The Marks of Multiplication | The Blessed Life: Week 6

God is a multiplier. If we want true multiplication in our lives, God is the only one who can supernaturally multiply our resources.

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    Last week on The Blessed Life:
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    there's one critical, simple but critical question you and I must ask
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    ourselves. The question is this: Am I generous?
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    Generosity has an enemy.
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    The enemy of generosity is selfishness.
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    They're in conflict with each other.
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    My kids want expensive crap and it sucks.
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    They want this thing, it's called a Nintendo Switch.
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    When my kids open it on Christmas morning and they go, "Look what
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    Santa brought us," you know what I'm going to do?
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    Santa didn't buy you that, that old geezer's cheap.
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    Dear old dad bought you that.
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    Generosity is what I choose to do with what is truly mine.
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    See, God doesn't it need your treasure.
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    He's doing fine. He's good.
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    He can pay the light bill in heaven.
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    It's amazing. He's fine.
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    He doesn't need your treasure.
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    He wants your heart. And he knows when you give Him your treasure, He
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    gets your heart. Being a rewarder, it's not an option for God because
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    it's something He is.
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    It's just like God can't lie because He is truth.
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    God can't ignore generosity because He is a rewarder, He always
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    rewards it. - Welcome to Crossroads Church.
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    We're so glad to have you joining us online from anywhere you might
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    be right now.
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    My name's Lena Schuler and I'm the Crossroads Anywhere Community
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    Pastor. And today we're in our very last week of The Blessed Life
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    series. And we get to hear from our senior pastor, Brian Tome, in a
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    few minutes. But before that, we're actually going to spend time
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    worshipping together.
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    And in the midst of these few minutes, I know that singing songs or
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    maybe even watching people sing songs can be uncomfortable or maybe
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    feel vulnerable.
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    But I would encourage you to sing along with us, go to that
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    vulnerable place.
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    Because it might just be the time in this hour that you connect with
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    God more than any other time in your week.
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    And I want you to get to experience that right now.
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    So every once in a while I get to throw my weight around here.
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    So I threw it around this week, I said, "You know, the last song of
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    this series, the worship block of this series, The Blessed Life.
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    Haven't we had a good time during The Blessed Life?
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    It's been -- I'll talk about that a little bit, the final message.
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    But it's been really, really good.
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    And I said there's this one song that talks about blessings.
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    Can we do that song? And that the band is accommodating that song.
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    We're doing that right now. And let me tell you about this song we're
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    doing. It's from, well, the writer of it is, his name is William
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    Cowper. He's the author of this, not Bill Cowher, William Cowper.
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    Big difference between Bill Cowher and William Cowper.
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    William Cowper wrote this song in the late 1700s.
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    You have to understand his story to understand these words.
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    These are very, very deep, or you might not even get these words
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    entirely. I want to tell you what he's trying to get behind.
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    This is a guy who knows hardship.
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    As we've talked about The Blessed Life, some of us are just -- we're
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    just feeling blessings of God, whether it's money, whether it's
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    friends, whether it's our health, whether it's just a sense of joy
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    that's happening. And sometimes you're doing all the right things and
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    sometimes you're just not sensing any of the blessings of God.
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    That's the way William Cowper was for much of his life.
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    At age 6, his mother died.
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    When he wanted to marry the first love his life, her father said no.
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    He tried and failed multiple times to kill himself with suicide.
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    He was labeled at that time insane for a portion of his life.
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    And yet God used this guy mightily.
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    A close personal friend of his was John Newton, he was a former slave
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    trader who wrote Amazing Grace.
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    John Newton, a racist, a slave trader, and God gripped him and
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    blessed him with forgiveness and a whole new outlook on how to treat
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    people who are different than him and a whole new outlook on life.
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    His friend William Cowper was enslaved to difficulty for most of his
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    life. And he writes this song and he says it to you and I:
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    "Ye fearful saint," that's you and I, that's not people who are dead
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    in heaven necessarily.
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    That's people who are putting themselves under God's direction.
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    "Ye fearful saints, take courage.
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    The clouds that you see, though dark they may, at some point they're
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    going to break with blessings on your head."
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    And you can see this song, the verses, it just kind of gives you this
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    painful deal of what this guy's dealing with and the stuff that God
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    is allowing to come his way.
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    But he shakes his fist during the chorus, he says, Ye fearful saints,
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    take courage. Take courage, the clouds that you are dreading, the
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    clouds that are dark over your head, one day, trust your God, they
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    will break forth with a shower of blessings.
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    So whether you're dealing with depression or not, whether you're
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    dealing with poverty or not, whether dealing with wealth or not,
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    whether you're dealing with mental illness or not, whether you're
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    dealing with a lot of friends or not, this song is our heart to God
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    in whatever situation we're in.
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    We just want to thank you.
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    We want to praise you, God, for the way that You love us.
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    God, for the way that you bring blessings when it's hard to see
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    sometimes in this situation that we're in, God, you are always good.
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    So, God, I pray that you help us to believe that more when we walk
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    out of this building than when we came in.
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    When we're watching right now, God, we pray that You are stirring up
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    something in us that makes us believe these words.
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    Thank you, God, we love you. Hello, everyone.
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    Thank you so much for worshipping with us.
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    My name is Courtney. Happy to be here with you all and do this with
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    you in this room and wherever you are watching.
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    Before you get comfortable, why don't you say hi to someone next to
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    you. - Worship for me is a way that I
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    give thanks to God.
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    And it's why is an important thing that I love to participate in with
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    you online.
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    So I hope that you just got to do that, express thanks to God, give
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    God thanks in the midst of Thanksgiving week.
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    Thanksgiving is happening this week, in case you forgot.
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    Make sure you go get your turkeys.
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    And I'm really excited for the two family traditions that are coming
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    up this week for my family.
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    The first is returning our Thanksgiving Food Drive box.
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    If you grabbed a Thanksgiving Food Drive box, make sure you take it
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    back to that location on Sunday, today before services end there.
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    And if you're looking for a way to be generous this Thanksgiving, you
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    could do that by joining up with a local organization, a nonprofit, a
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    food kitchen, and helping provide a meal to someone who might not get
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    it this Thanksgiving.
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    Man, your Thanksgiving will be better for that experience.
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    The second thing coming up this week is our Thanksgiving Eve service,
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    our Thanksgiving eve experience.
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    Now, I've been doing this from the time I was a kid up through
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    adulthood. It's a way for me to give thanks to God on the night
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    before Thanksgiving.
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    And I want you to get to experience the joy of giving thanks to God.
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    And I want your Thanksgiving to be better this year than it's ever
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    been. And one of the ways that it's gonna be better this year than
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    it's ever been is if you start some new traditions and if you
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    actually make it an intentional choice to give thanks to God this
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    Thanksgiving. And so if you head to crossroads.net/ThanksgivingEve,
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    you can see where a Thanksgiving Eve service might be happening near
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    you. Or we'd love to have you join us right here online to experience
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    Thanksgiving Eve. And in the midst of that, you're going to get
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    modeled for you something that you could do around your living room,
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    around your Thanksgiving table this year that will make your
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    Thanksgiving better if you choose to just imitate the experience that
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    we give you right here online.
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    I'm really excited about it.
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    Right after Thanksgiving is a Christmastime.
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    I'm so excited. My husband won't let me decorate our house until
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    after Thanksgiving, and so I cannot wait for Friday.
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    But nonetheless, I also can't wait for the next series that's coming
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    up: Advent.
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    This is a Christmas series.
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    I don't know what your experience of the word Advent has been.
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    Mine has always had the word calendar attached to it.
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    But if we look at that word Advent, what does it actually mean?
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    It means arrival.
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    It means awaiting the arrival.
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    And so we have a four part series starting next week on the four
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    pieces of Advent that get us prepared for the arrival of Jesus on
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    Christmas. So with this series coming up, it's a great opportunity
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    for you to invite a friend with you or to share a weekend service
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    with a friend to help them anticipate the arrival of Jesus this
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    Christmas. It's going to be great.
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    And right now, if you want to give thanks to God, you could do that
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    by giving at Crossroads.net/give.
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    And we're going to hear Adam's story, a story of generosity.
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    - I started coming to Crossroads about 10 years ago.
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    When I first walked in, one of things I noticed was, Wow this place
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    is really big. It seems like they've really got a lot of really
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    generous people that give to this church.
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    My initial thought was, you know, what do they need me for?
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    They don't need my money. The more I got into Crossroads and
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    understanding about how this place is truly fueled, I started giving
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    a little bit here and there.
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    I didn't really understand what the tithe meant.
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    I thought it just meant you just gave some money.
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    The more I got to see how God's money was used to reach people, the
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    more convicted I felt to give more money.
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    As I started to really mature, what I realized is that Jesus is more
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    important than the government, so I should probably tithe 10 percent
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    of my gross. Why should the government get a cut that Jesus doesn't
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    get? For a while there I held onto money as if it was going to make
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    me safe or secure.
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    I started to realize how quickly you can do things like lose your job
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    or a catastrophe could happen, it could wipe all of your money out.
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    And that's not really true safety.
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    True safety is is really believing that the Lord is your Savior and
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    the Lord will provide for you.
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    So in return, The Blessed Life book, Robert Morris talks about, you
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    know, there's different levels of giving.
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    There's there's tithing and there's giving.
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    And there's kind of exceptional giving where you give a rather large
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    gift. And to be honest, that kind of giving kind of frightens me a
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    little bit. I find that in the times He's done that, He's always
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    given me exactly what needed to do the thing He's asked me to do.
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    I started a new business last year and so I knew I had to pay more
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    taxes than I normally would.
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    So I actually saved up enough money, the amount that I thought that I
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    needed to pay off all those taxes.
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    And after talking to a tax accountant, I actually had saved more than
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    I needed. So when I prayed and thanked God and said, "Lord, this is
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    like a far better result than I could've imagined."
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    I felt God say, "Give $1,000 to someone."
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    And it just like freaked me out.
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    I'm trying to renovate some parts of my house and the speed of
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    renovation depends on how much extra free money I have.
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    So I knew that I wouldn't be able to make some renovations to my
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    house, but I felt God tell me quite clearly this is what he wanted
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    from me. There was one person that always popped up into my mind as
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    the person who really needed that thousand dollars.
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    And so I talked to them and said, "Hey, I pray to God.
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    He's blessed me more than I could have imagined this year.
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    And I think He asked me to give you this thousand dollars."
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    The guy was just taken aback.
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    He said, "You know, I have had a leak in my roof for years now.
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    I was just praying this week and asking God to give me provisions so
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    I can solve this problem."
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    So it was amazing to see that we both walked away just feeling truly
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    loved and truly understanding how God's Kingdom really works.
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    When you distribute and you're generous with the things that he gives
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    and when you trust in Him to provide for you what you need.
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    - Isn't that good? [applause] I just love seeing a heart like that.
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    That's what we're looking at, that giving is an attitude of the
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    hearts. And I have had incredible fun in this series.
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    Even though there's been some intense topics, it's just been light,
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    hasn't it? It's been life-giving.
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    And the amount of positive emails I've got coming my way is just
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    utterly astounding. God is doing some really, really good and fun
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    things in this.
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    And today is our last day.
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    And I'm going to go look at some Bible stories.
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    Shocking. You're in church and you're going to see some Bible
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    stories. I'm going to do that today.
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    And I'm going to talk about the principle of multiplications.
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    It's going to come right out of Jesus's life.
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    And before we get into that, why don't we pray right now.
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    God, You are a God that is worthy of being thanked, a God who is just
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    so generous and gracious to all of us.
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    God, I want to be able to get Your heart across to all of us.
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    I want to be able to powerfully and accurately portray the depth of
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    your hearts in the way your mind works and the way reality works.
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    Help me to do that. And may You be honored by all that I say.
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    And I pray these things according to the character and identity of
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    Jesus. Amen. Well, in America, we know of Ringling Brothers or Barnum
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    Bailey as the circuses that were known as the greatest show on earth.
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    I just saw a PBS special on it or a documentary not too long ago,
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    very, very fascinating. The original greatest show on earth though
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    was Jesus. He was the original greatest show on earth.
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    Wherever He went, people went because where He went, crazy things
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    took place. Teachings that would transform people and hold people
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    spellbound.
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    Healings, He would spit on people and they would be healed of
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    blindness.
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    Crazy stuff. He would he would heal people who couldn't walk and they
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    could walk again.
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    People who are possessed by an evil spirit and we're out of control,
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    He would speak to it.
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    And they would have a total transformation instantaneously.
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    And so where He went, people around Him all the time, it's the
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    section of scripture I'm going to look at in the book of Mark
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    chapter, gosh, six, seven, eight.
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    I'm going to look at a couple stories in here.
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    And we see in the midst of this kind of cacophony of energy, He's
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    trying to take care of Him and the other disciples, His friends, His
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    posse, the other twelve of them.
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    And they're going to try to get to the other side of this lake.
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    It's known as the Sea of Galilee.
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    It's really a giant freshwater lake.
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    And here's what it says in verse 31.
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    He says:
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    I like this. He says, "Hey, guys, we've been burning the candle at
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    both ends. Let's just go rest.
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    Let's just chill out.".
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    And still do that. But people are like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no,
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    no, no, no. The party is not over.
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    Where is this guy going?
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    Here it continues, it says
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    this:
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    So many are coming here and there.
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    People are coming to watch Him.
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    And they're forgetting their basic sustenance.
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    They don't care about food. They don't care about water.
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    Well, they could have gotten water from the Sea of Galilee.
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    They don't care about that. They're just wanting to see Jesus.
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    Jesus is like, "Okay, we need to have some leisure here.
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    We need to have some retreat."
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    So they head off to another part.
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    But the problem is, you can see where this boats going.
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    So all these people are like, "Oh, my goodness, the greatest show on
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    earth is going elsewhere. Let's find that guy.".
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    So they're running around the lake.
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    They're either getting their own boats to try to follow Him.
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    And they get to this place and it says this:
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    Now, many saw them going and recognize them.
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    And they ran there on foot, all talents they got ahead of them.
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    He's like, "Sorry, guys, I was really trying to get in some retreat
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    time. I was really trying to get us some private time.
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    I really want to do some male bonding with you.
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    And I had this little private ropes course set up over here that
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    we're going to do. And that just kind of got kind of fun side.
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    I had a pig roast we were going to do.
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    Actually, no, we're Jewish. I couldn't do a pig roast.
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    But there were some things that things that I was going to do here.
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    But all these people were here.
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    And just when you'd think Jesus would go, "Oh, my gosh, when does it
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    end? All these people just take, take, take, take, take, take.".
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    It says He has compassion on them because they're like sheep without
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    a shepherd. Maybe they're like modern American spiritualists.
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    We in America, we're like sheep without a shepherd.
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    We're all spiritual free agents is the way many of us operate.
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    We don't want to put ourselves under anybody's authority.
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    We don't want to have somebody care for us and give us instruction
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    and direction. We just want to kind of scatter where we want.
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    And this causes us to be harassed and helpless.
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    No one's watching out for us.
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    We're not part of any sort of flock or any community.
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    And Jesus has a heart for them and says, OK, let's go, let's crank it
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    up. Let's just start giving them and teach them.
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    And here's what it says:.
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    So Jesus doesn't just give them like a little devotional or a little
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    homily. He says okay -- and it gets late.
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    It gets going into the dark time.
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    And now here's where I got to think what probably with the disciples
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    were thinking. I think Peter's was going like, "Hey, John, I don't
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    know. Are you tired of this?
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    I mean we just came from this on the other side of the body of water.
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    And now we're here. And maybe if like we told Jesus, hint, hint,
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    nudge, nudge, people are going to be hungry and really it's me and
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    you are hungry. Maybe if we have Jesus -- let's blame the hunger
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    situation on everybody else and just clue Jesus in that if He's going
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    to be going on teaching like this He needs to at least have some Hors
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    d'oeuvres or something of substance.
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    We probably should tell Him just out of pity He should just stop His
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    teaching so people could have time to get out the Steak N Shake.
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    He's just -- He should just do that.
  • 00:25:46
    So they basically bring this plan to Jesus and here's how it goes.
  • 00:26:07
    They're kind of like, really?
  • 00:26:09
    You want us to -- 200 hundred denarii of bread.
  • 00:26:13
    That's -- a denarii.
  • 00:26:14
    They had a saying another day, another denarii.
  • 00:26:17
    That was a day's wages.
  • 00:26:19
    So they're saying, "Really? You want like a third of the year of
  • 00:26:22
    wages spent on this?"
  • 00:26:24
    Jesus says you can get them something to eat. Now where we're gonna
  • 00:26:27
    go from here is, what this is the story of, this is story of
  • 00:26:29
    multiplication.
  • 00:26:31
    Jesus, multiplies something.
  • 00:26:33
    It's a supernatural thing.
  • 00:26:35
    And the things that He does are the same things that His sheep today
  • 00:26:40
    still do if they want things to be multiplied.
  • 00:26:45
    If we want to multiply, remember back, think about this Jesus, okay.
  • 00:26:48
    He is the most well-known person in the history of the world, in
  • 00:26:53
    every corner of the globe.
  • 00:26:55
    No one can deny that.
  • 00:26:57
    That is because of His multiplying influence.
  • 00:27:03
    His disciples come with a problem.
  • 00:27:04
    They're thinking, Jesus is going to stop the whole teaching thing.
  • 00:27:07
    Or Jesus might just do some crazy miracle right then and there,
  • 00:27:10
    because they've been seeing all kinds of miracles.
  • 00:27:12
    They haven't seen this kind of miracle yet, but they don't know what
  • 00:27:14
    Jesus is possible to do because He is the greatest show on earth.
  • 00:27:19
    And Jesus says them, "Ok, well, you feed them.
  • 00:27:23
    Yeah, give them something to eat."
  • 00:27:25
    This is what Jesus does.
  • 00:27:26
    He still does this today.
  • 00:27:28
    When God wants to get something done, He gets it done through you and
  • 00:27:31
    I. I'll say it again: when God wants to get something done, He does
  • 00:27:36
    it through you and I.
  • 00:27:38
    Jesus is setting up His movement to prosper and multiply when He's
  • 00:27:44
    gone. Jesus said one time, "Greater things will you do than Me."
  • 00:27:48
    There's never been an individual who did greater things than Jesus.
  • 00:27:52
    But what Jesus is saying is, I've got you twelve and we've got these
  • 00:27:55
    other crowds. I'm going to multiply My influence and this movement is
  • 00:28:00
    going to do more than I personally have ever done.
  • 00:28:03
    And that is exactly what's happened and it's been because of the
  • 00:28:07
    multiplying influence of Jesus.
  • 00:28:11
    And it starts with you and I.
  • 00:28:12
    My friend Gary Haugen, who started International Justice Mission to
  • 00:28:15
    fight slavery, modern slavery all over the world.
  • 00:28:19
    Gary says, you know, "You and I, you are plan A and there is no plan
  • 00:28:24
    B.". God has no plan B.
  • 00:28:29
    You and I are the ones that He uses to multiply His impact on the
  • 00:28:34
    world. So the story continues.
  • 00:28:38
    And when they had -- excuse me, where did I stop off here?
  • 00:28:44
    Should we go buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them?
  • 00:28:46
    And he said to them, "Well, how many loaves do you have?"
  • 00:28:50
    There it is back to you.
  • 00:28:52
    How much do you have?
  • 00:28:59
    That's what they got between the disciples, five and two fish.
  • 00:29:05
    This is nice. I like this, it spells out on the green grass.
  • 00:29:09
    You know, some of us think, "Well, you know, if God ever gets a hold
  • 00:29:12
    my life, it's going to be painful, really, really hard.
  • 00:29:15
    Jesus doesn't say, "OK, let's.
  • 00:29:17
    Let's have people get on their bare knees on gravel.
  • 00:29:21
    Give me some gravel around here, because unless it hurts, it doesn't
  • 00:29:24
    really count." It's amazing how many people aren't big on churches
  • 00:29:28
    like Crossroads. They're like, "Well, people actually like to go
  • 00:29:31
    there. It doesn't count. It's got to hurt.
  • 00:29:33
    It's got to be boring. It's got to be painful."
  • 00:29:36
    No, who's -- what's sick, twisted God do you follow?
  • 00:29:39
    I don't understand.
  • 00:29:41
    Jesus says I'm going to find some grass, have them sit on green
  • 00:29:46
    grass.
  • 00:29:52
    OK, it stopped there. Three marks of multiplication.
  • 00:29:56
    If you want your life to multiply, if you want to see God do greater
  • 00:30:00
    and more things, according to this story and this pattern comes up
  • 00:30:04
    again and again in the Bible.
  • 00:30:05
    The first thing is this: money must be put in order.
  • 00:30:11
    Now, when I say money, you say, "Wait, why are we talking about money
  • 00:30:16
    here? I thought we were talking about green grass. I thought we were
  • 00:30:17
    talking about like bodies of water and greatest show."
  • 00:30:21
    Well, the big thing here is going to be the fishes and loaves.
  • 00:30:24
    That's the big thing that's going to happen in this.
  • 00:30:27
    The fish and a loaf was their modern equivalent of money.
  • 00:30:30
    They don't have bank accounts back then.
  • 00:30:32
    People weren't carrying around their wealth in their pocket.
  • 00:30:35
    It was in your livestock.
  • 00:30:37
    It was in your property.
  • 00:30:39
    It was in your fishes, it was your loaves.
  • 00:30:42
    This was your and my, when we have whatever we have in our account or
  • 00:30:45
    our pocket, that is the equivalent.
  • 00:30:47
    That is apples to apples, fishes and loaves.
  • 00:30:50
    And what Jesus does to start this whole thing off is He puts
  • 00:30:53
    everything in order.
  • 00:30:55
    First he starts with you, "OK?
  • 00:30:57
    Something needs to be done?
  • 00:30:58
    Let's go in order. What do you have?
  • 00:31:00
    Let's go to you."
  • 00:31:01
    The second thing He does, you've got to understand that much of what
  • 00:31:06
    you and I understand about Jesus is wrong, dead wrong.
  • 00:31:10
    I'm looking forward to our next series, though I hate to have this
  • 00:31:13
    one go away because I've had so much fun with this.
  • 00:31:15
    It was actually hard for me to have two other people speak this
  • 00:31:17
    series because I wanted them all.
  • 00:31:19
    This topic just fascinates me.
  • 00:31:21
    It's something I've experienced and I've seen so many people
  • 00:31:24
    experience. So I'm looking forward to it, but this next series we get
  • 00:31:28
    on Christmas. Let me tell you what pastor types and clergy types
  • 00:31:33
    you're going to be seeing all over the country, all over the world at
  • 00:31:37
    Christmastime. They're going to say stuff like this, "Jesus was a
  • 00:31:40
    lowly carpenter who --"
  • 00:31:42
    And they always said softly too.
  • 00:31:45
    "Jesus was a little --"
  • 00:31:46
    Why do they say it softly?
  • 00:31:48
    Why not, "Hey, Jesus was a lowly carpenter"?
  • 00:31:49
    It's, "Jesus was the lowly carpenter."
  • 00:31:52
    Let me tell you about that phrase. That phrase is wrong, dead wrong.
  • 00:31:55
    First of all, who says carpenters are lowly.
  • 00:31:58
    Who says carpenters are lowly?
  • 00:32:00
    Carpenter isn't a lowly profession, not at all.
  • 00:32:02
    It's a very high profession.
  • 00:32:04
    In fact, most of us have no idea how to drive a sixteen penny nail
  • 00:32:07
    into anything. You're going, "Sixteen pennies, what are you..."
  • 00:32:10
    That's my point.
  • 00:32:12
    Do you even know what a nail is?
  • 00:32:13
    Do you even know -- you have no idea about carpentry at all.
  • 00:32:16
    Carpenters are not lowly.
  • 00:32:17
    My goodness, you need them greatly, especially in our culture.
  • 00:32:22
    We are increasingly incompetent when it comes to working with our
  • 00:32:25
    hands. Carpenters are not lowly, number one.
  • 00:32:28
    Number two, Jesus wasn't a carpenter.
  • 00:32:33
    What? Jesus was not a carpenter.
  • 00:32:36
    Scholarly belief is coalescing around this, I've been saying this for
  • 00:32:41
    years. More and more scholars are seeing this.
  • 00:32:43
    There's one verse in the book of Luke where Jesus is referred to as a
  • 00:32:46
    carpenter. It's translated as carpenter.
  • 00:32:49
    Actually, the word there is tekton, which means master craftsman.
  • 00:32:52
    It could be any number of things someone does with their hands or
  • 00:32:55
    logisticates. Jesus was known to be of Nazareth, that's why he's
  • 00:32:59
    called Jesus of Nazareth.
  • 00:33:01
    Nazareth was a quarry town.
  • 00:33:05
    Nazareth was where building blocks came from.
  • 00:33:08
    Nazareth was where you would take things and build things.
  • 00:33:13
    How many wood metaphors does Jesus have?
  • 00:33:16
    One. Don't judge somebody with a little speck in your eye until
  • 00:33:19
    you've got a log in your eye. One, everything else is stone and
  • 00:33:23
    building, everything.
  • 00:33:25
    Count the cost before you build the tower.
  • 00:33:27
    Build your life on the solid rock.
  • 00:33:30
    He talks about stumbling, stumbling blocks and foundation stones.
  • 00:33:34
    Jesus was a builder.
  • 00:33:37
    He was a builder, likely with stones.
  • 00:33:40
    Do we really think that when God comes to the earth, He's not going
  • 00:33:43
    to figure out how to make jack?
  • 00:33:46
    Do you really think God's going to come to the earth and say, "Oh, my
  • 00:33:48
    goodness. I've got to figure out how to feed myself."
  • 00:33:51
    Jesus would have figured that out.
  • 00:33:53
    Jesus could have done a wonderful table, but he had a mind to do way,
  • 00:33:56
    way more than a table in the history.
  • 00:34:00
    And the archeologist is leading us to believe this as well.
  • 00:34:04
    If He's a builder, what does it --
  • 00:34:06
    first of all, every good builder I know is doing just fine
  • 00:34:10
    financially unless there's a crazy, crazy recession happens.
  • 00:34:14
    And that's momentary.
  • 00:34:15
    They get back on their feet.
  • 00:34:17
    The second thing that all builders do is they know how to organize a
  • 00:34:20
    work site. This is what Jesus does, He divides them up into 50s and
  • 00:34:27
    hundreds. He's making order of things.
  • 00:34:33
    There must be order before there is blessing.
  • 00:34:36
    You can't just live your life any way you want to live your life and
  • 00:34:40
    then just expect there be blessing.
  • 00:34:41
    There has to be order.
  • 00:34:43
    Your money must be ordered.
  • 00:34:44
    We've been looking at this throughout this whole series.
  • 00:34:46
    The passage after passage after passage, principle after principle.
  • 00:34:49
    It's not a solo concept.
  • 00:34:51
    It's all throughout the Bible.
  • 00:34:53
    If we want the blessing of God, we have to order our money under Him
  • 00:34:58
    as the chief shepherd.
  • 00:34:59
    We as the shepherd have to slot ourselves under Him as a chief
  • 00:35:02
    shepherd. And whenever He blesses us with something, the proper order
  • 00:35:07
    is the first fruits, the first 10% gross goes to His church and the
  • 00:35:12
    rest is discretionary.
  • 00:35:14
    It's crazy that someone would invest something in you and only ask
  • 00:35:18
    for a one time 10% payment.
  • 00:35:20
    If we really believe that God's blessing me, a one time 10% thing is
  • 00:35:24
    crazy, but God does this to test us on this.
  • 00:35:27
    He tests us to see whether or not we will order our life around Him,
  • 00:35:31
    and whether or not we are a good place for additional blessings,
  • 00:35:34
    whatever those blessings would be.
  • 00:35:36
    Order is critical.
  • 00:35:39
    And this is why Jesus orders these things here now.
  • 00:35:42
    And this is also, by the way, why people I know and I've discipled,
  • 00:35:49
    they never get ahead.
  • 00:35:51
    Because they never order their life under God.
  • 00:35:54
    They never order their finances under God, that Got gets the first
  • 00:35:57
    because it's His. He says it's mine.
  • 00:35:59
    And they never get ahead.
  • 00:36:01
    They may get ahead financially, but I never see their life getting
  • 00:36:04
    ahead. It's like problem after problem.
  • 00:36:06
    OK, I got this one solved and another one pops up.
  • 00:36:09
    Because there has to be order and this is a divine way that God has
  • 00:36:15
    ordered things.
  • 00:36:16
    This is the way our life works.
  • 00:36:20
    And I have to admit that it's awkward for me to talk about it,
  • 00:36:22
    because sometimes I hear myself saying this, and I go, "Really?
  • 00:36:25
    You believe this?"
  • 00:36:27
    Sometimes I have to sell it, "Hey, Brian, get ready.
  • 00:36:29
    Come on, you've got to pump yourself up to talk about this because
  • 00:36:31
    this sounds really crazy."
  • 00:36:33
    I admit it. In fact, most of what I say from this stage is really
  • 00:36:36
    crazy. Let me give you some examples.
  • 00:36:38
    Here's one. Anytime you ask me to pray for you because you've got a
  • 00:36:41
    medical issue, let's just say that's crazy.
  • 00:36:44
    Wait a minute. I'm going to actually teach that we should pray for
  • 00:36:48
    somebody like the prayer actually works?
  • 00:36:51
    Let's just talk about how crazy that is.
  • 00:36:53
    Like my thoughts and my words are going to change something in the
  • 00:36:57
    physical realm. That is crazy.
  • 00:36:59
    And yet I believe it and I do it.
  • 00:37:03
    How about this one? How about this crazy one?
  • 00:37:05
    Love your neighbor as yourself.
  • 00:37:06
    Love my neighbor?
  • 00:37:09
    That guy is whacked.
  • 00:37:10
    Are you kidding me? That chick is -- she's a beer short of a six
  • 00:37:17
    pack. She's -- no way.
  • 00:37:19
    Yes. Yes. And yet Jesus says that.
  • 00:37:22
    He says love your neighbor as yourself.
  • 00:37:24
    Here's another one, like we actually believe this?
  • 00:37:28
    Pray for your enemies.
  • 00:37:30
    Well, pray some judgment on them.
  • 00:37:31
    No, no, no. Pray blessings -- pray blessings.
  • 00:37:35
    I'm going to tell and I have told, I'm going to tell somebody who's
  • 00:37:39
    been abused sexually as a child to pray for their perpetrator, pray
  • 00:37:43
    blessing for the perpetrator.
  • 00:37:46
    Yes, I have and, yes, I will.
  • 00:37:48
    It's not something you can just jump right into immediately.
  • 00:37:50
    You've got to build your faith up to be able to do that.
  • 00:37:53
    But yes, the only way you can get released of your bitterness from
  • 00:37:57
    the people who've hurt you is to pray for your enemies.
  • 00:38:01
    Pray blessings on them.
  • 00:38:03
    And I know you think I'm crazy when I say that.
  • 00:38:07
    Here's what I'm saying, all these things that God says, including
  • 00:38:10
    ordering and tithing and praying for healing, if you want normal,
  • 00:38:14
    then don't do these things.
  • 00:38:16
    Personally, I don't want normal.
  • 00:38:19
    Personally, I want abnormal life.
  • 00:38:21
    Personally, I don't want natural life.
  • 00:38:23
    Personally, I want supernatural life.
  • 00:38:24
    Personally, I want to be in step with God and I want to sense His
  • 00:38:29
    power coursing through me.
  • 00:38:31
    And I don't want to be average.
  • 00:38:34
    If you want to be average, do average.
  • 00:38:36
    If you want beyond average, if you want abnormal, you want to walk
  • 00:38:40
    where you're having the chief shepherd who knows you and is paying
  • 00:38:45
    attention to you, then we do abnormal, undescribable
  • 00:38:55
    things like this.
  • 00:38:57
    This is what Jesus said?
  • 00:38:59
    I'm just curious. How many of us would be okay if Gob multiplied your
  • 00:39:02
    resources? Just out of curiosity, if you're OK to be multiplied.
  • 00:39:05
    Anyone? Just okay, man.
  • 00:39:08
    No, not a trick question.
  • 00:39:10
    Let me just say I want more.
  • 00:39:13
    I want more friends in my life.
  • 00:39:15
    I want more health.
  • 00:39:16
    I want more visions from God.
  • 00:39:18
    I want more creativity.
  • 00:39:21
    I want more opportunities to see part of the planet I haven't seen.
  • 00:39:24
    I want more money.
  • 00:39:26
    I want more deer to shoot.
  • 00:39:30
    I want more motorcycles.
  • 00:39:32
    I want more assignments from God that stretch me and make me feel
  • 00:39:36
    used. I want more laughter in my life.
  • 00:39:39
    I want all those things multiplied.
  • 00:39:41
    All of them, I want them all multiplied.
  • 00:39:44
    And you should too.
  • 00:39:46
    God wants to bless His people and He wants to multiply His influence
  • 00:39:52
    through you and through I.
  • 00:39:53
    And for multiplication to happen, money has to be blessed for it to
  • 00:39:59
    multiply. Let's take a look at this, this next thing happens.
  • 00:40:03
    It's gonna be blessed and be multiplied.
  • 00:40:04
    Here's what happens
  • 00:40:25
    Money has to be blessed before it can multiply.
  • 00:40:30
    They take the resources, they give it to Jesus.
  • 00:40:33
    He blesses it.
  • 00:40:35
    When we take our tithe, we give it to God and He blesses it.
  • 00:40:41
    And then He begins a multiplication work of building into other
  • 00:40:45
    people's lives and building in His Kingdom.
  • 00:40:48
    It can't multiply unless it's blessed.
  • 00:40:52
    Not possible. Can't multiply unless it's blessed.
  • 00:40:56
    And the only way it's blessed is when we're ordering ourselves under
  • 00:41:00
    God. Now I believe this so, so strongly that we've been doing
  • 00:41:06
    everything we can to help you, help your faith.
  • 00:41:08
    Because these kind of things, they're always a mixture of faith and
  • 00:41:13
    math. How much faith do I have to go to 3%, do I have that faith, or
  • 00:41:17
    4 percent? And what does the math say?
  • 00:41:20
    But my payments I make and my --
  • 00:41:22
    Faith in that, you've got to figure that out.
  • 00:41:23
    This is a matter of the heart.
  • 00:41:25
    I just know that God likes when He sees us growing.
  • 00:41:28
    I know He likes when He sees us growing.
  • 00:41:29
    And I also know that there's something special when we get to the
  • 00:41:33
    tithe. This is why we're trying to help you as all we can.
  • 00:41:37
    We have the 90 day tithe test.
  • 00:41:38
    If you go take this and you do it and you don't get blessed, you
  • 00:41:43
    don't sense God more, or they're not something that happens with you
  • 00:41:47
    relationally or God doesn't break something financially, or you just
  • 00:41:50
    feel more freed up because your conscience before God is free.
  • 00:41:54
    If you don't feel that God has blessed you, we will refund you
  • 00:41:59
    everything over the last 90 days.
  • 00:42:01
    And we're only doing this so that you can start to multiply your
  • 00:42:07
    life. You can start to feel blessed by God, because money has to be
  • 00:42:13
    given away before it can multiply.
  • 00:42:16
    Anything has to be given away before it can multiply.
  • 00:42:18
    Jesus, God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son.
  • 00:42:22
    Jesus gives His life away on a Cross and his life multiplies.
  • 00:42:28
    His life has multiplied, and you and I because he gave His life.
  • 00:42:32
    It's when we give something that something multiplies.
  • 00:42:35
    I could put something in savings and there'd be incremental stuff.
  • 00:42:38
    But multiplication in the Kingdom of God always happens when we
  • 00:42:43
    actually give it.
  • 00:42:44
    Now, if you do these things, if you do these things and the disciples
  • 00:42:48
    do these things so much so.
  • 00:42:49
    Let's take look at the end of this little section I'm giving you
  • 00:42:51
    today. It says this.
  • 00:42:53
    It says: And those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men.
  • 00:43:01
    So that's the men. That's not the women or the children.
  • 00:43:03
    20,000 people.
  • 00:43:04
    They take this stuff, they break it up.
  • 00:43:06
    And it's like the disciples, they give it to Jesus.
  • 00:43:09
    He blesses it. He gives it back to them.
  • 00:43:11
    And we don't know it happened. They start dividing it.
  • 00:43:13
    Is it like they divide it and it multiplies their hand?
  • 00:43:15
    Like wait, I thought I just broke off that piece.
  • 00:43:17
    Wait, it's there again. I thought, wait, wait, where's this fish?
  • 00:43:20
    I thought I had three, I still have three fish.
  • 00:43:22
    Whatever it is, as they're giving it away, it's multiplying somehow.
  • 00:43:27
    So when it's over, they have more left than they started with.
  • 00:43:32
    And that was after giving away what they had.
  • 00:43:37
    This is the power of how God works in multiplication.
  • 00:43:41
    If you do these things, you have to be prepared for multiplication.
  • 00:43:47
    Let me just give you some quick little financial things to think
  • 00:43:49
    about to be prepared for multiplication.
  • 00:43:52
    Three things. One, give thanks liberally.
  • 00:43:55
    Give thanks liberally. Recently in my time with God I said, God, I'm
  • 00:44:00
    just kind of feeling like I'm in a rut.
  • 00:44:02
    Every time I talk to you I start off with God, thank you for...
  • 00:44:06
    I said, you must be getting sick of that right now.
  • 00:44:08
    It's like by row. God, thank you.
  • 00:44:09
    I say something different a thing. And God, I sense God said to me,
  • 00:44:12
    "Do you ever get tired of someone telling you, thank you"?
  • 00:44:17
    No, I know I never do. God said, "Good I don't either.".
  • 00:44:21
    When you sense the blessing of God in your life and even when you
  • 00:44:24
    don't just give liberal, thanks.
  • 00:44:27
    God, thank you for my friends.
  • 00:44:28
    Thank you for the fact that I have my feet.
  • 00:44:30
    Thank you that I we're in a country that has is so jacked up
  • 00:44:33
    politically, it's still a country I would live in more than any other
  • 00:44:36
    country in the world right now.
  • 00:44:37
    Thank you for that. Thank you, God, that you've given me whatever it
  • 00:44:41
    is, nose hairs that filters out the Micron's of diseases, whatever it
  • 00:44:44
    is, whatever it is you can think of.
  • 00:44:47
    Yeah, he did that. He gave you your nose hairs.
  • 00:44:49
    Thank God, liberally.
  • 00:44:51
    Second thing, I know this is crazy for some of us to think about.
  • 00:44:53
    Second thing, spend less than you make.
  • 00:45:00
    Hold on a second, spend less than you make.
  • 00:45:06
    Wow, you're telling me if I make a thousand dollars to not spend a
  • 00:45:11
    thousand fifty? Exactly.
  • 00:45:13
    Yes, exactly what I'm saying. Exactly, spend less than you make.
  • 00:45:17
    And the way we do this is we are very, very cautious in taking on
  • 00:45:20
    debt. Very, very, very cautious.
  • 00:45:24
    I have two means of debt right now.
  • 00:45:25
    I have a 15 year mortgage on my house and I have a motorcycle
  • 00:45:33
    payment, a motorcycle interest payment.
  • 00:45:35
    The reason I have the motorcycle interest payment is because I have a
  • 00:45:39
    -- I got a .9%
  • 00:45:41
    rate on my motorcycle a few years ago, point nine percent.
  • 00:45:45
    And I had the cash on the motorcycle, but I could park it someplace
  • 00:45:48
    and would make three percent in the conserve investment.
  • 00:45:50
    So I'll take that.
  • 00:45:52
    I'll make 2.1
  • 00:45:53
    percent. I'm fine.
  • 00:45:55
    That's the different and it's also a different than saying, "I really
  • 00:45:58
    don't know mechanics at all.
  • 00:46:00
    And I have to have some kind of reliable car.
  • 00:46:02
    I'm going to take a hyper modest car payments to start me off with.
  • 00:46:07
    That's different too.
  • 00:46:08
    Some people like anti-debt all forms of that anti at all time.
  • 00:46:12
    I'm not. I'm not.
  • 00:46:14
    I am anti us always leaning into debt to get us what we want.
  • 00:46:18
    That never will get us ahead.
  • 00:46:20
    Yet to be a very, very cautious debtor.
  • 00:46:23
    And one of the ways I've become a cautious debtor is I'm managing
  • 00:46:28
    much more wisely the stuff that's left after my tithe and my
  • 00:46:32
    offerings. I have side gigs I do.
  • 00:46:35
    This is my main thing I do. My calling at Crossroads.
  • 00:46:38
    I love when I speak here. I love and I manage staff and interact with
  • 00:46:41
    you and pray for you.
  • 00:46:42
    I love it. I'm very, very thankful.
  • 00:46:44
    And there's things I also do on the side.
  • 00:46:46
    I speak on the side, one of the things I do on the side.
  • 00:46:48
    Last 2 speaking things I did.
  • 00:46:51
    One, I got one hundred dollars for it and the other I got just a
  • 00:46:55
    couple days ago I got $3500 for it.
  • 00:46:57
    Same amount of time, same amount of things, same me.
  • 00:47:01
    But one was people in rehab at a halfway house and the other was a
  • 00:47:06
    larger group of people who did great, awesome.
  • 00:47:08
    My stance with both, the $100 and $3500 is the exact same thing.
  • 00:47:11
    First thing, God. Thank you for that.
  • 00:47:12
    Woo hoo!
  • 00:47:14
    My tithe, that's God's cut.
  • 00:47:16
    Immediately I returned that to Him.
  • 00:47:17
    Actually, I'm beyond that.
  • 00:47:19
    But that section is boom.
  • 00:47:21
    And when I deposit that, I wait to see it clears and I don't
  • 00:47:24
    anything. I'm not going to myself, "Oh, now I'm going to buy all
  • 00:47:26
    these things," it's like I'm already accruing mental debt.
  • 00:47:29
    No, no. I don't even think about that until I return to God.
  • 00:47:33
    I put myself in order under His command.
  • 00:47:36
    It doesn't matter how much money it is, it's always that spend less
  • 00:47:42
    than you make.
  • 00:47:44
    Three, the last one I'll give you is regularly evaluate and adjust
  • 00:47:49
    your macro financial objectives.
  • 00:47:51
    Regularly evaluate and adjust your macro-financial objectives.
  • 00:47:55
    What I did with my money when I was 23 is different than what I do
  • 00:47:59
    with it at 54.
  • 00:48:01
    How I treat saving and giving now is vastly different than how I
  • 00:48:05
    treated it when I was 35.
  • 00:48:09
    We just from time to time, it's good to go, "Okay, where I am right
  • 00:48:12
    now, let me tell my money where it's going, unless my money wants to
  • 00:48:18
    tell me where I'm going.
  • 00:48:19
    No, let me tell it. Let me just sit back there."
  • 00:48:20
    Okay, now macro here. What's my thought about giving right now?
  • 00:48:24
    How much does -- do I want to multiply in the world?
  • 00:48:27
    What about savings?
  • 00:48:29
    What should I --
  • 00:48:31
    From time to time we've got to do this.
  • 00:48:32
    I have to -- just recently I did this, Lib and I are in the midst of
  • 00:48:36
    this. And like it dawned on me.
  • 00:48:38
    Actually, it didn't. It did dawn on me, but I also remember almost
  • 00:48:42
    playing dumb a number of -- about a year or so ago.
  • 00:48:47
    One of the ways that Lib and I've gotten ahead financially and one of
  • 00:48:49
    the reasons I always defend the trades and carpenters and plumbers is
  • 00:48:54
    because those dudes built into me to enable me to be in a place where
  • 00:48:57
    I am financially right now. I've had four homes.
  • 00:49:00
    Every home I've gone into I've put my own equity and my construction
  • 00:49:04
    knowledge into it and have made lots of money on them.
  • 00:49:08
    Lots and lots on them every time.
  • 00:49:10
    And when I do that, that's an increase that God's given me and I
  • 00:49:13
    tithe on that.
  • 00:49:15
    So I take -- I bought the house for this and then I put this amount
  • 00:49:18
    of money into it. And I sold it for this.
  • 00:49:19
    God gave me an increase and that's an increase, so I tithe on that.
  • 00:49:22
    This last one, last house I did more made more than any house I ever
  • 00:49:26
    had. I had been there for 15 years and did a bunch of stuff and a lot
  • 00:49:31
    of -- poured a lot of money into it.
  • 00:49:32
    When I netted all of that out, I made about $175,000 on that house.
  • 00:49:38
    That was an increase.
  • 00:49:39
    And I took a portion that money and other money and I put it into the
  • 00:49:43
    downpayment of our current 15 year mortgage we're on.
  • 00:49:45
    And then I just, because there's this big thing Lib and I want, we're
  • 00:49:48
    just going to park it and we're going to research this thing.
  • 00:49:50
    And that's there. And then as I was doing this step three just
  • 00:49:53
    recently in the midst of this thing, "Like God, I've had that money
  • 00:49:57
    sitting there for 14 months.
  • 00:50:01
    That's an increase, I haven't given that to You."
  • 00:50:04
    So I made it right, like over the 10% of that amount.
  • 00:50:09
    There goes. And boy, I tell you, I just felt free.
  • 00:50:12
    In fact, I even felt less stressed about this thing that Lib and I
  • 00:50:16
    were thinking of doing. It's probably not going to happen now, but I
  • 00:50:18
    actually feel less stressed, at least not right now.
  • 00:50:21
    I actually feel less stressed about it because it was just clarity.
  • 00:50:24
    It was just a sense of joy.
  • 00:50:26
    It's like God blessed me with clarity.
  • 00:50:30
    I am so excited about how well we're all doing.
  • 00:50:33
    And I know a lot of us have been praying for me coming into this
  • 00:50:36
    series, a lot of us who were tithing before the series started.
  • 00:50:40
    Our estimates are about 7% of Crossroads was tithing before this
  • 00:50:45
    series starts, 7%.
  • 00:50:47
    And it's awesome when you come into a series and you're like, yeah,
  • 00:50:49
    yeah, I'm doing it. I'm getting encouraged.
  • 00:50:51
    Yes, Brian, go, go.
  • 00:50:53
    Oh, I needed to be reinforced that.
  • 00:50:54
    Woo-woo. I just have an opportunity for those of us who came into
  • 00:50:59
    this tithing, not those of us who started tithing, do what you're
  • 00:51:02
    doing. Get get your sea legs on you.
  • 00:51:05
    There's not a challenge, just an awareness of what we can do when we
  • 00:51:08
    multiply, those of us who tithe.
  • 00:51:12
    You know, credit card debt, 25 percent of all credit card debt is
  • 00:51:15
    medical debt. Think about that.
  • 00:51:18
    Twenty five percent of all credit card debt is medical debt.
  • 00:51:21
    We do stupid things with our credit cards, but no one wakes up one
  • 00:51:25
    day and says, "Man, I just need to spend some money because I've got
  • 00:51:27
    this money. I know, I'm going to go to a hospital.
  • 00:51:29
    I'm going to buy me an MRI.
  • 00:51:32
    That's what I'm going to do. I'll put it on my credit, it's just I
  • 00:51:34
    want to buy an MRI. No one ever does that.
  • 00:51:36
    No one ever wakes up and goes, "Oh, man, I've got some money burning
  • 00:51:39
    a hole in my pocket. I've got a credit card.
  • 00:51:40
    What do I do? Oh, I know.
  • 00:51:41
    I'm gonna go buy me some chemo.
  • 00:51:43
    I'm going to walk in and go, give me some.
  • 00:51:44
    No one ever does that, right?
  • 00:51:46
    When there's medical debt, it's because there is legitimate true
  • 00:51:50
    hardship and pain that's come somebody's way.
  • 00:51:54
    When we are in debt, a sin debt to God, we can't get our way out of
  • 00:51:58
    the sin debt to God.
  • 00:52:00
    Jesus comes and gives Himself so we can pay off our sin debt
  • 00:52:04
    So we never have to worry about God hurting us for our sin.
  • 00:52:08
    We never have to worry because there is therefore no condemnation for
  • 00:52:11
    those who are in Christ. I want to give us the opportunity to
  • 00:52:14
    multiply our impact.
  • 00:52:16
    Do you realize around Cincinnati there's $65 million worth of medical
  • 00:52:21
    debt that's coming due.
  • 00:52:24
    $65 million.
  • 00:52:26
    Do you realize when it goes in the collection, that collection agency
  • 00:52:28
    buys it for one penny on the dollar.
  • 00:52:32
    So those you who have a bill collector coming at you for medical
  • 00:52:35
    debt. If you had $10,000 you owed to a hospital for medical debt,
  • 00:52:40
    they bought that debt for $100.
  • 00:52:44
    And now they're coming to you to get $10,000.
  • 00:52:47
    I'm helping out here because if you talk to them on the phone, you
  • 00:52:49
    might be able to pay off your debt for $500 because they'll take 5x
  • 00:52:53
    what they bought it for. There's an organization we're going to
  • 00:52:55
    partner with RIP medical debt.
  • 00:53:00
    We could pay off $65 million in medical debt in Cincinnati alone, let
  • 00:53:07
    alone we want to do in Dayton and Columbus and Lexington, any place
  • 00:53:11
    where there's a pocket of Crossroads.
  • 00:53:13
    If those of us who are tithing said, "Hey, let's do it.".
  • 00:53:16
    If we had -- if we had 650 tithers who were already tithing and we
  • 00:53:20
    average a thousand bucks, the entire Cincinnati community, as an
  • 00:53:25
    example, will get a letter and say;
  • 00:53:28
    "Congratulations, your debt has been paid because someone loves you
  • 00:53:34
    and there is a God who has not forgotten about you."
  • 00:53:38
    How would that multiply in blessing people?
  • 00:53:41
    I get giddy about that. Now, this is not like a challenge, it's just
  • 00:53:44
    an awareness. If you want to do that, you can go, you a text 313131.
  • 00:53:48
    I'm going to do that. 313131.
  • 00:53:51
    You can text multiply and we'll see what what God does with those of
  • 00:53:55
    us who God might be prompting to do that.
  • 00:53:57
    And if He's not, great. Just an idea could be pretty fun.
  • 00:54:00
    Last thing we'll talk about here in this story, the very, very end of
  • 00:54:05
    it. Mark 8.
  • 00:54:07
    Actually it's not the end of this story.
  • 00:54:09
    It is, as time goes on, Jesus does the exact same thing a little bit
  • 00:54:14
    later with 4000 men, a bunch more people are women and children.
  • 00:54:18
    He's doing a bunch of things. He does the same thing twice, this
  • 00:54:21
    multiplication thing. Same format.
  • 00:54:23
    He does it twice. And we see this formula happened in various ways
  • 00:54:27
    all throughout the Bible and happened in so many people's lives who I
  • 00:54:30
    know. And yet, we're human and we forget.
  • 00:54:35
    And so now we see Jesus get into the boat another time and he's on
  • 00:54:39
    the boat and he's teaching the disciples.
  • 00:54:41
    You know, religious people, man, they'll wear you down.
  • 00:54:43
    Be careful. Be care for the religious people because they'll get this
  • 00:54:47
    yeast and it'll get inside of your life and it'll start to blow up
  • 00:54:50
    your life. It will go through a whole batch and it'll jack you up, be
  • 00:54:53
    careful. And as he's talking about this, the slaves going, "Like
  • 00:54:55
    yeast? Dang, darn it, I'm hungry again and we don't have enough
  • 00:55:00
    food." They're like (sound effect) Andy Jesus senses that this is
  • 00:55:03
    what's going on. So here's what happens.
  • 00:55:05
    He says:
  • 00:55:44
    That's what God said to me when I recognized the increase on the sale
  • 00:55:49
    of my house. I was like, "Oh, God, I legitimately or intensely,
  • 00:55:53
    either way, happened to forget about that one."
  • 00:55:57
    God's like, "Brian, do you not yet understand?
  • 00:56:04
    When have I not blessed you?
  • 00:56:09
    When have I not taken care of you?
  • 00:56:11
    When have I not forgiven you?
  • 00:56:13
    When have I not given you a full life, even if it was painful, it was
  • 00:56:18
    full? Do you not yet understand?
  • 00:56:22
    This is the test God continues to give us and we continue to answer
  • 00:56:25
    if we want to step into it.
  • 00:56:29
    Let's take a moment and just see if God seals something for us and
  • 00:56:33
    says something to us right now.
  • 00:56:35
    God, I know that you have done something in our church, in our lives.
  • 00:56:41
    If there's something right now you want to enforce with us, would you
  • 00:56:45
    please speak?
  • 00:57:33
    - Don't forget to join us this week for our Thanksgiving Eve
  • 00:57:37
    experience. Head to Crossroads.net
  • 00:57:39
    at 7 p.m.
  • 00:57:40
    on Wednesday. And we'll see you next week for the start of our Advent
  • 00:57:44
    series. Share it with a friend.

Process, journal or discuss the themes of this article - here's a few questions to get the ball rolling...

Welcome to the Post-Weekend Push with Brian Tome.

  1. In Mark chapter 6:30-44 Jesus is teaching to a large crowd and the disciples realize that it has been a while and the people are probably hungry. Jesus responses to the disciples and puts them to work to solve the problem. The result is a famous miracle of feeding thousands with 5 loaves and 2 fish. As a group and discuss what your reaction might have been in the crowd if you were there that day. What would you have done if you were a disciple that day?

  2. In Mark 6:34 Jesus looks on the crowd and has compassion for them because they “Were like sheep without a shepherd.” Talk about a time in your life when you’ve been like a sheep without a shepherd? What did you need from God and from others? How did that situation play out for you?

  3. Jesus multiplies all the resources and ends up miraculously meeting the needs of the people in this story. Multiplication is a principle God uses throughout the Bible. What areas have you seen the benefits of multiplication in your life?

  4. When it comes to our money, if we want it to multiply we need to put it in order. Where in your life could you use some more order in your money? (debt, spending, lack of tithing, etc.)

  5. “It can’t multiply unless it is blessed.” What does this mean for you and me when it comes to money? Why is this so different than what we see in culture?

  6. In Mark 6:37 Jesus tells the disciples to do something that seems abnormal to help the crowds. Why do you think Jesus does this? Where in your life have you seen Jesus ask you to do abnormal things? What was the result?

  7. Let’s be honest, if you are not tithing your money can never be in order and can never be multiplied the way God wants it to. No judgment here, but we are going to push each other. Are you tithing? If not, why? If you are tithing, how can you continue to give God your finances so he can multiply them?

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Nov 23, 2019

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