Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10230 - God Wants You To Be Generous - Exodus 25:1-7

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#10230 - God Wants You To Be Generous - Exodus 25:1-7 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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  Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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  Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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  To learn more about the many resources available through
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  Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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  visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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  Calvary Church app. Now.
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  Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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  Amen. Open your Bibles.
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  Exodus chapter 25, Exodus chapter 25.
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  We're come to a very high point in our study through Exodus.
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  I've entitled our Bible study. God wants you to be generous.
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  Our topic today will be generosity, and this high point
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  in the book of Exodus, this covenant that God is making with
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  the nation has been received, it's been ratified, it's been
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  agreed upon by the people. They want to be ruled by God.
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  This is their heart of hearts, their desire.
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  They say yes. Everything that God has said, we
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  say yes and Amen. They desire to be ruled by God,
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  which we would call today a theocracy, a theocracy.
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  Their desire to follow Him is powerful.
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  It reminds me of when a person comes to know Jesus Christ
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  personally for the first time. It's a high point in their
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  lives. They come to a place.
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  You come to a place where you say, I want a theocracy in my
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  life. I want to be ruled by God.
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  I don't want to be ruled by my past.
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  I don't want to be ruled by my habits.
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  I don't want to be ruled by my sinful proclivities or the
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  bondage or the besetting sins or all the things that we have been
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  holding us back. As a born again woman, as a born
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  again man, as someone who's a new creation in Christ, you're
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  like God rule my life, rule my life.
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  That's my desire. A high point.
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  It's really the highest point ever in my life.
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  It's the highest point ever in your life.
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  The day you responded to the love of Jesus Christ in
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  repentance and chose to follow him in Colossians chapter one
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  verse 13 jot it down. I love this.
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  The Bible says, Speaking of that day, the high point in your
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  life, as much as you enjoy whatever God has for you in the
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  future. The next high point in your day
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  is when you see Jesus in your life is when you see Jesus face
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  to face. So you go from high point to
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  high point and the next high point is seeing Jesus.
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  But notice it says in verse 13, He has delivered us looking
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  backwards from the power of darkness and conveyed us into
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  the Kingdom of the Son of his love in whom we have redemption
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  through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.
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  That was the beginning of your theocracy, God ruling your life.
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  And you came to the place whether you voiced it or not.
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  Oh, Jesus, whatever you want, you can have it all.
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  I turn my back on everything. Whatever you say, I'll do.
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  What? Whatever you have for me, I
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  want. I want to know you.
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  I want to know your word. I I want to talk to you.
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  And now you developed a prayer life.
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  I can't think of any. Well, I mean, I guess I could,
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  but before I was born again, I couldn't think of any time I
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  would pray to God unless I got in trouble.
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  I, I talked to God a lot when I got in trouble.
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  I was one of those guys, if you Get Me Out of this, then God,
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  I'll give you my life that kind of.
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  And then he'd Get Me Out of this and I wouldn't give him
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  anything. And it would get worse and worse
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  and worse. But it's nothing like my prayer
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  life today or my desire for fellowship or to be with other
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  believers, or just to give my life and to go a little bit
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  extra, just a little bit extra, just a little to test the limits
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  of my own humanity, to serve the Lord with my life.
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  It's a great place to be, to be in tune with a God who loves
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  you. It's also a place that if we're
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  not cautious, we'll stray away from you.
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  Go to that place where it's the highest point in your life, the
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  day you were born again, and you just run, run, run.
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  And then the first trial comes, and then the first temptation
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  comes, and then the pressure comes, and then the fear comes,
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  and then the flesh rises up. And if you're not careful, you
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  will come down instead of continuing on in that upward
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  call of God in Christ Jesus. The scary thing about it is that
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  we can still be very active in Christian activity and be far
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  from the Lord. We can still be very active in
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  an outward show of a relationship that once existed.
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  You can read for homework in Revelation chapter 2 and three
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  churches that live that same way.
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  They had a name that they were alive, but they were dead
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  inside. They had once.
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  The church in Ephesus once had amazing relationship, but Jesus
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  says you left your first love. We have to be careful not to be
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  busy for busy sake, but to be active in the things of the Lord
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  as He leads us. That's where this new nation is.
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  It's a very important time in their lives.
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  They've been delivered from the bondage of Egypt.
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  They've been delivered literally from slavery.
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  They are no longer slaves, even though their mind has been
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  conditioned in slavery. They have a lot to change in
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  their minds, a lot to learn. This is one of the areas we have
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  to be careful because the older we get, and it's not even
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  necessarily like super old or super young.
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  Just as you continue to grow older in, in the Lord, you go
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  from 18 to 19 or 40 to 41 or 60 to 62, whatever it might be,
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  that that progression in age can sometimes send the wrong message
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  to you and me that we don't have anything else to learn.
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  Like we we've arrived. But there's two parts of
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  learning, especially as believers.
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  And by the way, just in case that gets taken out of context,
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  nobody's arrived. Can I get an Amen on that?
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  I just want to make sure none of us have arrived.
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  But here's the thing. You have on the one side of the
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  coin, something to learn, but you also on the other side of
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  the coin, may have something to unlearn.
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  And that's what pricks your pride, especially the older you
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  get where you're in a place where you're like, well, I don't
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  know, maybe I, I and, and you have the habits and you have
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  behaviors and you have these things that need to be
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  unlearned. You, you may have grown up in a
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  certain place in a certain condition, and it's just the way
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  you've learned how to live. And the Lord says, no, I have
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  more for you. But you have to think
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  differently. You have to unlearn that
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  behavior. Set it on the altar.
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  You're no longer a slave to sin church.
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  You're no longer in subjugation to sin.
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  It no longer has power over you have been delivered.
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  You have been delivered from the power of sin in your life.
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  You want to come in line of you want to come in line with the
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  purpose and the truth of God's word.
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  Now chapter 25 begins a new section of Exodus, a section
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  that will describe the building of the Tabernacle of God.
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  The Tabernacle was a temporary tent structure, a place of
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  worship that was designed to be used and then picked up and
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  carried and taken to the next place, the Tabernacle.
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  The construction of the Tabernacle covers chapters 25 to
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  4015, chapters dedicated in Exodus to the design, the
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  construction, and the care of this important worship Center
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  for the nation of Israel. It's their first one coming out
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  of Egypt. Why so much attention?
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  And I'm giving you some heads up because we're only going to
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  cover a few verses today. So I'm giving you some things
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  and we'll repeat over time, but things to write down, things to
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  look forward to, how important the Tabernacle is.
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  Why 15 chapters for the Tabernacle?
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  Because it's a picture and a type of Jesus Christ.
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  All the pieces and the parts, those living in the days of the
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  Old Testament and the Old Covenant were given a sneak peek
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  into the coming of Messiah. For those of us on this side of
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  the cross, we look back and we can see clearly the character
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  and nature of Jesus in the Tabernacle.
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  And it's my prayer that as we're studying these chapters that
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  you'll be overwhelmed with God's love and care for you.
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  That His Word is sure and steadfast.
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  Not one word of God is wasted. There is purpose in it all.
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  And for those of you that want to dig a little deeper, I
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  encourage you to study through Hebrews, which we just finished
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  as we're going through this section.
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  Now hold your place in Exodus and turn over to John very
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  quickly. I want you to tie these two
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  together. John chapter 1, John chapter 1.
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  I want you to see this and you'll tie it together with the
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  beginning here in Exodus as the Tabernacle is being revealed as
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  a picture and a type of Jesus Christ.
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  Notice in verse 14 of John chapter 1 it says and the Word
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  became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.
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  The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of
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  grace and truth. The Word became flesh and dwelt
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  among us. That can be read literally that
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  the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.
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  Don't miss this as you walk along.
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  The God became human flesh, the eternal God, the eternal Son of
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  God took on a human body and came and lived among us
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  temporarily. So for those of you who are no
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  takers, let me give you a few things.
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  Again, we'll review them over time, but here you as we're
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  getting into the Tabernacle, and actually we won't really get
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  much into the Tabernacle, into our future study, but I want to
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  give you some things you can think about.
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  Consider the similarities between the Tabernacle, the
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  structure, and Jesus Christ #1 The Tabernacle was temporary.
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  The Tabernacle was temporary. It served a specific purpose for
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  a specific time. Later the temple would come a
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  more permanent worship structure.
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  Jesus. He dwelt among us for a very
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  short time, 33 years. Jesus in his earthly ministry,
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  tabernacling among us some 33 years, was temporary.
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  On the earth there was a purpose #2 the Tabernacle was in the
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  wilderness. So to Jesus our Lord, as he
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  dwelt in the wilderness, His life having nowhere to lay his
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  head. And you could even say if you
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  want to broaden the scope, He dealt among, dwelt among us, a
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  Tabernacle among us in the wilderness of sin, even though
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  He never experienced sin himself #3 the Tabernacle was humble in
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  appearance. Humble in appearance.
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  When you saw the Tabernacle, it looked like a beat up tent.
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  There was nothing beautiful about it.
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  It was covered in animal skins, look very similar to the tense
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  of the day. Jesus, the Bible says, was also
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  humble in appearance. He took on the form of a
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  servant. Again in Isaiah 53, two it says,
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  For he Speaking of Messiah shall grow up before Him as a tender
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  plant, as a root out of dry ground.
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  He has no form or comeliness, and when we see Him, there is no
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  beauty that we should desire him.
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  Again, comparing the Tabernacle with Jesus Christ #4 the
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  Tabernacle was God's dwelling place among men.
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  Again in Exodus 25 and verse 8 it says, Let them make me a
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  sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
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  Exodus 25/8. It was a place where God would
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  dwell. Jesus Emmanuel, which means God
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  with us, God with us, dwelling among us in the person of Jesus.
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  Jesus, the only mediator between God and man.
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  The touchable, huggable, lovable God wrapped in human flesh #5
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  the Tabernacle provided the sacrifice place for sin.
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  It was in the Tabernacle where daily offerings for the sin of
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  the nation were offered, even as Jesus on the cross was the
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  sacrifice place for the sins of all mankind, as Jesus was nailed
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  there and died for us. Jesus, the mercy seat.
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  Keep these in the back of your mind.
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  The Tabernacle, a picture, a type, a grand illustration of
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  coming Messiah. We will get there in our next
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  study, but today I want you to draw your attention in verse 1
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  of chapter 25. Then the Lord spoke to Moses
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  saying, speak to the children of Israel that they may bring me an
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  offering from everyone who gives it.
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  Mark this word willingly. Let's say that together,
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  everyone who gives it willingly with his heart, you shall take
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  my offering, and this is the offering which you shall take
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  from them. Gold, silver, bronze, blue,
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  purple, scarlet yarn, fine linen thread, goat's hair, ram skins,
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  dyed red, badger skins and Acacia wood.
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  Oil for the light. Verse 6.
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  Spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense.
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  Onyx stones. Stones to be set in the ephod
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  and in the breastplate, and let them make me a sanctuary that I
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  will dwell among them. The first thing I you will
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  notice in our current cultural climate is that how God gives
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  instruction through Moses is far different than many of the
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  offerings demanded by pastors and preachers today.
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  Very different. Right here in Exodus 25 is the
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  heart of God for your giving and mine.
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  It's the heart of God for how we use those things that he has
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  given to us. By the way, you will notice the
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  list. We'll get into the list one by
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  one with gold, silver, scar. These, these guys have spent
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  generations as slaves. Where are they going to get all
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  this stuff? Where did they get all this
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  stuff? God gave it to them as they
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  left. They plundered the Egyptians.
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  It all came from God. They started with nothing.
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  Now they're in the wilderness with everything.
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  And God says, now there's a purpose for what I've entrusted
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  to you. You got to jot that down.
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  There is a purpose for your salary.
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  There is a purpose for the gift cards.
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  There is a purpose for everything.
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  That's an increase in your life. And God says, listen, I want you
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  to give it back to me. That's his heart for us.
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  I want you to give it back to me.
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  Or you could say, I want you to hold on to my stuff.
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  God would say with a loose grip, that's what he tells them, Tell
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  the children of Israel that I have a project for them.
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  The project is this sanctuary. But before he ever gets it, he
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  says, hey, just bring me an offering and make sure you have
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  a willing heart. And anyone that gives willingly
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  with his heart, you should take it.
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  If they don't give willingly with their heart, then don't
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  take it. Let them keep it because it's a
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  very special offering. I'm inviting people to be a part
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  of. I'm inviting them.
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  I mean, when was the last time you heard someone take an
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  offering and say, hey, look, we only want those to give if they
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  have a willing heart. Well, I mean that that's our
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  approach here. So if you go back to the
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  archives, that's exactly how I'll teach you because that's
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  what the Bible says. The Bible says that we're to
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  give cheerfully with a willing heart, and that if you can't
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  give cheerfully or with a willing heart, then don't give.
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  Just keep it, spin it on yourself, do whatever you want
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  with. Now, don't take that as advice.
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  I go, well, Pastor Ed said, I'm just telling you if that's what
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  you want to do, then you have to do that under the Lord.
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  You send your prayer time. You know what, God, you've
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  blessed me with so much and I really don't care.
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  I'm not even giving willing. I'm just going to spend it all
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  on myself. Bless me, Lord, bless me, Lord,
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  bless me, Lord, you're going to lose it all.
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  That's what's going to happen. You'll lose it all.
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  That says give to me. Have a generous heart.
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  It's interesting. I didn't pull this Bible study
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  out at a time where we have any big project.
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  We don't we don't have any big thing moving on.
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  You know, we don't have believe me, it is my desire that we did
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  a much bigger building, a much bigger property.
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  Like it would be so wonderful and so great.
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  But that's not the timing. You know what the timing of this
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  message is exactly when God wants it to exactly the group
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  that he wants to give to. And he says to you today, just
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  like he says to the children of Israel, then nothing has
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  changed. Bring your offering with a
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  willing heart. You have to want to do it
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  instead. Today you'll hear this nonsense.
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  I just read another article recently either yesterday, the
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  day before of a very popular woman preacher that is very
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  popular today talking about giving the 133 offering.
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  And I don't even know if she means $1000 a $1,000,000.
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  I don't know what, but she's tying it in with something And
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  so that God can give you double and God can give you triple.
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  That is never a motive to give. Never don't expect anything back
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  from the Lord. He's giving you this best his
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  son. Don't ever invest like you know,
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  we, we use the word investment, but you're not investing like
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  the bank when we give, we're investing in eternity.
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  God controls the returns and the returns don't come back in
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  money. The returns come back in souls
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  and lives changed and family saved and rescued and homes
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  cleaned and, and not too long ago with the Matthews, you as a
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  church, you provided a, a, a used trailer that they
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  refurbished that they now use as the mechanism by which they do
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  their ministry. You're not going to get any.
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  Well, you know, I gave, can I at least get a couple hamburgers
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  out of it? No, you can't get anything out
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  of it. You gave it as unto the Lord.
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  It's not about getting hamburgers or a 133 offering or
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  a just look. If, if that's why you give, you
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  have responsibility on that too. You know, it's not just the
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  false teachers. You have responsibility.
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  Why would you present yourself to that?
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  I'll tell you why. Greed.
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  Greed. It's playing on these false
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  teachers. Play on your greed.
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  What do you mean? If I, if I give a dollar, I'll
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  get 133 back? No, never.
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  It will never happen. Well, you know, I see that
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  testimony. I gave my offering and I sent it
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  in and wouldn't you know it, there was a check in the mail
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  for $133. I couldn't believe it.
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  I couldn't believe it. Why did I if, if that's if
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  that's false teaching Bowser, then how did I get that check?
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  I'll tell you, I got that check by the grace of God.
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  That's how you got it. You got that check because God
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  had it coming to you all along. If it came in the mail, it was
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  probably on its way for a long time anyway, because God's going
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  to take care of you. Do you know God's going to take
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  care of you if you give or if you don't give?
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  He's going to take care of your life.
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  You're going to enjoy the grace of God in your life if you give
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  or you don't give. He's gracious.
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  This this stuff. This is one of the areas of the
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  church that so greatly frustrate me.
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  I get personally offended by this because it really takes
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  advantage. I think of before my mom passed
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  away alone in the house with a television, she wasn't really
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  mobile, especially the the time that she was.
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  This time she spent in assisted living.
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  She wasn't mobile at all. And flipping through the
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  channels and somebody catches her eye and grabs attention and
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  she's in a very vulnerable place.
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  Listen, we give because God has been so gracious to us.
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  He gives been so good to us. Not only that, not only are
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  believers taken advantage of, but unbelievers have yet one
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  more reason to mock the church. Even unbelievers can see through
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  this. And just like what?
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  That's not how it works. If your God is so good and so
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  gracious and gave his best, why do you need that manipulative
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  dishonesty to fund whatever's going on to fund the latest
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  airplane or helicopter or big how?
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  Like whatever you're into, why do you need, why are you begging
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  and why are you making things up?
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  And maybe I'm just talking to someone listening on the radio,
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  coming home from a service that just did that to a group of
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  people and the Lord's going to stop it.
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  Repent, repent from that type of behavior.
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  We can do better than that church.
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  We can trust the Lord. We don't need to manipulate.
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  I've always shared with the brothers and sisters that serve
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  here at the church that we live. We literally live off of the
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  worship money of the church because when I give, my family
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  gives here we have from the very beginning when we give to this
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  church, that is an act of worship.
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  It's not just an act of obedience, it's an act of
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  worship. It is my, my desire as a family
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  to say, thank you God for your faithfulness.
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  I give this back to you. I give it willingly.
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  I want nothing in return. And I share with the team here
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  when somebody joins A-Team and begins to have worship money
• 22:11
  provide for the needs of their family, right?
• 22:13
  And that's biblical because the Bible says that those that serve
• 22:18
  are worthy of their hire. They're double honour.
• 22:21
  Sometimes it's true that there's a there's a biblical mandate for
• 22:26
  those positions that are staff on a church for sure.
• 22:29
  No doubt every end, we'll see it as the through the Tabernacle.
• 22:32
  Who's responsible? There's they're to live off the
• 22:36
  free will offerings of the people.
• 22:37
  That's biblical. But we can do better than that.
• 22:39
  We can trust in the Lord without any manipulation, and we can
• 22:43
  obediently give of our tithes and offerings as the church.
• 22:48
  Now this is an uncomfortable Bible study for some because you
• 22:52
  don't give, and I'm sure you have your reasons.
• 22:56
  But you should ask the Lord to give you a willing heart.
• 22:59
  You should ask the Lord for you to start to participate in what
• 23:03
  He's doing. You should ask the Lord for a
• 23:04
  generous heart, for an overflowing heart.
• 23:09
  Where did it always become, Give me, Lord, give me, bless me,
• 23:12
  Lord, bless me, bless me, bless me, Lord, bless me, I'll give if
• 23:15
  you bless me. When did that happen?
• 23:17
  It wasn't the beginning of your walk with Lord.
• 23:19
  You have so blessed me. I can't believe that you would
• 23:21
  save me an interim. I mean, this is not how it
• 23:23
  started. The very tip of the relationship
• 23:27
  that you had. The criteria for giving is
• 23:30
  always obedience and willingness.
• 23:33
  Look ahead. Go to chapter 35, verse 5 in
• 23:37
  Exodus. Come with me on a little journey
• 23:39
  here. Exodus 35 five.
• 23:41
  It says take from among you an offering to the Lord, whoever is
• 23:49
  of a there's that phrase again willing heart.
• 23:52
  Let him bring it as an offering to the Lord.
• 23:55
  Gold, silver and bronze. Notice verse 21 Then everyone
• 23:59
  who came, everyone came whose heart was stirred and everyone
• 24:04
  whose spirit was willing. They brought the Lord's offering
• 24:07
  for the work of the Tabernacle. Look at verse 22.
• 24:10
  They came both men and women, as many as had a where's that
• 24:12
  phrase? Willing heart and broad earrings
• 24:16
  and nose rings. Keep your nose rings, rings and
• 24:19
  necklaces at least like sanitize them before you put them in an
• 24:23
  offering box. But they brought what they were
• 24:26
  told to to the Lord and they brought it willingly.
• 24:28
  Lotus verse 29, same chapter, the children of Israel brought a
• 24:32
  free will offering to the Lord All the men and women whose
• 24:36
  hearts were willing to bring material of all kinds of work
• 24:40
  which the Lord the Lord by the hand of Moses was commanded to
• 24:44
  be done. This nation blows me away of
• 24:46
  their faithfulness, but you know, they just they're, they're
• 24:49
  close to their deliverance. Remember that they're closer to
• 24:53
  their deliverance and the closer you are to your deliverance, the
• 24:57
  more of a willing heart you have.
• 25:00
  We were encouraged this last Bible study last week and
• 25:03
  weren't we to not forget where we came from.
• 25:06
  We were encouraged to remember the grace of God.
• 25:09
  We were taught that you can see the grace of God.
• 25:12
  We were taught, hey, when you get up in the morning, you look
• 25:15
  in the mirror, you see the grace of God.
• 25:17
  Thank God for it. Don't forget where you came
• 25:20
  from. The closer you are to your
• 25:22
  deliverance, the more your heart will be willing for whatever he
• 25:26
  has for you. Whatever he has.
• 25:28
  I I like to refer to giving ties and offering is a slam dunk.
• 25:33
  It literally takes no effort whatsoever.
• 25:35
  You can even set it up automatically if you want.
• 25:37
  You can set up online automatically.
• 25:39
  It takes no effort. You probably have to pay
• 25:42
  attention to it so that you know that you're doing it.
• 25:44
  So it doesn't. It's not passive.
• 25:46
  Giving is active, but you have those opportunities where it's
• 25:49
  automatic, automatic or like you did, this is a slam dunker.
• 25:53
  And if you and I don't learn how to do the slam dunkers in our
• 25:56
  Christian life, what makes you think that when something hard
• 25:59
  comes, you're going to be ready for it?
• 26:02
  I mean, this is easy. The word comes out.
• 26:05
  Everybody that has a willing heart, you go, do I have a
• 26:07
  willing heart? I have a willing heart.
• 26:09
  Then bring me these things God says, because I've got something
• 26:12
  for you. You're going to build a
• 26:14
  Tabernacle. I'm going to give you a place
• 26:17
  that's going to point to Jesus Christ.
• 26:18
  You guys are going to get the, I mean, just a few days earlier,
• 26:22
  just a few weeks earlier, you're living in bondage, crying out to
• 26:25
  me. I heard your cry.
• 26:27
  We're in relationship right now. You've agreed.
• 26:29
  You've ratified. You want me to rule over your
• 26:32
  lives. Let me say the very first thing
• 26:34
  I'm going to ask from you, only that I might give to you more.
• 26:37
  God is so gracious to us, so good, he invites us to be a part
• 26:41
  of what he's doing. I can look back on the life of
• 26:46
  this church and there have been many times in the last 25 years
• 26:49
  where I have had the privilege of bringing a project to our
• 26:52
  church and saying, OK guys, this is what God has brought before
• 26:56
  us. A piece of land, a building
• 26:59
  steal, you know, new parking lot, radio stations, whatever it
• 27:04
  is he's asked us to go into. And I come to you and I go, we
• 27:07
  don't have the money, but if you want to participate, jump on
• 27:10
  board. It's going to be a great ride.
• 27:12
  But even if you don't participate, it's going to
• 27:15
  happen anyway because it came from the Lord.
• 27:17
  But we want you to be a part of it.
• 27:19
  We want you to say, you know what, that that every time I
• 27:22
  turn on the radio, I know that I helped the radio ministry when
• 27:27
  it started or whatever it may be.
• 27:29
  You know, every time you park your car, you can say I bought
• 27:31
  this space, you actually didn't. But you know, when you park your
• 27:33
  car, it's like, man, we made more space.
• 27:36
  I can't believe sometimes I look and what God is doing and I
• 27:39
  can't believe we made it all those years without that back
• 27:42
  parking. I mean, I don't know how we did
• 27:44
  it. I don't know where people
• 27:45
  parked. The sanctuary was the same size,
• 27:47
  the same amount of chairs, and yet we didn't have that back
• 27:51
  parking lot for a long time. I mean, it's amazing.
• 27:55
  And you can look back and go, I remember those days.
• 27:57
  Some of you, it's like I gave, I gave a little bit.
• 27:59
  It was sacrificial. I gave up this and I gave, I
• 28:02
  gave my tithe, but then I gave a little bit toward that, a little
• 28:04
  bit toward that. And here we are.
• 28:07
  You're parking in it. You are participating in the
• 28:12
  life of the church. Lives are being changed because
• 28:14
  God would come to us and say, Ed, I want you to tell the
• 28:17
  people to bring this, bring these offerings.
• 28:21
  I've got a new open door for you.
• 28:24
  I want the people of the church to be involved in the life of
• 28:28
  the church. Paul touches on this in the New
• 28:30
  Testament in the new covenant. Would you turn over with me in
• 28:33
  Second Corinthians Chapter 9? Let's go back there.
• 28:36
  I did a series on this if you want to go a little deeper.
• 28:39
  I in this we, by the way, you if you're new to this church, we
• 28:43
  are a church that teaches through the Bible verse by
• 28:46
  verse. So remember that each second
• 28:49
  segment of the teaching fits within the whole chapter and up
• 28:53
  to the point that I'm teaching now, we've taught every verse
• 28:56
  and all the 24 chapters of Exodus to get up to this place.
• 29:00
  So we have allowed the Bible to speak for itself verse by verse.
• 29:04
  I did the same thing when we went through Second Corinthians
• 29:07
  and I did a little miniseries on giving so that anyone that ever
• 29:11
  had a question about our church relation of giving, they can
• 29:14
  just go to the Bible study and listen to it.
• 29:16
  And it's here in Second Corinthians Chapter 9.
• 29:20
  Notice with me in verse 6, 2nd Corinthians 9.
• 29:25
  In verse 6 it says, but I say this, he who sows sparingly will
• 29:30
  also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will
• 29:33
  also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he
• 29:38
  purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity.
• 29:43
  For God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all
• 29:52
  grace abound towards you, that you, always having all
• 29:55
  sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good
• 30:02
  work. Give according to what's on your
• 30:06
  heart. Give willingly, not grudgingly
• 30:11
  or by compulsion or guilt. Don't go into debt giving to
• 30:17
  God. Some of these guys as well.
• 30:18
  If you, if you don't have the money, do it by faith on visa.
• 30:21
  No, don't do that. God wants you to give of the
• 30:26
  increase and so pray for the increase.
• 30:31
  Don't go into deeper debt. The Lord will provide.
• 30:34
  He is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you
• 30:39
  always have all sufficiency in all things, that you can have
• 30:41
  abundance for every good work. Don't give with a greedy heart.
• 30:45
  Don't give with a selfish heart. Don't give all grudgingly.
• 30:49
  You know, they'll be walking into church, and this might be
• 30:52
  your very first study here, even ever in this church.
• 30:54
  And well, here we are, honey, another church talking about
• 30:57
  giving. Let me just tell you this, just
• 30:59
  in case you're thinking that or listening online, listening on
• 31:02
  the radio, whatever, let me just tell you.
• 31:04
  Yeah, there's that. You're right.
• 31:05
  You walked into a church that's teaching you how to give.
• 31:09
  You're right. I'm not ashamed of it.
• 31:12
  I want you to know, I want you to tap in to this stream of
• 31:15
  blessing in your life. Not that you're going to open up
• 31:18
  the floodgates, but listen, when you give with a cheerful heart,
• 31:22
  you know what kicks in right away?
• 31:24
  Verse 6 kicks in if you. Well, OK, pastor, I purpose in
• 31:28
  my heart to give a penny. All right, give your penny.
• 31:32
  But you know, I could tell in your voice that's not a willing
• 31:34
  heart. So keep your penny, and if I can
• 31:37
  find a penny, I don't know where they are these days, I'll give
• 31:39
  you that. I'll give you a penny on top of
• 31:41
  that and I'll double it. Don't come to the offering box
• 31:45
  here or set up online. I'll give because the church is
• 31:49
  telling me to give. Don't give.
• 31:51
  Seriously, don't give because remember I was telling you about
• 31:54
  the team here. One of the other things that I
• 31:57
  add to the team is that if the giving ever stops or whatever in
• 32:01
  this church, guess what's going to happen?
• 32:02
  You know what's going to happen? The what's going to happen is
• 32:05
  we're all going to revert to the day before we took a salary.
• 32:08
  You know what we were doing the day before we took a salary?
• 32:11
  Working well, we'll get a job. It's not going to stop me from
• 32:15
  doing the work of the ministry. That's how I moved here, and
• 32:19
  whatever the Lord would have, I'm going to do in my life with
• 32:23
  my family, whatever it takes that I might be useful for the
• 32:27
  Kingdom. But I'll also teach you what it
• 32:31
  means to give because it is true that you could answer today in
• 32:37
  your own heart. Go, I'm grudging and I don't
• 32:39
  want to give, and you don't have to give.
• 32:41
  You're right, you would qualify under this verse.
• 32:45
  However, it's not a good place to be.
• 32:48
  It would be the equivalent of saying, you know, Pastor, I
• 32:50
  don't want to obey. All right?
• 32:52
  I mean, if you don't want to obey, don't obey.
• 32:55
  That's a horrible place to be. I'm not approving of that
• 32:58
  position. I'm just validating what the
• 33:00
  Bible says so that you understand.
• 33:03
  I mean, even the heart, you know, I really for the last 20
• 33:05
  years, I just don't really have a heart to give.
• 33:07
  I haven't had a willing heart. 20 years, 20 years, 20 days, 20
• 33:11
  months. I and I would just say, do you
• 33:14
  have the heart of Christ? That's the question, because as
• 33:18
  you're abiding in Christ, Jesus is a he's sacrificial.
• 33:25
  Like if I have the heart of Christ, my heart is going to be
• 33:28
  generous. If I have the heart of Christ,
• 33:33
  I'm going to be faithful to what he's called me to do.
• 33:35
  I'm not going to be in odds with him.
• 33:39
  I'm not going to come up with excuses why I can't be generous.
• 33:43
  I'm going to learn to be cheerful in my giving, to be
• 33:46
  excited about what God might do, how he might use it, how we
• 33:51
  might multiply it, how he might take just a little from all of
• 33:54
  us and multiply it for the sake of the Kingdom.
• 33:57
  It's, it's, it's mind blowing. It's mind blowing what God can
• 34:02
  do. So let me give you a few things
• 34:05
  and then we're almost out of time.
• 34:06
  But let me give you a few things about giving.
• 34:08
  I went to this in depth in the study, but just a few things for
• 34:11
  our study today #1 Why should I give #1 giving frees me.
• 34:16
  Giving frees me from the bondage of greed as I give money.
• 34:21
  As I give, money has no hold over me.
• 34:24
  I can freely give because I've been freely given.
• 34:28
  It frees me. Number 2.
• 34:30
  When I give, giving fills me with God's purposes.
• 34:34
  As I give, the Spirit of God pours in my spirit His desires
• 34:40
  for the world today, and I get to be a part of what He's doing
• 34:44
  on the earth today through my giving #3 giving focuses me on
• 34:48
  the eternal. Why?
• 34:51
  Well, Jesus taught us this, didn't He?
• 34:53
  Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
• 34:58
  So it focuses me on the eternal, and I begin to value what God
• 35:02
  values. And then finally, giving finds
• 35:05
  me #4 finds me in obedience. I give because God has given me
• 35:09
  so much. Consider that God allows me to
• 35:13
  use if we just looking at the tithe for a second, if you just
• 35:17
  look for the tithe 10% because that's the measurement you use,
• 35:20
  then what God is saying is, is out of the 100% that he entrusts
• 35:24
  to me, He says give 10 to me and you can do with the rest
• 35:28
  whatever you want with the 90. And what do we say?
• 35:31
  I don't want to do everything with 90.
• 35:33
  I want to do it all. And God says go ahead.
• 35:38
  And sometimes people wonder why there's such a distance between
• 35:42
  their heart and with God. And one of the things that's
• 35:45
  really easy to check is are you a faithful giver, generous,
• 35:49
  overflowing poured out of your life, Not just a church.
• 35:53
  Church is the easy one. But you know, there there are
• 35:56
  those in need. And you're instead of instead of
• 36:00
  just dismissing it, you just you pray and you ask God, give me
• 36:03
  your heart. Is that, is that something?
• 36:05
  Because we can't do everything? But that doesn't mean we can't
• 36:07
  do something. Of course we can't do
• 36:10
  everything. But what has God called us to
• 36:13
  do? How is he leading us?
• 36:16
  Where is my heart on the issue? This sowing and reaping is not a
• 36:21
  televangelist promise. It's an eternal truth.
• 36:24
  And again, God doesn't necessarily you, you sow a
• 36:29
  dollar and you reap $1,000,000. That's not, that's you.
• 36:32
  You're you. If you sow sparingly, then
• 36:34
  you're, you're not going to be so free.
• 36:36
  You're going to be trapped. You're not going to be so
• 36:38
  filled. You're going to be empty.
• 36:40
  You're not going to be so focused.
• 36:41
  You're going to be stuck on the world and you're not going to be
• 36:43
  in obedience. So what happens?
• 36:46
  You're going to reap sparingly because you're not enjoying what
• 36:51
  God has for you. God wants us to be generous.
• 36:55
  He wants us to live in obedience.
• 37:00
  Some just don't get it. They think tithing is some
• 37:03
  ordeal or for them, it's a bummer to be a part of the, you
• 37:06
  know, I worked so hard for this and I'm sure you did.
• 37:08
  We all work hard, but God gave us the strength to work hard.
• 37:13
  He's given us the knowledge. He's given us the ability.
• 37:15
  He's given us the education. He's given us the open door.
• 37:18
  Remember when you were praying for a job and you're begging God
• 37:21
  for a job and then you got the job?
• 37:24
  What do you think you got that from?
• 37:28
  Can't forget the graciousness of God.
• 37:30
  You remember that time you were complaining about your job and
• 37:35
  then you got fired? Who answered that prayer?
• 37:41
  Like it's all from Him and to him and for him and through Him.
• 37:45
  It all belongs to Him. It's all His we are citizens of
• 37:52
  in two places on earth, but also in heaven.
• 37:56
  Marie and I recently were looking back on our lives.
• 38:00
  The early days were much harder than the latter days.
• 38:03
  Probably the first, I don't know, 15 years of our marriage
• 38:07
  were so hard. And we look back and we're just
• 38:10
  like, I don't know how we made it.
• 38:13
  I don't know how we made it. And then we we get saved and
• 38:18
  then we make this decision for Marie to stay home.
• 38:21
  And we weren't making it before. I don't know how we made it on
• 38:25
  paper, but I know how we made it.
• 38:29
  God was so gracious to us. It's like look at these kids
• 38:32
  hearts. They're just sold out to me and
• 38:36
  little open door here. And I mean, we didn't.
• 38:38
  I wish we would have kept track of all the miracles that God
• 38:40
  did. They were so common.
• 38:42
  They didn't seem like miracles. God was just so good to us, so
• 38:47
  gracious, so helpful, so wonderful.
• 38:54
  We trained our children that way.
• 38:56
  I remember years ago when the Lord placed on our hearts for
• 39:01
  Marie to stay home, we were new believers.
• 39:04
  She made more money than I did. She had all the medical
• 39:06
  insurance and they're like, what are we doing?
• 39:10
  But we learned whatever I made, we tie.
• 39:13
  It didn't matter what it was. Whatever I made, if I made 300
• 39:18
  bucks a week and we gave 30, If I made 450 and we gave 45, God
• 39:23
  was training us with the 30 and the 45.
• 39:27
  When our kids were any kind of money my kids get, they had to
• 39:30
  give it unto the Lord. Even if they got gift cards, we
• 39:33
  made them cash it out so they could give to the Lord.
• 39:37
  We wanted to train them the value.
• 39:39
  Even if someone blessed them and gave to them because of the day
• 39:43
  they were born, that when they gave of that day they were born,
• 39:46
  they gave because God was gracious to give them life.
• 39:51
  Now, of course, as kids, they didn't know.
• 39:52
  They're all upset, but they know now they'll have their own
• 39:57
  children. They'll make their own choices
• 39:59
  on how to remind them of the grace of God.
• 40:02
  I'm putting together a study for an upcoming conference on
• 40:05
  teaching. And the title is I did this at
• 40:07
  the Huddle. What you Sometimes we forget and
• 40:10
  there's a there's a past. There's a pattern throughout the
• 40:13
  Bible that God wants us to make sure we never forget where we
• 40:18
  came from. We never forget what he's done.
• 40:21
  He he does the children in visual.
• 40:23
  Make sure your kids know. Make sure you hand this down to
• 40:25
  your kids. Make sure you're always talking
• 40:27
  about it. Make sure that this is the
• 40:29
  pattern of your home. Remember the Red Sea, remember
• 40:32
  the Red Sea and then reveal to your kids the Red Sea in your
• 40:35
  own house. Oh, it may not be as big and
• 40:39
  dramatic. It may not make the Bible, but
• 40:41
  there's a red seas in all your houses where God made a way
• 40:44
  where there was no way, where he showed up when you didn't know
• 40:48
  what was going to happen, where he brought you to the end and
• 40:51
  you didn't know. And you're throwing up your
• 40:53
  hands and you're unsure and you're ready to sink and the
• 40:57
  Lord just boom, and he rescues you, just like Peter.
• 40:59
  Remember when he started sinking on the water?
• 41:04
  I find that the more the more that I find myself meditating on
• 41:11
  the goodness of God, the more generous I've become.
• 41:14
  And I am learning. I don't know that I fully
• 41:17
  appreciate this yet, but I am learning and I'm committed to
• 41:20
  learning that it's better to give than receive.
• 41:26
  And I love receiving by the way. But I also love giving.
• 41:32
  I love that what God has done in my life where a response so
• 41:37
  quickly is to give so quickly to hear I'm, I'm watching this
• 41:44
  video and I'm just wondering automatically, I wonder what we
• 41:47
  could do for them. I'm just automatically thinking,
• 41:49
  I don't know what the answer to that is, but I just want to see
• 41:52
  them succeed. The Matthews.
• 41:54
  I just want to see him succeed and we think of of, of Jeff
• 41:58
  Price. I want to see him succeed.
• 42:00
  I want to see him thrive. I want to see I, I watch, I
• 42:04
  watch, I see one of my brothers. I posted a little picture today
• 42:07
  of the sign downstairs that we walk by all the time, but it
• 42:10
  caught my eye because it was brand new.
• 42:11
  It caught my eye. So I walked over to it and Micah
• 42:14
  had put a poster together which just highlighted all of our
• 42:17
  missionaries that we're doing through the month, the month of
• 42:20
  March. So I took a picture of it, put
• 42:22
  it up. I didn't even say anything.
• 42:24
  I just did. But one of our missionaries saw
• 42:25
  it. And he says, I'm so thankful for
• 42:27
  this church and those that support us.
• 42:30
  And they're not even gone yet. They got they got a lot to raise
• 42:32
  to get their visas and everything to launch out their
• 42:35
  hearts already there. But their bodies are an organ.
• 42:38
  Little by little, they're catching up with their hearts.
• 42:41
  I want that for you. I pour out my life and and I'm
• 42:46
  I'm saying that not in some kind of like, oh, look what you do,
• 42:50
  Ed, I'm just telling you this, my life from a man that lived
• 42:54
  his whole life, taking, taking, taking.
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  It is so good to live the rest of my life as a generous giver.
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  I give my prayers for you. I give my time for you.
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  And I do that joyfully and willingly.
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  Not always. Sometimes I'm not so willing, or
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  sometimes I'm grousing inside, or sometimes I'm bad mood, but
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  then it becomes an act of obedience.
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  Because you got that muscle memory, huh?
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  Where you give and serve and you give and you serve and you have
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  a bad day. And what do you do on bad days?
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  You give and you serve. See, the Lord doesn't have any
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  bad days. He never grouses, He never
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  complaints, but He loves you and me so much that He gave His only
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  Son, Jesus Christ, so that our sins can be forgiven, our lives
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  could be redeemed, we could be delivered from slavery and live
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  in the fullness and the abundance of all the life that
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  He has for us. And we haven't even yet tasted
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  and seen that the Lord is good. I mean, we have, but there's so
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  much more. So when you come to church, be
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  willing to give. Be willing to give of your
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  tithes and offerings. Be willing to give of your time,
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  be willing to give of your talents and your gifts and your
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  expertise. Be willing to give of your
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  prayer. You see what happens And this
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  would be my final point, but here's what happens.
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  Church and culture, you know, in the world and everything we're
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  in, it's created in us. When we come to a place like
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  this, we just want to take, what do you have for me?
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  You know, almost you come, you may not verbalize it, but your
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  attitude is like, oh, what do you have for me Lord?
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  And you can't you hear heaven, I've given you my best.
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  I've already given you What do I have for you?
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  I gave you my son and I love you.
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  So glad we're in relationship. So let's get busy on this
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  partnership with a willing heart and do what I've called you to
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  do and be who I've called you to be and enjoy your life as a
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  generous giver. Amen.
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  It's so good, Lord, thank you for the generosity that you've
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  shown to us and how you've made very self-centered taking people
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  like me. And you continue to fashion me
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  and mold me into a man who learns how to be selfless.
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  And I'm learning, Lord, I'm not there.
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  And learns how to be generous. And I'm learning, Lord, I'm not
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  there. And learns how to come with
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  empty hands and not with closed fists.
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  And I'm learning, Lord, I'm not there, but I want to grow and I
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  desire even in the testimony of my own life, that it would pour
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  out into the life of this precious group that gathers
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  midweek. It's pressing in, Lord, that is
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  pressing into the will that you have for their lives and that
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  you would help them in these simple things that we would give
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  you our best, laying our lives down as living sacrifices
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  because like the Tabernacle, you're going to give.
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  Use our lives as a type and a picture of the generosity of
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  Jesus. People are going to see it,
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  they're going to feel it, they're going to receive it.
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  They're going to have no more outlet other than to give.
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  God give you the glory for the great things you have done
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  through your people. So thank you for your
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  faithfulness in our lives, Lord, that even when we're faithless,
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  you remain faithful. You won't deny yourself.
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  And as we end our service today, I want to remind you that God
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  gave you his best. That today, if you recognize
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  that you've sinned against a holy and righteous God and you
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  desire to be forgiven of your sins, you want to respond to the
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  generosity of God where he says, I want to be in relationship
• 47:04
  with you. I want to give you my I want you
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  to enjoy my Son. I want you to have a life that's
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  better than what you're living now and for all of eternity.
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  If today you would like to have that first high point in your
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  life to be delivered from your past and be given a future in
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  Jesus Christ, basically to have your sins forgiven and to become
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  a right relationship with God, would you just stand to your
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  feet? I want to pray with you that
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  today would be the day. It was a Wednesday night when I
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  responded. Just a midweek Bible study
• 47:40
  filled with people worshiping God.
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  But I didn't know him yet. And that might be you.
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  We want to give you that chance before we leave.
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  Would you say I need to be born again?
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  Just stand to your feet. We want to pray with you that
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  today would be the day and now would be the time.
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  We'll wait for you for that moment, that high and holy
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  moment that God has reserved for you.
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  I realized it could be downstairs.
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  We acknowledge that watching online, we acknowledge that
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  those that listening on the radio, God sees you.
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  But here it's special just for us because we get to see it like
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  with our own eyes, God moving. All right, Lord, I pray for
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  those that wrestling with you, wondering that you would
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  continue to draw them with your cords of love and acknowledge,
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  like just let them know, Lord, that you love them.
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  Let them sense that. Let them receive that, Lord.
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  For those that do respond, I ask that you would prompt them to
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  convey that to you. Confess with their mouth.
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  You might be listening to me right now and you could just
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  pray to God. You could say, God, I've sinned
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  against you and I ask you to forgive me.
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  I choose to follow you today and turn my life away from sin.
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  I invite you into my heart and into my life and I choose you.
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  I receive your free gift. I believe Jesus lived and died
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  and rose again. Father, pour out your spirit on
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  those today and for us that are already believers, God again
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  give us a generous disposition in Jesus name, Amen.
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  We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
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  delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
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  prayer. Call us at 87730 grace that's
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  877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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  integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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  online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
• 50:37
  Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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  this week.