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Where Your Treasure Is: Sermon · Beyond the Sermon

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You're listening to Beyond the Sermon, the podcast of First
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Methodist Church in Collingswood, NJ.
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On our podcast, the goal is not just to share the sermons we've
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preached, but to go beyond the sermon and talk about what we're
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learning and what God is doing in US and in our community.
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You can find more information about our church at
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fumccollingswood. Dot org.
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Thanks for listening. This morning scripture comes
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from the book of Acts chapter 5, starting in verse one.
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Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira,
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also sold a piece of property with his wife's full knowledge.
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He kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the
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rest and put it at the apostles feet.
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Then Peter said, Ananias, is it that Satan has so filled your
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heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for
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yourself some of the money you received for the land?
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Didn't it belong to you before it was sold?
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And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?
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What made you think of doing such a thing?
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You have not lied just to a human beings but to God.
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When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died, and great fear
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seized all who heard what had happened.
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Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body and
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carried him out and buried him after three hours.
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About 3 hours later his wife came in not knowing what had
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happened. Peter asked her, Tell me, is
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this the price you and Ananias got for the land?
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Yes, she said. That is the price, Peter said to
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her. How could you conspire to test
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the spirit of the Lord? Listen, the feet of the men who
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buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you
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out also. At that moment she fell down at
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his feet and died. Then the young men came in, and
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finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her
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husband. Great fear seized the whole
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church and all who heard about these events.
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This is the word of God for the people of God.
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Thanks be to God. I wanted to start off this
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morning with a question, so raise your hand if this is you.
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Was there anyone here this morning who was afraid that God
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was going to strike them dead when they placed their gift in
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the offering plate this morning? Anyone.
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No one. OK, I didn't think so.
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I didn't think so. It's pretty wild, isn't it, to
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think that God would ever strike someone down after they'd just
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given an offering to the church. But isn't that what we just read
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about in the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5?
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On the surface, right? If we just go with a a plain
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reading of the text, that seems to be the case, right?
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And This is why I always insist that we can't just go with a
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plain reading of scripture. We need a close reading of
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scripture, right? To learn what it said to the
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original audience and what it means for us today.
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So this morning I want to take a look at that story of Ananias
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and Sapphira, A close look and their sudden demise.
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But to really understand what's happening, we have to back up a
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bit in the story of scripture. We need to get some context for
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this story, and that context is found in the previous chapter at
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the end of Acts chapter 4. In Acts 4 we read some pretty
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incredible stories about the opposition that Jesus followers
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began to experience after Jesus resurrection and ascension.
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Peter and John had healed someone outside of the temple.
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Can you imagine? They healed somebody and they
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got arrested for it. They got arrested for it by the
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Jewish leaders, and they gave their testimony.
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They declared that they weren't going to do anything other than
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what Jesus was leading them to do.
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And so their arrests, coupled with that determination to
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continue to follow God's leading, it began to fortify the
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young church so that they began to pray that God would do even
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more, that God would move in even more miraculous ways, that
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people would be able to see the power that was in the name of
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Jesus, despite the reaction that they knew it was going to
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receive from the Jewish leaders. And then we get a brief synopsis
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of the character that began to develop within this earliest
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form of the church. And so we read in Acts chapter
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4, verses 32 to 36, it says all the believers were one in heart
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and mind. No one claimed that any of their
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possessions were their own, but they shared everything they had
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with great power. The apostles continued to
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testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's grace
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was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no needy
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persons among them. For from time to time those who
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own land or houses sold them, brought the money from the
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sales, and put it at the apostles feet, and it was
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distributed to anyone who had need.
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Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus whom the apostles called
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Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, sold a field he
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owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet.
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Right. This is the context for the
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story of Ananias and Sapphira. 4 things I see happening in this
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short passage. There was a unity between the
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believers. They were of 1 heart and one
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mind misled them to stop seeing their possessions as something
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which existed only for their own benefit.
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So they began to share with those who were in need anyone
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who was in need. And the apostles continued to
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point to the resurrection of Jesus.
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They didn't allow Peter and John's arrest to deter them.
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And finally, we see God's grace. The transforming power of God's
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presence. Was that work among them All
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right? This is how the earliest church
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began to be described. This is who God was shaping them
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to be as a community of faith. They were committed to the good
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news of Jesus. They were experiencing God's
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grace. This led to a supernatural unity
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among them, which was practically demonstrated in the
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way they used what God had given them to bless the entire
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community. And did you notice at the end
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that little blurb of a story about a man named Joseph who was
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also called Barnabas? If you keep reading in Acts,
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you'll find that he becomes a key figure alongside the apostle
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Paul. But, but Luke tells us here that
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Barnabas sold a field he owned and he gave the proceeds of that
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sale to the apostles to use in whatever way the church might
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need. That's the context for the story
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of Ananias and Sapphira. So with that in mind, now we can
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look at their story, right? So we have Ananias and Sapphira.
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Remember, this is a different Ananias than we spoke about
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couple months ago when we were talking about Paul and Damascus.
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But Ananias and, and Sapphira, they're a married couple who see
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what's going on around them in the church, right?
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They're, they're believers. They're part of the community
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and they see what's happening. They decide they're going to be
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a part of what's going on, except they decide that they
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want to appear generous toward the church and those in need,
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and they want to benefit themselves.
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So they sell some land that they own.
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They bring some of the money to the apostles, having agreed
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between the two of them to tell everyone that they sold the land
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for the amount that they were donating, rather than being
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honest about how much they were giving.
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Right. If if Ananias and Sapphire had
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sold the land and come to the apostles saying we sold the land
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for $4000 and we're bringing $3000 to support those in need,
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I don't think there'd be a story about them in the Bible.
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I don't think they would have ended that day 6 feet
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underground and I don't think anyone in the early church would
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have cared, Right. You see, the real issue in the
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story of Ananias and Sapphira wasn't the the percentage of
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money that they gave to the church, or even that they held
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some back because that they lied about it, right?
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They lied to the church and they lied to God and friends, God
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cares more about our integrity than he does about the amount of
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money that we can give him, right?
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Does God take what we offer him and bless it and use it?
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Absolutely. But he's also the God who can
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make some coins appear in the mouth of a fish so that Peter
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could go and pay the temple tax for him and Jesus, right?
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He's not primarily worried about how much money we can give him.
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He cares about our hearts in the giving.
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And in the church, we sometimes talk about a concept called
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tithing, although I don't think I have since I've been here.
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I'm sure at some point you've heard sermon on tithing.
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It was a Jewish concept that meant giving back to God, right,
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and to the religious establishment.
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And it was an amount fixed at 110th of whatever you earned or
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farmed or so on. It was a principle that goes
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back all the way to the story of of Abraham, right?
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Where one time after a battle, a mysterious king named
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Melchizedek, who's also described as a priest of the
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Most High God, he comes out and meets Abraham as he's returning
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from battle. And Melchizedek blesses him, and
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Abraham decides he's going to give Melchizedek 110th of the
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plunder from the battle in in response to the blessing that
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God has given him. And then through the Mosaic Law,
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it became the way that the Levites and the priests and the
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temple and all of that were supported in their ministry by
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people giving a 10th of what they grew, the animals they
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raised, what they earned doing carpentry or masonry or
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whatever. Now, some in the church want to
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make tithing the standard of giving for Christians today,
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right? Every Christian.
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If you're really serious, you should give 10% of what you get.
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They argue that Jesus never rescinded the command to tithe,
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right? And so it must still be in
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effect. And listen, I'm not against
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tithing. I'm not against supporting the
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work of God or anything like that.
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I just think that in light of the teaching that we see from
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Jesus and the rest of the New Testament in regard to money,
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tithing doesn't go far enough. All right?
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I think for Christians, tithing is a good starting point, but it
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was never intended to be the final goal of our giving.
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Jesus was far more concerned about the orientation and the
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generosity of people's hearts than he was about the actual
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amount they gave, right? We follow, we serve.
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We have a God who is extremely, ultimately generous, and he
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wants to shape us as a people into a people who reflect his
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character. He wants us to be generous.
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Remember the story from the gospel of of the widow that
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Jesus praised because she came to the temple and she dropped in
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her last two pennies? Remember that story, some of
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you, I see some heads nodding, I see some eyes glazing over.
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Sorry. She gave those last two pennies
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and Jesus said she gave more than all of the rich people who
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had given their tithe because they gave out of their
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abundance. But she gave all that she had to
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live on. The amount of money she had
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wasn't the limiting factor. It reminds me of what Paul wrote
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to the church in Corinth in in second Corinthians and and
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rather than telling you what he wrote, let me just read it for
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you. Paul wrote in second Corinthians
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Chapter 9. He says, remember this, whoever
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sews sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows
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generously will also reap generously.
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Each of you should give what you've decided in your heart to
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give, not reluctantly or under compulsion.
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For God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to bless you
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abundantly, so that in all things, at all times, having all
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that you need, you will abound in every good work.
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As it is written, they have freely scattered their gifts to
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the poor. Their righteousness endures
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forever. Now he who supplies seed to the
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sower and bred for food, will also supply and increase your
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store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your
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righteousness. You will be enriched in every
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way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through US
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your generosity will result in Thanksgiving to God.
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This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of
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the Lord's people, but is also overflowing in many expressions
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of thanks to God because of the service by which you have proved
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yourselves. Others will praise God for the
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obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of
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Christ and for your generosity and sharing with them and with
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everyone else. And in their prayers for you,
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their hearts will go out to you because of the surpassing
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blessing grace God has given you.
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Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift.
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Paul says that we should give whatever is in our heart to
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give, whatever we've decided in our hearts to give.
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Imagine if Ananias and Sapphira had the chance to hear that
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instruction, that letter to the church in Corinth, that there
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shouldn't be a compulsion to give a certain amount, an amount
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or or a certain percentage of what we've been given.
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We should give freely and generously with thanks to God.
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But, but there's also a principle here that Paul derives
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from sowing, right? Which is when a farmer goes out
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and he's scattering the seed on the field, right?
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The seed that will grow into the the crop that he will harvest.
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And if you're stingy in your sowing, guess what?
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Your harvest is going to be scarce too.
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But when you sow generously and you sow freely, that is when the
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harvest will be abundant. And it's true in our giving as
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well. God is able to bless us
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abundantly, but He blesses us so that we too can be a blessing.
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And while we don't give generously so that God will
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bless us generously, I think it's also true that God rarely
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blesses those who are stingy in their generosity.
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In fact, Paul goes on to say that the freedom with which we
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give to God and to those in need is actually the proof of what we
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say we believe. It's how we live out our
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gratitude for what God has done for us.
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It's the way we serve others because of our love for them,
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which God has given us. Similarly, when Paul was writing
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to Timothy, his son in the faith, the one he had kind of
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taken under his wing and trained up and mentored and sent out
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into ministry, he reminds Timothy that our character, the
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godliness that God wants to form in us, it's not a means for for
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gaining riches, right? Kids, if you want to get rich,
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don't go into ministry. But our character, the godliness
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that God wants to form in US, it's it's actually more
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important to pursue than riches. Paul says in first Timothy 6,
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beginning in verse 6, he says, But godliness with contentment
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is a great game. For we brought nothing into the
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world and we can take nothing out of it.
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No U-Haul hitch on the hearse, right?
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But if we have food and clothing, we will be content
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with that. Those who want to get rich fall
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into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful
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desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
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For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
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Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and
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pierced themselves with many griefs.
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All right. No matter how much money we
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accumulate, no matter how many possessions we're able to gather
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in our lives, we can't take it with us as a number of people in
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the older generations are are finding.
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Your kids and grandkids don't really want it either.
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You can't take it with you. It's not of eternal
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significance. The things that we can
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accumulate, a desire to get rich can actually become a temptation
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that leads us away from Jesus right when we think that we're
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self-sufficient and we can provide for ourselves.
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It's, it's not that money is evil in and of itself, but the
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love of money. It's the source of all kinds of
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evil, greed, manipulation, pride, selfishness, on and on
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and on, right. This is an echo.
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Paul's echoing here what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount
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when he was talking about money, which if you read through the
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Gospels, Jesus talks about money more than he talks about heaven
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and hell. It's important, but Jesus said
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in Matthew chapter 6, he said do not store up for yourselves
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treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, where
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thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves
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treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, where
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thieves do not break in and steal.
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Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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We shouldn't store up treasures here on earth because we can't
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take it with us in in the end, it's going to rust or decay or
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fall apart and disappear. And then just Jesus gives us
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that famous one liner. And while it relates definitely
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to our our speaking about money and our relationship with money,
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it can be applied to far more than just money, right?
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Jesus says where your treasure is, there your heart will be
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also. What you treasure reveals what's
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actually in your heart. And as people who are called to
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deny ourselves, to follow the way of Jesus, it matters.
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It matters where our hearts are. It matters what we do with our
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money and our resources. Do we store up earthly treasures
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because we're trying to protect ourselves from too many rainy
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days, pretending that we can control what happens to us in
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life if our bank account is just big enough?
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Or maybe we're hesitant to give in those in need And, and we
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justify it on the assumption that that, well, they got there
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because of their own choices, or they're just going to take it
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and spend it on drugs or booze or junk.
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And, and by the way, we really need that next vacation anyway.
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Maybe we throw $20 in the offering plate so we feel like
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we're giving to God, but we just as easily dropped 50 or $100 on
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dinner last night, and we didn't really think much of either one
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anyway. Now listen, I'm not against
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savings accounts or retirement accounts or vacations or even
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nice meals. What I'm trying to get at is
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where our hearts are at. What do we treasure?
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What are we looking to for our provision?
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I'm not talking about money this morning, because I want to, I
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promise. And I'm not talking about money
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because I'm trying to get you to give more to the church.
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Contrary to worldly belief, the offering plates aren't actually
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emptied into my pockets. We're talking about money this
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morning because our giving is an issue of discipleship.
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And if Jesus isn't Lord of our debit cards or our checkbooks,
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if he doesn't have a say over where and how we use our money,
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then we have to ask the question, Is Jesus really Lord
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of my life? I'm not asking you to take a vow
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of poverty this morning, that I am inviting you to ask the
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Spirit to reveal any areas of your financial life where He's
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asking you to. Maybe to deny yourself for the
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sake of what God wants to do in the world and for the sake of
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others. Because ultimately, everything
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we have belongs to God. We don't own any of it, but He's
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entrusted it to us, to steward it, to care for it, to use it
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well and responsibly. And so, as John Wesley's sermon
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on the use of money sums it up, he says earn all you can, save
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all you can, and give all you can.
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Encouragement is to sow generously, to live simply, to
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give cheerfully and with integrity, to deny yourself, to
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be content in every circumstance, because this is
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the way of the Jesus who calls us to deny ourselves, to pick up
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our cross and follow Him. Let's pray together.
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Jesus, we are here this morning and we are grateful for the ways
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that you have blessed us, for the ways you have provided for
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us. God, we acknowledge all we have
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has come from you. You are the Father of Light's.
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Every good and perfect gift comes from you.
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You've given so freely and so generously to us, and you call
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us to be like you. You call us to share your
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character, to be generous ourselves, as a sign of our
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gratitude to you for all that you've done, but also as a sign
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of our love for others, people in the world who you love
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dearly. So, Jesus, would you teach us
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what it means to deny ourselves not, not to harm ourselves, not
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to take food out of the mouths of our children, but to be able
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to follow you well, to look to you as the one who provides all
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that we need rather than our paycheck or our bank account.
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So just in these next few moments, as we prepare to close
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the service, would you continue speaking to us?
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Would you show us anywhere in our lives?
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Or maybe we're holding on a little too tightly where you
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want to be. First, where you want to be
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Lord. Because Jesus, if you're not
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Lord of all, we've got to ask if you're Lord at all.
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So we give you ourselves this morning and pray this Jesus in
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your name, Amen.