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🎧 Episode 52 — #Faith4TodayPodcast - The God who Gives Joy · #Faith4TodayPodcast

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  When was the last time you laughed so hard it caught you
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  off guard or felt joy that didn't depend on your
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  circumstance? In episode 52 of the Faithful
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  Today podcast, we were talking about biblical joy.
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  Not happiness, but an inner strength and resilience.
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  We'll look at the Magi and King Herod, worship and generosity,
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  fear and control, and why joy always follows alignment with
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  God. If life has felt heavy, guarded,
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  or exhausting, I pray this this invitation, be an invitation
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  back into the joy that makes us fully alive.
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  Because of the advent of joy, let's go.
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  Well, welcome to episode 52 of the Faith for Today podcast.
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  My name is Matthew, I'm your host.
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  And this episode marks one year of a drop in episodes and
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  helping people grow beyond inspiration on a Sunday to
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  integrating life of faith on Thursdays.
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  And that's our desire here on the Faith for Today podcast to
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  help you have loyalty and faith today, not just on Sunday.
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  And I hope this has been encouraging for those that have
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  kind of joined us along the way. Thank you for sharing, for
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  helping others to find the episodes.
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  Man, it's, it's so, so helpful and good.
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  And I'm glad it's been a blessing.
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  Today on episode 52, we are talking about the God who gives
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  joy, Advent, the arrival of Jesus that brought great joy and
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  good news for all for all people.
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  I'm going to recap Sunday's message.
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  I'm going to share some bonus content and then respond to two
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  questions today. And it's going to be just a
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  great episode. In the message, we talked about
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  asking the question when was the last time you laughed so hard
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  that it kind of surprised you? Maybe woke up even lighthearted,
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  Not because life was easy, but because something felt just
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  anchored on the inside, steady and calm.
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  I think those questions aren't really about our personality or
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  mood or vibe or aura, actually about joy, because joy
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  biblically is not a fleeting emotion.
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  It's a spiritual reality. Joy is this inner resilience.
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  It strengthens us from the inside out.
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  And as we said in the message, scripture tells us that the joy
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  of the Lord is our strength because joy has a way of
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  stabilizing our soul. It allows us to bend under
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  pressure without really being broken.
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  Unlike happiness, which tends to depend on circumstance and what
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  happens to us, joy anchors us beyond those things.
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  It keeps our hearts open. It fuels our worship, our
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  purpose, and it deepens our relationships.
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  Where fear pulls us inward, joy opens us outward towards
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  generosity, courage, and love. This is why joy and worship are
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  central in the Christmas story, especially in Matthew chapter 2
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  with the Magi. When they encounter Jesus, they
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  rejoiced exceedingly, Scripture says, and they responded with
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  costly generosity and worship. The story places their joy and
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  sharp contrast with Herod. The Magi see Jesus as a gift.
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  Jesus sees Herod as a threat. That difference explains really
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  everything. The Magi chose worship over self
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  importance, generosity over greed, and alignment with God
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  over control. Herod shows fear, envy, and self
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  preservation. And Scripture is really clear.
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  Herod's way never satisfies. It's the way of the world, the
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  way of secularism. Isaiah 55 and Haggai chapter 1
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  remind us that chasing joy through control, achievement,
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  consumption, or or even our own comfort always will leave us
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  empty. It's not just ancient truth,
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  it's a deeply modern one. Our culture confuses joy with
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  success, stimulation, and individual freedom, Yet it ends
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  up leaving us exhausted, anxious, and really lonely.
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  Biblical joy flows a different direction.
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  Joy grows through humble worship, open handed generosity,
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  and shared life in community. Proverbs tells us that the
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  generous are refreshed. Paul teaches us that joy is
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  completed through this participating fart partnership,
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  fellowship, even sacrificial giving, not through hoarding or
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  holding it back. Joy is found in living outward
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  with open hands, not inward with clenched fists.
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  Ultimately, joy is found in Jesus himself.
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  Christmas reminds us that joy isn't about getting everything
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  we want, but receiving what we could never buy.
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  And that's union with God. That's the Son of God coming
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  into our life. When we choose the way of the
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  Magi, the way of worship, generosity and devotion, joy
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  follows because we are finally aligned with the heart of God so
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  we can receive the life of God in full.
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  I want to share a little bonus content with you now.
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  The first thought is this, that Galatians 523 lists the fruit of
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  the Spirit. In other words, the evidence is
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  the results or the outworking of what does it look like to have
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  the Holy Spirit fill in your life.
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  And and it says this, that the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy,
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  peace. And then it lists a few others,
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  but it lists specifically Lovejoy and peace, which it was
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  interesting that those are three of the themes of Advent, right?
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  Hope, peace, joy and love are the four themes and three of
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  them are represented in Galatians.
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  And I think it's interesting because I think when we
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  experience the love of God, have the joy of the Lord and are
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  being healed by the peace of God, then our hope or our
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  imagination about God is accurate.
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  And when our imagination or our hope is in God, then peace flows
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  to us and joy abounds in US and love is evident from us.
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  I think those are the things they work in concert together in
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  One Direction and then back towards the other direction.
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  It's kind of they fuel each other.
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  And I thought that was kind of an interesting thing.
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  I'm not saying that Paul prioritize the fruit of the
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  Spirit by love first, then joy, then peace.
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  But I do think that love is the preeminent reality and it
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  anchors and flows so many other things, but I just found it
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  interesting that they were all listed together.
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  And in that way also create hope in US.
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  And hope, when it's anchored in God, helps us establish and
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  experience peace and joy and, and love.
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  They're all gifts and they're all evidence of God's Spirit
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  ruling and reigning in our, in our hearts, because joy is a
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  part of being fully alive in God to being animated by the life of
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  the Spirit. It's I think in Acts, where Paul
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  says it's in him, in the spirit that we live and move and find
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  our very being. And so a life without joy is
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  really just survival. It's not being fully alive to
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  anything. I can't imagine what life would
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  look like without joy, but at the same time, I can't imagine
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  life without sadness. See, if I didn't know what
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  sadness was, I would never know what joy is.
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  If I didn't know what pain was, I wouldn't know what hope felt
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  like or or or healing. If I never was sick, there would
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  be no understanding of healing on the other side.
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  Like there's, there are some things that we experience on
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  both sides of life that allow us to have a full experience in the
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  human, in the human being as a human being.
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  And I think life with joy is found in our participation in
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  our agreement, engagement, wonder, gratitude, hope, and
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  moving us in the direction of God.
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  I do think that joy is a core ingredient for human
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  flourishing. Without joy, I don't know that
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  the soul of a person flourishes, that the inner life of someone
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  flourishes. I think joy is essential in that
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  way. And joy is found in Jesus and
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  engaging with him and having wonder about him and living with
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  gratitude and hope, just all of these things.
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  I think joy is a part of being fully alive.
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  And because it's a part of being fully alive, it happens when we
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  encounter the life of God in US. Romans chapter 14 says it like
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  this. For the Kingdom of God is not
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  eating and drinking practical, tactical human things.
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  Rather, it's righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit
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  that there is an element of, of life that we experience because
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  we've we've been filled with there's an animation that's
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  happening. Psalm 132 and verse 9 says may
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  your priest be closed with righteousness and may your
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  faithful people shout for joy. So something happens when we are
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  marked as righteous people of God.
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  There is a shouting for joy. There's a rejoicing that takes
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  place. Isaiah 55 and verse 12 we read
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  it on sun. It says you indeed will go out
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  with joy, being guided with peace.
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  The mountains and the hills will break into singing before you
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  and all the trees of the field will clap their hands because
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  there's a rejoicing that takes place.
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  There's a there's a joy that comes in these things.
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  Romans 15 in verse 13, he says, Now may the God of hope fill you
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  with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow
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  with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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  So I think joy and be is part of being fully alive.
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  Being fully alive is found when we are filled with the Holy
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  Spirit in our lives that the life of God brings about
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  fullness in life, joy, peace, righteousness, Holy Spirit.
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  Like there's a shout for joy, there's a rejoicing, there's a a
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  vocal expression of joy. Have you ever known somebody
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  with a loud, loud laugh? It's something contagious,
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  endearing, and just profound. I think about it like, like
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  people that can just barely laugh and laugh and it's a loud
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  laugh. There's just a shout of joy
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  almost because they're so, so happy, so rejoicing, so full of
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  gratitude. I think that's that's part of
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  it. You know, joy throughout the
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  scriptures is linked with a generous praise given and
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  returned to God and it's ministry to God and to others.
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  It's this ministry that that occurs.
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  We, we just read it a minute ago that there would be in Psalms
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  that, that the people who, who are clothed in righteous, that
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  there would be shouts of joy from the faithful people, that
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  there's a shout of joy rejoicing, a song of joy, if
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  you, if you will. And and I think this idea of
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  giving a generous praise to God, being returned to God, being
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  linked with joy is an important moment because we see that joy
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  and rejoicing joy and and worship are are LinkedIn that
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  way. Let me show you a couple
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  scriptures, Isaiah 52, Isaiah 52 and verse 7.
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  Isaiah 52, verse 7 says this. How beautiful on the mountains
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  are the feet of the herald who proclaims peace, who brings good
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  news and good things, who proclaim salvation, who says to
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  Zion your God reigns. The voices of your Watchmen.
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  They lift up their voices shouting for joy to the the.
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  The next thing that I wanted to kind of hit on was the fact that
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  there are things on this earth that just don't satisfy.
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  And I want to go back to Isaiah 55 on this because I think that
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  we, we look at that and it sounds really great.
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  My thoughts aren't your thoughts.
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  Your ways aren't my ways. But we get to Colossians 1,
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  Colossians 2 even. And, and God, God says the same
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  thing through Paul there, right? Like, Hey, listen, set your mind
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  on things above, not on earthly things.
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  Just like he tells Timothy, Tell them that reminding them the
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  words of Jesus. Store up for yourself treasures
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  in heaven, not on earth. In other words, lift your eyes
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  beyond just the things of, of earth that there's something in
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  life that won't, that that doesn't satisfy.
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  Psalm 126 says that we sow in tears and we reap in joy.
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  Sow in tears and reap in joy. I, I think that many of us sow
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  in tears like the sowing process isn't always pleasant, easy.
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  It's, it's kind of takes a lot because I think a lot of times
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  we sow by way of our sacrifice, things that we give up to honor
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  God, things that we say no to so that we can say yes to him.
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  I think if we live in a world that says we can have everything
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  we want, we can have God, we can have all the wealth, riches, all
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  the, all the accolades. We can do every, we don't have
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  to say no to anything. I think it's a false sense of
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  reality and it does not produce the life of God in us.
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  In fact, saying yes to Jesus ought to mean you're saying no
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  to a lot more things in your life.
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  Like I think we feel like we can have it all.
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  I can have it all. I can have it all.
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  I think there's an element of of God restores everything that the
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  enemy steals. I believe that, but I think that
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  there are there's some sowing in tears that occurs in our lives
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  where where, where there's a sacrifice that in how we sow
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  that allows us then reap in abundance, bringing joy later.
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  We sow in tears, but we reap in joy. 11 commentator says this of
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  Psalm 126. There are some songs of joy, but
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  only when the toilsome task of sowing has been done and the
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  crop has matured for harvest. That is where we find ourselves
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  in God's perfect plan of things, that there were some songs of
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  joy that only get to be sung because of the toilsome task of
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  sowing. I think sowing requires some
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  hard work before we just get to the joy of harvest.
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  There's there's a a sowing to the Spirit instead of sowing to
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  the flesh Scripture talks about. I think that's some of what
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  Isaiah 55 is getting at when it's talking about like my
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  thoughts on your thoughts, your ways on my ways.
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  I'll bring food or sow seed to sow and food to eat.
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  The Lord's going to provide those things, but it's still
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  sowing that we have to do. Like I, I think about sometimes
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  just again, generosity, because sometimes I feel like man, the
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  Lord wants me to give and in, in giving I, there's some sorrow or
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  some tears attached to it because like Lord, I had other
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  plans for that. I wanted to do something else
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  that I wanted this instead of that.
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  And so there's some tears involved, I think, in that
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  sacrifice. And I think that's what it's
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  representing, not maybe literal physical tears, but just this,
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  OK, there, there's some sacrifice involved in this to
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  sow to God, to invest into him. And I think that's part of it,
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  which brings the joy on the harvest on the other side.
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  Because if everything in life is easy, I think we end up being
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  entitled. And so I think there's something
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  beautiful in the understanding that we, we often will sow in
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  tears, but that's where we get to reap in joy.
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  I'm not saying that everything that we give to the Lord is so
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  sorrowful or cumbersome or a Debbie Downer, and there ought
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  to be sadness attached to it. I think there ought to be joy in
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  our giving to the Lord, a joy in our surrender to the Lord.
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  But man, can we just be honest that there are some things that
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  you surrender to God that make your heart ache a little bit?
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  It's not easy. I think it's worth saying.
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  I think it's worth acknowledging.
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  And I'm glad the Bible acknowledges that, that it's not
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  all like rainbow sunshine and ice cream and unicorns, like
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  it's not always that that there is some sorrow, some sacrifice,
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  some some things that you're denying that can be feel more
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  like tears than songs of joy. And I'm glad the Scripture
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  acknowledges that human reality, that that ultimate thing that we
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  see. But joy and worship and
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  generosity. Again, we saw it all over
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  Isaiah, Isaiah 55. Let me read you some of the
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  stuff out of Isaiah 55. In fact, let me start in verse
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  one. Come everyone who is thirsty,
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  come to the water. You without silver, Come buy and
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  eat. Come buy wine and milk without
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  silver and without cost. Why do you spend silver on what
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  is not food and why do your wage?
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  And why do you spend your wages on what doesn't satisfy?
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  Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and you will enjoy
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  the choices of foods. Pay attention and come to me.
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  Listen so that you will live. I'm going to make a permanent
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  covenant with you on the basis of the faithfulness and the
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  faithful kindness of David. Listen, one of the things God is
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  saying here in the beginning is come to me.
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  You're, you're, you're thirsty, you're weary, you're worn out.
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  You're, you're recognizing that the way of Saul isn't
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  satisfying. You're recognizing that the way
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  of secular culture, it isn't producing joy.
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  And in the message, I spent a lot of time walking through the
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  ways in which we chase after what we think will bring us joy,
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  But in the end, the outcome doesn't look right.
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  God has a different process. God has a different priority,
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  and God has a different outcome than what the world provides and
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  what the world offers. And Isaiah 51 sets the table for
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  that saying, Come, you're thirsty.
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  You've had a lot to drink, but you're not actually satisfied.
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  You're still thirsty. You're buying food and you're
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  buying things, but it's actually not satisfying you.
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  You're spending your money on stuff, but it's not buying you
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  the significance, the satisfaction and the joy that
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  you want. There's a longing in your soul
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  and the longing of your soul is, is being answered by the secular
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  way. And your secular view is causing
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  you to chase certain things, to prioritize certain things in
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  your life. And the outcome isn't what you
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  want. It isn't actually what your soul
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  is longing for. And that's why he goes on to say
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  verse 8 for your thoughts are not my thoughts.
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  Your ways are not my ways. This is the Lord's declaration.
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  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, and so are my
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  ways higher than yours, just like my thoughts are higher than
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  your thoughts. Just as rain and snow fall from
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  heaven, and they don't return without saturating the earth and
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  making a germinating sprout, providing seed to sow and food
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  to eat, so my word that comes from my mouth won't return to me
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  empty. In other words, the way in which
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  you've been trying to live is the way that's of the earth, not
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  the way of heaven. And if you'll live my ways, my
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  thoughts, my priorities, my purposes, you'll get my outcomes
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  because my outcomes. When rain comes down, it does
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  what the rain is supposed to do. There's never a moment where the
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  rain doesn't do what it's supposed to do.
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  It comes and it does. There's not a thing that the
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  Word of God doesn't come to do in our lives, comes to do in our
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  hearts, and he's trying to help you.
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  You will indeed go out then with joy.
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  You will indeed be LED with peace.
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  The mountains and the hills will break into singing, and there'll
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  be trees of the field clapping their hands.
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  And instead of thorn bushes and cypresses and the briars, you're
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  going to find an everlasting sign that won't be destroyed.
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  And so he's using this contrasting imagery to help us
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  give careful thought to the way in which we've been going about
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  our life. The way in which secular culture
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  wants you to try and achieve joy will not bring joy.
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  You won't find it that way. That's why the way of the Magi
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  was different than the way of Herod.
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  And if you want to go back and, and, and, and if you missed the
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  Sunday message, I encourage you to go back and listen to it
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  because I spend a good 1015 minutes unpacking the way in
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  which our Western secular American mindset has called us
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  to think, called us to prioritize, and ultimately LED
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  us to outcomes that aren't the joy of the Lord, that are not
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  biblical joy. And so we, we, we live in that
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  way. And it's not producing what God
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  wants us to produce. And we have to stop for a second
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  and use our brains and say, wait a second, wait a second, wait a
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  second. I'm living my life like so many
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  other in the culture. Well, am I getting the same?
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  I'm getting the same outcome. My marriage is just as stale as
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  everybody else's marriage. My finances feel just as empty
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  and inept as other people's. My my joy feels just as little
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  as other people's joy. I got to have coffee and I've
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  got to entertain and I've got to needlessly scroll and I need the
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  next dopamine hit and I've got to get the next Amazon package
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  to my house so that I can feel like I'm loved and something to
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  celebrate. And it's just a temporary,
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  temporary, temporary, temporary. And it leaves us empty.
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  It doesn't say it does not do. So we find ourselves like those
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  at the beginning of 55 saying, Hey, you're thirsty, would you
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  come to me? He's the answer.
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  We go to him. God's word does not return void.
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  And so when we allow the word of God to be the grid for how we
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  look, how we prioritize, how we the, the process by which we
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  live and the outcomes that we experience, well then we're
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  going to be experiencing the way and the things have gone.
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  And that is what I was trying to articulate at the end of of the
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  service, both services. And I did a better job in the
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  second service than I did in the first service talking about
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  this. Why?
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  Why are we talking about generosity?
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  Why are we talking about money? Don't don't we see that the
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  economy is this and you're just trying to get us to build a
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  building. And, and it's true.
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  We, we need a building. We, we are, we have a practical
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  need as a church that men. This is this is what it is.
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  And, and so as people of God who are receiving the ministry from
• 20:22
  this house, there's there's a participating partnership that
• 20:26
  scripture instructs us to to engage in.
• 20:28
  So that's what we're trying to do.
• 20:31
  But in that participation is actually where there's great
• 20:34
  joy, like the benefit to what happens in your account, in your
• 20:38
  spiritual life. When you live generously with
• 20:41
  money. When you start thinking about
• 20:44
  money the way God tells us to think about money.
• 20:48
  When we look at resources not as ours but as his.
• 20:52
  When we don't live with the secular grid of our priority
• 20:56
  with money, but we live with the Kingdom priority around money, I
• 21:00
  think that there's something that shifts, there's something
• 21:03
  that changes. There's some outcome that's
• 21:05
  different. Why?
• 21:05
  Because the the, the priority of heaven and the Kingdom of God,
• 21:10
  the process by which we engage in the outcomes that we
• 21:13
  experience are just different in the Kingdom of God than in the
• 21:16
  way of the world. And when we do it according to
• 21:19
  the word of God, it doesn't return empty.
• 21:22
  We'll see what God says and so this isn't a gift to get
• 21:27
  scenario right. My heart and my motives is not
• 21:30
  to get something In fact, my I was telling our elders Sunday in
• 21:34
  our monthly elder meeting. My heart is so much to see
• 21:39
  people set free from the grip of the demonic grip of mem and that
• 21:44
  that overruns that has seeped into the way we operate and
• 21:48
  process money that is the people of God.
• 21:51
  We have got to wake up to recognize that there are things
• 21:55
  that there is something that God has for us.
• 21:57
  There are outcomes that God does want for our lives.
• 22:00
  There are things that he wants us to flourish in that many of
• 22:02
  us are not flourishing in. And I am tired of settling for
• 22:07
  for, for what the result of the world is, then getting to
• 22:13
  experience and seeing what God has for us.
• 22:17
  And I really do. My heart is that you would
• 22:19
  recognize that the word doesn't return.
• 22:21
  Why did I use so many scriptures on Sunday?
• 22:25
  Because I'm not making up this idea of generosity.
• 22:27
  It's the way of God. It's the way of the people of
• 22:30
  God. And practicing generosity,
• 22:32
  financial giving through the local church is not really up
• 22:37
  for debate in terms of what the Bible teaches.
• 22:39
  It's just what the people of God, it's what we do is part of
• 22:42
  our worship to him and, and the way that we view money and see
• 22:46
  money, like we talked about last week, make a huge deal.
• 22:49
  How do I see Jesus? Is he a gift or is he an
• 22:52
  inconvenience in my life? If Jesus is a gift in my life,
• 22:54
  then I recognize everything I have in my life is a gift from
• 22:57
  him. And so I, I'm willing to give
• 22:58
  everything back to to him. But, but if he's an
• 23:01
  inconvenience, if he's a taskmaster, if he's trying to
• 23:04
  encroach on my autonomy and my agency and my freedom, then I'm
• 23:08
  going to look at everything that that scripture has to say with
• 23:11
  the wrong lens. But I'm going to get the
• 23:12
  outcomes of that too. And this isn't a gift to get.
• 23:15
  And, and, and for a long time, I've been pretty reserved on
• 23:19
  talking about some of these issues because I don't want any
• 23:27
  of us to get a misunderstanding around generosity.
• 23:32
  We we don't give to get. This is not the prosperity
• 23:35
  gospel. But can I tell you that the
• 23:37
  Bible is incredibly clear that when God gives us an invitation
• 23:41
  to participate in something spiritual like financial giving
• 23:47
  it we do something practical like giving financially that
• 23:52
  produces a transformation in us. So there are real results to
• 23:58
  living generously and that's not a gift to get.
• 24:02
  That's not a we get to love God more or we're going to have a
• 24:05
  new car or a checks in the mail or we're guaranteed a a certain
• 24:10
  amount of return from our investment of God.
• 24:12
  Like, it's not that at all, but there are outcomes, and those
• 24:17
  outcomes usually happen in a transformed life, a heart more
• 24:21
  surrendered, a spirit more fully alive, and a healthier view of
• 24:25
  God and money than what we've ever experienced before in our
• 24:28
  lives. But can I just say that greed
• 24:31
  and envy and choosing not to give financially to God also
• 24:36
  have outcomes attached to them? There are also things that
• 24:40
  result in our heart and our soul and our mind that bring certain
• 24:44
  outcomes. This isn't a gift to get, but
• 24:46
  there are certain realities that there are patterns to this.
• 24:50
  That's why you can be generous and people who don't follow God,
• 24:55
  who operate by some biblical principles when it relates to
• 24:58
  giving, they experience certain outcomes that look like they're
• 25:01
  always being refreshed because generous philanthropist people
• 25:04
  are always refreshed. They have joy.
• 25:06
  Why? Because the principle of the
• 25:08
  person who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
• 25:10
  As Proverbs 11 says. It's a principle that anybody,
• 25:12
  regardless if you if you're a Christian or not, can engage in.
• 25:16
  But what they miss is that there is not a full joy and a full
• 25:19
  transformation of heart. There's not a a Kingdom
• 25:21
  significance, as Paul wrote to those in to Timothy saying, hey,
• 25:25
  instruct those in this age with with money to be generous to to
• 25:30
  store up for themselves treasures in heaven so that they
• 25:32
  might receive the gift of life. There might be certain practical
• 25:38
  outcomes that are the same whether and that you're a
• 25:40
  Christian or not and engaging in principles of generosity as the
• 25:43
  Bible lines out. That may be true, but there's
• 25:45
  still not a spiritual impact. I'm just saying when you are a
• 25:48
  spiritual person redeemed by Jesus and you engage in in the
• 25:52
  seed time and harvest of God's Kingdom and there is a, a
• 25:55
  financial giving and a generosity to the people of God
• 25:58
  and to others. Well, there is a unique
• 26:00
  transformation that happens in your life in that area that is
• 26:04
  absolutely wonderful and beautiful, miraculous.
• 26:07
  And it's not manipulation. It's not getting God to do
• 26:10
  demand what you want, that there's none of those things.
• 26:12
  There are just some results to being generous, just like there
• 26:15
  are results to being envious too.
• 26:19
  And that my heart for us as a church is indeed that we would
• 26:23
  be awakened to the beauty of what it means to be a partner
• 26:27
  with God and his Kingdom through financial generosity.
• 26:31
  And that we would be awakened to the ways in which envy and greed
• 26:35
  and the way of Herod have been like a silent yeast.
• 26:38
  That's almost imperceivable in how we go about our life.
• 26:42
  But it's absolutely producing an outcome that is less than what
• 26:46
  God has designed for us. And I just want us to experience
• 26:50
  the fullness of God in in our marriages, in our parenting, in
• 26:54
  our business endeavors, in our in our own psyche and mental
• 26:57
  health, in our physical bodies and in an area of finances and
• 27:01
  money. Think all of it matters and it
• 27:04
  matters to God. And God's ways are just better
• 27:08
  than our secular, worldly, selfish, self-centered ways.
• 27:14
  And I think the Bible is clear on those on those things wounded
• 27:20
  by those were others I participated with or for.
• 27:26
  I think there's so much that you could say on this and each
• 27:30
  situation, I think it's going to be a little bit different.
• 27:33
  First, let me define a couple things.
• 27:34
  We define the word fellowship, not just in friendship or
• 27:38
  friendliness, not just in social settings, but the biblical
• 27:42
  understanding of friendship or or fellowship is the Greek word
• 27:45
  Koinonia, which means a participating partnership where
• 27:50
  I partner with you by participating in bringing what
• 27:55
  is of mine to aid and help you. So, so I have resource.
• 28:00
  I'm bringing it to help with what is needed.
• 28:02
  There's a there's something I'm gifted in.
• 28:04
  I'm bringing that gift to help you.
• 28:05
  That's why God gives gifts to the body to help build,
• 28:10
  encourage, strengthen, and for the common good, right?
• 28:13
  That's why God gives us gifts. Gifts are meant to be shared in
• 28:16
  that way. And when Paul talks about
• 28:18
  fellowship and partnership, he's talking about this, this
• 28:21
  participating partnership with one another.
• 28:25
  And so when we participate in church, when we give, when we
• 28:30
  serve, when we care because it's people, we could be burned, we
• 28:35
  could be hurt, we could get offended, we could do the wrong
• 28:39
  thing. And to be honest, we could even
• 28:42
  be disciplined by leaders in the church.
• 28:44
  Hey, that's not the right way to do that.
• 28:45
  We need to do it this way. And that could hurt our
• 28:47
  feelings. And we could call that
• 28:50
  authoritarian leadership. And some cases it might be
• 28:53
  control and manipulation and power dynamics that that's
• 28:56
  unhealthy, that's unholy, but not all.
• 28:59
  I mean, the Bible is kind of clear.
• 29:00
  There is sometimes for church discipline and the authority of
• 29:03
  scripture brings in some of that and the authority of church
• 29:06
  leadership. People appointed to certain
• 29:08
  things that that there is AI think an understanding that
• 29:11
  there are leaders that got appoints to the church for
• 29:14
  reasons of leading, but their character matters a ton.
• 29:17
  And sometimes they have character lapses and or
• 29:20
  character fault failure a whole way through and and that can
• 29:24
  create a lot of damage that can bring hurt and pain.
• 29:28
  And can I just say from a pastoral perspective, I use my
• 29:32
  gifts, I participate, I help people, I care for people, I
• 29:35
  pray with people, I sit with people, I use my gifts.
• 29:37
  And many times it's thrown in your face.
• 29:40
  People hurt you, people reject you, people speak I'll of you,
• 29:43
  people walk away from relationship with you.
• 29:47
  People misunderstand you and then walk away like that hurts.
• 29:53
  What do you do with that? How do you handle that?
• 29:56
  Again, I think the pain and the hurt of being wounded depends on
• 30:01
  the severity of the death, what I would do or how I would do.
• 30:04
  So specifics do matter in something like this.
• 30:08
  I think it's important to ask yourself some questions, right?
• 30:11
  If somebody, if I've been wounded, I need to be willing to
• 30:15
  do some introspection and say what what is the perspective or
• 30:18
  motive I had? Was I doing it for people or was
• 30:21
  I doing this for God? So when I give to ministries, if
• 30:25
  they do something that I wouldn't have done, at the end
• 30:27
  of the day, if I trust them and I trust the leadership, my job
• 30:31
  was to be obedient just to give. I was actually giving to the
• 30:34
  Lord, not to ministry or to people.
• 30:36
  And if I gave to the Lord and they didn't do something that I
• 30:38
  liked or I thought was the best thing, at the end of the day,
• 30:41
  that's not my, I'm not accountable for that.
• 30:43
  They, they are. So when I recognize authority
• 30:46
  correctly, when I recognize assignment correctly, when I
• 30:49
  recognize what's my part and what's their responsibility,
• 30:53
  man, I can walk in a lot of freedom.
• 30:54
  I don't have to get offended or upset or worried.
• 30:57
  That's on them. That's going in that.
• 30:59
  So I don't need to control outcomes.
• 31:01
  I don't need to live in that way, but I can let that go.
• 31:04
  And if at the end of the day, I, I can't trust the leaders in my
• 31:09
  life, well, well then I might need to address that more
• 31:13
  specifically, get clarity. And if there's not a way to
• 31:16
  repair that trust that then it's most important that I go find
• 31:20
  fellowship elsewhere and establish relationships and
• 31:24
  build that trust and build that rapport not based on my
• 31:26
  preference, but perhaps based on what I feel are biblical
• 31:30
  convictions, not personal biblical commands, high, high
• 31:35
  priority, personal convictions of style or preference.
• 31:38
  Those are much more secondary to to how I would approach those
• 31:43
  things. But if I'm doing something for
• 31:45
  people and they're not receiving it right, well, there's going to
• 31:48
  be a lot of opportunity for me to be hurt, me to be offended,
• 31:51
  me to play the victim. I don't want to do that.
• 31:54
  At the same time, if there's been physical abuse, if there's
• 31:57
  been real emotional abuse, if it's really toxic and unhealthy
• 32:03
  from a character flaw perspective, I'm going to break
• 32:07
  fellowship. I'm going to move somewhere else
• 32:09
  and I'm going to pay attention to the character of the place
• 32:12
  that I believe God is leading me to.
• 32:13
  Ultimately, I'm going to follow God.
• 32:15
  I think God is the one that moves us.
• 32:16
  We don't move ourselves. God moves us.
• 32:19
  That's not void of, you know, minor.
• 32:22
  Sometimes in this relationships, it's necessary that
• 32:24
  relationships end. Paul had a necessary ending with
• 32:28
  John Mark. Right, wrong or different?
• 32:30
  I think that there are times that the mission moves forward
• 32:32
  and you move in different directions in the mission God
• 32:35
  has for you. And sometimes that means
• 32:37
  fellowship is more distant than it was before.
• 32:40
  That's OK. You have to follow the the
• 32:42
  prompting, the leading of God and the conviction.
• 32:44
  In that way, I think the best way to again participate is 1.
• 32:49
  Have real inventory of what was my part in that, what was my
• 32:52
  motive in it, and what do I need to do to still heal from that.
• 32:56
  See, if you're unwilling to acknowledge the pain, then
• 32:59
  you're likely not going to heal. If there's a a real issue of
• 33:03
  distrust, then I think you've got to deal with what's at the
• 33:06
  root of that. Is it actually distrust or is it
• 33:09
  just fear in and of yourself? Is it a lack of understanding
• 33:13
  that's creating? Is it, is there some lack of
• 33:15
  freedom that you feel in a relationship?
• 33:17
  I think all of those things really do matter and, and I
• 33:20
  think it matters. I think from a generosity
• 33:22
  perspective, I'll say it this way, when it comes to whether it
• 33:28
  be gifts of the Spirit, when it comes to generosity, when it
• 33:31
  comes to church, the remedy for misuse of something is not
• 33:36
  disuse, but proper use. So if there's an area of
• 33:41
  participation where it was improperly used, the remedy is
• 33:45
  not to no longer engage. The remedy is to engage
• 33:49
  properly, to serve correctly, to find to lead well and accurately
• 33:57
  and honest conversations need to be had.
• 34:00
  Talk to people, not about people and and do real inventory in
• 34:06
  your own heart, right. Like I I've said before that
• 34:10
  some of my deepest pains have come from serving other people
• 34:14
  or from people that were in leadership above me when I was
• 34:17
  young. I, I've not in relationship with
• 34:21
  some of those people anymore. I've moved on.
• 34:23
  I've separated myself out of it. But that doesn't mean I've
• 34:26
  stopped ministering or I've stopped caring or there's just
• 34:29
  been a healthy healing process and a proper use of those
• 34:33
  environments in those places and those policies even that help
• 34:37
  protect and bring wisdom into the future.
• 34:39
  So, so it's shaped and crafted some things.
• 34:42
  I think that that matters. So we've got to be healed.
• 34:46
  We've got to recognize how proper a use is supposed to look
• 34:48
  like. We need to identify if this is
• 34:50
  just a personal preference that I just don't like.
• 34:52
  Well, it's a personal preference.
• 34:53
  The scripture tells you pretty much to get over it, to
• 34:56
  acknowledge that it's if it stop, stop being offended,
• 34:59
  right? We read it in Romans, we've read
• 35:01
  it in Colossians, we've read it in so many other places, like in
• 35:04
  the Scriptures, like don't be offended by something that is a
• 35:07
  personal choice or a personal conviction of someone else.
• 35:10
  If it's not a violation of biblical command, then then then
• 35:13
  choose to give great room and grace for people to operate and
• 35:17
  lead and move to stay. When I identify authority in a
• 35:20
  situation, it frees me up to stay submitted and under
• 35:23
  authority because I know there's certain things they're
• 35:24
  accountable for I ain't got to take a credit or account for.
• 35:27
  So I think all of that plays into it there.
• 35:30
  There's not A1 size fits all, but I've tried to give some
• 35:33
  filtered principled things. And if at the end of the day,
• 35:36
  there's been real, real wounding, you need to be really
• 35:39
  real and get real healing. And you don't get an opportunity
• 35:43
  to not heal. You've got to heal.
• 35:45
  Why? Because as the people of God, we
• 35:48
  are called to engage and participate.
• 35:50
  Period. Like there's not an option for
• 35:53
  sitting out. That's not really what there
• 35:57
  might be a time to sit out, but it's not a prolonged forever
• 36:01
  period of time. You, you can't follow Jesus in
• 36:04
  isolation. You just don't get to do it.
• 36:06
  It, it is a family body engagement.
• 36:10
  That's what it means to be a follower of of Jesus.
• 36:14
  Here's the last question and it's a big one and I've written
• 36:17
  some things down and I'm just going to read it.
• 36:19
  But here's the question. Is tithing commanded in the New
• 36:22
  Testament? All right, let's first define
• 36:25
  tithe. Tithing is returning the 1st 10%
• 36:30
  to the Lord. That's what the tithe was.
• 36:32
  Tithe literally means 10%. So if you give to the Lord 6%,
• 36:37
  you are not tithing. Period.
• 36:39
  Tithe means 10th. If you give above 10% to the
• 36:43
  Lord, you don't tithe, you give above a tithe.
• 36:47
  Great. So tithing meant 10th.
• 36:49
  Now in the Old Testament there are three distinct ties which
• 36:53
  were required from the Israelites, which actually
• 36:57
  totaled approximately 23% of 1's agricultural produce.
• 37:03
  These were the tides, the Levitical tide.
• 37:06
  It was an annual contribution given to the Levites, who had no
• 37:10
  land and needed support for their priestly service.
• 37:14
  I think the church operates in a similar fashion today, but that
• 37:18
  was the Old Covenant Levitical tithe, the second tithe, the
• 37:23
  celebratory tithe. It was set aside annually for
• 37:26
  the three mandatory religious celebrations in Jerusalem,
• 37:30
  allowing worshippers to travel and participate in festival
• 37:34
  activities. Then three if there was a
• 37:38
  welfare tie collected every 3rd year to support the poor,
• 37:43
  including widows, orphans, and foreigners.
• 37:46
  These were the kind of three broad categories of Old
• 37:51
  Testament distinct ties that were required as people of
• 37:55
  Israel. These ties were typically paid
• 37:58
  from agricultural produce such as crops, fruits, wine, oil, and
• 38:01
  livestock. Interestingly, the practice of
• 38:04
  tithing though pre states Mosaic law.
• 38:08
  Abraham paying tithes to Mechizadek, Jacob vowing to give
• 38:13
  God a 10th. I also believe that the priority
• 38:17
  of first is represented beyond the tithe with Cain and Abel in
• 38:22
  their offerings. While the Old Testament tithe
• 38:25
  law is not considered binding on the Christian Church today, the
• 38:31
  principle remains and Christians are encouraged to be even more
• 38:36
  generous in the New Testament in supporting religious service and
• 38:39
  in helping others. In other words, where tithe was
• 38:42
  maybe the low requirement, in the New Testament everything is
• 38:47
  increased, everything is anted up by grace and it says, hey, I
• 38:51
  know we tithe, but actually it's about everything belongs to the
• 38:54
  Lord and you need to be willing to give sacrificially.
• 38:56
  That's the New Testament way. The early church's approach to
• 39:00
  tithing was much more complex than simple, than a continuation
• 39:03
  of the Old Testament practices. Formal tithing as a mandatory
• 39:07
  payment system did not exist during the Apostolic age and the
• 39:10
  period immediately following. Yet the theological foundation
• 39:15
  for giving remained strong. Remember, everything the Church
• 39:20
  did was formed by Scripture. What scripture did they have?
• 39:24
  The Old Testament, The Hebrew Scriptures, Jewish Christians in
• 39:27
  the early church naturally contributed ties and voluntary
• 39:32
  offerings to local assemblies, and their free will gifts were
• 39:35
  likely more generous than before, transformed by Christ's
• 39:40
  grace. In other words, when you receive
• 39:41
  the lavish, undeserving, unending grace of God, you have
• 39:47
  a response. That is everything I have, Lord,
• 39:49
  it's yours. That's what you experienced and
• 39:52
  saw in the early church perspectives on tithing.
• 39:54
  It varied. Those who wanted to distance
• 39:56
  themselves from the way they saw a Jewish, they saw as Jewish
• 40:00
  legalism did. And those who recognize
• 40:02
  continuity between Jewish and Christian priesthood did so in
• 40:05
  different ways. Now the Church fathers held
• 40:08
  diverse views on the matter. Iranians and early century
• 40:11
  church father indicated that while Jews were bound to regular
• 40:14
  tithe payments, Christians Gentiles.
• 40:17
  Possessing freedom dedicated all of their possessions to God,
• 40:20
  giving quote UN quote not the lesser portions of their
• 40:23
  property, suggesting the tithe functioned as a minimal
• 40:26
  standard. According to Iranian, Augustine
• 40:30
  later taught that tithe was that tithes were mandatory
• 40:33
  obligations, distinguishing them from voluntarily alms given
• 40:38
  above the tithe. Jerome, a church father in early
• 40:41
  centuries, similarly argued that withholding the tithe
• 40:45
  constituted robbing God. Yet this wasn't a universal
• 40:49
  agreement. Some early church fathers, like
• 40:51
  Iranians, interpreted Jesus's command to give everything to
• 40:54
  church much more literally than merely a 10th.
• 40:57
  In other words, Iranians was like, yo give it all.
• 41:00
  While Chrysostom lamented those giving little or nothing.
• 41:04
  Assuming tithing remained significant in his writings for
• 41:08
  the 1st 400 years, the Church often, if not typically, treated
• 41:12
  tithing as a minimum giving standard through the though the
• 41:16
  practice wasn't formalized as mandatory Church law during that
• 41:20
  time period. Jerome argued that since clergy
• 41:24
  occupied the role of the of the Levitical priesthood that they
• 41:28
  deserve tithes, and Christians unwillingly unwilling to
• 41:32
  surrender all positions should at minimum imitate Jewish
• 41:36
  practice by giving tithes to support both the poor and the
• 41:40
  clergy or the the church ministry.
• 41:42
  In his commentary on Malachi chapter 3, Jerome stated that if
• 41:46
  Christians refuse complete renunciation of wealth, they
• 41:49
  should at least imitate the rudimentary teachings of the
• 41:53
  Jews so as to give a part of the whole to the poor and pay the
• 41:56
  priests and Levites due honor. Quote UN quote, warning that
• 41:59
  failure to do so amounts to defrauding and cheating God.
• 42:03
  That's pretty intense language. Augustine's writings reveal a
• 42:06
  more nuanced position. His commentary on Psalm 146
• 42:10
  presents tithing as an aspirational standard rather
• 42:13
  than as a legal obligation, where he challenges Christians
• 42:16
  to give at least a 10th, noting that he beyond whom our
• 42:20
  righteousness is to abound gives tithes.
• 42:23
  You, however, give not even a 10th part.
• 42:26
  Thousandth part, he said Augustine also connected tithing
• 42:29
  to national prosperity, claiming that ancestors prospered because
• 42:34
  they paid ties to God and taxes to Caesar, whereas contemporary
• 42:38
  decline resulted from abounding from abandoning such devotion.
• 42:43
  We have, he quotes saying. We have been unwilling to share
• 42:46
  the tithes with God. Now the whole is taken away.
• 42:51
  In another sermon, Augustine warned those working the land
• 42:53
  against defrauding the church regarding ties, lest they quote
• 42:56
  UN quote, lose everything. So what we see from church
• 43:00
  history is that the principle of tithing was well in play even in
• 43:07
  early centuries of Christendom. Is it required?
• 43:11
  I don't, I don't think so. There's a lot of things not
• 43:13
  required because we're not under Mosaic law, but the principle of
• 43:17
  tithing, the principle of the first.
• 43:20
  I think there are some of those principles that carry in into
• 43:24
  the New Testament. Now, to be fair, when Jesus was
• 43:27
  there saying Caesar, they, they asked, Hey, you should we pay
• 43:31
  this to Caesar or pay it to God? And and Jesus says give to
• 43:35
  Caesar what is Caesar's, but you better give to God what's God's.
• 43:37
  He was talking financially when he's rebuking the Pharisees and
• 43:43
  all of the woes are being pronounced.
• 43:45
  He says woe to you scribes and Pharisees.
• 43:47
  You're so careful to tithe on a on a on 1/10 of your mints and
• 43:51
  your cumin and your spices, but you have ignored completely
• 43:55
  caring for the poor. Jesus says 1.
• 43:58
  You ought to have done without undoing the other.
• 44:02
  And so in other words, listen religious people, listen leaders
• 44:06
  of the church, you ought to to tithe and care about bringing to
• 44:10
  God what belongs to God. But don't you dare forget about
• 44:13
  caring for the people that God tells you to care for.
• 44:16
  Like Jesus wasn't saying it's either or undoing one to do the
• 44:19
  other. He was saying it's both and
• 44:20
  people understand why God instituted what God instituted.
• 44:25
  Now from a real practical perspective, when Jerusalem and
• 44:29
  Israel was being established as a nation and a people, well, the
• 44:33
  funding of that nation and that people, much like taxes today,
• 44:37
  had to be established in guiding principles and practices so that
• 44:41
  the nation could proceed and flourish.
• 44:44
  It was guidelines. Here's the here's what we need
• 44:45
  to do. Well, I think that's fine.
• 44:47
  That's what that's what it was about.
• 44:48
  It wasn't so much required by God to please him or appease him
• 44:52
  or some sort of offering to get something from God.
• 44:55
  It was ultimately still about worship.
• 44:57
  It's about taking care of others.
• 44:58
  It's about being responsible, participation in a system and a
• 45:03
  society. Well, here in the New Testament,
• 45:05
  there's still a participation and a practice of principles
• 45:10
  that help us be a part of a church society.
• 45:15
  I think those principles still carry over and and participate.
• 45:18
  Here's what we see in the New Testament financial giving that
• 45:22
  is not from manipulation, obligation, or coercion.
• 45:25
  We read it in Sacramento tonight.
• 45:27
  You do not need to give from a place of feeling manipulated,
• 45:30
  obligated, or coerced. This is why we do not pass a
• 45:34
  bucket and we do not have an offering moment in our service
• 45:38
  because when you give, you have to make a choice to give.
• 45:42
  You're giving either through an envelope, check, cash on a box
• 45:46
  that you have to go and put the money in on your own without
• 45:48
  being prompted. And you, you decide to do it or
• 45:50
  not do it. You give online.
• 45:52
  That's a choice that you make. It's your decision.
• 45:54
  You make it. Because we're not trying to
• 45:56
  manipulate a course that week in and week out.
• 45:58
  That has been part of our philosophy that we give to the
• 46:01
  Lord freely from our heart as an act of worship.
• 46:05
  In fact, when we do talk just about giving to let people know
• 46:09
  how they can give if they want, we'll often say it like this.
• 46:12
  When you're ready for giving to be a part of your worship,
• 46:17
  here's how you can participate. Practically, that's what we say.
• 46:20
  Why? Because we're giving is a part
• 46:22
  of worship. So New Testament teaches us that
• 46:24
  giving is not to be from manipulation, obligation, or
• 46:27
  coercion. Financial giving is about freely
• 46:32
  giving to God as an act of worship #2 we see that financial
• 46:37
  giving is to be first to God. Jesus said seek first the
• 46:41
  Kingdom of God to prioritize him first.
• 46:45
  In before the Mosaic law, what was it?
• 46:49
  A Cain's offering and Abel's offering.
• 46:50
  I've heard so many people say we don't really know why God
• 46:52
  accepted Cain's offering and why God didn't accept, why God
• 46:55
  rejected Cain's offering and why he accepted Abel's offering.
• 46:58
  Listen, in so many translations that I read, it's it has this in
• 47:01
  there and it's really clear, says Cain brought some of the
• 47:06
  the fruit of his field and harvest.
• 47:09
  Abel brought the some of the first born of his flock.
• 47:13
  It's not. So here's the priority.
• 47:16
  The first matters. That's why the tithe was always
• 47:20
  the first and the best unblemished that redeemed
• 47:23
  everything else. It was the first Son of God that
• 47:26
  redeemed. Jesus is the 1st, and so we
• 47:28
  honor him with our first still. Because when we give to God
• 47:32
  first, we find ourselves preaching the gospel, reminding
• 47:37
  ourselves of what God has done and putting him first in a way
• 47:40
  that honors him with the first of all of our increase.
• 47:43
  That's why New Testament offering talks about first.
• 47:46
  And in First Corinthians 16, Paul tells the church on the
• 47:51
  first day of the week, set aside your offering in keeping with
• 47:58
  your income. It's the first.
• 48:00
  On the first of the week, do it. So the first of the week, you
• 48:03
  set aside something for the Lord.
• 48:05
  I think the principle of the first, please hear me, is more
• 48:10
  powerful than the percentage amount that you give.
• 48:14
  I really do. I think it is more
• 48:15
  transformative for you to say, God, I'm going to give to you
• 48:19
  first before I give to Verizon, before I give to the gas
• 48:23
  company, before I give money to anywhere.
• 48:27
  The first one out of my hand, God is yours.
• 48:30
  So when when there's pay, the first one belongs to Lord.
• 48:33
  I think that's a biblical, not only Old Testament principle,
• 48:37
  Old Testament law, but it's practiced in the New Testament.
• 48:40
  Paul, 1st Corinthians 16 says on the first day of the week, set
• 48:44
  aside some of your income in keeping with your income.
• 48:48
  He says. So I think the financial giving
• 48:51
  is freely given as worship. Financial giving is the first to
• 48:55
  God. I think New Testament giving is
• 48:58
  financial giving that is in keeping with your income.
• 49:00
  This is why I think percentage giving helps you to do that.
• 49:04
  Again, in their giving and in their instruction, in their
• 49:07
  practice, in their worship, they are being informed and shaped by
• 49:10
  the Old Testament scriptures. In keeping with your income is a
• 49:15
  way of saying based on what you're able to do.
• 49:17
  When he writes in 2nd Corinthians 9, he says similar
• 49:20
  giving in a way that is keeping with what you can do.
• 49:23
  Why? See if you do it by a
• 49:25
  percentage, it's not a dollar amount.
• 49:27
  It as your income goes to a place, so does your giving.
• 49:31
  You're giving moves at the same rate.
• 49:33
  So when you set a percentage, you're so I think percentage
• 49:36
  giving is the better way to approach what you give to the
• 49:39
  Lord, what you bring to him in returning what what is his.
• 49:44
  He's given us everything. And so I'm just simply returning
• 49:48
  a percentage to the Lord as a free will act of worship and as
• 49:53
  an act of spiritual protest against materialism, greed and
• 49:59
  love of money in my life and against entitlement and envy.
• 50:03
  I'm I'm, I am doing a physical act of protest that spiritually
• 50:07
  forms me and frees my heart from the entanglements of all of
• 50:11
  those other things. So, so when you choose to give a
• 50:15
  percentage, it helps you keep with your income.
• 50:18
  Here's the deal. I'm so thankful at this point in
• 50:21
  my life. My wife and I, we've we've given
• 50:23
  percentages. It's always been first and we've
• 50:26
  done it freely as worship to the Lord, but in keeping with our
• 50:29
  income. Every time our income shifts are
• 50:32
  giving, it continues. We we give more than 10% of our
• 50:38
  income to the local church and to other things.
• 50:41
  The majority of it comes to to to the church because this is
• 50:45
  the house that we're submitted to.
• 50:46
  This is the place that that we're under.
• 50:48
  This is where we're receiving ministry and refreshment.
• 50:50
  This is the vision that we're supportive.
• 50:52
  This is the local church that we believe in.
• 50:54
  And so we are we are bringing that to the Lord through the
• 50:58
  local church. I think, finally, the New
• 51:00
  Testament teaches us that financial giving is supposed to
• 51:03
  be sacrificial, sacrificial offerings, sacrificial worship.
• 51:09
  If giving is worship, if it's a part of worship, then it ought
• 51:13
  to be sacrificial in its worship.
• 51:15
  Worship ought to be sacrificial. In other words, it ought to
• 51:18
  stretch me some because it's in the stretch that I no longer can
• 51:23
  be sufficient in myself. I'm actually stretching so that
• 51:27
  I'm trusting Him. I think New Testament giving is
• 51:31
  not just the baseline of the tithe, it's about stretching in,
• 51:36
  in a way, to the Lord. So do I think you have to tithe?
• 51:41
  No, I don't. I don't think the New Testament
• 51:42
  commands tithing. I do think it was the principled
• 51:47
  guide to the practice of the early church.
• 51:50
  I do think that history shows that Augustine Jerome crystal,
• 51:54
  the crystal, what we saw it throughout, right?
• 51:56
  I shared it all with you. The early church continued to
• 51:59
  keep the principle as the backbone of how they went about
• 52:03
  their practice. I think it is absolutely
• 52:06
  critical that followers of Jesus in the grace and the freedom of
• 52:10
  God freely give financially as worship to the Lord.
• 52:13
  I think it is essential that we give the first of whatever it is
• 52:17
  to the Lord. I think it ought to be in
• 52:19
  keeping with our income, whatever percentage that looks
• 52:21
  like that. That's a good, simple way to
• 52:26
  keep in our income. That keeps us from being
• 52:29
  manipulated over and about, but it stays with our income.
• 52:32
  And I think it ought to be sacrificial in some way so that
• 52:35
  it has to move us. It moves us to a place of trust,
• 52:37
  which is where spiritual protests comes against our
• 52:40
  flesh. That's why fasting is powerful
• 52:42
  because nothing in your body wants to fast, but it's a
• 52:46
  spiritual act of protest against the flesh.
• 52:48
  Why? Because you're, you're, you're
• 52:50
  stretching and saying no flesh. You're not in charge.
• 52:52
  I'm doing something spiritual. Finally, I would say to those
• 52:55
  that, and finally I would say to those who would be of the mind,
• 53:00
  I don't need to tithe because it's Old Testament and I'm New
• 53:02
  Testament. I'm under grace.
• 53:04
  I, I would just simply ask this one question.
• 53:07
  Why wouldn't you want to tithe? Like even if it's not coming,
• 53:11
  why wouldn't you want to do it? Why wouldn't you want to honor
• 53:14
  God with the 1st 10% of your increase to the Lord?
• 53:17
  Is it because he's not worthy of it?
• 53:20
  Is it because you feel bound or legalistic about it?
• 53:25
  It's it's fair. Is it because of if it really
• 53:29
  comes down to just the amount that's an issue between you and
• 53:32
  the Lord. I think you need to talk to the
• 53:33
  Lord about it. Like for for me, I come back to,
• 53:36
  OK, if giving to the Lord is worship and it's a, an act that
• 53:40
  is commanded in the New Testament, which it is, then why
• 53:47
  wouldn't I want as much as I could to honor God first as a
• 53:52
  way of worshiping in a way that is pure, holy and offering part
• 53:56
  of my life as a sacrifice, living, pleasing to him.
• 53:59
  Why wouldn't I want to do that? And if the answer, I think we
• 54:03
  have to do a some searching. Rarely have I met anyone who has
• 54:09
  been so against the idea of tithing that they were more
• 54:12
  generous than tithe rare like rarely.
• 54:15
  And, and here's where I think that's a problem because there
• 54:17
  is still, we can overly spiritualize our materialism.
• 54:21
  And I think that's a problem. Maybe there's some real hurt,
• 54:25
  some real distrust of institutions, as we mentioned in
• 54:28
  the first question around how they handle money.
• 54:30
  I think you need to deal with that, have those conversations,
• 54:33
  get to the root of that, find some healing and wholeness
• 54:35
  there. What what is it that's going to
• 54:37
  help you to do that? I think you have that question,
• 54:39
  but have to remember everything that God does in the New
• 54:42
  Testament, everything that we're commanded to do in the New
• 54:44
  Testament, it was really an increase by grace of what was
• 54:49
  present in the Old Testament, not a decrease of participation.
• 54:53
  It was an increase of it, not a decrease, not a lessening of
• 54:56
  something. See where maybe you were only
• 54:59
  required to do one thing. God comes along in the news to
• 55:02
  say, hey, I know that like you've compartmentalized your
• 55:04
  life, but I actually want all of your life, all of who you are,
• 55:07
  all of your living existence. I want you to offer that as
• 55:09
  worship to me. So your marriage, your finances,
• 55:12
  your hobbies, your time, your pursuits, offer that to me as a
• 55:14
  living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to the Lord.
• 55:17
  Anything other than a whole life and being.
• 55:20
  Surrender and submission to God is not New Testament surrender.
• 55:25
  We've said he's either Lord of all or he's not Lord at all.
• 55:28
  I think that can be an oversimplification in
• 55:30
  Samaritans, but I think it matters.
• 55:31
  Can I, can I just give you this illustration though?
• 55:34
  In the in the New Testament it says that Jesus came to fulfill
• 55:37
  the law. That word fulfill has 2
• 55:40
  meanings. 1 means to complete finish out to satisfy
• 55:46
  requirements of the other element is that it would take
• 55:50
  what was present and fully fill it.
• 55:53
  So where the law left us, you know, able to have relationship
• 55:59
  with God, there, there was a system in place to do that.
• 56:03
  The New Testament comes along in the person of Jesus and it fills
• 56:07
  up the rest of the way. It fulfills it.
• 56:10
  It fully fills so that everything is complete in God
• 56:16
  and with God. And so when we think about the
• 56:18
  New Testament, it's not that it takes it and it tosses it all
• 56:21
  off to the side as it's not important.
• 56:23
  It actually comes and it completely fills it.
• 56:26
  It fulfills what it was meant to be all, all along, which means
• 56:30
  that everything in the New Testament typically is an
• 56:32
  increase of participation, not a decrease of our participation in
• 56:37
  that. There's not a legality, there's
• 56:39
  not a legalism, there's not a it's, it's not.
• 56:42
  It's a free participation and an invitation into it.
• 56:45
  And so the more we yield and surrender to God, the more we're
• 56:48
  filled to the fullness of Christ in every way.
• 56:52
  And we want him to be Lord of all, even Lord of, of the
• 56:56
  finances that he's given us to trust and give with.
• 57:00
  And so hopefully that articulation has been helpful
• 57:02
  for you today. It helps you continue to have
• 57:04
  faith for today. Hey, listen, I love you.
• 57:08
  Thanks for listening. We've got one more episode for
• 57:11
  2025 and then we're on a break for a couple weeks.
• 57:15
  But next week we'll be back with a fresh final episode of