own those finances. They don't own those properties. They simply manage. We are stewards.
[00:37:33] We don't own what God has put in our hands. He has entrusted these resources to us, but he's the rightful owner of those things. And I think this is so important. If we can get this revelation, if we can really get a hold of it, it will change our whole mindset about
[00:37:54] giving. It will take our giving to a whole nother level. And the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4 number 2, he said, it's required of stewards that they be found faithful. How is a steward
[00:38:09] found faithful? A steward is found faithful by wisely investing those resources and things that will give a good return for the owner. What is God interested in? He's interested in people. He's interested in people hearing the good news of Jesus, being introduced to the life that only
[00:38:27] God can give through his son, Jesus. But we're stewards of those resources. And it's pretty amazing to be a steward and to feel that sense of being a steward of God's resources. I love

[00:38:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:38:40] feeling that because it's so free that I don't have to be in charge. Like he's in charge and he just tells me what to do with what I have. And I call it the principle of release. Whatever
[00:38:57] we're trying to hold on to, the Lord wants us to open our hands and give it to him. And however he sees fit to use it, he will. And I just, I think that sometimes we miss the point of we're
[00:39:13] stewards over everything that we have, not just money, but all the things that we have. And we just need to lay them before the Lord. But I was thinking about Cornelius in Acts 10, 4, where
[00:39:25] Cornelius has been praying and asking God to give him greater understanding about spiritual things and an angel comes to Cornelius one day and he tells him, the Lord has heard your prayers and he's seen your giving and it's become as a remembrance to him. And I thought, wow,
[00:39:46] that's so powerful that our giving is, it is powerful and it's something that God remembers with us. And I, I just love that story because sometimes we underestimate, like we separate, okay, money is over here. Um, spiritual things are over here and this is over there. And it's
[00:40:12] when God looks at us, he looks at it all tied together around our heart and our lives. And how does that, is he controlling that realm? But I was thinking about the parable of the talents
[00:40:26] and how the three servants received their talents and the one talent the servant that received the one talent he goes and he buries it why do you think he buried it because he was afraid and I
[00:40:42] used to think is he afraid of the master but no he was afraid that he was going to lose what little bit he had. And I think sometimes we live under that fear too. Like we're afraid, oh, maybe I'm
[00:40:56] not going to have enough. Maybe I'm not going to have enough for the future. And we think all these thoughts, but those are thoughts not from God. Those are from the enemy trying to bring that
[00:41:08] fear that opposes trusting in the Lord. A friend of mine came up to us last week and she was in tears and she had an offering that she wanted to give to us for make room and back at the the first
[00:41:26] make room she brought a huge container of jar a jar of all kinds of money that she saved for a couple years and then she brings me this envelope and it's probably about four times
[00:41:41] what she gave us a few years ago and she's in tears and she just said Diana I want to give this to make room because I want to overcome the fear of not having enough because when I grew up I was
[00:41:57] around that all the time and I don't want to live under that anymore so it was just so sweet and powerful to come out from under that fearfulness yeah I think that's a testimony too that when

[00:42:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:42:12] we give things to the lord the lord does have a way of giving back doesn't he and multiplying and and she had four times roughly what she had given the first time i just god god's keeping
[00:42:26] track of things by the way god has math that doesn't add up in our kind of math it's divine math so just remember that as as you give so here's the the third thing and we've got to keep
[00:42:40] rolling, the third thing we've got to do, we've got to acknowledge that God wants us to honor him with our finances. Proverbs 3 verse number 9 says, honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first
[00:42:52] fruits of all your crops. Then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine. So how do we honor the Lord with our finances? By giving some of it back to
[00:43:07] him, back to him, giving back to God. In the Bible, there are three main areas of giving. First, there's the tithe. And that word tithe means 10%. So it's 10% of your harvest, of your paycheck.
[00:43:24] And that goes for the support of the local church ministry. Next, there's the offering.
[00:43:30] And this is funds that come in for special causes and to support missions and to support a building program like we're doing over there. Then thirdly, there are alms. And these are funds that are given specifically for people in need. But the beginning of our giving that honors God
[00:43:49] is the tithe. Leviticus 27.30 says, a tithe of everything from the land belongs to the Lord.
[00:44:00] It reminds us of the passage in Malachi 3.10. And if you've been in church for any length of time, I'm sure you've heard this. It's where God asked this question. He says, well, a man robbed God,
[00:44:12] yet you robbed me. You ask, well, how do we rob you in tithes and offerings? You are under a curse because you are robbing me. Now stop there for just a second. Think about a steward pocketing
[00:44:28] the money for himself and not giving it to the owner. That's what's happening here. And God goes on in verse 10 to say, bring the whole tithe, W-H-O-L-E, the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will
[00:44:48] not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. God Almighty says when we honor him with our tithes and offerings, he'll open
[00:45:01] these floodgates of heaven and, and we're going to have to make room because the blessings are going to be so amazing. And, and Diane and I, we have seen this in our lives personally. We've
[00:45:12] seen it in the lives of so many of you guys. And it's just amazing. This, this is an amazing

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:45:17] principle of God's word. It is. It's so powerful. And sometimes we want to overlook it and not pay attention to it because we don't want to think about money and giving God money, but it affects
[00:45:32] every area of our lives. And when Rob and I were first married, we were barely making it and just

[00:45:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:45:40] had a lot of bills and things. I hate to tell the story, but when I asked Diana to marry me, I was making $50 a week.
[00:45:50] And she said yes anyway.

[00:45:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:45:53] I was a woman of faith.

[00:45:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:45:54] She sure was.
[00:45:55] She still is.

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:45:56] And I wasn't marrying him for his money, that's for sure.
[00:45:59] But, you know, I think one thing, Rob and I were, as young people, we were in agreement that we wanted to follow God and follow his ways.
[00:46:10] So that's how we got together.
[00:46:12] But anyway, yeah, we got behind.
[00:46:15] And so we're like, okay, let's just wait on the tithe and we'll just catch up, you know.
[00:46:21] And that just never works, you know.
[00:46:24] It's just like you get more and more behind and you're just like, oh man, what have we done?
[00:46:29] And there's an old saying that I read in one of my devotional books and it said, he pocketed, I'm sorry, he took from his soul to put in his pocket.
[00:46:40] And I think sometimes we don't follow some of the biblical principles, and so we're not as blessed in a lot of ways because we're not following some of those principles.
[00:46:53] And it's, it's like, God's not going to, you know, throw you to the curb, but if you really want to be blessed and walk in a different level of spiritual, just freedom, power, and blessing, you know, you, you follow some of these principles that are here in the word of God.
[00:47:17] and I giving always requires faith sometimes we think oh it's it's too hard but giving requires faith and faith always is about taking a risk but I think we can risk depending on Jesus but
[00:47:35] and it also involves trusting the Lord spoke to me when Rob and I were going through this difficult time. And I was just like, Lord, I'm having a hard time. And he said, you're not
[00:47:49] trusting me because you don't know my character well enough. And I just never forgot that.
[00:47:57] And it was devastating. And I made a commitment right there that I would seek God with all my heart for the rest of my life to know him and to know his character, because that's
[00:48:10] the basis of everything that we do and have in Jesus. But I want to mention one other example about Elijah and the widow. There was a widow, his serapheth, and she had lost her husband recently
[00:48:27] and she had a son and they owed a lot of money and so they were about to be taken to jail for their debt. And Elijah comes to town and God directs him to the house of this widow lady
[00:48:40] and he says make me a meal and I'm sure she looked at him like are you crazy I'm about to be taken to jail here and he says no make me a meal and I'll pray for you and you will be blessed and you will
[00:48:58] be taken care of so she was smart enough to do that and she made him a meal and after that he said go get all the jars that you can find all over the neighborhood because God's going to start
[00:49:10] pouring oil and he it will not end until all your jars are filled and that's what happened and of course olive oil was worth a lot of money and so she sold that oil and paid off her debts and had
[00:49:25] enough money for her and her son to live on but it's like the Lord always says take that first step and it's hard sometimes it's really hard you're like okay I don't see how this is going
[00:49:37] to work. But Lord, I take that first step and I'm going to give this to you. And then he does a miracle. Oh, I got to tell you one more testimony. Yes. Rob was looking at me like, what? You're
[00:49:51] forgetting something. Yeah. I got to tell you one more testimony. A friend of mine came up to me last week also. And she said, Diane, I was in prayer at the altar Wednesday night. And she said
[00:50:04] she felt like the Lord told her to give a certain amount to make room and she said Lord that's all I've got I don't you know is that a good idea and um but she just felt like the Lord was saying give
[00:50:18] it and so she gave it and literally the next day almost that whole amount came in from an unknown source that she never would have dreamed of then a couple days later another large amount of money
[00:50:35] came in that more almost doubled what she had just given so we just have to trust that he's going to take care of us and he does miracles when we just put something on the altar for him

[00:50:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:50:49] If we give it to him, he can bless it, he can multiply it, but he's waiting for us to put it on the altar. He's waiting for us to give it. We're up against the clock, so I want
[00:51:06] to share one last thought with you. In the Old Testament, King David and the people of Israel were giving to build the temple. They were in a building project, kind of like what we're involved
[00:51:17] with over here. They just given a lot of money and they given sacrificially to the point that it actually affected their lifestyle. But listen to David's attitude and his understanding of giving to God. This is what he said in first Chronicles 29 verse 13. And he's talking directly
[00:51:36] to God. He says, who am I and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this. Everything comes from you, and we have given only what comes from your hand. And so our prayer
[00:51:53] is that Lake City Church will have the same attitude, the same understanding that David had, that the people of Israel had, as we just give in this crucial time, this crucial opportunity to give to Make Room 2.0, so that we can make room for more people to hear the good news of
[00:52:10] Jesus Christ, more people to join us in heaven one day, more generations to hear the good news and be transformed. We just are so excited with this opportunity that we are able to give. And so
[00:52:24] I close with this question. I think I already know the answer to it. And the question is this, do you want to make room in your finances for God to move? I believe you do. Father,
[00:52:36] I pray that you would just help us to hear with the ears of our spirit thank you for speaking through your word in Jesus name would you go ahead and stand together with us in this moment
[00:52:52] with our heads bowed and eyes closed Diana's going to start the prayer and she's going to pray for all of our finances and so Diana would you just begin the prayer and I'll close it

[00:53:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:53:06] Father, I just thank you today that we are truly a blessed people.
[00:53:13] And Lord, I ask that you would, first of all, increase our faith and our trust in you.
[00:53:19] That we can be free, free to give and to do the things that you ask us to do.
[00:53:26] I pray that you would enlarge our vision, that we can see special things in the future that you want us to do.
[00:53:35] things that you have for us to do in your kingdom lord i pray that you would open our eyes to see those things father and we thank you for blessing your people to be able to give and serve you in

[00:53:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:53:48] jesus name and lord as we as individuals as couples as families as we pray over this make room 2.0 commitment card lord i just ask that you would show each one of us specifically what you want
[00:54:02] us to give. And then Lord, I pray that you would give us the faith to step out and trust you and see what you will do. God, I pray again, your blessing upon every person and upon your church
[00:54:16] family right here. Oh God, do mighty things for your glory. And now as we prepare to, to receive communion, Lord, we just want to say thank you because God, we know that you gave it
[00:54:30] all. Jesus, you sacrificed your body and your blood. And in these few moments as we receive the little wafer that reminds us of the body of Jesus bruised and broken for us, as we receive
[00:54:45] that little cup of juice, it reminds us of the blood of Jesus shed on Calvary's cross. We say thank you because you gave it all. And Lord, we just love you and we worship you in Jesus name.
[00:55:00] Amen.