The Idol of Control: Why Generosity Must Flow from Grace, Not Guilt

• Greed [00:33:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines greed as an excessive desire for material gain and identifies it as one of the seven deadly sins, specifically focusing on its sneaky nature and sinful character.
• Generosity [00:34:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Contrasted with greed, the pastor frames the goal of the message as cultivating generosity in the soul rather than merely extracting money from pockets.
• Spirit vs. Flesh [00:34:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Romans 8 to establish the theological framework of feeding the Spirit and starving the flesh, using greed as the primary example of fleshly behavior.
• Money as an Idol [00:40:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that while money is a tool, it becomes a 'lousy god' when served, citing Jesus' teaching that one cannot serve both God and money.
• The Nature of Greed [00:41:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines greed as sneaky, sinful, and silly, citing 1 Timothy 6:10 to establish that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.
• Spiritual Warfare Against Sin [00:45:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that believers must actively 'kill' greed by treating it like a weed that must be rooted out and replaced with good works.
• Practical Generosity [00:49:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor outlines specific biblical instructions from 1 Timothy 6:17-19: setting hopes on God, doing good works, tithing, and giving offerings.
• Prioritizing God over Wealth [00:53:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor instructs the wealthy to look at God more than their money, possessions, or bank accounts, making God their primary source.
• Tithing and Generosity [00:53:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines 'good works' as practicing biblical generosity, specifically tithing (10%) and offerings, urging believers to put faith into action rather than just having good thoughts.
• Building a Reflex of Generosity [00:56:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages developing an automatic response to help others in need, contrasting it with the reflex of looking for loopholes to avoid giving.
• Pre-deciding to Give [01:00:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor advises pre-deciding to tithe and automate giving to remove hesitation and ensure consistent obedience to God's word.
• Supporting the Local Church [01:01:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor clarifies that while giving to other causes is good, the local church is the primary recipient of tithes and the vehicle for kingdom growth.
• Communion [01:05:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor announces the taking of the Lord's Supper, describing it as partaking in the body and blood of Jesus broken on the cross.
• Prayer and Healing [01:05:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages attendees to seek out prayer team members for physical healing, burdens, or responses to the message.
• Salvation and Repentance [01:06:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor clarifies that for non-believers, the priority is not financial giving but repenting of sin, giving life to Christ, and confessing Him as Lord to be saved.

• Sermon Illustration [00:37:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his intense dislike for spiders and cilantro, stating he would 'explode and spontaneously combust' if cilantro were served with his Mexican food, to illustrate the concept of being 'militant' about avoiding something.
• Sermon Illustration [00:30:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the recent assassination attempt/shooting in Washington DC against the president as a real-world example of chaos and the enemy's work, contrasting it with the church's call to be proactive agents of peace.
• Sermon Illustration [00:46:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a humorous personal anecdote about his wife, Shari, being 'Plan A' to kill spiders in their house, using it as an analogy for how believers should not tolerate sin but actively root it out.
• Sermon Illustration [00:48:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of springtime gardening in South Carolina, explaining that just as one must pull weeds by the roots to allow grass to flourish, believers must root out greed to allow generosity to grow.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references his father's example of tithing from his childhood, describing his blue-collar father giving 10% of his income at a small traditional church.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal testimony of his father, a blue-collar worker who tithed from the breakfast table, and how he and his wife prioritized tithing despite financial instability, resulting in God meeting all their needs over 27 years of marriage, including covering 11 major surgeries.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the parable of the Good Samaritan to illustrate that true generosity requires having 'margin' and resources (money) ready to help, rather than just good intentions.
• Sermon Illustration [01:02:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor mentions his church's journey out of $45 million in debt by starting to tithe and give to missions, linking generosity to the growth of the kingdom.

• Pastoral Charge [00:29:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > Look at the neighbor and offer a compliment.
• Pastoral Charge [00:29:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > Encourage neighbors by speaking to their potential.
• Pastoral Charge [00:47:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor calls the congregation to actively eliminate sin (greed) and replace it with spiritual disciplines (feeding the spirit).
• Pastoral Charge [00:48:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to remove greed and substitute it with generosity.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > Stand up in response to the message.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Come forward to take communion.
• Pastoral Charge [01:06:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > Go to prayer team members for prayer.
• Pastoral Charge [01:04:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Commit to trusting God with finances and setting up tithing.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Come forward to take communion.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > Go to a prayer team member to pray.
• Pastoral Charge [01:06:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > Go to the cross to be led to faith in Jesus.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:06:12] In the New Testament where the presence of God comes into the house and David calls the people to minister to God and that's what we're here to do to minister to God with our praise with our worship so let's lift our voices to him our worship ministers to our holy God let this be our prayer our hearts are open you got that you are with us and our hands are open to whatever you have to give us this morning we are

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:11:05] for the most exciting five minutes in church.
[00:11:09] Listen, no joke, this is one of my favorite Sundays every year because we get to honor our graduates.
[00:11:17] And so that's what you see going on here behind me as I let them all get settled.
[00:11:23] And listen, I'd be remiss, this was a last minute ad.
[00:11:27] Y'all see Justin Harrison down there on the end.
[00:11:29] Justin Harrison has pastored so many of these young men and women through the years.
[00:11:34] it's such an honor uh and I personally am invested in this because I have a graduate among them and so I want to say to you I'm grateful that my boys are growing up under your leadership and young men
[00:11:46] and ladies we are so honored to be able to celebrate with you this morning Psalm 103 says that as a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him
[00:12:00] and what I want you to know is as as a dad of one of you people who I will not point out or it might embarrass him I want you to know that you have a room full of spiritual fathers and mothers who
[00:12:13] love you who are with you in every step that you take who will support you in the good decisions and in the bad ones that we will have compassion on you and we will do everything that we can to
[00:12:27] turn your attention to the God that loves you. Because his love for you is infinitely greater than anything any of us or your parents could ever offer you. And so as you step into the next
[00:12:39] season of life, what we want for you is to know that there is a God that has good gifts on offer for you. And so the effort turns into a posture of receipt rather than a posture of living up to
[00:12:52] some external expectation. So this is what I want you to remember from this moment. Everybody with me? I want you to know that you don't have to receive the expectations placed upon you, but you can trust the one who we can expect only good things from. So when the world says we're
[00:13:12] expecting big things from you, you don't have to take that on. But you know that there are big things in store for you because of whose child you are. And so there is a good father in heaven
[00:13:23] that loves you. And what's on display out here, both from the generational legacy that's present with your families, all the way to the church legacy that extends across this room is a group of people that love you and want only good things for you. So here's what I would love for us to do.
[00:13:40] I would love to pray over you guys, and then we would love as a church to bless you. So church, as you're seated, I want you to take whatever posture will allow you to extend what you have
[00:13:52] to give to these people because I want them to see it before we begin praying. And then I'm going to invite you to stand together as we collectively bless this group of graduates. So let's pray now
[00:14:04] and then we'll enter into a time of blessing and continue to worship. Father God, you are faithful.
[00:14:13] God, I have seen in my own life that when I am weak, you are strong. Lord, you are faithful to redeemed through all circumstances. And so Lord, we say thank you for that. God, for some of the
[00:14:28] parents, it feels a bit like we're turning our children over to what is next. And there's fear in that. But God, we do that knowing that you are a loving God who gives us as parents good gifts
[00:14:41] and also will give our kids good gifts. And so Lord, as our children step into what you have next for them, may you bless them. Lord, may you give them peace. Lord, let them walk in the
[00:14:56] fruit of the Spirit with kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control. Lord, we wish them to have every good thing that is on offer for us to give them. And so let them feel right now that a
[00:15:12] room of 2,000 people has only good things to pass on to them. And so now, church, I'm going to invite you to stand and we're going to bless these young people into the season that is next for you. So if
[00:15:24] you guys just want to put your hands out in a posture of receipt and know that you're receiving something, not just from a pastor, not just from your parents or people that you know, but an entire
[00:15:38] church body, the bride of Christ giving to you what we have to offer. And so now may joy overflow in your days ahead, not just the fleeting happiness that comes from success, but the deep
[00:15:54] enduring joy that springs from a heart anchored in the Lord. Guys, be blessed. Would you guys put your hands together for me, for the graduates? Y'all did so good. Y'all can head out to the right.
[00:16:13] Eddie Red, I love you. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. Hey, we're going to continue in worship through giving and through song. And I know we have so many first timers here for our honoring of graduates, so you just let the basket go by. That's not for you, but I want you to know that
[00:16:29] God is faithful to generations, okay? So there is legacy that you are meant to take hold of, and so I want us to worship from that posture this morning. So Blake, you're not Blake. Tad, come on
[00:16:41] back up here. Lead us in worship as we continue. Thank you guys for the encouragement you are

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:16:45] to our graduates. Yeah, as we continue to sing, just thinking about God's faithfulness, we're going to sing a new song together that some folks on our team from around the state actually wrote for our church to sing, really coming out of Psalm 103. And if I could just highlight one verse out
[00:17:03] of there, the second verse in that Psalm says, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. So this is just our attempt to take that scripture and help ourselves remember all
[00:17:14] that he's done for us. We want to be a church and a people who remember what he's done. So as we sing and you catch on, please sing with us. That's kind of, that's why we wrote it, so we could all
[00:17:22] sing together, the very least I'd love everybody to do is to focus on just, and think about the

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:17:27] things that God has done for us. It's called your benefits. We remember him. Come on. This is right

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:18:11] from scripture right here.

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:27:45] Highest name. Name that is the most worthy. The only name that is worthy of our singing, of our praise jesus thank you you are exactly who you say you are and god we acknowledge you
[00:28:00] before anything else before we move on before we get into the next portion of our gathering jesus we acknowledge you and we say that you are the board we love you jesus and we pray this in

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:28:12] your name amen amen thank you for singing with us y'all can have a seat anything but war has in your life is your flesh and your sin. Much more important than fighting Satan is fighting sin.
[00:28:51] For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Good morning, New Spring Church. Welcome to God's

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:29:16] house today. I would love for you to spread some of that springtime cheer by looking at your neighbor right now and telling them, you look as fresh as a spring morning. Do that right now.
[00:29:27] And if you have to stretch the truth a little bit, that's okay.
[00:29:31] Speak to their potential.
[00:29:33] Speak to their potential if they're not quite there yet.
[00:29:36] That's right.
[00:29:37] We want to have a good day together today, so we'll start out with some love and encouragement for our brothers and sisters.
[00:29:43] My name's Clayton King, one of your pastors here, and we're in this amazing series.
[00:29:48] Listen, you're never going to say that New Spring Church doesn't preach about sin, because in this series, we're talking about how to feed the spirit and starve the flesh. And that's what I get to preach on today, week three in the series. And I'm not going to tell you what I'm
[00:30:04] going to preach about yet. In a minute, I will. But let me address something right off the bat before we get started today. One of the things that we are committed to being is the church.
[00:30:13] We want to be an outpost in the world of peace and hope. And we want to be a church that doesn't react to everything that happens in the world, but we want to be proactive by being a house of
[00:30:26] prayer. And as many of you know, last night, something really tragic happened. There was a shooting in Washington, DC, and it looks like it was potentially an assassination attempt against our president. Thank God that there was not more death and destruction than there was. And we want
[00:30:43] to praise God for that. But not only that, we're just living in a world that's filled with chaos and the enemy, Satan, comes to steal and kill and destroy.
[00:30:55] He wants to ruin marriages.
[00:30:56] He wants to ruin families.
[00:30:58] He wants to tear our country apart.
[00:31:00] He doesn't want the gospel to be proclaimed and he doesn't want us to be unified.
[00:31:04] That's what Satan wants.
[00:31:05] He wants to divide us.
[00:31:07] But what we can do as the people of God is we can come together and we can pray and we don't have to react to the world and its chaos.
[00:31:14] What we can do is we can join God and bringing order to a world that is riddled with the chaos and the destruction of the enemy.
[00:31:22] So I want us to pray right now.
[00:31:24] I want us to pray for our government.
[00:31:25] I want us to pray for our president.
[00:31:27] I want us to pray for our nation.
[00:31:29] I want us to pray for peace in the earth.
[00:31:31] Let's pray for an end to war.
[00:31:33] Let's pray that we as the people of God can be people of peace, that we can be people who bring light into every room we walk into, that we are people who are not filled with anger
[00:31:45] but filled with love. The love that we have received in Jesus Christ because he died on the cross and he gave his life so that we could live. And that's what the world needs. The world will
[00:31:57] never be saved by a political party or a king or an economy or a victory. The world can only be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. And that is our great joy to bring that peace and that hope
[00:32:11] to the world. Would you pray with me now as we pray for our nation and for the world and we pray for the peace of Christ? Lord, it's our honor right now to humble ourselves before you as your church,
[00:32:23] as the very bride of Christ. And Lord, we ask that you would use us to be agents of peace and hope, that we would proclaim the gospel to a world that's looking for meaning. We pray against
[00:32:39] violence. We pray that war would end. We thank you, God, for even last night, once again, seeing law enforcement that were able to step in quickly. And even today at all of our campuses, we thank
[00:32:52] you for the men and women that help keep us safe. We also thank you for your protection, Jesus.
[00:32:58] And we pray right now that we, as your sons and daughters, would carry your peace with us everywhere we go in a world that is riddled with chaos. I pray that we would help you partnering
[00:33:10] with you, God, to bring order and peace into a world that desperately needs Jesus. And with that posture today, we now open your word. Speak to us now in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Well, hard pivot.
[00:33:28] Everybody say pivot. All right. Hard pivot. We're going straight into this deadly sin today. We're talking about the seven deadly sins. And if you're curious about what I'm preaching on today, here it is. I'm preaching on greed. That's right. Greed. And when I say the word greed,
[00:33:49] some of you have a guttural reaction. Maybe you're thinking, all right, I'm excited about this. And Maybe some of you are like, uh-oh, here we go.
[00:33:59] The church wants my money.
[00:34:01] Let me just go ahead and explain to you that is not the heart behind this message.
[00:34:08] As a matter of fact, if I could put it a little more poetically, the church doesn't want your money.
[00:34:14] This is not about getting the money out of your pocket.
[00:34:18] This is about getting the greed out of your heart and generosity into your soul.
[00:34:24] So let's just say it that way.
[00:34:26] This is not about getting the money out of your pocket.
[00:34:29] It's about getting the greed out of your heart and generosity in to your soul.
[00:34:34] We saw it in the roll-in video.
[00:34:37] Romans chapter eight, verses six through 13 is our anchor for this series.
[00:34:42] We know that if you live by the flesh, you will die.
[00:34:45] But if you live according to the spirit, you will live.
[00:34:49] So we wanna give you biblical and practical steps to starve the flesh in your life by feeding the spirit because the spirit lives in us, the spirit of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit.
[00:35:05] Now let me define greed.
[00:35:06] It's important that we have a definition so that we're all operating off of the same page today.
[00:35:11] It is simply an excessive desire for material gain.
[00:35:17] That's what it is.
[00:35:17] It's an excessive desire for material gain.
[00:35:22] And when we talk about greed, I bet if I could survey all of our campuses, tens of thousands of New Spring members and attenders, I bet everybody here today knows a greedy person. I guarantee you,
[00:35:37] you know a greedy person. And you don't have to think very hard to remember somebody that was greedy or to think about, you know, it's really easy to go to Elon Musk or Bill Gates or Steve
[00:35:48] jobs. I bet you know a greedy person. I bet you one more thing is true about you and me.
[00:35:53] It's not us, right? We all know a greedy person, but it's never me. It's always them. And by definition, I think that the greedy people you know are people that have just a little bit more
[00:36:09] than you have, right? They drive a little nicer car. They live in a little better house. They they wear a little nicer clothes, they vacation in a little nicer place. It's so easy to see the
[00:36:21] greed in other people and be blind to the greed in our own hearts because of the nature of this sin. So I want to show you a couple of things about greed. It has a personality. It has a way
[00:36:38] of operating in your life. It has a way of suddenly coming in and taking over. And we see that it's actually something Jesus even spoke about. Look at Luke 12, 15, for instance. Jesus literally warns us about this one of the seven deadly sins. Look at Luke 12, 15. Jesus himself
[00:37:01] said. Then he said to them, watch out. Okay, so that's a warning. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. So he specifies that greed comes in many different forms. Life does not consist
[00:37:16] in an abundance of possessions. Watch out. Be on your guard. I live in a perpetual state of being on my guard, there are two things I'm always looking out for. Two things I'm always avoiding.
[00:37:34] Two things I'm militant about never having in my life. Spiders and cilantro. I will literally tell a server at a restaurant, if there is any cilantro on my Mexican food when you bring it out,
[00:37:51] I will explode and spontaneously combust in your restaurant. I just have a hair trigger. I hate spiders and I hate cilantro. I hope that today we can develop a sensitivity to greed in our own
[00:38:06] lives, that we will listen to the words of Jesus and watch out for it, that we'll be careful about it, that we'll see how subtly it can come into our lives. So let me show you three characteristics
[00:38:17] of greed and then we'll pivot and I'll show you how the Bible tells us to starve this fleshly this sin and feed the spirit of generosity. First of all, greed is sneaky. Greed is sneaky.
[00:38:36] It sort of comes out of nowhere. It creeps into certain places in your life and it can manifest itself by getting more and keeping score. That's kind of the American way, isn't it?
[00:38:50] Got to look out for number one, got to take care of me and mine. But in reality, that's greed talking to you. God wants to say to you, instead of looking out for number one, let me look out
[00:39:01] for you. Instead of you thinking you got to take care of your own, trust me and let me take care of you and yours. And there's a way to do that. Greed is sneaky. As a matter of fact, in Matthew
[00:39:14] chapter six, verses 19 through 24, Jesus speaks to the sneaky nature of greed in our own lives.
[00:39:23] Look at what Jesus had to say about it in Matthew 6.
[00:39:26] 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.
[00:39:46] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
[00:39:50] Remember I said, this is not about getting the money out of your pocket. It's about God getting generosity into your heart. Because look at verse 24, no one can serve two masters for either he'll hate the one
[00:40:02] and love the other, or he'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. Now, now watch what Jesus says here in that last sentence. You cannot serve God and money. Money is an incredible tool,
[00:40:19] but money is a lousy god and we don't think of ourselves as serving money and that is the sneaky nature of the sin of greed is that we'll see ourselves in our lives and the responsibility
[00:40:34] we have financially to pay our bills and save up some money and be generous occasionally and with and if we're not careful this sneaky nature of greed will come in and say things to us
[00:40:47] like be wise, be frugal, be cautious, be prepared.
[00:40:54] And even though those things are very good and we should be cautious in the way we spend our money and the way that we budget, it's a sneaky way that greed will come into our lives.
[00:41:05] And before we know it, with our time and with our energy and with our efforts, we end up serving money more than we serve God.
[00:41:15] And Jesus says, that's impossible.
[00:41:17] You can't serve both.
[00:41:18] So that's the sneaky nature of greed.
[00:41:20] Number two, greed is actually sinful.
[00:41:23] Let's just establish that.
[00:41:25] A lot of us maybe have been okay with a little bit of greed here and there in our lives because we didn't really know it was sinful, but let's just establish that greed is a sin.
[00:41:35] It's one of the seven deadly sins that we're talking about in this series.
[00:41:40] And I wanna show you what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6.10, Paul is writing to his young apprentice in ministry, a pastor that he knew was going to have to teach on money and possessions and giving and generosity and greed and selfishness.
[00:41:57] And Timothy is a pastor there in Ephesus and Paul is writing to him from a Roman jail cell where Paul literally has nothing at all. There's nothing he could even be greedy about. And this
[00:42:10] is what he says about the sinful nature of greed to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 10.
[00:42:16] For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Look at that again.
[00:42:30] Money is not the root of all evil, but the love of money is. And we need to be aware that that this is actually sinful. When we withhold generosity, when we prioritize our own material
[00:42:46] gain over helping those in need, then that begins to create a spiral of all sorts of bad and terrible and sinful things in our lives. And Paul testifies that he has seen people who love money
[00:43:04] pierce themselves physically with all sorts of painful regret. I want to also show you finally that greed is just silly. It just doesn't make any sense. Greed is silly. And in the verse right before verse 10, Paul actually explains this part of greed. He actually uses the word senseless
[00:43:29] in 1 Timothy chapter six, verse nine.
[00:43:31] Let's look at what that says.
[00:43:33] But those who desire to be rich, okay, I want you to pay attention to this because it's not wrong to have money, but it's wrong to let money have you.
[00:43:44] Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless, i.e. silly, and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
[00:43:58] Leave that verse there.
[00:43:58] Look at it. Look at these negative words that are associated with greed and the desire to be rich.
[00:44:04] Temptation, a snare, senseless and harmful desires, ruin, and destruction. I want to avoid anything that carries all of that with it. I don't want to be around anything that's going to tempt me, snare me, harm me, plunge me into ruin and destruction. I want to do everything I can
[00:44:24] to steer clear of anything that by its very nature can hurt me and destroy me and my family like that. And here's the thing about greed. It's doubly destructive. That's why it's so silly.
[00:44:37] Greed is doubly destructive because it not only robs the people who need our help and our generosity from receiving what they need to live and thrive, but it robs you and it robs me of receiving the blessing that God pours out
[00:44:57] on people who decide in their heart, I wanna be like Jesus, I wanna be generous.
[00:45:04] Jesus gave his life, so I wanna give of my material possessions.
[00:45:09] God gave his son, so I wanna be like my heavenly father by giving of my money, of my time, of my talents.
[00:45:17] So don't let greed rob you of the blessing that you'll receive by being the resource that God uses to help somebody else.
[00:45:27] Now, let's just ask a question.
[00:45:29] I've established that greed has a personality.
[00:45:34] It's sneaky, it's sinful, and it's silly.
[00:45:37] But what we're doing today and in this entire series, we're exposing these sins for what they are.
[00:45:44] And then we're gonna put our eyes on God.
[00:45:46] We're gonna look into God's word.
[00:45:48] We're gonna let the scriptures teach us how we can starve those deadly sins and how we can feed the spirit, how we can have spiritual disciplines. Pastor Brad talked in week one about keystone habits that we can embed in our spiritual
[00:46:04] lives so that these sins will not rob from us and steal from us the abundant life that God has designed for us. So how do we kill greed? That's an important question. How do we kill it? In the
[00:46:20] same way that I hate spiders, I want you to know something. I have a plan to kill spiders at my house. I have a plan. I'm not just, I'm not just walking out into the backyard during warm weather
[00:46:31] and just, if I see a spider, I just randomly, no, I got a plan. Here's the plan to kill spiders at my house. Because spiders are demonic. Spiders are satanic. Spiders are evil. Spiders are wicked.
[00:46:45] Spiders are the spawn of Satan. Spiders will not be in the new heaven and the new earth. The Bible says it somewhere. I just haven't found the verse yet. So I've got a plan at the king house
[00:47:02] to kill spiders. And that plan is called Shari King. And she's sitting on the front row with her cute shoes. Those shoes have killed spiders in our house. And I don't care if she hits them with a fly swatter, if she shoots them with a double barrel shotgun, or if she lights
[00:47:25] them on fire with a blowtorch. My wife has been called by God as plan A to kill the spiders in our house. I will not tolerate spiders. Too many of us have tolerated sin in our life for too long.
[00:47:40] It's time we kill it. It's time we get rid of it by feeding the spirit. So how do we kill greed?
[00:47:47] We got to treat it like a weed. That's how you kill greed. Treat it like a weed. And how do you kill the weed? We root it out and we replace it. We root it out and we replace it. It is springtime
[00:48:03] in South Carolina. And I know that half of y'all are feeling pretty good today because you've got a double dose of Zyrtec in your system. The other day I walked out and I've got a black truck and
[00:48:16] my black truck had overnight turned green miraculously from all the pollen. But you also know when springtime comes and you're looking at your yard, what do you have to do in the yard?
[00:48:25] Well, you know, your wife probably wants to plant some pretty flowers and you probably want to trim the shrubs. What else do you have to do? You got to take care of the weeds in your grass and you
[00:48:35] put down, at least I do, I'm sure many of you do, pre-emergent. That pre-emergent chemical kills the weeds so that the grass has room to flourish and grow. But in the flower beds, you know what you got to do? Hey, there's just no better way. You got to get down on your knees
[00:48:51] and you got to get in that dirt and you got to pull those weeds up and you got to put on the gloves and get the little shovel and you got to get down and dig it up by the roots, the crabgrass,
[00:49:04] the dandelions, the invasive species. Greed is an invasive species in the life of a Christian.
[00:49:12] And so what we're going to do is we're going to, by the grace of God, continue to be a church that pulls it up by the roots and replaces it with generosity. And God is so kind that through
[00:49:24] the scripture, he tells us how to do it in 1 Timothy 6, 17 through 19. Look at what Paul says to Timothy, this pastor in Ephesus, and this is how he encourages him to instruct and teach the
[00:49:35] people to actually root out greed and replace it with generosity. As for the rich in this present age, he says, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,
[00:49:47] but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share. Thus, look at the result. If we root
[00:50:02] out greed and we feed the spirit of generosity, we store up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. So the way that
[00:50:18] we root out greed is by replacing it with generosity in the life of a believer. We treat greed like a weed. We don't tolerate it. We go after it so that we can kill it. And I want to
[00:50:33] pull four phrases straight off the page of Paul's words to Timothy. And I want to show you four ways that you and I can starve the flesh when it comes to greed and feed the spirit of Jesus inside of
[00:50:48] us. And it comes straight from first Timothy chapter six. Number one, he says, set your hopes on God. Literally it says we can enjoy his good gifts. That's what it says right there in the
[00:51:02] scripture. Set your hopes on God. And what I think this really means for me and you personally, practically is that we just have to come to a point. Let's just be real honest here where we
[00:51:12] ask ourselves, do I trust God with my money? Do I trust God with my money or am I hanging on to it?
[00:51:18] Cause I think I can do a better job than what the Bible tells me to do. Am I willing to trust God with what he has entrusted to me? Because the money that you and I have doesn't really belong
[00:51:28] to us. Everything belongs to God. And if you wonder if that's true, just try breathing air without God sustaining you.
[00:51:36] God made air, so God wins, pretty much.
[00:51:39] Everything belongs to God.
[00:51:40] We're entrusted with what God has given us.
[00:51:43] And so when we set our eyes on God, it means that, and you've heard us say this before as a teaching team here at New Spring Church, it's one of our philosophies of ministry.
[00:51:51] We don't look to the left, we don't look to the right, we go vertical, we put our eyes on God, we look up.
[00:51:56] And when we look up to God, we see a generous God, an abundant God who provides us with every good gift, starting with salvation in his son, Jesus Christ. And so when we look up to God, it means we don't
[00:52:07] have to feel guilty for the good things God has given us. If you make a little bit of money or you make a lot of money, praise God. He has given you good things to enjoy, but he also expects us
[00:52:16] to remember that goodness didn't come from him. It came from us. Now, some of us might be thinking right now, one of two things. Well, this is great, but I don't have any money. I'm broke.
[00:52:27] I'm broke as a joke.
[00:52:29] I'm having a hard time paying rent.
[00:52:31] Gas is $18 an ounce right now.
[00:52:35] And I've got credit card debt and I've got college debt and I've got consumer debt and I am just trying to pay the bare minimum right now because I am drowning and I feel like I just can't get ahead.
[00:52:48] And then maybe others are saying to themselves, well, I just wanna make sure that I'm prepared for the future And that's why I'm trying to have this plan that I'm implementing.
[00:52:58] And I don't really have a place for generosity in my life right now.
[00:53:03] And then others, maybe you've got plenty.
[00:53:05] You've got margin.
[00:53:06] You've got more than enough.
[00:53:07] Some of us maybe would never even have to make another dollar in the rest of our life.
[00:53:11] And I just wanna say, this is an all swim for everybody.
[00:53:15] All of us can look to God.
[00:53:18] All of us can enjoy his good gifts.
[00:53:20] All of us can set our hopes on God.
[00:53:23] That's what Paul tells Timothy to instruct the wealthy people in his church to do.
[00:53:28] Don't look at your money more than you look at God.
[00:53:30] Don't look at your possessions more than you look to God.
[00:53:33] Don't look at your bank account more than you look to God.
[00:53:35] Make God your primary source.
[00:53:39] And then he says, number two, do good works.
[00:53:44] In other words, create a new keystone habit.
[00:53:49] Do good works.
[00:53:51] That means actually put into practice what the Bible teaches about generosity.
[00:53:56] And there are a couple of ways that we can do this.
[00:53:58] And I wanna make sure that I'm real specific here because I know a lot of us, we like to think of giving in different ways.
[00:54:06] Biblically speaking, we believe the Bible teaches several things.
[00:54:10] The Bible teaches tithing.
[00:54:11] That means giving 10%, your first and your best.
[00:54:15] That's what they did in the Old Testament.
[00:54:17] We see that echoed in the New Testament.
[00:54:20] The tithe is for me first and foremost.
[00:54:22] And then there is giving and generosity on top of that in the form of offerings.
[00:54:28] And so what I wanna just testify in my own life, when Shari and I first got married, I actually had an example of tithing when I was a child.
[00:54:37] My dad, every Sunday morning, we went to a little small traditional church in Simpsonville and my dad being a three, I mean, he worked with his hands, his blue collar.
[00:54:46] So five or six days a week, he's in overalls and work clothes and work boots and a camouflaged John Deere hat with tobacco juice dripping down his chin, by the way. And then Sunday morning, he put on the suit and the tie and
[00:54:59] we sat down at the breakfast table. And every Sunday as a child, I watched my dad write a tithe check. He would do it at the breakfast table. So Shari and I get married and I didn't
[00:55:08] make a salary. We had no health insurance. I didn't know where the next paycheck was coming from as an itinerant evangelist. I was literally living from one event to the next and usually had no idea how much, or even if I was going to make a dime from these events. But you know what the
[00:55:27] Lord taught me through that season? He taught Shari and I this, that if we would prioritize, if we would actually do the good work of tithing, he would take care of us. And I'm here to testify
[00:55:36] that in next week, we celebrate 27 years of marriage together. And in 27 years of being one flesh, prioritizing the first and the best, the tithe, 10% of our income. We have seen God take care of every need we've ever had. Not every desire, not every want, not every dream,
[00:55:57] but every single need we have ever had. And there have been many. Our family has had 11 major surgeries since 2019. And God has never, ever failed to care for us. That's why Paul says
[00:56:12] to Timothy, do good works. In other words, it's not good enough to just think good thoughts. It's not good enough to just send good vibes. It's not good enough to just pray good prayers. We actually
[00:56:22] need to work. Do something with what God has given you. And I want to encourage you today.
[00:56:28] Ask the Lord what you're supposed to do. God, what are you saying to me and what do I need to do about it? And I want to challenge some of you to trust God and actually begin to put this into
[00:56:38] practice. Because number three is a great rule, and Paul says it right there, right on the page in plain text, be generous. Build the reflex of generosity. Be generous. This is a mark of a
[00:56:56] believer. It's one way that we starve the sin of greed. It's a way that we feed the spirit in us of generosity is to build the reflex of generosity. So in other words, when you hear about a need,
[00:57:09] if there's someone you know that needs a car or a room to live in, or they just lost their job, someone that you're personally connected to, instead of having the reflex of, well, they got to figure it out, maybe have the reflex of, God, what should I do? How can I help?
[00:57:24] Instead of having the reflex of every time the church mentions money or giving or tithing, instead of trying to look for a loophole.
[00:57:32] And don't we all do that?
[00:57:33] I'm looking for a loophole.
[00:57:34] I'm looking for a way to get out of this.
[00:57:36] I'm looking for a way to convince myself that I don't have to actually do this.
[00:57:40] Instead of looking for a loophole and making that our reflex, how about our reflex is where is the need and how can I be God's hands and feet to help meet that need?
[00:57:49] Look, I'm 53, I'm Gen X.
[00:57:52] Greatest generation besides the World War II generation raised on neglect and hosepipe water and pro wrestling.
[00:58:01] I mean, so being Gen X, I just want y'all to know, I still carry cash.
[00:58:06] I carry cash.
[00:58:08] And some of y'all don't even know what cash looks like.
[00:58:12] And some of y'all are like, you carry cash?
[00:58:15] I'm gonna rob you.
[00:58:16] Come on, I'm Gen X.
[00:58:18] I'll throw down.
[00:58:19] I'll put you in the sleeper hold and then I'll pray for you while you wake up.
[00:58:23] I'm actually not gonna do that.
[00:58:25] I'm just trying to be, you know, me and Dan, we're so much alike.
[00:58:28] I gotta mention wrestling because, you know, me and Dan Leanne are basically the same person. Tag team partners, Legion of Doom, Road Warriors, 1987. Come on, somebody. Or if that's not your cup of tea,
[00:58:38] Rock and Roll Express. Somebody don't know what I'm talking about up here at New Spring today.
[00:58:42] Bottom line is my dad taught me as a kid back when I was growing up on the farm. He said, you need to always carry cash with you because you never know when you might bump into somebody
[00:58:52] who needs help. And if you don't have cash, you can't help them. By the way, do you know why there is a story in the Bible that Jesus told about a man called the Good Samaritan. That story
[00:59:03] would not have been in the Bible if the Good Samaritan had no money. That story would not have been told. We wouldn't still be preaching about the Good Samaritan. We wouldn't still be using him as an example of generosity if all he had were good thoughts, good vibes, good prayers.
[00:59:19] No, no, he had money in his pocket. He had built in the reflex of generosity. He had something there. He had lived his life in such a way in this parable that he had margin. So not only did he
[00:59:31] help the man in the ditch that the religious people had ignored, but when he took him to the place, the inn, the hotel to take care of him, he said to the innkeeper in the parable, here is
[00:59:42] money. I'm paying for him in advance. Care for his wounds. And if I owe you anything else, I'll be back to pay it. The reason why we still look to the good Samaritan as an example of generosity
[00:59:53] is because that man took control of his finances.
[00:59:56] He had margin built in.
[00:59:58] He had a reflex of generosity.
[00:59:59] If he didn't have any money in his pocket, there would not be a parable about him in the Bible that came straight from the mouth of Jesus.
[01:00:06] That's why we're offering FLE classes right here at New Spring.
[01:00:10] That's why we're not just telling you to be generous.
[01:00:12] We're showing you how.
[01:00:13] I'm showing you how right now.
[01:00:14] We're gonna show you how through the FLE classes.
[01:00:17] We wanna help you win.
[01:00:19] We wanna help you live in freedom and liberty without the worry of how you're gonna make it financially.
[01:00:26] And there's one more thing I wanna show you that you and I can do when it comes to starving greed in our lives.
[01:00:33] Be ready to share, be ready.
[01:00:37] Prepare by pre-deciding.
[01:00:41] Just prepare by pre-deciding.
[01:00:45] When I can help, I'm gonna help.
[01:00:48] When I can give, I'm gonna give.
[01:00:51] And can I tell you what Shari and I have done?
[01:00:52] And I wanna encourage you to pray about doing this as an individual.
[01:00:55] as a college student, as a graduating senior, as a married couple, as a family. Here's one way that you can actually put this into practice. Pre-decide that you're going to tithe, pre-decide that you're going to give and set it up. And I don't, I'm not going to say set it and forget it, but set it and
[01:01:14] automate it so that you don't have to worry about it. Every single month, our tithe comes out of our account. And I did that so that I've already pre-decided that is a preparation we've made.
[01:01:28] We know that the first and the best, the 10% comes out of our paycheck every single month coming to this church. And then over and beyond that, we give to other organizations whenever the need comes, but we prioritize the church. Now, let me just get real practical because
[01:01:43] somebody asked me this week, well, I don't tithe, but I give to GoFundMe. Good. That's good. You can give to GoFundMe. Well, I don't, I don't give to the church, but I give to schools. I give to
[01:01:58] hospitals. I give to nonprofits. Great. If God gives you an opportunity to give to those places, do it. But those organizations are not the church. And I want to be very clear about this.
[01:02:13] The one thing that will withstand the attacks of the gates of hell is the church of Jesus Christ.
[01:02:20] And I'm not asking you to do something that we're not doing.
[01:02:22] You know how our church got out of $45 million of debt?
[01:02:26] We started tithing.
[01:02:28] We started giving 10% of our income to missions and organizations and church plants around the world.
[01:02:35] And we have been very transparent to celebrate the church plants.
[01:02:40] I mean, our church right now, our goal, the 2030 vision is 10 churches in the earth planted by New Spring Church by 2030.
[01:02:46] And we've just shown you church number six that we're about to plant, that we're launching right now.
[01:02:50] You've heard us say this, the kingdom of God grows at the speed of our sacrifice.
[01:02:56] And so the more we are generous, the more God takes our generosity and the more he puts it in the fertile soil of the kingdom and we see things grow.
[01:03:04] And so I wanna encourage you.
[01:03:07] Are you listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit today?
[01:03:09] Has greed had a subtle, sneaky grip on your heart?
[01:03:13] And has the Spirit shown you that today?
[01:03:16] And there are ways that you can feed the Spirit.
[01:03:18] and I've shown you those through scripture.
[01:03:20] But ultimately, the question is this, do I trust God with my possessions?
[01:03:27] Do I trust God's word to be my guide when it comes to practice and generosity in my life?
[01:03:35] Am I gonna look for a loophole or a way out or an excuse to avoid doing what the Bible tells me will bring me life?
[01:03:41] Or am I finally gonna quit making excuses and say, Lord, I'm gonna submit to you today and I'm going to trust you and I'm going to put you first.
[01:03:49] I'm going to look for opportunities to do good, to be generous, to be willing to share.
[01:03:54] I pray today that you will listen to God and then do what he says. Would you close your eyes and open your hearts with me at all of our campuses? And I'm going to invite you for just a second,
[01:04:05] as you reflect on this message and you reflect on this word, do you need to have a conversation with your husband or your wife? Do you need to finally just make that decision? Okay, I'm going
[01:04:19] to trust God with my finances.
[01:04:21] I've trusted him to save my soul from judgment.
[01:04:24] I can trust him with my possessions and my money.
[01:04:28] Or maybe today you need to go home and for the first time, you need to give to the church.
[01:04:34] You need to set up a tithe so that you can honor not only what God says in his word, but so that you can receive the blessing, as Paul would say, the life that is truly life.
[01:04:47] So with your hearts open to the Holy Spirit, listen to God and then just do what he says.
[01:04:56] God, I pray that in the next few moments as we respond that we would just be open-hearted and open-handed with all that you have entrusted to us and help us to find joy in obedience
[01:05:12] to doing what you tell us.
[01:05:17] I'm gonna invite everyone to go ahead and stand up on their feet right now across all of our campuses as we prepare to respond.
[01:05:22] I'm gonna ask our prayer teams, would you go ahead and move to your places?
[01:05:27] We're gonna give you an opportunity today to do a couple of things.
[01:05:31] We take the Lord's Supper, we take communion together as the body of Christ.
[01:05:36] And so when I say amen here in just a moment, we're gonna have an opportunity if you're a Christian for you to come and take communion and partake in the table, the body and the blood of Jesus
[01:05:47] broken for you on the cross.
[01:05:49] We also have some prayer team members around your room in the front, on the sides, scattered throughout.
[01:05:55] They'll have a name tag or something around their neck that says they're a prayer team member.
[01:05:59] and I wanna encourage you to go pray with them.
[01:06:01] Maybe you need physical healing.
[01:06:03] Maybe God's spoken to you about this message.
[01:06:05] Maybe there's a burden you're carrying and we just wanna encourage you to respond and let somebody pray with you.
[01:06:11] And then we're gonna worship.
[01:06:12] We're gonna sing.
[01:06:13] We're gonna celebrate a generous God who gave us the best gift in his son, Jesus Christ.
[01:06:18] Oh, and by the way, if you have never given your life to Jesus, the most important thing for you today is not that you starve the sin of greed in your life.
[01:06:27] the most important thing for you today is that you repent of your sin and give your life to Christ and you respond to the gospel by inviting him to save you.
[01:06:36] And the Bible says, if you'll confess with your mouth he's Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved and you can be saved.
[01:06:43] And we have someone in your room right now at the cross.
[01:06:46] You can look around and see where the cross is placed.
[01:06:48] Here at this campus, it's right over here to your left.
[01:06:50] And there'll be someone there that would love to lead you to faith in Jesus or help you get peace with God and know that your soul belongs to God because that's the most important decision
[01:07:01] of all the decisions we'll ever make.
[01:07:04] So Lord, now I pray that people would be ready and willing to move and respond, that we would listen to God and do what you tell us.
[01:07:12] Help us to be a people of generosity in Jesus' name.
[01:07:15] Amen.

[01:07:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:07:16] My Jesus, you satisfy.
[01:09:14] Love to sing your praise.
[01:09:23] For there is no sweeter.
[01:09:25] my jesus you satisfy beautiful and all your for there is no sweeter that'd be our prayer my jesus you satisfy and i love to sing your praise for there is no sweeter Father pride, my Jesus, you satisfy, so beautiful, beautiful in all your, for there is no sweeter
[01:10:44] than, my greatest treasure, my greatest, worth more than gold, you're my desire, you're my desire, You're my desire My desire

[01:11:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[01:11:22] So when you're inside my

[01:12:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:12:59] The breath that fills my lungs I need you God, I need you Come on, we starve to flesh Let this be our prayer You can have it all We surrender You can have it all
[01:13:23] You're what we want God, you're all I want My delight is in you you can have it all you can have it all god you're all i want my delight my delight is in you

[01:13:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[01:13:43] lay down your life call me father that's effectively our prayer right now we want more of you

[01:17:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:17:10] god and whatever we need to release to to allow that to happen to give us the capacity to have to receive what you want to give us lord help us to do that faithfully in christ's name we pray
[01:17:21] amen amen Clayton thank you that was great so grateful for you um as as Clayton was talking about spiders uh it made me think about yesterday I preached a wedding yesterday and they ran through
[01:17:34] it right before and I'm sitting behind this dude with like a pastel blue jacket and I kid you not all of a sudden this huge spider crawls across his back and so I swatted it off never met the
[01:17:47] cat in my entire life which is an odd introduction but as Clayton's talking about that I'm like you know what? Sometimes you just got to have somebody to spot the spiders in your life.
[01:17:57] And so like, I want to invite you into that opportunity tonight, right over here in the fuse building. We're going to do what's called FLE. It's financial learning experience. And if you're out there and you're saying, listen, tithing's not even, the bank account's in the
[01:18:12] red. It's the 26th of the month. There ain't no gas in the car. There's no change in the seats.
[01:18:17] I can't do it. If you're that boat and tithing and offering is like, that's out of the question.
[01:18:23] Start here, because God has something for you in the process of opening up your life to what he means to give you through financial obedience. So five o'clock in the Fuse building, we're going to feed you. If nothing else, you'll save $12 on dinner. And let me say specifically to graduates,
[01:18:43] when people come in and they talk about how their marriage is busted up, this is always part of it.
[01:18:51] So if you want to start your life off in the right direction, come hang out with us for a couple hours tonight.
[01:18:57] We would love to have you.
[01:18:59] It'd be an honor to see you there.
[01:19:00] It's been a great day.
[01:19:01] Thank you again, Clayton.
[01:19:02] I'd love to bless you guys as we leave.
[01:19:05] If we want to throw that up on the screen, you can take whatever posture you're comfortable with as we go into our Sunday.
[01:19:10] May you remember God's generosity toward you and let that create gratitude and greater love for God in your heart.
[01:19:18] May you respond in generosity toward God and others, fixing your hopes on Jesus, choosing faithful stewardship of all that he's provided and blessing others out of the overflow of thanksgiving in your life. As you do, may you step into new
[01:19:32] freedom, freedom in Christ and see how God uses you to bless others and carry his gospel to the ends of the earth. Be blessed. We love you guys. We'll see you back here tonight at five o'clock
[01:19:43] in the fuse building.