All About the Stewardship, Week 3

Tim Rivers | August 20, 2023

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Anybody glad to be in God's presence? I said, is anybody glad to be in God's presence? Has the Lord been good to anybody? Then I want you to give God praise according to his goodness in your life. I stand here this week, incredibly thankful. We had very unexpected event in our family. On Monday, my dad suffered a heart attack and a very scary situation. Rushed him to the er. He communicated with my brother that he wasn't feeling right, he needed to go in. Brother took him in and they ran some tests and said, you are currently having a heart attack. So they rushed him. Emergency surgery went in, put three stints in and very trying period of time. But how many know that it ain't over until God says it's over?

God sustained him. God kept him. God allowed him to go through the surgery and he was out by Wednesday. Come on. I thank God for his goodness. I'm thankful today. I'm thankful today. And the reason why I share that with you is because you don't know what types of situations that your neighbor has been going through. That's why church is so important. That's why the House of God is so important because representative here today are so many different stories about what's happened this week. But here, when you come to the house of God, you can draw strength, you can get prayer, you can get somebody. That's why we have hug time. Somebody just needs a hug because you may have had a tough week, but in this house, the house of Embassy City Church, you are welcomed, you are loved, and we so much appreciate the fact that you are here.

Come on embassy. Let's say that. Let's give it up for everybody that's in this place. Thank you to all of our guests that are here, all those that are watching online. We also want to say thank you for joining us. We're so glad that you are here and we pray that God blesses you today. Now we're in the third week of our series that we have been calling all about the stewardship. Stewardship, and this has been, I told somebody in the earlier service, I said, man, I've had so much fun teaching this series and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed teaching it. But we're looking at the Bible and we're looking at biblical principles on how to handle our money, and today is going to be particularly fun because at the end of the service we got something special that we're going to do.

Are y'all ready to get in this word? Do I have an amen corner somewhere? Amen. Oh man, I got an amen room. That's going to be good. Alright, Genesis chapter two, if you have your Bibles, let's go there. If not, it'll pop up on the screen. Genesis chapter two, verse number 15 through 18. Here's what the word says, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it. Somebody say, work it. Work it and keep it. Somebody say, keep it, keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat somebody say eat. You may surely eat of every tree that is in the garden, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. Then the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone.

I will make him a helper fit for him. Now let's go to Genesis chapter one and verse number 28 and 29 and God bless them. This is speaking of Adam and Eve. God bless them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. So we've talked over the last several weeks. The first week we talked about whose money is it? Anyways, the second week we asked the question is prosperity gospel? And today my title is The Purpose of Paper.

The Purpose of Paper. Ooh, this is going to be a fun one today. If nobody else is excited, I'm excited. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your goodness and your mercy. I pray that in the next few moments as we open our hearts to your word, that you would speak to us as only you do. Give us ears to hear a heart, to receive in a mind, to understand your word. We give your name all the praise, all the glory, all the honor because you're worthy of it in Jesus name. And everybody say amen. One more time. Put your hands together and give Jesus some praise. The purpose of paper. Isn't it interesting that anytime, most times when you talk about money, especially within the context of church, people tighten up because it's very easy for us to talk about putting God first in our prayer, putting God first in our devotion, putting God first in our needs. But why is that people tighten up? When you talk about putting God first in your finances, maybe it's because the scripture says that where your treasure is there shall your he be also your finances, your money tests your heart. You can tell a lot about where a person's heart is based on where and how much they spend money

And the priority with which they spend that money. The reality is that money and spiritual things are closely related. You can tell a lot about a person and how they handle money and how they handle spiritual things because I've said this before, if you squander paper, you probably squander purpose. If you mishandle your money, you probably mishandle the other spiritual gifts that God has given you. And what we're doing over the last three weeks is we're looking at the Bible because we want to find out the biblical principles of how we should handle our paper. It reminds me of a story of this gentleman who was a major tightwad. He loved money and the Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Not that money is but the love of money. And this was a guy that he loved his money.

I mean he cherished his money so much so that he would, every time he got a paycheck, he would take a hundred dollars out of his paycheck and he would hide it under his bed. And he did this for years and his wife would see him doing this. So after several decades he had amassed a large amount of money underneath his bed, but then he grew sick and he was on his deathbed and he looked at his wife and he said, wife, she didn't have a name. He said, wife, you know how much I love my money. You know that I've been saving for decades putting that cash underneath my bed and I don't want my money to go to waste, so I need you to make me a promise. He said, honey, when they get ready to bury me, would you make sure that you bury me with all of my money that I've saved? All the wives are like, no, no sir Earl.

So she said, sweetheart, I promise you that I will bury you with all your money. He said, good, because I want to take all my stuff to where I'm going. And she said, no problem. Well, the time came, he passed away and they were getting ready to have the funeral and she was making arrangements, she was getting the casket ready and the plot and everything was getting ready for the funeral. But she remembered that she made this one promise that she said she was going to keep and she said she was going to bury him with all of his money. So she took all of the cash. By this time it's thousands of dollars that are buried underneath this bed. She took all the cash, put it in bank and took it to the bank and made a huge deposit of cash into the bank. And then she went to the funeral and right before they were about to lower the casket into the ground, she said, oh, that's right. Don't close the casket Yet I made a promise to my husband that I was going to bury him with all of his money. So she took and she wrote a check for the total amount.

Some of y'all don't get it. You're going to get it on your way home. The reality is there ain't no banks where we're going. And the reality is none of us will take what we have now to where we're going. And if you're going to heaven, guess what you have now pales in comparison to what you're about to see because the Bible says that the streets are paved with pure gold, 24 karat, not even 10, none of this dip stuff. The streets are going to be paved with gold. The gates are going to be decorated with pearls. The Bible talks about us having crowds which are adorned with jewels, and we're going to be, it's going to be so lit, we're going to toss 'em. Think about that, where we're going, we're not taking any of our stuff with us. In fact, have you ever seen a U-Haul following the Hearst?

No, because we're not taking our stuff with us. So if we're not taking our stuff with us, then it is incumbent upon us for us to receive biblical principles on how to handle the finances and the resources that God has placed in our hands while we are here on earth. But remember that it's not just about money, but there is a close correlation between your financial resources and your spiritual resources. That's why Jesus said in Matthew chapter 25, he said that the kingdom of heaven is like un two A, and then he tells the parables of the 10 virgins and he gives the story of the talent. So it's very important for us to figure out how does God want us to handle our money? Did you know that your money, that your paper has purpose?

And the question is what is the purpose of paper? So that's what we're going to talk about. And in order to do so, I want to go back to Genesis chapter two, verse number 15. Lemme give you some context real quick. God has, he's created what we see in creation the first six days, and then the Bible says that he planted a garden called Eden. Now, we talked about this last week. He could have spoken the garden into existence. He could have snapped his finger and the garden would've appeared, but God decided that he was going to plant something and why? Because God loves to see growth and God loves to see fruitfulness. So himself gets down into the earth that he created. He digs a hole, he plants seed, he covers it up, and he stands back and watches it grow. How do we know this?

Because the scripture literally says that he made to come out of the ground, vegetation, trees, all bearing seed. God loves to see things grow, but then he plants this garden and he puts Adam into the garden and he doesn't just plant Adam into the garden and say, all right, do whatever you want to, but God gives Adam some specific instructions on how to handle the resources that he has provided for Adam. So this is what Genesis chapter two verse 15 looks at. Let's read it. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden. Two. Somebody say, work it to work it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden. The first purpose of your paper is to work it. This word work here literally means to sow, to toil and to till. In other words, when Adam was created and God placed him in the garden, Adam wasn't just running around but naked, picking flowers and having a joy all the time he was created and placed in the garden to work. In other words, when God gives you, remember we talked about this, that money isn't fruit, money is seeds, and when God gives you seeds, he gives you seeds so that you can work it. You have got to bring your money under subjection. You got to take your money. Lemme just put it this way. If you don't work, your paper will work. You

Or somebody will write that down right now, if you don't work your paper, your paper will work you. How many folks know somebody who is getting worked by their paper right now? Their entire life's existence is them just working for the paper and really it's just the paper working them. I got to get more money. I got to get more things I got to go to. No, God has given you seeds. I want to demonstrate this, so I'm going to give you an example of what it's like. If we could bring this card out here, I'm going to show you what it's like, what getting money is like from the Lord. The Lord gives us seeds. Thank you, bro. And when he gives us seeds, what God provides for us is he provides us with dirt and seeds. Money are seeds. What good are seeds if they are not planted? You cannot expect a harvest from something that you have not sown. How many times do we expect fruit but we ain't working? God says, if you want to see fruit, I need you to get your hands dirty. I need you to work. I you to dig. I need you to toy a little bit. The Bible says that if you don't work, you don't eat, you have got to take your money and you've got to work. Can I tell you that so many people, they want to see a harvest but they don't want to work?

Oh, there's some conviction right now because here's the thing, I'm not talking about people who are not able to work. I'm not talking about people who have some type of situation where they're not able to do so because of disabilities where I'm talking about people who have hands that work, feet that work, a mouth that works but refuse to work. Can I tell you, you will not see fruit unless you work. This is what happens in Matthew chapter 25. Remember when God is telling, when Jesus is telling the story of the 10 virgins, he says that they all had the same amount of resources, five of them were wise, five were foolish. Well, what happened to those who were foolish? Let's read about it. Matthew chapter 25, verse number five. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. You know what a lot of people do? A lot of people sleep on their paper.

God will give you seeds and some he will give one package of seeds to other he'll give two packages of seeds and to others he will give five packages of seeds. And what can often happen is somebody with one package of seeds just wants to hang on to their little package. God, if I had two, I'd plant one. God, if I had five, I'd plant two. But since I got one, I want to hang on to this and God says, look, if you want to see a harvest, you got to be willing to get your hands dirty. Wake up, stop sleeping to 12:00 PM You are a grown person. Stop staying up late till 5:00 AM and sleeping all day. Get yourself up, get you a job and start working. Well, they're not hiring. Yes they are. Well, I just don't feel like that's part of my calling. Do you want to eat? Do you want real fruit? Do you want groceries? Then you got to work. Here's what the Bible says. Paul was so frustrated that he wrote to the church the thesal, and this is what he says in the Second Thessalonians chapter three verse 10. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command. If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat for we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busy bodies.

How many people have you met that are so busy doing nothing? Their bodies are busy, but they ain't busy working? Go get yourself a job. Get your hands dirty, plant some seeds so that you can get a harvest. You will not receive a harvest without work. God says, Adam, I'm going to let you have some fruits, but before you do, I need you to toil. I need you to till some people think that the curse of man was to work. Have y'all ever heard that? Well, the Bible says that the curse on Adam was that he had to work. No, he had to work from the beginning. The curse was that the ground won't yield for its fruit easily, but you got to work. Oh, well, what does this have to do with my spiritual gifts? You know how many people have been given spiritual gifts in seed form, but they will not sow them. They expect fruits from their gifts but have never sown their seeds.

Well see based on the instruction, I'm a teacher, but I don't have the platform.

You got the dirt. You got to plant the seed, you got to work it. But then God says, not only do I want you to work it, Adam, but I also want you to keep it. The second instruction, the second purpose of our paper, first of all is to work it, but the second is to keep it. Now, this word keep doesn't mean hoard it all or save it all or try to hold onto it. This word keep in the scripture literally means to watch over or to guard. It's the same word entrusted. It's the same sentiment that we find in Matthew chapter 25, when the master entrusted his possessions to the servant. This is the same thing that God does to Adam. God says to Adam, Adam, I'm not giving you the garden of Eden, but I'm giving you access to it. Why? Because I want you to steward what I have given you. Can I tell you that if you are willing to work your money, then you'll produce deuce something from it because you cannot reap unless you've sown, but this is the stage where people have the hardest time with their money. Does anybody see fruits on this tree? You know how many people will throw away a plant that is a fruit bearing plant, but because they don't see fruit, they stop caring about it?

Can I work this a little bit? God says to Adam, Hey, I need you to work it. I need you to toil. I need you to till I need you to sow, but then after you sowing, there is going to come a harvest, but harvest takes time and I need you to steward well as it is growing. How many people give up on their money because there's not enough and so people will neglect their finances. They'll stop budgeting because I don't, man, why would I budget 20,000? I'm waiting for 200,000. If you can't steward this, you can't steward it when it has lemons on it. This is a lemon tree. This ought to give it away right here or lemon bush, whatever it's called. This is a lemon something, but so many people will throw this away or think it's a weeded because it does not have fruits on it yet. But can I tell you, if you will steward it, if you will, look for the leaves that are brown and prudent, right, and take some stuff off. God will allow you to let this thing grow so it can bear. Fruits take time to grow, but there is a season of stewardship.

If you don't steward your money, your money will steward you. We should never squander what God has given us because we don't think that it's bearing fruit. The potential for multiplication and growth is right here, but I have to be willing to make sure that I prune it, that I check the soil, that I water it, that I it. I keep it that I take care of it so that it matures and when it matures, it bears fruit. Can I tell you the same is true of your money? If you don't know how to budget $20, you won't know how to budget 200,000. Am I still in the book? Not just work it, but keep it? Let's look at Matthew chapter 25, verse 20, and he who had received five talents came forward bringing five talents, more saying, master, you delivered to me five talents. I worked it and I kept it. Here. I have five talents more. Can I tell you that this is the stage generally where people quit caring because they don't see fruit? Well, I wish I had more money. Well, God says, don't worry about the fruit, worry about the tree.

Here's the third purpose of your paper is to enjoy it. Ooh, I love this part because here's what God says to Adam. God says to Adam, Adam, I want you to work it. I want you to keep it. But then he says, Adam, I've also given you every tree for you to eat thereof the word eat in the Bible context always it was attached to thankfulness and enjoyment. If you are willing to work it in the soil, then it produces a plant that you steward, and once you do that, you know what happens? If you are faithful, God will give you fruits and so many people want fruits without working and without keeping. But can I tell you, if you will work and you will steward well, then God is going to give you fruits and when he gives you fruits, you know why he's giving you fruit so you can, it's juicy. When you got to lean forward, I took way too big of a bite, but here's the thing. When God gave Adam fruits, he didn't just give it. Let me tell you, there's a reason why we know that God wanted Adam. Look, I'm trying to get this food.

The reason why we know that God gave Adam fruits to enjoy is because if God didn't want Adam to enjoy the fruits of his labor, he would've left them with kale and sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts and asparagus. God would've given him all this stuff that you only eat because you're trying to be healthy. Don't lie, that stuff ain't good. I just love roasted Brussels sprouts. Not unless you put a huge amount of brown sugar and honey on it, we already know, but God gave him some peaches and some bananas and some apples and some oranges. Why? So that he can enjoy. You are okay to enjoy the fruits of your labor. If you have done well in working it and keeping it, then you can enjoy it. Don't let anybody tell you that you can enjoy the money that God has provided for you if you have stewarded. Well, I'm not talking about getting into a crazy amount of debt just because the preacher said to enjoy my money. This is the confirmation that I needed. I was just about the press confirmed, but I wanted to listen to that. Listen, listen, do it out of the overflow.

Make sure you got two pizzas before you, but it is okay to enjoy what God has blessed you with. Enjoy the money that God has provided for you. Go get you that Escalade, upgrade it. Go to the V. You know what I'm saying?

Go get you something nice. Go get you that nice dress, go get you that. Go out to eat and order the tomahawk this time. You normally do the sirloin, but we're going to take it up, get you three instead of two sides at every season. It doesn't matter the amount. You can enjoy the fruits of your labor at every stage that you're in. There were times when me and Janice, we could only afford to go drive down to Glenrose and get on one night, stay at a bed and breakfast. That was us enjoying our money, but then there have been other seasons where God has blessed us where we can go stay at a water bungalow. What I'm saying is in every, you may not be able to afford right now a 10 day all expenses vacation, all expenses, paid vacation to Italy. You may need to go ahead and do that three day carnival cruise. Enjoy it.

God says to Adam, I don't just want you to work it and to keep it, but I want you to enjoy it. Look at what the scripture says in Ecclesiastes chapter five. Behold what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toy with which one toy is under the sun. The few days of life that God has given him for, this is his lot. Someone would say, everyone, everyone, everyone. Also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil, this is the gift of God. Too many people don't enjoy what God has given them because they're too busy complaining about somebody else's fruit basket. Well, I wish I could fly on a private jet. Don't we all? You may have to fly a commercial, stop worrying about somebody else's enjoyment of fruit and get in your own basket, eat your own fruit,

Enjoy what God has given you. Can I tell you this is the same again, we're talking about not just money, but we're talking about spiritual things, right? Because your spiritual gifts are the same when you have spiritual gifts, whether you can go through the list of in one Corinthians 12, in Romans 12 and Ephesians four, you can look at the list of gifts that are available to the body of Christ. When you have those gifts, you have to work them, and if you want to receive fruits from spiritual gifts that you've been given, you have to sow them. You cannot reap without sowing and you have to steward well your gifts, but when you steward it well, your gifts, then you can end up enjoying them. Do you know that I enjoy preaching every Sunday. Y'all ought to be thankful for that. There are some people that their giftings are hard for them.

They must have a misunderstanding about fruits because fruits are to be enjoyed and for sustenance, right? When you have a spiritual gift, enjoy it. Enjoy using it if you have the gift to serve. That's why there are so many people that smile when they're opening the door. Why? Because they have that gift and they're enjoying it. Where people in kiery, some people say, I could never do kids ministry. You may not have that gift, but aren't you thankful that we have people in kids ministry that smile when you pick your kid up and they give you high fives? Why? Because they're enjoying their fruits, but that's not the only thing. God says, Adam, I'm putting you in the garden. I want you to work it. I want you to keep it. I want you to enjoy it. But then God looks at Adam in the garden.

He says, man, Adam is all about him lonesome, and he's got all these fruit trees. He got way too many bananas to eat. He has way too many apples, he way too many peaches, way too many oranges. He's got way too much okra. He's got way too many fruits to eat by himself, and God looks at Adam and says, it is not good for man to be alone for two reasons. One is Adam will not be fruitful unless he has an eve, but Adam will also not learn how to share unless he has eve, so God provides eve. Why? Because when God blesses you with fruit, it's not just for you to eat the entire basket. It's for you to look at somebody else and say, Hey, won't you have some good catch? I'm nervous about that. So the fourth thing, fourth purpose of your paper is to share it.

God doesn't just give us fruits for us just to take it home. No. God gives us plenty of fruits so that we can look at somebody and say, you know what? You're in need. I've got two. I'm giving you one. We are called as the body of Christ to share the fruits of our labor. Here's what God does to Adam. God created Adam to be a giver. Why? Because God's a giver. Oh, y'all wants a word. I got you, John three 16. For God so loved the world that he gave. Genesis chapter one, verse 29, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed, James chapter one, verse five, but if any of you lacks with him, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him. Matthew, chapter seven, verse number 11, if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give?

What is good for those who ask every James chapter one, verse 17. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. God hasn't given us resources for us just to hoard them and put it into our house and put it into our back. God has given us resources so that we may share it with somebody else. God is a giver. How much more should we be willing to give what God has blessed us with? The problem is most of us are waiting to get more fruits before we're willing to share. It reminds me of the story of the two guys that were walking down a railroad track. One guy's name was Levi. The other guy's, Bobby and Levi and Bobby were walking down the railroad track, and I don't know why they were on the railroad track, but just go with the story, Levi, and they were talking about, man, if I had more man, I could really give.

And so Levi says, man, Bobby, lemme tell you something, bro. If I had $2 million, bro, you've been my best friend for years, I'd give you a million dollars. And Bobby said, man, for sure, Levi, you do that for me. He said, for sure, bro, I'd give you a million dollars. He said, man, man, I appreciate that. They went on a little further. Levi says, you know what? If I had two houses, Bobby, I'd give you one of 'em because you've been such a good friend to me, I'd be willing to share it. Bobby said, for real, Levi, you would do that to me. He said, yeah, bro, I definitely would. They walked on a little further and Levi is still getting inspired. He said, bro, Bobby, another thing, if I had two cars, bro, I would give you one of them. Bobby said, you would do that for me? Levi said, yes, sir. Dude, if I had two, had two, bro, I'd give you one. Bobby said, okay, so he walk on a little further. Bobby said, Hey, listen, we're talking about sharing. I love this whole concept of you being willing to share. He said, man, Levi, let me ask you something. If you had two hogs, would you give me one? Levi said, now wait a minute, Bobby, you know I got two hogs.

Why is it that we're often like that with our money? God, if I had more, I would share more. God has given you enough to share, and here's what happens when you share your fruits within these fruits are seeds, and when you share what God has given you, you're not just feeding somebody, but you're also giving them the resources to work, to keep, to enjoy and to share. When you are willing out of the goodness of God's resources to share it with somebody else, you are planting more seeds where you can perpetuate the blessings of the Lord in the land. Somebody I'll be shouting right now because God has blessed you to bless others. Now, now I want to read this passage, two Corinthians chapter nine, because we're getting ready to turn up. He who supp supply seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You'll be enriched in every way for myself, let me lean in. Let me look at this. You'll be enriched in every way to build bigger barns, to keep more stuff for myself.

Let me zoom in a little bit. You'll be enriched in every way to be generous, generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God for the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many Thanksgiving to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others. I'm going to read that verse again because somebody needs to hear this. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and so many people are like, I confess Christ as my Lord and Savior. I'm good. And the generosity of your contribution, if you are going to be Christlike, you have to submit yourself to the cross and give. This is what he says while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. What's the purpose of my paper?

For me to work it, to sow it so that it will for me to steward it well, it's for me to enjoy it, but it's also for me to share it. What's the purpose of your money? To work it, to keep it, enjoy it and share it, to work it, to keep it enjoy it and share it, to work it to keep it enjoy it, to share it, to work it, to keep it enjoy it and share it is to work it and keep it enjoy it and share it is to work it and keep it. Enjoy it and share it. This is true of your spiritual gifts as well. Let's not let, let's not get it twisted. Why has God given you the gift of communication to work it, to keep it, enjoy it and share it, to work it to keep it, enjoy it and share it. You can apply this to every area of your life. We may have to go to the studio guys to work it, to keep it, enjoy it, to share it. Now, remember this, remember on the very first week I told y'all when we started this that I'm not going to ask you for no offering during this sermon series. I'm not up here trying to browbeat you with the word of God.

Am I taking up special offerings? But I also told you that I've been praying for $1.2 million to come into this house so that we can do everything that the Lord has for us to do, and I told you that as I was praying that I felt like the Lord prompted me. Cool, I got it. But I need y'all to take a 10th of what you are asking for $120,000 and give it away. Share it in this series, share it in this series, share it in this series. Share it in this series. So we've been praying about that. Just believe in God. Alright, God, you show us where we need to share it. Will you show us where we need to sow the seed? Now, I think when I first mentioned it in the nine o'clock, I said, we're going to give away $120 million.

Preach.

I was speaking in faith and I dunno about y'all, but I believe that God is able to bless us on that level because God is able to exceedingly abundantly above all that we are able to ask exceedingly, abundantly above. But God has led us to the particular places that we're getting ready to sow in. But this is what I want you to do, church, the Bible said it is more blessed to give than to receive. Can I tell you that if you give, you will receive. That's the principle, that's the cycle. That's the biblical cycle. If you sow, you will read. And so this is what we're going to do. I'm going to tell you where we're going to sow into, but I want you to rejoice with every place that we're sowing into because I pray that our culture here is that we get more excited about giving than we do about receiving because when we receive, we're blessed to share it, to work it, to keep it, enjoy it, and to share it. So I want you to stand to your feet because we're about to celebrate anybody excited about God blessing us to the point where we can be generous.

Come on, somebody ought to be making some noise in this place. So how many know that we believe in good transitions?

If you've been a part of Embassy City, you have witnessed the transition within the last year from the rosses to the rivers. And lemme tell you something, it's been an absolute honor to be involved in this transition and we know the importance of transitioning wealth. That being said, as we are praying, there's a church in Fort Worth called the Rising Star Baptist Church in Fort Worth, and the pastor there, whose name is Ralph Emerson Jr. Has been pastoring there for 33 years and come on, we ought to give it up for that 33 years of faithful ministry.

And he is just announced that he is retiring that just had a celebration for him retiring after 33 years of ministry, and he's transitioning the church to his son, who's also named Ralph Emerson. And so Rising Star Church and Ralph, we just want to let you know number one, that we're praying for you, that we are believing with you that there's going to be a great harvest that comes. We are thankful that there's a church in Fort Worth that is preaching the gospel, that's seeing lives change. So we support you with our prayers, we support you with all the love, but we also want to support you financially. So we're sending you $25,000.

We keep it, we enjoy it, but we get to share it. Somebody make some noise. Hey, but

We're not done. We're not done. How many know that we as a church, we're not territorial,

We're not going to be a church that has turf wars, big eyes, little yous. We are all about the capital seat church. We believe that God has called individuals and churches to preach the gospel, to grow the kingdom of God. And so just right up the road from us, there's a church called Redeemer Church. And Redeemer Church was just planted about three years ago by Pastor Israel and Candace and they're doing a great job. And so Redeemer Church and Pastor Israel and Candace, we want to say we love you. We're so thankful that you're here in the city of Irving. We're so glad that you are doing your part to reach out and preach the gospel and share the gospel. And so we support you with our prayers, we support you with our love, but also we want to support you financially. So on behalf of Embassy City Church, we are sending you $25,000

Keep it, enjoy it, and to share it. Why has God given you paper to work it to keep it? You going to get to enjoy it and share it. Why has God given you paper two, two? And

So we're not done yet because we believe in God moving through the body of Christ churches. We support churches, but we also support local organizations that are doing their job to make sure that our community is taken care of. What you have to understand about Embassy City is all the resources that come here. We take a percentage of that resources just for missions to meet the needs of our local congregation and we can't meet everybody's needs, but we meet a lot of needs. We give away thousands of dollars, but it's not just enough for us to do it, but we want to partner with those who have been doing this for a long time. And so there's an organization right here in Irving called Irving Cares that's been around for 60 years and they've been doing a phenomenal job. Come on, if you know about 'em, come on, put your hands together. They provide literacy, they provide food pantry, they provide education, they help you with job opportunities. They're doing a great job. And so Irving cares, we want to say we're praying for you. We believe in what you're doing and we support you, but we also want to support you financially. So on behalf of Embassy City Church, we are sending you a check for $10,000

So that you can keep doing great things in our community. Somebody give up praise.

I want to be the type of person that gets more excited about giving thank, get him. We're not done yet. We've also set aside $20,000 in particular for some other organizations that are in our community and to meet some needs that are here in our local church. This is the one I'm really excited about too.

Work it, keep it, enjoy it, share it. How many know that we believe in the next generation? Listen, there are a lot of people retiring like this with that faith, listen, you ain't taking this stuff with you. You need to give some of this stuff away. We believe in the next generation and we know we also support education. There's a lot of people that are still in school and they're trying to balance being in school and paying for student loans and things like that. Shoot, I'm still in school, but I'm almost done. I'm almost done. I'm almost done. I'm almost done. I'm almost done by face. Hey, not to graduate cannot wait. I've been up late. That's all I got for you. So we are as a church believing in the next generation. So what we've done is we're partnering with Northlake Dallas College and we're giving 50 senior students a thousand dollars scholarship so that you can graduate without having to work somebody give God praise.

I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I'm more excited about us being blessed to give than anything else. God is a God who multiplies.

Y'all just realized we didn't take up an offering for this. We didn't sell fish dinners or peanut butter brittle and not saying any of the stuff is wrong. I'm just saying we are giving out of the overflow of what God's brought in here. I'm not just up here preaching you some kind of far away hypothetical concept. We as a church practice what we preach. Did y'all realize in this service we just gave $120,000 and that was because of your generosity? Because of your generosity. This is one thing I know about stewardship series, financial series, those who will give give as the Lord moves on their heart. And there's some people that are going to give more because they got a renewed vision about how to handle their fantas, and there's some people who are tight going to continue to be tight. They tight.

120,000, 110,000. I owe 10 more. Okay, we'll give it another $10,000 to organizations in our community. Somebody make some crazy noise.

God is good, isn't he?

Thank you. My math doesn't matter. My degree is in theology.

Thank you Jesus for your blessings. I pray, Lord, that you would continue to open up our eyes

To see how to handle the resources that you've given us. We're so thankful, God, that you've counted us, faithful God, faithful to be your hands and your feet to be the conduit through which you are blessing. So I pray, Lord God, that you would continue to use us as a church body, but also individually to be the hands and feet and the conduit to continue to be the overflow that we get to bless other people. I thank you Lord God for what you're doing, what you're going to continue to do in Jesus' name, somebody give Jesus a great big ovation of praise in this place.