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Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – Generosity: Willing Hear... · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Would you turn in your bibles to the second book
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Speaker 1: of the Old Testament, the Book of Exodus, chapter twenty five,
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Speaker 1: and following a few verses there, I want to turn
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Speaker 1: over to chapter thirty five and read a few from there,
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Speaker 1: and then a couple out of thirty six. So Exodus
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Speaker 1: twenty five, beginning at verse one. Then the Lord spoke
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Speaker 1: to Moses, saying, tell the sons of Israel to raise
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Speaker 1: a contribution for me. From every man whose heart moves him.
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Speaker 1: You shall raise my contribution. This is the contribution which
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Speaker 1: you are to raise from them, gold, silver, and bronze, blue,
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Speaker 1: purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams, skins,
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Speaker 1: dyed red porpoise skins, acacia wood oil for lighting, spices
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Speaker 1: for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx
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Speaker 1: stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastplate.
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Speaker 1: Let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may
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Speaker 1: dwell among them. According to all that I am going
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Speaker 1: to show you as the pattern of the tabernacle and
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Speaker 1: the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall
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Speaker 1: construct it. I turn ahead then to chapter thirty five.
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Speaker 1: Moses has heard from God on the mountain. And now
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Speaker 1: he comes down to the people who have gathered at
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Speaker 1: the base of Mount Sinai, and he passes the word
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Speaker 1: on to them that he's just heard thirty five one.
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Speaker 1: Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the Sons of
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Speaker 1: Israel and said to them, these are the things that
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Speaker 1: the Lord has commanded you to do. For six days,
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Speaker 1: work may be done, But on the seventh day you
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Speaker 1: shall have a holy day, a sabbath, a complete rest
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Speaker 1: to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall
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Speaker 1: be put to death. You shall not kindle a fire
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Speaker 1: in any of your dwellings. On the sabbath day, Moses
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Speaker 1: spoke to all the congregation of the Sons of Israel, saying,
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Speaker 1: this is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying,
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Speaker 1: take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever
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Speaker 1: is of a willing heart, let him bring it to
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Speaker 1: the Lord's contribution gold, silver, and bronze. And he continues
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Speaker 1: to describe Verse ten. Let every skillful man among you
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Speaker 1: come and make all that the Lord has commanded the tabernacle,
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Speaker 1: its tent and its covering, its hooks and its boards,
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Speaker 1: its bars, its pillars and its sockets, the ark and
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Speaker 1: its poles, the mercy seat, and the curtain of the screen,
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Speaker 1: the table and its poles, and all its utensils, and
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Speaker 1: the bread of the presence. The lamps stand also for
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Speaker 1: the light and its utensils, and its lamps, and the
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Speaker 1: oil for the light. He goes on to describe all
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Speaker 1: the details of it, dropped down to verse twenty. Then
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Speaker 1: all the congregation of the sons of Israel departed from
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Speaker 1: moses presence. Everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose
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Speaker 1: spirit moved him came and brought the Lord's contribution for
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Speaker 1: the work of the tent of meeting and for all
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Speaker 1: its service, and for the holy garments verse twenty nine.
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Speaker 1: The Israelites, all the men and women whose heart moved
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Speaker 1: them to bring material for all the work which the
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Speaker 1: Lord had commanded through Moses to be done, brought, please observe,
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Speaker 1: not a tithe, but they brought a free will offering
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Speaker 1: to the Lord. This one more section from Exodus thirty six,
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Speaker 1: verse four. And all the skillful men who were performing
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Speaker 1: all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the
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Speaker 1: work which he was performing. And they said to Moses,
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Speaker 1: the people are bringing much more than enough for the
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Speaker 1: construction work. Which the Lord commanded us to perform. So
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Speaker 1: Moses issued a command and a proclamation was circulated throughout
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Speaker 1: the camp, saying, let neither man or woman any longer
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Speaker 1: perform work for the contributions of the sanctuary. Thus the
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Speaker 1: people were restrained from bringing any more, for the material
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Speaker 1: they had was sufficient and enough for all the work
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Speaker 1: to perform. It rather remarkable response, wasn't it stop, don't
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Speaker 1: give any more? Wouldn't that be a nice announcement to
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Speaker 1: hear some sunday like us to stand for a time
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Speaker 1: of prayer commitment. Please, we stand before you, our Father,
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Speaker 1: as an act of allegiance and submission, and we bow
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Speaker 1: before you in humility and trust. The times in which
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Speaker 1: we live are both wild and weird. Well, we desire
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Speaker 1: to follow you and all without exception. It's an uphill climb,
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Speaker 1: and it's against the current, and it is often an
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Speaker 1: internal battle, a fight to stand firm in what we
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Speaker 1: believe and to model what you have asked of your people.
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Speaker 1: Never unfairly, but it is rare in a world that
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Speaker 1: is as selfish as ours. I pray that you will
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Speaker 1: do in the next few minutes what only you can,
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Speaker 1: and that is to arrest our attention to turn our
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Speaker 1: thoughts toward your truth, and I asked that you would
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Speaker 1: make it more eloquent and more reasonable than anything we
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Speaker 1: may have read or heard up to this point. I
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Speaker 1: pray that we will become convinced, and following that we
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Speaker 1: will be stirred from within and moved in our hearts,
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Speaker 1: so that our actions reveal change over and above what
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Speaker 1: we have ever considered. May we know inexperience this next
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Speaker 1: month acts of generosity. I pray that they will be
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Speaker 1: prompted by your spirit and never by the manipulation or
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Speaker 1: the coercion of slick talking professionals. I pray that you
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Speaker 1: will convince and convict us deep within, and you will
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Speaker 1: then find us as obedient as the ancient Hebrews who
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Speaker 1: gave to the point of having to be restrained from
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Speaker 1: giving more. We are your people, and we are the
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Speaker 1: sheep of your pasture, and we belong to you, and
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Speaker 1: nothing is too much for you. And so we pray
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Speaker 1: that we will be able to focus our attention, our thoughts,
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Speaker 1: and ultimately our wills on what you have said and
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Speaker 1: what you have promised, and how you will provide, and
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Speaker 1: that we will be stimulated to good works in ways
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Speaker 1: never known before. And now Father, we give to you
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Speaker 1: out of hearts of gratitude. We are very thankful, not
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Speaker 1: just because it's this time of year, but because we
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Speaker 1: have been the recipients of numerous benefits, blessings, healings, forgiveness, grace,
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Speaker 1: mercy to go on, even the ability to relieve guilt
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Speaker 1: and shame and grudges we've held against others. We stand
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Speaker 1: before you in allegiance and in submission, and now we
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Speaker 1: give generously and joyfully. In the name of Jesus, our
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Speaker 1: strong Savior. We pray, and all God's people said, Amen,
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Speaker 1: It's remarkable how generous we become when our hearts are
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Speaker 1: truly stirred. It's a matter of the heart, much more
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Speaker 1: than the head. Over the past Thanksgiving holidays, I was
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Speaker 1: given a wonderful story that illustrates this beautifully. It's called
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Speaker 1: Something for Stevie. I try not to be biased, but
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Speaker 1: I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His placement counselor
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Speaker 1: assured me that he would be a good, reliable bus boy.
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Speaker 1: But I had never hired a mentally handicapped employee, and
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Speaker 1: I wasn't sure I wanted one. I wasn't sure how
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Speaker 1: my customers would react to Stevie. He was short, a
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Speaker 1: little dumpy, with the smooth facial features and thick tongued
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Speaker 1: speech of down syndrome. I wasn't worried so much about
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Speaker 1: most of my trucker customers, because truckers don't generally care
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Speaker 1: who buses tables as long as the meat loaf platter
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Speaker 1: is good and the pies are homemade. It was the
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Speaker 1: four wheeler drivers who concerned me. The mouthy college kids
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Speaker 1: traveling to and from school, The yuppy snobs who secretly
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Speaker 1: pop their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching
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Speaker 1: some dreaded truck stop germs. The pairs of white shirted
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Speaker 1: business men on expense accounts who think every truck stop
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Speaker 1: waitress wants to be flirted with. I knew those people
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Speaker 1: would be uncomfortable around Stevie, so I closely watched him
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Speaker 1: for the first few weeks. I shouldn't have worried. After
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Speaker 1: the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his
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Speaker 1: little finger, and within a month my truck regulars had
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Speaker 1: adopted him as their official truck stop mascot. After that,
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Speaker 1: I really didn't care what the rest of the customers
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Speaker 1: thought of him. He was like a twenty one year
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Speaker 1: old in blue jeans and nikes, eager to laugh and
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Speaker 1: eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties.
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Speaker 1: Every salt and pepper shaker was ex exactly in its place.
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Speaker 1: Not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when
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Speaker 1: Stevie got done with the table. Our only problem was
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Speaker 1: persuading him to wait to clean a table until after
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Speaker 1: the customers had finished the meal. He would hover in
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Speaker 1: the background, shifting his weight from one foot to the other,
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Speaker 1: scanning the dining room until a table was empty. Then
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Speaker 1: he would scurry to that empty table and carefully bust
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Speaker 1: the dishes and glasses onto the cart and meticulously wipe
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Speaker 1: the table with a practice flourish of his rag. If
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Speaker 1: he thought a customer was watching, his brow would pucker
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Speaker 1: with added concentration. He took pride in doing his job
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Speaker 1: exactly right, and you had to love how hard Stevie
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Speaker 1: worked to please each and every person he met. Over time,
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Speaker 1: we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow
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Speaker 1: who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. They lived
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Speaker 1: on their social Security benefits in public housing about two
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Speaker 1: miles from the truck stop. Their social worker, which stopped
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Speaker 1: to check on him every so often, admitted they had
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Speaker 1: sort of fallen between the cracks. Money was tight, and
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Speaker 1: what I paid him was probably the difference between their
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Speaker 1: being able to live together and Stevie being sent to
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Speaker 1: a group home. That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place.
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Speaker 1: That morning last August, the first morning in three years,
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Speaker 1: Stevie missed work. He was at the Mayo Clinic in
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Speaker 1: Rochester getting a new valve or something put into his heart.
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Speaker 1: Kosher workers said that people with Down syndrome often had
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Speaker 1: heart problems at an early age, so this wasn't unexpected,
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Speaker 1: and there was a good chance he'd come through the
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Speaker 1: surgery in good shape and he'd be back at work
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Speaker 1: in a few months. A ripple of excitement ran through
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Speaker 1: the staff later that morning when word came that he
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Speaker 1: was out of surgery, in recovery and doing well. Frannie,
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Speaker 1: my head waitress, let out a war whoop and did
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Speaker 1: a little dance in the aisle when she heard the
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Speaker 1: good news. Bell ringer, one of our regular trucker customers,
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Speaker 1: stared at the sight of the fifty year old grandmother
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Speaker 1: of four doing a victory shimmy beside his table. Franny blushed,
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Speaker 1: smoothed her apron, and shot Ringer a withering look. He grinned. Okay, okay,
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Speaker 1: what's all this about? He asked, Well, we just got
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Speaker 1: worried that Stevie's out of surgery and he's going to
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Speaker 1: be fine. I was wondering where he was. I had
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Speaker 1: a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about.
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Speaker 1: Franny quickly told bell Ringer and the other two drivers
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Speaker 1: sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, and then sighed, Yeah.
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Speaker 1: I'm glad he's going to be okay, she said, but
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Speaker 1: I don't know how he and his mom are going
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Speaker 1: to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're
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Speaker 1: barely getting by as it is. Bell Ringer nodded thoughtfully,
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Speaker 1: and Franny hurried off to wait on the rest of
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Speaker 1: her tables. She had had time to round up a
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Speaker 1: bus boy to replace Stevie, nor had I, and really
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Speaker 1: we didn't want to replace him. The girls were bussing
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Speaker 1: their own tables that day until we decided what to do.
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Speaker 1: After the morning brush, Franni walked into my office. She
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Speaker 1: had a couple of paper napkins in her hand and
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Speaker 1: a funny look on her face. What's up, I asked.
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Speaker 1: I didn't get that table where Ringer and his friends
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Speaker 1: were sitting cleared off after they left, and Pony Pete
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Speaker 1: and Tony Tipper were sitting there when I got back
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Speaker 1: to clean it off. She said, this was folded and
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Speaker 1: tucked under a coffee cup. She handed the napkin to me,
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Speaker 1: and three twenty dollars bills fell onto my desk when
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Speaker 1: I opened it. On the outside, in big bold letters,
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Speaker 1: was scrawled something for Stevie. Pony Pete asked me what
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Speaker 1: that was all about. She said, so I told him
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Speaker 1: about Stevie and his mom and everything, and Pete looked
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Speaker 1: at Tony, and Tony looked at Pete and they ended
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Speaker 1: up giving me this. And then she handed me another
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Speaker 1: paper napkin that had something for Stevie printed on its outside.
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Speaker 1: Two fifty dollars bills were tucked within its folds. Franny
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Speaker 1: looked at me with wet, shiny eyes, shook her head
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Speaker 1: and said, simply, Truckers was three months ago. Today's Thanksgiving,
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Speaker 1: the first day Stevie is supposed to be back at work.
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Speaker 1: His placement workers said he had been counting the days
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Speaker 1: until the doctor said he could work, and it didn't
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Speaker 1: matter at all to him that it was a holiday.
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Speaker 1: In fact, he called ten times this past week, making
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Speaker 1: sure we knew he was coming back. In fearful that
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Speaker 1: we had forgotten him or that his job was in jeopardy.
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Speaker 1: I arranged to have his mother bring him to work
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Speaker 1: that morning, met them in the parking lot and invited
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Speaker 1: them both to celebrate his first day back. Stevie was
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Speaker 1: thinner and paler, but couldn't stop grinning as he pushed
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Speaker 1: through the doors and headed for the back room, where
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Speaker 1: his apron and bussing cart were waiting. Hold up there, Stevie,
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Speaker 1: not so fast, I said. I took him and his
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Speaker 1: mother by their arms. Work can wait for a few
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Speaker 1: minutes to celebrate your coming back. Breakfast for you and
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Speaker 1: your mother is on me. I led them toward a
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Speaker 1: large corner booth at the rear of the room. I
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Speaker 1: could feel and hear the rest of the staff following
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Speaker 1: behind as we marched together through the dining room. Glancing
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Speaker 1: over my shoulder, I saw booth after booth of grinning
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Speaker 1: truckers empty and joined our procession. We stopped in front
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Speaker 1: of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee
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Speaker 1: cups and saucers and dinner plates, all sitting slightly crooked
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Speaker 1: on dozens of folded paper napkins. First thing you have
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Speaker 1: to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess, I said,
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Speaker 1: I tried to sound stern. Stevie looked at me and
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Speaker 1: then at his mother, then pulled out one of the napkins.
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Speaker 1: It had something for Stevie printed on the outside. As
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Speaker 1: he picked it up, two large bills fell onto the table.
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Speaker 1: Stevie stared at the money, and then at all the
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Speaker 1: napkins peeking from beneath the table, where each with his
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Speaker 1: name printed or scrawled on it. I turned to his
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Speaker 1: mother and said, there's more than ten thousand dollars in
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Speaker 1: cash on this table, all from truckers and trucking companies
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Speaker 1: that heard about your problems. Happy Thanksgiving. Well, it got
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Speaker 1: real noisy about that time, and everybody hollering and shouting,
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Speaker 1: and there were a few tears as well. But you
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Speaker 1: know what's funny. While everybody else was busy shaking hands
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Speaker 1: and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big smile on
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Speaker 1: his face, was busy clearing up all the cups and
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Speaker 1: the saucers from the table. Best worker I ever hired.
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Speaker 1: Don't let anyone ever tell you differently. Generosity and heart
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Speaker 1: stirring emotions go hand in hand. Of course, facts and
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Speaker 1: figures are important, no question, but they never make you generous.
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Speaker 1: Sensible reasoning and sound logic are helpful, but you never
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Speaker 1: dig as deeply as you do when your heart is
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Speaker 1: moved and you are stirred deep within. Step back with
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Speaker 1: me in the time tunnel centuries ago to an ancient
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Speaker 1: body of people called the Hebrews. Remember the Hebrews slaves
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Speaker 1: in Egypt until they were delivered and released from the land.
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Speaker 1: But the exodus never made them generous. It made them grateful.
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Speaker 1: And then when they were outside the walls and they
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Speaker 1: were on their own, some two million strong, at a
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Speaker 1: loss to know what direction to go, God brought a
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Speaker 1: cloud by day and fire by night, and he led
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Speaker 1: them supernaturally along the route he would have them take
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Speaker 1: toward the promised Land. And when they got wedged down
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Speaker 1: there by the Red Sea on one side and the
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Speaker 1: wilderness on the other, and the Egyptians coming fast behind them,
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Speaker 1: he opened the Red Sea. And then just at the
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Speaker 1: right time. He closed the Red Sea once they were
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Speaker 1: safely across, and he destroyed the enemies, and that ultimately
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Speaker 1: made them obedient, but it didn't make them generous. When
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Speaker 1: they got to Mount Sinai and Moses went up, as
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Speaker 1: we're going to see, and God wrote with his own
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Speaker 1: finger the Torah on tablets of stone, and he deposited
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Speaker 1: the tablets into moses arms and told him to take
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Speaker 1: those directions to the people that instructed them and the
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Speaker 1: way they should go. But the law never made them generous.
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Speaker 1: And it was a generous people God wanted. And in
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Speaker 1: order to bring that to pass, God needed to stir
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Speaker 1: their hearts and to move them to action, And in
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Speaker 1: order to do that, he chose the building of a
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Speaker 1: sanctuary called in the scriptures the tabernacle. Isn't that interesting?
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Speaker 1: The construction project would be sufficient to make them generous. Aye,
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Speaker 1: think think about it. They didn't open the gates of
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Speaker 1: Egypt to escape. God gave them an open gate. They
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Speaker 1: didn't put the cloud in the sky or the fire
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Speaker 1: before them. They didn't open the Red Sea or close it.
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Speaker 1: They didn't write the tablets of stone. All of this
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Speaker 1: was given to them. And you're never made generous by
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Speaker 1: receiving receiving. Receiving receiving can only spoil you. Oh, it
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Speaker 1: will make you grateful at times, but it doesn't make
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Speaker 1: you generous. It's when you personally get involved in a
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Speaker 1: project for the greater glory of God, something that's bigger
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Speaker 1: than you and bigger than you could ever imagine, and
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Speaker 1: you participate in such a project. That is when your
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Speaker 1: heart is stirred and when you are moved to the
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Speaker 1: point of generosity. And so God, knowing that there was
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Speaker 1: a lack of generosity within them, set the stage for
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Speaker 1: there to be a change from within. I'm going to
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Speaker 1: confess to you as often as I have preached on
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Speaker 1: the Exodus and the moving of the Hebrews to the
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Speaker 1: land of Canaan, and as frequently over these years of ministry,
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Speaker 1: that I have referred, even by way of illustration, to
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Speaker 1: this movement to the land to promise. The things I
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Speaker 1: share with you today I never saw before this week.
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Speaker 1: Matter of fact, if I could be this specific with you,
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Speaker 1: I saw these things at thirty thousand feet while I
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Speaker 1: was in the air working on this message, and I
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Speaker 1: let out one of those head waitress war hoops that
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Speaker 1: caused Cynthia to turn in my direction and wondering if
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Speaker 1: everything was okay. It was one of those breakthroughs that
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Speaker 1: I had never seen before. So this is fresh food
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Speaker 1: from a new fire that has come from God himself
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Speaker 1: through my voice to you today. Let me show you
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Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. Turn to Exodus twenty five. Exodus
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Speaker 1: twenty five, let me show you four ways that the
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Speaker 1: Lord stirred the people's hearts. Moses is on the mountain
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Speaker 1: and the people are down below. They're told not to
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Speaker 1: come near. Boundaries are set and sacred borders are built
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Speaker 1: so that they wouldn't go beyond them, and if they did,
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Speaker 1: they would die. Moses alone went before the Lord, and
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Speaker 1: while there he received a clear directive, a clear directive.
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Speaker 1: That's the first of the four. God gave them a
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Speaker 1: clear directive. Verse two tell the sons of Israel to
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Speaker 1: raise a contribution for me. Look at that. This is
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Speaker 1: a first. Everything else has been given, Everything else has
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Speaker 1: been provided, if you will, on a silver platter. They
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Speaker 1: have been the recipients of one incredible event, gift, provision, food,
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Speaker 1: even water from a rock direction from God. All of
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Speaker 1: it was given to them. And now the Lord says
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Speaker 1: It's their turn to participate in something for me. I'm
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Speaker 1: asking you to tell them to raise a contribution for me. Understand,
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Speaker 1: God didn't need it, They needed to do it. And
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Speaker 1: so he said to them, have them raise this contribution.
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Speaker 1: And notice he said, every man verse two whose heart
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Speaker 1: moves him, there is no hesitation. God doesn't stutter. There
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Speaker 1: is no one left out. Everyone who has a heart
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Speaker 1: that's moved shall participate in this contribution. I don't want
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Speaker 1: a reluctant gift. I don't want a grudging gift. I
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Speaker 1: want a gift that comes from those whose hearts are moved. Second,
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Speaker 1: God offered a call for specific gifts. Look at verse three.
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Speaker 1: This is the contribution which you are to raise from them.
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Speaker 1: Listen to the grocery list that God put together, gold, silver, bronze, blue,
29:07
Speaker 1: purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams, skin
29:14
Speaker 1: dyed red porpoise skins, acacia wood oil for lighting, spices
29:22
Speaker 1: for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. And
29:26
Speaker 1: then look at the precious stones onyx stones, setting stones
29:30
Speaker 1: for the epod and the breastplate. And now observe, I'm
29:34
Speaker 1: not going to make this for them. They will make it.
29:40
Speaker 1: Let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may
29:45
Speaker 1: dwell among them special precious metals, gems, stones, products, certain colors,
29:55
Speaker 1: specific skins, and so forth. Where they get those things,
29:59
Speaker 1: they left each with them. Remember the final ripoff. They
30:04
Speaker 1: were leaving Egypt, and the Egyptians were so thrilled to
30:08
Speaker 1: have them leave. They took off necklaces and bracelets, and
30:11
Speaker 1: ear rings and rings, precious broaches and pieces of silver,
30:17
Speaker 1: and certainly there were wonderful ornaments that had been a
30:23
Speaker 1: part of Egyptian culture, and they took them with them,
30:26
Speaker 1: along with cattle, children and all that they had, and
30:29
Speaker 1: they took off out of the land of Egypt. Must
30:32
Speaker 1: have wondered, what are we going to do with this.
30:34
Speaker 1: I'm sure some of the fathers thought, this is good.
30:36
Speaker 1: This will help us when we get to the land
30:38
Speaker 1: of Canaan. I'll need to take this and I'll need
30:41
Speaker 1: to barter for that, and I'll have this available to
30:44
Speaker 1: me and we'll build this with that. It'll be worth
30:47
Speaker 1: a lot. But the time we get you know how
30:50
Speaker 1: we plan and how we think, And the Lord says, no,
30:52
Speaker 1: these contributions are to go from the things you got
30:55
Speaker 1: from the Egyptians. There's a third, a stated objective. Verse eight,
31:02
Speaker 1: let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may
31:06
Speaker 1: dwell among them, A clear directive, specific gifts. Now a
31:15
Speaker 1: stated objective. Do you know, did you realize that up
31:22
Speaker 1: until this time, every act of worship was done outside.
31:31
Speaker 1: Did you realize that altars were built with crude stones
31:34
Speaker 1: and crude pieces of wood, and built along hillsides and
31:38
Speaker 1: on mountaintops and hilltops, and that these offerings were offered
31:43
Speaker 1: to the Lord. There was no sanctuary, there was no
31:46
Speaker 1: house of worship. And the Lord observed sacrifices and smell
31:51
Speaker 1: the sweet smelling fragrance as it came up to him,
31:53
Speaker 1: as an animal was sacrificed, and he found pleasure in
31:56
Speaker 1: the sacrifice of the people, and in the spilling of
31:59
Speaker 1: the blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no
32:02
Speaker 1: forgiveness of sins. But it is not until now they
32:06
Speaker 1: will have a sanctuary, a structure, a building. This was
32:10
Speaker 1: a first, and Moses, they are to build it. Observe
32:16
Speaker 1: in verse nine, according to all that I am going
32:20
Speaker 1: to show you as the pattern of the tabernacle and
32:24
Speaker 1: the pattern of its furniture, just so you shall construct it.
32:31
Speaker 1: And why did I read it like that? Because God
32:33
Speaker 1: is in the details. I don't want you to throw
32:38
Speaker 1: something together and call it a place of worship. I
32:42
Speaker 1: don't want you to find a piece of wood and
32:44
Speaker 1: stick it on this one and nail it on that one,
32:45
Speaker 1: and put a little gold on it and say this
32:48
Speaker 1: is to the Living God. I don't operate like that.
32:51
Speaker 1: I want this to be so stunning, so significant, so specific,
32:57
Speaker 1: that even those who pass by will suck in their breath.
33:01
Speaker 1: I want them to know that this sanctuary, though it
33:04
Speaker 1: is portable, and you will carry it with you for
33:08
Speaker 1: really centuries to come. I want you to know that
33:13
Speaker 1: this has been built according to specific dimensions and specifications
33:18
Speaker 1: that I will call out right down to the articles
33:22
Speaker 1: of furniture. Don't mean to cheapen this passage, but the
33:26
Speaker 1: old saying God don't make no junk applies right here.
33:30
Speaker 1: This is not to be some junkie joint sitting in
33:33
Speaker 1: a wilderness that's got the name of God on it.
33:37
Speaker 1: This is like nothing you have ever built or even seen,
33:42
Speaker 1: and it will be built in the wilderness for my glory,
33:45
Speaker 1: because I will dwell in this place. Now. Now turn
33:51
Speaker 1: quickly to thirty one chapter thirty one. In the chapters
33:56
Speaker 1: in between, all the specifics are given. Moses busy taking notes,
34:01
Speaker 1: writing down the details. He's going to pass this along
34:04
Speaker 1: to the people. And I'm going to read a name
34:07
Speaker 1: in thirty one verse two that you've never ever heard
34:10
Speaker 1: a sermon on, and that's unfortunate. Chapter thirty one, verse one,
34:15
Speaker 1: the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, see, I have called
34:18
Speaker 1: by name Bezalel. The last time you heard a sermon
34:22
Speaker 1: on Bezilale? Some of you are older than I. There's
34:25
Speaker 1: a few of you, but some of you are older
34:27
Speaker 1: than I, and you can never remember a sermon on Bezialeale.
34:30
Speaker 1: He was the son of Uri, the son of her
34:33
Speaker 1: of the tribe of Judah. What was it about Bezilale
34:37
Speaker 1: that was important enough to name? Well, I have filled
34:40
Speaker 1: him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, understanding, and
34:42
Speaker 1: knowledge and all kinds of craftsmanship. Blue collar workers, listen up.
34:49
Speaker 1: This is the cabinet maker at his best. This is
34:52
Speaker 1: a craftsman who works with his hands and knows what
34:56
Speaker 1: he's doing. He is an artist at heart. And I
35:00
Speaker 1: am choosing Bezialeal to guide, to serve as the superintendent
35:04
Speaker 1: over the craftsmanship that will go into the woodworking and
35:08
Speaker 1: the overlaying of gold on acacia wood that will be
35:11
Speaker 1: a part of this sanctuary that I'm going to have
35:14
Speaker 1: you build. I'm filled him with that knowledge. Look at
35:16
Speaker 1: verse four. He will make artistic designs for work in gold,
35:20
Speaker 1: in silver, and in bronze. That's why he wanted gold
35:24
Speaker 1: and silver and bronze. He has it all planned in
35:27
Speaker 1: his mind. He's putting the whole architectural plan together and
35:32
Speaker 1: spelling it out to Moses. He will be the one
35:34
Speaker 1: who will be carving the wood, and he will make
35:37
Speaker 1: it all kinds of craftsmanship. Here's another name. Behold, I
35:41
Speaker 1: myself have appointed with him a holyad. That's another name.
35:45
Speaker 1: You've never heard a sermon on a holyad. But he's
35:48
Speaker 1: like a Bezalel. A holyab is the son of a
35:51
Speaker 1: man I can't pronounce, of the tribe of Dan. And
35:54
Speaker 1: in the hearts of all who are skillful, I have
35:57
Speaker 1: put skill that they may make all that I have
35:59
Speaker 1: come out, the tent of meeting and the arc of testimony,
36:03
Speaker 1: and the mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture
36:05
Speaker 1: of the tent and the table, and the utensils, and
36:08
Speaker 1: the pure gold lamp stand and all the utensils, and
36:11
Speaker 1: the altar of incense, and I can go on and
36:12
Speaker 1: on and on. Here is a building that is to
36:15
Speaker 1: be portable, rolled up and carried on poles across the
36:19
Speaker 1: wilderness for years to come. And it is done with
36:23
Speaker 1: gold and silver and bronze and precious stones made from
36:27
Speaker 1: necklaces and ear rings and rings and bracelets, and the
36:31
Speaker 1: finest of Egyptian brooches, the finest of precious metals were
36:35
Speaker 1: to go into this place of worship because it was
36:40
Speaker 1: to be for God's glory. They are fabulous, They are
36:46
Speaker 1: so great. They take the best emcraftsmanship to make them,
36:50
Speaker 1: and only the best for the living God, even in
36:54
Speaker 1: the wilderness. The next time you find yourself tempted because
36:58
Speaker 1: of your perspective human to fuss about some beautiful structure
37:03
Speaker 1: built for the glory of God, stop your mouth. If
37:08
Speaker 1: you want to criticize something, criticize something built for the
37:10
Speaker 1: glory of man, But when it's built for the glory
37:15
Speaker 1: of God, stop And before you think it's too elaborate
37:20
Speaker 1: or too expensive, check the price of the tabernacle. Among
37:26
Speaker 1: a bunch of brick Masons who were told to do
37:31
Speaker 1: craftsmen's work, and God gave him the skill to do it,
37:34
Speaker 1: and indeed they did it. Now, there's something else here
37:36
Speaker 1: that I never saw. Look at chapter thirty one, verse twelve.
37:41
Speaker 1: This is so great. Never saw it before in all
37:44
Speaker 1: of my years of preaching, I never saw this before.
37:48
Speaker 1: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, as for you, speak
37:53
Speaker 1: to the sons of Israel, saying, you shall surely observe
37:56
Speaker 1: my sabbathe. This is a sign between me and you
37:59
Speaker 1: throughout your generations, that you may know that I am
38:01
Speaker 1: the Lord who sanctifies you. Therefore, you are to observe
38:07
Speaker 1: the Sabbath. The fourth way that the Lord would stir
38:14
Speaker 1: their hearts is the requirement to rest and reflect, stop
38:23
Speaker 1: and think. Moses had just been given ten commandments in
38:28
Speaker 1: the moral code that God had written with his own finger.
38:34
Speaker 1: The Lord did not pick five of them, or four
38:36
Speaker 1: of them, or the first or the last. He picked
38:39
Speaker 1: one of them, not at random. But he said, Moses,
38:44
Speaker 1: before the sanctuary used to be built, observe the Sabbath.
38:53
Speaker 1: Take time to rest and reflect, observe the details of
38:59
Speaker 1: the Sabbath. You are to observe the Sabbath. Verse fourteen.
39:05
Speaker 1: It is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall
39:08
Speaker 1: surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on it,
39:11
Speaker 1: that person shall be cut off from among his people.
39:14
Speaker 1: Six days work may be done, but on the seventh
39:17
Speaker 1: day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to
39:21
Speaker 1: the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath shall
39:25
Speaker 1: surely be put to death. So the sons of Israel
39:29
Speaker 1: shall observe the Sabbath. Now turn next to Exodus thirty five. Okay,
39:39
Speaker 1: remember what I just communicated. A clear directive, a call
39:45
Speaker 1: for specific gifts, a stated objective, and a requirement to
39:49
Speaker 1: rest and reflect. Those four things. That's all God gave Moses.
39:55
Speaker 1: Now Moses has come down from the mountain. He's standing
39:58
Speaker 1: before the people to deliver what God had given him.
40:02
Speaker 1: I want you to notice what Moses does with the
40:04
Speaker 1: grocery list. He takes the thing that God named fourth,
40:09
Speaker 1: and he mentions it first. He turns the fourth in
40:14
Speaker 1: the list into top priority. Look at verse one of
40:18
Speaker 1: chapter thirty five. Moses assembled all the congregation of the
40:22
Speaker 1: sons of Israel, and he said to them, these are
40:25
Speaker 1: the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.
40:29
Speaker 1: For six days, work may be done, but on the
40:31
Speaker 1: seventh day, you shall have a holy day, a sabbath
40:34
Speaker 1: of complete weight. He doesn't give the clear directive, he
40:37
Speaker 1: doesn't give specific gifts, he doesn't state the objective. He
40:43
Speaker 1: doesn't do any of the above. He goes right to
40:45
Speaker 1: the requirement for rest and reflection. He says, you are
40:50
Speaker 1: to have complete rest to the Lord. Whoever does any
40:53
Speaker 1: work on it shall be put to death. Look at this.
40:56
Speaker 1: You shall not kindle a fire in any of yourdwellings
41:00
Speaker 1: on the Sabbath. There were to be no cooking, no
41:04
Speaker 1: cooking of fresh foods. There was to be no heating
41:07
Speaker 1: of the dwellings in case the night or the day
41:10
Speaker 1: was cool, no lighting of fires. I take it that
41:15
Speaker 1: there was quiet conversation. There was a time of a
41:19
Speaker 1: protracted prayer and a reflection on the hand of God
41:24
Speaker 1: on their lives. And then he says in verse five,
41:31
Speaker 1: take a contribution from among you to the Lord. Whoever
41:34
Speaker 1: is of a willing heart. Let him bring it to
41:36
Speaker 1: the as the Lord's contribution. So he makes the first
41:39
Speaker 1: thing that God named second, but he took the fourth,
41:43
Speaker 1: and he made it first observe the sabbath, And having
41:46
Speaker 1: done that, then bring the contribution to the Lord, I
41:49
Speaker 1: take it. He meant it in that order. The third
41:51
Speaker 1: thing he mentions is what God mentioned. Second, the specific
41:55
Speaker 1: items that were to be gifts. See them. They were
41:58
Speaker 1: to bring gold, silver, and on exactly what the Lord
42:01
Speaker 1: had said verse six. Blue purple scarlet material, fine linen,
42:06
Speaker 1: goat's hair, ramskin, dyed red porpoise, skins, acacia wood. There's
42:11
Speaker 1: to be oiled for lighting, and spices for the anointing
42:13
Speaker 1: oil for the fragrant incense. There are to be stones
42:16
Speaker 1: and setting stones. Please observe, every skillful man among you
42:21
Speaker 1: come and make all that the Lord has commanded. And
42:27
Speaker 1: then he says to them, after you take the contribution,
42:33
Speaker 1: after you give these things and realize the specific things
42:36
Speaker 1: the Lord wants, then here's the reason. Verse ten of
42:41
Speaker 1: verse eleven. You are to build the tabernacle its tent,
42:44
Speaker 1: and it's covering its hooks and its boards, and its
42:47
Speaker 1: bars and its pillars. That's the first time in their
42:49
Speaker 1: lives they ever heard, they ever heard about a structure
42:52
Speaker 1: in which they were to worship. Now what happened right
42:56
Speaker 1: away was there a huge, highly charged public rally where
43:03
Speaker 1: people were encouraged to give all together at one time. Nope,
43:07
Speaker 1: not here, not yet, not now. How about a push
43:11
Speaker 1: for a big response immediately. Nope, no push for a
43:14
Speaker 1: big response, nothing immediate. How about a time of dialogue
43:18
Speaker 1: with God, now the Lord, let's talk about the furniture.
43:21
Speaker 1: Maybe it'd be better to have the table look like this,
43:24
Speaker 1: or maybe the altar ought to be changed. Maybe there
43:26
Speaker 1: ought to be two places where we could do a
43:27
Speaker 1: little more convenient handle a large crowd. Not any of that.
43:31
Speaker 1: How about a few giving testimonies, and ladies start ripping
43:34
Speaker 1: off necklaces and bracelets, and guys pulling off rings and no,
43:38
Speaker 1: none of that. Look verse twenty. Let me show you
43:41
Speaker 1: what happened. This is what made me yell in the
43:43
Speaker 1: airplane Verse twenty. Then all the congregation of the sons
43:47
Speaker 1: of Israel departed from moses presence. Moses delivers this great
43:53
Speaker 1: thing and lays all these four things out. I mean,
43:58
Speaker 1: the place, empties, what are they doing? They're going home
44:03
Speaker 1: to rest and reflect. That's what they're doing, because their
44:10
Speaker 1: hearts aren't yet stirred. It's in the time of reflecting
44:16
Speaker 1: and resting that they give serious and lengthy thought and
44:21
Speaker 1: prayer without interruption to the good hand of God upon them.
44:26
Speaker 1: The time in which he moved upon their family and
44:29
Speaker 1: upon their lives, and protected them and opened the Red
44:32
Speaker 1: Sea and got them out of Egypt. It was they
44:35
Speaker 1: didn't bother with cooking, they didn't bother with doing the dishes,
44:39
Speaker 1: they didn't worry with work, they didn't get involved in anything.
44:42
Speaker 1: They prayed, they discussed it as a family, and they
44:45
Speaker 1: allowed the quietness of that to minister to them. And
44:48
Speaker 1: I'm back to my opening statement. It is remarkable how
44:50
Speaker 1: generous we become when our hearts are truly stirred. But
44:55
Speaker 1: you know why they're so seldom stirred, so seldom rest
45:01
Speaker 1: and reflect. Your heart is stirred in the fast lean.
45:07
Speaker 1: Your heart is stirred when you're sitting at a cafe
45:10
Speaker 1: on the road side and you hear about Stevie's situation,
45:13
Speaker 1: and you ponder what life must be like for Stevie
45:17
Speaker 1: and his mama, And all of a sudden, in the
45:22
Speaker 1: quietness of the stirring, you're prompted to forget about saving
45:28
Speaker 1: that fifty dollars you were going to use for some
45:31
Speaker 1: other purpose, And whatever is in your pocket you just
45:36
Speaker 1: pull out and put in a napkin, and you give
45:40
Speaker 1: something to Stevie you say, well, Chuck, that's great preaching.
45:46
Speaker 1: But how do you know. Well, I'm glad you ask.
45:48
Speaker 1: Look at verse twenty one. Look at verse twenty one.
45:51
Speaker 1: Everyone whose heart stirred him, everyone whose spirit moved him,
45:56
Speaker 1: came and brought the Lord's contribute. This is after they
45:59
Speaker 1: had left. Twenty two. All whose hearts moved them, both
46:04
Speaker 1: men and women, came and brought brooches and ear rings.
46:07
Speaker 1: Twenty six. All the women whose heart stirred with a
46:11
Speaker 1: skill spun the goat's hair. Isn't that great? It wasn't
46:16
Speaker 1: like I gotta work with a goat's hair again, Man,
46:18
Speaker 1: I got ghoasts hair came old play it was, lady,
46:21
Speaker 1: this is a great, great contribution I'm gonna make to
46:25
Speaker 1: this great tabernacle. Verse twenty nine. The Israelites, men and
46:29
Speaker 1: women whose hearts moved them to bring material for all
46:33
Speaker 1: the work which the Lord had commanded, brought a free
46:36
Speaker 1: will offering to the Lord. There was there was not
46:40
Speaker 1: a tithe. If nobody talks about ten percent or fifteen percent,
46:45
Speaker 1: here this is a free will offering brought to the Lord.
46:49
Speaker 1: And verse thirty says Bizalel stepped up and verse thirty
46:54
Speaker 1: four says, Holy ab steps up, and they add their contribution,
46:58
Speaker 1: and we got gold and silver and bronze coming in
47:03
Speaker 1: until finally look at verse two. I love chapter thirty six.
47:07
Speaker 1: Verse two, Moses called bezile ale in the Holy abb
47:10
Speaker 1: and every skillful person in whom the Lord had put skilled,
47:12
Speaker 1: everyone whose heart stirred him to come to the work
47:15
Speaker 1: to perform it. They received from Moses all the contribution
47:18
Speaker 1: into the verse, and they still continued bringing to him
47:21
Speaker 1: free will offerings every morning. Verse five. They said to Moses,
47:25
Speaker 1: the people are bringing much more than enough. So Moses
47:30
Speaker 1: issued verse six a command and a proclamation saying, let
47:33
Speaker 1: neither man or woman any longer perform work. Thus the
47:36
Speaker 1: people were restrained from bringing any more. Verse seven, there
47:40
Speaker 1: was more than enough. Stop stop, no more purposes, no
47:46
Speaker 1: more goats here, no more gold and silver and brons.
47:50
Speaker 1: We can't do our work. We're walking all over trying
47:53
Speaker 1: to get our work. Now. We got stuff going all
47:55
Speaker 1: around the stop. So that'd be great to hear that
47:59
Speaker 1: some sunday. Just heard it. Maybe next Sunday you're gonna quit. Quit.
48:03
Speaker 1: You've given too much, you say, why are you so
48:05
Speaker 1: excited about this?
48:08
Speaker 2: This?
48:10
Speaker 1: They are so stirred. They can't give enough, and you
48:15
Speaker 1: know what, logic kind of flies out the window and
48:19
Speaker 1: the facts and figures don't move them. Let me tell
48:23
Speaker 1: you something. We gotta brochure here it brochure won't raise
48:28
Speaker 1: squat this brochure. You're not gonna read and say, oh man,
48:32
Speaker 1: I'm giving eight thousand dollars to look at the color
48:35
Speaker 1: that brochure. Whoa, I'm gonna get twenty five thousand per
48:38
Speaker 1: Then that's what happened. That brochure is worth it for me.
48:41
Speaker 1: That brochure is not gonna turn anybody on. You know
48:46
Speaker 1: what's gonna turn you on. Listen to me. When you're
48:48
Speaker 1: alone Saturday, when you set aside time free from the television,
48:58
Speaker 1: turning the phone off, not lighting a fire, not cooking
49:03
Speaker 1: a meal, When you and your God meet for a
49:10
Speaker 1: protracted period of time like we're going to do, there's
49:13
Speaker 1: a flock, your heart will begin to be mood. You
49:19
Speaker 1: know what, perfect time of the year to say all this.
49:25
Speaker 1: That's what Thanksgiving is all about. That's why we love it.
49:31
Speaker 1: We don't love it because there's sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.
49:35
Speaker 1: I mean it's good, but I mean that's that's that's
49:38
Speaker 1: not why you love it. Because before you pray, like
49:42
Speaker 1: we did at our table with Kurt and Deb and
49:46
Speaker 1: his three children, Ryan and Chelsea and little Landing. And
49:51
Speaker 1: here since cariesa across the table and here's Cynthia, and
49:55
Speaker 1: Deb says, I think before we pray, each one of
49:59
Speaker 1: us ought to say what we're grateful for, just little statement,
50:03
Speaker 1: no sermons. She said that for my sake, but she
50:06
Speaker 1: no sermons. And so you know, we got to Cynthia
50:11
Speaker 1: and she said, I'm just thankful that the Lord preserved
50:15
Speaker 1: my husband through this heart scare. Man, I said, I'm
50:20
Speaker 1: thankful for my family and the kids. Thankful for kids
50:25
Speaker 1: are thankful they got the greatest things to be thankful.
50:28
Speaker 1: You go, why did I think of that? That is
50:30
Speaker 1: a lot better than one I chose, you know. And
50:33
Speaker 1: then you go around the table and then Kurt leads
50:35
Speaker 1: in prayer, and oh man, it doesn't get any better
50:39
Speaker 1: than that. That's just as good as it gets. You
50:43
Speaker 1: know why, Because we reflected and we rested, and God
50:51
Speaker 1: stirred us. And there was at that moment nothing Cynthia
50:58
Speaker 1: nor I wouldn't have given had there been a need.
51:07
Speaker 1: You see, the wonderful thing about our plan is that
51:15
Speaker 1: we have a clear directive. Next Sunday we raise a contribution.
51:20
Speaker 1: We have specific gifts for the Israelites. It was gold
51:22
Speaker 1: and silver and stones and gems and skins and oil
51:26
Speaker 1: and incense and all of that. With us, it's a
51:28
Speaker 1: playground or choir robes or hymnals, our adult fellowship class,
51:35
Speaker 1: or a parking lot we need. But having built into
51:37
Speaker 1: the plan, you may want to designate for that. It
51:41
Speaker 1: details that you can put your arms around and you
51:45
Speaker 1: can give. We have a stated objective or to build
51:48
Speaker 1: a church, and in a very brief period of time
51:51
Speaker 1: we're going to inhabit that place in the Lord's presence.
51:55
Speaker 1: Let's not jump the gun. Wait a minute, let's not
51:58
Speaker 1: jump into this. We've got to We've got to rest
52:03
Speaker 1: and reflection time to observe. Chances are good you haven't
52:09
Speaker 1: had much of that, maybe none. And I'm serious. I'm serious.
52:19
Speaker 1: I'm going to do this, Cynthia and I are going
52:23
Speaker 1: to do this. Make no mistakes about it. I'm challenging
52:28
Speaker 1: you to be as serious about this contribution as any
52:36
Speaker 1: you've ever made. Ask yourself questions next Saturday, like what
52:42
Speaker 1: is the maximum I can even imagine contributing. What could
52:49
Speaker 1: I give up or postpone for the next three years
52:53
Speaker 1: so as to make this gift of reality? Listen to
52:55
Speaker 1: these questions. I make this contribution far more than any
53:02
Speaker 1: I have ever given before. You know what will help
53:07
Speaker 1: get your checkbook for the last eleven months? You're all alone,
53:12
Speaker 1: you maybe and your mate or your kids. Look through
53:16
Speaker 1: the checkbook, look through the contributions. Would that equal ten percent?
53:24
Speaker 1: You say, well, I don't believe in a tithe, Well
53:26
Speaker 1: twenty Would that equal twenty twenty percent of what you made?
53:33
Speaker 1: I know a couple very well that's giving thirty percent,
53:37
Speaker 1: and they've decided to do that several years ago. And
53:41
Speaker 1: you know what, they've never missed a meal and they're
53:44
Speaker 1: not rich. My own sister never tithed and said to
53:49
Speaker 1: me one day, you know, babe, I'm struggling with the
53:51
Speaker 1: whole idea of my giving and it's not what it
53:53
Speaker 1: ought to be. And I said, why don't you start
53:55
Speaker 1: with ten percent? She said, I'm not married. I don't
54:00
Speaker 1: have anybody to fall back on. I said, tell you what,
54:02
Speaker 1: if you come up short, call me. Just start with
54:06
Speaker 1: ten percent. So she started with ten percent before the
54:09
Speaker 1: end of the year she called me she said, this
54:12
Speaker 1: has been the best year of my life. This is terrific.
54:15
Speaker 1: I thought she was called to say I need a loan,
54:18
Speaker 1: but she didn't. And so the next year she decided
54:20
Speaker 1: to go fifteen, and then the next year I think
54:23
Speaker 1: she decided to go to twenty. And she'd just goten
54:26
Speaker 1: introduced to a whole new way to live. And it's
54:28
Speaker 1: absolutely wonderful. If someone who didn't know you had access
54:33
Speaker 1: to your checkbook, would that person say, after looking through it,
54:37
Speaker 1: that you model generosity? He's just a question. Have you
54:45
Speaker 1: ever given to any level of frightening faith any time?
54:50
Speaker 1: The kind you'd give to Stevie there in that roadside cafe?
54:59
Speaker 1: I go other one. This occurred to me while I
55:01
Speaker 1: was in the air. If your CPA or your mother
55:10
Speaker 1: were to see the level to which the Lord had
55:12
Speaker 1: stirred your heart to give next week or the rest
55:15
Speaker 1: of this year, would he or she be shocked? You're
55:24
Speaker 1: going to give that? Cynth and I are involved in
55:31
Speaker 1: raising money for Insight for Living and it's an expensive project.
55:35
Speaker 1: We want to reach one hundred percent of the world
55:37
Speaker 1: through our radio ministry, and so we're in the process
55:40
Speaker 1: of raising that money. It's very exciting, so thrilling to
55:43
Speaker 1: do this. So we were going to call on a
55:44
Speaker 1: couple who are friends of the ministry, and I was
55:47
Speaker 1: going to ask them to give a half a million dollars.
55:50
Speaker 1: They were able to do that. They'd given for a
55:52
Speaker 1: long time to the ministry. So I remember practicing in
55:54
Speaker 1: front of the mirror half a million dollars, half a million, million, million.
56:03
Speaker 1: So I practiced that I got it all ready. So
56:05
Speaker 1: we went to dinner that night. We're sitting there with
56:08
Speaker 1: these friends that we've loved for years, and he's finishing
56:11
Speaker 1: his meal and I'm finishing mind practicing, so I said,
56:17
Speaker 1: And so I called his name in light, in light
56:20
Speaker 1: of our need and in light of your ability, I'm
56:22
Speaker 1: challenging you to give a half a billion dollars this year.
56:30
Speaker 1: I gotta know whether to spin or wind is watch
56:33
Speaker 1: man a billion? You know? I was embarrassed, and I
56:37
Speaker 1: really blew by one line, you know, And his wife said,
56:42
Speaker 1: I really wish we could, not a great response rather
56:48
Speaker 1: than oh you think we are rich, she says, I
56:52
Speaker 1: really wish we could. And you know what, suddenly half
56:56
Speaker 1: a billion didn't seem ridiculous to me at all you know,
57:05
Speaker 1: My desire is that you really think outside the lines.
57:12
Speaker 1: This isn't for my benefit, this isn't for the benefit
57:17
Speaker 1: of people sitting around here. This is for the living God.
57:24
Speaker 1: It's for him. It's for him. And I'm not asking
57:35
Speaker 1: you to do a thing that Cynthia and I are
57:36
Speaker 1: not going to do with you. I could never do that.
57:43
Speaker 1: I'm asking you to join us in this kind of commitment,
57:49
Speaker 1: but you won't do it today, nor should you. You
57:52
Speaker 1: need a day to rest and reflect. You need a
57:56
Speaker 1: day to be quiet. Don't fix meals. Don't fix a
58:01
Speaker 1: lot of meals. Don't turn a fire on, don't even
58:04
Speaker 1: fix a fireplace. Plan the better part of your Saturday
58:10
Speaker 1: before next Sunday, to be alone, to reflect and to
58:17
Speaker 1: do some of these projects. You can think of another
58:19
Speaker 1: or several others on your own. It's between you and him.
58:25
Speaker 1: God will be honored, he'll be glorified, and you'll have
58:32
Speaker 1: a joy you've not had probably your entire Christian life.
58:36
Speaker 1: Happiest people in that cafe that day were not Stevie
58:40
Speaker 1: and his mother. They weren't the ones crying. Were the truckers.
58:50
Speaker 1: You know, I'm I'm occasionally criticized for one particular part
58:56
Speaker 1: of my ministry that bugs some people, and it said
59:02
Speaker 1: I don't give invitations. Okay, some disgruntled Baptists don't like that,
59:08
Speaker 1: and so they're wishing that I would give invitations. I'm
59:13
Speaker 1: just kidding, but you know, today I'm gonna give an invitation.
59:19
Speaker 1: I'm gonna break my mold today. Actually, I give an
59:22
Speaker 1: invitation every Sunday. I just don't ask you to walk
59:25
Speaker 1: down and do it in front of everybody, because everybody
59:28
Speaker 1: can't change your life. They just look with curiosity, and
59:33
Speaker 1: I believe this is the kind of thing we can
59:35
Speaker 1: do all at once together. I'm not talking to myself today,
59:43
Speaker 1: and I'm not talking into thin air. I'm talking to you,
59:47
Speaker 1: who are the sheep of God's pasture. I've been nothing
59:52
Speaker 1: in this for myself. I'm a delivery boy and I've
59:57
Speaker 1: just thrown the paper. My invitation for you today is
1:00:05
Speaker 1: that you commit yourself in a few moments, by standing
1:00:08
Speaker 1: to your feet, to setting aside some time next Saturday
1:00:13
Speaker 1: to rest and reflect. If you cannot do this, or
1:00:19
Speaker 1: do not wish to do this, you stay seated. It's
1:00:22
Speaker 1: a matter of integrity. I'm not asking you to commit
1:00:26
Speaker 1: to any amount of money. How do I know how
1:00:29
Speaker 1: to do that? I don't know what the Lord is saying.
1:00:31
Speaker 1: I'd probably guess too low. Anyway, I'm saying, if you
1:00:37
Speaker 1: have been challenged in a more than normal manner to
1:00:42
Speaker 1: set aside time to rest and reflect deliberately for an
1:00:47
Speaker 1: extended period of time before we meet again, and you
1:00:54
Speaker 1: are committed to spending that time before the Lord seeking
1:00:58
Speaker 1: his mind for what you you should do regarding the
1:01:02
Speaker 1: future of this ministry. I want you to stand to
1:01:04
Speaker 1: your feet right now. If that's where you are, I'd
1:01:09
Speaker 1: like all of us to close our eyes and bow
1:01:11
Speaker 1: our heads. Stand to your feet. If that's where you are,
1:01:17
Speaker 1: close your eyes, bow your heads. Lord God, you know
1:01:27
Speaker 1: our hearts, you know our history, you know the truth.
1:01:41
Speaker 1: You're at work in our midst and we who stand
1:01:46
Speaker 1: today have made a commitment to you that a portion
1:01:51
Speaker 1: of this coming week, on the eve of our meeting again,
1:01:56
Speaker 1: will be set apart for you. We commit ourselves to that.
1:02:03
Speaker 1: I pray for the fathers of families and ask you
1:02:05
Speaker 1: to give them the courage of leadership and the strength
1:02:10
Speaker 1: of faith to think beyond the bounds of history and
1:02:15
Speaker 1: what has always been, and to think into terms of
1:02:19
Speaker 1: what might be. I pray for single parents, for those
1:02:25
Speaker 1: up against it financially economically. I pray for those who
1:02:31
Speaker 1: admittedly struggle to make ends meet, who are standing. I
1:02:36
Speaker 1: pray that you would direct them and bless them and
1:02:39
Speaker 1: give them courage beyond what they've ever known before. I
1:02:45
Speaker 1: ask you, Lord, to use this message in a remarkable
1:02:50
Speaker 1: way to give this church a fresh testimony before you
1:02:59
Speaker 1: of the level of our commitment and our deep desire
1:03:03
Speaker 1: to honor and glorify you with our possessions. I pray, Father,
1:03:11
Speaker 1: for your name to be lifted up. This is not
1:03:14
Speaker 1: about bragging rights among churches. This is not about what
1:03:20
Speaker 1: we share with friends. This is an intimate and extremely
1:03:25
Speaker 1: private personal relationship we have with you. Just as we
1:03:30
Speaker 1: do not know what individual Hebrews gave to your work,
1:03:34
Speaker 1: we will not know who gives among this flock. But
1:03:39
Speaker 1: meet the needs in this next month, our Father, as
1:03:44
Speaker 1: we find ourselves wholly completely dependent upon you. Now, we
1:03:51
Speaker 1: bless your name, and we magnify the God of Israel,
1:03:58
Speaker 1: and we lift our hearts and praise an adoration and
1:04:01
Speaker 1: gratitude for your good gifts to us, among them, the
1:04:05
Speaker 1: gift of life deliverance, from sin, protection in a hostile
1:04:11
Speaker 1: and angry world. And we pray that we shall become
1:04:16
Speaker 1: increasingly more aware of these blessings as we reflect upon them,
1:04:23
Speaker 1: as this week unfolds. Read our hearts, and know our minds,
1:04:31
Speaker 1: and search our motives our Father, as we stand in
1:04:36
Speaker 1: commitment to this challenge, and all God's people said Amen.
1:04:44
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Generosity Willing Hearts Stirred Within, was copyrighted
1:04:51
Speaker 2: in two thousand, two thousand and two, and twenty eighteen,
1:04:55
Speaker 2: and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty eighteen by
1:04:58
Speaker 2: Charles Arstolindaal Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of
1:05:03
Speaker 2: copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited