Father, thank you so much for adopting us as your children. We praise you and love you. And Jesus, what could we possibly say to you? You are the Messiah, name above all names, light of the world. Thank you so much for coming, showing us what our Father is really like. Thank you for giving it all so we could be connected with you and the Holy Spirit and our Dad, our Heavenly Father. So we praise you for that. We thank you for that. Holy Spirit, thank you for being our teacher and our counselor. Please teach us this morning. And we thank you for that. And all this we say in Jesus' your wonderful name. Amen. Well, Ken Kington's here this morning, and he's going to share with us in uh in a few minutes. Before I introduce him, I've got uh just a couple things that are going on uh this uh this afternoon, or right after we're done. Actually, it'll be this morning. We've got two groups meeting. The business group is meeting in room three. It's uh a group of people that are just getting together, getting connected, learning God's ways of having success in the um, you know, in our careers and and in our businesses. And that'll be right afterwards in room number three. And then the motorcycle groups meeting in in uh room number two. If you're a motorcycle enthusiast or even an e-teen enthusiast, you'll fit right in with uh with this group. And uh part of the group, one of one of their big things is visiting people in prisons. And they've got an opportunity coming up October 9th that they would love for you to join them uh in. And you can learn more about that at today's meeting right afterwards in um room number two. Let's see what else. So those just two of our uh of our groups that are going on at different times and uh different places. If uh you can get info on all those at the infodesk in the front. Uh Wednesday nights are rocking and going uh going strong. We've got two new classes that are starting this Wednesday night. Um, you know, I should say this isn't really you know a his hands announcement, but uh NFL season starts uh today. So the Falcons are playing the Stillers of one, so that's big. But um the um Go Dirty Birds. But uh Wednesday nights. We have two uh two new classes starting this Wednesday. One is a marriage uh class that Susan and I are gonna be uh teaching. We're gonna have a lot of fun together. I know that we're all gonna improve our relationships together. If you're married, uh please join us, invite your friends. Anybody's welcome to come. You don't need to sign up, just uh just show up on Wednesday at um seven o'clock. Um we're gonna meet in the His Kids, so how much fun is that? And um we've gotten some questions. You know, what if uh what if we're married but our spouse is out of town a week? Don't worry about that. Just whoever can come, you know, come. And that's really true of all our um classes on Wednesday nights. You can join any of them at any time. And so uh just uh pick one and uh uh be part of it. It's a great way to meet other people and a great way to get closer to to God as well. And then our singles group is starting this Wednesday night, too. And uh Ken is uh Ken Kington's leading that. He wrote a group uh book that uh is entitled uh Searching for Superman, Watching for a Wonder Woman. It uh great, great book for singles. It uh won a big award, I think the Nobel Peace Prize for singles books. And so that's a big deal. But uh it's gonna be it's gonna be a great group. And we're not even sure what to what to expect. We know that we've invited a lot of people, we know that that Ken's invited a lot of people, and the the main thing that we're expecting is God to do something really huge in uh a bunch of singles people's uh lives. And and the only unique thing about uh the singles group is that it's starting at 7 30. All of our other groups start at 7. Um it's starting at 7.30, and that'll give us a you know time to it's meeting here in the uh in the big room. And Wednesday night we have child care for uh for all the groups, so please invite your friends and um and please come. Um oh I wanted to update you on where we're at uh finances-wise. I'm gonna try to do that uh at least once a month. Last month I talked about kind of where we need to be, which is roughly, you know, there's different ways of of looking at it. Roughly we need to average about $20, or maybe a little less than $20 per person, adults and kids, on each uh Sunday morning. That'd allow us to uh meet all of our expenses. You had a big volunteer team, Susan and I volunteer almost everybody in in most roles volunteers. We have a very small staff and and and I think a really great, very uh very tight uh budget. But it's a big building and it's in and it we're a bunch of people with uh with a lot of different uh needs and and different things. So that's about what it what it takes. And so it's about we've been averaging $13. What we really need to get is is $20, which is a big leap percentage-wise, but not a big leap um dollar-wise. And in August um we averaged right at $13. And that's kind of a good news, bad news thing. It's actually kind of good because there's five weeks in August. So for the month, we did uh it was actually a big uh a big improvement. I think we're on the right direction. Um but uh the thing is, and the reason it's important, and it's just important, I think, that we all know this, is that when um we we bought this property and we did the building, um, we got a construction loan for five years, and it's an interest-only loan, and interest rates have been extremely low, and so we haven't, I mean, we're we're paying that every uh every month, but uh but we haven't been paying much. We started paying a little bit on on the principal. Well, that loan converts in February, and so it's gonna go to a uh to a uh a regular loan where we're gonna have to pay the principal. And the problem is is if we're not shown already that we can pay the interest and the principal, no one's gonna give us a loan. And so we'll be looking for uh another place uh to meet. But um I don't think that's gonna happen. And um it's just we've got this this really five-month window where if we can all just band together, and uh, you know, it's the way God does things a lot of times. If he's doing something really big, there's a small group of people that he counts on to get it started, then he brings a large group of people to carry the load. And so right now I think we're kind of the small group of people, and so for the next few months, if we can, and for some of us it's reprioritizing, you know. I know we give different places and do different things, and if if this can can be a priority, and then for some of us it's just stepping out, really stepping out in faith. And um I know that for Sue and I, there's been many times that we've had to do that. The first time we ever started giving in any in any real way, I guess, was a huge stretch for us. And even now, uh it's uh it it continues to be a huge stretch for us as we prioritize our lives so we can so we can do more. But it but God's gonna do it. It's just the way that God works is is He does it, but He does it through people. So He's gonna do it, but He's gonna do it through us. And um and so I just encourage you if you haven't done that, the it will change your whole world if you will step out in true faith. We you know, because it w anytime we give, very few of us have so much that we're not worried about the future. And so anytime we give, it's a statement of faith, because we're counting on God to uh um to take care of our future. And the cool thing is he promises that if we do that, he will, and he does. And and I don't know how many times Susan and I have faced that stress and that tension and that decision, and he has never ever let us down. And so I just uh tell you that to let you know what's what's going on. I think we're uh uh on a track that's good, but we're in kind of a five-month band where um if you can really ask God um what you can do, we can all do as much as possible and we can do it together. It's it's important, but you can probably tell. I'm not uh um I'm not stressed about it because I know I know that God's gonna do it, but I also know that He's gonna do it uh through each of us. And then we'll look back years from now and thank God we ever had this opportunity to be part of this. Um you can get a lot of different ways. We got stations in the back, and you can write checks, or um there's electronic stations, and a lot of people give online if that's if that's easier for you as well. Next week um we're gonna start a new series that I've been uh I've been looking forward to talking about for a long time. There's this book in the Bible that's an autobiography. It was written 2,500 years ago. It's kind of a short book, but it's the most amazing book, and it is amazingly practical for today. In fact, when I look back on my life and and my kind of business career and and and in some ways our family life, this one book is has been truly life-changing. There's a couple principles that God used, I think, in some ways to make all the the difference. I've been looking forward to talking about it for for a long time. So we'll start that uh next Sunday and do that uh for a few weeks. Um I'm excited about this morning too. Ken uh Kington is back. You know, the last time he he spoke, for me it was very convicting and it was very encouraging. I've been looking forward to him um coming back ever since. Uh he's kind of a unique uh uh well he is a very unique uh guy, but uh he's uh got a unique career. He's a professional comedian. If you don't know Ken, and uh he's on XM and he's on different cable things and he travels all the time all over the country. But his schedule is such that uh there's times that he can come and be with us on Sunday, and he loves that, and it's uh um and we love that. Um he's here this morning, he'll be back in November. I think he's already planning to be back for um for a couple weeks in February, and so he's part of our extended family, and uh please welcome Ken.

Wow. It is, it is an absolute, absolute joy to get to be. It's it's this is like an oasis for me. Um several of you came up in the uh lobby and they said, you know, I've been following you on Twitter, and did you say you were in New Orleans last night? And I was like, Yeah, I had a show in New Orleans last night. And they're like, How are you here? And I said, Well, they have this new invention called airplanes, and they fly different places. And uh I I was this is one of the few times I mean I was up at four or something this morning and uh just getting ready and getting to the airport, and and the big easy is not the big easy for no reason. I mean they're just not in a hurry for anything, and I'm just like really need to get to the airport this morning. So worked through that, and I gotta tell you another quick aside to pile on what Steve said. I am so excited about this Wednesday night and the singles book series uh for a couple reasons. One is it has been over seven years since I've had the opportunity to do that entire series and uh update it in different pieces to it. And I think the other reason why is just so near and dear to my heart is because it marks a time in my life, kind of what we're gonna talk about this morning, where I literally had come to this impasse of just frustration in my life. I was a single guy, I was in my late 20s, and I'm just like, God, I don't get it. I don't get it. Um I I need help. I need help. And and uh relationally, I had been coming off about a year dating sabbatical, which is code for. I didn't have a date for a year. And uh and it was just one of those times where I'm like, Lord, what? What do I need to change? Give me some clarity. And that is what these next 10 weeks will be for those who are part of that single series. If uh if you're single, definitely try to make as many as you can. If you're if you're a couple, um, I want to encourage you, if you have single friends or no singles, tell them, hey, this will be one of the things I promise you, it will be great. And it will be an absolute uh blessing and investment of time, it will be worthwhile. And with that clarity, it took me about two and a half years, and what I got in two and a half years, I put into ten weeks of here's what I learned in that process. With that, I look back now and I talk to singles all the time, and I think, man, I wish I knew back then what I know now. Isn't that a common thread of life? How many of us would not have loved to know? If I would have known in middle school what I know now? If I'd have known in high school what I know now, then I would not have experienced all the rejection relationally that I experienced if I only knew that then what I know now. And wouldn't it be great? And here's what this morning is, wouldn't it be great if we could know now what we will know then? What if we had that clarity in the moment? Whatever your station of life, whatever your frustration is today, wouldn't it be great to know now what we're gonna know later? Or at least know a few head steps ahead what that is. And what I want to share with us today is that how to find that, how to get that, that clarity, how to get that focus of where we are right now. And it's it's not something that I'm an expert on. I have not sold thousands of books on this topic. I'm in the middle of learning this on a whole new level. And I'll share some of those trials and frustrations this morning. But the way we gain this clarity, and today will be incredibly, amazingly simple. But it is not easy. Simple, but not easy. And and with that, there are two categories, two items, two commodities, if you will. And what we do with these commodities is a direct relation to how clearly we see where we are and where we can be, and the solutions to that, how we handle these two commodities. These two commodities also, there's a correlation between how we apply them and our level of fulfillment or frustration, and what we're doing. And every one of us has these two commodities, every one of us, and they are finite. And how we're doing this is determining am I frustrated or am I fulfilled? Am I hopeful or am I hopeless? And these two commodities are that critical. And then here's two of the greatest realities of these two commodities. My willingness to submit these two commodities to God will be a direct correlation to the fulfillment and joy that I'll experience in this life. Period. There it is, simple and easy. My willingness to submit these commodities is when God opens our eyes and lets us see clearly what we wish we knew now that we will know then, if we'll take the time to do this. Both are limited and finite. And I want to share the two with you this morning as I'm learning these. One of these commodities, you and I, although we are not promised them in full, but everyone here this year was granted 8,760. You have 8,760 this year, and you'll get the same next year if you live that long. But we're not promised that long. We're never promised that because it's 8,760 hours this year. Time is that first commodity. That first commodity is time, and what we do with our time and how we submit our time and the way we invest, spend, or waste our time will determine the level of fulfillment we have in this life. But the question is, what are we doing with our time? And how do I open what is the key to opening that door to this greatness of time? I did just a tiny bit of research, and I was quite honestly, I was depressed when I got done. Because the CDC has let out this information. What do you think the average age of a male is? The average age a man lives. Somebody just showed over here, just an average age.

76.

76, 70, okay. Anybody?

65.

65, okay, that's good. The average age of a male in America, as of the latest studies, is 75.2. That's how many years a man will live. Women, five years more. I don't know why that is, it just is, it's the facts. Now here's the depressing part. As I looked at that, I I don't know if it's my age or whatever. I was thinking it was like 80, 85, 90, the average age, because things are getting better, right? And then the great reality hit me. I'm past halfway. That is not exciting. I don't even remember halftime, and I'm already in the third quarter. This is ridiculous. And it was depressing because now I'm thinking in a whole different way, going, what have I done? What have I accomplished? Where am I now? And I begin to ask a lot of these serious questions of life of going, what I don't want to miss what's most important. And I want to live life to the full. And am I on the right track? Because I'm past halfway. And I want to make sure I'm headed in the right direction. I don't only want the clarity of what I'll have then now, I need the clarity of what I'll have then now. And we gain it a lot of different ways. We can do it from being mentored and being around others that are believers. But this one piece, the key that I want to just share with you this morning, that I am learning in a major way, is the key that unlocks that clarity in this commodity of time. It's called, and God put it this way, it's called Sabbath. And Sabbath is just a fancy spiritual word for day off. And God created it from the very beginning. I want you to see with me, and you can follow with us on the screen to write these downs, but in Genesis chapter 2, at the very beginning, first book of the Bible, God's making everything. Look what he says in chapter 2, verses 1 through 3. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing. So on the seventh day, he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. It's built in the beginning. That's where God put it. He's like, you know what, I'm gonna build it in. God all powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, if you and I want to experience and tap into that allness of God, omniness of God, omniscience of power and wisdom, we have to do it with his foundation. And that that Sabbath concept, if you flip over to Exodus in chapter 20, is the big ten, big ten commandments. Now, if I were to tell you, and just take a quick test, if what would your view of me be like if I were to tell you, you know what, I believe this book and I believe God and I follow him with the best of my heart, and I can go, oh, but you know what? Three or four times a month I commit adultery. Okay, it's just my vice, and that's just the way I am. And you'd be like, I'm not listening to you anymore about this book. So, you know what? I'm a great guy, and I really do, I believe this book, but you know what? A couple times a week I lie, cheat, and steal. That's what I do, and uh that's just who I am, and that's the way I am. That's ludicrous. But out of the ten commandments, it's not the ten suggestions, or take three and do the best you can with the rest. There's one that is written more about in the ten than any other. And listen to what it says about that one. In Exodus chapter 20, starting in verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you should labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. On it you shall do you shall not do any work. Neither you nor your daughters, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your animals, nor your aliens within your gates. For the six days of the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and made it holy. Isn't it ironic? And I don't know if it's a cultural thing, I don't know if it's an American thing, but not only do we not look at the failure to take a day off as sinful or as detrimental to ourselves, we almost celebrate it. We almost demand it. And I would dare say, if those of you who are in some kind of ministry capacity, we have decided that that's okay to violate that one on a regular basis. And I say that not towards you, but in a mirror towards me, is something that God has been convicting me of for years, and I've begun to set this out and say, okay, God, I want your clarity. And this commodity of time, I want to unlock your clarity and your blessing and your power. And God, I can't, I can't see where I can keep violating this, and yet you're gonna bless it and show me what I need to do. So, what I want to do for just a second is share some of the pieces I am learning in this area. Before I do that, I do want to read one more verse in Mark chapter 2, verse 27. God is not a legalist. And those who would take the law of God and try to beat each other up with it, Jesus frowned upon greatly. And he said, You're missing the point. His disciples are walking through a field and they're hungry and they reach down and pick up some seeds and the legal, you're harvesting. You can't harvest right now. We're hungry and we're eating. We're not harvesting. Harvest! Break the law. Jesus is like, You're clueless. In Mark 27, chapter 2, verse 27, he says simply this. And then he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not the man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is the Lord even of the Sabbath. He's like, don't get on the legalistic bend here. I know the Sabbath. News flash. I created the Sabbath for you. You're not creating it for me. Get over it. Now, you can talk to theologians and you can get the details far greater than anything I'll share. But here's what I'm learning about this key that unlocks power and clarity in this area of time. And that is simply this. I find if I don't plan it, I don't do it. Period. And I had a friend of mine as we were sitting down talking over lunch. He says, Ken, not only do I have to plan, I have to plan about a month in advance. And I put on my calendar, here's my Sabbath that week. He's in ministry. He says, Sunday is not a day of rest for me. I have to have another day. And I'm like, well, that makes total sense. And so I started marking out my calendar. I do it in a month in advance, and I found an incredible attack on that day, whatever I pick. But I find that if it's on the calendar, if I make an appointment, it's much more likely to be fulfilled. I treat it as such. What I've also found is a day of just complete freedom. I don't plan that day out. And it's very difficult because what I want to do is I want to get stuff done. And what God is just piercing my heart with, this is the day to not. It's to not. It's the day to turn off, unplug, check out, slow down. Just rest. But Lord, it's my it's you know I can accomplish, and no. My buddy shared with me also. He says, you know what, Ken, what you need to do is you need to do stuff that you would never do. Do something you enjoy. I'm like, I'm at the point. I've got three kids and a wife and two dogs, and I've got a career and I got fun hobbies, and I just, I'm like, how do I do that? He goes, what you'd normally do for work, don't do that that day. Just turn it off. I tried this several times. And boy, you want a radical step to it? Take your phone, your cell phone, and believe it or not, these things actually have an off button. Okay? They actually do. And you can turn them off. And the first day you try that, should you be so bold, it will wig you out. And you will think, but what but what if there's an emergency? And what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if? You know what? What ifs happened 20 years ago when cell phones were the size of a car battery and nobody had them? Okay? They'll find you. You know what I'm discovering as I unplug? I am not nearly as important as I thought I was. And God just let me see that. I'm also realizing that I am extremely out of practice at just resting. And that idea of doing something you enjoy. And one of the days, one of the weeks, I said, okay, Lord, you know, what do I want to do on a Sabbath? Do something I haven't done that I enjoy. God, I don't even remember what I enjoy that is not. And I thought, you know what? I enjoy playing golf. I haven't played other than a tournament for a charity in forever. I'm gonna go play golf. I called a buddy, he was off, he's like, let's go play. And I played horrible. But I was with a friend and I was not in a hurry. I didn't have to get to something. And there's something about that lack of rush that restores our soul and heightens our focus and gives us clarity that we don't have otherwise in this rushed and hurried world. But we have to take that choice. We have to make that choice and do it. I have a dear friend who is a pastor out in Omaha, Nebraska, and I asked her one time, I said, hey, Dina, what you're, I mean, she's like super smart. She got her theology degree from Princeton, and she is just brilliant. I'm like, what is the Sabbath? I said, it like in really smart people terms. You studied the Old Testament, the New Testament, what is the Sabbath? And she goes, Oh, I've got a great definition. And I'm literally, I'm ready to write it down. And she goes, wasting time with God. She says, when you walk around and you just feel like you're wasting time and all you're doing is being in God's presence, that's the Sabbath.

Wow.

And how profound is that? If we'll take that to heart and say, you know what? I want to simplify. And I want to get to that point where I see the clarity. Well, if we really believe that and we really want it, ask ourselves a very simple but difficult question. Am I taking a Sabbath? That's God's key to unlocking the clarity of our time. If I'll do that, because what I found as I'm looking back, and we've got to move on to the second commodity, but what I found as I'm looking back is that I was spending an inordinate amount of my time building a lifestyle. And not enough time building a life. There's a big difference. That's what I'm discovering, and that's what I'm learning. There's a second commodity. The second commodity is also finite. But this one we have different amounts. Where time we all have the same, the second is one that we're very different. And it's a very touchy subject, especially within in our country. The second commodity is simply resources or money. Money. It's limited. Now, if there's someone here that you have a limit, limitless supply, then you know some of this isn't going to apply to you, but the rest of us, it is limited. And there's a skewed, unfortunate spiritual depravity of mindset that I've seen. And too many of us have seen this on TV, and I've got to get on a soapbox for just a second. I've shared this one other time I know here, but it's just my soapbox. And that is that I get so frustrated with those who share the concept of giving from a getting perspective. And I've seen it on TV several times where they're like, go to your phones right now, and you give to us in our ministry, because if you give to us, God will bless you ten times, pressed down, shaken together, rolling over. And so if you give, God will bless you in that way. And my thought, and maybe it's just the way my brain works, was if you really believe that, then you should be on the TV going, hey, go to your phones, get your phones, call us and tell us how much money you want, because we're gonna give you as much as you want. Because we believe God's gonna bless us seven, ten times, press down, shaken, blowing over. See that. So I say that to say I am not telling you what to do. What I'm sharing is this concept of money. It is a resource that God designed this way. In and of itself, it is completely powerless. But our view and our use of it will either cause great good or great destruction, depending on how we take it to heart and what we do with it. And I do want to validate this real quickly before we move on, and that I am so impressed with the way this infrastructure is built, and I'm so impressed with the way Steve puts it out there, the concepts. If you're here for the first time or the first few times, I want you to notice something. There was never a plate that passed in front of you. It's not there. Because the concept is the reality of the way things are done. In 1 Chronicles 29, 11, there's a beautiful verse. And we can, and I want to challenge us to grab it and believe it. It says simply this everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord. This is your kingdom. I adore you as the one who is over everything. Wealth and honor come from you alone. You rule over everything. Now, great verse. Intellectually, theologically, we can go, got it. Believe it, I'm there. But do we really? Do we really? Because the way we take this commodity of resource and money will determine what we really believe. I heard Larry Briquette say it years ago before he passed away. He says, I can tell how somebody's doing spiritually in two minutes. And I was like, wow. I said, How do you do that? I said, Do you have the gift of discernment? He goes, No. Just give me their checkbook. And I'll tell you where they are spiritually. Because you can't fake a checkbook. And he says, Whatever we choose to give and how we choose to give will determine how we do, how we live. And that concept has rung true over and over. I shared this concept several weeks ago. Do I do I we we really do? We wake up with two fundamental choices. Either I live to get or I live to give. And which is it? It is a mindset. It is not an amount. It is a mindset. And I love that Steve shared what he did about this per person and whatnot. I spend 65 bucks a month so my family can go to the YMCA. I love the YMCA. It's got a gym, I get to shoot around, I get to do this. It's a great environment that feeds me physically so that I can eat some of what I want and not look like I should look. And I need that environment. Inversely, I would challenge you and I that if I am getting fed in this place on a regular basis, I need this environment. And to be a part of that if you're here on a regular basis. But don't miss this. This is paramount this morning. Don't miss this. If you're here and you're seeking, you think, see, all they want is money, let me just tell you, don't give. Don't. If this is a hurdle for you in coming to Christ, God is not interested in your money. He is interested in you. And down the road, he will show you the clarity of how money fits in. But don't let that be a barrier. And I want to share with you an incredible verse out of 2 Corinthians 9, 7 that validates this part. It said, each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. And I would even say this until you and I get to the point where we are excited about giving, don't. Because we don't get credit for it. But if we will say, you know what, God, here's what I can give joyfully, because I do believe in either this environment or this ministry or this cause or this person or whatever it is, that is where we give joyfully. I want to give you one example. I, one of my favorite checks to write every month is to a place called New Missions. It's a place in Haiti. They've been in country for 27 years. And I write a $30 check every month because I've met this little girl named Velva. And Velva gets to eat and gets clothes and goes to school because I write that check. I don't write it out of guilt because she lives in a country that's not as nice as mine. I don't write it out of disparaging because I feel bad for her. I write it out of excitement because I see the difference that it makes, and God lets me do that. That makes my world. I don't give anywhere that I don't give out of joy. And until you can get to that point, there is one aside where if God is convicting you to give out of obedience, there are those times, and scripturally it's very clear when that happens of going, God says, You need to give this. You need to give this out of obedience. That is the clarification. But it turns over the ownership, and that is the part that I want to just hit on. This commodity of money, everything is God's. If I believe that, then I will acknowledge that. And God says, the way you acknowledge that, and the key that opens that door, I'm going to give it to you simple, is called a tithe. Now you can debate all day what that is, where it comes from, where it goes to. They had a storehouse, we don't have a storehouse. It went to this, it provided that as part of taxes, and blah, blah, blah. You can go 90 million, is it the net or is it the gross? And is it this or is it that? And you can explode your head figuring that out. The bottom line is if I say, God, you say to give a tithe, okay, I'm gonna let you show me what that means over time, but what I'm doing is I'm acknowledging that God owns everything. I give a tithe not because God's broke, He owns it all. And He can take it at any moment. I give because I'm acknowledging God, I know you see this finite amount of money that I have, and I'm gonna acknowledge that you are in control of everything. Wealth and honor comes from you alone. I'm gonna acknowledge that. And I'm like Steve, it was painful at first. Not just the giving part, but the ownership part that I'm not in control. I tell you two of the pieces that happened to me was one was dying to pride. My pride took a beating when I started that because I had to give up a couple lifestyle pieces in order to do that. I would later see that I needed to give them up, but I didn't see it at the time. I will never forget a Sunday morning in the fall, just like now. I had struggled with this, going, God, it's all yours. I don't have a lot, but it's yours. I came out of the parking lot at a church, I'm not gonna tell you which one, and in the side of my car, somebody backed in and just dinged my car. I mean, a dent that big in the back quarter panel, and everybody was gone, and nobody left a note at a church. Made me mad. And I remember sitting there by myself in a parking lot having a prayer time with God, but it wasn't a flower prayer. I'm like, God, your car has a dent in it. I do not know why you wanted that there, but your checkbook doesn't have the money to fix it right now. I'm gonna drive around with a dented car. That's what you want. And it didn't end there. I was frustrated for three weeks. Drive around trying to figure out how am I gonna save a money. I got a couple estimates. I'm like, what I got half. I barely scraped together half of the money to fix the dent in your car with your checking account. And it was frustrating. And I drive up to church one Sunday, and I'm walking in the parking lot, and a guy says, Hey, what happened to your car? And I was just like, I came to church, that's what happened to my car. Not really happy about it. He's like, What happened? I said, I came out and somebody hit my car and they didn't leave a note, and I just I'm trying to save up the money to fix it. And he's like, Oh man, he said, Why don't you bring it by my shop? And I'm like, Well, what is your shop? And he goes, I repair cars, I do body work. I'm like, really? And I said, Yeah. And here's the pride just done like, you know what? I'd gotten a couple, I I can't afford it right now. And he says, Well, I tell you what, you bring it by and we'll take care of it and we'll figure it out. And he did it for less than the half that I had saved up. And as I drove home, I was literally humble, going, It's your car. And I, it's oh, it's not easy. It is simple to understand the concept that God owns it all. It is simple to understand the concept of acknowledging God with God, here's a tithe. It is simple, but it is not easy. And it is a process that we go through. I want to read one last story that is just near and dear to my heart. And I want to set the scene. It's in Mark chapter 12. And Jesus is sitting outside the church, and he's sitting there watching to make sure nobody bumps into cars and doesn't leave notes, and he's just hanging out. And then all of a sudden he just goes, Guys, come here, come here, come here, to the disciples. And they're like, What? What? See, because he's watching, and it's not too unlike this, where there's these different giving pedestals, there's a slot where we can give whatever it is we want to give. And and he's watching these people pass by and give their money. And look what he says to these guys. Look who Jesus points out in the giving process. Matthew chapter 12, I'm sorry, Mark chapter 12, verses 41 through 44. Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were being put and watched the crowd putting in their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts, but a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus says, I tell you the truth, this poor widow put in more into the treasury than any than all the others. They gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything. She, all she had to live on. Now you can debate the percentages all day long. You can debate where to start and what it means and how to acknowledge God. For this woman, it was out of obedience. She gave two coins less than a penny. And that's what caught Jesus' attention. He's looking for our hearts to give ownership to him. My challenge to you is the same as it is to me today, that I am living with, and that is, God, of these two commodities, what is the step I can take? Because God, I know you want me to have clarity with what I'm going through. I know you want me to be wise and have full life. But Lord God, you gave these two keys, and they are so simple, but they are not easy. So, Father, show me a step I can take, a decision I can make, because Lord, I I want to live this. My mother had a simple phrase as I was growing up: talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. And God hit me with that as I've looked at these two commodities, and I want to just, as Steve and I talk through this, I said, you know what? He said, What's God teaching you? And I'm like, oh, I don't know if I want to talk on that. Because I'm learning these. This week I'll have a Sabbath and it's planned. This week I'll look in my checkbook and I can tell you that I'm I'm maturing in that area because I am most excited about where I get to give. Because if we remember the words of the Lord Jesus, as it says in Acts, I think it's chapter 20. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, who Himself said, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. That's true. Tomorrow when you wake up, are you gonna live to get or live to give? And will you take these keys to unlock the door to God's clarity and power? Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for making it simple enough that I can understand. Thank you for your grace that overwhelms me when I see how far I have to go. And Lord, I just see that your heart is not disappointed. You are just thrilled when we turn to you. Lord, you gave us the choice to experience your wisdom and your power. It's there. You gave us the keys, but we get to unlock them. So, Father, I pray right now as just out of humility, thank you for where you've brought me. Thank you where you brought us. Thank you that we can know you personally. And Lord, continue to teach and guide and help me in my weakness in these areas. And it really is only through Christ we can pray. Amen. Singles, I'll see you Wednesday. God bless you guys.