The Heart of Stewardship: Trusting God with All

• Discipleship vs. Salvation [00:42:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between being saved and being a disciple, framing the Sermon on the Mount as a 'next level' discipleship message focused on the heart rather than external behavior.
• Treasure and Heart [00:45:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > An analysis of Matthew 6:19-21, explaining that earthly treasures are subject to decay (moth, rust) and theft, whereas heavenly treasures are secure, linking one's treasure to the condition of their heart.
• Mammon and Deception [00:53:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > Defining 'mammon' not just as money but as a false master that whispers promises of security and significance, contrasting it with serving God.
• The Tithe as Trust [00:56:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > Introducing the tithe (10%) as a simple, measurable expression of trust in God rather than mammon, using the biblical significance of the number 10 to illustrate this principle.
• Tithing as a Trust Test [00:56:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines the tithe (10%) as a measurable expression of trust, arguing that God asks for a small amount to see if believers can trust Him with 'a little' before trusting them with 'more'.
• Mammon vs. God as Master [01:01:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker contrasts the mindset of serving Mammon (focused on self-interest, wealth, and affordability) with serving God (focused on advancing the kingdom, blessing others, and eternal value).
• Money as an Idol and Conduit [01:02:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using the analogy of a garden hose, the pastor explains that money is intended to be a conduit for God's resources; when money becomes a 'little G God' (idol), it blocks the flow of blessing and trust.
• Practical Stewardship and Automation [01:10:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor provides practical advice on breaking the 'mammon spirit' by prioritizing lordship over math, giving God the 'first' rather than 'leftovers,' and automating giving to ensure consistency and faith.
• Faithful Stewardship and Proof [01:13:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that tithing is about faithful stewardship rather than emotional manipulation, using the purchase of a mobile ultrasound unit as tangible proof that the church is fulfilling its commitments.
• Repentance and Starting Fresh [01:17:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines repentance as a 180-degree turnaround and instructs listeners not to worry about past unpaid tithes, but to start immediately with their next paycheck.
• Lifestyle Adjustment vs. Obedience [01:21:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor advises believers to adjust their lifestyle (eating out less, skipping upgrades) to accommodate tithing, rather than adjusting their obedience based on their budget.
• Trust and Devotion [01:28:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The sermon concludes by shifting the focus from financial tithe to total life devotion, challenging the congregation to trust God with 100% of their lives, not just 10% of their income.
• Trust and Surrender [01:30:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites the congregation to physically lift their hands as a sign of giving their hearts completely to Jesus and trusting Him.
• Renewal and Fresh Start [01:31:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor leads a corporate prayer to 'hit the reset button,' forgetting the past and committing to faithfulness.

• Sermon Illustration [00:49:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the historical context of first-century wealth to explain 'moth' (slow decay of wool garments used as currency), 'rust' (internal decay of food and metal), and 'thieves' (external loss), contrasting these with modern equivalents like stock market crashes, inflation, and identity theft.
• Sermon Illustration [00:53:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor personifies 'Mammon' as a whispering entity that promises protection, significance, power, and safety through financial accumulation, listing specific modern anxieties like 401ks and portfolios that it exploits.
• Sermon Illustration [00:57:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his own lack of mathematical skill to illustrate why the simplicity of the 10% tithe is effective and easy to understand compared to complex moral commands like 'love your enemy.'
• Sermon Illustration [01:02:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a garden hose tightened around a spigot to explain that money is meant to be a conduit to get resources from one place to the next; if we tighten it (hoard/idolize), the hose gets wet (we are blessed), but the primary purpose is flow, not retention.
• Sermon Illustration [01:11:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > An anecdote about visiting a friend's house and finding old, moldy leftovers in the refrigerator to illustrate the absurdity of giving God only the 'leftovers' of our income rather than the firstfruits.
• Sermon Illustration [01:14:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > A story about a mobile ultrasound unit purchased by Freedom House Church, which was seen on a bus, followed by a report that the church team intervened to save a young girl from an abortion clinic using that specific resource, demonstrating the tangible impact of faithful stewardship.
• Sermon Illustration [01:14:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a story of a young girl at an abortion clinic who was shown an ultrasound image of her 11-week-old baby by the church's mobile unit, leading her to reconsider her decision.
• Sermon Illustration [01:19:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about flipping houses with Pastor Troy, describing how they bought ugly houses, renovated them, and sold them for profit, illustrating God providing alternate ways to pour into the kingdom.
• Sermon Illustration [01:21:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes living in a house under renovation with no running water for eight weeks, using a microwave that only worked for 30 seconds at a time, and using porta-potties, to illustrate the reality of sacrifice and trusting God during hard seasons.

• Pastoral Charge [00:53:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Examine one's heart to identify which master (God or Mammon) is currently being served.
• Pastoral Charge [00:56:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > Adopt the practice of tithing (giving 10%) as a tangible measure of trust in God rather than Mammon.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > Review personal financial records (P&L, checkbook) to analyze spending habits as a spiritual diagnostic tool.
• Pastoral Charge [01:10:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > Recite a prayer acknowledging God's total ownership and asking for wisdom in stewardship.
• Pastoral Charge [01:28:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asks the congregation to stand, bow their heads, close their eyes, and lift their hands as a public declaration of trusting God with their lives and finances.
• Pastoral Charge [01:31:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor leads the congregation in a corporate prayer of surrender, trust, and commitment to faithfulness.
• Pastoral Charge [01:30:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > Lift hand to indicate trust in God
• Pastoral Charge [01:31:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > Recite the prayer together loudly

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:02:23] Good morning, Freedom House. Thank you so much for viewing with us. My name is Andrew and this is Melinda DeJong. It's nice to meet you.
[00:02:30] Yeah, and if you're watching us, you're probably watching us one of three ways. That's YouTube, Facebook, or freedomhouse.cc slash live.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:02:41] So, we'd love to hear where you're watching us from. So, especially if you're from, well, two things.
[00:02:46] If you're on vacation or you're on your couch or where your hometown is, where are you tuning into today to watch this amazing message from Pastor Penny today?

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:02:56] She is the mama bear of the house.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:02:57] She is the mama bear.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:02:59] Yeah, she killed it.
[00:03:01] So we've got two different services.
[00:03:03] We've got the 9 a.m. and then we've got the 11.
[00:03:06] That's right.
[00:03:07] We got to sit in the 9 a.m. and wow.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:03:10] So good.
[00:03:10] You missed us talking about it.
[00:03:11] We were going round and round about everything that we loved about the message today And how direct and simple.
[00:03:17] So you're in for a major treat today with Pastor Penny.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:03:19] I mean, some messages at, not a Freedom House, but, you know, other churches, there's just some fluff in there.
[00:03:26] No fluff.
[00:03:27] No fluff today.
[00:03:28] Just the point.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:03:28] We're going straight for it.
[00:03:30] And it is impactful.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:03:31] Yeah.
[00:03:31] It's amazing.
[00:03:32] I'm not going to tell you what it's about.
[00:03:33] Yeah.
[00:03:34] Because I'd spoil it.
[00:03:35] And then you would probably log off and go play Fortnite.
[00:03:38] That's right.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:03:38] Fortnite.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:03:39] I don't know.
[00:03:40] That's the first thing that came to mind.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:03:42] Who out there is playing?
[00:03:42] If you're playing Fortnite, were you playing Fortnite last night?
[00:03:45] Let us know.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:03:46] Yeah.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:03:46] I don't do games.
[00:03:47] Are you a gamer?
[00:03:49] Okay.
[00:03:50] Not a gamer.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:03:51] Not really.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:03:52] No?
[00:03:52] Okay.
[00:03:52] Yeah.
[00:03:52] All right.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:03:53] I'm outside too much.
[00:03:54] I'm kind of boring.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:03:55] There you go.
[00:03:56] Well, tell us about where you're from.
[00:03:57] We'd love to hear it.
[00:03:58] If you're from North Carolina, you've actually gotten some rain this week.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:01] Yeah.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:04:01] Super excited about that.
[00:04:03] Very excited about that.
[00:04:04] My plants are happy.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:05] Yep.
[00:04:06] Plants are happy.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:04:06] We love to plant.
[00:04:07] Andrew doesn't love to plant.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:09] Well, my wife is a planter.
[00:04:11] I'm a grass guy.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:04:12] Yeah.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:13] So I try to be.
[00:04:14] You wouldn't tell that from my lawn and the current condition of it.
[00:04:17] That's right.
[00:04:17] But I'm trying to get there.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:04:19] I feel like I love your wife.
[00:04:20] She loves to plant.
[00:04:21] I love to plant.
[00:04:22] She's actually a great cook.
[00:04:23] I'm not a great cook, but I could eat her food.
[00:04:25] We were talking earlier.
[00:04:26] What is your favorite Sunday after church spot?
[00:04:29] What's your favorite food that you eat after Sunday church?
[00:04:31] Is it brunch?

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:33] Yeah.
[00:04:34] Or what's your favorite meal on Sunday either?
[00:04:37] Like, are you an eat-out person or a go-home-and-cook?

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:04:40] I like to go out to eat.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:42] What's your spot?

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:04:44] I like to go get a brunch spot.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:46] Okay.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:04:47] Broken Egg.
[00:04:48] I like to go to Toast.
[00:04:50] Okay.
[00:04:50] Yeah.
[00:04:51] So if you're local North Carolina, those are two spots here in North Carolina.
[00:04:53] Okay.
[00:04:54] They're pretty good.

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:04:54] See, I think the elite spot for brunch on a Sunday has to be Cracker Barrel.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:05:00] I love Cracker Barrel.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:05:01] Yeah.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:05:02] Do y'all love Cracker Barrel or what?
[00:05:03] What's your favorite thing from Cracker Barrel?

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:05:05] My favorite thing is a side.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:05:07] Hash brown casserole.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:05:09] Yeah.
[00:05:09] Fried okra.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:05:11] Dipton Ranch.
[00:05:12] no no well listen there are a couple things that we do need to tell you going on um over the next couple months here at church so we do have serve charlotte which is august the 8th which is a
[00:05:25] phenomenal experience so if you've never had the opportunity to serve this is a great one and there's tons of opportunities for it's all family friendly there's locations just go to our website At Freedom House, back to us, dot cc.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:05:38] Slash serve Charlotte.
[00:05:39] Serve Charlotte.
[00:05:40] I might have butchered that.
[00:05:42] If you go on Freedom House dot cc, it's somewhere.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:05:45] Yeah.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:05:46] You can click around.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:05:46] So I did it last year, and it was amazing.
[00:05:48] My experience was painting cabinets at a local nonprofit for the community.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:05:54] Yeah, mine was going and serving at an elementary school.
[00:05:58] We painted the walls.
[00:06:00] We painted the doors.
[00:06:01] And I was outside doing the landscaping.
[00:06:03] And it really is awesome because it answers the question of, hey, if you're a Christian, why don't you go serve the community?
[00:06:11] Well, we are, and we do, and we'd love to have you.
[00:06:14] And you can go sign up for any list of them.
[00:06:17] Fun fact, I actually went last year, and I met one of my now best friends.

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:06:20] I love that story.
[00:06:21] That's what it's all about.
[00:06:22] So we have a great community here at church.
[00:06:24] If you're joining online, which we'd love to have you here, but we also would love to see you in our church house.
[00:06:30] We also have Get On Track.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:06:33] Get On Track is happening actually right now.
[00:06:36] But great news, since you're obviously not here if you're watching online, we have it once a month.
[00:06:42] So in another month, it's just honestly a class to learn more about the church.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:06:47] So back to community, that's what it's all about.
[00:06:49] There are times when I go to Serve Charlotte that I've met people that I've been in a church with for 10 years, so it's great to meet them.

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:06:55] Yeah, it's crazy how, like, we've got four campuses.
[00:06:58] We've got Ballantyne, which is our newest, Lake Norman, we've got South Bend, and we have Central, which is in the UNCC area.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:07:08] That's right.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:07:09] So it's crazy how you'll go to a thing, all the different people across all the different campuses are there.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_17]
[00:07:14] Yeah.
[00:07:15] And we would love to meet you in person, so please reach out to us, get to know us in person, and we'll hopefully see you soon.
[00:07:21] We'll see you after service.
[00:07:22] All right.
[00:07:22] Bye.

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:07:22] The Spirit of the Lord is today.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:12:16] There is free man.
[00:12:18] there is only one who is worthy of our praise and his name is Jesus he's alive today so across this

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:12:24] place I want you to lift your hands with me as we get ready to sing the song as we lift this up we say for Christ let's go to God in prayer heavenly father we thank you lord we praise you because you

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:18:52] reign lord nothing happens to us without your permission without your authority and that is the god that i serve thank you heavenly father because everything you've done in my life everything you've done for everyone lord is because of your grace and mercy and we thank you
[00:19:12] thank you for what you're doing right now heavenly father it may hurt right now it may be crushing us but we thank you because you're going to receive glory out of this when we come out and thank you
[00:19:24] lord for what you're going to do today lord we praise you we give you the glory in the name of

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[00:19:30] jesus we pray amen amen amen i want to ask our leaders to please come forward most of us we know nehemiah as someone that the lord used to not only build but lead the people of israel to
[00:19:49] build the wall of jerusalem but let me tell you long before he led he actually was being prepared by God under the king and under this king he he was the cupbearer and as the cupbearer most of us
[00:20:06] you know will know that the cupbearer is literally drinking the key the drink of the king before the king taste it and if someone tried to poison him the cupbearer would die first Nehemiah knew this
[00:20:21] and under this he was being prepared he was learning he was observing but most importantly he was serving faithfully with all his heart and that was training ground and a lot of us today i believe we're standing on training ground this church freedom house this is training ground
[00:20:44] i want to share a small story with you i have a there's a family who's close to us that has been here for years and they recently went through something just very very terrible and they were victorious they went through this for months and it's something that personally I
[00:21:02] don't know how I would have dealt with so I asked them I asked her the husband how did you do this how did you stay so strong and so um so much peace I would have been a mess and he said to me listen
[00:21:18] all these years in this church not only was I serving but every Sunday sermon every life group I attended every time I walked through those doors on a Sunday morning I didn't even know it
[00:21:33] but I was being trained and I believe that we are being trained every time you come through those doors it might look like an ordinary Sunday and I'm pretty sure that Nehemiah at some point it
[00:21:47] might have looked ordinary to do the same thing every single day but it is not it is an honor and you are on training ground and I don't know what the Lord has put in your heart to build
[00:22:01] I don't know if perhaps you're just facing a battle like this family was I don't know if you have something heavy like a family member that really needs the Lord and it's waiting in your
[00:22:13] heart but I know this Nehemiah went to God in prayer and then he went to the king for a request and today is the day that you also can come to God in prayer and guess what the king is in the house
[00:22:26] this is his house this is his house and the king is ready to hear your petition so I want to encourage you Ronnie and I want to encourage you just come up front come up front and just like
[00:22:38] Nehemiah did, lay it all down. The king is in the room and he is ready to listen. And I believe in Jesus' name that you too will be victorious. Thank you. Let's continue to worship.

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:23:41] it all you reign above it all and over the universe and over every heart there is no higher name jesus you reign above it all work was finished god you poured out your life just to give us new love some love forgiven number out of an empty grave seated alone in
[00:25:27] Lord. Enthroned on the highest praise. You sent the darkness running. Out of an empty grave.
[00:25:38] Seated alone in glory. Enthroned on the highest praise.
[00:25:45] You sent the darkness running. Out of an empty grave. Now seated alone in glory.
[00:25:54] Enthroned on the highest praise. Every voice that's singing out together we sing above it all.

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:27:58] in the unity of our praise. Come on. Thank you so much for being here with us, both in the house

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[00:29:16] and online. A special welcome to those of you joining us for the first time.
[00:29:21] Before you're seated, look to your left and right, give a name, get a name, and then turn your attention toward the screens for a special message from our senior pastors.

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_16]
[00:29:40] Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome to Freedom House. My name is Troy Maxwell, and this is my beautiful wife, Penny, and we're your senior pastors.

[00:29:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_15]
[00:29:47] We are one house with many rooms.
[00:29:50] We have campuses all around the Charlotte area, including our online campus.
[00:29:55] So no matter where you are joining us from, we want to welcome you.

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_16]
[00:29:59] And listen, our heart is very simple.
[00:30:01] We want to help equip you to experience Christ's freedom in your everyday life.
[00:30:06] And we have a huge vision here.
[00:30:08] You'll notice that every one of our campuses, we have live teachers, live preachers.
[00:30:12] Why do we do that?
[00:30:13] Because we are a relational church.
[00:30:15] We want to connect to you.
[00:30:17] We're not a video venue.

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_15]
[00:30:19] And you'll notice over in our kids area, they have the same thing.
[00:30:23] Live teachers, live preaching and worship.
[00:30:26] We do this because we know there is no junior Holy Spirit.
[00:30:30] We aren't raising up the next generation.
[00:30:33] We're raising up the now generation.

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_16]
[00:30:36] And maybe you're new here at Freedom House or you just haven't gotten connected.
[00:30:39] All you have to do, open your phone, tap that little circle on the seat back in front of you and you'll find your next best step in getting connected.

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_15]
[00:30:48] That's right.
[00:30:48] We can't wait to get connected to you.
[00:30:51] Now, let's take a look at what's coming up here at Freedom House.

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:31:01] What's up, Freedom House?
[00:31:02] The best day of the year, Serve Day, is right around the corner.
[00:31:07] And Serve Day is a day that every single year we come together as an entire church, Lake Norman, Ballantyne, South and Central, all joining together to serve our community.
[00:31:17] We have over 30 projects all across the city and are believing for over 800 volunteers to show up and serve on August 8th.
[00:31:26] There are tons of projects, all different areas of interest, serving ministries, serving schools, serving first responders, and there's tons of kid-friendly options.
[00:31:34] And you don't have to go to Freedom House to participate in Serve Day.
[00:31:37] So invite your friends, invite your neighbors, invite your coworkers, and get signed up today at freedomhouse.cc slash serveday.
[00:31:45] Also, make sure you pick up your Serve Charlotte shirt from Salt Resources so that we can all be one team on serve day and look like it too.
[00:31:53] We can't wait to see you there.
[00:31:58] Here at Freedom House, we believe that the Bible calls us to go and make disciples of all nations.
[00:32:04] And that's why missions is something that we are so passionate about as a church.
[00:32:07] We believe that a mission trip is a transformative experience for all believers.
[00:32:12] And it's a step that we would actually challenge you to take if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, because it changes your faith and it changes and builds faith in the people that you're serving.
[00:32:22] So what does that mean for you?
[00:32:24] This fall, we have multiple mission trips going all around the world.
[00:32:28] And we would encourage our church to take a step and get involved in that.
[00:32:32] Get outside of your comfort zone.
[00:32:34] Go experience a new culture and serve other people.
[00:32:37] See the way the gospel is moving around the world.
[00:32:40] So if you wanna learn more, if you wanna get involved, you can go to freedomhouse.cc slash missions.
[00:32:45] There you'll be able to learn all about missions at Freedom House.
[00:32:48] Find out where we're going and meet your trip leads.
[00:32:50] come be a part of what God is doing, not just here, but around the world.

[00:32:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:32:54] For all this and more, download the Freedom House app or head to freedomhouse.cc slash connect.

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:33:02] What's up, Freedom House? How's everybody doing today? Come on, it's good to see you guys. I'm Aaron Blanton, along with my wife, Stephanie. We get to be the campus pastor right here at Central Campus. What a privilege that is. Hey, I was reading through the Bible, and in John 6,
[00:33:16] it talks about Jesus wanting to teach people, and the multitudes are coming towards him.
[00:33:20] and the Bible says over 5,000 men were there.
[00:33:24] That doesn't even include all the women and children that were there also.
[00:33:28] So it could be anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 people are gathered around listening to him.
[00:33:34] The day was running late.
[00:33:35] It was getting late in the day.
[00:33:37] The disciples were like, hey, we gotta send these people home.
[00:33:39] They have to eat.
[00:33:41] And Jesus goes, well, feed them.
[00:33:43] Like, what are you talking about, feed them?
[00:33:45] We have nothing.
[00:33:46] If we even had enough money, where are we gonna get the food at?
[00:33:48] He goes, well, what do you have?
[00:33:50] Well, let's go see.
[00:33:51] So the disciples go out and they find this little boy and they come back to Jesus and they say, Jesus, good news.
[00:33:57] Listen, this is a little kid.
[00:33:59] He stopped by Long John Silver's, got a number two combo meal, got two fish and five loaves.
[00:34:05] Jesus says, I'll take it.
[00:34:07] And the boy gave it to Jesus.
[00:34:10] See now what the boy gave probably seemed very insignificant in that moment.
[00:34:15] But when you put on the Jesus factor, Jesus took that.
[00:34:20] He put, prayed over it, put it in the baskets and told the disciples, have everybody sit down and give it to them. And it just kept multiplying and multiplying and multiplying and multiplying.
[00:34:31] And everyone that was there didn't just get a fish and a piece of bread. They ate till they were completely filled. And then they took up 12 baskets of leftovers. 12 baskets. Can you imagine
[00:34:47] that? Can you imagine the testimony that little kid had? Mom, you got to hear this. I brought my fish and my loaves and I gave it to Jesus and look what he did. He fed almost 20,000 people with it.
[00:35:00] Can you imagine that testimony that went with him for the rest of his life? How God showed up that day. You know, when you bring your tithes and your offerings, it's never insignificant to God.
[00:35:13] I don't care if you made 200 bucks and you're only bringing 20.
[00:35:16] God can take that 20 and turn it into 2,000.
[00:35:19] He can multiply.
[00:35:20] It's not just addition when we're talking about biblical finances.
[00:35:24] No, no, no, it's multiplication.
[00:35:25] God will take that and expand it everywhere.
[00:35:28] You know, long before we showed up here, people were sewing into this house.
[00:35:33] That's why we have chairs.
[00:35:35] That's why we have people online joining us from all across the world.
[00:35:38] That's why we have four campuses because people sowed what maybe seemed insignificant to them, but God took it and he multiplied it and expanded it.
[00:35:47] And now we reach thousands of people each and every week across YouTube, across online, and you right here in these seats every single week.
[00:35:57] So all I'm saying is that if you'll be faithful, if you'll have the heart of a child that said, it's not much, but I'm willing to give it.
[00:36:06] If you have that heart of faithfulness that says, God, you know what? I'm just going to trust you. I'm going to give you what I have. Even though you're only asking for 10%, I'm going to give that to you and see what you do with it. It's amazing
[00:36:20] what God can do in your life and in others if you just come with a grateful heart. So Heavenly Father, we just come to you today. We just thank you, God. Thank you for who you are, how you want
[00:36:33] to use us to expand your kingdom. You've given us that responsibility to be your hands and your feet. And Lord, as we bring our tithe, our 10%, as we bring our offerings, anything above and
[00:36:46] beyond that, God, we pray that you multiply that. Reach the people of this community. Reach around the city. Reach around the world and give them just a taste of who you are so they can turn
[00:37:00] their lives over to you and they can experience salvation. We love you, Lord. We know you see us as being significant. You see our finances being significant. And Lord, I pray that each and every
[00:37:16] person here under the sound of my voice comes with a grateful heart and understands that you want to pour out more than we can ever contain because we're coming to you with our faithfulness and our gratitude.
[00:37:31] So we thank you, Jesus, today.
[00:37:33] In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
[00:37:36] I just want to take a moment and I want to say thank you because there's been so many lives,

[00:37:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:37:46] so many marriages, so many children, lives that completely changed because of somebody's faithfulness, because of your faithfulness.

[00:38:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:38:06] Each and every week, people coming in and out of here broken, but because of your faithfulness, they hear a word, they receive a touch from God,

[00:38:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:38:16] and they go out different.
[00:38:19] Thank you.

[00:38:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:38:24] We serve a mighty God.
[00:38:26] If you've been given faithfully, thank you.
[00:38:29] If you wanna start your journey, it's so simple.
[00:38:31] Just open your phone, tap that button on the seat back in front of you, and we're gonna lead you, we're gonna guide you and help you understand how you can make a difference with your finances.
[00:38:41] So enjoy the rest of the service and be generous.
[00:38:46] Just return just a little bit.
[00:38:49] It's amazing what God can do if you'd just open your hand.
[00:38:54] Enjoy the rest of the service.

[00:39:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_15]
[00:39:44] Good morning, church.
[00:39:46] Be in God's house today.
[00:39:51] I know I am.
[00:39:53] I'm sure you saw earlier.
[00:39:54] My name's Penny Maxwell.
[00:39:56] My husband and I are the senior pastors here.
[00:39:58] He is at our South End campus today.
[00:40:01] They actually have a vertical takeover at Valentine.
[00:40:05] And I don't know who's speaking at Lake Norman, but somebody is.
[00:40:09] Pastor Olin.
[00:40:10] Okay.
[00:40:10] Well, we have a teaching team here.
[00:40:12] So everybody is live. We're not video venue. So I get to be here today as part of our teaching team. And I'm glad to everyone that is joining us from online all around the world. We've got
[00:40:26] North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Alabama, West Virginia, Texas. Hold on. Let me see if I can get my Wisconsin accent. Wisconsin. How was that? Was that good? Okay. Ireland. Did I do that one right? Nebraska and New Hampshire. So we're so glad that you are joining us online. It's great
[00:40:51] to know that the kingdom of God, digital missions is phenomenal. The press of a button and we get to go all over the world. Love it. Well, we are in a series right now called Summer on the Mount,
[00:41:06] and the entire summer, every single one of us on the teaching team is going to be going through the Sermon on the Mount, which is the greatest teaching that Jesus ever did, the greatest teaching that's ever happened on this planet. Jesus comes right out of the gate, 30 years old,
[00:41:28] and just delivers this phenomenal message. Now, I want to set up a little bit about what's happening so we understand the context as I jump in, because every single one of us on the teaching team
[00:41:42] are going, we've all been given a context, and we are going to be sharing, each one of us, the portion that we have and just really be diving into it so we can break down all of the Sermon on
[00:41:57] the Mount all summer long. So let me just set this up for you a little bit. Jesus is just now coming on the scene, right? He's 30 years old and that's the age in which you could be a rabbi.
[00:42:13] So Jesus is climbing up this hill, and the disciples are following him, and the crowds are listening in. But understand, the message that he's teaching wasn't for the crowd.
[00:42:27] The message that he's teaching was to the disciples. So he's not giving an evangelistic message. He's giving a discipleship message. He's giving one of those that's like, step on your toes.
[00:42:41] He's in essence telling them, guys, it's time to go next level.
[00:42:44] There's a difference between being saved and being a disciple.
[00:42:50] So he's speaking directly to disciples, telling them, hey, it's time to up the ante.
[00:42:56] And he makes statements like, oh, yeah, you've heard not to murder.
[00:43:00] Well, I'm telling you, don't even be angry in your heart.
[00:43:05] Whoa.
[00:43:06] Oh, you've heard, don't commit adultery.
[00:43:08] Well, I'm telling you, don't even look at a woman to lust.
[00:43:12] whoa. In essence, what Jesus is doing is he's saying, listen, Moses went down the mountain and brought the 10 commandments. We're going up the mountain. And what I'm going to do, I'm not going to focus on the external stuff. I'm not going to focus on the fruit.
[00:43:36] I'm going to focus on the root. I'm going to dig up the soil, dig up the dirt, and we're gonna look and expose the roots.
[00:43:46] We're gonna talk about your heart.
[00:43:50] We're going down to the source.
[00:43:53] We're gonna look at your heart.
[00:43:54] We're just not gonna talk about, oh, well, you didn't murder anybody, but hey, there's things living in your heart that shouldn't be there.
[00:44:02] So he's given us a pretty stern discipleship message because he wants us to grow.
[00:44:08] He wants us to change.
[00:44:09] He wants us to go from just being a believer to a disciple. And there's a big difference there. I mean, think about it. Even the devil believes, but he's not a disciple. There's another level that God wants us to live. And so what we're
[00:44:30] going to do today is I want to start out in my, the Sermon on the Mount is chapters five through seven of the book of Matthew. Well, I'm going to hit in chapter six and we're going to start in
[00:44:42] verse 19. It says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. Then he says something
[00:45:07] interesting. Hmm. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And then he keeps on saying, he says, the lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, if your eye is good, your whole
[00:45:25] body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
[00:45:34] If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?
[00:45:43] No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. What I'm going to do
[00:46:01] is I'm gonna break down these verses in this scripture and help us understand what precisely Jesus is talking about.
[00:46:10] Because one thing that is a little puzzling, if therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?
[00:46:19] How does that make sense?
[00:46:20] How can light be darkness?
[00:46:24] Well, if you understand what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11, he said that the devil is an angel of light who comes in to deceive. He acts like he's good, but he's not. So what Jesus is saying is if you have accepted this false light, if you have gotten
[00:46:48] into deception, you need to be careful because the darkness is residing inside of you. And he begins to speak about deception. And then he makes this statement about treasure. Now, if you look at the Greek word for treasure, it's not just talking about, it's the word, the sarsaros. And it's not
[00:47:15] just talking about money. It's talking about your valuables, everything that you possess, your wealth, your prized, you know, everything that you prize and protect, that you guard, that you look after, it's all encompassing. And at first glance, it's like, okay, it looks like three separate messages
[00:47:38] here, but it's actually one complete teaching. Jesus is giving us one definitive statement.
[00:47:47] he's moving from your treasure to your vision and then to your master. It's actually one statement.
[00:47:59] He's saying what you treasure determines how you see and how you see determines whom you serve.
[00:48:14] It's one continuous thought.
[00:48:18] Jesus is saying, your money doesn't reveal your wealth.
[00:48:23] It reveals your worship.
[00:48:27] And in Jewish culture, see, they understood this was an idiom.
[00:48:32] Good eye means someone that was generous.
[00:48:36] A bad eye meant someone that was stingy.
[00:48:39] So when Jesus is speaking, they knew exactly what he was referring to.
[00:48:44] They understood.
[00:48:46] He's saying, if you have a good eye, you are generous.
[00:48:52] And understand in this scripture, Jesus isn't condemning possessions.
[00:48:57] He's actually confronting misplaced security.
[00:49:04] Notice he never says don't save.
[00:49:08] He never says you shouldn't have treasure.
[00:49:11] And he never says don't invest.
[00:49:13] he is saying choose the location of your treasure carefully why well because the greatest threat to wealth in the first century he was very specific moth what happened to moth well moth was a representation of slow decay in the ancient world they would eat clothing they would eat through
[00:49:45] wool bags that stored things and would leave things exposed. And understand that garments were used to exchange as currency. So hey, moth can destroy things that you value. So be careful of the slow decay. It's a little different than us. They didn't have stock markets or digital
[00:50:08] assets or retirement accounts per se. They didn't have real estate portfolios. They didn't have bank accounts with FDIC insurance. They had tangible things that were in their house.
[00:50:27] Then Jesus said, rust. What does rust symbolize? It symbolizes internal decay. The Greek word for rust means an eating away at, and it's not just orange corrosion on metal. It means that things deteriorate over time. When you leave something over time, it naturally deteriorates. It changes
[00:50:53] quality and value. And what Jesus is saying is be careful that you don't put your trust in that because insects will eat your grain.
[00:51:05] Mold will get inside and take care of your food and destroy your food.
[00:51:12] Rot, rats.
[00:51:15] And then he says, after moth and rust, he says thieves.
[00:51:19] Those are external loss, things that are stolen from you.
[00:51:24] And in first century, those are the things that they had to be careful of because everything that was of value to them, they kept in their house, and it's susceptible, very susceptible. And the thing we have to
[00:51:39] understand is what Jesus is trying to get across is he's saying, listen, earth is temporary.
[00:51:44] Earth is governed by decay. Everything you own can be naturally attacked. Nothing on earth is ultimately secure. Things will eat your accumulation. And let's just bring this modern day, he's saying, listen, your stock market portfolio, it could crash. The food in your
[00:52:07] refrigerator will spoil, could go bad. Inflation can hit your household. Inflation just from 2026, a $400,000 house is now $800,000. Inflation can take from you. There are maintenance costs.
[00:52:28] I should add in here teenagers there's depreciation there's taxes Jesus is saying listen even if nature doesn't take it thieves can fraud scams lawsuits hackers identity theft burglary those are all things that can come in and steal your possessions Jesus is saying listen
[00:52:57] don't have double vision. You can't serve two masters. You can't serve God and mammon. You have to pick. And you know what he's actually saying? He's saying you actually already have chosen. Everyone serves a master. The thing is, is you have to look at which one have you chosen
[00:53:21] because we already have. The question is not, do I worship? The question is, what gets my worship?
[00:53:33] Now, to understand this, I want to explain what the word mammon is, because it's not a word that we would typically use today. And many people think it simply means money, but it means way
[00:53:45] more than that. The Greek word mammon is the word mammonos, and it means wealth, possessions, property, money, riches. It's all in company. Mammon whispers. Mammon says, I'll protect you if you just store up enough of me
[00:54:06] and save enough of me, I can make you significant.
[00:54:12] I can make you look powerful.
[00:54:15] I will secure your future.
[00:54:18] Keep checking your 401k, your savings account.
[00:54:22] Look at your portfolio.
[00:54:25] I make you feel safe.
[00:54:28] You are finally enough because of me.
[00:54:32] You finally have enough because of me.
[00:54:36] That's what Mammon whispers.
[00:54:38] Now, notice that Jesus never says you can't have money.
[00:54:42] He says you cannot serve it.
[00:54:45] The problem isn't when money is in your hand.
[00:54:48] The problem is when it's sitting on the throne of your heart.
[00:54:52] It's very different.
[00:54:54] And Jesus doesn't, this is like what blows me away, is if I would have written this passage, I would have thought, let me start with two masters and then break it all down.
[00:55:05] Jesus doesn't talk about that to the end.
[00:55:09] Why?
[00:55:10] Why doesn't he do that?
[00:55:11] He's saying, because you've already chosen one.
[00:55:16] Jesus says money becomes mammon when it stops being a tool and becomes an object of trust.
[00:55:25] He doesn't start first by saying, hey, you can only serve God or mammon, not both.
[00:55:31] he summarizes that at the end. He starts and he says, where is your treasure? Because wherever that is, tells me. That tells me all I need to know. And he makes them look internally.
[00:55:51] And he asked them that question first. Listen, I think sometimes what we don't realize, we think that money can give us something that only God can and it's temporary and it's fleeting and when it stops being a tool and becomes the object of our trust then we're in dangerous
[00:56:24] territory we're on dangerous ground how do I know if I'm serving mammon it's so simple it has to do with trust. And God instituted a way to keep your heart right regarding money. And it's super,
[00:56:44] super, super simple. It is probably one of the easiest principles of the Bible. And it's called the tithe. Tithe literally means one-tenth or 10%. It's so simple. It's the number of testing in the Bible. Whenever you see the number 10, it means it's the number of testing. There were 10
[00:57:12] plagues in Egypt, 10 commandments. There were 10 virgins that brought, they had lamps with oil.
[00:57:20] Daniel had a 10 day test. Abraham was tested 10 times. Israel tested God 10 times. There were 10 servants, 10 horns, 10 days in revelation. What's so interesting is God did not use a random
[00:57:37] percentage. He established a measurable expression of trust. Now, for me, that's really easy.
[00:57:49] The tithe is literally one out of 10. It's not six out of 10. It's not five out of 10.
[00:57:56] It's not eight out of 10. It's one out of 10. That's simple for me. Because see, I'm not real great at math. I'm more of a creative person. So math, if you say one out of 10,
[00:58:11] I get that. Now, what's a little harder is when Jesus says, love your enemy. Well, I mean, that could look like a whole bunch of different things, but this one out of 10, that's a really easy formula it's not complicated it's not I'm having to overthink it what does
[00:58:39] that mean what was Jesus saying what it's simple it's easy and when you really break it down and you really understand it it's not a financial decision it's just what servants do it's what disciples do. He didn't give some random percentage. He said, this is a way to express
[00:59:11] whether you truly trust. Now, your spending is a way of exposing your heart and what your heart actually believes is worthy. Now, why didn't God ask for half? Why didn't he? Well, we talked about
[00:59:38] the number 10 and what it's associated with, but the issue was never that God needed. He didn't ask for half because he didn't need it. He asked for 10% because the issue is, can you trust me with
[00:59:56] a little? Because if you trust me with a little, I know that I can trust you with more. That was really the issue. Tithing isn't about money. It's a trust test. And if you truly trust God,
[01:00:15] you don't struggle with this. It is so easy. It's a no brainer. It is basic Christianity.
[01:00:23] Christianity 101. If I was teaching a course today on Christianity 101, that would be basic Christianity. But if I could tell you how many Christians are not tithing, that lets me know there's a lot of Christians that struggle to trust God. They struggle. If you struggle with trust,
[01:00:50] then tithing will be difficult for you. If you trust God fully, man, you can't wait to tithe.
[01:01:01] you can't wait. And listen, the Bible says you return the tithe. It doesn't say you give the tithe. We're actually not generous when we tithe. We're actually just giving God back what he said.
[01:01:20] Generosity kicks in after the 10% because we don't have to do that. And you know what's amazing to me is we'll go to a restaurant and give a waitress 20% and we balk over giving God 10%.
[01:01:37] Do you know the government takes much more than 10%?
[01:01:44] And we balk over what God has asked?
[01:01:48] You see, if mammon becomes your master, then you begin to see through the lens of, well, what's in this for me?
[01:01:53] What do I get out of it?
[01:01:56] What can I afford?
[01:01:58] What will make me wealthier?
[01:02:03] But when God is your master, you think, what will advance the kingdom?
[01:02:09] How can I bless someone?
[01:02:11] What has eternal value?
[01:02:14] Now, let me just make this plain and clear because I don't want people to get the wrong impression.
[01:02:21] God isn't saying that money is bad.
[01:02:26] What he's saying is that when money becomes your little G God, that's not good.
[01:02:32] Think of if I had a garden hose, right?
[01:02:36] And I took that garden hose and I went and I tightened it up around the spigot and I turned the spigot on and I took the garden hose over here.
[01:02:45] And what's it intended to do?
[01:02:47] To get water from one place to the next.
[01:02:52] That's the purpose of the water hose.
[01:02:56] But the hose gets wet too.
[01:03:03] The purpose is to get water from one place to the next.
[01:03:08] That's our money, from one place to the next.
[01:03:14] But don't you think that when you're doing what God has asked you to do. Don't you think the hose gets wet in the process? God wants to bless you, but he can't bless us when we don't even trust him. He's wanting us to trust him. And it's
[01:03:34] not just about our money. It's about our heart. It's about our life. And so many of us are going, God, I want to believe for this business that you've called me to. God, I want a promotion.
[01:03:48] and he's just going, but you don't trust me.
[01:03:53] I would love to put more into your hands, but you don't trust me.
[01:04:01] And did you know you can't have a healthy relationship until there's a foundation of trust?
[01:04:06] I don't care what relationship, if you don't trust that person, your relationship is gonna be stagnant.
[01:04:13] And God is going, hey, can we settle the trust thing here?
[01:04:17] Can we settle this?
[01:04:18] Because there's lots of things I'd love to do in your life.
[01:04:22] I want to use you as a conduit to get resources from one place to the next.
[01:04:30] But you've shut the hose off because you don't trust me.
[01:04:37] Can I help you with this?
[01:04:40] Can I just give you a simple statement?
[01:04:44] Don't keep eating what you should be seeding.
[01:04:56] The 10th is a reoccurring reminder that your trust is always going to be tested.
[01:05:02] If you struggle to release one out of 10, the issue isn't mathematics.
[01:05:08] It is mastery.
[01:05:12] It's mastery.
[01:05:16] There's trust issues there if that's a struggle.
[01:05:20] And what I would encourage you to do when you get home today, pull out your personal P&L, your checkbook register online and just begin to go through it.
[01:05:33] Take a look.
[01:05:35] what story is it telling? What picture is it painting? Because it's a spiritual indicator.
[01:05:44] It may look like something natural, but it's really indicative of something that's spiritual.
[01:05:50] Jesus wasn't giving a lesson here on budgeting. He is exposing the anatomy of worship.
[01:05:57] Did you know worship isn't just when the musicians are out here and the singers are on the platform?
[01:06:04] Worship is when we bring God our tithe.
[01:06:10] That's worship.
[01:06:14] That is worship.
[01:06:15] And God is exposing our worship.
[01:06:18] In Haggai 1.6, it says, you have planted much, but have harvested little.
[01:06:23] You eat, but never have enough.
[01:06:26] You drink, but never have your fill.
[01:06:29] You put on clothes, but you are not warm.
[01:06:32] you earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it.
[01:06:40] Maybe you should stop auditing your funnel and start auditing your covenant alignment.
[01:06:50] God, am I in covenant with you?
[01:06:52] Because if I'm in covenant, I'm keeping my word.
[01:06:57] And Jesus made it so clear.
[01:07:00] He did not say where your heart is, there your treasure will be.
[01:07:05] he said, where your treasure is, your heart follows. So go look at where your treasure's going and you'll easily see where your heart is because money doesn't just reveal our heart, it directs it. Show me where your money goes and I will show you where your altar is.
[01:07:33] Your expense report is your altar map.
[01:07:37] Read it honestly.
[01:07:39] Your heart follows your investment.
[01:07:42] Your checkbook reveals your discipleship.
[01:07:47] And if we have a closed fist, how in the world can God get to us?
[01:07:54] I can't receive anything with this posture.
[01:08:02] How can I give with this posture?
[01:08:07] God wants us to have an open hand.
[01:08:09] That is the posture of receiving.
[01:08:14] This is a defensive posture.
[01:08:18] That's not a posture to receive.
[01:08:20] That's defensive.
[01:08:23] And God doesn't want us handling or stewarding our finances in a defensive posture.
[01:08:31] And I think it's amazing that God didn't ask for nine out of 10.
[01:08:36] He simply asked for one.
[01:08:39] In essence, tithing isn't God's way of taking money from you.
[01:08:43] It is God's way of getting mammon out of you.
[01:08:50] So simple, so simple.
[01:08:54] It says, who do I trust the most?
[01:08:56] What causes me the greatest anxiety?
[01:09:01] What do I lay awake at night and think about?
[01:09:06] God, what areas of my life am I not trusting you?
[01:09:12] God, when something happens, the stock market fluctuates.
[01:09:15] Am I just running online to look at my portfolio?
[01:09:19] My just looking at my real estate transactions or God, do I trust you? And listen, I'm not saying not to steward what you have. Don't misunderstand. God wants us to be good stewards. What I'm saying
[01:09:38] is don't make an idol out of something that shouldn't be because God will never bless an idol. And if you turn finances into an idol, he will not bless you. Anything that we turn into
[01:09:54] an idol comes before God, and he will not bless and honor that. So how do I break the mammon spirit?
[01:10:08] How do I break it? Well, it starts with lordship, not the math. Start with lordship. God, you own it all. Everything belongs to you. Not just the 10%. All of it belongs to you, God. God, it's yours.
[01:10:28] Give me wisdom and helping steward what you have put in my hands. Thank you, God. Then we give him the first, not the last. God's not a God of leftovers. That means fear is leading. Giving God
[01:10:45] first works your faith muscle. When income comes in, give before your mind even starts negotiating. Do you know what I do? Things that are important to me, things that I need to make sure that my money goes to, I automate. Why not automate
[01:11:07] giving? That's something that's a big deal to me. I want that coming out first. I don't want it forgotten about. I automate it. I automate my mortgage. I automate my other bills.
[01:11:20] why wouldn't I automate that?
[01:11:24] You automate what's important and it makes sure that we give God first, not what's left.
[01:11:33] If you said to me, hey, Pastor P, I want you to come over my house because I really just wanna honor and appreciate you.
[01:11:43] I'd love for you to come over for dinner.
[01:11:46] Come to my house and I come in and you set the table, refrigerator, and you open it up and you say, okay, let me find all of the things that I didn't eat throughout the month,
[01:12:01] all the leftovers that are stored in the Tupperware.
[01:12:04] And let me just kind of rummage through the refrigerator.
[01:12:08] Oh, here's some old green beans.
[01:12:09] I didn't eat those.
[01:12:10] Those were leftover.
[01:12:12] Oh, here's a little bit of hamburger.
[01:12:14] I don't know what the green stuff is growing on it, but hey, I didn't eat it.
[01:12:19] So this is leftover.
[01:12:21] hey there's a little piece of cheese I didn't think it was blue cheese but it's blue cheese now and you begin to clean out your refrigerator because it's all the stuff they got left in there
[01:12:35] that you ate what you wanted you took what you wanted everything else was just left over and so you know you crack open the refrigerator and you come and say this is how I honor you I give you
[01:12:49] everything I had left. But why do we do that with God? Why do we think that honors God in any way, shape, fashion, or form? It doesn't. What we're doing is we're saying, okay, God, I had my fill.
[01:13:13] Now I'll kick a little bit your way. There's no trust involved in that. He wants the first, not the last. The next thing we have to do is we have to be consistent. Tithing is not some
[01:13:27] emotional moment. It's a discipleship rhythm. It's not like, oh, I got so excited in church and I got a goose bump, so I'm going to give. That's not what tithing is about. It's about faithful stewardship. Nobody should have to give you your hair stand on the back of your neck and
[01:13:49] show a starving child. I mean, those things are true and they're accurate. There are children starving, but nobody should have to show you that before you decide to be faithful.
[01:14:02] I think it's good to show those things for proof of purchase so you can know, hey, we're stewarding what we said we would steward. I loved last week, I got a picture. Somebody was driving on 485
[01:14:19] and they saw the mobile ultrasound unit that Freedom House Church purchased and it had on the back donated by Freedom House Church over $200,000 that mobile ultrasound unit cost.
[01:14:34] That's proof that the church is doing what it said it would do.
[01:14:39] And don't you know, this week we got a text from the pregnancy center.
[01:14:48] It was sitting outside of an abortion clinic and they got a young girl who was with her boyfriend who was forcing her to go to the abortion clinic.
[01:14:58] It's funny how you like to play, but then the consequences of your actions, you just wanna do away with, right?
[01:15:12] You were there for the fun and now you won't be there for the responsibility.
[01:15:18] So he's trying to push her into the clinic, but our team got a hold and said, come here, come here. Before you go, we just want to show you. And they pulled up that 11 week
[01:15:28] old baby and showed her, printed off a little picture of her baby to show her and began to tell her about life and how the baby has a heartbeat and all that's going on with that baby.
[01:15:50] And, and she said, this is making me have to think about things. I didn't know this.
[01:15:59] and they set up another appointment with her for next week, she's coming back to get another ultrasound.
[01:16:08] She thought there was only one way out of her situation and she didn't realize, she didn't know.
[01:16:18] And now she does.
[01:16:21] You see, there are people waiting on the other side of our obedience.
[01:16:27] Young girls, I don't know how old she was.
[01:16:30] I know she was young.
[01:16:32] I do know that she was 11 weeks along and that that mobile ultrasound unit would not be hitting the streets of Charlotte if it were not for the people of Freedom House Church.
[01:16:48] Consistency matters.
[01:16:49] It matters, it's a big deal.
[01:16:54] The next thing is we have to be honest.
[01:16:56] God said 10%, not 2%.
[01:16:59] Not what you feel okay with.
[01:17:07] Make it a priority.
[01:17:10] How do I start if I haven't been tithing?
[01:17:15] How do I start?
[01:17:16] Well, the first thing is by repenting.
[01:17:20] What does repentance mean?
[01:17:21] It means you were going one direction, you stopped, you did 180 degree turn and you went the opposite direction.
[01:17:30] That is what repentance means.
[01:17:32] It means a turnaround.
[01:17:34] Let God know you're ready to change.
[01:17:37] You're ready to start trusting him.
[01:17:41] Ask for forgiveness.
[01:17:43] Tell him that you trust him above your budgeting skills, that you trust him above your employer or above what your savings account looks like.
[01:17:56] Now, we get this question a lot when people start this journey.
[01:18:00] Do I have to go back and tithe over all the money that I've made?
[01:18:06] How far back do I have to go?
[01:18:11] You know, the great thing about God is he wipes away the past.
[01:18:20] He wipes away the past.
[01:18:22] You don't have to go back.
[01:18:25] You don't have to look through all your register for all these years and just try and catch up.
[01:18:31] He says, no, it's done.
[01:18:34] But now we're responsible to change.
[01:18:39] God, now I understand.
[01:18:41] And now I know.
[01:18:44] Now I mean it.
[01:18:47] Next thing is you start now.
[01:18:49] You start with your next paycheck.
[01:18:52] You're answering a question.
[01:18:53] Who is my provider?
[01:18:56] Don't wait till you pay everything off because by tithing, God could actually give you the means and ability to pay everything off.
[01:19:07] Start with what's most important, and that's obedience.
[01:19:10] And obedience starts now, not if, when, someday.
[01:19:15] It's 10 cents on a dollar.
[01:19:18] You know the great thing?
[01:19:21] This is such simple math.
[01:19:22] It doesn't matter if you make a million dollars a year, $100,000 a year, $20,000 a year.
[01:19:30] It's the same across the board, 10%.
[01:19:34] 10% over all of our increase.
[01:19:39] Pastor Troy and I like flipping houses.
[01:19:42] That is something we've done for years and years.
[01:19:45] Some of them we turn around and sell.
[01:19:47] And sometimes, you know, we'll go in and take the ugliest house.
[01:19:51] I mean, people have gone, what are you thinking?
[01:19:54] Honest story, Pastor Aaron knows this is true because he sold me some of them.
[01:20:00] Him and Pastor Steph are also real estate agents.

[01:20:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[01:20:03] And he's like, what are you thinking?
[01:20:05] this is the ugliest thing I've ever seen. And it does look ugly. Just let me get a hold of it.
[01:20:17] And then I flip it. And I say, how do you like me now? Right? Do you know how much joy it is

[01:20:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_15]
[01:20:30] to be able to write a check off of a house that we've sold? My salary, I couldn't do that.
[01:20:42] God gave us other ways and other alternate things to be able to really pour into the kingdom.
[01:20:55] But at the end, for all of us, it's 10 cent on a dollar.
[01:21:02] It's simple math.
[01:21:04] It's really that easy.
[01:21:07] And we start now.
[01:21:08] We start putting God first.
[01:21:12] Obedience is now, not if this check comes in, if I get the bonus.
[01:21:17] Hey, you probably aren't gonna get the bonus until you first start being faithful.
[01:21:24] God is faithful.
[01:21:27] Next thing is adjust your lifestyle.
[01:21:30] Don't adjust your obedience.
[01:21:33] Adjust your lifestyle.
[01:21:35] Eat out less.
[01:21:37] Skip a purchase.
[01:21:38] Skip an upgrade.
[01:21:41] I will build my life around putting God first.
[01:21:46] You know, the last property that we were flipping, we actually had to live in it for a while.
[01:21:51] and we didn't have running water for eight weeks.
[01:21:57] That wasn't fun, y'all.
[01:21:59] I was like, I don't camp for a reason.
[01:22:03] We had a little teeny microwave because I didn't have a kitchen for a year.
[01:22:08] And y'all know I like to cook.
[01:22:10] I didn't have a microwave.
[01:22:12] All I had was a microwave and I'd plug it in and it would like pop the switch and I'd get like 30 seconds out of it.
[01:22:18] Then I'd put it in, I'd get like 30 seconds out of it.
[01:22:21] And I was living through a mess, Like literally a mess.
[01:22:28] But you know what I realized?
[01:22:33] A lot of people want the reward, but they have no idea how to sacrifice in the moment.
[01:22:42] I mean, we looked ridiculous.
[01:22:44] Like we had plastic up everywhere.
[01:22:46] And I will tell you, it wasn't the best to live there while we were, that wasn't smart.
[01:22:54] I was pinching too many pennies.
[01:22:56] That wasn't smart.
[01:22:57] I don't think I'd do that again.
[01:22:59] But the thing is, is most people want the reward, but they don't know how to sacrifice.
[01:23:07] They don't know how to live with a little in seasons where it's difficult, understanding that God is gonna bless you if you just honor him, if you're just obedient.
[01:23:21] And here's the next thing, because this is what I was doing when I was living, waking up and I had like, every day it was like soot and dust I was covered in, choking, going, what have I done?
[01:23:33] y'all, I got porta potty stories that you just, I'm telling you, no running water.
[01:23:46] I was like, Lord, please don't let me get an upset stomach. There's no bathroom to run to.
[01:23:52] Jesus, help me. Lord, closest gas station was 15 minutes away. Y'all know what I'm talking about.
[01:24:01] That's crazy. Sometimes all we can see is right in front of us and not the big picture of what God wants to do. And what I started to do is I started to keep a gratitude journal. God, thank
[01:24:17] you. Thank you for the blessings. God, thank you for all this plastic up everywhere around, because I know you're working in the midst. And being able to thank God when one little door opens, every time God provides something supernaturally, every time there's a little
[01:24:45] bit of peace that comes and you realize, man, I'm starting to trust God. I didn't go online and look at the checking account 20 times this week. God, I'm really starting to lean on you and trust you
[01:25:00] in ways I hadn't done before. And when you go through hard seasons, it really shows you where your trust is. That was a hard season for us. I remember one night I had to speak at our authentic
[01:25:21] conference. I had 800 women here and I'm coming in with a laundry basket. Hadn't had a shower in two days. Having to take a shower in the back, get dressed, hoping nobody saw me when I walked in
[01:25:36] with my laundry basket full of stuff. And I just kept writing and journaling. God, you're faithful.
[01:25:47] God, I trust you. God, you're good. Every time he meets a need, begin to thank him. God, you paid that bill before it was even due. Thank you, God, for showing up like you did. And you know what
[01:26:12] happens when we begin to praise? We get access to the throne room. The Bible is very specific.
[01:26:21] It says you enter his courts with thanksgiving and you enter his gates with praise. That is how we get into the presence of God as we begin to thank him. God, thank you for what you've done. Even when
[01:26:38] your flesh doesn't quite feel it in the moment. It's not about a formula. It's about faithfulness.
[01:26:46] Sometimes we just overthink it. Don't wait for a better time, better moment. See it as an act of worship, act of worship. God, I worship you in this moment. I know what it's like to live and
[01:27:10] experience God's faithfulness in the season by stepping out on obedience. Listen, tithing isn't a destination. It's simply evidence of a surrendered heart. That's all it is. You know, Jesus ended by saying, there's two masters. Let's be honest. God's never been after your money.
[01:27:46] He's been after your heart. And I think today is a good opportunity, a good time for us to take a look at our heart and figure out which master we've been serving. Would you stand up on your
[01:28:02] feet with me? I want to close this service by asking with every head bowed, with every eye closed. I want to start by asking who's ready to trust God. And I don't mean with 10%. I want to
[01:28:20] ask you a much bigger question, whether you're online or whether you're here in the room, a much bigger question. Have you trusted God with a hundred percent? Because you can tithe and you can still never give him your life. It isn't about dollars. It's about devotion. But I can say if you
[01:28:40] struggle with the tithe, that means you struggle to trust God with your finances. How in the world Can you trust him with your eternity if you can't trust him with your tithe?
[01:28:58] So with every head bowed, with every eye closed, if you could bring the lights down for me, I want to ask you this. Have you been having a hard time trusting God? Have you been having a
[01:29:20] hard time trusting God? Ask yourself. You know, most of us can probably point back to a time or a day or a moment where somebody, someone or something let us down and inadvertently that pattern we put over on God, like he was going to let us down too. And the irony is,
[01:29:52] is he's the only one that won't. Don't penalize God for something somebody else did. Learn to trust him. Learn to open your heart. So today, if you would say, hey, I haven't been trusting God.
[01:30:15] And you want to do that today. You just want to go, man, that's me. I just, there's areas of my heart where I'm not fully trusting God. And I want to just give my heart completely to Jesus today.
[01:30:32] Would you just lift your hand right where you are, right in your seat? Thank you, ma'am. Who else?
[01:30:36] Thank you, ma'am. Who else? I'm going to look over the room. Thank you, sir. Who else? Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, sir. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, sir. Thank you, ma'am.
[01:30:48] thank you ma'am who else thank you sir thank you sir I see your hand this is just God God whispering to your heart it's okay it's okay to trust me he's the one that will never
[01:31:09] let us down let's all of us whether we're here in the room or whether you're online joining us let's all of us say this together. Say it loud. Say, Heavenly Father, we trust you. We open our
[01:31:25] hand and we open our heart. Forgetting the past, we're starting fresh. We're starting new. We're hitting the reset button today. We will trust you. We will honor you. We will be faithful with everything that you put into our hands. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.

[01:31:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[01:31:58] Thank you for that message, Pastor Penny. As Pastor Penny was speaking, I recall a time where Ronnie and I were not in the best financial situation, and we both grew up tithing. Tithing was not not an option you had to tithe and um everything literally broke in our house our house
[01:32:20] flooded the ac went out the coffee machine broke and i remember what you told me when we were in the car can you tell them what happened do you remember that no you tell it the um a rock hit

[01:32:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:32:34] our windshield you remember that yeah we were driving and then a rock goes and it hits the windshield it just cracks it all all the way and I look at Alex and I um I just look and I
[01:32:47] with a sad face I'm like Alex we're in a bad season we're in a bad season and I was pregnant

[01:32:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[01:32:54] and we needed to pay bills and we also got sued so not for anything bad it was a family thing but um it was crazy and we like not like we continue to tithe like it never crossed our
[01:33:10] mind like oh let's stop tithing and we can pay this and we can pay that and let me tell you we literally got a check in the mail he thought it was a scam it was not i was like i don't know
[01:33:22] i know my god and i called it it was not a scam i was about to shred it i like scam it was a property he sold in raleigh and apparently he didn't get fully paid out so it was not a scam
[01:33:33] and then i got um apparently we also had an etch-a-stay account that ronnie signed for at his job and forgot about and that paid all this is what I have to do God was amazing and literally
[01:33:51] every single bill was paid in that season so I want to tell you right now if you this is a hard message for a lot of people but God you will never give God something that he won't give back
[01:34:07] If anything, he multiplies it.
[01:34:10] Amen.

[01:34:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:34:14] Movement, young adults.
[01:34:18] Ages 18 to 29, there is a missions trip to L.A.
[01:34:23] So I've been to L.A. too many times.
[01:34:25] They need the missions.
[01:34:26] Please visit freedomhouse.cc slash missions.
[01:34:31] You'll get more information and you can sign up.

[01:34:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[01:34:34] Yes, and if you're a first-time guest, we would love to welcome you.
[01:34:37] Please join us in the back.
[01:34:38] We have a gift for you.
[01:34:39] and to learn more about Freedom House and upcoming events, tap the button in front of your seat and you'll be directed to our website.
[01:34:49] Thank you so much.
[01:34:49] It was awesome to worship with you guys today.
[01:34:52] Have a great week.

[01:34:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:34:53] God bless you.
[01:34:54] You are dismissed.